Chapter Three-Hundred and Twenty-Three
Claire bit her lip as John hefted a huge piece of concrete into a truck.
Sweat shimmered on his shoulders and brow, his dark skin was tinted red with sunburn, his body was covered in dirt and dust, and his hair was drenched with his sweat.
She smiled slightly at the muscles flexing in his arms and back.
"He's strong, isn't he?" Clarissa placed her hand on her daughter's back, her brow furrowing as a strange man approached John. "Who's that?"
John heaved a breath, screaming as someone slammed their hand down on the tailgate.
"Johnathan Bender?" The man asked, his eyes reflecting Jacob's like a mirror.
John nodded, suddenly feeling small as the man stood to his full height. "Yes…"
"Where's your old man?" He snapped, his lip curling with disgust. "I have something to say to him."
John's eyes flashed yellow, fear rising in his chest. "Who are you?"
The man moved the match in his teeth to the other side of his mouth, glaring at the younger kid. "My name, is Justin Gilbert. Jacob raped my mother."
John's mouth popped open, his head starting to spin as the realization hit him. "What?"
Justin shoved John backwards, making him stumble into a pile of rocks that sliced his back through the wife-beater tank top he was wearing. Red stained the white of his shirt, a loud cry of pain ripping from his throat as Thomas bolted to his side. "Momma!" He cried, letting Thomas gather his skinny body into his arms. "I want Momma…"
Thomas nodded, glaring at the young man before him. His hands moved over John's body, terror flooding his veins as they became slick with blood. "What the hell did he do to you?" He snapped, holding John close to his chest as his sobs became louder.
"His douchebag of a dad raped my Mom." Justin stated, forcing his guilt back when he saw how badly John was bleeding.
"I was a rape baby too…" John sniffled, reaching for Clarissa as Thomas pushed him over to her. "Jacob raped Beverly when she got pregnant with me."
Clarissa brushed his hair back, pressing her hands to the cut to stop the blood flow. "Shh… Johnny, let's get you fixed up."
Justin watched as Clarissa and Thomas lifted John to his feet and helped him limp to the tour bus. "I want to talk about this later." He ordered, taking a seat at the picnic table to wait.
Ryan pushed John into the cushions of the small sofa, blocking his screams out while he picked bits of fabric and stone out of the cuts. "John, relax." He jumped away as John flinched, cursing as fresh blood pooled on his skin. "Damnit." He met Vernon's eyes as he entered the bus. "Can you hold him down for me?"
Vernon nodded, pushing John's shoulders down and letting Thomas take his legs and hips. "How bad is it?"
Thomas shut his eyes as John's throat was torn with the scream that came from him. "I don't want to know." He choked his tears back when John tried to kick away from him.
"I HATE YOU!" John cried, his tears mixing with the sweat and the spit on his face.
Vernon wiped his thumb over John's chin, cleaning it of the spit and phlegm that his tears had caused his throat to empty itself of. "He doesn't mean that Tom." He stated, sighing in relief when Ryan had them sit John up and started wrapping his waist with bandaging. "He's just hurting."
Thomas nodded, letting Ryan and Vernon take John to the bunks and lay him in bed while he left to speak with Justin. "I know."