Chapter Three-Hundred and Twenty-Five
Clarissa tip toed into the bunkroom of the bus, a small smile gracing her lips when she saw that John was sleeping. She shook her head as his fingers twitched, able to see that he was in the middle of a dream. "Good night, Pumpkin." She brushed his hair back from his temple, gently kissing his head before she left him.
She took a seat at the table outside of the bus, listening as her husband spoke with the young man whose name was apparently Justin Gilbert. "He's asleep." She sighed, lifting a glass of water to her lips.
Mary smiled slightly, placing her hands over Clarissa's. "He didn't mean it. You know how teenagers are, they say things they don't mean." She looked up as Claire went inside. "John isn't any different."
Jan nodded taking Sage from Jade as the young mother situated himself to breastfeed the quads. "He may not look it, but he's still a teenage boy." She bounced Sage in her arms. "Besides, Dominic does the same thing I'll bet."
Jade nodded, tucking Flynn under the wrap and holding his head to her left breast. "Believe me, he's just as bad. If not worse."
Justin glared at the men around him, pure hatred boiling in his blood. "That douchebag raped my Mother! I want justice."
Thomas nodded, his heart still aching with what John had shouted at him. "Jacob's in prison for the next twenty years. Believe me, he's getting what he deserves." He remembered the cross carved into John's back, the bullet graze on his side, the scars from his father's whip on the boy's back, the scars around his neck, the detoxes, every horrible thing John had gone through… "What Jacob did, isn't what John should be blamed for." He thought back to what John had told him about being forced to watch his own mother be raped on a regular basis. "As John said… he was a rape baby too."
Justin growled and crossed his arms over his chest to keep from punching the lawyer's lights out. "What's with the scars?" He asked, gritting his teeth.
Ryan sighed. "John should be the one to tell you that." He turned to Dominic, able to see the trademark Bender Stare being aimed at and returned by Justin. "We don't want to say more than he would want." He gave Dominic a flick on the ear, hitting the piercing in his cartilage and causing it to sting. "Feel free to stay the night, but I think it would be a good idea to give these boys some space."
Dominic rubbed the piercing with his fingertips, curling his lip in a snarl as Ryan lifted his hand as if to flick the piercing again. "Fuck off."
"Go help your wife with that Flower Garden Gang of yours." He shoved Dominic toward the bus, watching him walk over to the women and pick up one of his daughters. "Dominic's the main one to worry about right now. He's always been more willing to fight than John, and he's been John's protector since they were babies." He looked back to Justin. "If I were you, I'd be happy that I wasn't raised by Jacob and his brother."