Justin
To say that the rest of the weekend was difficult was an understatement to top all understatements. Jhondie and Kayla ended up staying over at my place. When she thought about going home, Kayla freaked out at thinking that Katrina or Frankie might call her. I stepped in and told her that neither of them would even think about calling here, much less coming over. I wished one or the both of them would though. A little accident on the balcony and there would be one less thing in life to worry about as soon as the body hit the pavement below.
But that didn't happen. What did happen was a lot of quiet from Kayla. She didn't want to eat or go anywhere or do anything. She slept most of the time and that was really worrying Jhondie. Kay begged that the cops not be called. They would just think that she got what she deserved. And then everyone at school would find out and think she was a big slut. She was scared that was already going to happen. Jhondie reminded her that most of the kids on the tape didn't go to school with her and from the condition they were in at the party, it was doubtful most of them would remember what happened anyways. I think that helped a little, but not much.
We both knew that the only thing that would help was time. Kayla was dealing with knowing that this was the consequence of her own actions. She had been very lucky this time. Next time, the cops might not show up at a crucial moment. She was humiliated and scared and it was impossible to know what was really going through her head. I knew she must feel like her whole world had fallen apart, but there wasn't a way to tell her that she still had her family at least.
Jhondie didn't tell their mother either. Mrs. Harris came home on Monday, all full of smiles and good cheer. Her presentation had gone smashingly well. She knew something was wrong with Kayla but Jhondie told her that Kay found out that her boyfriend messed around with some girl at a party. Details weren't needed. Jhondie told her mother that she had already given Kay the "see what a jerk he was" speech, so the kid didn't need to hear it again. Mrs. Harris felt bad that Jhondie had to deal with such drama while she was gone. Jhondie just smiled. Her mother would never know what level the drama had reached.
I personally had no idea how to help on this one. It wasn't something that a guy really could help with except be there if Jhondie needed to talk. I mean, talking to Kay about a hangover, I could do, but this was totally alien territory. It seemed the wisest course of action was to let Jhondie deal with it however she saw fit.
I had been pretty busy myself anyways. That next week had me running about insanely, putting the finishing touches on the final project for one of my classes and making other plans. Our anniversary was a week away and I had a lot to do to get everything set up for it. It was a crazy, hectic week and I didn't think I had five minutes to breathe the whole time. It was like my whole future was resting on what was going to happen over the next fourteen days or so.
I didn't see Jhondie much that week either. She had come over once that week because of her splits that day. She had a class in the morning and then two in the late afternoon. My place was much closer so she would come over and either study or relax or whatever she wanted. A couple of times when she knew I was going to be coming home while she was there I had walked in to find her already undressed and waiting for me. That almost sucks in a way because any plans I had for those hours would be right out the nearest window. Oddly enough, I never complained about it though.
But the one day she did come over, I came home to find her at the computer looking up information on troubled kids and their psychology. She also had a couple of sites open about rape counseling. She told me that she didn't know if things were getting better or worse at her house. Kay wasn't being as outwardly rebellious, but that didn't mean she wasn't still having problems. I felt bad for all of them, I really did. I told her to let me know if there was anything that I could do, but I couldn't think of anything I could really do for the situation.
Later, I wondered how things would have gone had two small incidents not occurred. At the time I thought it was more annoying than anything. I didn't have time for it but life doesn't slow down just because you don't have time. The first thing was that Dad's car broke. I'm far from a mechanic so I have no idea what it was. It wasn't too major though. It was only going to require a day to get it taken care of, but Dad had an early morning meeting, so he made me an offer that I flat out couldn't refuse.
I dropped off my car the night before and he got some reservations for me. His ex-girlfriend, Jackie the chef, worked at this extremely upscale restaurant on the beach. It was one of those places where you practically have to have a credit check before they'll think about letting you through their hallowed doors. Not that they were filled to capacity every night, but they only wanted the right sort of people to enter. One would think that type of place would have crashed and burned in a post-Pulse society, but there were enough people with money that wanted to feel exclusive at all times. They wanted to remember that they were better than the average.
Granted, I should have been morally opposed to going to a place like that, but the point was that Dad called Jackie and she got me reservations for me and Jhondie's anniversary. Dad and Jackie were still friends so I wasn't worried about her poisoning us out of revenge on Dad or anything like that. This was just a perfect, quiet place that would cater to all of the special arrangements that I had in mind. Also, the place wasn't too far from where Jhondie and I had first kissed. I thought about it, and decided that we would have dinner and then go for a walk down the beach and then I would pull out the ring. That would be perfect. So long as I didn't vomit, that was going to be absolutely perfect. God, even thinking about it was making me break out into a sweat.
The second thing that happened was that I got a lead on an airport that should have been closed but planes were still landing there. Dink hadn't come up with anything yet to say for sure if that was the place, but it was worth checking out. The problem was that Dad had my transportation. I talked to Jhondie and she agreed to meet me at my place and we would check it out. I think she told her mother that she had to meet someone that might know something about one of her siblings, but I wasn't sure. I didn't think this was going to pan out really, so she wouldn't be terribly long at any rate.
Jhondie picked me up late that night and we were off to what I was willing to bet would be yet another wild goose chase. Jhondie, however, was being too quiet. That worried me. We normally were talking about what we were going to do and the plans. I had given her the rundown on what might be there and normally we would be talking out scenarios. But she wasn't saying much, which meant tonight was not going to happen. Not that she would refuse to help, but there was no way I was going into something like this with my partner this distracted. Way too dangerous. If her mind wasn't going to be on the assignment, then we were going to have to let it ride until another day. The boss might come down here for the express purpose of strangling me, but that was less risky than going into something like this and not sure about your backup. Oh well. At least I would get to meet the guy when he showed up to execute me.
"Pull over," I said, indicating an abandoned strip mall. It had boarded up windows that were covered with gang insignia. Probably not the best place to be pulled over for a little chat, but we really needed to get out whatever was bothering her.
She made the turn into the lot and put it in park. "Meeting someone here?" she asked tonelessly.
"Yeah," I replied. "My partner." She gave me a quizzical look. "You going to tell me what's wrong?"
She shrugged. "It's just more of the usual. Kayla's not talking; Mom's going nuts and we have work to do for Eyes Only. I'm just...tired I think." She shook her head. "I'm fine, really I am. Okay, no more whining, we've got to do the Informant Net thing before the boss fires us, right?" She smiled, trying to make it seem like a joke as she put her hand on the gearshift.
I put my hand over hers, preventing her from putting the car into drive. "Hey, the man's getting a lot of overtime from us for free. Now are you going to tell me what's really wrong or not?" I wrapped my arm around her and she rested her head on my shoulder.
"I think it was a mistake not telling Mom what happened while she was gone," Jhondie finally said. "She'd know what to do if she knew what happened. Mom always knows what to do." She sighed. "I thought it would be easier for Kayla to deal if she didn't have to worry about getting punished. So I let it go. And I really think that was the worst thing I could have done."
I could have told her that. But it didn't seem right to kick her when she was down. "Why don't you go ahead and talk to your mother then? She'll understand why you didn't earlier." Yeah, after a great deal of yelling and screaming, but at least it would be out.
"That'll be the last straw then." Jhondie looked up at me, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "Kay's losing it. She doesn't want to be here, she's afraid of what her friends are saying and doing about her now. She thinks everyone hates her now and I think...no, I know she's about half a step from running away." Jhondie sniffed. "And yeah, I know with all of your contacts we would find her, but Justin, even a few days out there is going to be too much. I know what it's like on the streets, and it's not pretty."
I hadn't thought about that possibility. But Kay wouldn't run. She didn't have friends to run to like before. Well, they still thought they were her friends, but she was afraid of them now. Her boyfriend? Yeah, right. Maybe she thought she could just hide from the world out there. Hide from herself and what she had done and been through. There were a lot of kids out on the street like that and the end was very rarely happy for them.
"She'd be gone a day and then be back," I said soothingly. "We both know that."
"No we don't," Jhondie said angrily. "That girl is so much stronger than she gives herself credit for being. She thinks because of that one incident she's pathetic and weak. She's not. She would survive out there, but she has no idea what it's like."
It suddenly hit me then. Jhondie was speaking from very painful experience. "She's not a little girl," I reminded her. "And she wouldn't be afraid to go to a shelter or something. Nobody's going to turn her into Manticore if she goes to a soup kitchen for a meal."
Jhondie snorted. "You know why I never changed my name?" she asked from out of the blue. I blinked. "It's stupid for me to keep the same name they knew me by. I mean, yeah, I changed the spelling by adding the 'h' and changing the 'y' to 'ie' but still, it's an unusual name. I should be a Linda or a Melissa or something like that. But you know why I didn't?"
We had never discussed this before. And I had no idea where it was coming from. I shook my head and her smile was hard and brittle. "Because when Mom asked me my name, it was the first time since the escape that anyone had wanted to know it. And my real name just popped out. Can you imagine that? This was before the Pulse, and here I was a little girl in Las Vegas and not one person bothered to ask who I was. I heard lots of 'hey kid, get out of there', when I was in an alley or dumpster or something like that, but nobody wanted to know what a small child was doing out there on the streets."
She put her hands in her face for a moment, trying to keep it together. "The only time I was ever noticed was when someone was trying to get something from me. This teenage boy tried to beat me up so he could have a half-eaten hamburger I had found. I can count on one hand the number of times I slept from the time I got to Las Vegas until I started living with Mom and Dad. Twice when I did, I was woken up to find someone trying to rape me."
Her words were coming out faster, practically tumbling over themselves. I was willing to bet that this was the first time she had told anyone the worst details of the time in between lives. I could see how in a way this period in her life was worse than Manticore. At least they had a purpose for what they were doing. This had been all new and chaotic and she had to deal with it completely alone. And I knew that alone was the worst thing for Jhondie to have to deal with. Pain wouldn't break her. Isolation did.
"The first time it happened," she continued, "I had been in Vegas for a couple of weeks. I was so tired. I was still looking at the world as enemy forces and hiding and staying out of the light, waiting for Zack to show up and give further orders. I finally fell asleep in an alley and woke up when someone grabbed me. All I could smell was this stench of cheap wine and some guy was trying to undo the rope I was using to keep my pants on. He was on top of me and trying to kiss me and his breath was all puke and booze."
I know I turned green at the thought. My arm tightened as I had to ask, "Jhon...he didn't...hurt you, did he?"
She shook her head. "I panicked," she answered hollowly, following it with a bitter little laugh. "I literally threw him into the other side of the alley and took off. I had been so careful to hide and never show anything of myself, it was like I had forgotten what I could do. Shocked the hell out of him too. I wonder now if maybe that story ended up trickling to Lydecker somehow and that's how he found out there was an X-5 in Las Vegas."
She sighed. "The second time was a couple of months later, I think. I know it's why I was so exhausted when Mom and Kay found me. I hadn't slept since it happened. There was a place that I liked to hide out during the day. Guy must have had people he paid to tell him who the youngest girls were on the street. I woke up to find this guy groping me. I hadn't even started to develop and that was still what he was going for. I jumped up and backed off and he told me not to get upset. He was going to give me ten bucks. I could tell he wasn't one the homeless guys. I yelled at him to leave me alone and he got pissed and said if I didn't take it I was going to be one sorry little girl. He made a grab for me and I ended up breaking his knee and running for it."
Jhondie shuddered, hugging herself. "At least the first guy was willing to kiss me first. That's what Kay's heading into. And I have no idea how to stop her."
"She's not gone yet," I said, trying to remind her that all wasn't lost. "And it might help for her to hear what you just told me. Right now she feels like she's the only person in the world that's made bad choices and ended up in a bad situation." Jhondie looked at me darkly for a moment. "Not that running was a bad decision," I amended quickly, "you guys just were ill-prepared for it when you did. I'm just saying that maybe instead of thinking that if Kayla hears about the bad choices in life, she'll think that she can make those same choices since you did, she might understand that everyone screws up and she can learn from your mistakes. And at the very least, she'll know that she's not alone. Maybe she just needs to be reminded that nobody's perfect."
"Except for maybe you," Jhondie said with a tiny bit of a real smile, her fingers caressing the side of my face.
"Perfect?" I replied incredulously. "Does the name Denise ring a bell to you when talking about seriously bad decisions? I started dating her because she let me feel her up at the movies on our first date. I stayed with her for two years at first because she let me sleep with her and then out of sheer mortal terror of the psycho. I can't say that I know what it's like to be molested, but I do know what it's like to be too afraid of someone to say no to them."
Jhondie sighed and leaned back in her seat. "I'm just so scared for Kayla, you know? I love her so much. She's my sister no matter what the differences in our genes are and I don't want to see her hurting. There's got to be a way to make this better, but I just don't know anymore. I swear, sometimes I just want to shake her to death, but there's so much good in her and I still love her no matter what."
Jhondie glanced at the clock and muttered a little curse. "We're not going to be there in time," she said softly. "I'm sorry..."
"It's okay," I interrupted. "Eyes Only is going to have to understand that in our life, our family is going to come first."
"Our family?" she questioned with a smile.
I looked down for a minute, feeling a little embarrassed. Yes, I was already starting to think of Jhondie's family as my in-laws. "After two years, I feel a little brotherly towards Kayla," I finally said. "And she's part of your life and you're part of mine. So, yeah, our family."
We just smiled for a long moment at each other until there was a tiny noise in a silence. Both of us froze as we recognized the sound of a muffled sob. The smiles slipped off as we both slowly turned to peer over the back of the seat.
Two frightened, teary blue eyes peered up at us from the darkened floorboard.
To say that the rest of the weekend was difficult was an understatement to top all understatements. Jhondie and Kayla ended up staying over at my place. When she thought about going home, Kayla freaked out at thinking that Katrina or Frankie might call her. I stepped in and told her that neither of them would even think about calling here, much less coming over. I wished one or the both of them would though. A little accident on the balcony and there would be one less thing in life to worry about as soon as the body hit the pavement below.
But that didn't happen. What did happen was a lot of quiet from Kayla. She didn't want to eat or go anywhere or do anything. She slept most of the time and that was really worrying Jhondie. Kay begged that the cops not be called. They would just think that she got what she deserved. And then everyone at school would find out and think she was a big slut. She was scared that was already going to happen. Jhondie reminded her that most of the kids on the tape didn't go to school with her and from the condition they were in at the party, it was doubtful most of them would remember what happened anyways. I think that helped a little, but not much.
We both knew that the only thing that would help was time. Kayla was dealing with knowing that this was the consequence of her own actions. She had been very lucky this time. Next time, the cops might not show up at a crucial moment. She was humiliated and scared and it was impossible to know what was really going through her head. I knew she must feel like her whole world had fallen apart, but there wasn't a way to tell her that she still had her family at least.
Jhondie didn't tell their mother either. Mrs. Harris came home on Monday, all full of smiles and good cheer. Her presentation had gone smashingly well. She knew something was wrong with Kayla but Jhondie told her that Kay found out that her boyfriend messed around with some girl at a party. Details weren't needed. Jhondie told her mother that she had already given Kay the "see what a jerk he was" speech, so the kid didn't need to hear it again. Mrs. Harris felt bad that Jhondie had to deal with such drama while she was gone. Jhondie just smiled. Her mother would never know what level the drama had reached.
I personally had no idea how to help on this one. It wasn't something that a guy really could help with except be there if Jhondie needed to talk. I mean, talking to Kay about a hangover, I could do, but this was totally alien territory. It seemed the wisest course of action was to let Jhondie deal with it however she saw fit.
I had been pretty busy myself anyways. That next week had me running about insanely, putting the finishing touches on the final project for one of my classes and making other plans. Our anniversary was a week away and I had a lot to do to get everything set up for it. It was a crazy, hectic week and I didn't think I had five minutes to breathe the whole time. It was like my whole future was resting on what was going to happen over the next fourteen days or so.
I didn't see Jhondie much that week either. She had come over once that week because of her splits that day. She had a class in the morning and then two in the late afternoon. My place was much closer so she would come over and either study or relax or whatever she wanted. A couple of times when she knew I was going to be coming home while she was there I had walked in to find her already undressed and waiting for me. That almost sucks in a way because any plans I had for those hours would be right out the nearest window. Oddly enough, I never complained about it though.
But the one day she did come over, I came home to find her at the computer looking up information on troubled kids and their psychology. She also had a couple of sites open about rape counseling. She told me that she didn't know if things were getting better or worse at her house. Kay wasn't being as outwardly rebellious, but that didn't mean she wasn't still having problems. I felt bad for all of them, I really did. I told her to let me know if there was anything that I could do, but I couldn't think of anything I could really do for the situation.
Later, I wondered how things would have gone had two small incidents not occurred. At the time I thought it was more annoying than anything. I didn't have time for it but life doesn't slow down just because you don't have time. The first thing was that Dad's car broke. I'm far from a mechanic so I have no idea what it was. It wasn't too major though. It was only going to require a day to get it taken care of, but Dad had an early morning meeting, so he made me an offer that I flat out couldn't refuse.
I dropped off my car the night before and he got some reservations for me. His ex-girlfriend, Jackie the chef, worked at this extremely upscale restaurant on the beach. It was one of those places where you practically have to have a credit check before they'll think about letting you through their hallowed doors. Not that they were filled to capacity every night, but they only wanted the right sort of people to enter. One would think that type of place would have crashed and burned in a post-Pulse society, but there were enough people with money that wanted to feel exclusive at all times. They wanted to remember that they were better than the average.
Granted, I should have been morally opposed to going to a place like that, but the point was that Dad called Jackie and she got me reservations for me and Jhondie's anniversary. Dad and Jackie were still friends so I wasn't worried about her poisoning us out of revenge on Dad or anything like that. This was just a perfect, quiet place that would cater to all of the special arrangements that I had in mind. Also, the place wasn't too far from where Jhondie and I had first kissed. I thought about it, and decided that we would have dinner and then go for a walk down the beach and then I would pull out the ring. That would be perfect. So long as I didn't vomit, that was going to be absolutely perfect. God, even thinking about it was making me break out into a sweat.
The second thing that happened was that I got a lead on an airport that should have been closed but planes were still landing there. Dink hadn't come up with anything yet to say for sure if that was the place, but it was worth checking out. The problem was that Dad had my transportation. I talked to Jhondie and she agreed to meet me at my place and we would check it out. I think she told her mother that she had to meet someone that might know something about one of her siblings, but I wasn't sure. I didn't think this was going to pan out really, so she wouldn't be terribly long at any rate.
Jhondie picked me up late that night and we were off to what I was willing to bet would be yet another wild goose chase. Jhondie, however, was being too quiet. That worried me. We normally were talking about what we were going to do and the plans. I had given her the rundown on what might be there and normally we would be talking out scenarios. But she wasn't saying much, which meant tonight was not going to happen. Not that she would refuse to help, but there was no way I was going into something like this with my partner this distracted. Way too dangerous. If her mind wasn't going to be on the assignment, then we were going to have to let it ride until another day. The boss might come down here for the express purpose of strangling me, but that was less risky than going into something like this and not sure about your backup. Oh well. At least I would get to meet the guy when he showed up to execute me.
"Pull over," I said, indicating an abandoned strip mall. It had boarded up windows that were covered with gang insignia. Probably not the best place to be pulled over for a little chat, but we really needed to get out whatever was bothering her.
She made the turn into the lot and put it in park. "Meeting someone here?" she asked tonelessly.
"Yeah," I replied. "My partner." She gave me a quizzical look. "You going to tell me what's wrong?"
She shrugged. "It's just more of the usual. Kayla's not talking; Mom's going nuts and we have work to do for Eyes Only. I'm just...tired I think." She shook her head. "I'm fine, really I am. Okay, no more whining, we've got to do the Informant Net thing before the boss fires us, right?" She smiled, trying to make it seem like a joke as she put her hand on the gearshift.
I put my hand over hers, preventing her from putting the car into drive. "Hey, the man's getting a lot of overtime from us for free. Now are you going to tell me what's really wrong or not?" I wrapped my arm around her and she rested her head on my shoulder.
"I think it was a mistake not telling Mom what happened while she was gone," Jhondie finally said. "She'd know what to do if she knew what happened. Mom always knows what to do." She sighed. "I thought it would be easier for Kayla to deal if she didn't have to worry about getting punished. So I let it go. And I really think that was the worst thing I could have done."
I could have told her that. But it didn't seem right to kick her when she was down. "Why don't you go ahead and talk to your mother then? She'll understand why you didn't earlier." Yeah, after a great deal of yelling and screaming, but at least it would be out.
"That'll be the last straw then." Jhondie looked up at me, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "Kay's losing it. She doesn't want to be here, she's afraid of what her friends are saying and doing about her now. She thinks everyone hates her now and I think...no, I know she's about half a step from running away." Jhondie sniffed. "And yeah, I know with all of your contacts we would find her, but Justin, even a few days out there is going to be too much. I know what it's like on the streets, and it's not pretty."
I hadn't thought about that possibility. But Kay wouldn't run. She didn't have friends to run to like before. Well, they still thought they were her friends, but she was afraid of them now. Her boyfriend? Yeah, right. Maybe she thought she could just hide from the world out there. Hide from herself and what she had done and been through. There were a lot of kids out on the street like that and the end was very rarely happy for them.
"She'd be gone a day and then be back," I said soothingly. "We both know that."
"No we don't," Jhondie said angrily. "That girl is so much stronger than she gives herself credit for being. She thinks because of that one incident she's pathetic and weak. She's not. She would survive out there, but she has no idea what it's like."
It suddenly hit me then. Jhondie was speaking from very painful experience. "She's not a little girl," I reminded her. "And she wouldn't be afraid to go to a shelter or something. Nobody's going to turn her into Manticore if she goes to a soup kitchen for a meal."
Jhondie snorted. "You know why I never changed my name?" she asked from out of the blue. I blinked. "It's stupid for me to keep the same name they knew me by. I mean, yeah, I changed the spelling by adding the 'h' and changing the 'y' to 'ie' but still, it's an unusual name. I should be a Linda or a Melissa or something like that. But you know why I didn't?"
We had never discussed this before. And I had no idea where it was coming from. I shook my head and her smile was hard and brittle. "Because when Mom asked me my name, it was the first time since the escape that anyone had wanted to know it. And my real name just popped out. Can you imagine that? This was before the Pulse, and here I was a little girl in Las Vegas and not one person bothered to ask who I was. I heard lots of 'hey kid, get out of there', when I was in an alley or dumpster or something like that, but nobody wanted to know what a small child was doing out there on the streets."
She put her hands in her face for a moment, trying to keep it together. "The only time I was ever noticed was when someone was trying to get something from me. This teenage boy tried to beat me up so he could have a half-eaten hamburger I had found. I can count on one hand the number of times I slept from the time I got to Las Vegas until I started living with Mom and Dad. Twice when I did, I was woken up to find someone trying to rape me."
Her words were coming out faster, practically tumbling over themselves. I was willing to bet that this was the first time she had told anyone the worst details of the time in between lives. I could see how in a way this period in her life was worse than Manticore. At least they had a purpose for what they were doing. This had been all new and chaotic and she had to deal with it completely alone. And I knew that alone was the worst thing for Jhondie to have to deal with. Pain wouldn't break her. Isolation did.
"The first time it happened," she continued, "I had been in Vegas for a couple of weeks. I was so tired. I was still looking at the world as enemy forces and hiding and staying out of the light, waiting for Zack to show up and give further orders. I finally fell asleep in an alley and woke up when someone grabbed me. All I could smell was this stench of cheap wine and some guy was trying to undo the rope I was using to keep my pants on. He was on top of me and trying to kiss me and his breath was all puke and booze."
I know I turned green at the thought. My arm tightened as I had to ask, "Jhon...he didn't...hurt you, did he?"
She shook her head. "I panicked," she answered hollowly, following it with a bitter little laugh. "I literally threw him into the other side of the alley and took off. I had been so careful to hide and never show anything of myself, it was like I had forgotten what I could do. Shocked the hell out of him too. I wonder now if maybe that story ended up trickling to Lydecker somehow and that's how he found out there was an X-5 in Las Vegas."
She sighed. "The second time was a couple of months later, I think. I know it's why I was so exhausted when Mom and Kay found me. I hadn't slept since it happened. There was a place that I liked to hide out during the day. Guy must have had people he paid to tell him who the youngest girls were on the street. I woke up to find this guy groping me. I hadn't even started to develop and that was still what he was going for. I jumped up and backed off and he told me not to get upset. He was going to give me ten bucks. I could tell he wasn't one the homeless guys. I yelled at him to leave me alone and he got pissed and said if I didn't take it I was going to be one sorry little girl. He made a grab for me and I ended up breaking his knee and running for it."
Jhondie shuddered, hugging herself. "At least the first guy was willing to kiss me first. That's what Kay's heading into. And I have no idea how to stop her."
"She's not gone yet," I said, trying to remind her that all wasn't lost. "And it might help for her to hear what you just told me. Right now she feels like she's the only person in the world that's made bad choices and ended up in a bad situation." Jhondie looked at me darkly for a moment. "Not that running was a bad decision," I amended quickly, "you guys just were ill-prepared for it when you did. I'm just saying that maybe instead of thinking that if Kayla hears about the bad choices in life, she'll think that she can make those same choices since you did, she might understand that everyone screws up and she can learn from your mistakes. And at the very least, she'll know that she's not alone. Maybe she just needs to be reminded that nobody's perfect."
"Except for maybe you," Jhondie said with a tiny bit of a real smile, her fingers caressing the side of my face.
"Perfect?" I replied incredulously. "Does the name Denise ring a bell to you when talking about seriously bad decisions? I started dating her because she let me feel her up at the movies on our first date. I stayed with her for two years at first because she let me sleep with her and then out of sheer mortal terror of the psycho. I can't say that I know what it's like to be molested, but I do know what it's like to be too afraid of someone to say no to them."
Jhondie sighed and leaned back in her seat. "I'm just so scared for Kayla, you know? I love her so much. She's my sister no matter what the differences in our genes are and I don't want to see her hurting. There's got to be a way to make this better, but I just don't know anymore. I swear, sometimes I just want to shake her to death, but there's so much good in her and I still love her no matter what."
Jhondie glanced at the clock and muttered a little curse. "We're not going to be there in time," she said softly. "I'm sorry..."
"It's okay," I interrupted. "Eyes Only is going to have to understand that in our life, our family is going to come first."
"Our family?" she questioned with a smile.
I looked down for a minute, feeling a little embarrassed. Yes, I was already starting to think of Jhondie's family as my in-laws. "After two years, I feel a little brotherly towards Kayla," I finally said. "And she's part of your life and you're part of mine. So, yeah, our family."
We just smiled for a long moment at each other until there was a tiny noise in a silence. Both of us froze as we recognized the sound of a muffled sob. The smiles slipped off as we both slowly turned to peer over the back of the seat.
Two frightened, teary blue eyes peered up at us from the darkened floorboard.
