"Harley, this is a pleasant surprise!" said Mr. Quinzel, smiling at his daughter as she entered the garage the next day. "I thought we were meeting you at home for dinner!"
"I just wanted to stop by and see you, Dad," said Harley, kissing his cheek.
"Well, c'mon into the back," he said. "We've just got some work to finish up. Look, Jack, Harley's here!"
Jack looked up from the car he had been working on and Harley smiled at him. She could tell the same thoughts were running through his head as hers, memories of what they had done a couple nights ago in here, on that workbench and in that car…
"Harley, good to see you," said Jack, forcing his mind away from thoughts like that and coming over to hug her. His lips brushed her cheek and she smiled up at him, squeezing his hand tightly.
"I was gonna say we should finish up on that car, but since Harley's here, I don't see any reason why we shouldn't call it a day," said Mr. Quinzel. "We can do the rest of the repairs tomorrow, don't you think, Jack?"
"Whatever you think, sir," replied Jack. "I'll get my coat."
Harley stared after him, beaming. She couldn't wait until she could kiss Jack publicly, or hold his hand, and let the world know she was with the most gorgeous man on earth. And that would only have to be until tonight, when they were going to tell her parents, and then she and Jack would have their family's blessing.
She kept glancing at him all throughout dinner as he held her hand discreetly under the table. He kept clenching and unclenching his grip in nervousness, and Harley decided after dessert was the time to put him out of his misery. She stood up, placing their joined hands on the table.
"I have an announcement to make," she said. "Things have changed a lot for me recently – I've gone to college, I've turned twenty, and the best thing of all that's happened is that someone I've loved for a long time now has confessed his mutual love for me," she said, smiling at Jack. "I'm sure you'll both be as happy as I am when I tell you that Jack and I are together now, and we couldn't be happier."
Her parents stared at her as if they hadn't heard, or understood. "What do you mean…together?" stammered Mr. Quinzel at last.
"I mean together," repeated Harley, confused. "Um…we're lovers."
The continued shocked, stunned, and disbelieving reaction was not what Harley had been hoping for. "You…you did this…to my daughter?" gasped Mr. Quinzel at last, staring at Jack.
"No, Dad, he didn't do anything to me," interrupted Harley before he could respond. "It was a mutual decision…"
"So you both decided to lose your minds?!" roared Mr. Quinzel, the fury suddenly kicking in. "It's sick and wrong, Harley! I can maybe forgive your naivety, but you…" he said, rounding furiously on Jack. "You should know better! How long have you been planning this, you disgusting pervert?! Since she was a child?! God, I trusted you like a son, I left you alone with her for years, and all you wanted was…"
"No, Mr. Quinzel, that's not true!" cried Jack. "It's not something I planned to happen – I didn't even think about her like that until…"
"Until what?!" roared Mr. Quinzel. "Until she looked enough like a woman that you would think it's ok, to lust after a child like that?! Did you touch her?! So help me, if you did…"
"No, Mr. Quinzel, I swear!" interrupted Jack. "Nothing like that ever happened between us! Not until…"
"Until when?!" demanded Mr. Quinzel.
"Until the night of my party," said Harley. "When we slept together."
Mrs. Quinzel suddenly screamed, the realization hitting her. "Oh my God, you took her home with you and you seduced her…"
"He didn't!" cried Harley. "If anything, I seduced him! And it's not wrong! I know Jack loves me, and you know it too! Our feelings are deep and lasting, and our relationship is a lot better than if I just started seeing some stranger – I know Jack's a good man. If he ever got me pregnant, you know he'd take care of me and the baby…"
"Oh my God!" screamed Mrs. Quinzel. "Oh my God, is that what he's done?! Are you pregnant?! It's not enough that he seduces you, but he impregnates you and makes you drop outta college to raise his child…"
"I'm not pregnant!" shrieked Harley. "And I'm not dropping outta college! I'm just moving outta my dorm and in with Jack, so we can start our new life together. But I'm going to finish school and get my degree and be a doctor, and then we'll see about the family…"
"Oh God, I can't think about it!" gasped Mrs. Quinzel, bursting into tears. "We trusted him with our baby girl and all this time he…he…"
"This is how you repay me, after all I've done for you?" gasped Mr. Quinzel, tears in his own eyes. "After I took you into my home and gave you a job…you seduce my baby girl?"
"She's not a baby girl anymore!" shouted Jack. "And we haven't done anything wrong! We just love each other!"
Mr. Quinzel stood up slowly. "Get out of my house," he whispered, quietly. "Get out and never come back. Gladys always warned me that my kindness would get me into trouble someday, and she was right. I should have shot you when you broke in, and saved Harley from being groomed by a monster. How dare you, you sick bastard? How dare you do that to a child?!"
"Daddy, I ain't a child!" sobbed Harley. "Please don't be like this! Jack's right – we just love each other! There's nothing wrong with that!"
"I'm sure you think you do, Harley," retorted Mr. Quinzel. "I'm sure he's brainwashed and manipulated you into thinking that. Abusers can be very charming and persuasive, so I hear. And now I know from experience."
Jack nodded slowly, releasing Harley's hand and heading for the door. "I'm sorry to have hurt you," he murmured. "Please believe I never wanted to do that. Goodbye."
Mrs. Quinzel hadn't stopped sobbing, and Mr. Quinzel seized his daughter, hugging her tightly. "Baby, oh baby, I'm so sorry for what I allowed him to do to you…"
"I'm sorry too, Dad," whispered Harley. She broke away from him and headed for the door after Jack. "Goodbye."
"Harley, no! Harley, come back! Harley!" screamed her mother, but she shut the door to the apartment and followed Jack out into the night.
…
"You ok?" asked Harley, kissing Jack's forehead as they lay in bed together.
"Fine," he murmured. "I'm always fine as long as you're with me," he said, kissing her.
"But you're depressed about my parents," said Harley.
"Aren't you?" he asked, looking up at her.
She shrugged. "They'll come around. Eventually. When they realize that our love is true, that we both ain't fooling around. They're angry and upset, sure, but they're not gonna stay like that forever. And they're not gonna wanna lose their daughter over some stupid misunderstanding."
"I wish I had your confidence, kiddo," he sighed. "Even if they manage to accept you back, they'll never accept me."
He lay back on the pillows. "And anyway, can't an unemployed guy be depressed?"
"You'll find another job," said Harley. "You got a lotta good, solid, practical skills, Jack."
"Yeah, and no references," he muttered. "No education. Even if I could get another mechanic job, I'm just worried about where the money's gonna come from in the meantime."
"I could get a job," said Harley.
"You're at school," he retorted. "I don't want you running yourself into the ground with both school and work. Your studies are more important. Anyway, I should be the one supporting you."
"Why's that? Because you're the man?" she asked, grinning.
"Because I wanna support you," he murmured. "Because I wanna do everything in the world for you. Because I love you."
She kissed him tenderly. "Don't worry, puddin'," she said. "Something will turn up. It'll all work out ok as long as we're together."
"I guess that is the important thing," he agreed, smiling at her. He kissed her and stood up. "Just gonna get a drink – be right back."
"Don't be too long," she said. "I'll miss you."
Jack flicked on the light to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of scotch. He took a long gulp of it, his eyes wandering around the room and finally fixating on a drawer. He stared at it, gulping his drink again, and then headed over, sliding it open.
He pulled out his gun. He had moved it in here since he and Harley got together – it was dangerous making love with a gun under your pillow. He studied the weapon closely, Sal Valestra's voice ringing in his head: Your Pop did a couple hits, a couple times a month, and that's all the work he had to do for weeks…It'll be a big haul, fifty grand each at least…if you ever wanna earn a lotta money fast…
He replaced the gun suddenly, slamming the drawer shut and downing the drink. "Stupid," he muttered. "Stupid to think about that. You have more to lose than ever, with Harley here. Stupid to think about throwing your life away on crime like that…"
He put the glass down and then returned to the bedroom, where he hoped Harley's soothing voice would replace Sal Valestra's nagging voice in his head.