The Long And Winding Road
Notes: Thanks to everyone for the recent reviews.
Chapter 26 -- Joker & The Thief
During her lunch hour on Tuesday, Emma sat alone outside the school building at one of the tables. She looked at the piece of paper in her hand. Frustrated, she balled it up and threw it toward a nearby trash can but missed.
"Littering, Ms. Nelson? I'm shocked. I sentence you to one hour of detention this afternoon. Meet me in the broom closet at 3:30."
Emma turned around to find JT standing behind her, smirking.
"You're so merciless, Mr. Yorke," Emma smiled.
"It's the whole Zero Tolerance policy for sexy environmentalists gone bad."
JT picked up the paper, opened it up and read it.
"This is that petition you were working on. The one you told me about last night."
"What are you doing over here anyway, JT? I thought you were eating lunch with Patrick today."
"Yeah, well we had a little difference of opinion, so I figured I'd come bother you for awhile. I know you mentioned needing to work on something over lunch, but I knew you'd be unable to turn me away, especially once my irresistible charm took over."
Emma laughed, just as JT hoped she would.
"I take it the work was the petition and that writing it isn't going as well as you planned."
"Definite understatement."
"What's the problem?" JT asked as he sat down on the opposite side of the bench, facing Emma.
"Hey, what was your disagreement about?"
"Way to dodge a question, Emma."
"Likewise. But I'll tell if you tell."
"Oh it's nothing major," JT explained. "That old 'Which came first, the chicken or the egg?' debate. Patrick said chicken, but that's crazy. It's a trick question."
"How do you figure that?"
"Everyone knows eggs come from the ground. They have to be planted. You should know, since you eat eggplant, right?"
"Okay, so eggs come from eggplants," Emma summarized, rolling her eyes. "So where do the chickens come from?"
"Isn't that obvious? Chicken comes from those big buckets you can pick up at the drive-thru window. Open til 2:00 a.m. on weekends. It's been this way since the beginning of time, so it's really a tie as to which came first."
"And to think philosophers have spent years trying to find answers and you've known it the entire time."
"I'm full of answers, Emma."
"Well, you're full of something."
"Now it's your turn."
"Okay, JT, even though I don't believe a word of what you just said, I'll still tell you. I don't think I'm very good at this whole Petition and Protest thing anymore. Maybe I never was. How many people really take what I say, or what S.I.T.E. says, serious? Does it change anything? The ones who have all the power don't care. And the few citizens who want to complain never get a chance to be heard."
"I've never heard you talk like this before, Emma."
"Then there are people like me. When we get a chance to be heard, we get back questions we can't answer and end up sounding like idiots."
"Where's all this coming from?"
"Last night your dad…sorry…Nathaniel Yorke and I…"
"Emma…"
"I told you everything we talked about concerning you. But before that, we were talking about that chemical plant. I wasn't expecting a debate with him so I just made some general comments. Then he made some comments right back, for which I didn't have a decent response."
"Emma, you of all people know what he's like. He was obviously trying to rattle you because he knows what a concerned citizen you are and HIS only concern is the bottom line in business."
"Yeah, but that's just it. It wasn't like he was manipulating the argument. He brought up the issue of employment. Adding more jobs to the community. Keeping people fed and housed."
"Did he play a violin while he sang you this sob story?"
"JT, I never even thought of the people," Emma said, growing more emotional. "And the best response to him that I could come up with is that they could find work somewhere else. As if it was so simple."
"Emma, stay calm and remember to breathe. You're always thinking about other people. That is, when you're not thinking about trees. Or animals. Or the air. Or proper foods. Or…"
"Thanks a lot," Emma said sarcastically.
"Like I've told you before, you can kinda go overboard sometimes. But you're getting better at picking your battles. And don't ever tell me you don't think about people. Yeah, maybe the guy had a good argument last night. Even an old busted-up clock is right twice a day.
"But he's a lawyer. A worthless parent, but an excellent attorney. He knows how to argue. Yes, in some ways even better then you, Emma. But unlike him, you argue from your heart, and in debates about the environment or animals or people, that's worth a lot.
"People DO listen to you and your group. Maybe it doesn't change situations much, but you get more people thinking and talking. And you get to have your voice heard, which you've said lots of times is an important part of it. And since I know you like to hear the sound of your own voice…"
"Shut up!" Emma replied, now laughing.
"You'll find the right approach to whatever your next cause for petition is. Don't ever put yourself or your work down. And as for that guy, you told me not to let him get to me. Follow your own advice. It's usually pretty good."
"Only usually?" Emma joked.
"Don't press your luck," JT smiled.
"He mentioned I'd be better off selling cookies door to door."
"Okay, now that's not exactly a bad idea. Especially if you wear one of those little outfits. But instead of door to door, just put it on and meet me back in that broom closet at 3:30."
"JT, did I happen to mention I'm crazy about you?"
"Not in the last few minutes, but I had a hunch. Well, at least about the crazy part."
JT then playfully tossed the discarded petition back in her face.
"You know, Emma, you may not have been convincing with the chemical company argument, but you obviously made an impression when you argued with him about me. You're in no danger of losing your touch."
"Thanks. And again, you were pretty outstanding yourself in how you dealt with him. My knight in shining blue jeans. Anyway, I told Sean that you and I would have no trouble handling anything your dad tried to pull."
"Sean? He was there last night?"
"He was finishing up his dinner when I arrived. He offered to stick around and provide you some moral support in case things got ugly, but I told him not to worry about it."
"I see."
"Knowing Sean he probably would have just spit on the man, although now that doesn't sound like such a bad thing," Emma joked. "They did pass each other when Sean was on his way out. Looked like they exchanged a few words, but I was at the counter and didn't hear it. Looked like Sean annoyed him, so it must have been interesting."
"No doubt. So, going to rewrite the petition?"
"Might as well give it a shot. Have you eaten?"
"Yeah, I finished a sandwich before Patrick and I agreed to disagree and I decided to come over here. What about you?"
"Yeah, I ate while I was reading over this first draft."
"Good. I think I'll leave you to your writing."
"You don't have to go."
"Thanks," JT said as he stood up, "but you need to concentrate and I wouldn't want the wonder of my presence to distract you."
"You wish."
"I'm going to take a walk. I'll see you next class."
"Sounds good. Oh and thanks for the pep talk. You said all the right things."
"Hey, it's like I said, even a busted clock…" JT then winked at her. He started to walk away but then turned back around.
"Emma."
Emma turned her head back to see him. JT briefly placed his hand over his heart then pointed toward her.
"Always," he added. "Now get back to your writing."
Emma smiled, then JT turned back around and started walking toward the building.
"Hi JT," Courtney spoke as JT passed her upon entering the school. "How's it going?"
"Hello," JT said with no emotion while continuing to walk down the hallway.
"Um, do you know where I could find Emma?"
"Bench," he replied as he disappeared around the corner.
"Oookay." Courtney then headed toward the door to go outside.
JT reached the outside of Simpson's classroom. He looked through the window and saw, as he expected, Sean working at a computer terminal. Sean was the only one in the room. JT walked toward the door and then stood in the open doorway. Sean soon noticed JT's presence out of the corner of his eye and looked over at him.
"Hey JT. How's it going?"
JT said nothing, neither smiling nor frowning.
"Can you believe that English class this morning?" Sean asked. "I can't believe we have to read ANOTHER Shakespeare play. You'd think we'd gone through all of them by now. I'm starting to think maybe Spinner was right all along when he said that Kwan is the Dark Lord of All Shakespeare Groupies."
"Is Mr. Simpson around?" JT finally spoke.
"He had some errands to run during lunch. Said he'd be back before the next class starts."
Upon hearing this, JT entered the classroom and shut the door behind him. He didn't slam it, but it was loud enough to startle Sean. JT then sat down at the terminal next to Sean's and looked at Sean without saying anything.
"Don't worry," Sean tried to joke. "It's okay for me to be alone in here nowadays. Besides, I'm sure Mr. Simpson now has all the valuables locked away or bolted down."
JT still said nothing and kept staring at Sean, who was becoming uncomfortable with JT's uncharacteristic silence.
"You must be tired. Usually by now you've gotten in two or three humorous remarks during these conversations of ours."
"Amends," JT uttered after several more silent moments.
"What?" Sean asked.
"You've been going around for, I guess, the last year – maybe a little longer – trying, in your words, to make amends."
"That's right."
"And that's involved paying for the things you stole."
"Yeah, and the things I helped the others steal."
"And for those you didn't steal from but treated rotten, you've apologized to those people."
"Yeah."
"And they've accepted?"
"Some. Mostly just the ones I was friends with before I got mixed up with that group. Some of the others weren't interested in what I had to say, but anyway it was my friends I've most wanted to make things right with."
"And by paying everyone back – or making these apologies and having them accepted – you've done right by them and get another chance."
"That's the goal."
"How does that work, Sean? Is it like a magic wand? You wave it around, say a few nice words or toss some money at someone and POOF all that stuff never happened?"
"No, I don't think that. The past is always going to be part of me. But maybe some good can come out of it and then we can all move on."
"Emma told me the other day how I'm one of the ones you still hope to make things right with. She even said you thought we'd been friends for awhile back before the gang stuff."
"That's true."
"But you didn't steal from me."
"No, but I said a lot of rotten stuff. Mean stuff, not the friendly insults and slams like between you and Spinner. I was Mr. Tough Guy, walking the halls with the gang and acting a fool to everybody. Trust me, I'm sorry about all that."
"Fine, Sean. If it will help you, I accept your apology. Your words didn't bother me, though…except for the fact that they weren't clever. If you're going to put me down, at least be creative about it. Maybe add some humor. Your crime against me was that you bored me with your tough talk."
Sean laughed.
"I was never scared of you, Sean, just so you know. You guys wandering the halls trying to look tough…Last year's production of 'West Side Story' had tougher looking gang members, and they were just students singing and dancing around a stage. You were more intimidating BEFORE you met Jay.
"Don't get me wrong. You guys were entertaining to watch for about five minutes before it got old. But then it started getting serious.
"Of all the people you went after, you just had to include her. You stomp on her heart then you steal from her father, who was practically near death. If I was a different type of person – or at least someone who weighed a couple hundred more pounds – I'd love to have bounced you off of every wall in this school.
"It's what you did to her. To her family. That's what gets to me about you. Not anything you've said against me. She forgave you. Even her dad let it go after you paid him back. So I can forgive and put it aside. But I want you to look at me and tell me that you get it. That being a thief and a jerk wasn't some little screw-up that didn't mean anything. That whatever reasons you had for the things you did – to them and all the other people – those were just excuses to do really stupid things. I want to know that everything that happened, even if it's forgiven, still affects you."
"I do get it," Sean said, looking JT straight in the eye. "I know that apologies and making up for things doesn't undo the past or make it just disappear. The only thing to do is remember it. Use it. And do a better job with the present."
For a moment, neither said anything.
"Then to me," JT finally spoke, "it's in the past."
"You sure?"
"We're good. NOT that we're friends now or anything crazy like that."
"Got it."
"This making amends thing, I hope it doesn't mean we now have to hug or anything."
"Don't worry," Sean laughed.
"So what did he say to you?" JT suddenly asked, getting serious once more.
"Who?"
"Emma said she saw you two exchange words last night, but she didn't know what was said."
"Oh. Him. Nothing major. He made a few cracks and also I told him not to cause trouble for the two of you."
"Sorry about that. He had no business saying anything to you."
"Don't worry about it."
"I mean, he should at least wait and get to know you like I do before he starts in with the insults. Kidding."
"Emma was right when she said you and your father are opposites. I was only around him for a minute and that much was obvious."
"Sean, your folks…do you ever have any contact with them?"
"Not for years. They sometimes give messages to my brother to give to me. But I decided a long time ago that they were out of my life and I wanted to keep it that way."
"Last night…that was it for me and him. He'd always been…distant, but the last few weeks…it was time for a change. Last night, I told him to stay out of my way. For good."
"That's good."
"I mean, it's not like he wanted to be a part of things anyway, but…"
"But it was your call. You made the decision so the only thing he could do was accept it."
"Yeah. You know what Pat said a little while ago when I was telling him? He said I sounded extreme. That I should have given it more time and not made any permanent decisions. More time. Can you believe it? He wasn't mean about it but it was like he was getting a little judgmental about what I did. I thought he was smarter than that."
"He doesn't get it."
"Yeah."
"There are things we don't have to put up with, JT. People we don't have to put up with. We do what we have to do. Do you hate him?"
"Patrick? No. He and I just shouldn't talk about that particular subject anymore since we won't agree."
"No, I mean your dad."
"I wish I could hate him. I'd love to. But that guy's just not worth the effort. He's also not someone I'm going to say is my father ever again."
"Good. Trust me, you wouldn't want to hate him. You don't want to carry all that around, letting it build up and take over who you are…who you want to be."
"Like you did?"
"Yeah."
"Do you still? Hate your folks, I mean."
"Not like before. The new Sean, remember? Trying not to create reasons to get mad."
"Good."
"Still can't stand them, though. Hey, was Emma okay? I mean, after dealing with your…with that man."
"Unfortunately I missed most of their talk, but apparently she argued, lectured and annoyed Nathaniel Yorke big time. I got there in time to see her throw water at him."
"Sorry I missed that!" Sean laughed.
"By the way, your offer to stick around just in case…thanks for that."
"No problem. Just don't think it was some evil plot to get Emma back. I wasn't trying to interfere."
"I know. You were a thief – not to mention a ridiculous gangster – but I don't think you're the type to do the clichéd 'impress the ex to steal her away' scheme."
"There was a compliment in there somewhere, right?" Sean joked.
"Besides, with regards to Emma, I'm not jealous, Sean. Never have been when it comes to you. No offense. I know she's at least as over you as I am of Manny, which is completely. And you seem to be all about moving forward, not backward, so I don't think you're looking for a reunion either."
"True."
"Anyway, if you ever tried anything, I might find someone who IS several hundred pounds heavier than me to handle the situation."
"JT, why am I not sure whether you're joking or not?"
"It's part of my charm. Anyway, don't think all this 'Give peace a chance' stuff lets you off the hook. I don't stop making sarcastic comments toward people just because I'm getting along with them. In fact, the comment total usually increases. Again, not that we're friends now or anything."
"Riiight. Nothing like that."
"By the way, thanks for getting it. The parental situation. I thought you might."
"No problem. If you ever want to talk…"
"I know. Same goes for you. Now before this turns into some twisted take on a mutual admiration society I'm getting out of here."
"See you later, JT."
"Yeah. Oh, just one other thing."
"What's that?"
"For all your faults and for all the stuff in the past, at least you've always had one thing in your favor."
"Now you got me curious."
"When you were with Emma, it was just her. You never cheated on her. At least not that I could tell. You may have hurt her in a lot of ways, but at least in this area you didn't disrespect her. That shows there was some good in you, even if you were trying to fight being a good person. Unlike that clown she went out with after you."
"Thanks for that," Sean responded.
"Anyway…I'll let you get back to your homework, or downloading auto shop porn, or whatever it is you do on the computer during lunch."
JT opened the door and walked out into the hall to find Emma tiptoeing away from the door and down the hall.
"Hard to write a good petition when you're busy doing surveillance work," JT called out, causing Emma to stop.
"Hey JT," Emma said, turning around. "Fancy meeting you here."
"Anything you'd like to say, Emma?" JT smiled.
"Nice weather we're having?"
"Yes, it's always nice weather here in the hallway."
"Okay, I confess, I wanted to see what you were up to. Courtney said you were acting strange. Sounded like business as usual, but then she mentioned you barely said two words in passing, which IS strange for you. I figured it might have something to do with me mentioning that thing about Sean so…"
"So…you wanted to see if we'd start fighting over you."
"Yeah, and talk about disappointing," Emma joked but tried to sound serious. "No blood. No punches thrown. You two were acting downright civilized from what I could overhear. Where's the fun in that?"
"Cheer up, Emma. We'll do better next time."
"You made peace, didn't you?" Emma said, not so much asking as confirming.
"You know my rule – Only loathe one person at a time. With Nathaniel Yorke now taking top honors, I had to kick Sean out of the way."
Emma laughed.
"After you mentioned him before, I figured maybe he could relate to some of the stuff that's been going on. But before that could happen we had to tie up some loose ends."
"So you two are friends now?"
"Yes, Emma, we're bestest best friends. He's coming over tonight for a sleep-over and we're going to do each other's hair and trade make-up tips."
"It was a good thing that you did, JT. Not just for Sean but for yourself."
"Nah, it was just a way to kill a few minutes before my next class."
Emma hugged JT.
"Now," JT began after the hug ended, "about this eavesdropping business…"
"JT, you've known me forever. Don't act surprised when I get…concerned."
"Nosy."
"Helpfully curious," Emma corrected.
"Busybodyish."
"Hope you're not expecting that to change, JT."
"I'm not THAT crazy, Emma."