The day of rehabilitation had finally come and the day seemed darker than it has before. Outside it rained as if they were caught in the middle of a hurricane. The darkening light shone through the diaphanous curtains of the small room and Jack awoke quickly to the feeling of the light. He looked at his clock and realized it was an hour before he had to actually wake up, but for some reason he couldn't sleep. He got out of bed slowly. He was wearing a black t-shirt with a skull on it and a pair of black plaid pajama bottoms. He slipped on his shoes and looked at Zack who was sleeping deeply. Jack slowly exited the room and entered the silent desolate hallway. He could feel that it was raining outside. He wished he could go and touch it, but he knew he wasn't allowed in the forbidden zone.
He made his way through the hallways slowly as to not make anyone wake up. He smelled something good and he followed the smell to lead him to a small cafeteria that looked more like a café. Jack slipped in and he could smell the distinct able smell of cinnamon buns and coffee. He gripped his head as a memory came back and he fell to his knees closing his eyes with pain.
Eleven year old Jack was sitting at his old kitchen table and he looked as if he had been crying. Before him was a cup of cold hot chocolate and he looked into the darkness and saw his reflection. He couldn't remember why he was crying, but something bad had just happened and he felt pain all over his body. His mother, a very bitter woman, walked in. She had flowing blonde hair and crystal blue eyes. She was wearing a very short mini-skirt and a revealing blouse. She had on black high heels and Jack could tell she had been drinking, but wasn't drunk.
She noticed him and that he was crying, "Why the hell are you crying? You did very well this weekend and did what the man said you should do," She said walking over sitting down at the table. She looked into his eyes and at the cup and she scowled, "You didn't drink the hot chocolate I made you. Is it bad?" She asked slowly getting angry at Jack. Jack shook his head with fear and his mother quickly swiped her hand smashing the cup into the wall, "Joe, Joe! Get in here!" His mother said angrily.
Joe, Jack's father, ran in quickly, "Candy, what's wrong baby doll?" He asked noticing the mess on the ground, "What did he do?"
"He wouldn't drink the hot chocolate I made him. He must not like my cooking, and doesn't understand how lucky he is for a mother who cooks and loves him. Ungrateful brat!" She said yelling at Jack and Joe walked over to Jack and leaned over him.
"Oh? You don't like your mother's cooking? You don't appreciate everything we do for you?" Joe said angrily.
Jack stood up already knowing where this would go, and he desperately tried to leave the room, but his father grabbed him and dragged him into the living room. He slapped Jack to make him fall to the ground and Jack slowly began to weep. His father scowled and muttered something about how his son was such a pussy. His mother walked in and she took out the cigarette that she was smoking and pressed it against his skin and caused a giant burn to appear. Then she repeated this action five more times before returning to the kitchen.
"He'll learn to drink what he is made and eat what he is made," Candy said before going out of sight.
"My mother was right, you were nothing but trouble," His father said before slapping him again, and then punching him in the stomach. Jack took the blow and hunched over trying to regain his balance.
"Here we go, he's going to drink all of this," Candy said returning with a pot of hot boiling coffee. Jack thought his whole mouth would burn if he drank that. He tried to get away, but his father held him again and his mother came over and put the spout near his mouth, "Drink it," She demanded but he wouldn't open his mouth and she scowled and his father scowled as well.
"She said opened your mouth!" He said yelling at Jack before punching him again in the stomach, but Jack wouldn't open his mouth.
"You ungrateful brat!" His mother said before pouring the whole pot of boiling coffee on his head and he began screaming as he was on the ground gripping his head. They both laughed and left him crying on the floor. Jack thought that this was his life now.
Jack opened his eyes as they swelled with tears, and at this point the lady who owned or ran the café walked over and was kneeling beside him. She tried to place a hand on his shoulder but he quickly moved away and she realized that he didn't like to me touched and she backed away. She was this African American woman in her late thirties to early forties and looked very nice. She pulled out a chair and offered it to him, and he took it hesitantly.
"Are you alright baby?" The woman said in a caring tone, but Jack felt uncomfortable her calling him baby, and he looked down at his lap and she realized that he didn't speak, and she just continued talking, "Honey, would you like some cinnamon buns and some Orange Juice?" She asked him and Jack slowly nodded as the woman walked towards the kitchen as Bobby and Cody walked in, "Oh good morning you two," She said smiling and they said morning back.
Bobby noticed that Jack was sitting at a table and looked obviously upset, "Jack, Jack!" He said before going to his side, and Jack seemed relieved to see him before he wrapped his arms around Bobby's arm and held him tight.
"Wow, he's really grown attached to you, hasn't he?" Cody said noticing Jack's tight grip.
"Yeah, I don't know what I did, but he definitely trusts me enough for me to touch him," Bobby said looking down at Jack who looked back at him.
"Can he understand us?" Cody asked and Bobby gave him a 'are you stupid?' look.
"Of course he can. He doesn't talk, doesn't mean he can't hear, idiot," Bobby said and Jack wondered if he truly did understand what they were saying.
The woman came back out with a tray of cinnamon buns, a cup of orange juice, a cup of milk, and a cup of coffee. She placed the cup of juice in front of Jack, Bobby took the milk, and Cody took the coffee. At the sight of the coffee Jack jumped up and backed away from Cody. They both stood up and looked at him wondering what was wrong. Cody lifted the juice, but Jack stood where he was. Then Cody picked up the milk, and Jack didn't move, but when he picked up the coffee Jack hit the ground and they figured he must be afraid of coffee.
"He's afraid of coffee?" Cody asked with disbelief because no one could actually be afraid of something so ridiculous.
"Not afraid, but maybe a bad memory is tied with coffee, and it's obviously painful enough that he's afraid of it," Bobby said and Cody crossed his arms with annoyance.
"I need my coffee though," Cody said and Bobby gave him a look full of daggers and he raised his arms, "Fine, fine I'll have some Apple juice."
"Good," Bobby said as the woman took away the coffee and Jack slowly returned to the table before grabbing Bobby's arm.
About an hour after they had breakfast at the ship's little café they had their first group therapy session and Jack didn't like the idea of it. As he, Cody, and Bobby approached the room Bobby could feel the grip on his arm tightened and Bobby looked down at him with a reassuring look. However, Jack couldn't feel more assured even though he knew he'd be safe in the arms of Bobby.
They entered the room slowly to find themselves in a sea of unfamiliar faces. Jack scanned the room and his original hypothesis was correct. There were a lot of wealthy kids here, and he could tell they were wealthy by the way they were dressed. Jack noticed Daisy sitting with a couple of open seats next to her, and then he also noticed Melody in the room. Melody gave him a sneer and Bobby stared daggers at her and she looked away. Bobby sat Jack next to Daisy and then took his seat next to Bobby. Cody sat in the middle of Daisy and Zack. Jack once again clamped onto Bobby, and Bobby realized he'd never let him go.
"Good morning everyone," A young woman spoke as she entered the room. She had blonde hair with dyed red tips, and she was wearing large clunky glasses. She was wearing a tight official looking skirt with a frilly white blouse over it. She was wearing flat shoes, "My name is , but you guys can call me Jupiter," She spoke in a cheerful tone that made Jack utterly sick to his stomach.
"Good morning Jupiter," A resounding chorus of students spoke in response to the woman's entrance. There were only twenty people in the room, but to Jack it felt like a larger crowd.
"Um, Bobby right? Could you tell your friend to let go of your arm? We don't allow physical contact until we all break the first step," Juptier said as she turned to Jack, "Sweetie, will you please let Bobby go?"
Jack shook his head furiously and buried his face into Bobby's arm, "It's no use Jupiter Ma'am. He won't let me go, trust me I've tried," He said and Jupiter just smiled and took her seat.
"Alright, but will he tell everyone his name?" Jupiter asked and Jack gave her a blank stare and then looked down at the ground.
"Ma'am, he doesn't talk either. He hasn't uttered a single word to anyone since he got here," Daisy said speaking up.
"Oh? Well, I wont push him into talking, Daisy will you please tell everyone his name?" Jupiter asked and Daisy nodded happily.
"His name is Jack, I don't know his last name," Daisy said and everyone said "welcome Jack" like a stereotypical group therapy room.
"Alright, I'll briefly discuss what we'll being doing here. Group will be the place we'll be able to talk with other people about events that have happened in your lives and how it made all of you feel. There will be no judgment here, and everyone will support everyone in anything they feel like saying. No one will force anyone to say anything, and if you don't want to go into detail or going on and telling what happened hurts you, you don't have to continue. This will also be a place for people to tell you that whatever you went through, you didn't deserve it. Alright? No matter what have people said, you didn't deserve it," She said and Jack could only think that everything she had said was bullshit. He believe he did deserve it, and he still does deserve it. Tears filled his eyes and he looked to the ground.
"So, this is basically a big group of people who have been messed up by life and we're here to complain and whine?" Melody said crossing her arms.
"No, we're here to get over issues that might be affecting our outlook on life. Like you seem to have a lot of pent up anger, and by discussing what has happened in your life may help resolve these issues," She said with a smirk on her face and Melody mumbled something to herself before looking away, "Alright, who wants to go first?" She asked and Daisy raised her hand and Jupiter pointed at Daisy.
"I may seem happy and flamboyant in certain aspects, but I do have things about my past that still haunt me, and I wont tell you how, but I am ready to discuss what has happened to me broadly. When I was younger my parents used to be very addicted to drugs. Any type of drug you could name they have done it, and one day after I decided, stupidly, to make myself known my parents started blaming everything on me. They blamed me for my dad losing his job, they blamed me for my mom getting sick, and they blamed me for everything else. Then, the verbal abuse started turning into physical when my dad starting hitting me, but then he decided that hitting wasn't enough. He started getting me hooked onto the drugs they had. Cocaine, Heroine, Marijuana, and any other drug you could think of. When he got me high, he," Her voice broke for a moment and Jack could tell that her eyes were filled with tears.
"Daisy, you don't have to continue if the memories are too painful," Jupiter said and Jack's head perked up as he felt the pain she was going through was real. She wasn't a spoiled kid complaining about her life. She went through difficult things and Jack felt bad for everything he thought about her.
"No, no it's alright I want to continue," Daisy said whipping away her tears as she continued, "My dad used to invite his drug buddies over and take pictures of make, make me do stupid thing, and even once he touched me. My mom, my mom desperately tried to get him to stop, but he wouldn't listen. He wouldn't listen at all. So my mom called child services and my dad found out she did then he killed her. He stabbed her right in front of me, and the memories of the blood and her screams and her telling me to run I-," She said before she continue anymore and she broke down crying and everyone was silent as she silently sobbed in the room.
"Daisy, I cannot express how sorry I am for that happened to you, but I want you to know that your father cannot hurt you anymore. The things he did to you, he was not a good father. He was a sick, sick man and I cannot express my disgust towards him. You are a beautiful, strong, independent woman, and you didn't deserve it," Jupiter said and Daisy smiled whipping away her tears.
"Daisy, that makes me so angry. I thought I was the only one who got hurt by people, and I cannot stand that a man would hurt his own daughter in such a way. It makes me want to find this man in jail and kick his ass," Zack said clenching his fist and Melody started laughing.
"It sounds to me like she asked for it," Melody said causing everyone but two boys, and Jack, to gasp.
"Melody, how could you possibly think that?" Jupiter asked as she crossed her arms obviously disappointed.
"Well, as she said she decided to make herself known. Good girls are seen and not heard, especially girls like her. She deserved everything she got, and for her to play the victim is completely hilarious and sad. Your father was right, you're messed up Daisy, and a pathetic whiner," Melody said and everyone was completely stunned that she said that.
"How could you possibly think that?" Cody said with disbelief and disgust towards Melody.
"I agree with her," A boy with long black hair and red tips spoke grinning and Zack stood up angrily.
"You two are sick son of a bitches, and I cannot understand how you possibly can think that she deserved this? How fucked up did you two get to think, to possibly think that she deserved it? Your minds are fucked up, severely fucked up," Zack yelled and the boy smiled laughing.
"I'm Blaze, not a son of a bitch, and I am perfectly sane. It seems like you also like getting abuse. Hmm? You're basically begging for a guy right now. Just like that little quiet boy Jack. He plays all innocent and shit, but quietly wants cock in his mouth. It's quiet disturbing to say the least," Blaze said and Jupiter stood up breaking it up.
"All right that's enough! Blaze you went too far and you shall be punished," Jupiter said and Jack's eyes filled with tears as he began to cry. He wondered how he could be so diaphanous. Blaze knew how weak he was and how much of a bad boy he was. He wondered if he really was like that. He cried into Bobby who then stood up with anger.
"How dare you? How fucking dare you? You don't know Jack, you don't know anything he went through, and yet you have the audacity to call him such things? Wow, you're such a big man, a big man indeed," Bobby yelled and Melody smirked knowing this would have happened.
"What are you? His boyfriend?" Blaze said chuckling to himself.
"No, I am his friend and I promised him I would protect him, and that means doing this," He said before rushing Blaze and punching him in the face. Cody and Zack quickly held Bobby back as two boys held Blaze back.
"You're lucky these people are holding me back!" Blaze yelled spitting blood from his mouth.
"The feeling is mutual!" Bobby yelled and Jack slowly got up and hugged Bobby and Bobby realized it wasn't worth it. Jack didn't want anymore fighting. He was done with it. He didn't know what he wanted, but he knew he wanted Bobby to be safe and the only way for him to be safe is for him not to get into fights.
Jupiter decided the group would end a little early and told Bobby and his friends to go to the Arcade, and they should be the only people in the room. They all figured it would be fun and Jack looked at Blaze who gave him a smile then winked. Jack's eyes went wide with confusion and wondered what exactly did Blaze want. Jack wasn't going to let whatever he wanted happen. He held tightly onto Bobby's arm as they slowly left the group room for the first, and definitely not the last, time.