I felt the needed to give a little background on Jonny before we got into the main plot. Apologies, I will get to the nitty gritty pretty soon.
Thick marijuana smoke filled the room of the Swan Motel room. Will sat on the black leather sofa in the hazy, semi-dark with a bottle of Jack Daniels in his hand, and a picture of him and his ex-wife Jenny. The picture had been taken on the 4th of July in '98 at Seaside Heights, a spot they'd frequented every summer. That was when their marriage was at its strongest. He'd had a good job working on the loading docks and everything.
He'd remember when he first met her. It during the winter of '86, and he'd happened to be caught in one of the worse nor'easters in Newark's history. With gusty, cutting winds and whole park blanketed with at least a foot of snow, Will hoped that his Mercury Marauder made it through on his way home.
That's when he saw her running hysterically toward his car and he narrowly avoided hitting her. After successfully managing to calm her down, the woman finally told her than she had been car jacked and the thief took off with her purse in there. As there were no buses running and the woman lived in Passaic, Will offered to give her a ride. Since his place was nearby, he offered to let her spend the night at his place. Being that he was a stranger, a physically imposing stranger, at first, she refused. Will told her that he understood her hesitance, it was bitterly cold, Passaic was far away, and there weren't any nearby motels. The woman finally conceded and got inside Will's Marauder.
While back at his place, Will found a couple of fresh blankets for the woman and fixed her some turkey bisque and sandwiches with cups of hot chocolate. As they ate, the two talked. The woman told Will that her name was Jenice Brown, and that she was a medical student at Rutgers. She had been on her way home for the holidays when she had gotten carjacked at gunpoint. She started fretting about what was going to happen. Will held her in her arms and consoled her. Before he knew it, Jenny was kissing him, telling him to make her feel more good and minutes later, they were in Will's bedroom, clothes in a clutter on a floor, the bed post knocking against the wall. After that, they'd start seeing each other regularly and were married two years later.
Jenny was the only silver lining in Will's world of gray clouds. She was 5'2, with eyes the color of sunlit cola, smooth golden brown skin and high cheekbones. Will loved not only her deep dimpled smile, but the way she made him feel like he was somebody, her willingness to look past the deeply flawed, sociopath and see the man who had no one and just wanted someone to love him.
He recalled their last conversation, as she sat across the table from him, the divorce papers clutched in her hands. It felt as if a herd of elephant had trampled upon his chest when he saw them.
"C'mon, Jenny, be reasonable, think this out," pleaded Will.
"I am and I did," said Jenny, tears, blended with mascara running down her face. "Will, I love you with all my heart, but I can't deal with all of this anymore. I stuck by your side, through every bid. I stuck by your side even though my family hated you and thought you were no good. But I'm tired, Will. I'm sick of this never ending cycle of you getting locked up, you getting out and promising to straighten up, you straightening up for a little while then getting locked up again. You're a 36 year-old man who still acts like that 21 year-old I met, living in the thrill of the moment, not realizing he's slowly drowning in his own sea of chaos and destruction. You are madness personified Will, and you're dragging me down further with your madness. I need stability."
"I can't help who I am, Jenny," Will fired back. He wasn't going to give up without a fight, "You knew what I was when you decided to marry me. Whatever happened to for better or for worse, huh? You're going to leave me when I need you the most?"
"Don't try to guilt me, Will, it won't work this time," said Jenny. "You told me when we first took our vows that you would change your ways. But you're never going to change. I can't believe it took 13 years for me to see that. I have my career and future to think about, and if that means a future without you, then so be it."
Cold dread seeped deep into Will's pores.
"Shit Jenny," he said, sounding sober and older than he was, "Don't do this to me, darlin', you're all I have."
"Don't make this harder than it already is Will," said Jenny, fresh tears falling down her face, "if you really love me, if you really cared, you'll just sign the papers and let me get on with my life."
The green eyes that she'd feel in love with hardened, though there was bits of grief in them. The muscles in his jar twitched.
"Is that what you really want?" he asked.
"Yes," said Jenny with sad finality in her tone.
"Fine," said Will. There was no emotion left in his voice. He picked up the pen and signed the divorce papers.
"There," he said in that same passionless tone, "You got your wish, sweetheart."
Jenny gathered up the papers and said to Will. "I'm sorry. I love you so much and I always will, but you need to love yourself too. How can you love others if you can't do that? Take care of yourself, Will."
Will watched her leave, with that familiar feeling of hopelessness and helplessness. She walked out of the door, out of the prison, and out of his life forever.
You fucking moron, thought Will as he continued to look at the picture. You had a good woman and you fucked that up. Just like you fuck up everything else you come across. You've been a piece of shit your whole life and that's how it'll stay.
"Get it together, old man." said Will, his voice croaky, "She ain't your woman and hasn't been for a long time."
He drank and smoke until he felt nothing.
The next morning, Will drove to the abandoned factory where he found Jonny, fast asleep on the couch, he slammed the carton of orange juice on the wooden table, causing Jonny to snap wide awake and pull out his revolver and pointing it wildly.
"Oh," said Jonny, lowering the gun when he saw that it was just Will, "it's you."
"Good morning to you too, sunshine," said Will, "If you're hungry, I brought a sack of breakfast sandwiches and some orange juice."
As Jonny opened the bag and took a couple of breakfast sandwiches, Will asked Jonny, "So, do you live in this shitty place or what?"
"Not really," said Jonny, "I'm actually one of those trust fund babies who live in a 9 in a half bedroom mansion with 6 bathrooms. My dad sent me here so I'd learn to appreciate the less fortunate. Of course I live here."
Will laughed as he picked up a breakfast sandwich himself. He was starting to like his kid. He reminded him a bit of himself in some ways.
"You don't have any family here?" asked Will as he poured himself some orange juice.
"Nah, I'm not originally from Jersey," said Jonny, wiping a bit of egg from his whiskered chin, "I came from the East End of Cincinnati, where dreams never come true."
"How'd you end up in New Jersey?" asked Will.
"Well, about 7 years ago, my mother threw me out the house and told me to never dampen her doorstep again," said Jonny, "For the next two years, I wandered on aimlessly, alternating between Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, you know, gettin' blazed, checking out the scenery. One day, a bunch of guys I bummed out with stole a G20 and decided to go to Jersey for this festival called The Wave Gathering. Lots of good music ranging from indie to blues and what not. We hooked up with this other group who happened to have some shrooms to go along with the weed and booze we had. The next thing I know, I wake up in the Pinelands, my friends and the G20 gone. Never knew what became of them, and I decided to settle down here since. At least until I become bored again."
"That sucks, man." said Will, "did your mother even bother to see what became of you?"
"Man, she don't care about me," said Jonny indifferently, "she used to always tell me that I was the big mistake that she couldn't correct. She told me the biggest regret she ever had was going to a Metallica concert and coming back home pregnant with me."
"So I take it you never knew your old man," said Will, biting into his breakfast sandwich.
"Nope," said Jonny, "Apparently, my mom doesn't either. Like I said, she was at a Metallica concert, the Ride the Lightning Tour to be exact somewhere in Phoenix."
Jonny paused to eat some of the sandwich. Will didn't say anything, but his heart dropped as if he'd been driving down a steep hill.
"Go on," he said to Jonny.
"She didn't really care for Metallica actually," said Jonny, "she just wanted to see WASP perform. Anyway, she got all loaded on whiskey and had a one night stand with some jackoff there. When she woke up, he was gone and never heard from or saw him again."
Jonny resumed eating his sandwich. Will observed him curiously. Could it be possible?
Nah thought Will instantly, but that sudden nagging feeling he felt wouldn't go away. Before he met Jenna, he was a self-professed womanizer, getting into bed with anything with a vagina and two legs. And it just so happened that he had attended that exact same concert in Phoenix.