Chapter Two Hundred and Ninety Six
Charlie called in sick for work. She accused herself of being a coward but after her nightmare and the intense discussion that had followed, neither she nor Joey had slept. It was the weekend so Joey wasn't needed at the bait shop and she was determined to help Charlie feel better.
"Why don't we get out of the house?" Joey suggested when Ruby had gone to school.
Tonight was their daughter's one and only performance of Romeo and Juliet. By the sounds of it, the whole town was turning out to watch it. Charlie and Joey had invited Brett, Amber, Watson and Monica to join them first for dinner and then to the play. Amber, having been part of the production Charlie and Joey had also participated in, was particularly excited.
"Yeah," Charlie agreed. "I think that's a good idea. Although, I hope I don't run into anyone from work. I don't want them thinking I'm skiving."
"Charlie, have you seen the state of you?" Joey asked.
Charlie looked offended. Joey quickly apologised and insisted that that was not what she meant.
"What did you mean?" Charlie asked cautiously.
"I meant that you could go shopping with the bags under your eyes," Joey said, not sure that that sounded any better. "It's obvious that you haven't slept. Plus, everyone knows it'd have to be pretty bad for you to take a day off work. You're married to that place."
Charlie reached out tenderly and cupped Joey's face.
"Thank you for looking after me," she said sincerely.
Joey kissed Charlie's palm.
"What else would I do?" she asked. "I love you."
Arriving at the Diner, Charlie and Joey immediately noticed that Miles looked as washed out as they did. He was having coffee with Elijah who immediately waved them over.
"Hey, guys," Joey greeted.
Charlie kept hold of her girlfriend's hand. Knowing that Hugo could show up at any time and place made her feel remarkably vulnerable.
"What's up?"
"Elijah's just doing some care in the community," Miles said. "Coffee with the crazy person."
"You're not crazy," Joey insisted as she and Charlie both took a seat.
"Not just crazy," Miles remarked. "Now I'm crazy and unemployed."
"What do you mean?" Charlie asked worriedly.
"Gina suspended him because she found him conversing with Rabbit at school the other day," Elijah explained.
"Well, that's okay," Charlie said. "She's just giving you time to rest and fix some stuff and then you can go back like nothing happened."
"I could," Miles agreed. "If I hadn't told her to stuff her stupid job where the sun don't shine."
Charlie and Joey both looked aghast.
"You didn't say it quite like that, did you?" Joey asked worriedly.
"He said it worse," Elijah informed her.
Romeo felt nervous as he and the rest of the cast ran through the play one more time. Not only did he have to perform as a woman in front of the whole town, he knew that every passing second was likely to be taking Annie further and further away from him. They had opted to live in the here and now and worry about the future but he could tell by her eyes what she was planning. And he had no earthly idea as to how he was going to cope without her.
"I just need to go and talk to Alf about the bait shop," Joey lied, excusing herself from the table in the Diner.
Charlie looked a little anxious but let her go, returning her attention to helping Elijah convince Miles not to quit his job.
"You!" Joey bellowed, marching up to Angelo.
She had spotted him through the window and if she wasn't careful, she thought she could easily end up in jail for murder.
"Excuse me?" he snapped.
"Where the hell do you get off lying to Charlie like that?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," he said, although he knew full well that Charlie must have told her the truth about Hugo.
"You told the whole damn town that Hugo was dead and buried," Joey said. "Literally. Poor Xavier and Martha attended his funeral! Charlie has just got herself back on her feet and now you're saying that Hugo was never dead?"
"Would you keep your voice down?" Angelo hissed.
The last thing he needed was for the rest of the town to find out the truth.
"No, I will not keep my voice down," Joey said angrily. "You're a fucking liar, Angelo. You disgust me."
"I was obeying orders," Angelo insisted. "We had to fake his death for the sake of the case and for the sake of his loved ones."
Joey's eyes blazed.
"You know what?" she said. "I don't believe you. Personally, I think you're a compulsive liar who seems to insist on trying to destroy people's lives."
"How the hell have I tried to destroy people's lives?" Angelo demanded without thinking.
"Hmm... let me think," Joey said bitterly. "You stalked my girlfriend and then tried to break us up. And you took advantage of Martha while she was grieving for a man who wasn't even dead!"
"What's going on here?" Alf asked, appearing from behind.
Joey was about to explain when Angelo interrupted.
"He already knows," he said, hoping to shift some of the blame. "He's known from the start."
"Alf?" Joey said in disbelief.
"I'm sorry," Alf said. "I thought I was doing the right thing for Martha but I'm now starting to think otherwise."
Joey felt compassionate. No wonder her boss had been so stressed out lately. Between this, Miles, and the riots at the beginning of the year, he must have had the weight of the world on his shoulders.
"I just don't understand how we got to this place," Joey said, sounding more sad than angry. "How was faking that monster's death ever going to be the right solution?"
"It was," Angelo insisted. "Charlie should never have told you."
"Well, she kind of didn't have a choice when she spent the night screaming after a nightmare," Joey snapped.
There was no way she was going to put up with Angelo blaming Charlie for anything.
"What's going on out there?" Miles wondered.
Beside him, Rabbit continued to point outside to where Angelo, Alf and Joey were having a particularly animated discussion.
"Shit," Charlie muttered, rushing right outside to try and calm things down.
"I'm not happy about it either!" Angelo was yelling as she approached. "I wish the bastard was dead too but he's not and he's crucial to bringing the others down."
"What's going on?" Charlie asked worriedly, stepping up beside Joey.
"You told your girlfriend what happened, you stupid bitch," Angelo snapped.
Joey had punched him in the face before he'd even finished speaking.
"Where's Ruby?" Xavier wondered, approaching Romeo and Annie.
They were on a break from rehearsals and his girlfriend was nowhere to be seen.
"I think she and Liam were going through the song one more time," Annie said.
She couldn't quite meet Romeo's eyes but she also couldn't look away from him for long.
"That's about the millionth time now," Xavier remarked unhappily.
"Joey!" Charlie cried, pulling her girlfriend back.
Joey frowned and clutched her fist. Angelo stumbled back, clutching his face.
"I should have you arrested for assault," he snapped, wondering why everyone was so against him all the time.
"Well, you should already be rotting a jail cell for manslaughter," Joey replied. "Shit happens."
The two of them glared at each other. Alf was surprised by the amount of venom pouring out of a normally placid young woman.
"I think we all need to calm down," he said, although it was not lost on him that he had hit the irritating police officer recently too.
"And I think you need to get the hell away from me," Angelo hissed at Joey.
"Stop causing problems for everyone then," Joey said. "And apologise for the way you spoke to Charlie."
"I'm not apologising for anything!" Angelo yelled.
Charlie kept a firm hold on Joey's arm, insisting that she was fine.
"You're not fine, Charlie," Joey insisted.
Worry was etched on her face.
"It's not my fault that Hugo's alive," Angelo said.
"It is your fault that nobody knows about it," Joey told him.
"Charlie, would you please explain to your crazy girlfriend how Witness Protection works?"
Charlie pulled Joey closer.
"I don't like it," she said. "I wish Hugo really was dead. But he's right. It's not his fault. He got the order from his superiors and he just has to work with it the best he can."
Angelo's normal, smug expression returned, despite the obvious swelling of his eye.
"See?" he sneered.
"Having said that, if you insult Joey one more time both your eyes will match," Charlie warned.
Angelo glared and stepped back.
"If you've all finished attacking me then I'll get on with some work," he said. "Not all of us can pretend to be sick whenever we feel like it."
He walked away. Charlie maintained her grip on Joey when she made to go after him.
"He's not worth it," she said.
"There are only two people I've ever despised more than him," Joey admitted.
A lump formed in her throat at the bitter memories. Charlie reached out to hold her close.
"I know," she whispered, kissing the top of her head. "I know."
Next time... the kids gives a stellar performance of Romeo and Juliet before Annie announces her intention to return to Japan...
