Biting keeps your words at bay
Tending to the sores that stay
Happiness is just a gash away
When I open a familiar scar
Pain goes shooting like a star
Comfort hasn't failed to follow so far...

And you might say it's self-indulgent
You might say its self-destructive
But, you see, it's more productive
Than if i were to be healthy

And pens and penknives take the blame
Crane my neck and scratch my name
But the ugly marks
Are worth the momentary gain...
When I jab a sharpened object in
Choirs of angels seem to sing
Hymns of hate in memorandum
-Bad Habit By The Dresden Dolls-

Josef walked down the familiar streets, following her smell. He wanted to possibly find her purse or phone. Something to bring back to her.

The sun was starting to rise when he got to the alley. He could see a pool of her blood on the ground, the smell brought him back to the many hours earlier. He walked further into the alley, he could see a black bag thrown against the opposite building from where she had been. On the inside he found her wallet, any cash she might have had was gone, but he her cellphone was still in there.

He flipped it open to make sure it still worked and was greeted by a picture of three girls. They were squeezed together, making sure all of their faces were in the picture. Even with the weird face she was making, Jamari was still beautiful. Underneath the bruises she had now, was beautiful pale skin. He shook his head and put the phone back in her bag and quickly headed back to Mick's apartment.

He must have looked like an idiot. People were staring at him, a grown man, in a 2000 dollar suit, walking down the street...carrying a purse. Jamari better appreciate this..

When he got up to Mick's, Jamari was sitting, rather uncomfortably on he couch.

"What the hell are you doing down here?!"

"The doctor said I could go to your house today...so that obviously means it's okay for me to move...besides...that bed was getting uncomfortable."

Josef shook his head. "You are way to independent, she said you could move, but with help...you came down the stairs alone?"

She gave a small shrug. "I used the rail."

"Independent and stupid, what a combination."

She sighed. "Thank God for my good looks."

He handed her the purse. "Any money you had is gone, so are your credit cards..."

She shrugged. "I don't have credit cards, and I didn't have any money, so I'm good." She pulled her phone out and flipped it open. "Hell yea, Verizon you are my God."

He raised an eyebrow at her. She looked a little embarrassed. "It still works..." She waved her phone a bit to show her point.

"I know, I checked it."

"Wow, you are really nosy."

"Not nosy, just curious, who are those girls?"

"My lovers." She said flatly.

His face showed his shock. "You're a lesbian?"

"Nah, just a whore..." She laughed a bit, then grimaced from the pain. "I'm just kidding...those two are my best friends, Tobie and Camryn. Camryn is the black haired girl and Tobie is the brunette."

Josef nodded. "You seem close."

She nodded. "We are, they're the only family I have. My parents kicked me out when I was 16 because they caught me smoking. So I moved in with them, then they decided to go to college over here, and I moved with them."

"Where do you go to college?"

"I don't, I didn't graduate high school."

"Why not?"

She shrugged. "I did something stupid, and of course, rumors got around school. At first it was harmless, you know, a snarky remark here and there, but then, it borderlined harassment. So I said 'fuck it' and dropped out."

"What did you do?"

She sighed. "I took a handful of pills..."

"You tried to kill yourself?"

"Yup, and I would of gotten away with it to if it wasn't those darn kids and their dog..."

He shook his head. "This isn't a funny subject Jamari."

She cocked her head to the side. "Well who died and made you Dr. Phil?"

He rolled his eyes. "I'm starting to regret bringing you home."

"Starting to? Damn, I thought you already did..."

"You are the biggest smart-ass I've ever met."

"Really? I mean, I'm pretty tiny, 5'3 isn't exactly big...you must know a lot of little people..."

Josef was at a loss for words, and he wasn't used to it. He was used to being the one that was sarcastic, and now he was on the other side of the sarcasm, and he didn't like it.

"Are you ever serious?"

She nodded. "I was once, but it caused a big fuss. I mean, the UN was contacted, the FBI was knocking on my door..."

He laughed and shook his head. "I'd hate to see you drunk."

She smiled. "Oh, but that's when I'm the most fun, seriously, Tobie has videos of me, they're funny as hell."

He shook his head, then looked at the clock, 7:00. Damn, he was tired. He pulled out his phone and called his chauffeur. When he closed his phone and looked back at Jamari, she was smiling.

"I feel so special, riding in a limo, it feels like Prom or something, except you know, without the puffy dresses and the expected sex afterwards."

He smirked. "How do you know I'm not expecting sex?"

She rolled her eyes. "Sorry, not with this many holes in me, you might decide to get kinky..."

He laughed. "Funny, I figured you to be the kinky type."

She smiled and started stand up. Josef quickly walked over and grabbed her arm to help her up.

"I can do it myself..."

"Yea, but you don't have to, so why risk hurting yourself?"

"Because, I have this weird problem with accepting help." She pulled away from him and started slowly walking towards the door.

Josef quickly walked and blocked her off from the door. "Well get over it, because as long as your with me, you're going to be getting help, I'm not going to put time into helping you heal for you just to bust a stitch and bleed out."

"Don't worry, if I do bleed out I promise not to do it on your carpet..."

She tried to reach around him for the door but he grabbed her hand to stop her. "For one, I don't have any carpet in my house. Two, if you did bleed out, the fabric in which you bleed on would be the least of my worries."

"I thought it didn't matter to you if I died...you said that last night remember?"

He sighed, he was hungry and tired. He didn't want to put up with this right now. "You're right, besides, I don't even know you, so if you want to push yourself until you pop the stitches and die. Go ahead, I wont care."

He let go of her hand and she pulled the door open. "See..honesty suits you Konstantin."

She slowly walked out and he followed, watching her intently, making sure she wasn't going to trip.

So he was a liar, but he wasn't going to tell her how much her dying would bother him. And as long as she thought that she meant nothing to him things would be a lot easier when it was time for her to leave.