Chapter8
English is not my first language, so be kind about my grammar and choice of word.
Rated M because depictions of murder and sexual activities.
Constructive criticism is welcome.
Enjoy :)
They had celebrated the victory with a beer. But then the last piece of the puzzle had to be laid. Johanna. She was all alone right now, Sweeney had to retrieve her. So he walked over and found the house with the beautiful yellow-haired woman sitting in the window. She was as beautiful as her mother, and though Sweeney was overjoyed to see her, it still pained him all that he had missed.
Her first steps, her first words. She was all grown up now. Sweeney went through the garden, up to the door, and kindly knocked on it. A while passed and the door cracked open, only exposing one blue eye behind it. Terrified. "I´m… I´m sorry to disturb you, but are you Johanna?" He asked, his voice shaking of nervousness.
"Yes." Her beautiful fragile voice confirmed. "I have a lot I want to explain to you, but first I have to introduce myself. My name is…" He exhaled deeply looking down. "My name is Benjamin Barker. I´m your father." The eye in the door looked suspiciously at him.
"How can I be sure that you are speaking the truth?" She asked. "You where born in the fall. The first leaves started to fall of the trees that morning that your mother - Lucy - gave birth to you. You where were fond of the light, reaching out for the sun in the window." He said and smiled.
"I can´t remember things from when I was a baby. I don´t remember my father, nor my mother." She said with a stiff voice. Of course she couldn´t, but it was the only time period of he life he´d known her. "Then I suppose you cant trust me. If you want to speak to me again I´ll be in Mrs Lovett´s pie shop on Fleetstreet."
Sweeney turned defeated away from the door but then stopped. "And you know your mother. You´ll see her every time you look in the mirror, or hear the echoes of your own voice. You are almost an exact copy of her." He said. The eye looking out started to fill up with water as the door slowly closed. Sweeney nodded to himself and went home.
"Where is dear Johanna?" Mrs Lovett asked confused. "She didn´t believe me. How will she ever trust that I´m her blood?" He said with frustration. Mrs Lovett cupped his cheek with her hand. "She will come around. Give her time." She said with a soft easy voice, before giving him a small kiss.
"But now we need to keep focus. You´ve got other costumers today. Nothing will matter if we don´t get the money." She said with a sweet, yet hush voice. He like it when she took control. All his life he had been grasping for control, sometimes successfully, other times not. But it was always hard, so when Mrs Lovett took the control out of his hands it was a relief. He trusted her.
He shaved four costumers. All with the same ending, a cut little deeper than they had paid for. When he was done he went down to the shop. To his surprise Johanna was sitting there with Mrs Lovett. "I´m sorry, Turpin haven´t returned home, I didn´t know where to go." Johanna said. "It´s okay dear. You must be hungry, I´ll fix some food for ya."
Neither of the woman had noticed Sweeney on the bottom of the stairs. First when Mrs Lovett got up to fetch some food she saw him. "Oh, hello dear, we have a visitor." She said, and quickly retreated to the kitchen to give them space. "You came?" Sweeney said with a smile.
"I was hungry. My… fiancé didn´t come home as expected." Johanna said and looked down. "The Judge?" Sweeney asked. She nodded and looked out the window. "What kind of fiancés where you? The hopeless romantic kind, or the forced kind?" He said, not being able to control the anger in his voice. "Why do you care? Even if you are my father, you don´t know me." Her voice was strained with annoyance.
"Come." He said offended. Johanna was hesitant at first, but then got up and followed Sweeney. They walked upstairs, through his shop and into his bedroom. In the corner at the window the crib was still standing. Sweeney was done sugar-coating everything, trying to win her trust. He wanted to be straight forward with her.
"This is where you where born. Your mother laid in that bed. And in that crib you slept in the beginning. We loved you like nothing else. That´s why we named you Johanna. Do you even now what your name means?" He asked and looked at her. "No." She admitted in shame.
"It means god is gracious. We couldn´t believe that such a gift, that you, had been granted to us. It was to good to be true. And then it all disappeared." His voice weakened and he spoke lower. Even though she wouldn´t admit it, Johanna´s walls where slowly coming down. Mostly because she was confused.
"Then why did you leave me? I´ve always been told that my dad left me and my mother drank herself to death." Sweeney looked at the crib and asked in a low tone "Who told you that?" Johanna stepped up besides him, also looking at the crib. It was well taken care of, beautifully decorated. Didn´t seem like the belonging of someone who would give up their child. "Judge Turpin." She said.
"It was him who was the reason for all this. He took all that I cared about. My daughter, my wife, my freedom." Johanna nodded. It would explain why she had always felt like a prisoner. Like she wasn´t suppose to live the life she had. "Tell me about her." She said and held back her tears. It was all so much, but she needed to have answers.
"She was beautiful, kind. Fragile in figure, but strong in spirit. I didn´t feel worthy of her love. No one was worthy of it. She didn´t drink despite what the judge told you. It was him who ruined her. She was all alone, he had deported me. He took her and threw her away. And then he took you." He said. Johanna couldn´t hold back her tears anymore.
Sweeney carefully turned to her and opened his arms. She leaned into his chest and let her tears absorb into his shirt. He laid one of his hands on her head, like when she was a baby. He exhaled deeply, this was a moment he had waited for. His little Johanna is in his arms.
His own eyes started to get wet. Of all the things he had lost, this was the only thing he could actually get back. He was not ungrateful, but happy that he could at least get his daughter. And somehow a part of Lucy back. "The judge is going to marry me." She cried into his chest.
"No he is not." Sweeney said and stroked her hair. "Yes. He is to powerful. He is going to break us apart." Sweeney pulled a little back to look her in the eyes. "Turpin is gone. He´s never going to return." Johanna was confused and asked "Is he dead?"
Sweeney pulled her into his arms again, hugging her tight. "You´ll need to trust me Johanna. I can´t explain this now." He couldn´t jeopardize her trust so early on, their relationship was still fragile, delicate, and he couldn´t lose her. "You are safe here Johanna." He whispered and let her go from his tight grip.
"Thank you." She said and dried her eyes. "Let´s go down and get something to eat." He said and pointed towards the door. They walked down stairs, where Mrs Lovett had cooked some sort of gruel. "Dinner is served." She said happily. On the table there was two plates, two spoons, and two glasses.
"Aren´t you going to dine with us Eleanor?" Sweeney asked. "Oh, no, I thought I would give you some time together alone." She answered. "Oh what silliness, come dine with us miss." Johanna said and smiled politely. Sweeney agreed. They had to get used to being a family.
Of course they would have to introduce Johanna to Toby, but he had been in a mood lately. He wouldn´t help as much as he used to, mostly stayed in his room. But that was a matter for another time. Now they where going to celebrate the freedom, victory and the most precious thing that they had all lost many years ago. Hope.