A/N: Thank you BuJyo and Kay8abc. Sorry for the delay, will be explained later.
The car ride was so soothing to my young body. Several times I came close to falling asleep but Marshall's voice kept waking me. He was talking to me about Jaye. It was kind of sweet; he wanted me to know just about everyone he knew. It didn't matter to me that I already knew the majority of these people. Besides, it gave me a chance to make a little fun of them.
"How could anyone like her?" I whispered to myself. "Her full name is Jaye Kay. No middle name."
"Yes, she is good looking. I can admit that," Marshall smiled. "She has a body you want to eat off of."
"And a face you want to punch."
"But she has no personality. Jaye has all the depth of a puddle of water. I mean, I couldn't believe she is a U.S. Marshal. It's illogical if you think about it. Her interests I can count on one hand. Shopping," Marshall said, holding up one finger, "guys, and thinking she's perfect."
My views on Jaye were the same as my views on a zit. Grab it, squeeze it, and don't let go until it oozes pus. She was one of those annoying people who you couldn't get rid of, no matter how hard you tried. Jaye had tried to be friends with me, in spite of the fact I would rather be the guest of honor at a dinner run by cannibals than be friends with her.
It was silent the rest of the way. As we came onto Marshall's street, I laughed as I recognized the ice-cream truck in the driveway. We hadn't managed to get Randall out of the house in the morning, mostly because he was passed out, and the smell... Well, we had to run out the back door when we left for the funeral, as the front smelled absolutely revolting.
We got out of the car and opened the front door slowly. There was no smell, so we came inside. The TV was on. We walked into the living room, where Randall and Gabbie were seated on the couch, watching the evening news show. Randall was staring at the anchor woman, obviously turned on by how much he was drooling. He was holding an open beer in his left hand. Gabbie sat beside him, and looked up when we came in.
"Hello Randall," Marshall said as he put his things on the coffee table.
"Yo yo man," Randall said, as he took a slug of beer. A small insect landed on his face, and he didn't move. Man, this dude was drunk.
"Is he generally like this?" I asked the room, not expecting an answer.
"He only usually gets this bad when he's recently drunken wood varnish," Gabbie said, watching me.
"I don't know how the hell he can drink the stuff," Marshall sighed. "I'm going to find the boys and see what they want to do for dinner."
He left but I hardly noticed as I was still staring at Gabbie. Had she heard me?
"Can you hear me?" I asked her, honestly hoping she could.
Gabbie got up and came next to me, "Sort of. I can read lips. I was deaf as a kid, and I didn't want to just learn sign language as most people don't know the language. I had a few experimental treatments in another country and they fixed my hearing. Ben knows how to read lips as well as I taught him."
I was almost giddy with excitement. Finally, someone could hear me. Finally, I wasn't alone.
It was embarrassing. We went to a park to eat our food because we didn't want to get in trouble with Randall, and we had all settled on Wendy's. I was embarrassed because Marshall got me a kiddie meal. I looked at the toy in the plastic bag and sighed. Caleb and Ben were playing together with their toys and I looked at mine again. It was a mini Barbie doll. This doll was one of Barbie's 'friends', and I recognized the brown hair. Seana. I opened the toy and tossed it to the boys.
It hit Caleb in the head, but he didn't do anything other than what he had been doing. Ten seconds later, he rubbed his head, and looked down to see the doll. Another few seconds and he squealed in delight and tossed it into the field of play. I rolled my eyes. This kid really was retarded.
Randall's voice floated over to the side of the table I was sitting on.
"Dude, I'm going to tell you something my father told me."
I snorted, "Nothing dissolves a body better than lye?"
"The best way to get over someone is to get under someone." Randall looked ecstatic at what he was saying. "Let's get you a hooker."
"NO!" Marshall, me, and Gabbie all said. Marshall continued. "I don't want a hooker."
"Come on, there are plenty here in Albuquerque, unless... Are you worried I won't pay for it, 'cause I promise I will."
"I don't want a hooker," Marshall said stubbornly.
Randall sighed and gave up. The six of us began to clean up our dinner. I looked at Marshall, who looked like he was exhausted. I looked at Randall, who wore a shirt that said 'You can't make a woman out of a whore.' I then looked at Gabbie. The woman I had seen in my dreams, was it the woman I saw when I first met Gabbie? If so, what did it mean?
We split up to get into our separate cars, Gabbie was driving the other one, of course. As Marshall and I drove away, to lead the way to a hotel, Gabbie sighed sadly and whispered to herself, "Mary, what did James and Jinx do to you. Why are you so cynical now?" I never said anything to her about my real name, and especially who my parents were.
Marshall took me to work the next morning and Eleanor would babysit me while he went to check on a few of his witnesses. This allowed me to check out the office since my death. My desk had been cleared and I nearly puked at the sight of what was now covering it. Was that... sparkles? I wrenched my gaze away from the sight. I turned toward Marshall's desk. I noticed a few of my belongings on his desk among his own. I also noticed the Fleegler 2000 sitting there, looking amazingly beautiful. Eleanor was in Stan's office talking about 'confidential' things, and Marshall of course wasn't here. I looked down at my cast still on my arm, and I wondered briefly if I could staple it.
I took a step towards it, and looked around again. I swear the damn thing called to me, and I'm positive it wasn't Charlotte's hallucinations. This time it was my own. I took the next to steps quickly and tried to get my arm into it. I could only manage enough so that it wouldn't catch my arm, only the cast, and I guess I couldn't complain. I remember vaguely the tough time Marshall and Eleanor had getting the staples I did out. I didn't want a staple permanently in my arm. Slowly I pushed down on the stapler with my other hand. I waited patiently for the click. It made contact with my cast.
Nothing. I tried again. Still nothing. I ripped out my cast and pushed it frantically down. Absolutely nothing was coming out. I wanted to cry in frustration, but I couldn't just in case it did make a sound. I didn't want Eleanor or Stan knowing that I was trying to staple my cast until I was done. Of course Marshall didn't have staples in it. He took them out after my... obsession, and carried the staples with him so I couldn't staple anything else. Instead of crying, I hit my broken arm on Marshall's desk, and I did cry out a bit when I did that. I had taken no pain meds this morning so things were a little tender, and I couldn't hit my cast much harder than the normal bumps.
I heard the sound of the elevator opening and I saw Jaye come walking out with a huge grin. Her grin grew impossibly bigger as she saw me.
"Shit," I moaned. "Is it too late to say I don't see her?"
"Oh, I remember you!" She cooed, walking quickly toward me. Too late, I sighed. As soon as she was close enough, she bent down so she could hug me. I squirmed to try to get out of her grasp. "Do you remember your Auntie Jaye, Charlotte?"
"I think so," I said, gagging. "Aren't you the girl whose nickname was one size fits all?" Being mute can be a huge pain in the ass, but other times it's fantastic.
"You are so cute!" she giggled.
"Hi Jaye," Marshall said. I looked up to see him, a fake smile plastered over his face. "You're here sooner than I expected."
"I couldn't remember the way to Sophia Jenkin's house so I decided to come back so I could find it again."
I rolled my eyes. Jaye is a moron, and I'm amazed she found her way out of her car, in spite of the fact the exit would be inches from her.
Stan's door opened and he walked out with a manila folder in his hands. "A new witness is arriving this evening." He handed the folder to Jaye. "He's yours, but Marshall, if you don't mind, I'd like you to help her."
"Of course," Marshall nodded.
I sighed. I wouldn't get to be here in the evening. Witnesses aren't supposed to know that other witnesses are witnesses. I wouldn't get to see this guy, know whether or not he would bring troubles or be a good boy. I couldn't even know if this man was a criminal or if he witnessed a crime. I can't protect Marshall if the situation requires him to have backup.
What if I lost Marshall? He didn't have me anymore to have his back. I'm too small to do something so simple as driving a car. Damn not being able to see over the steering wheel. Even worse, Seana took away my ability to read and write, probably because Charlotte hadn't learned yet. Speaking of learning, I'd have to go back to school soon, as it was starting in a month. I'd have to go 8 hours without knowing how Marshall was doing every 5 out of 7 days of the week. The worst part of this statement was that I realized I was becoming clingy. I've relied more and more on Marshall in the past few weeks and soon I'd be forced away from him. Jesus, life sucked.
Jaye glanced at her (my) computer and sighed. "I'd best get back to work."
"We'll see you around," Marshall said. "It's time for Charlotte to get some lunch, and apparently my cousin's daughter has a surprise for Charlotte."
"I didn't know your family was in town, Marshall," Stan said.
Marshall smirked, "He burnt his house down. I'm getting him set up with a new place."
Stan wished him luck before withdrawing into his office.
I had been listening when Marshall said surprise. I've never been a fan of surprises, and something told me I wasn't going to be happy with this surprise.
A/N: Sorry, I lied. No doggie in this chapter, but definitely next. I just got back into town after spending some time with my mom in Texas. I had this chapter up til now finished before I left and I had just barely started on what I'm making the next chapter. Since it's been so long since I've last updated, I decided the dog could wait another chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.