Give It Time
"Where were you all morning?" Dean asked, sitting in the motel watching the TV whilst Punk was sat on the bed using the phone.
"I was L hopping." AJ said, taking her backpack off as Dean stood up.
"You do any good?" Dean wondered.
"I've had better." AJ said, "Got a twenty. A watch. A wallet. Another twenty." She emptied her bag as Dean looked on.
"You stole a sandwich from someone?" Dean noticed as AJ nodded.
"It was sitting on the table in a café. I went in to use the bathroom and it was just… staring at me on the way back." AJ shrugged, opening up the sandwich, "Who is he on the phone to?"
"Rio." Dean said as AJ nodded, "We don't got enough to cover for another night here so we gotta find somewhere." He nodded.
"Well here is forty dollars." AJ said, grabbing the two twenties, "And I haven't even checked this wallet yet."
"Phil wants to take the job." Dean nodded as AJ looked over at Punk writing down things on a piece of paper by the phone.
"I can't be the only one getting worried about him." AJ looked at Dean.
"He knows what he's doing." Dean shrugged, "Don't worry about him."
"Yeah, I'm not worried about if he knows what he's doing or not." AJ said, "I'm worrying about it taking over his life-"
"It's a quick way to get money." Dean shrugged, "He told me he wants to get an apartment with you." He nodded as AJ turned and looked over at Punk.
"He did?" AJ asked.
"Yeah." Dean said.
"I'm afraid he's gonna get into trouble." AJ said, "I know that… stealing things can also get you into trouble." She looked at all the things she'd emptied out of her backpack, "But this is like… this is serious stuff. Drugs and stuff." AJ scoffed.
"Yeah, he's not taking them or anything-"
"I know he isn't." AJ said, "But you can do serious time in prison for drug related offences." AJ said.
"You can also do serious prison time for stealing wallets on the L." Dean said as AJ looked at him, "You were the one who introduced him to Rio-"
"As an emergency." AJ said, "I knew him through my brother and… I thought it'd be good for us to have an emergency back-up, which we have needed multiple times. The guy bailed us out of jail for Christ sake." AJ rolled her eyes.
"Exactly. He's not a bad guy." Dean shrugged.
"Yeah but how long until Phil is just one of those guys. I don't wanna live like this forever, you know." AJ said as Dean nodded.
"I know, but… we're not talking about forever. It's just right now. One day at a time." Dean said, "Just chill out."
"What are you two talking about over there?" Punk asked, putting the phone down, standing up from the bed and looking over at the things AJ had brought back, "We can sell this." He saw the watch, "Two twenty's." He tossed over with their other money.
"I figured it was enough to keep us here another night at least." AJ nodded.
"Yeah, well it'll keep you here another night." Punk said as AJ shook her head with confusion, "Me and Dean have got a job."
"Tonight?" AJ asked as Punk nodded, "I can… I can come with you."
"No, it's easier if you just stay here." Punk nodded, "We'll be back by morning." He said, walking through to the bathroom as AJ followed him and closed the door over.
"I thought we said no more Rio. We can do this our own." AJ said.
"It's just so much easier." Punk nodded, "And it's quick cash. I do some odd jobs every month and we can put in for our own place." He said, "No more running around looking for places to crash." He said.
"I want that, baby but… I want it to be our money too-"
"It is our money." Punk said.
"No, it's drug money." AJ whispered.
"And? Money is money." Punk said, "Once we get enough we can try for jobs, even though no one wants to hire us after we spent a night in jail… why we gotta put that shit on our applications?" He scoffed.
"I just don't want you getting in trouble, Phil." AJ shook her head.
"We won't. It's all good." Punk said, "It's fine. We… are fine." He smiled, cupping her cheeks as she nodded.
"Yeah… yeah, we're fine." She nodded to herself, "We're fine." She looked up at him.
"Get yourself some food and just chill out here. We'll be back by morning." Punk said, leaning down and kissing her softly, about to pull back when she kissed him deeper, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him close.
"You be careful, Phil Brooks." She pulled back, looking up at him.
"I'll be fine." He nodded, "I love you." He said as she smiled. That love was sometimes the only thing that kept her going. That and the adrenalin of being out in the terrifying world on their own.
"I love you." AJ said. It was the one thing in her life she was so absolutely sure of.
"Brooks."
"What's up, Danny?" Punk nodded, standing on a piece of scaffolding whilst at work whilst one of the guys approached him. He was getting the hang of things pretty quickly, and he was enjoying getting to hold down a job and see his buddy's again.
"Hey, it's just to let you know we got your girl's window fixed up." Danny said as Punk nodded.
"Thanks, I appreciate that." Punk said, "She's… she's not my girl." Punk shook his head.
"Oh." Danny nodded, "Oh." He thought to himself as Punk turned to him.
"And she's not gonna be yours either." Punk hummed as Danny scoffed.
"You not giving up on that ship then?" Danny folded his arms.
"I'm doing what I gotta do." Punk said, "A lot of shit went down. We got a daughter. We can't just go our separate ways."
"Yeah, I saw her. Cute as a button." Danny said as Punk smiled.
"Were you talking to April?" Punk asked curiously.
"A little, yeah." Danny nodded, "She's a lot more quiet than I ever remembered." He said as Punk nodded.
"Yeah, well a lot has happened." Punk said as Danny nodded, "Thanks for helping her out. I know she appreciated it."
"That's ok." Danny patted him on the back, wandering away.
"Hey, Phil." Kofi passed Punk a piece of wood, "Saw your kid yesterday. She's fucking cute, man." He said as Punk smiled. He'd never experienced this before. It was nice.
"Thanks." Punk laughed a little, not sure if that was the appropriate response.
"Saw your other girl too." Kofi winked, "Somehow she still looks sixteen." He shook his head as Punk looked at him.
"She's not my girl." Punk mumbled as Kofi just smiled and nodded.
"Of course she's not." Kofi said, wandering away as Punk jumped down from the piece of scaffolding, making his way over to Dean who was taking his break, having a coffee and sitting on some bricks.
"Hey, why do all these goons think I'm still with April?" Punk asked.
"Why the hell are you asking me?" Dean shrugged.
"Well they know I was in prison for a year so why the hell do they think we're still together." Punk said.
"Maybe because it's you and April." Dean said.
"What the hell does that mean?" Punk questioned.
"Well everyone just knew you guys were a steady couple." Dean said, "It's not a bad thing."
"It is when I have to correct them." Punk rolled his eyes, sitting on the bricks next to him, "Do you think she's changed?"
"April?" Dean asked as Punk nodded, "No, I don't think she's changed. I think her life changed when she had Thea. She had to sacrifice a lot and… as someone who didn't have a lot to sacrifice in the first place… it's gotta be tough." Dean said, "And she doesn't talk to anyone. She's gotta be pretty lonely." He said, "I'm sure she's still the same person."
"You think I should ask her out for coffee?" Punk asked.
"Jesus Christ, coffee?" Dean turned to him, "Who the hell are you?"
"I'm just thinking, it gets her out the house, she can obviously bring Thea… gives us a chance to talk." Punk shrugged.
"I think she'll blow you off but whatever." Dean said.
"I'm gonna ask her." Punk said.
"Yeah, she blew me off." Punk walked into the kitchen later that night after being at AJ's apartment.
"Told you." Dean nodded, sitting at the kitchen table having his beer and a cigarette, "What'd she say?"
"Thanks but no thanks, basically." Punk said, "She was polite about it, I guess." He nodded, "I'm just worried about her, you know. In that apartment twenty four seven with Thea. She probably wants to get a job but she can't… she'll have no one to look after Thea." He said, "I wanna help her."
"First you gotta get her trust back, man." Dean shook his head, "She's not your ride or die anymore. She puts her everything into Thea and she trusts nobody. That's what you're working with here." He nodded as Punk sighed, throwing his cap onto the table and collapsing down on the seat, "You're gonna have good and bad days-"
"I just want her to know how sorry I am." Punk sighed to himself, "I feel like I just… I can't put into words how sorry." He said, "She was there for me through everything. She was my best friend and that's… that's how I treated her."
"You were a dumb kid. You've learned. You've grown. We all have. She made mistakes too-"
"She got out of hers. She grew up. She wanted us to get proper jobs and work things out, and I wanted to take the easy road and work with Rio." Punk said, "Maybe this is exactly what I deserve. This is the world giving back what I put into it. Bullshit." Punk said as Dean sighed, stubbing out his cigarette and sitting up.
"Ok, listen to me… you're not a bad person." Dean nodded, "We did what we had to back then to survive, to get money, to get away from mom and all her bullshit. We weren't perfect but we learn, we grow… now you gotta focus on the now. You got a daughter. Put all that energy into her. Be a good dad. Be a dad that we never even knew." Dean said, "Because I know you can do it."
"I'll be as good a dad as I was a boyfriend." Punk scoffed, running his hand through his blonde hair.
"Quit that." Dean said, "You're gonna be good. And you and April… it might take time, a lot of time, but what you had with her, you know it's still there and so does she deep down." Dean said, "I was there. I was with you guys. I saw it. You don't get that kind of love anywhere." He said as Punk sighed, "You gotta put on your adult pants now, keep your head down and work hard." He said.
"When did you get so wise?" Punk smiled a little. He saw a significant change in his younger brother. They had both changed in many positive ways. They saw more to life than just getting by. They saw more to fight for, more to take care of.
"It's the beer." Dean nodded to him as Punk scoffed.
"Oh, yeah. I'm sure." Punk scoffed, "Thank you." He nodded sincerely as Dean smiled.
"Just behave yourself, alright?" Dean nodded to him as Punk smiled and nodded, "She'll come to you when she's ready. And drop this coffee bullshit… we're not turning into those people who drink coffee every day. I will not let us." He warned as Punk smiled, "Street kids don't drink coffee." He said as Punk just smiled and nodded.
