A/N: WARNING- this chapter is a little more graphic and disturbing. If abuse upsets you, don't read it. You'll be able to read chapter 10 later and the rest of the story and still figure out what's going on. But I really wanted to better establish Serena's story. It'll help later, but again, if you don't read it, then you'll still be able to figure out the basic idea in the coming chapters.
On another note-I didn't get many reviews, andI know I said I was going to wait to post, but here I am. I'm getting kind of frustrated with this story though, so I need to know everyone's opinion. I have up to chapter 17 written, but I'm not sure if I should continue with the other ideas I had or just leave it there. It would be better if I kept writing, but I feel like no one's reading. So send me reviews and then I'll decide.
Anyway, here's chapter 9-
Chapter 9- The Past Comes Out
Jason was going crazy. Sonny's plan to give Jason the morning off had backfired. He was just sitting there, thinking about Serena. Overcome with cabin fever, Jason left the penthouse and took a ride on his motorcycle. He ended up at their cliff. He didn't even realize it. He got off his bike and looked at the town. He looked over to the spot on the ground where they had first made love. The memory made him smile. Not only had they consummated their relationship, but they had expressed their true feelings for one another. Unable to be there without her, he hopped back on to his bike and sped down to the warehouses. When he arrived, Sonny was no where in sight, but Kemen was sitting on the railing of the pier, staring at the water.
"Hey man" said Kemen when he saw Jason
"Hey" said Jason
"I'm sorry" said Kemen
"About what?" asked Jason
"This morning. I didn't mean to walk in on you two"
"You didn't-"
"Dude, I know my sister. And that blanket did little to hide the evidence. I know she wants me to move out. And I know that I should. But I'm too afraid to"
"Are you afraid of the Sandoval's getting to you? Cause we won't let anything happen to you, you do know that, right?"
"I know, and it's not me I'm worried about, its her"
"I'll protect her" said Jason softly. "I'll protect her with my life".
"I know you will, and it's not that" said Kemen.
"Then what is it?" asked Jason
"It's kind of difficult to explain" said Kemen
"You can tell me. We've basically become brothers"
"I know" said Kemen. "Alright, here it goes" he said, taking a deep breath. "I'm not sure how much detail Serena went into when she explained her childhood to you. But our parents were a piece of work. Our father was an abusive jerk. He drank too much, and he'd lash out. After she was born, my mother had enough. She ran out on us. On all of us. She left me and my sister at the mercy of our father. After she left, he was even more irritable. He didn't work- he just drank. We had basically no money, and we were living in a tiny trailer. He expected us to take care of everything. I even dropped out of school and got a job. I kept it a secret from him though. If he knew I was spending the money on food for Serena and me, he would have killed us. He wanted all the money for booze. He was constantly hitting us. He blamed us both for our mother's disappearance, but he laid most of the blame with Serena. That was how she got those scars on her back. My father would use any excuse to beat her. I tried to get inbetween it, and sometimes I could. But not all the time. It was so hard on her. She would have been any parent's pride and joy. She was beautiful, she was funny, and god was she smart. Her grades were sky-high, her SAT scores were near perfect, and her teachers loved her. She went to Yale you know. She got financial aid once she was living with me. She was a cheerleader, and a dancer. She was perfect. But my father never saw it. He only saw a mistake. And he made sure she knew that that was all she was to him- a terrible accident. It hurt her. It hurt her almost as much as his physical abuse"
"He never tried to- you know, right?" asked Jason nervously
"No, he never touched her in any type of sexual manner. But I wouldn't have put it past him"
"She never told me all of that" said Jason, a little shaken up from Kemen's story. How could anyone hurt his perfect Serena like that?
"I wouldn't imagine she would. She's embarrassed by it. Embarrassed that she was so weak. She was very clingy to me. She was afraid I'd leave too. She was 9 when we left. And after that, she was able to get her life back on track. That was when she became the popular cheerleader with the good grades. That was when she went to Yale. She almost didn't though. She was afraid to leave me. But I convinced her to go. I wanted her to have more opportunities than I did. And she did have more opportunities" said Kemen, almost bitterly
"And then she chose this lifestyle" said Jason, sensing why Kemen was bitter
"Exactly" said Kemen. "And I just don't want to lose her. I want to be there, to stop her from doing anything stupid"
"I know the feeling. But Serena's headstrong. She's not about to let anyone tell her what to do" said Jason
"I know. But I'm still allowed to worry"
"Yeah, you are. So, whatever happened to your parents?"
"My father died. Alcohol poisoning. And I have no idea where my mother is. And truthfully, neither Serena nor I care. As far as we're concerned, she left us for dead. She left us with him" said Kemen
"I'm sorry man"
"Whatever, the past is the past. Let's look toward the future. And as for the future, I see you, me, and Sonny doing the guy thing tonight. You know, pizza and beer now that the girls aren't home"
"Sounds good" said Jason with a smile
"Perfect" said Kemen. He turned and walked back into the warehouse, and Jason followed.
As soon as Kemen's back was turned, Jason's smile faded. He wished he could rush home to Serena and hug her. He couldn't believe that her own father was the reason for the scars on her back. He didn't want to think about him beating her. He didn't want to think about anyone hurting her. It made his heart break and his blood boil at the same time.
Serena and Carly clamored out of the cab and ran into the lobby. The doorman held an umbrella for them to shield them against the falling rain and then opened the door. They thanked him and then took the elevator up to the penthouse.
"That was incredible!" said Carly for the 900th time
"I know" said Serena again, a big smile still on her face.
Carly had loved Rent, Serena knew she would.
"Did Roger remind you a bit of Jason?" asked Carly, knowing what her friend was thinking
"Maybe" said Serena with a smile. "You know, minus the whole dying of AIDS thing. It's just that bad boy thing"
"I know exactly what you mean" said Carly as the elevator door 'dinged' open to the penthouse. They both pulled off their wet coats and shoes. The changed into pajamas and sat down on the living room couch to watch late night TV. Serena dropped the remote and bent down to pick it up. As she did, her tank top rode up in back. Carly caught a glimpse of one of her scars for the first time.
"How'd you get that?" asked Carly with concern
"Um, I don't remember. I've had it forever" lied Serena as she quickly reached up and covered her back.
Carly could sense that she wanted to drop it. After an hour or so, Serena was exhausted, so she said goodnight to Carly and walked into her bedroom. She laid down on the bed, and looked at the picture of her and Jason she had brought. Carly had laughed at her, making fun of her for being unable to go a night without looking at his face. She was sad though. She hadn't had a chance to speak to Jason at all that day. She sighed as her thoughts wandered back to Carly and the scar. Jason was always asking her how she got that scar. She knew that one day she would have to tell him the truth. But she couldn't bring herself to do it. She pressed her knees to her chest, and huddled up in a ball. She got under the covers and fell asleep. It was hard without Jason. However, she had thought enough to bring a pair of his boxers to sleep in. She smiled as she thought about wearing them. However, her sleep was not undisturbed. Carly's words still rang in her head about the scar, and her dreams reflected it.
Serena's dream:
She was cowering in the corner as her father yelled. Kemen pounded on the bathroom door where their father had locked him. He wanted desperately to get out and help Serena.
"You little bitch!" yelled Carlos Martinez. "I told you that I wanted this trailer cleaned up"
"I did papa, I did" cried the little 7 year old girl.
"What is that!" yelled Carlos as he pointed at the speck of dust that lay on broken TV set.
"I'm sorry papa!" she cried. "Please!"
But her pleading was in vein. Her father had already removed his thick leather belt. He spun her around so that her back was to him and he pulled the belt up high above his head. He crashed it down on her back and she cried out. He repeatedly hit her, again and again. She could feel her back starting to bleed as she grabbed on to the wall to steady herself. She was only 7. She shouldn't have to deal with this. She shouldn't be in the corner of a trailer, being whipped by her father. She cried out as she heard the crack and felt the leather continuously break her skin.
"Kemen, Kemen" she yelled. She soon found that her cries changed though. "Jason, Jason" she cried.
"Jason, Jason" she cried in her sleep. She woke up with a start. Her back hurt her, but she knew that it was all in her head. She had dreamed that. Scared, she hurried to the bathroom and lifted her shirt with her back to the mirror. She twisted her head around and saw to her relief that her back was not covered in welts and blood. She took a deep breath. She crept out to the kitchen and got a glass of water to calm herself down. She was glad to see that her cries hadn't woken Carly. The sound of the rain had drowned them out. She didn't want to have to explain her dream to Carly. It really wasn't a dream though. It was more of a memory. That had happened to her. That was how she had gotten that scar. She started to cry in spite of herself. She really needed Jason here. She wished he was with her. She knew that if she called him, he would hop on his motorcycle and be there in an hour. But she couldn't do that. It was the middle of the night. She crawled back into bed and put the glass on the night stand. Her eyes fell on the picture of Jason. She couldn't take it anymore. She at least needed to tell Jason the truth. Even if it was 3 in the morning. She grabbed the phone and dialed her home number. Home. Out of all of the homes she had, this one was her favorite. She heard the phone ring only once and then she head a surprisingly alert "hello"
Jason, Sonny, and Kemen had gotten their guys night. They ate pizza and drank beer, and watched James Bond movies. But Sonny missed Carly, and Jason was going crazy without Serena. Jason hadn't been able to sleep. He was in the living room, looking at the photo albums Serena had put together in her spare time. They all contained pictures of the two of them. They both looked so happy. They were a family. He knew he shouldn't miss her this much after one night. He just hoped she was having a good time and that Carly wasn't driving her up a wall. He was surprised to hear the phone ring, but he quickly picked it up so that it wouldn't wake Kemen.
"Hello?" he said
"Jase?" asked Serena, still crying
"Baby, what's wrong? Are you hurt? Did someone get to you? Talk to me" he said, trying to keep his voice steady. He was filled with concern for her.
"No, no one got to me" she said as she tried to stop crying. "I just missed you and I needed to talk to you" she said.
"I miss you too" he said, his voice soft and comforting.
"Jason, there's something I need to tell you" she said
"What is it?" he asked
"I just wanted to tell you how I got those scars. The ones on my back" she said, taking a deep breath
"You don't have to" he said
"No, I want to" she said
"Really, it's ok. Kemen told me"
"What?" she asked. "I wish he didn't. I wanted to be the one to tell you"
"I know, but it was good that he told me. He wanted me to know just what you had been through. And baby, I am so sorry. No one deserves that" he said, desperately wishing he was there so he could hold her in his arms.
"God, I wish my father wasn't dead so I could kill him myself" she said through angry tears.
'Me too' thought Jason. "I'm so sorry baby" he repeated. "What brought on the sudden desire to talk about this?" asked Jason, concerned that something bad had happened.
"It's nothing really. I just had a dream. Well, more of a memory really. It was of this one time, when I was seven. And my father had threatened to give me the beating of a lifetime if the trailer wasn't cleaned by the time he got home from the bar that night. So Kemen and I did what he said. And it was perfect. But he came home, drunk of course, and he noticed the tiniest speck of dust, and he went ballistic. He locked Kemen in the bathroom so that he couldn't get in the middle, and he cornered me. And then…his belt…whipped…blood…welts…screaming…hours" she sobbed
Jason couldn't make out what she was saying through her sobs, but he was able to get the just of it. He whispered comforting words through the phone, and tried to sooth her. She eventually calmed down.
"I'm sorry Jason" she said
"For what?" he asked
"For calling you at 3 in the morning in hysterics"
"Hey, don't apologize. I'm your boyfriend. And I love you. And that's what I'm here for" he said.
"I love you too. I better get some sleep" said Serena. "Carly's going to be dragging me all over tomorrow. Or today really" said Serena, glancing at the clock.
"Alright. Sweet dreams" wished Jason
"You too" she said, knowing that now that she had spoken to Jason, and he didn't think she was weak and pathetic in spite of everything, she would have sweet dreams.
A/N: So now you know Serena's story. Remember to review and send me your opinion on the burning question- to finish or not to finish?