Chapter One: Introducing Jacklynn
This chapter just gets you aquainted with the main character...Zim will be entering in the next chapter
REE REE REE REE REE REE REE...*
The piercing sound rang out from the blasted alarm clock, the only source of light in the small room. Its blood red neon glaring against the pitch black, 5:00 A.M. emblazoned on its digital face.
REE REE REE REE REE REE REE ...*
It rested on the floor, casting a soft red glow upon a pile of blankets beside it. Cacoon rather, wrapped haphazardly around their occupant. from inside the down chrysalis, muted groans and mumbled curses made their way faintly through the comforters. After much wriggling, a hand emerged, burst through triumphantly. Clumsily groping in the dark for the damned device, the hand came in contact with the alarm. Now, fondleing for the snooze button... the ear splitting alarm getting more and more grating as each second rolls by.
REE REE REE REE REE REE REE REE R-EEEEeee...*
giving up on the snooze, the alarm is taken, then thrown harshly across the small room. Theres a small crackle as the alarm flies, pulling its own plug from the wall making a few sparks emit from the outlet.
With the jarring noise silenced, the cacoon is peeled away. A young woman makes her escape, bedraggled black hair adorning her head like an abstract sculpture. Her green eyes puffy and squinting in the dark. With a drawn out yawn, she streatches her arms above her head, her back arching to pop the few kinks in her spine from the hard floor.
Slipping out from her blanket nest, she gets clumsily to her feet to perform another good streatch. She cracks her neck and sighs with relief when a soft pop is heard.
"Another day another dollar. C'mon Jack, it's not so bad. It's not so bad...ugh. Yeah, can't keep lying to myself like this..."
She groans as she unceremoniously kicks her blankets into a pile and grabs them all together. she throws them into the corner hidden by her too-lumpy-to-sleep-on couch, and tosses the left over throw pillows onto it. On the arm of her couch are three remotes stuck with velcro. She grabs one and points it behind her back. Her ancient five disk changer radio/cd player combo rustles to life and begins playing music softly. Just some background noise to kill the silence. A mix cd of Nirvan playing.
She sighs as she squints a little more, reaching for the floor lamp to give light. The small studio apartment is flooded with soft white light at the pull of the lamp's chain. Jackilynn turns in her heel to walk the ten feet to her "kitchenette"...if you could call a simple countertop containing a half-sized sink, two burner stove, mini fridge, and three cabinets a kitchenette...she turns on her electric kettle and from shelves she installed on the wall, takes down her toiletry bag. She proceeds to brush her teeth and wash her face in the mini sink seeing as her bathroom does not have one.
Her kettle bubbles happily, almost ready, as she walks the two feet from the kitchen to her bathroom door. she reaches in from the doorway to turn on her shower and let the water warm up while she makes her coffee. Water, three heaping spoonfuls of instant coffee granules, just dump the sugar and creamer in until it feels right. give it a good stir, let it sit to cool. That job done, she grabs her towel off of the back of the bathroom door and slips onto the toilet from the doorway. business done, she strips, steps into the shower immediately from the commode. She washes her hands first, then proceeds with the rest of her body.
freshly scrubbed, it occurs to her that she forgot to turn on the exhaust fan and open the window. she curses herself as she sees how steamy the closet of a bathroom has gotten.
"I do NOT want mildew again! Leslie will never come and fix anything!"
She takes her towel and hurriedly mops up as much of the walls as she can reach, then throws the towel on the floor to get that as well. With a groan, she bends over to pick up the discarded linnen and clothing, and with a grunt and a wince she stands straight, her sore spine protesting.
At 17 years old, her back should NOT be this bad. She adjusts herself as she walks naked out to the main room. In the corner by the bathroom sits the hamper and her portable washing/drying machine. She sighs as she looks in the hamper and sees she now has enough for a load of laundry. Grabbing the unit, she lugs it to the tub. It's not big enough for her to take a bath in...unless she sits in the fetal position...but at least it works for this. she hooks up the hoses and runs the water to fill it as she puts her clothes in with a detergent pod. She plugs it into the extension cord from the kitchen and lets it do its thing.
That done, she goes over to the chest in the middle of her room that wears many hats. Dresser, desk, coffee table, dining table, and automan. Popping open the chest, she fishes out a folded set of clothes to get dressed. By now, her coffee is done cooling enough to toss it in her tumbler. She fishes out an ice tray that she filled with frozen pre made cubes of coffee from her little mini fridge. Cracking it, she tumbles half if the cubes into her favorite tumbler, adds some carmel syrup and pours in her coffee.
leaving the dishes for later as she wipes up the small mess she made, she stirs her coffee with the metal straw and takes her first sip. with a content sigh, she turns to check her alarm clock for the time. With a roll of her eyes she remembers she threw the damn thing again and instead grabs her phone off of its charger to check the time. 5:30am. Great, she's on track. A quick check of her notifications tells her there's nothing that really needs her attention. She thumbs through her contacts and hits the call button on "Thurman". As usual, she gets a crackled message on an old land line answering machine. The smokey, raspy voice of a 85 year old widower fills her ear.
"This is Thurman Morris. Leave your message."
She knows he can't get up to answer the phone, but her voice will play over the speaker of the machine and he'll hear her. Well, he will if he didn't turn the volume down on it again, or failing that, forget to either charge, put on, or turn on his hearing aid. failing all of that, his dog Borris will alert him.
"Morning Mr. Thurman. It's Jackie (she rolls her eyes at his nickname for her) I'll be down in just a few minutes to get Borris." She snaps her phone shut and pockets it as she goes to the white board she keeps there. Marking off the chores she's already completed, she double checks her schedule for the day. Groaning, she sees the therapy appointment she's been dreading. Silver lining being that she'll be excused from school for the day. Downside being that means it's the day she has to pack in as many odd jobs as she can. Living on your own at 17 ain't easy after all.
She goes to her front door and slips on her shoes while she double checks the alarms on her phone. each ine set to keep her in schedule through the day.That done, she goes down two flights of stairs to the ground floor of the apartment building.
If she didn't know which door she needed, the excited huffing and grumbling of the English bulldog Borris scratching at the door would lead her. Jackilynn squatted down carefully to grab the lunchbox left by meals on wheels, only a soft grunt leaving her this time. She smirks as Borris's excitement escalates on him hearing her outside the door. Chuckleing softly, she grabs her keys and finds Thurman's.
"Hoooold your horses buddy, I'm comin', I'm comin'!" She slowly ooens the door, waiting for the six year old dog to waddle out of her way as she eases in through the cracked door. "Hey handsome! Good morning!" She says, passing her tumbler into her arm to give the good boy a head scratch, and then some playful spanks as he turns his butt to her, tail nub wagging frantically. He snorts and grumbles happily then hobble/runs over to Thurman who is sitting in his recliner, reading his two day old newspaper, making a face like Jackilynn's grandma used to when putting on mascara, his head pulled back and eyes wide as he looks down through his bifocals.
Jackilynn sets the lunchbox on the counter and opens it up to retrieve the tray. Peeling off the film, she shouts her greeting to Thurman.
"GOOD MORNING!" The old man jolts violently. Yeah, he definitely forgot his hearing aid.
"Gad DAMNIT girl! Are you TRYING to kill me!? Why in the hell didn't you call first!?"
Jackilynn looks down at Borris exasperated. She shakes her head with an amused sigh and pops Thurman's breakfast into the microwave.
"I always do Thurman. Didn't Borris let you know?"
" Of COURSE I know Borris, he's MY dog after all!"
She just laughs it off and grabs Borris' bowls from the counter. Fresh water is poured from the tap for him, and a scoop of kibble for his breakfast. She sets it on the mat on the floor for him. He pouts at the small amount of kibble in his bowl.
"Sorry boy, you're tubby. Vet has you on a diet." He grumbles his reply and proceeds to eat.The microwave dings and Jackilynn grabs the food and brings it to Thurman. Setting him up with his tv tray, she gently takes the old newspaper from him.
"Four down is Celcius." She hands it back to him and with a smile he fills in the crossword. "Should I pick up today's paper for you?"
He waves her off "Ahh... I'm still working on this one." He looks down at his meal as Jackilynn cuts up his omelette for him. " where's the meat?"
"Dr says your cholesterol is too high Thur. It's egg substitute omelettes this week."
"I don't even get real eggs?!"
"Sorry Gramps. Dr's orders. you want some toast? I dont think a slice of Rye would ruin your diet."
His eyes twinkle under his bushy brows and his smirk wrinkles his face.
"Can I have it buttered?"
Jackilynn smirks back.
"Tell you what...they have Mashed potatoes with your dinner tonight. I'll let you have ONE pat of butter. Do you want it now, with toast? Or later in your potatoes?"
He sighed. "On the potatoes...can i at least get a little jam on the toast?"
Jackilynn chuckled and went back to the kitchen. popping the toast in the toaster, she pours him a mug of black coffee that she set to be made on a timer last night. It's cold and old in the burnt pot just the way he likes it. From his pill organizer, she pops open the morning slot for today and tips them into a shot glass used specifically for his pills, and his eaving shot of whiskey. Looking in the fridge she notes that she'll have to pick up jam, and adds it to Thurman's shopping list on the fridge.
"NO JAM GRAMPS, THERE'S APPLE BUTTER THOUGH!"
"If I can have only one thing buttered, i want it on the potatoes! Don't tease me girl! I'm an old man, i don't have much to live for!"
Snickering, Jackilynn spreads a small amount of apple butter in the bread and takes it to Thurman. he looks at the toast in confusion.
"This isn't jam..."
"Nope, apple butter. here's your coffee, Borris is done eating so I'll take him potty now."
Grabbing the leash and poo bags from the keyrack by the door, Jackilynn hooks the dog up and takes him outside. Checking her phone, she's still on time at 5:50. Typically, she does this every morning, except for the weekend when Thurman's son and daughter take over the morning shift. The Morris's were good people that she'd known since she was little. His daughter used to babysit her. Since Jackilynn emancipated herself from her family, the Morris' hired her on as a partial caretaker for their father. Thurman insisted that he pay for her apartment, so she stubbornly chose the cheapest unit the building had to offer. He was on a fixed income, and his kids both had families to care for...she didn't want to be greedy, but she wasn't in a position to say no either. They treated her like family and she was greatful.
So, for the $260 per month...$300 if you count her utilities, she wakes early and does Thurman's morning routine, making sure he and Borris are good until the afternoon when his son or daughter would stop by, the two of them alternating days.
6:05, time to head back. With Borris fed and walked, Jackilynn takes him back, tossing the filled poop bag into a bearby trashcan. On the way, she texts Collin, Thurman's son, that she agreed to letting him have a pat of butter at dinner, and he had a smidge of apple butter with breakfast...just so the old man doesn't get by his son with lunch. She sets a fresh pee pad in Borris' kennel, and another under Thurman much to his protests.
With a kiss on the cheek exchanged between them, and a stern reminder to take his meds, which he downs with his coffee and opens his mouth to show the job done, Jackilynn bids the man a goodbye and heads up to her apartment. Usually she'd head straight to school from his apartment, but her therapy appointment wasn't until 7:30.
Letting herself back into her place, she marked off more of her chores on the whiteboard. Organization gave her a sense of purpose in the day to day drone. Living alone sucked, and could drive you crazy if you let it. Plus, with having a touch of ADD, organization was a must.
She grabbed her notebook off of the shelf under the whiteboard and took it with her to the couch. In it was a list of people who had called her about a posting she had put up offering to do odd jobs for pay. she'd start making some calls after her therapy appointment at 7:30. She called her school and left a voice message reminding them that she'd be absent that day due to her appointment. She already gave notice yesterday, but she didn't want this ruining her perfect attendance. Typically she'd still go in after, but today was going to be rough, and with the drs note shed have the whole day excused anyway. so Why not play hookie?
Perfect attendance, organization, jobs...she groaned. Reaching beside the couch, she brought up her bookbag and took out her laptop. Setting that aside, she took out a stack of homework. She went ahead and got all of today's assignments from her teachers yesterday so that she didn't have to worry about falling behind. she had a little over an hour to kill, so she could knock a chunk out now.
She wasn't exactly the type of girl to WANT to be so anal...but she was required yo maintain herself in school and work in order to keep her emancipated status. Foster care, or gods forbid ending up with her family again was just NOT an option. So, she overachieved. the only thing that combatted her anxiety of not being let alone was to make SURE she was able to provide for herself, care for herself, had perfect grades, oerfect attendance, perfect organization, perfect, perfect, perfect.
This of course meant that she didn't have many friends...besides the Morris' of course. Aside from her busy schedule, her classmates saw her as anal and stiff. Which, for the most part, was fine with her. As nice as the distraction of company her own age would be, not having more ties to this city would make it all the easier for her to get the hell out. College being her main goal...which meant money...which neant she needed as many scholarships as she could get...which meant a lot of hard work.
By the time 7:00 rolled around, Jackilynn was nearly done with all of her homework, and her stomach was making its hunger known. Setting her work aside, she went to her mini fridge and pulled out a vaccume bag with breakfast she'd meal prepped on Sunday. Every Sunday, she'd prep her meals for the school week. to save space, she used reusable vaccume seal bags. Setting her food in a bowl on the counter, she restarted her electric kettle while she washed the dishes she'd left earlier. water boiled, she poured it over her food to heat it. Letting that sit, she went to the bathroom to switch the laundry from wash to dry. Humming along to her music still playing, she marked off her white board and checked her phone. Getting closer...she sighed and grabbed her food and a spoon. sitting on the couch, she opened her laptop and prepared for the zoom meeting to start while she ate her pre made sausage and pepper scramble.
7:35 and the notification of the meeting beginning finally sounded off. Jackilynn gulped past the knot in her throat, her heart pounding a bit as the screen loaded. Finally, on popped her therapist...was that it?...where were they?
" Good morning Jack"
"...Morning Sir ..."
Her therapist, a very kind, warm man of 50 something smiled timidly on the screen. He looked apologetic, his cool blue eyes glinting in a sad way.
"I'm sorry Jack...it looks like they didn't turn up for this check in either."
ugh...why doesn't the rejection ever hurt any less? She loathes these people. she's disgusted by the way her heart aches. This is what she wanted, what she worked for.To be AWAY from them. She HATES them...so why did it have to hurt?
"Eh, what else is new? I wanted away from them, they're just finally helping." She said, shrugging it off.
her therapist smirked.
"We've talked about this before... you're still feeling the trauma bond. Its ok. Is it any easier this time?"
"*sigh*...yeah, actually. way easier. I just wish i wasn't having a hard time with it. "
"logic and emotions rarely work together. Have you worked on socializing any more"
Jackilynn rolled her eyes.
"I'm not sure how to accomplish that. I've been attending the support groups for kids like me. that's helpful. But what 17 year old wants to hang out, NOT drink, NOT do drugs, work on scholarship essays, homework, housework... I'm boring myself just thinking about it"
"find someone with similar interests. You've taken quite well to your new responsibilities. You said that you even enjoyed all of the research and organizing you've been doing... there's got to be someone out there into the same things. I worry about you becoming isolated..."
8:30 comes around and the appointment is done. Jackilynn reminds the dr to send the drs excuse from school, she receives and sends it to the school by 8:40. With that done, she slumps back on the couch and sighs. Picking through the numbers for the odd jobs. She went down the list, and marked the jobs that she could fit into her schedule on the whiteboard. Filling out the next two weeks for herself, she let out a sigh of relief. She'd make decent money for herself, there were a good ammount of lawns needing mowed, kids to tutor, small chores to do...Mark that off if today's to do list...next was calling her advocate and letting them know about her parents not tuning into the therapy session.
After leaving that voicemail, she cleaned up, restarted her clothes drying, then grabbed her cleaning equipment and went to go clean some houses she had scheduled. She didn't have her own car, but since Thurman didn't drive anymore, Collin had added her to the insurance and given her the keys. Loading up the old Cadillac, she went to work.
Six hours later, she found herself running home to shower and change before heading over to Thurman's to let Borris out and check on the old man. No doubt he'd still be in his chair. She shoulders her backpack and heads downstairs.
She was greeted by Borris' Snuffles and tongue, and Thurman snoring loudly. She carefully put his cpap machine on his face and pulled an afghan over his lap, leaving a few hard candies on his side table and more stale coffee. Hooking Borris to his leash, she heads out to pick the neighbors kids up from the bus stop. The four kids accompany her to drop Borris back off, then to their own apartment.
Jackilynn sighed as she got the kids hearded to the kitchen table where she had them sit while she made them all an afterschool snack to eat while they did their homework. Apple slices with peanut butter, and some potato chips. She set the food in the middle if the table and sat to join them. She sent a quick text to one of the moms who's kid she tutors to let her know shes ready when her son is. She would sit and tutor him in science over her laptop, while she helped the kids with their homework and finished her own.
That done, she'd start dinner while the kids played in the living room, each of them taking turns in the bathroom to take their showers. She broke away while the spaghetti sause simmered to brush and braid the daughters hair while the boys set the table for her. She was very happy that these kids were so well behaved and helpful, some if the kids she watched were complete terrors.
Once fed, she cut brownies for dessert, and did the cleaning up. when the kids finished, she had them go set their clothes out for the next morning, and finish the chores their parents left for them. Jacklynn read the two littles to sleep and tucked them in at 8:00. The two eldest being allowed up until 10:00. She broke away to go and set Thurman up with his supper quickly before returning to the kids. When 10:00 rolled around, the elder kids were off to bed as well, at which point Jacklynn cleaned the apartment and made a plate of dinner for their Dad. He arrived at 10:30, house clean, kids cared for, homework done, and checked, and all of them asleep, and dinner on the table. He entered as Jacklynn was packing her things.
"You never fail to amaze me Jack. Dinner smells wonderful by the way...garlic bread? salad? You're going to make a very lucky man very happy one day."
Jacklynn gave an awkward laugh.
"Just doin' my job Mr.B. Report cards came in today, I left them on the fridge. Emily brought that C up to an A, Danny stayed pretty much the same, but he got that D to a C. The twins got all S's and O's so we made brownies to celebrate. I know they were supposed to be grounded, so im sorry I caved. Theres a slip for confences coming up too. Here"
He abscentmindedly took the slip from her and went to the fridge to grab some wine, not even looking at the report cards. He reached over Jacklynn to the cabinet and grabbed two wine glasses. She sighed internally seeing this.
"Well you get a lot of the credit for that you know, they're really taking to you helping them with their schoolwork. Why don't you join me? You work too hard you know."
Shouldering her bag, she forced a half smirk while swallowing the lump in her throat. He did this every time his wife worked late. She felt bad for her, if she didn't need this job, she'd tell her what her husband was up to. He was never too blatant but it was clear he was trying to lure Jacklynn in. She promised herself that she would let Mrs B know as soon as she left for college.
"Its tempting Mr B, but I am still just 17. Besides, i have to go check on Thurman and Borris. You have a good night Sir. I'll see you Monday. "
With that, she texted Mrs. B that everything was well and she was keaving now that the Mr was home. Mrs. B texted her thank you's and sent her payment. Another $60 in the bank account.
By the time Jacklynn got home, it was midnight. Thurman didn't require much at night, just a little company and a quick walk to the front porch of the building where she'd let him get some fresh air and let Borris out again. Thurman hardly ate his dinners these days, only eating breakfast and lunch. So Jacklynn got his leftovers. She set up everything for the next morning. she wouldn't be back until the afternoon, but she liked to keep a good habit if it. Plus it would help Anais, his daughter.
Coming into her own apartment, the silence was welcome yet deafening. Jacklynn was exhausted. a feeling she was only too used to. Another quick shower before bed, and brushing her teeth and face once she finished her small dinner, she pulled out her blankets and set up her nest of a bed.
With a sigh she realized..."Oh yeah, the alarm clock..."