A/N: RIP, Jonny. (sniffles) However, the fic must go on!

"Where the hell were you?" Carmine Delvecchio demanded.

Carmine was six feet tall, Italian, and at the moment, very upset.

"I-I was at a boxing lesson," A.J. stammered.

"It's come to my attention you've been hanging around with a certain Jonny Calvo," Carmine continued. "Angela, sweetheart, Mr. Calvo is a very dangerous man. It worries me that you're associating with people like him."

A.J. rolled her eyes. "You don't have to pretend you're concerned about me. I'm not stupid. I know the only reason I'm living here is so you can get a check from the state every month." The teen knew this was practically begging for a slap in the mouth, but she didn't care. She'd been making her own choices, good and bad, for a long time.

Carmine's face flushed. He pushed A.J. to the floor, then grabbed the back of her muscle shirt to pull her up. Putting a seemingly friendly arm around her shoulders, he asked, "You really wanna take a poke at me?"

"You bet I..."

A.J. was cut off by Carmine pressing his thumb against the side of her neck, which rendered her incapable of speaking. Mild terror glazed her eyes as she struggled to breathe.

"Let's hear the right answer." said Carmine, easing off some off his pressure.

A.J. almost fell to her knees in a fit of coughing. She finally forced herself to meet his cruel eyes. "No, sir," she mumbled.

"Good," Carmine said lightly. "I don't wanna see you again for the rest of tonight."

"Yes, sir," A.J. said, trooping dutifully upstairs.

0-0-0-0-0-0

Hours later, A.J. was sitting awake in her bedroom, watching the minutes crawl by on her digital alarm clock. She couldn't be sure Carmine was asleep, so she didn't want to risk sneaking to the kitchen for a drink of water or something to eat.

"Oooh," she hissed, looking at her neck in the mirror.

It was definitely going to be bruised. At least her hair would cover it.

A.J. tried hard to remember something in her past, before Carmine Delvecchio had taken her in from the foster care system. As always, she drew a blank. She'd often wondered over the years if she had any family left who could take her away from this horrible place. A single tear rolled down her cheek as she dozed off.