Chapter 4: No Escape
here we go again.
"I am drifting away
farther every day
soon I'll have nothing to say
I'll be to far away"
-Patrick Watson
It was weird that as Jack was dreaming, he knew that he was dreaming, in his dream, but there was nothing he could do to stop the nightmare. He'd never told anyone about them, not even his best friend, but it was usually the same each night.
Tonight it was no different, Jack found himself chasing the rusted green car down the street, coming so close to touching it but then falling at the last second.
Next thing he knew, the dream changed and he was staring into the dead, lifeless eyes of his foster mother, the woman he had murdered.
Jack didn't have time to stay with Mrs. Parades in his foster home though. As he ripped his eyes away from the lifeless figure, a giant shadow began to loom closer to him, coming up from a foreboding staircase. The footsteps crashed against the hollow wood, becoming closer and closer with each second. Jack lifted his petrified body from the floor and tried to sprint to the doorway, but found the task impossible, moving his legs was like trying to move a sac of bricks with each step, he felt like he was made out of lead. Jack froze as he found himself emerged in a dark shadow, only just noticing the absence of heavy footsteps.
Just as Jack was bracing himself for impact, a loud knock from the land of reality caused him to wake up. His eyes slammed open as he stared straight ahead and clenched his jaw tightly, breathing short quick gasps through his nose and balling up half of his sheets in his fists.
"Jack calm down, just breath." Someone spoke firmly. "Jerry! Get Ma!"
Jack's breathing became more laboured as he tried to receive too much air through his nose, while panicking. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder and cool plastic press against his lips.
"Jack! Listen to me; you have to open your mouth alright hunny? You have to breathe for us okay?"
Jack just squeezed his eyes shut firmly and began to shake his head back and forth violently, wanting it to end. All of it. Without warning, something in his throat hitched and his mouth sputtered open as he shot upright in the bed and drew several deep, painfully ragged breaths. He felt someone open his hand, and guide it up towards his mouth as he fought back tears. Without even realizing it, he shut his mouth around the puffer and took several deep breaths until he calmed down.
"So is this what you do every morning then?" Someone asked playfully. Jack jumped a bit and looked around the room as if he didn't know there were people there. He pushed himself back against the headboard and lowered the puffer from his mouth, shaking slightly.
Mrs. Mercer and Bobby were crowded beside his bead, while Jerry stood near the window looking concerned, and Angel hovered in the doorway as if he didn't know what to do.
Jack coughed loudly and looked down, his eyes filled with embarrassment. That was the second asthma attack he'd had in front of these people.
"Now that he's okay… Bobby I need a ride to school." Angel spoke up from the doorway.
"For the life of Christ, at least pretend that you care Angel!' Jerry scolded.
"I do care, but judging by the look on the kid's face I'd say he doesn't feel like bein' crowded right now Jer." Angel shot back.
"If you can shut up long enough to get your black ass to the car I'll drive you to school for god's sakes!" Bobby yelled, silencing Angel.
Once Bobby, Angel and Jerry were out of the room, Evelyn, who had been silent this entire time, turned to Jack. Jack cringed and shrunk back, shit, when had he fallen asleep? Why weren't the cops here yet?
"Jack, are you alright?" Evelyn spoke softly, offering a nice change from the harsh voices of the others. Jack simply nodded.
"Are you sure?" She asked again, "That was a pretty rough attack. How often do you have them?"
Jack rolled his eyes, although this woman did sound genuinely concerned, he'd give it 3 hours tops before he was thrown back onto the streets… or into a cold cell.
"All the time. Of course it doesn't help when someone confiscates your puffer because you walked the wrong way, heaven forbid." Jack answered sarcastically, waiting to be yelled at for talking back to an elder. Strangely, Mrs. Mercer did not seem to be phased by the comment.
"Were you having a nightmare Jack?" She continued. Jack shuddered inwardly as the comment reminded him of his dream, but shrugged it off quickly.
"No." He stated.
"You know, no one cares how tough you look Jack, it's alright if you want to tell me." Mrs. Mercer spoke patiently. It wasn't mockingly, it wasn't sternly and it wasn't patronisingly, but for some reason it pissed Jack off. He looked at her straight in the eye for the first time, and narrowed his eyes menacingly.
"That's where you're wrong Mrs. Mercer."
Without breaking eye contact, Mrs. Mercer smiled warmly.
"Please call me Evelyn." She said.
Jack looked back down at his sheets, completely puzzled. She hadn't even asked why he was here, or told him to leave! Mrs… Evelyn stood up from the edge of Jack's bed and began to make her way to the door. Jack simply sat there like an idiot and stared after her.
"Wait!" He called.
What the hell was he doing?
"You didn't even ask… I could be a serial killer! I could be casing the house… I… I could be a murderer…" He stuttered.
Why did he just say that?
Evelyn turned back towards Jack, and looked at him. "Are you?" She asked. Jack just stared back with his mouth agape.
"No…" He spoke hesitantly, immediately washed over with guilt.
"Well alright then." Evelyn replied with a smile before turning and walking out the door, leaving Jack sitting dumfounded on the bed.
The only conclusion Jack could come to was that they didn't know. How could they know? Suddenly Jack felt very uncomfortable being here. He didn't even know who these people were, and for god knows what reason had just accepted their help and slept in their house. It wasn't too often that Jack accepted people's help, he was much too stubborn, which is just one more reason he got in trouble so much. Jack wondered how far one would be able to push these people before they finally snapped. He was surprised they hadn't already, he had puked on their floor, wasted their entire day, soaked their car, and he was incredibly rude to them. Normally it would just take one of those things to earn a beating.
Jack shifted his gaze from the empty doorway and swung his legs out of bed to sit at the edge and stare out the window. He wasn't stupid, he knew not every person in the world was abusive, but these people hadn't even yelled at him yet, they hadn't even acknowledged that he'd even done anything wrong.
Shakily, Jack brought his hands up to his head and ran them over his sweaty face and hair, finally coming to rest his elbows on his knees and lay his face in his palms. He didn't want to think about this right now, he didn't want to analyse the situation and he didn't want to think about what he was going to do. All Jack wanted to feel was numb. Fuck he needed a hit.
Jack knew that it was only a matter of time before someone noticed what was wrong with him. His eyes were probably bloodshot and he knew he was shaking, which he couldn't blame on falling in a frigid puddle anymore. Jack groaned, moved his hands back to his hair and held on tightly, squeezing his eyes shut.
Think about something else, anything.
Slowly, as if in a daze, Jack slid off the bed limply until he was sitting on the worn out floor. He rested his head back against the mattress, and focused his gaze on the wall in front of him, staring intently at a small crack until he had succeeded in zoning himself out to the point where he couldn't hear, see, smell, or feel anything.
His breathing became slow and deliberate, quite the contrast to how he was when he woke up. His hands hung loosely at his side while his mouth was slightly agape.
Jack didn't know how long he stayed like that, or where he was in his few moments of serenity, he just let the fogginess of his mind take control of his head as he had many times in the past. It was the only thing that kept him sane.
"JACK!"
Jack must've leapt ten feat in the air when his brain snapped to a sudden focus and his eyes cleared abruptly. When his scream ceased, and he'd cleared his mind, he finally became focused enough to realize Bobby's head was about three inches from his face.
Frantically, he scrambled backwards on to his bed until he was leaning against the wall. He wished people would stop scaring the shit out of him like this.
"The Fuck!?" He shouted hoarsely. Evelyn and Jerry stood behind Bobby, who was looking at him as if he were an alien.
"Did you not hear anything I just said?" Bobby asked incredulously. "For Christ's sake I've been trying to talk to you for ten minutes!"
Jack just swallowed and let his hair fall into his bloodshot eyes. He couldn't stay in this room anymore, he had to get out.
Without warning, Jack leapt off the bed and scrambled towards the door, leaving the three people standing beside his bed, unsure of what to do.
Jack didn't stop until he was out the front door, and the wind had hit his face wildly. At the moment, the vicious cold was quite the welcome change from the stuffy feeling of being trapped Jack had experienced moments earlier.
Jack was standing at the end of the driveway with his eyes closed, enjoying the cold when he sensed someone else's presence. Slowly, he opened his eyes.
"Hey man, listen don't freak out okay? I just wanna talk." Jerry spoke calmly. He was standing away from Jack, in the middle of the street, with his palms facing upwards. Great, Jack thought, they all thought he was crazy.
Well, no kidding with the way he'd been acting.
"I'm not crazy." He mumbled, barely loud enough for Jerry to hear.
"Coulda fooled me!" Jerry exclaimed, "You're standing at the end of a driveway in the middle of winter in Detroit, with no coat or shoes!"
Jack smirked and shrugged, "Guess I've become acclimated to the cold."
Jerry's face transformed from amused to concerned in three seconds.
"Come on kid, let's go back inside, you're shaking." He urged.
Before he knew it, Jack found himself sitting at the edge of an old worn out green couch, facing Bobby and Jerry, who were both sitting across from him on another couch. He knew that the time had finally come to think of some quick, plausible lies.
"Okay Jackie boy, we're just gonna ask a few questions alright? Nothing big, we just gotta know some stuff." Bobby stated, breaking the silence.
Jack fidgeted under the glare of the two boys and concentrated on a loose thread on his sleeve. He was glad Angel wasn't here, it was bad enough with Bobby. He did however wonder why Evelyn wasn't here. From what he had gathered, he assumed this was some sort of weird foster home or something, where they took in random kids. Although these three seemed to know each other pretty well.
"Jack…" Bobby snapped his fingers in front of Jack's face, sounding frustrated.
"Will you at least try to listen?" He asked.
Jack looked up with a smirk.
"I'll try my best." He answered cockily.
"So when I found you, hyperventilating, which you seem to do a lot, next to a phone booth, where had you come from?" Bobby asked in a monotone voice.
Instantly, the smirk was wiped off Jack's face as he looked down, embarrassed. He didn't usually hyperventilate this often, but when one kills another human being, one tends to be a bit more strung out then usual.
He looked back up from the worn out hard wood floor to meet the expectant stares of Bobby and Jerry.
"Well?" Bobby asked impatiently. The man seemed unable to listen to silence for more then two seconds.
"Nowhere." Jack mumbled in reply. He wanted to give the least amount of information as possible.
"Cum'on kid, give us something to go with here. We took you in off the streets, to the hospital, back from the hospital…" Jerry urged, trailing off.
"Why though?" Jack asked, eager to finally figure out why random strangers would take a random kid off the streets. Jack was reminded once again of the danger he'd put himself in by trusting these people. This was Detroit. You didn't last long if you went around giving everybody you met the benefit of the doubt.
"Does it look as if we're this perfect family that's been together forever?" Jerry inquired. "We've all been where you are Jack." The man finished reasonably.
Jack had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing. He highly doubted that was true.
"Think this is funny?" Bobby spoke.
Jack narrowed his eyes and glared up at Bobby, attempting to look dangerous. Regardless of what it would appear, Jack couldn't help clenching his sweaty fists nervously.
"Can I go home?" Jack asked suddenly.
"No." Bobby answered shortly.
That made Jack mad, and maybe even more nervous, if that was possible. What right did he have to tell him he couldn't leave? Just as Jack was about to tell Bobby off, the older man cut in.
"Because I know that home ain't where you're gonna be headed if we let you leave. I'm not an idiot Jack. Jesus, you gotta wake up man! How old did you say you were?"
"Almost 14." Jack mumbled after a pause.
"Well that's fucking wonderful isn't it. You're not even 14 and you're already gonna be living on the streets."
Jack shrunk back into the couch, fully aware of how angry Bobby now was. Great, he'd angered the beast, just what he needed. Nonetheless, he still couldn't help getting even more pissed off; he did not like getting lectured, or told he was a little kid. He was far from it.
"You're not gonna last a day, you know that right kid?" Bobby continued on angrily.
"Hey!" Jerry cut in, "Calm down Bobby." Then he turned to Jack, and tried to catch his eye.
"Ma wanted me to tell you that she called in, and has requested to be your new social worker, so if anything ever happens they're gonna call us. Also, the hospital phoned, and they weren't happy that we drove you off without permission, but you don't need to be re-admitted. All we gotta do is go back and fill out some paperwork." Jerry explained.
Jack's heart sank. Why the hell had he let himself fall asleep last night? Despite the fact that he knew he was screwed, Jack found that at this point, he didn't even care. Jail would probably be better then where he'd come from anyway.
"Once we've finished filling out the paperwork," Jerry continued, "All we'll have to do is check in with the police… you can't just run away Jack… and then we'll have to send you back home. Unless you'd like to tell us a reason we shouldn't…"
What was this? Were they trying to get him to confess or something? A lump rose in his throat as he thought of what they wanted him to confess to, and it made him want to throw up. He could feel the eyes of Bobby and Jerry burning into him, trying to judge his reaction.
Bobby leaned forward.
"Why'd you run away Jack?" He asked.
"Because I fucking wanted to." Jack answered rudely.
Without taking his eyes off of him, Bobby replied coldly.
"Fine then Jack, as soon as we're done eating breakfast we'll all head over to the hospital won't we."
Jack wiped his sweaty hands on his pants and swallowed the lump in his throat as Jerry and Bobby both began to make their way into the kitchen.
Half an hour later, Jack found himself stuck in the back of a car with Angel, Jerry and Bobby, heading to the last place he wanted to go. Well, the second last place. A heavy silence drifted through the car until Angel reached over from the passenger seat and flicked the radio on. He sat there switching channels for what seemed like forever until Bobby slapped his hand away in annoyance and told him to cut it the fuck out. This action earned him a silent thank you from Jack.
With every second that passed, Jack became increasingly more agitated and nervous, and when the hospital finally came into view, he was practically shaking.
"So Bobby, what's the deal?" Angel's voice cut into the silence.
"I dunno Ang… what is the deal?" Bobby replied sharply.
"Why were you meeting Kas?" He insisted.
"I'd like to know that too…" Jerry added into the conversation.
"It's nothing that concerns you two dumbasses." Bobby answered.
"Whatever man, just thought after we're done with the kid that was the plan. OH, and one more thing… Why the hell were you hanging out with Charlie?!" Angel spoke, getting louder and louder with each word.
As their argument went on, the hospital grew closer, and Jack knew it was time he took action. He waited until the beat up car had stopped at a stop light before flinging open the door and leaping out. His worn out running shoes sunk into a pit of slush and his knees buckled in surprise from the hole in the pavement. He frantically pushed himself up and threw himself forward, trying to escape.
After running blindly towards the shops on the opposite side of the hospital, Jack found his body getting tackled harshly into the wall. He cried out in pain and squeezed his eyes shut as he felt someone pinning him down.
"I'm not going back!" He yelled, twisting his sore body to escape from his captor. He wasn't sure if he meant the hospital or his foster home.
"Listen to me!" Bobby growled. "You're coming to the hospital right now, whether you like it or not, I really don't give a shit."
With that, Bobby took Jack by the collar and practically dragged him towards the hospital like a little kid.
It took thirty minutes to fill out the paperwork, and then another twenty to get lectured from the police. Jack just sort of drifted through the process blindly, not understanding at all what was going on. He hadn't been handcuffed and thrown in jail, or brought to the police station, no one had even mentioned what he'd done.
No one knew.
Jack wasn't sure if he should feel happy or not, the guilt was too overwhelming. And he had no clue what was going to happen to him.
Until he felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned around to stare into the eyes of the last man in the world he wanted to see.
-To be continued.
-Pen