Justin

I had a bad habit of falling asleep at my computer. I didn't have to worry about it when Jhondie was there because she would wake me up and send me off to bed. She said I looked cute with my head on my desk, but I tended to drool on important paperwork. I disagreed with that wholeheartedly. I wasn't the one that had to flip over a pillow before because it was too damp to sleep on by three AM. I loved the girl, but I was glad that she didn't sleep much. I would have to have the bed lined in plastic to contain the saliva.

In any case, when Jhondie left to take Kayla home, I ended up asleep at my desk. I had intended to wait for her to call me and let me know she got home okay, but as time passed, I guessed that maybe her and Kayla were having a good talk. It seemed doubtful considering how inebriated the kid was, but still, it could happen. I hoped so at least. Maybe being intoxicated, she might be relaxed enough to listen, and being thrown in jail had to be scary. She needed a wake-up call and this could be the way to straighten her out.

I had a lot of work to do on my own, so I settled down at the PC with some strong coffee and a pile of notes. Nikki called once about an article we were working on together. Drugs from police evidence were making it back onto the streets. Nikki had covered a bust where some crystal meth was taken off the street, but there was a weird element to it. Whoever had made it found a way to make it glow in the dark. Awesome for parties, right? But the deal was that he was the only person who knew how to do it and he couldn't tell anyone while in jail. A couple of weeks ago, one of my informants told me about some meth that was glowing at a party she went to the night before. According to the cops, it was all taken before it could hit the market.

Nikki was running down the people involved with the bust. Since she did the original work, she was claiming that she was just following up. Cops didn't mind talking to her then. After all, her original article was rather flattering towards them. They weren't going to know what hit them. Right now they saw her as a cute little rookie. Cute hid some very sharp claws. I knew Jhondie was going to have to stop working with me for Eyes Only soon, probably in the next year or so, and when she did, I was thinking that Nikki was going to be the best possible replacement. Not as good by any means, but far better than most.

I keyed in all the notes for the article and then worked some on a piece that I was planning on submitting to a national magazine. At some point in putting the finishing touches on a paper that was due the next week, I leaned back in my chair to think for a minute. I closed my eyes and the next thing I knew, the front door was rattling.

It took me a second to orient myself. It was still night. Way too early for Jhondie to be coming over. I blinked a couple of times and then got up, not prepared for what I saw. It was Jhondie, but Kayla was with her. Both of them were soaking wet. Very gently, Jhondie told her sister to go into the bathroom and dry off and she'd get her something to wear. I had to be dreaming. That was the only thing that made sense. This was just a very, very bizarre dream.

Kayla went into the bathroom and Jhondie looked over at me. "Your place was closer," she said, her voice heartbreakingly sad. "I'm sorry to bug you..." her words trailed off and she looked absolutely miserable. My place was closer. It was the excuse she needed. Whatever had just happened with her and Kayla, it had to have been pretty intense. What she wanted was to come back here and be with me. Not going to complain.

I went to her and pulled her close to me, ignoring how wet she was. I honestly wasn't sure if I wanted to know why or how she had gotten soaked since she left here. And why her hair smelled like the ocean. "You know you're welcome here any time, day or night," I said softly. "Want to tell me what happened?"

Jhondie took a deep breath and pulled away. "I have to take care of her first," she replied, trying to keep her voice steady. "Get her to bed and then...then..."

I kissed her forehead. "Kayla can sleep in my bed. It's closer to the bathroom anyways if she has to throw up." That got a slight smile out of Jhondie. "And then you can come out here and break down as much as you need to." The sheer gratitude in her eyes was painful to see as she turned and went into the bedroom. Jhondie had some of her looser lounging clothes over here that Kay would be able to wear.

I stretched out on the couch and waited for a while. The shower ran for a bit and then I could hear some soft murmuring in the bedroom before Jhondie came out, a dry shirt for me in her hands. She had changed into her favorite flannel pants and a tank top and a towel was loosely wrapped around her hair. She held out the shirt and I changed quickly. I had been wondering how polite it would have been to try and slip in the room and get something dry to wear. If it had been just Jhondie, I wouldn't have cared about having something else to wear, but I wasn't going to run around half- undressed around Kayla.

Jhondie waited until I pulled the dry shirt over my head and then crawled onto the couch with me. I stretched out lengthways, propped up on a couple of pillows while Jhondie snuggled against me, her head against my chest. "So, what happened to the 'be adult' game plan?" I asked lightly, rubbing her back.

Jhondie sighed. "It would have been just fine until the kid opened her mouth," she replied flatly. Kayla just seemed gifted with the ability to say the exact wrong thing at the wrong moment. Jhondie looked up at me. "All this time she's been so angry at me. She's been rude and bratty and stupid, and I thought it was because she didn't know how to handle the truth about me. It didn't have anything to do with that. She's been angry with me over Dad. I didn't want her to see how messed up I was then and she took that to mean I didn't care." She let out a bitter little laugh.

How do you even respond to that? I knew how much it had hurt Jhondie, but I had been able to see it firsthand. Maybe it was because I really did know what she was going through, but she didn't try to hide her pain and grief from me. Even though I was really tempted, I didn't use it to do something that would have hurt her even more and cost me her friendship. I knew why she had on her game face with her mom and sister, but I was the one that had seen the pain. She wanted to be strong for them. And she was. The cost to herself had been way too high, but that was something they would never know.

"There's no way to know how to act when something like that happens," I finally said. "You did what you thought was right and that's the only way to handle it. Kayla will see that eventually." I paused, still not sure if I wanted the answer or not, but plunged ahead anyways. "When did the swim come into play?"

Jhondie blushed a little. "It would have been fine if she had kept her mouth shut," she repeated and then told me about their little wild ride. I had a hard time trying not to laugh, thinking about Kayla trying to deal with that. I wouldn't have been worried. I knew that Jhondie could see just fine in the dark and her telescopic vision would allow her to see things ahead in plenty of time to react.

"So, she was looking like she was going to get sick and your place was closer," Jhondie concluded. She gave me a little smile. "Well, more like I didn't want to be alone tonight." She sighed and laid her head against me again. "And once more I use you to fall apart on and wait for you to make it all better."

I kissed the top of her head. "Don't worry. I'll send you a bill later."

That got a giggle out of her. She looked up for a second with a rather naughty little smile. "I guess we can negotiate some kind of settlement." She glanced towards my bedroom door and looked a bit regretful. "But not tonight."

I yawned. "I love you, but tonight, I don't think I could stay awake long enough anyways." Another small laugh. We both settled back and relaxed. I doubted if Jhondie would sleep, but I was tired. She would wait until I was asleep and then get up and do something else. I was drifting off when I heard her speak, very softly.

"I wouldn't have left," she whispered.

"Huh?"

"Even if you hadn't told me to make up my mind, I already knew. You are the one thing I can't let go of."

I didn't say anything. Didn't need to. She was there and I was there and that was all that mattered. That and the ring I had secured away. My arms wrapped a little more tightly around her as I drifted off to sleep, knowing that I had everything that mattered right there with me.

It took me a minute to orient myself when I woke up that morning. I was used to falling asleep at my computer and in bed, but it was rare that I spent the night on my couch. I was the one that paid for this place. I was the legal owner of the furniture in that bedroom. My girlfriend decides that I've got the couch so that her sister can have the bed, and I don't even protest it. What idiot said that women were the weaker sex?

I sat up and noticed the note on the coffee table from Jhondie. She was hungry. Wanted doughnuts. Would be back soon. I closed my eyes and sighed. In other words, she wasn't ready to face her sister yet. Okay, so a hung over teenager was going to emerge soon. Hiding would be good. I wasn't going to deal with her. Coffee. I could deal with coffee.

I got up and stumbled into the kitchen. I'm not exactly my best when I first wake up. I need a good hour before I can really carry on a civilized conversation. That and a good cup of coffee. I put some in to brew, thought about what was soon to emerge, and made it extra-strong. It was finishing up when a very pale Kayla plodded in, holding her head and grimacing. She plopped down dramatically at the table and put her head down.

I didn't say anything, just put a cup of the hot liquid in front of her. She looked up with that what-did-I-do look that all seemed to experience at least once in their life. "I feel like hell," she groaned.

"I know," I replied, gesturing towards the cup in front of her. "Best cure is that straight up or a Bloody Mary. We'll stick with the coffee."

She gingerly took a sip. "Is it time for the lecture?" Maybe it was supposed to come out a little arrogant, but all she sounded was pitiful.

"Oh, I think the headache you have right now is saying far more than I ever could," I said with a wry smile. She made a face. "If I wanted to punish you, I'd be frying some eggs right now." Kayla turned green at the thought.

There was silence for a long minute. "Where's Jhondie?" Kayla finally asked.

"At Dunkin Donuts," I replied. "I think she needed a little time to think." Kayla just sat there looking miserable. "You know," I began very cautiously, as if she was a very skittish interview, "I admit I've snuck out for a few parties in my life. For future reference, when you do, make sure it's in a way where you might not get caught."

Kay sniffed. "I didn't want to!" she cried, and then winced at her own volume. Her volume lowered, but the tone was no less intense. "When Kat called, I told her I didn't want to go. I told her like twice that I was going to stay and she was getting all mad at me." Kayla didn't know it, but that caught my attention more than anything. Why would Katrina be so determined to get Kayla to a party? "And then Kat told me about Adrienne," Kayla continued in a rush. "She's all been out to get Frankie and everything and Kat was saying that if I didn't go then Frankie would think it really was over because I didn't care about him enough. And Adrienne's been saying stuff to him that I'm not worth it and all that. And I told Kat that if he loved me he'd understand, but she was all telling me that if you're going to be in love then you best prove it and if I'm not, you know, doing it with him, I better find some other way."

I thought for a second. Frankie was out for booty. That was a given. He'd play Kayla and Adrienne at the same time for as long as possible. He wouldn't care if Kayla were at the party. As a matter of fact, if this other girl would put out, then it would be better for him if Kay didn't show up. Which led us back to the original question. Why did Katrina want Kayla there so very much? Asking Kayla wasn't going to help. She thought her friend was trying to help her. I had a feeling it was for a reason far more self-serving.

"Was it worth it?" I asked.

Kayla put her head back down and sniffed. "I don't really remember," she admitted. She looked back up at me furiously when I burst into laughter. "It's not funny!" she said indignantly.

I grinned. "Now I know why my father laughed the first time I said the same thing to him," I said. A tiny smile touched the edge of her mouth. "A really long hot shower will help," I suggested gently. "Before Jhondie gets back."

She nodded. "Okay. Thanks for listening."

"Anytime." She headed back towards my bedroom. When I heard the shower come on, I slipped into the living room and grabbed her backpack. I unzipped it and began going through the contents carefully. Her clothes that she was wearing when we dropped her off to study. Some toiletries. Fresh stockings. Breath mints. One red and one glow in the dark condom. Christ, hide those before Jhondie sees them. Stuffed cat. A couple of CD's. A lighter, two pens and a beaded necklace rounded out the collection.

It was everything that a teenage girl would need for a night sneaking out on the town. All except for the cat. I knew that Katrina had given it to her for Christmas. A cat from Kat, what a funny joke, right? Kayla always took it with them when they went out. It was an inside joke. A funny. Ha ha. I picked it up and examined it closely. Jhondie would have caught it first from sight, maybe, but from the feel, I knew there was something not quite right with this stuffed animal. No stuffing I had ever heard of came with hard edges.

Very carefully I examined the underside of the cat. Very cleverly hidden in its deep fur were closures. I unsnapped them and there was the inside of kitty, all scooped out and ready to hide things. A very small amount of white powder fell out of the cat and landed on my hand. Jhondie had wondered more than once what an older girl was doing hanging around her little sister. Kat's boyfriend was a drug dealer. They needed someone without a police record to hold the drugs between parties. Jhondie had thought that maybe Katrina was hoping Kayla would turn out to be lesbian. Looks like it wasn't nearly that simple.

No wonder Kat was so determined to get Kay to the party. She had the merchandise. Except for the little that had spilled inside the cat, it was gone now. Instead of drugs, a videotape was stuffed inside of kitty. I pulled it out along with a very lacy pair of panties.

And that was the exact moment that Jhondie walked in. She blinked, seeing me surrounded by her sister's things and holding a pair of panties. "We have a problem," I said quickly.

"Obviously. Why are you holding my sister's underwear?"

"You're going to need a doughnut to hear this."