Jackie's POV
It was just me and Erik…again. He was giving me this strange look and I knew he was going to dig deeper about my black eye but I played it cool, pretending not to notice.
"Jackie man." He said turning slightly in my direction. "You know…you can tell me who hit you. I won't say anything to Hyde." I nodded trying my best to feign indifference.
"Look Erik, its no big deal. It didn't even hurt that much." I replied, tapping lightly around the edges of my eye. I winced involuntarily and let out a small hiss. "See…?"
" Well…why don't we put some ice on it or something. Just in case." He replied, taking my hand (a gesture which caught me totally off guard) and practically dragging me upstairs. Red was sitting in the kitchen…great.
" Erik, Jackie." He grunted, not looking up from the newspaper.
" Uh hi dad." Erik said in his usually nervous twitchy voice. For Christ's sakes he's 18, he moved out and he's still afraid of his father. " Just getting some ice. Kelso ran into the door again." Red didn't reply, as he seemed deeply immersed in the sports section. "Ok…" we made our way towards the basements steps, a wave of relief washing over me as I realized I wouldn't have to talk to anyone else about my suspicious injury.
"Hold it." He said, stopping Erik and I in our tracks. " Erik get your little friend a beer. That's what I always do when I get a black eye." I sighed, following Erik back into the kitchen. Red had set the paper down and was staring at me intently. "Have a seat." I nodded, sitting down across the table from him. now I could understand why Erik was so afraid of him. Erik handed me a cold beer and stood nervously between the two of us.
"Uh dad-"
"Shut it Erik." He replied cutting him off. "Drink the beer Jackie."
"Ok." I said lamely, popping it open and taking a small sip.
"So who hit you? One of your little cheerleaders friends? A boy?" I did not want to have this conversation with Red. I knew exactly what he was going to say. "It was a boy wasn't it. Unless Donna hit you, which I doubt."
"It was a guy…" I muttered, looking at the ground and taking another sip of beer.
" Uh huh. And did you hit him back?" I shook my head. "Well why in the hell not? You gotta have some brains in that little head of yours. Hey I tell you what. I'll hold Erik and you can punch him." I shook my head, unable to keep a small smile from my lips. Erik was glancing nervously from me to Red.
"No thanks Mr. Foreman. Maybe another time."
"Well ok. But if you ever need for me to…hold Erik while you hit him don't be afraid to ask. Now get out of my kitchen." He picked up the paper and resumed reading.
"Yeah thanks dad." Erik said rolling his eyes, "Come on Jackie." I nodded, smiling as we returned to his basement.
"You know you're dad isn't really that hard ass." I said sitting down beside him.
"Yeah I know." He replied, handing my a bag of ice he had retrieved while we were upstairs. "Here put it on your eye." I nodded, handing him the beer.
"You take this. I can't stand beer." I said grimacing. "I can really only drink the hard stuff, thank you mom…" he smiled, placing the drink on the table and turning on the t.v. The ice hurt like a bitch to put on my eye and I dabbed it lightly, barely touching the skin.
" You know it doesn't really work unless you put the ice on the injured area." He said in a smart-ass tone. I had to smile.
"Yeah well you try getting punched by friggin Hy-" I stopped, hoping against hope he hadn't heard it. Heard me starting to say Hyde's name. I forced myself to look at the t.v. and play it cool. Pretending like I hadn't said anything. Everything came to a screeching halt when he said it.
"Hyde hit you?" he was whispering, but it wasn't quiet enough. My mind was spinning as I tried to think of a valid excuse.
"No…no of course not I was going to say…" I couldn't think of anybody. No names came to mind and I just stared at my lap.
"Jackie!" he was considerably pissed. " What the hell?"
" He was drunk Erik. Besides I thought you said he already told you!" I said defensively.
"No, he told me you threw a vase at him because you thought he was a robber."
" Well see? He must have been drunk." I was trying to sound convincing but I could tell it wasn't working. He was still staring at me, waiting for me to say something else. I just stared back. I was telling the truth. I trusted Hyde with my life, so he got drunk once and messed up? God he doesn't even remember for Christ's sakes. He's never had a break from me since last summer. This would be his break. Erik sighed and dug into his back pocket, pulling out a small baggie filled with pot.
" Here. I was saving it for a special occasion but I guess we can light her up now." He said taking a seat on the ground in front of the table. "I don't have any papers though."
Erik's POV
"Don't worry I just bought some yesterday." She replied fishing the package from the front pocket of her jean skirt. She held out her hand and I gave her the pot, watching with fascination as she rolled the perfect joint. "I make pretty joints." She laughed passing it to me, "But you can do the honors." I looked between her and the pot now in my hand.
" Jackie the last time we did this you didn't even know where to get papers." I said pulling out a box of matches and lighting the joint. I inhaled deeply and immediately felt the warmness in my mouth and the dryness in my throat.
"Yeah well." She said pulling it from my fingers and taking three long consecutive drags. Jackie was toking. Since when did Jackie toke? " When you've got all summer to yourself and no parents around it seems the obvious choice. It's becoming a habit though." She passed it back, leaning against the arm of the couch and smiling. "Except it's not fun when you do it alone."
"Well you shouldn't do it alone." I said, though I couldn't keep the smile from my lips as I took another two drags. " You could like drown or something." She laughed.
"And who would care hm? My drunk mother? I can see it now, her yelling at my dead body: Jackie you stop it this instant. Drowning is for ugly girls." She broke out laughing , taking the illegal substance back and taking two long drags. "Can't you see it? Or wait my father would care, but I'll bet his prison bitch will console him huh?"
"Jackie shut up." I smiled, holing my hand out for the joint back. "We'd care."
" Of course we would." Hyde was now sitting across from me, " About what?"
"Me you sneaky bastard." She giggled slapping him, "You nearly gave me a heart attack. Now get your stuff together we're going to my place."
"No I hate your place." He replied grabbing the joint from my hand and taking a long hard drag. "It's too…nice. I'm always afraid I'm gonna break something."
"Like her nose?" I muttered under my breath. God, I sure know how to ruin a perfectly good high. He just stared at me blankly for a minute.
"Foreman what the hell are you talking about?" he asked confused. Jackie was looking at me pleadingly and I sighed.
"Nothing I was just kidding… god." I laughed, watching Hyde finish off the last of it and throw it into the garbage.
"No you moron." Jackie sid retrieving it and placing it in the bag. "Save the roach I just got a new pipe."
"Whatever man." He said laying an arm loosely on her shoulders. "So why am I going to your house?"
"Cuz my mom's gonna be spending a few days in town and I want her to think I have somebody."
Jackie's POV
"Hey, I'll come too." We both looked at Erik, who was standing up slowly. "If living with one person is great, she'll be ecstatic about two, right?"
"No it's ok Erik, really. I'm sure Hyde'll be enough." I replied smiling. What the hell is he doing?
" It's no big deal Jacks, I'll just go pack really quick." He said walking semi-normally towards the stairs. Hyde cocked an eyebrow in his direction then looked back at me.
"Jackie if he comes we're not going to be able to do anything together." He whispered as Erik stumbled up the stairs.
"It's ok I'll talk to him." I said grinning for no particular reason. "I think I know what this is about anyways." He nodded, kissing me lightly on the cheek.
" I'll see you later doll." With that he stood up, heading for the stairs as well. "I'm gonna go grab a bear." I followed him, trying to ignore the foreboding feeling that was building up in my throat. I completely disregarded the all too familiar squeezing feeling I get in my head off of a good high as I passed him in the kitchen and headed up to Erik's room, where he was tossing different articles of clothing into a shoulder bag.
"You're not spending the week with him alone in your house Jackie." He said before even turning to face me. His steps across the room seemed calculated but he always did that after a session in the circle. He zipped up the bag and threw it over his shoulder, staggering at the sudden balance offset and stood before me. "You guys can do whatever you want, just don't let him get too drunk. It'll be like I'm not even there. Like a mouse. You don't have mice though right?" he shuddered. "I hate mice."
"Fine, fine. Just let me go talk to Hyde about it." I said, rolling my eyes and turning to head down the hall towards the stairs.
"Jackie wait." I spun around at the sound of his voice and saw him leaning in the doorway of his room, bag still in hand. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" I nodded, crossing from the hall and into his room in three strides. He closed the door behind us, sitting on the edge of his bed and gesturing for me to do the same.
"Okay…" I said, complying and falling back unsteadily onto the bed beside him. "What's wrong?"
" It's just…" he gave me that weird twitchy stare he always gave Red when he was afraid to get smacked or called a dumbass. "You love Hyde, right?"
"Of course I do Erik. It's all I've been thinking about all summer." I replied. God is this all he wanted to talk about?
" Well then I think you should really talk to him about what happened the other night." He said, placing a hand tentatively on my knee. "I mean maybe if he know what he did to you he won't get that drunk again. Ya know?" I sighed, the aggravation rising within me. why didn't he get it? Everything was perfect, the little episode with Hyde was nothing. Nothing compared to what it would turn into if he found out. He'd freak out and never get close to me again. I couldn't handle that right now.
"Erik relax, it won't happen again. I'll just keep an eye on how much he drinks."
" Yeah and I bet after your other one heals and you can see out of it, you'll be keeping two eyes on how much he drinks won't you?" he asked sarcastically. "What if it becomes more than just when he's drunk? What if it becomes…a lifestyle or something?"
"I won't let it." I stated simply. I might love him but I'm not stupid. If he became dangerous to me I'd leave him, no problem…right? Right…of course I would.
" What if you don't have a choice? I mean what if it gets really bad? He'll apologize and say he loves you yadda yadda yadda and it'll happen again. My mom's a nurse Jackie, she sees this stuff all the time." He said, a worried look now evident on his face. I just stared at him, an overwhelming sense of disappointment landing on me like a tone of bricks. He was right. I had to tell Hyde, and it would ruin everything. Before I knew it I was crying, and Erik was scooping me into his arms, hugging me comfortingly and telling me not to cry.
"Shhh. Jackie don't cry." I could hear him whisper it into my ear but I couldn't stop. I hadn't cried all summer and it had definitely taken it's toll. He cupped my chin with his hand and brought me to eye level, smiling reassuringly. "Come on, don't cry. You're too pretty for that." I had to smile at this. Only Erik could quote my mother and make me laugh. The door to his room burst open and Hyde was standing in the doorway, the same angry look on his face that I'd seen after I'd gotten home the other night.
