I don't own… aw forget it. ::Walks off grumbling about the stupidity of disclaimers::
Chapter 9: The Mistake
A large paint-roller rolled across Jack's shirt and he glared at Ann. "Ann! What are you doing?!" Ann just grinned and ran away. Jack chased after her, can of paint in hand…
Cliff laughed as he watched Jack and Ann chase each other. He walked over to Karen who was lounging in a lawn chair. "Lazy." He said.
Karen laughed, "I'm incapacitated, remember?" Cliff rolled his eyes, "Give me a break…" He turned back to the action just as took a paintbrush dripping with paint and threw it at Ann. The paintbrush hit its mark and there was suddenly a red splatter on the back of Ann's shirt.
Cliff laughed, "Just like kids…" He turned back to Karen, but she wasn't paying attention. Nope, she was looking intently at Jack.
"You like him, don't you?" Cliff asked quietly. Karen nodded slowly… and then she did a double take. "What are you talking about?!"
Cliff laughed, "You should've seen how you were looking at him!" Karen shook her head, "I was looking at them playing around!" Cliff smiled warmly and then she sighed heavily.
Karen growled, "How do you do that?!" Cliff smirked, "Do tell…" Karen frowned, "Fine… Yes, I do like him… a little bit…" Cliff gave her another look and Karen practically roared. "Okay! Maybe I like him a lot!" Cliff smiled, satisfied that he had learned the truth.
"What about you and Ann?" Cliff stared at Karen, "Wh—what?!" Karen laughed, "You've been spending so much time with her!" Cliff groaned, "Just because we're good friends and like… spending time… together…" Cliff didn't continue as the realization hit. Oh Lord… I do like her, don't I?
"Ahh… So Cliff has finally figured it out!" Cliff looked at her and nodded. Karen laughed, "If you want to know—" Cliff held up a hand, "I don't want to know." He said not wanting to hear anything that might take his mind away from his main goal...
…but it was already too late for that…
The four were sitting at the small restaurant in the Bakery. "I'll have a cheeseburger." Jack said to Jeff, who was taking their orders. Jeff nodded and took off to give the orders to Elli, the cook.
"Thanks for your help, guys." Jack said in between bites of the greasy cheeseburger. "It would have taken me days to do it alone." Cliff laughed, "Jack. The house isn't that big!" Jack shrugged and dug back into the burger.
Fifteen minutes later, after the group had finished eating their respective meals, the small talk came.
"So, how the festival yesterday?" Karen asked. Before anybody else could speak, Ann piped up. "It was great! There were so many new booths and they finally got a new sound system for the music! Poor Jack though… He was stuck with Popuri all day long!" Jack groaned and the other laughed lightly.
Karen turned to Cliff, "How about you? How'd you like it?" Cliff shrugged, "I've never been to it before, so I can't say how much better it was. I had a good time though!"
Just for the chance to laugh at him again, Karen turned to Jack, "How'd you like it, Jack?" Jack groaned again and there were more laughs from the others.
Something popped up in Jack's mind, "Hey, Cliff." Cliff looked at him, "What's up?"
"I've been meaning to ask; what did you mean last night? About what you said about having a 'supernatural encounter'." Cliff visibly paled.
"I—um—what I meant was—" Ann could see that Cliff wasn't going to be very convincing without some help. She placed a hand on his shoulder, silently encouraging him.
Cliff stopped for a second to compose himself. I have God on my side. I have God on my side. He repeated over and over in his mind. Finally, he was ready…
"Okay, I'll tell you, but you have to promise to not say anything until I've finished." Jack and Karen nodded. Ann just smiled.
Cliff took a deep breath. God, help me… "I'm a Christian."
Karen's eyes narrowed, but she was silent. Jack had a similar reaction. Ann, on the other hand, was grinning…
…and Karen noticed it, "What are you smiling about?" Ann's grin disappeared, but she wasn't deterred. "Remember when Jack went and got you from the bar? He had left Cliff at my house, and during the time you guys were gone, Cliff lead me to Christ!"
Jack said nothing, but that was okay; Karen was going to make up for it. "What?! What do you mean he lead you to Christ?!" Ann tried to reply, but she wasn't given the chance, "How can you do that, Cliff? It's one thing for you to be one yourself, but to fool Ann into—" Cliff held up a hand. "I'm not finished." He said sternly. Karen was about to start talking again, but a look from Cliff stopped her.
"If I may continue, I have to tell you my testimony." He said while looking at Jack and Karen. Jack just stared forward with an annoyed expression drawn on his face, but Karen looked away in a huff. Cliff sighed, "If you guys aren't going to listen, I'm not going to even try." Cliff stood and walked out the door.
Ann stared at Cliff in silent surprise. Finally, she got up and ran after him.
"Cliff! What are you doing?" She hissed. Cliff froze from his brisk walking pace and turned back to Ann. "If I know Karen, by now, she's very curious about my testimony. Sooner or later, her curiosity will get the best of her and she'll ask; that's when she'll be most accepting and open-minded, and that's when I'll talk to her about it."
Ann was silent for a moment, "I… guess you're right, but… what about Jack?" Cliff laughed, "I live with him, Ann." Ann shrugged, "Who says you'll live with him after tonight?" Cliff froze once more, but Ann continued on towards her house.
Finally, Cliff laughed and shook his head. "Good point…" He began walking back towards Jack's farm to think of a way to tell Jack about Jesus without getting thrown out in the process…
"I'm going for a walk." Karen stated abruptly before getting up and walking out the door…
…That's when the bill was slapped onto the table in front of Jack.
Jack looked up nervously at Jeff. "I—uh—well…" Jeff laughed, "They left you with the check, huh?" Jack nodded meekly. Jeff shrugged, "You can pay me back later." Jack thanked Jeff and ran out of the restaurant in search of Karen.
The early-spring night air was chilly and Jack could easily see his breath. Where would she be? He wondered. The church.
Jack knocked lightly on the closed door to the church. Nothing… He knocked again. This time, he heard a small shuffling sound… and then there was silence.
Jack sighed and twisted the handle. It was unlocked.
The door was silent as it opened and Jack moved lightly enough to make little sound if any.
He saw a figure knelt down before the familiar statue. In the darkness of the room, he couldn't tell if it was Karen or not.
Jack walked closer to the kneeling figure. He could see now that it wasn't Karen, but he didn't stop for some reason.
As he walked, he could hear the man's voice chanting something in some kind of foreign language. "Ryght ger hwang igerant pillen yujoust…" He chanted it over and over again.
Jack kept walking closer and closer, until his foot landed on a weaker part of the wooden flooring and a loud CREAK filled the room…
"Jesus, please help me tonight as I witness to Jack. He needs to know you, Lord. Do a work in his mind and leave him open-minded as I speak to him tonight." Cliff prayed quietly.
"What is it with you?" Cliff jumped at the feminine voice. Karen stood in the open doorway that led outside. Cliff shrugged, "I could ask the same about you." Karen just rolled her eyes. "You never finished earlier. You have fifteen minutes." Cliff just smiled.
Ann knelt by her bed, but before she could begin her normal prayer routine, she felt the sudden urge to pray for Cliff. So, she did.
"What are you doing here?" The man demanded of Jack. Jack stuttered out an answer, "I'm—I mean—I—I'm looking for Karen."
The man was short, shorter than Jack, and he was wearing nearly all black. He wore a black overcoat that just barely covered the contrasting white undershirt, black dress pants, black shoes, and to top it off, there was a black top hat on his head. Jack recognized him as the man who delivered his grandfather's eulogy.
"Get out." The man said. Jack's eyes widened at the anger in the man's voice, "Do you know where—"
"Get out!" Jack fell silent and backed up some. "Uh… sure, sorry to be bothering you." Jack walked briskly out of the church and shut the front door quietly.
The man turned back to the goddess statue. "Ryght ger hwang igerant pillen yujoust…"
As he exited the church, something to his right caught his eye. He turned and looked at the thing that he had noticed. It was the bar. Through the window, he could see that it was packed. Maybe she's there…
He began the short walk towards the rowdy bar.
As Cliff explained, Karen had a look of boredom on her face. Cliff, however, saw through the ruse and knew that she was, in fact, hanging on to every word that passed through his mouth.
CRASH! Jack just barely ducked the glass that was thrown in his direction. Why does that always happen to me? He wondered almost humorously.
The glass thrower was none other than Kai, who was obviously the rowdiest of the group of people there that night.
That group included a few familiar faces such as Gray and his father, Doug; surprisingly, Popuri; Zack the shipper; Jeff the bakery owner; and the rest, Jack didn't recognize. That was at least until Jack spotted a big, burly man near the back. Jack recognized him as Karen's father, Gotz.
Jack avoided a confrontation with the large man and, instead, searched for Karen among the villagers. To his dismay, but at the same time, relief, he didn't see her in the bar and turned to leave.
Before Jack could leave, though, somebody called out his name. "Hey, you! Jack!" Jack turned around to see Kai getting up from his seat next to the large Gotz and walk over to him, stumbling a bit because of the alcohol running through his system.
Jack knew it would be better just to ignore Kai and get out of there, lest Popuri see him and try to woo him again. Too bad that Jack was too angry at the sight of Kai to do that though…
"Where is she?" Kai slurred. Jack just stared at him coldly. Finally, he replied with, "Who?" Kai responded in kind by grabbing Jack's shirt and trying to lift him off the ground. When he failed at that, he settled for pushing Jack back a few feet. "You know who! Where's Karen?!"
Jack smirked, "You expect me to tell you so you can just beat on her like you did a week ago?" Kai blinked a few times and frowned. "What are ya talkin' about?" Jack groaned. Kai didn't even remember.
"Nothing, I'm out of here." Jack opened the door and stepped out. Before he could successfully step down the stairs to the brick walkway something, or somebody, slammed into his back sending him sprawling across the brick.
Jack rolled around onto his back and looked at the person responsible for the push. It was none other than Kai. "WHERE IS SHE?!" He screamed in drunken rage.
Jack slowly stood to his feet. "If you weren't so stupidly drunk, maybe you'd know." He said before turning to walk away again.
POW! A fist slammed into Jack's face and Jack stumbled sideways until he slammed painfully into the fence that belonged to Rick Green's shop/house. Jack whipped around to face the deranged Kai.
Kai just smirked. "So, did you like the work we did to your farm?" He asked almost casually. Jack's eyes narrowed in anger. But before he could reply with anything, he had an idea. "Yeah, thanks for painting the house for me! It actually looks good red!"
Kai blinked. "And it was such a hot night, I want to thank you for giving my dog a chance to cool down." Jack drove the knife deeper. Kai stared at him blankly in a drunken stupor.
Jack smiled, "Anyway, got a long day tomorrow. I have to get to bed." Kai glared at him once more before walking back into the bar. He turned to walk away, but was, once again, stopped. This time, though, he wasn't stopped by a fist, push, or anything like that. No, he was stopped by something much worse… Popuri.
Karen was silent for a long time after Cliff finished letting it all sink in. The testimony was like nothing she had ever heard before. She had heard Pastor Brown speak of talking to the goddess in his dreams, but never while he was awake! If not for Cliff's next story, she might have even pondered the idea of Cliff's belief being right! "Let me tell you what happened last night…"
"Jack! Where are you going?" Popuri cried out as she ran out of the bar. Jack groaned loudly. "Home, Popuri. I'm going home." Popuri grabbed his arm. "Do you want to take me with you?" She asked seductively.
Jack blinked and made a face. "No." Popuri frowned. Why isn't this working? Pastor Brown told me that we were destined for each other!
"You know, we are destined to be together! Why not just start a little early?" Jack nearly laughed. Him and Popuri? It was crazy!
"Where did you…" He paused to keep back the laughter. "Where did you get that idea?" Popuri smiled sweetly, "It was prophesied by Pastor Brown! The goddess told him and he told me that we were to be together forever!"
Jack did laugh this time. Popuri frowned, "Why are you laughing? I'm talking about our destiny!" Jack held up his hand to keep her from talking and he held his stomach with the other. "I—I'm sorry." He said in-between bursts of giggling, "I don't believe in destiny." With that, he walked off.
Popuri, however, wasn't about to let him go that easily! "Jack." Jack sighed and turned to face her. "It has to happen! Whether you like it or not!"
Jack frowned and decided it was better to tell her off now than leading her on as if she was her friend. "Popuri! I don't love you! I don't even like you! We are not even friends!" Popuri blinked, but before she could reply, Jack continued, "My friends don't call my other friends sluts!"
Popuri was desperate now, "Jack! I didn't mean that! I was just angry!" Jack rolled his eyes, "Angry at what, Popuri? At the fact that I was hanging out with Karen and not you?" Jack meant it as a rhetorical question. Popuri didn't realize that though. "That's exactly why I was angry! You don't know what it's like to always be picked second! Every new boy that passes through her goes to her first! Always! I've never been picked first!"
Jack sighed, "Popuri. Just because others pick Karen first and you second is no reason to hate her!" Popuri's eyes flashed, "Yes, it is! If she'd quit being so slutty, I wouldn't have this problem!" That's when she had just driven herself into a hole.
"She acts slutty, huh? Funny, I thought you were the one acting slutty! Karen has never made a move on me. Never! In fact, she seems to shield away from relationships! Hmm… Yeah, I can see why you'd think that's slutty!" He said sarcastically. "You, on the other hand, just asked me to have sex with you! That's slutty!" Popuri was speechless.
Jack winced slightly at the harshness that he had just delivered to Popuri. He felt even worse when he saw a single tear fall down Popuri's makeup- covered face. "Popuri, I—"
"I'm sorry." Jack's eyes widened. The tears fell faster now and Popuri sat down on the dirty ground. "I—I'm sorry…" Jack knelt down beside her, "Popuri, you didn't know…" Popuri sobbed now, "Yes, I did! I knew exactly what I was doing, and I did it anyway!"
Jack put an arm around Popuri and just held her while she cried…
Karen didn't speak for a long time. When she did, she didn't sound happy, "How dare you, Cliff? First, you yourself decide to believe in this lie; second, you lead Ann astray; and third, you make up some lie to convince me that I'm wrong! I thought you were my friend, Cliff. But now I see that your 'God' means more to you than our friendship!" Before Cliff could reply, Karen stormed out of the door and into the cool night air. She was heading toward the place that gave her the most comfort—the church.
Karen stormed through the dirt pathway that led from Jack's farm and headed into town. Her footfalls sounded loud in the nearly silent night as she reached the brick walkway.
She reached the church in mere minutes and was about to enter when something caught her eye. To her left were two figures holding each other on the cold concrete. On closer inspection, she saw that the two were Popuri and Jack!
Immediately, her blood began to boil and her face turned red with anger. The condition grew ten times worse when Popuri leaned to kiss Jack.
Jack didn't know what had happened. One second, he was comforting Popuri, and the next, she was kissing him! And even worse yet, he was letting her kiss him!
It took a few moments for the realization of what was happening hit Jack in its cold, hard fury. MY GOD! I'M KISSING HER! He practically ripped himself away from her. Popuri's eyes, which were closed, opened at the absence of Jack's lips and she looked at him.
"Popuri! What are you doing?" Jack hissed. Popuri sighed, "I just… I mean… I—I just wanted to see if there was anything… You know… fireworks or something…" Jack rolled his eyes, "Popuri…" Popuri held up a hand, "There wasn't any fireworks. I know now that it's not meant to be. I don't know what Pastor Brown was thinking…"
She got up and walked back home, not even seeing the seething Karen who stood at the door to the church…
Jack, on the other hand, saw her quite clearly. He cursed quietly as their eyes met. She was mad.
Karen had only been hurt like this before, and that time was the time her father had beaten her. Why she was hurt so much, she didn't know. All she knew was that she was hurt and it hurt nearly as much as when she was beaten.
She felt like crying. Or maybe she was already crying. She didn't really care at that point when she ran back out of the village and toward the only other place that she had ever really felt comfort…
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And that, my dear reviewers, is called cruel and unusual punishment. Technically illegal in the US, but oh well!
God Bless!
--Ben