2002:
Mrs. Germanotta was doing Jon's laundry.
"Damn this boy is musty!" she said when she caught a whiff of Jon's shirt.
She threw it directly into the washer and continued sorting his clothes out. She went through his pants to make sure that there was nothing in them.
One pair of Jon's ripped up jeans smelled like smoke. Cigarette smoke. And to make matters worst, Mrs. Germanotta found a lighter and a cartoon of cigarette's in one of the pockets. Now, she was furious.
Quickly shoving the rest of his clothes in the washer without giving a damn how they came out, she left the laundry room and quickly made her way back down the hall to the apartment. Bursting through the door and slamming it, she quickly made her way to Adriana and Jonathan's room.
She opened the door and found Jon and Adriana smooching.
"Get off of her," Mrs. Germanotta said.
"What's wrong Mom?" Jon asked.
"I'll show you what's wrong!"
She held up the cigarettes and lighter.
"Don't tell me you've been smoking again. Jonathan, you promised me you wouldn't do it again!" Adriana said.
"I raised you better than this!" Mrs. Germanotta said.
"Look, you guys, I only smoked two! I was going to give them back to my friend but I forgot," Jon said.
"I should knock your head right off of your shoulders," Mrs. Germanotta said.
This time, Jon decided he was going to get an attitude.
"I'm not a little kid anymore. Stop treating me like I'm five."
"Jonathan, you know that you're not supposed to be smoking. You're under age. And on top of that, I don't want this disgusting crap in my house!"
"Why are you going through my clothes anyway?"
"I was doing your nasty laundry. You're welcome, you ingrate."
Jon got up and put on his shoes.
"And where do you think you're going?"
"Away from you. I can't stand you nagging."
Adriana knew right then and there that Jon had fucked up. Mrs. Germanotta was usually kind most of the time. But she had a mean streak to her too.
"What did you just say to me boy?"
"I said I can't stand you nagging."
"Jonathan, stop," Adriana said.
Jon tried to walk past Mrs. Germanotta but she blocked his path.
"You're not going anywhere," she said.
"Mom, move."
Mrs. Germanotta remained still like a statue.
Jon was getting agitated. He couldn't do anything but just stand there.
"You need to move out of my way," he said.
"You sit your ass back down."
"You don't tell me what the hell to do!" Jon yelled.
"Who are you yelling at!?" Mrs. Germanotta yelled back.
By this time, Adriana had got up and got between her mother and boyfriend.
'Stupid ass,' Adriana thought to herself.
"Jonathan, stop it!" Adriana said.
"Get out of the way, Adriana," Jon said.
"You're not going anywhere, Jonathan," Mrs. Germanotta said.
"Fuck you," Jon said.
All Jon felt in the next few seconds was a slap across his face. Mrs. Germanotta had smacked Jon.
"Now, you abide by the rules of the house or you can pack your bags and leave. I've been very good to you, Jonathan. I took you into my home, I fed you, made sure you always had something to eat, washed your clothes for you and everything. Many days I would come home tired but I still cooked for you. I still helped you with any school project you had to do. Sometimes I wouldn't even eat anything all day because there was only enough for you and Adriana. Even when there was enough for me, I would give my portions to you. I took you in because I immediately fell in love with you when Adriana first brought you home. I love you dearly. All I ask is for you to follow my simple rules. I don't ask for much, Jonathan. You need to think about that," Mrs. Germanotta said.
She turned around and left the room, closing the door behind her.
Adriana went back to the bed and laid down. Jon joined her.
"You need to apologize," Adriana said.
Jon didn't say anything.
"Did you hear me?"
"Yes mother," Jon snapped.
"Give her a few hours to cool off. But you are going to apologize to her. Or I'll drag you in there," Adriana said.
"Yeah whatever," Jon said.
He took a nap for a few hours. When he woke back up, he smelled food. He looked to his side and saw that Adriana wasn't in the room.
"Ah shit," Jon said to himself.
He slowly got up and rubbed the side of his face. He still felt the slap from earlier as if it just happened again. Adriana then came into the room.
"Here's your food," she said.
"Why are you bring it to me?"
"To keep the tension down. But after you're finished you are washing dishes and apologizing."
"Alright dammit I heard you the first time!"
"Shut up and eat."
Mrs. Germanotta was in her room getting ready for bed. As soon as she pulled back her covers, she heard a knock at the door.
'I wonder who that could be,' Mrs. Germanotta thought sarcastically.
"Mom, can I come in?" Jon asked from the other side.
"Yes," his mother said.
Jon opened the door and walked in. Closing the door, he stood against it.
"You have a minute?"
"Yeah. Come sit down," his mother said.
Jon sat down next to his mother and didn't say anything at first.
"Is there something you want to tell me?"
Jon looked at his hands. Mrs. Germanotta gently grabbed Jon's chin and made him look at her.
"Jonathan Good, I am talking to you. You answer me when I talk to you. Now, don't you have something to say to me?"
"I'm sorry for what I said. You and Adriana are right. I was an asshole," Jon said.
"Apology accepted. You need to choose your friends more wisely. And I don't want you hanging around Charlie anymore. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes ma'am."
"I still love you."
Mrs. Germanotta gave Jon a kiss on the forehead.
Adriana was eavesdropping from behind the door. She smiled big. She was glad Jon and her mother were able to reconcile.
Present:
Jon was laying on the couch with the covers over his entire body. He felt someone shaking him. He honestly wanted to be left alone.
"What?" he said.
"Daddy, I'm hungry," Maddy said.
Jon pushed the covers off of him and went to make Maddy something to eat.
"What do you want to eat?"
"Apple Jacks."
Jon grabbed a bowl from the cabinet. He went to the pantry and got the cereal. He came back and poured the cereal into the bowl. Jon then took the bowl to Maddy and went to the fridge to get the milk. Jon poured the milk in the cereal and sat the milk down on the table. He went to get a spoon for Maddy and brought it back to her.
"Bon apetite," Jon said.
"Thanks Daddy," Maddy said.
"Welcome," Jon said.
He went back to the couch to lay down. His head was still hurting him.
Adriana soon made her way to the living room. She saw the beer cans on the coffe table.
"What the..." she said. "Jonathan?"
"What do you want?"
"I want to know why you were drinking."
"Because I'm over the age of 21."
"Very funny. Idiot."
"Fuckface."
Adriana simply ignored Jon and went to make herself come coffee.
"Good morning Mommy," Maddy said.
"Good morning," Adriana said. "Enjoying your food?"
"Yup."
Adriana started the coffee maker and went to get the creme and sugar.
Aiden and J.J. got up and found their father on the couch.
"Daddy, we're hungry," J.J. said.
Jon got up and made the boys cereal then went back to the couch to lay down.
Adriana followed Jon into the living room.
"Are you going to lay down all day?"
"If I want to. Now leave me alone."
"You can't sleep all day."
"Adriana, it's barely seven. Could you give me a break?"
Adriana left Jon alone for the rest of the morning and got the girls ready for the day while Jon got the boys ready.
Linda was picking the children so that they could spend a night at her house.
She figured Jon and Adriana could use a break. A much needed one.
The two didn't do much that day. Well, Adriana did clean around the house while Jon chugged down some beer. He didn't even bother to shower. Adriana was trying her hardest not to say anything to Jon about leaving the beer cans on the table.
As much as she really wanted to talk to Jon, he looked sort of out of it. Even though he was drawing in his sketchbook, he looked very tired. The bags under his eyes indicated that he didn't sleep well last night.
Adriana finished cleaning the house and simply went back to the room to lay down. She herself was developing a headache. She grabbed the picture of her and Jon off of her nightstand and looked at it.
It was of the two of them at last year's county fair. Adriana had blue cotton candy in her hands and Jon had pink. But he was frowning simply because he had pink cotton candy. Adriana smiled at the picture and laid it on the pillow.
"Oh Jon," she said. "We can't keep doing this."
In the living room, Jon was looking over his work.
He drew a heart. Not just the typical heart you see drawn on cards.
Jon had drew the autonomy of an actual human heart. He honestly didn't know how he made it look so realistic but he did. Around it, he had written the words heartache, pain, hurt, and broken.
Each word representing how he felt at that moment.
Jon closed his sketch book and got up. He almost lost his balance and almost fell back over. He managed to maintain his balance and walk to the kitchen. He went to the fridge and pulled out a few more beers.
He sat at the table and opened one of the cans and drunk it.
Anything to numb the pain. Jon didn't want to think about his troubles again. He was going to drink and drink and drink and drink until he passed out.
Author's Note: Dammit Jon!