Ghost Stories
Punk and AJ were sitting up on the couch later that night. AJ was falling asleep through exhaustion against her husband, feeling mentally and physically drained from the day they had, finding no other peaceful and safe place than her husband to rest against and fall asleep.
However, just as she was drifting off over the sound of a game show programme they had been watching, there was a loud knock at the door which caused them both to jump a little.
"Probably your dad changed his mind about watching the kids." AJ said as Punk smiled a little, standing up off the couch, shuffling by her and out of the living room as AJ listened in to see if she could hear who it was.
Punk walked out towards the door and unlocked it with the keys, opening it up as he saw Dean and Anna standing, watching as they both walked into the house without saying much.
"Ok." Punk shook his head, closing the door behind him and locking it back up as he followed them into the living room. He could see his brother was agitated and Anna had something to say.
"What's going on?" AJ asked, becoming more awake as she sat up.
"My dad wants to help." Anna said as AJ just shook her head.
"Your dad? I thought you didn't speak to your dad." She said as Punk sat down on the arm of the sofa.
"I… it's not I don't speak to him. He's just never in the country. He called me and said that… that he was going to fly to Chicago tomorrow and that he could help us." Anna nodded.
"Help by doing what?" Punk asked curiously.
"Well I imagine he knows everything my mom has been up to." Anna nodded, "So if we can maybe… get something to use in order to get another custody hearing. Sooner rather than later, that would be good."
"If your dad is never in the country, what is he gonna know?" AJ asked, "I know you two are… devastated with this… and clearly beside yourself, I would be too, but we can't just click our fingers and expect… magical witnesses and evidence to make way and make a difference." AJ said, "It's not how court works." She said.
"And you know how court works?" Dean asked bitterly, placing his hands on his hips as AJ looked over at him.
"I'd like to think I do. Yeah." AJ nodded.
"Well you didn't know how it works today, did you?" Dean said.
"Dean." Anna turned to him and shook her head.
"No." Dean said, "No, you know what… you could have asked more questions, you could have called Jean out more… you let them tear me to shreds up there." Dean shook his head.
"Hey, calm down." Punk stood up, "This isn't anyone's fault. AJ was kind enough and strong enough to take this case on for you because she wants to help, so just shut up. I know you're hurting, but this isn't her fault here." He warned.
"She has money." AJ stood up, "Which probably means she's bribing someone, she's got someone on her side helping her. We already know is Sam is doing some sort of spying for her." She shrugged.
"Exactly, so we think we should just… I don't know, do our own investigating, see what she's up to. I never got the impression my mom was doing anything illegal but… who knows what we could find and take her down with… or even threaten her with so she'll sign over custody." Anna shrugged.
"We could threaten her with that guy they killed." Dean wondered, "Say we'll go to the police."
"That guy that dad disposed the body of?" Punk made a face, "You're… Dean, you're not thinking right now and this is when something will trip us up and you'll lose her for good." He said.
"Don't fucking say that." Dean warned him, "I'm not… I'm not sitting back whilst some lunatic has my daughter and I've been labelled a drunk, and unstable to care for her when I've not even had the chance." He said, "I'm not… doing nothing." Dean vowed, "Not anymore." He shook his head as AJ looked across at him.
"You don't wanna get caught doing anything drastic. She will use that to get longer custody of her. Trust me. I've seen this before." AJ said.
"Well I'm not sitting back and doing nothing, April!" Dean yelled, "It's not your kid. Alright? It's mine. If this was Keala… or Frankie… and I was telling you to just sit back and wait, would you?" He asked her as she stayed silent, "I know you fucking wouldn't." He turned to his brother who just looked at him, "So quit telling me to. She should be home with us. We've already missed the first weeks of her life I'm not gonna miss anymore." He told them as AJ just sighed and folded her arms.
"What do you suggest we do?" AJ shrugged.
"We fucking research this bitch. See what she's up to. What she's been up to in the past. I figured if we can take her down for something else it makes her unfit to care for a child, or if we find something we could use to threaten her, then she'll sign it over herself." Dean said, "And Anna's dad is coming so he might have something worth considering."
"And what happens when you find nothing? She's just a business woman with a lot of money." Punk shrugged, "She's the nice girl next door. We learned that from Dad. She's not a crook."
"How do you know that?" Dean said, "We don't know what she's doing behind doors. What money she gets from where. She's a journalist too, that's the best job to fuck up in." He nodded, "I need to do something. If I don't I'm… I'm scared I'm gonna…" He put his hand on his forehead as Punk looked at him, "I'm scared I'm gonna take a drink." He said truthfully as Punk sighed.
"You're stronger than that." Punk said, "You don't need that to get you through. We'll get her. She's not gonna stay with that woman. If this is… if you wanna do this, try and take her down as a person and not just as the woman with custody over your kid, I'm down… I just don't want us to get caught up in something ridiculous." He said, "Could we get away with this?" He turned to AJ.
"If we're careful." AJ nodded, "Yeah. We could."
"I wanna know more about her when she was friends with mom." Dean said, "I wanna know this bitch from the get go."
"Well, there's only one person who can give us that sort of information." Punk shrugged.
"God, this is like the fucking ghost stories at camp." JC shook his head, sitting down on his couch in his apartment where his two sons as well as Anna and AJ were sitting, all with coffee and some cookies that JC had put out, "What do you wanna know?" He asked them.
"What was Jean like in high school?" Dean asked him.
"She was… popular. Annoying." JC shrugged, "Your typical rich kid with typical rich kid standards. Which made it clear why she didn't like me." He said.
"But she liked mom?" Punk asked.
"Yeah. They were best friends since they were little. Went everywhere together. I don't know. There was never significant thing that I can pinpoint her doing… she just didn't like me, I think it was because Vanessa was paying more attention to me than her, but whatever." JC shrugged.
"Alright, calm down old man." Dean rolled his eyes as JC just made a face.
"So there wasn't any real heat between you? Not because of something that happened?" Anna asked.
"No. She just didn't like me." JC laughed a little, "And it wasn't even like it was because of that night. Because she hated me before then. Your mom told me that when she told her we were dating, she didn't talk to her for like a whole month she was that angry." JC shrugged, "I don't know what her problem was."
"What are you doing later on?" Jean asked, standing in the girls locker room, watching as her best friend tied her shoe laces on the bench after their practice.
"Well actually." Vanessa smirked, placing her foot back to the ground, "I got a date." She smiled, opening up her locker as Jean smiled and leaned against the lockers looking at her.
"May I ask who?" Jean smiled, "You kept that quiet."
"Um… that boy… he's in our history class… well sometimes." She laughed a little, "His name is Jack but everyone calls him JC." She said as Jean looked at her and laughed a little.
"No, who is it really?" Jean asked as Vanessa turned to her slowly.
"Really, it's him." Vanessa said, "Why? What's the big deal?" She asked a little consciously.
"Well he's a… junkie." Jean laughed, "I think he's in the system too." She raised her eyebrows.
"He's not a junkie." Vanessa scoffed, "He just likes to have fun. Doesn't hurt anybody."
"Hurts his liver I bet." Jean shook her head as Vanessa smiled.
"Why are you being my mom? Can't you be my best friend right now?" Vanessa asked, "I really like him, and I think he likes me." She shrugged.
"How long have you been talking to him?" Jean asked.
"A couple of weeks." Vanessa said, "I think he's really hot." She admitted truthfully, "And he's got a code name, how fucking cool is that-"
"You're a nerd." Jean shook her head, "He's not hot. He's scruffy and dirty."
"Exactly. Hot." Vanessa nodded.
"Your problem is you like seeing problems and fixing them. Little boys like him can't be fixed. Just so you know." Jean said.
"I don't want to fix him, there's nothing to fix." Vanessa said, "Why are you so weird about this? He's nice to me."
"Vanessa, look at where he comes from. He's a slob. Doesn't even have a proper home."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Vanessa asked angrily, "I know you… have money, Jean but… you don't have to be like that." She said, taking a little it of offence.
"How do you know he doesn't just want in your pants. You're probably the prettiest girl in this school." Jean said.
"He's already been in my pants and he wants to date so." Vanessa smiled and shrugged.
"Wait… what?" Jean said, "You've slept with him already?"
"Don't say it like that as if I sleep around with everyone." Vanessa laughed, "We were at a party, we got talking, he drove me home and it… just happened."
"You're ridiculous." Jean shook her head.
"Why? What is so wrong with that?" Vanessa asked, putting her backpack on and closing her locker after packing everything up.
"You're already acting like a different person, I can sense it. And it's because of him. What if he makes you do drugs?"
"He won't." Vanessa said, "Why are you getting so mad with me?" She asked, getting angry herself.
"Because you're an idiot and he's bad for you-"
"You've never even spoke to him." Vanessa scoffed.
"I don't have to." Jean said, "I hear stories. He's bad news. And you're now… dating him?"
"He's not a bad person, Jean." Vanessa shook her head.
"Oh, whatever. Don't come crying to me when he does something stupid. And make sure you're using condoms, you don't know what diseases he's got." She said.
"Jean, wait. Why-Why are you being like this?" Vanessa asked, "You're my best friend. Don't… don't get mad at me because of a boy. We're better than that." She scoffed.
"No you don't get it. You need to stay away from him." Jean shook her head.
"What do you know here that I don't?" Vanessa asked, "What-What's so bad about him?" She laughed a little, "I'm not gonna ditch you if that's what you think-"
"That's not what I think." Jean shook her head, "You remember when I told you about… my parents business." She said, "And… how things… got a little out of control sometimes. A lot goes on behind closed doors that… some of it I still don't know-"
"Yeah, I remember you telling me." Vanessa said, "What about it?"
"My…" Jean shook her head, "My parents had… had his parents killed, because of… bad reflections on their company." She said as Vanessa tilted her head, "You cannot tell him any of that-"
"Wait what…" Vanessa made a face, "I thought your parents were journalists?"
"They are. They have their own business and they just… they do things a little differently." Jean said.
"By killing people?" Vanessa shook her head.
"Keep your voice down." Jean said, looking around the lockerroom, "This is why you can't get involved with him. If he finds out any of this then he will… well he's like a wild dog, he'll do something and I don't want you to get hurt-"
"His parents are dead because of your mom and dad?"
"No, it was just my dad. My mom runs the company, and she writes but my dad is the business man for it. He's never even in the country-"
"And you-you wanna be just like them? You always say that to me." Vanessa said, horrified to say the least, "Is that what you're gonna do? Take over the family business? Have people killed if it looks bad on the company?" She gritted her teeth.
"No, I'm not like that." Jean shook her head.
"You're… you're crazy." Vanessa shook her head, baffled to say the least, "I'm leaving, I'm gonna be late."
"Vanessa you can't tell him. I told you because I trust you-"
"You told me because you didn't have a choice and you don't want me near him." Vanessa spat.
"I want you to be safe." Jean said as Vanessa just shook her head, not believing it.
"I have to go." Vanessa said, walking off out of the locker room.
"So she wasn't shady in school?" Punk asked JC.
"No. Not that I know of. She just didn't like me. Didn't like the idea of me and your mom." JC said, "She was just a rich kid who wanted to follow in her family footsteps, got married to a douche… no offence." He looked to Anna who just shook her head
"So she's just a woman pissed that a guy stole her best friend from her?" AJ shrugged.
"If anyone knew anything about her it'd be Vanessa" JC shrugged.
"Well that's an option, dad." Dean rolled his eyes, "Someone that rich, with this much control, can't just be a simple journalist with a petty grudge from high school. I'm sorry, but I'm not buying it and I'm not having that be the reason that she's… taken my kid from me." Dean stood up.
"We should wait and see what your dad has to say." AJ nodded to Anna, "And then we can take it from there." She said as they just nodded.
A/N: I like the idea of the parents having drama as well as it tying in with the drama going on right now! If only Vanessa was still around to spill the tea. Let me know what you think! More to come.
