WARNINGS FOR THIS CHAPTER:
-heavily used profanity
-marijuana usage
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 11TH
Right now, miles and miles away, Jaime would have been in school with Tim, Bart, and Cassie if his life hadn't taken such a sharp turn on Friday. He wasn't too busy focusing on school, however. He and Tim had been partnered up to buck haystacks into a wagon. And god damn, they were a lot heavier than Jaime initially had thought. Even with the combined strength of he and Tim, they still struggled to lift them up.
"How the hell does he do that?" asked Tim as he tried to catch his breath, looking over to Conner, who was lifting up haystacks by himself into the cart.
"No idea." Jaime said, though he admired Conner's strength. He wondered how many years Conner had to have been living here to perform the task with such ease.
A sudden noise was heard behind them, and Tim and Jaime turned around to see Dick pulling a small cart full of corn.
"Yo guys... look at how much fucking corn I have!" Dick said, gesturing to the corn in the wagon, "Cassie's not too far behind me. And her wagon is even bigger! This is like, Cornland, or something crazy like that."
"That's great, Dick." Tim complimented before changing the subject, "I still don't understand as to why the Kents don't have any trucks to do the heavy-lifting, though. Having horses pull wagons seems pretty old-fashioned."
"Who cares? I have the honor of pulling corn in a cart. This is my dream come true." Dick said enthusiastically, and Cassie pulled up next to him. Dick looked at her cart, as if he hadn't seen how huge it was before. "I hereby announce Cassie Sandsmark as the empress of corn. She's a lot better at this than I will ever be."
Tim turned away from his brother. "Jaime, we only have two haystacks left. Let's keep moving." he encouraged. They quickly finished their task, and looked in the distance for Conner, but he was already gone. They got on top of the cart, and Tim took the reigns of Misty, and they said their short goodbyes to Dick and Cassie before going back to the barn.
Upon returning, the loud whinny of a horse was heard, obviously very upset. Confused, Jaime told Tim to stay with Misty while he checked out what was going on. He jumped off the cart, and creaked open the barn doors.
"Hello?" a small, desperate-sounding voice said from the distance.
Jaime narrowed his eyes, and he walked in, looking for the voice's owner. He came to a sudden halt, not sure how to react.
"Oh... hey." Bart said, letting out a nervous smile.
"What the actual hell? How'd this happen?" Jaime asked, mostly annoyed, yet slightly amused, and genuinely concerned.
"Well... Mrs. Kent wanted me to bring Luna out into the field for her. I guess the horse was feeling kinda grumpy because when I tried to pull her out of the stable, she resisted and I got my arm tangled in the reigns... now it's really stuck. And I need you to help me out."
Jaime sighed and laughed somewhat to himself, "Here, hold still. I'll let you out." he pulled a switchblade out of his pocket.
"Whoa! Dude, what the fuck?! That thing is huge!" Bart began to freak out, "Why do you even have a knife on you?"
"Carrying a knife on me is something I always do." Jaime explained, "It's a habit now."
Bart winced, but sighed with relief as he felt the reigns slip off of his skin and fall onto the ground. Jaime began to take the bridle off of Luna.
"Do you have a thing for getting yourself into situations where you end up being tied up?" he asked.
"A little bit. How'd you know?" Bart chuckled nervously, and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Well, look at this mess." Jaime pointed to the ruined bridle and reigns on the floor, ignoring Bart's question, "We'll go tell Mrs. Kent what happened."
"Wait, what? No! Just hide it or something!" Bart said.
"What, are you afraid of old-lady punishment?" Jaime teased, "Oh no, not dusting knick-knacks! Never! You can't make me!"
"Hey man, don't underestimate those old ladies." Bart warned.
"Am I interrupting something?"
The two teens turned their heads to see a young woman in her early to mid-twenties, with olive skin, grey eyes, and long black hair standing in the entrance of the barn next to Tim.
"She's the girl who Mrs. Kent said would be coming a few days ago. Jade." Tim quickly explained.
Jade walked into the barn, making her way into Luna's stall, stroking the mare's head as the horse whinnied happily, "She was always my favorite." she commented.
Bart laughed and began to walk out of the stall, "Oh, so this girl can handle her. Great. I'm just gonna get go-"
"No. You're gonna tell Mrs. Kent what you did." Jaime said as he caught Bart by the shoulder.
"But why?" Bart whined like he was a young child.
Jaime glared at him.
"Fine." Bart gave in, "I'll go tell her."
x
"Woo! Looking sexy with that duster, motherfucker!" Dick teased as he walked past Bart dusting Mrs. Kent's knick knacks- just like Jaime had predicted.
"Hey dude, shut up. Real men dust knick knacks." Bart insisted. Dick continued to snicker before leaving to the kitchen. After a few minutes, Bart narrowed his eyes and felt the heat in his cheeks begin to rise.
"I know you're internally laughing at me." he said without even turning around.
"Yeah. That pretty much sums it up." Jaime replied, "But holy shit. I can't believe it. I was right. And I wasn't even serious."
"Yeah yeah, keep laughing." Bart grumbled.
The front door opened, and Jade entered the room, ignoring Bart and Jaime, she made her way into the kitchen. She pulled off her sunglasses that she was wearing at the time, and set them on top of the table. She grabbed a water out of the fridge before sitting down.
"Hello, Roy. Long time, no see." she greeted.
"Hey." Roy grinned.
She looked over to the black-haired man to his left, "And who are you?"
"I'm Dick. You?" Dick replied.
"Jade." she responded.
Jade held out her hand to shake Dick's. They and Roy began to make small-talk, and Bart finished up his dusting, making his way in the kitchen to join. Jaime took opposite direction, seeking out Tim, who was out on the front porch, cuddling with Cassie on the bench.
"Hey lovebirds. What are you guys up to?" he asked.
"Not much." Tim admitted.
"Cassie, you look annoyed." Jaime commented.
"No, I'm fine." Cassie reassured.
"What? Did Mrs. Kent enforce a strict no-sex policy upon you two? 'There ain't gonna be any sex in this house while I'm still living in it!'" he butchered a southern accent, teasing the couple.
"Oh, shut the fuck up, dude." Tim said, playfully hitting his friend.
"Ay, I'm sure she had a talk with Dick about weed as well." Jaime guessed.
"I bet Dick is sexually attracted to weed." Cassie joked.
"I wouldn't be surprised." Jaime shrugged, "I'm still wondering how he'll manage to get pot while he lives here. He said he had his ways."
Tim laughed, "When Dick says he has his ways, he isn't lying."
The door quickly opened, and speak of the devil, Dick arrived.
"Yo guys... I just found out motherfucker's birthday is tomorrow! We've gotta celebrate." he insisted.
"Motherfucker's birthday?" Cassie raised an eyebrow.
"I think he's referring to Bart." Jaime commented.
"What would we even do to celebrate? It's not like we have any gifts to give him. He's loud and annoying." Tim admitted.
"Get him a ball-gag, then. I don't fucking know." Dick shrugged.
A series of snorts were heard from the other teens.
Dick chuckled, "We'll figure something out."
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12TH
"Woah!" Bart exclaimed as a large breakfast was set out on the kitchen table the next day, "Thanks guys, I appreciate it. I really do."
"It's our pleasure, son. How old are you turning today?" Mr. Kent asked.
"Fifteen." Bart informed.
"Fifteen's a good age. Come on, eat up now, before your food gets cold. And Bart, if I knew it was your upcoming birthday yesterday, I wouldn't have made you dust my knick knacks!" Mrs. Kent laughed. Dick chuckled along with her. They sat down at the now very full table, eating their food, Bart especially enjoying his birthday breakfast. "You know what, since I made you dust yesterday, I'll give you the day off today." she offered.
"Sounds great, Mrs. Kent." Bart smiled.
Like usual, Jaime and Tim were the first to finish and put their dishes in the sink simultaneously. They began to make their way out of the door, when Mr. Kent stopped them.
"Not so fast, boys. I have work for you two. I'd surely appreciate it if you could clean out the stables and give the horses some fresh food and water."
"Yes, sir." Tim said blandly.
"Jade. Join 'em, won't you?" Mr. Kent requested. Jade nodded, quickly finishing her breakfast and joining the teens.
Mr. Kent scanned Bart for a minute before asking, "Don't you have any change of clothes, son?"
"No. I've been wearing the same clothes since Friday." Bart admitted.
"Well, you know what? I'll go into town today and buy some clothes for you. I'd bring you with to help me pick some out, but, you know. You might get spotted. Hopefully you'll have faith in me to pick out all the hip clothes kids wear these days." Mr. Kent teased. Bart nodded in understanding.
"Welp, I wanna get back before sundown, so I best get going now." Mr. Kent got up from his chair and put his dishes in the sink. The old gentleman made his way out of the door and towards the back of the house, where his car garage stood. In the garage were three old vintage cars, in mint condition. Rarely did Mr. Kent go into town, maybe a couple of times a year, and it showed in his cars' pristine shape. A few minutes of pulling off a tarp and finding the key to his '67 Camaro (which was especially hidden) occurred. Starting it up, he opened the garage and pulled out. After a good thirty-five minutes of driving down plenty of roads, he eventually pulled into Keystone, the town where Roy's friends were from. The one they escaped from. Mr. Kent wasn't here to shop- Keystone wasn't big enough for that. All he needed was some gas and coffee, then he'd take the main road from Keystone into Central City. He began to fill his old car, looking at his watch as he did. Once he was done filling up the car, he walked inside of the gas station. He froze suddenly.
Oh, lord. It was Don. And Don was a police officer.
"Mr. Kent?" Don asked cheerfully.
"Don! Is that you? All grown up, I see." Mr. Kent commented.
"Yep! I can't believe it's you. I haven't seen you in years! I remember back when I was a kid, Dad would take us to your farm sometimes in the summer. Such a shame I never got to give Bart the same experience. But hey, life got busy." Don laughed.
"Bart?" Mr. Kent asked.
"Oh yeah, I never got the chance to tell you about my son, Bart. He's in high school now. In fact, today's his fifteenth birthday." Don informed, "Actually, I need to ask you something about him." and he looked down. Mr. Kent knew what was coming.
"What is it?" Mr. Kent acted oblivious.
Don handed Mr. Kent some flyers, and pointed to a picture, "This here is Bart. He went missing on Friday. He ran off with these kids." he pointed at Tim, Jaime, and Cassie, "Hell, that's the reason I'm here in the first place, to put up these goddamn flyers." he paused, "Sorry for my bad language. It's just been tough."
"No, I understand." Mr. Kent nodded.
If you see him around, can you give the station a call?" Don requested.
"Yeah. That's terrible, Don. I'm sorry to hear that. And I sure will." Mr. Kent reassured.
"It's alright. I'm stressed out, but I'm sure we'll find him. You know, one day, I should go visit you and your family at the farm. Just like old times, eh?" Don asked.
"Well, we're starting to get kind of old for people to visit us. We can't keep up." Mr. Kent nervously chuckled.
"Oh? Well, if you ever need any help, feel free to stop by the police station any time. Just request me and say you're Jonathan Kent, they'll most likely bring me to you." Don offered to him.
"Surely." Mr. Kent responded simply.
Don nodded, saying a quick goodbye, and he left the gas station.
Mr. Kent let out a sigh of relief. God damn, Bart was Don's son?
Man, he just wanted some coffee more than anything else right now.
x
"Hey, motherfucker." Dick smiled as he greeted Bart. The now fifteen-year old was relaxing inside the barn laying on top of a bunch of haystacks, "I got you a present."
"What is it?" Bart asked, not bothering to sit up to talk to Dick.
"For your birthday, I'm gonna let you smoke all of this weed. In this bong. My gift to you." Dick offered, pulling out his bong, weed, and lighter, and presenting it to Bart. Bart sat up to take a look.
"Holy shit. That's a lot." Bart said in surprise as Dick placed the weed on the bong.
"I know right?!" Dick laughed.
"Too much for me. We can share." Bart suggested. Dick seemed to like this idea.
"You guys better not be stinking up the place." Jaime said from the distance as he put fresh water into Dot's stall.
"And who's to say Jade here won't tattle on you guys?" Tim added.
"Oh, I won't. I'm not that kind of person." Jade reassured, "Though, I would be rather annoyed if you two amplified the smell of horse shit."
"Dick smells like horse shit twenty-four seven." Tim grumbled.
"You talk horse shit!" Dick shouted from the haystacks, "Come on, Bart. Let's get high and ignore these other motherfuckers."
After a few minutes, the smell had filled the whole barn.
"I'm out. That smells fucking terrible." Jaime said, exiting the barn. Jade and Tim agreed, and they left, only leaving Dick and Bart.
"You know Jaime, he always tries to act like a hard ass." Dick said before taking another hit, "But he's not one. He's a big teddy bear."
"Really? It sure doesn't seem like it." Bart countered.
"No, it doesn't." Dick agreed, "But I knew him before he became all... this. When Tim and I were still foster brothers, sometimes Jaime would come over, and he'd play with our little kitten that we had back then. And he'd fuss over this little kitten, that he eventually came up with the name for. Phoenix. Cat was bright orange."
"Daww." Bart chuckled.
"When Tim's biological mother died, he bought him a purple teddy bear, because he knew purple was his mom's favorite color. And he hugged Tim and said everything would be alright." Dick went on.
"He sounded like a good friend." Bart commented.
"Back then, he was." Dick said, "Nowadays, he isn't so affectionate. At least not in front of people. I don't think he's hugged Tim since he was thirteen. Maybe he has since, I don't know. He usually likes to keep Tim to himself, though I'm sure he allows Cassie to have some of him."
"What happened back then to make him change?" Bart asked, curious.
"Well, I'm not a hundred-percent sure, but I think it was the beginning of eighth grade for him. He had just started the school year and his dad died from cancer. The dude had been battling it for a long time, too. Jaime just spun down a shit hole at that point. His entire family did." Dick explained, "He's been through a lot."
"Wow." Bart said, "Didn't know he's been through some shit. I kind of thought he was just an asshole for some time."
"Oh, he's an asshole. Just an asshole with a reason for being an asshole. But he shouldn't be an asshole." Dick commented.
"What?"
"Never mind." Dick shook his head, then continued to speak, "I've been trying to get him back to normal. Nothing's ever worked. I just want him to chill again. You know, sit back and just smoke some weed, not be firing guns and shit."
"I get you." Bart replied, "I totally get you."
x
The night was dark and cloudy, with no moon or stars to be seen. Jaime turned off the night-light, engulfing him and Bart in complete blackness.
"So, purple teddy bear, huh?" Bart asked from his bed.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Jaime demanded.
"Purple teddy bear. The one you got Tim after his mom died." Bart brought up.
"Dick told you that story, didn't he?" Jaime asked.
"Yeah."
"Well don't listen to that bastard. He's stoned all of the time. He doesn't know half of what he's saying." Jaime growled.
"I think that's a really nice thing you did for Tim. And I think Phoenix is a cool name. I heard you liked kittens." Bart went on.
"I don't like kittens. I have no idea where you even heard that from." Jaime hissed.
"Dick." Bart said as if it were obvious.
"Look, ese. You're bothering me and I just want to sleep. I'm not a kitten-kisser and getting Tim that teddy bear was appropriate in that situation. Besides, I was like, twelve. Probably younger." Jaime defended himself.
"Why are you so embarrassed to be nice?" Bart challenged.
"I'm not!"
"Sure..."
"I swear to god, I'm leaving if you keep this up." Jaime threatened, "Or better yet, I'll pick you up out of that bed of your's and throw you in the hallway."
"Fine. I'll just go to sleep now."
"Wise choice, ese."
"But seriously-"
"Bart, be quiet!"
"Sorry."
