Chapter 4: Long Time Coming
Jeremy walked aimlessly around and around. Not sure of what to do or where to go. Just when he throught he had made a mistake of leaving the mansionhe remembered he had a bond box in a bank in his home town of New York City. He was saving it for Melissa went she went to college. Just some money for her when she was away from home. So he decided to go there and try to get it.
"Can I see your I.D, sir?" the Bank teller asked from behind bulletproof glass.
Jeremy reached into his pocket and pulled out his old I.D card. The only thing he had been able to keep from his past, it had been in his pajama pants when he was abducted.
The teller eyed the I.D for a long second, Jeremy thought she knew about him being dead. Well, he was SUPPOSE to be dead anyway. But to his relief, she finally looked up with a cheery smile on her face.
"You know from your birthday on this I.D card, you are about 79. I SWEAR you don't look a day over 40! What's your secret?"
Jeremy looked at her wide eyed for a second and then responded.
"Exercise, and lots and lots of FRESH bl...er...food."
The teller giggled and brought Jeremy to the back of the bank. She handed him a key to his safe. She ran her fingers over a few boxes until she found his.
"Ok, here we are. 69. There you go, sir. If you need any help I'll be in the front!" with that she went back to her booth.
He went through the box to find that he had a few thousand in it.
"Wow, that's a hell of a lot of interest." he hadn't withdrawn any money in a few decades. So it built up. Now he could get a motel and some new clothes. After leaving the bank, he want to a local goth store and got some new clothes. Most of it was black and leather. He had acquired a taste for that style over the years.
Later on, he found a run down motel, a perfect place for him to relax.
All of a sudden his stomach started to hurt. It had been a few days since he had drank any blood, and Jeremy was starting to starve to death. He had to eat SOMETHING.
He had an idea, he'd go to Central Park. Central Park was a big dark, bushy, place. Easy for someone to get lost in it. Jeremy decided he had to make a quick trip there.
Central Park
He stalked a few joggers through a bushel of hedges. Waiting for the right time to act. Just then a young, blond woman walked by. She had a headset on and was lost in her music. Jeremy saw his chance. He moved out of his hiding place slowly. He crept along the trees, silently. Just as he was about to pull her into the bushes, she dropped her CD player.
"Shit!" she yelled as she bent over to pick up the scattered parts. She turned around to pick up a battery and...
"Emily?" Jeremy stopped in his tracks.
It can't be. How could that girl look so much like Emily? The hair was different colored but the skin, the eyes were Emily's. Was this his beloved reincarnated?
Jeremy moved back into the shadows. The girl turned around and looked.
"Hmmp." she turned back around and walked on her way.
"I've got to follow her, I got to know." with that he followed her to her apartment.
A New York City Apartment
The young woman sat in her apartment, listening to music, typing away on her computer. She got up and went into her kitchen for a glass of water. She heard a noise at the kitchen window. She went over to inspect it, but nothing was there. She went back to her computer and forgot the whole thing. Little did she know, she was being watched.
(Radio)
Tears of the feeble
Hands of the slaves
Skin of the mothers
Mouths of the babes
Building the towers
Belongs to the sky
When the whole thing
Comes crashing down
Don't ask me why
The young woman sang along with the music, "I'm the wreck of you, I'm the death of you all. I'm the wreck of you, I'm the break in the fall."
She saved everything and turned off the computer. She went into a back room. Jeremy had been hiding on the fire escape and watching her. This girl wasn't Emily, but why did she look so much like her? He peered into the small apartment. Looking for anything that could answer his questions. He could hear voices from the backroom, he moved back onto the fire escape, so that he wouldn't be seen.
The mysterious woman got into her bed. She turned off her lamp and fell into a much needed sleep.
After a few minutes, Jeremy climbed into the room. He slowly walked over to the bed, almost cat like. He stopped at the foot of the bed and slowly crept onto it. He laid next to the woman, cupping her face with his slender hands.
"Emily..." he could see Emily's face for a second, like he used to when he would watch her sleep. But then he snapped out of it and saw the woman's face. He stood back up and walked over to her night-stand. He picked up her wallet and looked at her I.D card.
"Sandra Drake. So, it really isn't Emily." he put it back on the stand, a bit disapointed. He walked around the apartment. There was another room off to the side, next to the bathroom. He pushed the door open slowly. When he looked in his mouth fell open. There was a little girl sleeping, no older than 10, who looked EXACTLY like Melissa.
What was going on? Why did these two look so much like his departed family?
Jeremy walked back toward the open window and stepped onto the fire escape.
"Sanda?" the little girl who looked like Melissa walked into the livingroom.
"Yea, Carly?"
"I had a nightmare, can I sleep with you?"
"Yea, hop in." the two snuggled in and feel asleep.
Jeremy watched, that scene looked so much like when Melissa would come into their room after having a bad dream.
"Sandra and Carly." the names flowed off his lips like Emily and Melissa's would have. He decided he wanted to know more about them. He jumped off the fire escape and landed with a heavy thud on the street below. He would follow Sandra tomorrow.
The Next Day
"Now class, we will be doing free dance today. I have selected a very pretty, mind relaxing song for you to muse on. Now, dance, dance, dance, dance!" said a statuesque German woman.
"Yes, Mrs. Archerbomb!" the class of women yelled back.
Jeremy had followed Sandra to a dance class she attented daily. He sat in the hallway's waiting area, a place where mothers would wait for their daugthers after dance class. He started "reading" a newspaper, trying not to bring attention to himself. He moved a corner of the paper to the side and peered into the room through the see-through glass doors.
Each woman wore black leotards, nude colored stockings, and white, ankle length socks.
"Now," Mrs. Archerbomb said as she turned on the music. "Begin."
A light, airy song began to play. The girls all twirled in unison. Flowing with the music. Jeremy watched Sandra. So graceful, so weightless. As he watched on, lost in thought, a young man talked to the receptionist at the front desk.
"Hi miss, can you please tell me where Sandra Drake is?"
"She's right in that room." she pointed while popping gum.
"Thanks."
The young man walked by Jeremy, snapping him out of his daze. A girl threw out a cat call as the young man, who was wearing Army fatigues walked into the room. Sandra turned around to see what the fuss was about. When she did, her heart nearly stopped.
"Al...Alex?"
"Hey, baby sis."
"ALEX!" Sandra ran over to her older brother and hugged him as tight as she could. He had been away in the Army for a number of years. She thought she'd never see him again.
"Wha...what are you doing home?" she asked, out of breath.
"My station didn't need me anymore, so my tour is over. I'm home for good!" they hugged again. Jeremy continued to watch from behind his newspaper. It reminded him of the time he had come home from the Army when he was a kid, and how happy his Emily was to see him. They had gone to school together and when he got back, she had just finished college. It was then when he asked her to marry him.
He still wanted to know more about Sandra. So after she had left, he followed her again.
That Night
After leaving Carly with Alex for the night, Sandra had gone to her night job. She told him that she worked as a Security Guard. But the truth was she was a stripper at the Golden Spike. Jeremy had followed her and wondered to himself why she would work in such a sleazy place.
Once inside, Jeremy sat down in the only seat left in the place, which was right in front of the stage.
"Alright party people!" the owner of the club, Austin, shouted over a mic. "Next we got a smokin' hottie from right here in the NYC! Gents put your hands together and out of your pants, for Miss. Soundgarden herself, Sassy Sandy!" the lights grew dim and a spotlight shown on only the stage. The next second music hit. And she came out in a matching red and black, laced outfit. Corset, armwarmers, a mini skirt and knee high boots. She made her way around the stage to tempt every man as the song played on.
Hello don't you know me?
I'm the dirt beneath your feet
The most important fool you forgot to see
Sandra had been dubbed "Miss. Soundgarden" because she would always use one of their songs in her act. It was the one thing that made her comfortable on stage. She was able to loose herself in the music and not "be there".
Her boss, Austin, watched on as his best performer did her thing. He had a desire to bed her, but Sandra wouldn't give in. She only did what she needed to do to make money for her and Carly and that was stripping and stripping alone. She never slept with ANY of her clients and she intented to keep it that way.
For all of your kisses turned
To spit in my face
For all that reminds me
Which is my place
For all the times when
You made me disappear
This time I'm sure you will
Know that I'm here
Jeremy sat there, still dumbfounded at how much she reminded him of Emily. Her dancing reminded him of Emily's, so graceful, she had a inner aoura that spewed out onto the dance floor.
Sandra looked in Jeremy's direction, she inched toward the handsome man, picking up ten and twenty dollar bills from the patrons along the way. She took off her corset and threw it at Jeremy, who caught it without thinking.
My place was beneath you
But now I'm above
She swung her hair around and blew him a kiss.
And now I send you a message
Of love
She saw Austin watching closely, she rolled her eyes at him.
A simple reminder of what
You won't see
A future so holy without me
Those lyrics stung him in his stomach, it was basically her telling him he'd never have her. She turned her attention back to Jeremy and started to crawl across the stage to him.
I know I'm headed for the bottom
But I'm riding you all the way
It was as if no one else was there. Just her, him and the music. There was something kind and yet sorrowful about his eyes that she couldn't help but be drawn to.
She leaned up in front of him, reaching behind her back. She slowly unhooked her bra as the song neared it's final cords.
I know I'm headed for the...
But I'm riding you all the wayyy
Yeah, I'm riding you all the wayyy
Four hooks left...
Oh, I'm riding you, yes I'm riding you...
Three hooks left...
Yeah, I'm riding you...
Two hooks...
Oh, I'm riding you...
One ...
Oh I'm riding you all the wayyyyyyyyyy, yeah!
Before she took off the bra, the curtian fell.
"Thank you fellas! Give it up for Sassy Sandy!" the group of men hollered and yelled with approvel. That was the way Austin ripped off his customers. Getting all their money without actually SHOWING them anything. And they were too stupid to realize it. Before the curtian fell all the way down, Jeremy handed Sandra a folded up bill. After going back to the dressing room, she unfolded it, thinking it would be a ten-spot. Her eyes bulged when she looked at it.
"A $100 bucks!" even with all the success she had, she'd never received a hundred dollar bill before. "Who was that guy?" she thought as she got ready to leave.
"UhHUM!" the man known as Austin said, making his presence known.
"I believe you have my property." she rolled her eyes as she gave him his cut of her profits. Sandra owed him a lot of money because he saved her and Carly from getting evicted. So she worked at the club as a waitress to pay him off. Then she thought "I can do that." to herself as she watched the girls dance. Sure enough, being the talented dancer she was, she took to it quickly and made a lot of cash.
"Hey, Austin, we got a guy who flashed some BIG cash and wants a lap dance from Sandra." a worker at the club yelled to him. Austin's eyes lit up at the sound of money. He looked over at Sandra with pleading eyes.
"Oh no, no, NO. I'm leaving, man. I wanna go home. Can't you do it Candy?"
"Nope, he said he wants you and you only. We tried laying it on him but he wouldn't go for it."
"Oh come on PLEASE, look, whatever you make from him IN the room, you can keep. Ok?"
She thought about it for a second. She could defiantly use the money. She looked at Austin and rolled her eyes.
"Oh alright, I'll do it." he smiled.
"Thank you!"
"He's in the VIP Room, San." Candy and Austin walked out of the dressing room.
"Why do they always want ME?" Sandra thought to herself as she changed back into her outfit.
She walked to the dark backroom. The VIP Room was a room dimly lite with a red bulb, with a single chair in the center. Very simple, nothing very VIP-ish about it.
"Alright," Sandra thought to herself, "Just get in there, do your thing and get out."
She turned on the spin table outside of the room and put in a song for the dance. The music erupted throught out the room, catching the man inside off guard.
She adjusted herself once more and walked inside the room.
There's no time to keep it low
I've been deaf now I want some noise
You stay down
but I won't be quiet
I'll hammer on until you fight
"Hey there, sweety. I understand you wanted to meet me." the man's face was covered by a dark patch in the room, so Sandra couldn't see it.
"Yea, I did."
Loud Love
Loud Love
Loud Love
Loud Love
Sandra worked him over, her usual routine, finally sitting in his lap.
"Why me and not one of the other girls?"
He leaned back a little, "Because, there's something about you that made me feel good."
"Ahh I see." she leaned into his chest, inhaling his manly oder. His smell, his presence made her feel very safe and calm. She didn't feel like moving, but she knew she had a job to do.
If you've got some time to kill
Slow resisitance wins the war
Well I know
But that's no way to go
You can't resist the louder pull
Just as she was about to take off her bra, he stopped her.
"No, please, you don't have to do that." he leaned up into the light.
"Hey wait, I know you. You're the dude who gave me the $100 bucks. Who are you?"
"My name is Jerem...Jerry."
"Well nice to meet you, Jerry, I'm Sandra."
They shook hands and sat there awkwardly for a minute.
"Ya know, normally I don't do this sought of thing but, why don't we get out of here, I need some coffee before I go home."
"Sure."
Alex would have popped her one if he had saw what she just did. He always told her never to hook up with someone she didn't know, but there was just something so safe about Jerry to her. She just HAD to talk to him. After getting dressed again, and collecting all her things, Sandra led him to her car.
"Oh wait, what about your car?" she asked, looking around for it.
"Oh I walked. I do a lot of walking. Gives me time to think."
"Ahh ok, well hope in."
After a short drive, they reached the all night cafe outside of Sandra's apartment complex. After drinking six cups of coffee in between them, they got into some serious talking.
"I've been on my own since my wife and daugther passed away in a car accident." he lied. No one would believe his story about vampires and such. And lying just made it easier on everyone.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, it must have been had on you. To be alone like that."
She has have no idea how alone I've been, he thought to himself.
"Yea, so, why do you do that stuff? Dance naked?"
Sandra swigged the last of her coffee.
"Because," she didn't look up from the cup."The dancing I WANT to do doesn't pay the bills. I had a little sister to take care of and ballet wasn't enough. With Alex gone and our parents being long dead, I only had Austin to help. And now I'm paying him back by working the club."
She looked up at Jerry. He looked to be deep in thought.
"But enough about that," she looked at her watch. "It's getting late, I should take you home. Where do you live?"
Jerry played with his hair, fiddling with the split ends. "I'm not from here. So I'm staying at the Green Box for the time being."
"That crappy place? Na, you can't stay there. You can stay with me."
He looked at her like she was crazy. "But you just met me. You don't know a thing about me other than what I told you, and for all you know that could be a lie."
He was right, she thought, but she would have figured it out by now if he was a bad guy. She knew, just KNEW he was ok.
"Eh, if you were a nut job I would have seen it by now. Let's just say I have a kind heart."
He thought about it for a minute, then gave in.
"Ok."
With that, they paid their bill and walked up to Sandra's place. After getting off the elevator, Sandra walked up to her door.
"Wait here, I'm going to let my brother know you're here."
When she walked in, Alex was sitting on a chair with a piece of tin foil in a part of his hair. He was holding a blow dryer in his hand.
"You've been home all of ten minutes and you're ALREADY bleaching your hair?" Sandra chuckled as she punched her big brother in the arm playfully.
"God I couldn't wait to do this, I'm glad my hair was short enough for them not to cut it. I think I would have killed someone." he said, playing with the other side of his hair.
"God you're worse than a girl."
He rolled his eyes.
"Yea, well, where have YOU been the last few hours? I WAS suppose to be going out with Marsha and having a good time. She's one kinky dame, you know. But I had to cancel because I had to take care of Carly."
"Ahh crap, I forgot. I'm sorry Alex. But while I was out I picked up some company." she opened the door to let Jerry in.
"This is my friend, Jerry. He's going to be staying with me...us.. for a little while."
Alex's face frowned up and he stood up.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" he said as he dragged her out of the room.
"Alex!"
Once in the bathroom he closed the door.
"Alex, WHAT is your problem?"
"Who is that guy, Sandra?" he asked in a fiery tone.
"It's none of your business, Alex." she turned to leave and he grabbed her arm.
"Is he one your clients at the 'Spike?"
She looked at him for a minute and turned away.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh please, I know all about it, Sandy. Carly isn't even here, she wanted to go to a sleep over at a classmate's house. I checked it all out and dropped her off. I was trying to look for you to tell you I was going out earlier and where Carly was so you wouldn't worry. I looked up the number to the place you supposedly work. They never heard of you. I figured maybe I messed up and got the name of the place wrong, then I saw it. A match book from the 'Spike. I didn't want to believe it at first, but something told me to look in your closet." He ran his fingers through his hair. "All those outfits, those WHORE outfits, Sandy. I waited for you to say something when you came in. But of couse you didn't. Then I knew, I knew what you were. A liar and a goddamn whore!" he threw the match book at her.
She looked up at him. "How fuckin' DARE you come back here and call me a whore for trying to keep us off the street? You don't know what I have had to go through to make rent. When the world got to hard for you, you pussed out and left. Left it all behind, including me and Carly." Just then she felt anger fill her stomach and with tears in her eyes, she said something she didn't really mean.
"If it wasn't for you running off, I would have never had to do it. It's your fault, Alex. It's all YOUR fault!" and then she slapped him.
He looked at her in surprise and then frowned. He pushed past her and ran out of the bathroom, out of the apartment. And for all Sandra knew, out of her life, again.