Chapter 4
While Ziva and McGee are still in the town after questioning some people, they decided to eat an early dinner. They're at a local diner. The diner is empty, other then the waitress/owner Mrs. Hendricks and two members of the McCloud family, Derek and Justin. Ziva and McGee are sitting in a booth alongside the wall. The two members of the McCloud family are sitting at a table in the middle of the room. Mrs. Hendricks is behind the counter, cleaning the milkshake machine. As everyone is eating their food, Lance Wilkinson enters into the diner.
"Nigger alert." Justin coughed.
"Lance, I heard your brother was killed. I'd say I'm sorry for your loss, but let's face it… It's better for all of us, cuz that means one less nigger on welfare." Derek laughed.
"Coming from an inbred hick who was shot in the ass with a pellet gun last week, that's quite funny." Lance said.
"I should've known it was you!" Derek stands up and confronts Lance.
"I'll have none of that in my diner." Mrs. Hendricks stated from behind the counter as she slams her hand down. "It's the same thing with your families all the time. Your families used to be friends. I don't know why you people have this feud, but I won't tolerate any trouble in my diner."
"Sorry Mrs. Hendricks." The three boys stated.
Derek sits down and Lance walks to the counter in order to sit on a stool. Ziva and McGee just look at each other, wondering about this whole family feud business.
"I'll get your usual." Mrs. Hendricks said as she knows what Lance wants because it's the same thing he orders every single time.
"Thank you, Mrs. Hendricks." Lance said.
Mrs. Hendricks walks into the back in order to cook Lance's food.
"I'll have the nigger platter." Justin joked.
"I hope I can pay for this with a food stamp." Derek laughed.
"So how's the hood treating you, Lance?" Justin wondered. "Oh, I forgot… There is no hood in this town. Maybe you should go back to the hood, projects, gutter, nigger country… It's where you belong."
"By naming you after the first person to set foot on the moon… Did your mom think it would help you amount to anything in life by naming you after a famous white guy?" Derek asked. "She does realize you're a nigger, right?"
"I can see your education is paying off. Neil Armstrong was the first person to set foot on the moon, you faggot." Lance stated.
Justin starts laughing. Then he shuts up as Derek looks at him.
"Inbreeding really affected your memory." Lance said. "It's sad."
"I'm not inbred, you nigger!" Derek exclaimed.
"So your parents aren't cousins? Funny, I always thought they were."
"Don't talk about our parents, nigger." Justin stated.
"Hey, guys… How about you just cool it down a notch cuz..." McGee butted in.
"Shut the fuck up, Poindexter." Derek stated.
"You fuckin niggers are like Jews…" Justin begins to say as Ziva stops eating as her eyes are now drawn toward the boys. "…You're both the lowest form of human life."
"Actually… Compared to a nigger, a Jew is a slight improvement." Derek said.
"Even if he was a Jew, he'd still be a nigger." Justin said.
"Making fun of African-Americans isn't enough for you guys, but now…" Lance begins to say.
"Don't try to cover-up what you are by giving it a different name. Calling yourself an African-American doesn't hide what you truly are. You're a nigger and always will be." Derek said.
"You need to shut the fuck up with the nigger shit." Lance threatened.
"To the side of the dirt road, there's something that I see…" Derek begins to sing. "…I wonder what it is, what it could be…" He continues. "As I approach the area, I finally see… Oh it's nothing, just a nigger hanging from a tree."
As Derek and Justin start laughing, Lance gets off the stool and angrily walks over to them. Derek and Justin stand up. Lance and Derek are in each other's face.
"And I bet you put him there." Lance stated.
"I didn't kill your nigger brother. But he got what he deserved." Derek said. "So go ahead, Nigger. Make your move."
Suddenly, Derek and Justin's heads are slammed unto the table. Ziva presses against the back of their necks to keep them down.
"Ow!" Both Derek and Justin exclaimed in pain.
"Sit down, Lance!" Ziva exclaimed. "Now!"
Lance sits down.
"McGee… Call the Sheriff." Ziva stated.
McGee takes out his cell-phone in order to call the Sheriff. With Derek and Justin looking at each other while their heads are pressed against the table, Ziva leans down as she's behind them. She wiggles her neck area a bit in order to expose her necklace to them. Her necklace, which is the Star of David, a Jewish symbol, is now exposed for the boys to see.
"You see that." Ziva said. "I would love nothing more then to kick the living shit out of both of you."
"We're sorry." Derek stated. "We didn't mean it."
"We really don't have anything against Jewish people." Justin said.
"Even if you didn't mention my people, I still would've stepped in to break this up." Ziva stated. "You two are racist pieces of shit."
"Lady, this really hurts…" Derek cried in pain.
"I know." Ziva agreed as she squeezes their necks even tighter.
"Ow!" The two boys screamed in pain.
"What are you doing?!" Mrs. Hendricks exclaimed as she runs over.
"It's ok. We're federal agents." McGee flashes his badge. "The situation is under control."
As Lance remains seated, Ziva holds the back of Derek and Justin's necks in order to keep them pinned to the table until the Sheriff arrives.
Meanwhile, Gibbs is in D.C. about to deal with his own situation; trying to get his depressed daughter out of bed.
Gibbs enters into the bedroom of Tony's apartment. Jamie is lying in bed. Her entire body is under the blanket, and her back facing the door. Only her head can actually be seen. Gibbs walks toward the bed. He's holding something for Jamie. Gibbs walks around to the other side of the bed in order to see Jamie's face. He sits on the bed right next to her.
"I brought Benny the Horse for you." Gibbs shows Jamie her old stuffed animal from her childhood.
Jamie says nothing. She slowly reaches her arm out from under the blanket. She takes hold of the stuffed animal. Jamie brings the stuffed animal under the blanket, closer to herself and cuddles it.
"I know losing your baby must be hard…" Gibbs begins to say.
"No you don't." Jamie said she wipes a tear away from her eye.
"I lost you for 15 years, remember."
"But I'm here. My baby can't and won't ever be."
"What happened is unfortunate, I know. But you really need…"
"I just need you to go away." Jamie said sadly as she finally pulls the blanket over her head.
"You really need to get out of bed." Gibbs paused. "Abby wants you to be her full-time assistant. I'm gonna talk to the director about it."
There's no response. Gibbs grabs the blanket and begins to pull it down, slowly. As the blanket is slowly pulled down, Jamie's head is finally exposed.
"I'm fine, ok." Jamie stated.
"You're not fine." Gibbs said as he continues pulling the blanket down.
Jamie cuddles Benny the Horse to keep her chest covered. After a couple seconds, Jamie's upper body is uncovered. The blanket is pulled down to Jamie's waist. Gibbs notices the waist band of her pajama bottoms, so he at least knows she's wearing something decent and all she needs is a shirt. Gibbs stands up and walks to the dresser in order to get a shirt. Jamie remains on the bed, keeping herself covered with the stuffed animal.
"Put this on." Gibbs tosses a shirt right next to Jamie.
Jamie doesn't move. Gibbs takes a deep breath, walks back to the bed and sits down next to Jamie. He reaches toward Jamie and wipes a tear from her eye.
"Come on… Put the shirt on and let's go." Gibbs said.
There's no response as Jamie just looks away. Gibbs gently grabs Jamie and tries to sit her upright. Jamie lets go of Benny the Horse and begins to struggle with her father. As Gibbs and Jamie are struggling, she keeps hitting and trying to push him away. He gets unto the bed and manages to get behind her. Gibbs now has Jamie locked in his arms as they're wrapped around her. Jamie's arms are pinned across her chest. Jamie keeps struggling to break free. With one arm keeping hold of Jamie, Gibbs uses the other hand to grab the shirt. He puts the shirt over Jamie's head.
"You're getting out of the apartment, whether you like it or not."
Gibbs continues putting the shirt onto Jamie. Once the shirt is fully on, arms through the sleeves and everything, Gibbs keeps his arm lock on Jamie from behind. He maneuvers his way to the edge of the bed and steps off. With Jamie continuing to struggle because she doesn't want to go anywhere, Gibbs drags her off the bed. He keeps one arms wrapped around Jamie in order to keep her arms pinned to her chest. As Jamie uses her feet to push against the floor to try stopping him from making her leave, Gibbs finally uses his other arm and wraps it under one of Jamie's legs in order to lift her slightly. Now, Jamie only has one free leg that really can't do much so she stops struggling. Gibbs finally gets Jamie out of the apartment.
Gibbs brings Jamie to his house. He basically carries Jamie down into the basement the same way he got her out of the apartment. Gibbs sits her down on a stool next to their unfinished boat. He grabs a sandpaper block. He takes hold of Jamie's hand and puts the sandpaper block into it. Gibbs maneuvers behind the stool. He gently pushes Jamie to face the boat. He takes hold of Jamie's hand with his. He moves in closer with keeping a reasonable distance between them. Gibbs lifts her hands up toward the boat and begins sanding it. As Gibbs is forcing her to help with sanding their boat, Jamie finally cracks a little smile that her father can't see since they're not facing each other.
With not really being in the mental state to help with the boat right now due to her depression, Jamie continues to help because deep down inside, she wants to. As the two of them work on their boat for a couple hours, hardly any words are exchanged between them.