Truancy
Night has fallen and she is alone. Jessie slipped out the side door of social services about a half hour ago. She has acquired a talent for escape, lord knows she needed it with a couple of her foster dads. The woman at the desk near the door enjoyed her company, this witty, waspish but somehow charming red haired girl. The phone rang, the girl had been there chatting about a fashion magazine on the desk, then she was gone. The woman decided she had gotten bored and gone back to her room, but she had actually whisked out the door into the dusky streets.
She is on a mission to see her most recent foster mom, her target is the Pokémon Centre near the city's central square. She has had better times, yesterday her foster dad had cut her loose because she knew how to use a piece of glass to defend herself. She had cried herself to sleep, and awakened determined to pursue her foster mother's career of pokémon nurse. She's not entirely sure why, maybe it's because she really enjoys pokémon. Some of her best memories are of playing with family pets. Often the pokémon were the best part of a home, like the rather brutal couple who kept an umbreon as a night watch. That animal could be really frightening, but it had a sweetness at its core that the kindred Jessie had unearthed with no fuss at all. Many of the pokémon she has embraced would cause others to recoil, she had even played with an ariados at one of her way stations. She realizes this is because she's an outcast too. That's why she will be a great pokémon nurse, she doesn't play favourites, fawning on the cute little pikachus and neglecting the raticates. Besides this Joy has seemingly had warm feelings for her, and hopes for her future. She smirks recalling last winter when Joy had wholeheartedly helped her prepare a snow meal like her first foster mom used to whip up complete with soy sauce and seaweed wrappers. Boy did Cassidy hate that, the spoiled fair-haired brat had been scandalized. How Jessie and Joy had laughed at Cassidy's reaction after they had left the dining room.
Her thoughts uncomfortably turn to her former roommate. Cassidy, what a piece of work, by turns unknowable, conspiratorial, scathingly funny in an acrid way, smoothly charming, and utterly cold and implacable when angered. Jessie had rather liked running with Cass, they were a two woman gang. Jessie did the heavy lifting and brought up ideas, Cass had done the planning and overseen the execution of their plans. Once the wheels were spinning Cassidy could see things from all angles and plan the perfect crime. "Why did I bother with all that stealing and vandalism?" Jessie asks herself. "Because it was wicked fun, silly!" especially with the devil may care Cass along. Then Cassidy had brought this older boy into their plans.
Butch, how handsome, such sweet looks, a perfect cavalier, he seemed to have no scruples whatsoever, and no fear either. Boy, he was cool. Cassidy clearly was attracted to him, although she tried to act demure with him, at least around Jessie. When Butch had showed some interest in Jess, she remembers blushing and immediately opening up to him. He seemed amused, when he grabbed her waist she didn't resist. Cassidy had come through the door then, and turned bright red, screamed a string of words that made Jessie ache for a notepad, and thrown herself at her as Butch deftly turned her loose and spun out of harm's way. Jessie had a glass of Southern Comfort in her hand and Cassidy's wild swing smashed both hand and glass. Jessie reacted instinctively, and had run for it after staring in horror at the torrent of blood running down the howling Cassidy's face. The Yamatos had gone to the emergency room and received Cassidy's version of events first. That pretty much sealed Jessie's fate, "Nobody ever believes me, I'm a proven liar," she sighs inwardly.
***************************************
Cassidy quietly slips out the back door with her suitcase. Her Dad is in the den working on another damned paper for some obscure journal, her Mom should be coming home from the poké centre by now. She quietly closes the door, holding it so as not to let it slam. She heaves a sigh, tosses her golden locks, feeling her dangling earrings touch her face. She crosses the neighbour's lawn and walks up the street. Butch is there as she turns the corner. There is a dark blue BMW with the motor running at the curb where he stands. Two men in their twenties looking unkempt in black turtlenecks and soft black caps sit in the front seat, one of them at the wheel. The black of their outfits is relieved by a block print red 'R' over the left breast.
"Hi," Butch says casually in his odd rasping voice, he tosses his shortish teal hair parted down the middle, and fixes his intense dark brown eyes on her. His voice came from a long bout of childhood bronchitis, it bothers some people, but Cassidy finds it alluring. "So these are your pals?" she says trying to sound as casual as he does.
"Yep," he says offhandedly, "Rocket gang members, the most efficient and feared pokémon thieves in the world."
"So what are we doing with these guys? Aren't we smart enough to do stuff on our own?" she asks irritably.
"Because they need young trainers in their operation. We can pass as kids on their pokémon jouneys and get into all kinds of places adult members have trouble getting at."
"So? Why not just do that ourselves?"
"Here's the deal, they can give us Pokédexes, pokémon and other credentials that would take us months to forge or steal," Butch looks indecently proud of his discovery.
"Sounds too good to be true to me," Cassidy observes.
"Look, are you in or not?" Butch challenges.
"If you're in, so am I, but I think it'll be hard to get out once we're in," she says skeptically.
"Why would we want out? We get paid to make the suckers look like what they are."
"OK, but why start on Mom's centre? I resent my loyalty being tested."
"S'matter? Worried it'll hurt your Mom? It never bothered her to care more about pokémon and foster kids than you," he casts down the gauntlet.
She mentally picks it up and says, "Yeah, you're right," but her eyes say otherwise.
He chooses to ignore Cassidy's doubts, "These guys will get us out of town. Lemme tell 'em where to pick us up. Then we'll walk to the centre. Here, you might need this. He hands her a four inch switchblade knife.
"Do you really think I'm gonna cut my Mom or her friends?"
"You will, if you haveta," he grins.
She blinks, looks at the lethal tool, swallows and pockets it in her jacket. "Well, let's get over there. I'll discuss the layout and who's on the night shift as we walk," she says.
*****************************************
Jessie knows the place pretty well, she doesn't want Jill or Amanda of the night staff to see her, they both get along with Cassidy too well. They would surely get all upset and call social services or the cops and get her charged with trespassing or something. She finds the ground floor window that is kept ajar to keep the furnace room cool. She jimmies it up with a two-by-four from the centre's dumpster and crawls into the centre. She knows she's going to have to be quick to find Joy still in the building near eight PM. She works her way along the canary yellow hallways hoping Joy is doing a final tidy-up of her desk. She finds the office door ajar and taps on the door timidly with one knuckle. She peeps around the door, Joy is looking up from her desk. "Yes?"
"Um....Mom? It's Jess," Jessie offers timorously.
Joy looks confused and flushes a bit, "I don't know if I should talk to you. Why shouldn't I call social services right now young lady?"
"I wanted to say so long Mom....if you'll still let me call you that," Jessie says softly.
"I guess I can stand it. Cassidy was in one of her special moods today, so I came here to work when Geoff got home. Her face will never be the same, she has no room for forgiveness. But I have a little," Joy sighs.
"I figured you wouldn't want to hold Cass's hand too long after the doctor's appointment. I'm really sorry, but Cass was more jealous than I expected, and I guess...I don't have much self control."
"I know dear, I was your age once. Sometimes my best friends became my worst enemies overnight. But I never permanently damaged anybody. I wish your childhood had been less horrific before we came to you, but I can't accept what you did. No civilized person does that," Joy's eyes are very sad.
"I know that, but I was scared and angry, you don't know how it was..." Jessie parries defensively.
"And how was it?" Joy challenges.
Jessie freezes, thinks about it and says, "I...I...can't...it would be telling."
"I'm sorry to hear that the Law of the Jungle still applies to puberty my dear. What else did you want to say?"
"I still want to go into pokémon nursing," Jessie states quietly.
"I don't know what I can do about it. I can recommend your character, especially where it concerns pokémon, but your grades, and I can't easily gloss over your recent...actions," Joy says in a measured tone.
"I know. That's OK. I guess I wanted you to know. Somehow I'm gonna give it a shot. Thanks for being so kind to me, I'd almost forgotten the meaning of the word," Jessie is a little tearful.
"Oh Jessie, you've got such a warm heart under that tough hide!" Joy says hugging the girl tightly, "I won't turn you in, but you've got to go back or you'll have nothing but trouble."
"I'll be alright...Mom," Jessie says with her eyes shut tight.
"I guess I'll just leave you here. You can find your way out. Be good Jessica," Joy says as she straightens up and picks up her evening's paperwork for home.
"Bye," Jessie says almost whispering. And Joy is gone.
*****************************************
Cassidy leads Butch to the same window Jessie used to enter the building. "Hmmmm," Butch says appraisingly after looking at the window's condition and the discarded piece of lumber. "Looks like someone's trying to get in on our action. Keep an eye out for trouble Cass."
Cassidy inhales and holds her breath, letting it go slowly through her teeth, and feels the butt end of the knife in her jacket. She really isn't interested in hurting anybody, not even some common burglar. She promises herself to use the knife in self defence and calms down a bit.
They crawl in through the window, and drop to the floor looking around warily. "The main pokémon storage area is ahead on the left, across from Mom's office," Cassidy says.
They start down the hall and turn the corner and run smack into. Jessie!
The preoccupied girl hears footfalls and looks up, and gasps in horrfied surprise. The threesome, separated by no more than two metres, eye each other with shock in pindrop silence.
"Well, look what the cat dragged in," Butch says sotto voce.
"Be silent Butch!" hisses Cassidy.
"What are you two doing here? Your Mom's just left Cassidy," Jessie offers lamely.
Cassidy reaches involuntarily into her pocket for the knife and works the catch with her thumb, it snaps into glistening life. She holds it in front of her at arm's length. "We're here to pick up a few pokémon for the famous Rocket Gang. What do you make of that bitch?" she says in a cool nasty voice.
Butch stares at his partner in wonder, then smiles coolly, "This oughta be fun," he sneers.
Jessie is not exactly surprised at this turn of events after minimal reflection, she simply says, "But Cassidy, your own Mom. Doesn't family mean anything to you?"
"Funny thing for the foundling punching bag to say," Cassidy says bitterly, "Being in a family isn't all that wonderful when the folks don't pay any attention, and try to give you friends from broken homes."
"But..." Jessie begins. "No buts," Cassidy says wagging her left index finger reprovingly, "You're not me Jess. They never understood or cared enough to try to know me. I'm stronger than they are, and I don't stand for weaklings..." she trails off and starts again, "Including you!" She advances on Jessie with the blade swaying like a cobra preparing to strike.
Jessie is like a bird in the snake's eyes watching the blade approach her face. It stops a centimetre short of the soft flesh of her cheek. "This is too easy," breathes Cassidy, "Just one flick of the wrist...".
"Get it over with!" interjects Butch, "We've got a job to do here."
Cassidy says "Just a minute dearie, I want Jess to suffer like me."
Jessie looks into her tormentors violet eyes with steel in her own blue eyes, "Go ahead Cass. It's just. I'll bear it, I can be every bit as strong as you."
The blonde inhales and sighs. The resolve slips from her eyes, she looks over her shoulder at Butch revealing a sudden anguish. "What's your problem? She's gonna take it like the man she is," Butch says cruelly.
She turns back, and looks at Jessie with a hint of ache. "C'mon Cass. I could disarm you now. What's stopping you?" Jessie asks without a trace of taunting.
"I can't," Cassidy gasps. "Look, Jess I'm gonna let you suffer all right. No justice in this world. Every time you see your perfection in the mirror remember that you destroyed mine. If someone ever cuts you, recall me," and she lowers the weapon from Jessie's face looking at it, crestfallen. "C'mon Butch we've got some pokémon to lift. See ya around Jessie."
Jessie watches them go, she's not going to the authorities, that's certain. Blame for the theft might well fall on her she believes. "I'd better make tracks," she thinks. She turns and walks back to the open window, crawls out, and fades into the night.