Chapter Twenty Two
"Goodbye, Alice!" Jenny said when they got back to the Indian church.
"Goodbye, Jenny, see you Sunday," Alice said. "And it's nice to meet you," she added to Rose and the Doctor.
They waved to her and Jenny led them away. She took them a different direction this time so she could show them where the Black Church was. It was a few blocks down and she pointed it out to them. It was smaller white and resembled a traditional country church. It also had a heavy black gate around it's porch to prevent people from going inside.
"That's sad they had to put a gate around the entrance," Rose said.
"Yeah, I think it's because homeless people slept up there and did drugs so they put that up to stop them," Jenny said.
They turned the corner and Jenny pointed to an abandoned building by a small convenience store. In front of the abandoned building was a stone porch and several Indians were sitting on it drinking booze.
"A lot of people sit there and drink themselves blind," Jenny said to them. "Mainly Indians but there's others too, they usually don't bother anyone who passes except to say crude things but just letting you know they're there in case they do try to mess with ya."
"It's hotter n' hell, why would you want to sit there all day and get pissed?" Rose said, shaking her head. "At least find a building to go into where you won't be sitting out in the heat."
"I know, right? But apparently that's a big drinking spot."
Rose rolled her eyes when they passed by the Indians and they began to call to her.
"Hey, Blondie," one of them yelled. "Want a drink?"
Rose snickered when the Doctor glowered at them and they shut up and looked away until they passed. They went under a bridge and walked along a sidewalk.
"See, it's shadier here," Rose said, pointing to the sidewalk. "Those gits are gonna get heat stroke sitting out there."
"Somehow, I don't think they really care, Rose," the Doctor said, looking back at the Indians who were taking swigs of whiskey and vodka and laughing loudly.
Further up the road was the Greyhound bus station.
"Unlike everything else in this stupid town, this does stay open all the time," Jenny said to them. "You can go in and use the bathroom and get a drink of water at the fountain. There are assholes behind the counter who'll glare at you. You're not really supposed to do that without buying a ticket but oh well, people do it anyway."
They walked past it and continued on to the bus station. On the way there, the Doctor glanced at Rose and caught her eye.
"Should we tell her now?" he mouthed to Rose.
Rose nodded and the Doctor noticed a park area off to their left.
"Can we sit here for a minute, Rose and I want to tell you something," the Doctor said to Jenny.
Jenny nodded and they walked off the sidewalk into the grassy area. At the very back was a plaza and a large concrete building that looked a bit like the Parthenon.
"What's that?" Rose asked, pointing to it.
"Um…that's the arts center where they put on plays and musicals," Jenny said.
She pointed to an electronic billboard on the other side of the grassy area that showed coming attractions.
"Hey, Peter Pan is coming here," the Doctor said when he saw the advertisement flash on the screen. "Anyway, back to the point."
They walked over to a low wall near a row of shrubs and sat down in the shade.
"Rose and I are grateful for all the help you've given us," the Doctor said to Jenny.
"It's nothing, I was helped when I first got here, just passing it on," she said with a shrug.
"And that's great. But Rose and I, we like you a lot and we want to come clean about a few things. See, we haven't been entirely truthful with you."
He noticed the knowing smirk spread over her face.
"What's the grin for?"
"Dear, I kinda guessed that, you're not even dressed like a hobo," Jenny said, fingering the sleeve of his jacket. "So…I'm thinking, you're reporters? Trying to act like hobos for a few days so you can see how the homeless are treated for some news story you're doing?"
"No, I'm not a reporter," the Doctor said while Rose chuckled. "But I will admit I'm not exactly homeless. Rose and I do have a home, it's just not a conventional home."
"You mean like a trailer?" Jenny said. "Houseboat? Tent?"
"Spaceship."
Jenny gave him an odd look.
"I'm sorry?" she said. "Um…you don't have any mental illnesses that you're keeping hidden from everyone?"
"No, I'm…an alien."
Jenny raised her eyebrow.
"Like I said, no mental illnesses?" she said.
"He's not insane, Jenny, he's telling the truth," Rose said.
"So, are you alien?" Jenny said.
"No, I'm human but I travel with him."
"Okay, why? Did he abduct you and put some chip in your head?"
"Why does everyone assume I do things like that, if it's not anal probes, it's brainwashing chips in the head," the Doctor said, shaking his head. "No, she came with me of her own free will. I travel through time and space and I have friends along with me who share in my adventures and help me."
"Um…I'm sorry, dear, but you need to buy some kind of alien costume if you're gonna pretend to be an alien because looking the way you are doesn't work."
The Doctor sighed. He stood up and beckoned to her.
"I have proof, I'll show you my spaceship, it's at the bus station," he said to her.
Rose noticed that Jenny was suddenly wary of them. She stood up and came over to her.
"Jenny, I know it sounds daft but he's telling the truth, I'm originally from the year 2005, this year hasn't even happened for me yet. Please just trust us enough to come and see, I promise we're not insane."
"Okay, you haven't hurt me so far so I'll give you a chance," Jenny said, standing up.
"Thank you, I promise you won't be disappointed," the Doctor said.
Jenny followed them, still a bit wary while they walked back to the bus station. When they got there, the Doctor walked up to his TARDIS and knocked on the side so Jenny could focus in on it. Jenny blinked in shock when she suddenly saw it.
"What the hell?" she said, walking up to the police box. "Where the hell did this come from?"
"It's been here all along, I have a…cloaking device on it. People see it but they ignore it and you've been doing the same thing. This is my ship though. It's called a TARDIS, stands for time and relative dimension in space."
"Bit cramped, don't you think, space alien?" Jenny said.
"Not at all, let me demonstrate," the Doctor said, pulling out his key.
He unlocked the TARDIS and he and Rose went inside. Jenny came to the door and staggered back when she saw the inside. The Doctor and Rose paused near the console.
"Coming?" the Doctor said to Jenny while they took off their backpacks and laid them down by the console.
"It's okay, don't be afraid," Rose said.
"Please come in before Suri or someone like him comes in here," the Doctor said to Jenny.
Jenny took a tentative step inside, looking around in awe while the Doctor came down to her.
"May I close the door, I promise I'm not kidnapping you," he said to her. "I just want to keep out people like Suri. The last thing I want is him vomiting on my floor."
Jenny nodded and slowly came up the ramp while the Doctor closed the door.
"I'm not going to hurt you," he said to her. "I'm not evil and I won't stick things up your bum or try to enslave you. Rose and I like you and Rose thought it would be a good idea to tell you the truth especially since we offered to store your backpack for you. This is where we wanted to store it, this ship is impervious to all but a very few things and this is absolutely the safest place in the universe to put your things."
"Is this about 2012?" Jenny asked him.
The Doctor gave her a puzzled look.
"What about 2012?" he said.
"You know, supposedly the world's gonna end or change in 2012 and there's these rumors of alien visitations increasing during that time."
"Um…no," the Doctor said while Rose chuckled. "The world won't end in 2012, Rose could tell you that and I'm not here because of that, I've visited Earth many times over the centuries and in fact, I help and protect humans from other evil forces, when I'm allowed to, that is. Sometimes I can't interfere in events which is why I couldn't stop something like the Oklahoma City Bombing but there are other things I have stopped that could have destroyed the Earth."
"He's a good man, Jenny, you have no reason to fear him," Rose said. "Only evil people have a reason to fear him."
"And you travel through time with him?" Jenny asked her.
"Through time and space. I've been to a lot of different periods in time and a lot of different planets."
"And you came to Oklahoma during the hottest days of the whole year?"
"She chose it! I let her choose our next destination and we end up here," the Doctor said, pointing to Rose.
"I closed my eyes and randomly picked Oklahoma on a map," Rose said. "I wanted to visit the US since I've never been before but we decided to go hiking in one of the states and I chose Oklahoma randomly."
"I bet you're regretting that choice now," Jenny said.
"Um, sorta," Rose said while the Doctor snickered. "It hasn't been all bad but I do regret bumping into Suri."
"I think most people regret bumping into him," Jenny said. "So, are you in disguise?" she asked the Doctor. "Is this a human suit or something?"
"No, this is how I normally look," he said. "And John isn't my real name. I'm called the Doctor."
"The Doctor?" Jenny said while Rose giggled. "Odd name, even for an alien. Why not Zargax or Zenon or Malthusa or something."
"Because I'm the Doctor," he said. "I actually knew a Zargax once, con artist though, he stole some credits off me. But anyway, we let you in on our secret so could you keep this secret for us and not go running to others that I'm an alien."
"Um…Doctor…" Jenny said, trying to get used to his real name, "I'm homeless, most people think I'm nutty or a drug addict or something like that. I run up to someone and tell them I've seen a space alien in downtown Oklahoma City, they're gonna think I'm some nutty hobo that belongs in the loony bin and they might call the cops on me and have me carried away. So I doubt I could get people to believe me even if I did want to tell them, which I don't since I get enough odd looks from people as it is without telling them I know a time traveling alien. So, yes, I won't tell people about all this."
"Thank you. Now that we're in here, I wanted to let you take a shower and rest a bit before we go back out. I think Rose and I want to do the same and I can make a guest bedroom for you with a proper bed so you can get a nice refreshing nap. And tonight, you can sleep in here. I think you've earned it. Rose can show you where everything is."
"Seriously?" Jenny said.
"I'm being very serious. I need to freshen up as well and I'm sure you haven't had a shower in awhile, right?"
"No, the closest place to take a shower is two miles from here."
"Ugh, then my lavatories are at your disposal. I also have a wardrobe room where you can pick out some new clothes and a kitchen if you fancy a snack. Although, I'm thinking after a couple of hours we might go back out. We saw a fondue restaurant last night and I'd like to go there and eat."
"Oh, that Melting Pot restaurant?" Jenny said.
"Yes, have you been there before?" the Doctor asked.
"No, never had the money for it."
"Well, Rose and I want to go to the baseball game tonight so tell you what, you will be our guest and we'll pay for you to have a relaxing night on the town. After all the stuff you've been through, you've earned it."
Jenny teared up and the Doctor put his hand on her shoulder.
"Th…thanks," she said in a choked voice.
"No, thank you for all you've done for us. We want you to have fun tonight and not have to worry about cops or drunks or hiding from others. Tonight, you can be a normal human again and have a nice relaxing night with friends."
Rose smiled when Jenny gave the Doctor a hug. The Doctor grinned from ear to ear and hugged her back. He looked at Rose.
"Rose, will you show our VIP where everything is," he said.
"My pleasure," Rose said.
Jenny let go of the Doctor. He smiled fondly at Jenny while Rose beckoned to her and led her out of the console room.