I want to thank Latisha for the great compliment she gave me a while back. I love to read stories over and over and I am glad that mine does that for her. She and Phoenix have been loyal fans from the beginning of my writing career here. Because of that loyalty I am not sure that Ghosts is living up to expectations. They seem to be the only ones reviewing. I guess I was spoiled by the great reception Friends got. Or maybe its six am in the morning and I haven't been to bed yet. So if you like the story please review and restore my confidence. And once again I want to thank Latisha and Phoenix for their support.
Happy reading.
Journey took John's curt suggestion to heart and didn't say a word on the ride home. She was hurt that he had spoken in such a way to her. Sensibly she knew that he was just upset about what had happened but that didn't help the pain in her heart any.
She was also angry at herself. Dave had been right. She had caused John more grief than help by going. Now not only was he mad at her for forcing him to take her but now he had to deal with the possible consequences of his attack on Jack. Journey felt tears come to her eyes. She had just wanted to be there for moral support.
Following behind the stalking figure of her boyfriend she began looking forward to a couple hours of blissful solitude where she couldn't mess anything up. Walking up the steps to her apartment she ran into the back of John, who had come to a dead stop. Craning her neck to look around him she realized her wish was not going to come true.
Edging past the glaring man she unlocked her door and silently invited Randy in, wishing all the while she could kick him and his new bimbo straight back to Connecticut.
John exploded, not waiting until they were all inside the door. "What the hell to you think you are doing here?" He yelled, causing Journey to jump.
"John, try to calm down. Randy has no idea what's going on. I am sure he just came to make sure I am doing okay." She tried to interject. She cringed when John turned cold eyes on her. Before he could do or say anything Randy stepped in between them.
"I would suggest you be very careful right now. You hurt her anymore than it looks like you already have and I am going to wipe the floor with you." He said softly.
"Like you could take care of her? You can't even do the one thing that I asked you to do and take care of Nikki." John said angrily pushing Randy away from him.
Nikki stared wide eyed at her brother, having never seen him like this in her life. Before he could throw a punch at Randy she stepped between them. "John! Get a hold of yourself. You're acting like a child."
Journey, having retreated to sitting on the couch jumped up when Nikki put her hands on John's chest. "Get your hands off of him. You may be welcome here because Randy brought you but you are in my place and touching my boyfriend is not allowed. He's mine." She said shoving the younger girl away.
Nikki stared at the other girl incredulously. "He was mine first. I can touch him anytime I want to."
"You little bitch." Too enraged to think clearly Journey pushed the taller girl a second time.
"Ya know, I promised I wouldna call you no more names, but I didn't say anything about hitting you. Ya fight like a girl." Nikki sneered, aiming a punch at the other girl's ribs.
"John, could you please help me." Randy bit out as he struggled to keep the girls apart.
John looked at him strangely, shook his head and walked out the door. Randy stared in disbelief until the girls managed to get the better of him and he hit the floor.
Two hours later Randy climbed out of his rental car hardly noticing the dark clouds that were starting to spit out fat raindrops. Entering the doorway of a small café he spotted his former friend at one of the back tables and walked over. Slumping into a chair he glared at the other man.
Looking up from the papers spread out in front of him John grinned at the picture Randy made. "You have scratches down your cheek." He pointed out.
"Guess they go with the black eye you gave me yesterday." Randy muttered reaching up to feel the damage.
"Yea, about that, you know I didn't do it on purpose. I would have hit anyone who had tried to pull me off." John said apologetically.
"Even Mark?" Randy sneered.
"Yea, but God help me if I had." John said breaking out in a cold sweat at the thought.
Randy couldn't help but laugh. "At the moment I really wish it had been him. How could you leave me alone in the middle of two fighting she cats?"
"That was your own choice. I know better than to get between two females." John said holding up his hands. "How did you get them to stop anyway?"
"Went down, pretended like they had hurt me. Journey was so horrified that she backed off immediately. With her out of the picture I was able to hold down Nikki until I could straighten everything out." Randy shook his head baffled. "Once Journey realized Nikki was your sister and not out to steal you they became the best of friends. Even kicked me out so they could talk. My job, they said, was to come get you."
John laughed and pushed his barely eaten lunch over to the other man in commiseration. Picking up a fry Randy pointed to the papers his friend had been working on. "What's all that?"
"Just stuff." John said quickly shuffling the papers into a pile.
"Listen man, Nikki told me some of what's been going on and I kind of figured out the rest." Randy quickly held up his hands. "Don't blame her. She just wanted to make sure I wouldn't make anything messier than it is."
"Tell me about her." He added softly.
"I never knew you know. After I was busted Madison and I split up because of her parents. I left for college a few months later. I just never knew." John said raggedly, tired of keeping it all to himself.
Randy remained quiet, silently urging the other man to continue.
"That day that Monica approached me on the street. She practically shoved Ari under my nose. It didn't take a genius to give it out. She looks exactly like her mom with my smile. And she's the right age. Madison was a good girl in a bad family. She didn't sleep around." John said earnestly.
Randy nodded to show he understood.
"Monica didn't give me a lot of details that day, just proved that she was in a position to hurt the kid. When I got home I got on the computer. You can find anything you want on the internet." John gave a short laugh. "I found the birth certificate. My name was not on it, which was no surprise because her parents hated me. I found documentation of Madison's death and the death of her parents. There was also a record of custody being awarded to Monica. There was nothing naming me as the father so nobody knew to contact me."
"So what did you do?" Randy asked quietly, not wanting to disrupt John's train of thought.
John shrugged. "What amounted to nothing. I called DHS to investigate abuse but they wouldn't do anything. I sued for custody but Monica claims I'm not the father. So we had to go through DNA testing, which takes forever. In the meantime I basically started stalking my daughter. Hanging out at her school so I could talk to her at recess or grab a few minutes with her after school. Taking her out for bites to eat when she's suppose to be playing with friends. Hell, I'm practically supporting her. When it became obvious that she wasn't eating lunch at school because she didn't have money I went to the school and paid for her school lunch for the rest of the year. When the weather started turning a little colder last month and she would walk outside in short sleeves I bought her a jacket. Little stuff you know? But she gets the biggest smile every time I do something. It gives me butterflies in my stomach."
"Why do I feel like there is a bad ending to this story?" Randy asked pushing the untouched food away from him.
"I got caught." John said softly.
"Doing what?" Randy asked confused.
"I was arrested for stalking a child. They ended up dropping the charges when they found out that I was in a custody battle for her but they advised Monica to get a restraining order until the case is settled, which of course she did."
"Do you know how bad it's going to look to the judge reviewing the case?" Randy exclaimed. John nodded miserably.
"So what happened today?" Randy asked, not sure he really wanted to know.
"I had to go see Monica today. A command performance you might say. Journey insisted on going with me. I know she was just trying to help but I really wish she hadn't. I even enlisted Dave's help. You know what she told him. That we were sleeping together. Like I didn't have enough problems." John stressed.
Randy struggled to swallow the water he had just put into his mouth. "Do you remember what I told you about how Dave reacted when he misunderstood me and thought I had slept with her?"
"First thing that popped into my mind." John assured him.
Randy gave up the struggle and burst out laughing. "I'm sorry man, but damn just how much more can you take?" He asked trying to catch his breath.
John didn't know whether to laugh with Randy or start crying. "Apparently Monica thinks I can take more. The custody hearing is coming up so this morning Monica issued her final demand. Five million and I get custody."
Randy's eyes opened wide. "Oh shit. Do you really think the custody battle is going to go so much against you that you are going to have to pay her?"
"No, I know I am going to win the battle. Monica freely admitted this morning that she knows the DNA test will prove positive. And the judge will talk to Ari. She'll tell him about what's been going on the last five months which will offset my stalking charge." John answered staring up at the ceiling.
"Then why pay?" Randy asked.
"The case doesn't go to court for another week. Monica wants her money before she loses control of the situation. In two days to be exact." John informed him tonelessly.
"How are you supposed to get five million dollars in two days?" Randy asked incredulous.
"Never mind two days. How am I supposed to come up with five million period?" John asked desperately. "Because if I don't Ari's going to be the one that pays."
Gathering up his papers he slowly got up from the table and walked outside. Unable to comprehend what he had just heard Randy followed him. Giving the other man the keys he let John drive back to the apartment.
John walked up the front stairs and tried for a moment of levity. Sticking his head around the door he asked in a fake high voice. "Is it safe or am I going to get my eyes clawed out during a cat fight?"
Instead of hearing laughter John was pulled off his feet as the door was jerked out of his grasp by his angry sister. Getting up off the floor he turned to glare at her. "I should be the one mad here. I told you not to come to Boston, but here you are anyway. And you bring in an outsider to boot." Turning to Randy he muttered, "No offense man, I'm just trying to seem angry here."
Randy walked past him without seeming to hear him and slumped down on the couch. Nikki looked in alarm at John. "What did you do to him?" She asked before going over to the young man in question. John used the opportunity to grab Journey and pull her out the door.
"Go for a walk with me." He requested softly.
They had traveled three blocks before John got the nerve to speak up. "Journey, I hope you know that no matter how angry I seem, either at you or the situation, that I would never raise a hand to you."
"I know, and part of my reaction to you in there was because I was just as mad at myself. I should have never gone with you this morning. I should have known when you called Dave how worried you were about the situation." Journey admitted.
"It's just that Jack could have had a whole group of friends with him and I wouldn't have been able to fight all of them off to save you." John shuddered as he realized what could have happened.
"I know that now. And I wouldn't have blamed you if you had hit me. What I did was incredibly stupid and put both of us at risk." Journey whispered.
John turned to gather the frail girl in his arms. "You were just being the sweet girl I care about, trying to look out for me. Speaking of which I really liked the jealous act. Kinda turned me on." He said grinning down at her.
Journey looked at him in astonishment before she cracked up laughing. Struggling to breathe she looked wishfully back towards her apartment. "What's the chance of us kicking them out for a while?"
John leaned close to whisper in her ear. "I have a better idea." He said before dragging her off at a fast pace.