False Mother's Vengence
By: Jessica R Vance
Summary: Jessiebelle has begun to search for her husband and "daughter." This one isn't quite as long as the first part.
Disclaimer: Still own Jacqueline, that's still it.
Rating: PG-13 for swearing and violence.
Author's Note: Sorry this one took so long; I had some of it finished then my mom accidentally put my disk in the dryer with my coat. Lost all formatting and data on the disk and I had to start over. I lost all my other fics too, but I managed to get those off ff.net. Anyways, the fic's here now, so enjoy! Oh, and again, I didn't do Jessiebelle's accent. Also, TWERP ALERT!!! AAMR's, you'll like it. ::waddles off::
WARNING: Someone *does* die in this! I'm not saying who, but if you are a fan of anyone in this story, *please* don't flame me when I kill them! (Hint: It's not James, I love him too much! ^_^)
*Prologue*
"Jackie... thank you so much!" Dad said.
"If it weren't for you..." Jessie began.
"We would have never met up again," Dad finished.
I smiled and felt tears running down my face as I hugged them back. My family... we were finally a *real* family, with *real* love... and a real future.
Or so I thought...
*False Mother's Vengence*
I yawned, stretched, and opened my eyes. The clock glared 7:30 at me in big green numbers. I frowned at it, hit the Snooze button, and rolled over...
Off the couch.
"Shit," I said, sitting up. I had forgotten that I was on Jessie's couch in her living room, instead of in my bed at the estate. I did that a lot.
Sitting up, I rubbed my eyes and looked around. Nobody seemed to be up yet, though Jessie usually went to work at her beauty salon at 8:00. 'Maybe her alarm clock broke,' I thought to myself.
Then, "Good morning, Jackie!" Jessie had emerged. "What are you doing on the floor?"
"Fell outta bed," I said dryly. I got up, dusted off my seat, and walked over to her. "How'd you sleep?"
"Like a log," She said, going into the kitchen to make coffee. I followed. "I've been sleeping better than I have in a long time since you guys came," she commented. I had reunited my dad with his old flame, and, coincidentally, my mother, three weeks ago. Our one-month anniversary was coming up and I knew they were going to want to celebrate.
"Did you sleep in?" I asked, glancing at the clock that read 7:35. "You're gonna need to hustle if you have to be at the salon by eight."
"Today's my day off," Jessie answered nonchalantly. "Which reminds me, where would you like to go?"
"Shouldn't we wait 'till Dad's up to decide?"
"Oh, he'll just go wherever we go, trust me. He's a late sleeper."
"I know. He never got to sleep in much when we lived with Je-"
"With who?"
"J...Jessiebelle." I said cautiously. No one had mentioned her since Dad and me first started living with Jessie.
"What's wrong?" Jessie asked, looking concerned.
"Oh, nothing. It's just... well, I didn't know if you really want to hear her name or not. I don't like saying it."
To my surprise and ultimate confusion, Jessie threw back her head and laughed. "Go ahead! Say her name. She's not Bloody Mary, she won't hear you."
I managed a nervous laugh as well. To be perfectly honest, that was *exactly* what I was afraid of. We hadn't heard anything from Jessiebelle yet, but there was always the possibility that she was just watching us... ready to pounce like a Persian on its prey.
Seemingly reading my mind, Jessie said, "Don't worry, Jackie. If Jessiebelle knew where you and James were, I'm sure she would have come for you by now. She probably doesn't even have a clue as to where to start looking."
At that moment, we heard a long, loud yawn come from the doorway to the kitchen. We turned to see my dad standing in the doorway in blue pants and a tank top, scratching his stomach sleepily. I curled my lip. "Men," I said disgustedly, "Want anything, Dad?"
"Must... have... coffee..." he said, stumbling into the kitchen and managing to find a chair at the table. "Need... caffeine..." I rolled my eyes and poured him a cup of the brew Jessie had just made. Lots of sugar, a little cream, and a dash of cinnamon. Just the way Dad liked it.
"Here ya go."
"Thank you..." he said and began slurping at it. I found it amazing how my father's manners had totally gone down the crapper since we got here. It was like when he was with Jessie, everything Jessiebelle ever drilled into his head had just flown out the window. Not that I had room to talk; Jessiebelle *never* let me swear in her presence. Jessie and Dad didn't care, just so long as I kept it to a minimum.
"So Dad, we were just discussing where to go today since it's Jessie's day off..." I began. His ears perked and he looked up from his coffee at me drowsily.
"Where did you decide?"
"Told you he wouldn't care," Jessie remarked, grinning at me.
"Well, we didn't actually decide yet. Where were you thinking of going?" I asked, pouring my own cup of coffee (another luxury Jessiebelle had denied me).
"How about that carnival they opened up downtown?" Dad suggested, taking another slurp. "I've heard it's a real doozy. Sound good?" Jessie and I exchanged glances and nodded. "Hey Jess, whatever happened to Meowth?" Dad asked suddenly.
"That's a very good question. I was hoping you knew," Jessie answered. "I thought he went with you."
"To live with *her*? Oh, that's a good one. Meowth didn't want money *that* badly."
"Whoa, whoa, hold up hold up hold up hold up hold up," I said, holding out my hands. "Who's Meowth?"
"He was our other partner in crime in Team Rocket," Jessie answered, "He was really a good guy, deep down. No matter how evil he claimed he was."
"It was the same way with you, Jess," Dad pointed out, "You weren't mean and nasty deep down, no matter how hard you tried to make like you were."
"Well, you were the only person that could see through that," Jessie answered, shrugging. "I guess that's why I ended up with you."
"No," I said, "*I'm* why you *ended* up with him, thank you very much." Jessie laughed and smiled at me. "So tell me more about this Meowth," I continued, "What was he like?"
"Oh, he absolutely *adored* you when you were very first born," James said, setting down his cup and smiling distantly. "He had us call him your Uncle Meowth... he always tried to make like he didn't care that we were having a kid when we first announced it to him... said things like 'You guys is gonna make lousy parents' and 'Dat kid ain't gonna be worth nothin'.' *Then*, you actually came along. It was almost impossible to tear him away from you."
I contemplated this. "Tell me more about him."
"Well," Jessie began, "When he was first born, his mother abandoned him..."
~*~
"Shit," Jessiebelle muttered to herself. She knew it was unladylike of her, but she was very frustrated. Her husband and daughter had run off... and she didn't have a clue as to where to start looking. She didn't even know that whore Jessie's name. She had a sneaking suspicion that she was where James and Jacqueline were, but she didn't know where to find her! She frowned and got out the White Pages for Cerulean City and began thumbing through the pages. It seemed it started with a P...
Paaz... Pabst... Pace... Pachecho... Pacific... Packard... Packwood... Page... Palesano... Paramo... Parham... Pari... Park... Parker...
PARKER!!! That was it!
She began to scan through the names of the Parkers. Jason... Jem... Jimiah... no Jessie or Jessica. She frowned and got out the Viridian City phone book and began looking again...
~*~
"Wow... I sure wish we could find Meowth," I said as I put my jacket on. We were heading out to go to the carnival.
"Yeah, me too. Who knows, we may run into him one of these days," Jessie agreed. They headed out the door and began the long walk to the carnival.
~*~
"Celadon City... finally... Get ready, James dearest... I'm coming back for you..."
~*~
"Jess! Jess, look!" Dad said, grabbing Jessie's hand and pointing. "Look who it is!"
Jessie and I looked past Dad's finger and saw three people and a Pikachu. One guy had scruffy black hair and what looked like an old official Pokémon League hat. The girl, who was holding on to the man's arm, had orangish hair pulled into a side ponytail and blue-green eyes. The final man was dark-skinned and seemed to not have any eyes. He keep glancing at the other two and shaking his head affectionately. I also noticed a Pikachu riding on the first guy's head, which was a little odd. "Who are they?" I asked.
"It's the twerps!" Jessie exclaimed. "I haven't seen them in ages!" When I looked at her, she said, "When we were in Team Rocket, we used to follow these guys around all the time, trying to steal that Pikachu!"
"You obviously didn't do it," I commented.
"Yeah, we uh... we weren't the best agents in the world," Dad said sheepishly, "But it was fun anyways. HEY GUYS!" he yelled, waving in the direction of the group. They looked at us and seemed to recognize him as they came over.
"James?" The black-haired man said. "Is that you?"
"And Jessie?" The woman continued. "What are you guys doing here?"
"Enjoying the carnival like everybody else," Dad said, smiling amiably. "Guys, I'd like you to meet someone," He motioned to me, "Jackie, this is Ash, Misty, and Brock. Ash, Misty, Brock, this is Jackie, our daughter."
I swear I have never seen anyone's jaws drop so far as theirs did. "Your *daughter*!?" Ash said in disbelief. "You mean you guys actually had a kid!?"
"Oh, Ash, you knew they would someday. It had to happen," Misty said, smiling at Dad and Jessie.
"Just like we knew you and Mr. Pokémon Master had to get together someday," Jessie said slyly, grinning at the blushing Ash and Misty.
"And I'm still all alone..." a downtrodden Brock said sadly. I felt a little sorry for him. I sure couldn't see why women didn't go for him; he was actually pretty cute.
"Oh, it'll be OK," Dad said, patting him on the back. "You'll find someone someday..."
"I think you're right... the lady at the cotton candy booth *was* making eyes at me..." Brock said, rubbing his chin.
Dad sighed and turned to the others. "Well, it was nice seeing you guys again. We really should get going so we don't miss all the good stuff. See ya around!"
With that, we waved to the "twerps" and headed on our way.
~*~
"456 Cherrywood Suite... this is the place..."
~*~
While we were heading back from the carnival, I suddenly got an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. At first I thought it was just the fact that I had ridden the Tilt-A-Whirl 17 times in a row, then I began to recognize the feeling. It was the same feeling I got whenever I came home later than I was supposed to and I knew Jessiebelle was coming to punish me. I knew she was waiting for us... she was coming...
I told Dad. "You're being ridiculous," he said, "Jessiebelle doesn't know where we are!"
"Jackie, I told you this morning, don't worry about it. She's long gone, forget about her!" Jessie agreed.
I still couldn't shake the feeling. "I trust my gut, Dad, Jessie," I said, "I know what I'm talking about. Jessiebelle is obsessed enough with Dad that she'll come looking for us. And the reason we haven't heard anything about her is because she's laying low... waiting for us to settle down and get comfy before she strikes. She'll follow us..."
"To the ends of the earth and the bottom of the sea..." Dad said quietly.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing."
~*~
We reached Jessie's house and the feeling hadn't dissapated any. So I told Dad, "Let me go in first." Surprisingly, he nodded. I cautiously opened the door...
"Hello, Jacqueline."
"Dammit!" I shrieked. "What the HELL are you doing here!?!?" I screamed at her.
"Now now, that's no way to talk to your mother, Jacqueline..."
"You're not my damn mother! Jessie is!" By now, Dad and Jessie had come in and seen Jessiebelle sitting on the couch, smiling at us like a hungry Persian.
"Oh dear... I'm afraid you've found out the truth," Jessiebelle said in that syrupy sweet Southern voice of hers. "I'm afraid now that you know, you can't come back."
"Well, that's perfectly fine with me!"
"No, no... I'm afraid you don't understand... I'll be taking my James with me."
"He's not your James!" Jessie said, sweeping in furiously. "He's never *been* your James and he never *will* be your James! So why don't you just leave us alone and let us live in peace!?"
"I'm afraid I can't do that..." Jessiebelle said with faux sweetness, "You see, James is my husband... and you can't change that. I've just come to take back what's rightfully mine..." She got up and headed toward Dad, who was paralyzed with fear. I had to do something.
I rushed at Jessiebelle in a blind fury. Before she knew what was happening, I was on top of her, beating my fists into the face that dared to mock my mother's. "You- can't- have- my- father!" I screamed with each punch. Somehow Jessiebelle got her wits about her and threw me off of herself. She pulled out her whip and brought it down on my face. Shrieking in pain, I fell to the ground, panting with fatigue and anger.
"Now you listen to me, you insolent, arrogant bitch," Jessiebelle said, brandishing her whip at Jessie and Dad, who were heading toward her, ready to kill her, from the looks of them, "I looked after you from the ground up, and that bitch over there did absolutely nothing to help raise you. Now- you tell me, which one of us is your *mother*?"
"Jessie," I said, holding my face, "It's better that I never know my birthmother than to have a false mother who didn't give a shit what happened to me." With this comment, the whip came raging down on my face again.
"You fool! Of course I cared what happened to you! If you had gotten into trouble, it would have marred the Morgan name permanently! That's why I looked after you!" Jessiebelle's face was red and she was trembling with rage.
"Then you cared about me for all the wrong reasons, *mother*," I said scornfully. "At least Jessie cares about me for who I am... her daughter, and not just some heir to the family name. My father went through this same shit when he was being "raised" by his parents, and I'm not going to TAKE IT!" I yelled the last part, leaping up again, surprising Jessiebelle by jumping onto her chest and letting my fist fly again. "You may have lived in the same house as me..." I panted as I attacked her, "You may have married my father..." She was too weak to fight back now, "But you will never... NEVER... be... my... MOTHER..." With that, I stopped my assault and got off of her.
Jessiebelle looked up at me through eyes that were half swollen shut. She attempted to say something, but closed her eyes and went limp before it came out. I stood staring at her, and suddenly the weight of what I had just done hit me like a train.
I had killed her.
Jessie and Dad came running over to me, hugging me and crying. "Dear God..." Dad managed to choke out, "Are you all right?"
"I..." I trailed off. I couldn't bring myself to say it.
"It's all right," Jessie said, as if reading my mind. "It was self defense... she threatened us..."
I realized that tears were running down my face. "I'm crying..." I said in a small voice, "Why... why am I crying? I didn't care about her..."
"It's not who she was..." Dad said, "It's what you did. You're crying because you took someone's life." I nodded, still not quite understanding. I opened my mouth to say more when I felt the metallic sting of blood on my tongue. I put my hand to my face and realized that the two spots where Jessiebelle had hit me were bleeding. The blood mingled with my tears and fell onto Jessiebelle's still form.
I stared at her, the work of my hands... my hands... they still had the blood from her face on them. I looked at them. Her blood, my blood... all on my hands. I fell to my knees and bowed my head. "I'm a murderer," I whispered.
Dad kneeled next to me and put his hand on my shoulder. "Jackie... you had to do this. She was threatening your life. One of you would have died either way... and it's best that it wasn't you." I looked at him tearfully, then threw my arms around his neck and hugged him, shaking with sobs. Jessie hugged us both, and we just stayed there, crying over Jessiebelle's dead body.
~*~
They buried Jessiebelle two days later. We told them that she had gotten caught in a ride at the carnival. For some unknown reason, they believed us, though her wounds didn't look like they were made by machinery. We all went to her funeral, though I didn't particularly want to. But... I had to come to terms with myself over what I had done. And when I left the cemetary... I had a sort of feeling of closure about the whole thing.
Jessie and Dad got married. No one thought it strange that Dad's wife died and a week later he got remarried. I was Jessie's maid of honor. We're now living at the estate. Dad and Jessiebelle's old room has been sealed up. None of us can bear to go in there.
So actually... everything turned out OK in the end. I got my real mother, Dad got his true love back, so did Jessie... I'm still working on calling her "Mom." It's weird to have both parents call me Jackie... I'm not used to this whole new thing. It's going to take a while, I think. But, I suppose that's quite a small price to pay for having a real family. And I'm willing to pay it.
**The End**
Welp, there you have it! The usual spiel on flaming goes here, don't do it unless you're gonna tell me why it was bad. *Constructive* criticism only! Thankies!
JessicaVance@lovelornpoet.com
By: Jessica R Vance
Summary: Jessiebelle has begun to search for her husband and "daughter." This one isn't quite as long as the first part.
Disclaimer: Still own Jacqueline, that's still it.
Rating: PG-13 for swearing and violence.
Author's Note: Sorry this one took so long; I had some of it finished then my mom accidentally put my disk in the dryer with my coat. Lost all formatting and data on the disk and I had to start over. I lost all my other fics too, but I managed to get those off ff.net. Anyways, the fic's here now, so enjoy! Oh, and again, I didn't do Jessiebelle's accent. Also, TWERP ALERT!!! AAMR's, you'll like it. ::waddles off::
WARNING: Someone *does* die in this! I'm not saying who, but if you are a fan of anyone in this story, *please* don't flame me when I kill them! (Hint: It's not James, I love him too much! ^_^)
*Prologue*
"Jackie... thank you so much!" Dad said.
"If it weren't for you..." Jessie began.
"We would have never met up again," Dad finished.
I smiled and felt tears running down my face as I hugged them back. My family... we were finally a *real* family, with *real* love... and a real future.
Or so I thought...
*False Mother's Vengence*
I yawned, stretched, and opened my eyes. The clock glared 7:30 at me in big green numbers. I frowned at it, hit the Snooze button, and rolled over...
Off the couch.
"Shit," I said, sitting up. I had forgotten that I was on Jessie's couch in her living room, instead of in my bed at the estate. I did that a lot.
Sitting up, I rubbed my eyes and looked around. Nobody seemed to be up yet, though Jessie usually went to work at her beauty salon at 8:00. 'Maybe her alarm clock broke,' I thought to myself.
Then, "Good morning, Jackie!" Jessie had emerged. "What are you doing on the floor?"
"Fell outta bed," I said dryly. I got up, dusted off my seat, and walked over to her. "How'd you sleep?"
"Like a log," She said, going into the kitchen to make coffee. I followed. "I've been sleeping better than I have in a long time since you guys came," she commented. I had reunited my dad with his old flame, and, coincidentally, my mother, three weeks ago. Our one-month anniversary was coming up and I knew they were going to want to celebrate.
"Did you sleep in?" I asked, glancing at the clock that read 7:35. "You're gonna need to hustle if you have to be at the salon by eight."
"Today's my day off," Jessie answered nonchalantly. "Which reminds me, where would you like to go?"
"Shouldn't we wait 'till Dad's up to decide?"
"Oh, he'll just go wherever we go, trust me. He's a late sleeper."
"I know. He never got to sleep in much when we lived with Je-"
"With who?"
"J...Jessiebelle." I said cautiously. No one had mentioned her since Dad and me first started living with Jessie.
"What's wrong?" Jessie asked, looking concerned.
"Oh, nothing. It's just... well, I didn't know if you really want to hear her name or not. I don't like saying it."
To my surprise and ultimate confusion, Jessie threw back her head and laughed. "Go ahead! Say her name. She's not Bloody Mary, she won't hear you."
I managed a nervous laugh as well. To be perfectly honest, that was *exactly* what I was afraid of. We hadn't heard anything from Jessiebelle yet, but there was always the possibility that she was just watching us... ready to pounce like a Persian on its prey.
Seemingly reading my mind, Jessie said, "Don't worry, Jackie. If Jessiebelle knew where you and James were, I'm sure she would have come for you by now. She probably doesn't even have a clue as to where to start looking."
At that moment, we heard a long, loud yawn come from the doorway to the kitchen. We turned to see my dad standing in the doorway in blue pants and a tank top, scratching his stomach sleepily. I curled my lip. "Men," I said disgustedly, "Want anything, Dad?"
"Must... have... coffee..." he said, stumbling into the kitchen and managing to find a chair at the table. "Need... caffeine..." I rolled my eyes and poured him a cup of the brew Jessie had just made. Lots of sugar, a little cream, and a dash of cinnamon. Just the way Dad liked it.
"Here ya go."
"Thank you..." he said and began slurping at it. I found it amazing how my father's manners had totally gone down the crapper since we got here. It was like when he was with Jessie, everything Jessiebelle ever drilled into his head had just flown out the window. Not that I had room to talk; Jessiebelle *never* let me swear in her presence. Jessie and Dad didn't care, just so long as I kept it to a minimum.
"So Dad, we were just discussing where to go today since it's Jessie's day off..." I began. His ears perked and he looked up from his coffee at me drowsily.
"Where did you decide?"
"Told you he wouldn't care," Jessie remarked, grinning at me.
"Well, we didn't actually decide yet. Where were you thinking of going?" I asked, pouring my own cup of coffee (another luxury Jessiebelle had denied me).
"How about that carnival they opened up downtown?" Dad suggested, taking another slurp. "I've heard it's a real doozy. Sound good?" Jessie and I exchanged glances and nodded. "Hey Jess, whatever happened to Meowth?" Dad asked suddenly.
"That's a very good question. I was hoping you knew," Jessie answered. "I thought he went with you."
"To live with *her*? Oh, that's a good one. Meowth didn't want money *that* badly."
"Whoa, whoa, hold up hold up hold up hold up hold up," I said, holding out my hands. "Who's Meowth?"
"He was our other partner in crime in Team Rocket," Jessie answered, "He was really a good guy, deep down. No matter how evil he claimed he was."
"It was the same way with you, Jess," Dad pointed out, "You weren't mean and nasty deep down, no matter how hard you tried to make like you were."
"Well, you were the only person that could see through that," Jessie answered, shrugging. "I guess that's why I ended up with you."
"No," I said, "*I'm* why you *ended* up with him, thank you very much." Jessie laughed and smiled at me. "So tell me more about this Meowth," I continued, "What was he like?"
"Oh, he absolutely *adored* you when you were very first born," James said, setting down his cup and smiling distantly. "He had us call him your Uncle Meowth... he always tried to make like he didn't care that we were having a kid when we first announced it to him... said things like 'You guys is gonna make lousy parents' and 'Dat kid ain't gonna be worth nothin'.' *Then*, you actually came along. It was almost impossible to tear him away from you."
I contemplated this. "Tell me more about him."
"Well," Jessie began, "When he was first born, his mother abandoned him..."
~*~
"Shit," Jessiebelle muttered to herself. She knew it was unladylike of her, but she was very frustrated. Her husband and daughter had run off... and she didn't have a clue as to where to start looking. She didn't even know that whore Jessie's name. She had a sneaking suspicion that she was where James and Jacqueline were, but she didn't know where to find her! She frowned and got out the White Pages for Cerulean City and began thumbing through the pages. It seemed it started with a P...
Paaz... Pabst... Pace... Pachecho... Pacific... Packard... Packwood... Page... Palesano... Paramo... Parham... Pari... Park... Parker...
PARKER!!! That was it!
She began to scan through the names of the Parkers. Jason... Jem... Jimiah... no Jessie or Jessica. She frowned and got out the Viridian City phone book and began looking again...
~*~
"Wow... I sure wish we could find Meowth," I said as I put my jacket on. We were heading out to go to the carnival.
"Yeah, me too. Who knows, we may run into him one of these days," Jessie agreed. They headed out the door and began the long walk to the carnival.
~*~
"Celadon City... finally... Get ready, James dearest... I'm coming back for you..."
~*~
"Jess! Jess, look!" Dad said, grabbing Jessie's hand and pointing. "Look who it is!"
Jessie and I looked past Dad's finger and saw three people and a Pikachu. One guy had scruffy black hair and what looked like an old official Pokémon League hat. The girl, who was holding on to the man's arm, had orangish hair pulled into a side ponytail and blue-green eyes. The final man was dark-skinned and seemed to not have any eyes. He keep glancing at the other two and shaking his head affectionately. I also noticed a Pikachu riding on the first guy's head, which was a little odd. "Who are they?" I asked.
"It's the twerps!" Jessie exclaimed. "I haven't seen them in ages!" When I looked at her, she said, "When we were in Team Rocket, we used to follow these guys around all the time, trying to steal that Pikachu!"
"You obviously didn't do it," I commented.
"Yeah, we uh... we weren't the best agents in the world," Dad said sheepishly, "But it was fun anyways. HEY GUYS!" he yelled, waving in the direction of the group. They looked at us and seemed to recognize him as they came over.
"James?" The black-haired man said. "Is that you?"
"And Jessie?" The woman continued. "What are you guys doing here?"
"Enjoying the carnival like everybody else," Dad said, smiling amiably. "Guys, I'd like you to meet someone," He motioned to me, "Jackie, this is Ash, Misty, and Brock. Ash, Misty, Brock, this is Jackie, our daughter."
I swear I have never seen anyone's jaws drop so far as theirs did. "Your *daughter*!?" Ash said in disbelief. "You mean you guys actually had a kid!?"
"Oh, Ash, you knew they would someday. It had to happen," Misty said, smiling at Dad and Jessie.
"Just like we knew you and Mr. Pokémon Master had to get together someday," Jessie said slyly, grinning at the blushing Ash and Misty.
"And I'm still all alone..." a downtrodden Brock said sadly. I felt a little sorry for him. I sure couldn't see why women didn't go for him; he was actually pretty cute.
"Oh, it'll be OK," Dad said, patting him on the back. "You'll find someone someday..."
"I think you're right... the lady at the cotton candy booth *was* making eyes at me..." Brock said, rubbing his chin.
Dad sighed and turned to the others. "Well, it was nice seeing you guys again. We really should get going so we don't miss all the good stuff. See ya around!"
With that, we waved to the "twerps" and headed on our way.
~*~
"456 Cherrywood Suite... this is the place..."
~*~
While we were heading back from the carnival, I suddenly got an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. At first I thought it was just the fact that I had ridden the Tilt-A-Whirl 17 times in a row, then I began to recognize the feeling. It was the same feeling I got whenever I came home later than I was supposed to and I knew Jessiebelle was coming to punish me. I knew she was waiting for us... she was coming...
I told Dad. "You're being ridiculous," he said, "Jessiebelle doesn't know where we are!"
"Jackie, I told you this morning, don't worry about it. She's long gone, forget about her!" Jessie agreed.
I still couldn't shake the feeling. "I trust my gut, Dad, Jessie," I said, "I know what I'm talking about. Jessiebelle is obsessed enough with Dad that she'll come looking for us. And the reason we haven't heard anything about her is because she's laying low... waiting for us to settle down and get comfy before she strikes. She'll follow us..."
"To the ends of the earth and the bottom of the sea..." Dad said quietly.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing."
~*~
We reached Jessie's house and the feeling hadn't dissapated any. So I told Dad, "Let me go in first." Surprisingly, he nodded. I cautiously opened the door...
"Hello, Jacqueline."
"Dammit!" I shrieked. "What the HELL are you doing here!?!?" I screamed at her.
"Now now, that's no way to talk to your mother, Jacqueline..."
"You're not my damn mother! Jessie is!" By now, Dad and Jessie had come in and seen Jessiebelle sitting on the couch, smiling at us like a hungry Persian.
"Oh dear... I'm afraid you've found out the truth," Jessiebelle said in that syrupy sweet Southern voice of hers. "I'm afraid now that you know, you can't come back."
"Well, that's perfectly fine with me!"
"No, no... I'm afraid you don't understand... I'll be taking my James with me."
"He's not your James!" Jessie said, sweeping in furiously. "He's never *been* your James and he never *will* be your James! So why don't you just leave us alone and let us live in peace!?"
"I'm afraid I can't do that..." Jessiebelle said with faux sweetness, "You see, James is my husband... and you can't change that. I've just come to take back what's rightfully mine..." She got up and headed toward Dad, who was paralyzed with fear. I had to do something.
I rushed at Jessiebelle in a blind fury. Before she knew what was happening, I was on top of her, beating my fists into the face that dared to mock my mother's. "You- can't- have- my- father!" I screamed with each punch. Somehow Jessiebelle got her wits about her and threw me off of herself. She pulled out her whip and brought it down on my face. Shrieking in pain, I fell to the ground, panting with fatigue and anger.
"Now you listen to me, you insolent, arrogant bitch," Jessiebelle said, brandishing her whip at Jessie and Dad, who were heading toward her, ready to kill her, from the looks of them, "I looked after you from the ground up, and that bitch over there did absolutely nothing to help raise you. Now- you tell me, which one of us is your *mother*?"
"Jessie," I said, holding my face, "It's better that I never know my birthmother than to have a false mother who didn't give a shit what happened to me." With this comment, the whip came raging down on my face again.
"You fool! Of course I cared what happened to you! If you had gotten into trouble, it would have marred the Morgan name permanently! That's why I looked after you!" Jessiebelle's face was red and she was trembling with rage.
"Then you cared about me for all the wrong reasons, *mother*," I said scornfully. "At least Jessie cares about me for who I am... her daughter, and not just some heir to the family name. My father went through this same shit when he was being "raised" by his parents, and I'm not going to TAKE IT!" I yelled the last part, leaping up again, surprising Jessiebelle by jumping onto her chest and letting my fist fly again. "You may have lived in the same house as me..." I panted as I attacked her, "You may have married my father..." She was too weak to fight back now, "But you will never... NEVER... be... my... MOTHER..." With that, I stopped my assault and got off of her.
Jessiebelle looked up at me through eyes that were half swollen shut. She attempted to say something, but closed her eyes and went limp before it came out. I stood staring at her, and suddenly the weight of what I had just done hit me like a train.
I had killed her.
Jessie and Dad came running over to me, hugging me and crying. "Dear God..." Dad managed to choke out, "Are you all right?"
"I..." I trailed off. I couldn't bring myself to say it.
"It's all right," Jessie said, as if reading my mind. "It was self defense... she threatened us..."
I realized that tears were running down my face. "I'm crying..." I said in a small voice, "Why... why am I crying? I didn't care about her..."
"It's not who she was..." Dad said, "It's what you did. You're crying because you took someone's life." I nodded, still not quite understanding. I opened my mouth to say more when I felt the metallic sting of blood on my tongue. I put my hand to my face and realized that the two spots where Jessiebelle had hit me were bleeding. The blood mingled with my tears and fell onto Jessiebelle's still form.
I stared at her, the work of my hands... my hands... they still had the blood from her face on them. I looked at them. Her blood, my blood... all on my hands. I fell to my knees and bowed my head. "I'm a murderer," I whispered.
Dad kneeled next to me and put his hand on my shoulder. "Jackie... you had to do this. She was threatening your life. One of you would have died either way... and it's best that it wasn't you." I looked at him tearfully, then threw my arms around his neck and hugged him, shaking with sobs. Jessie hugged us both, and we just stayed there, crying over Jessiebelle's dead body.
~*~
They buried Jessiebelle two days later. We told them that she had gotten caught in a ride at the carnival. For some unknown reason, they believed us, though her wounds didn't look like they were made by machinery. We all went to her funeral, though I didn't particularly want to. But... I had to come to terms with myself over what I had done. And when I left the cemetary... I had a sort of feeling of closure about the whole thing.
Jessie and Dad got married. No one thought it strange that Dad's wife died and a week later he got remarried. I was Jessie's maid of honor. We're now living at the estate. Dad and Jessiebelle's old room has been sealed up. None of us can bear to go in there.
So actually... everything turned out OK in the end. I got my real mother, Dad got his true love back, so did Jessie... I'm still working on calling her "Mom." It's weird to have both parents call me Jackie... I'm not used to this whole new thing. It's going to take a while, I think. But, I suppose that's quite a small price to pay for having a real family. And I'm willing to pay it.
**The End**
Welp, there you have it! The usual spiel on flaming goes here, don't do it unless you're gonna tell me why it was bad. *Constructive* criticism only! Thankies!
JessicaVance@lovelornpoet.com