A/N: Long Chapter. Takes place on the same day as Part I. Chapter contains subject matter involving someone who was underage at the time of said event. Did my absolute best to not include any details that weren't absolutely necessary for the context.
Chapter 8: {Off To The Beach} (Part II) (updated)
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(An Hour Later)
Jason pulled into the public parking lot that was used by people who both frequented the beach scene as well as the tourist trap shops and local businesses.
And Daisy had been right, like usual. The beach scene was a ghost town right now. No where near as packed as it would be on that same day. Saturdays and Sundays were primed for all sorts of out of towners and locals to flood the beach, drowning it in a sea of people, rivaling the actual ocean in magnitude.
The parking lot was within few of the white shore. A sidewalk dotted along with palm trees and street lights every forty feet or so, was in between the parking lot and the beach.
But as Jason was about to exit the car, Daisy took a hold of his right hand and began to speak to him. Jason had turn to look at her, even though he had a sense that he was in for an earful.
And she spoke in a serious manner, without her usual joking nature.
"Wait a second Jason. Let's stay in the car for a bit. I need to talk to you." She said in an all business tone.
That doesn't sound good.
Did I fuck up in some way?
She looks way too serious.
"Um, sure…" Jason said. "But what exactly am I in for here? You sound really pissed at me."
Taking her hand of Jason's, she then lifted her sunglasses off of her face, folding them and putting them in her lap. Her head was tilted to stare at the pair of sunglasses that meant a lot to Daisy. Jason noticed that she almost always wore those sunglasses more than the other few that she owned. She wore these sunglasses often when the two of them went out.
Sunglasses were essential for any beach goer, as the reflection of the sun on to the crystal like white sand of Santa Monica could be blinding without them.
Cheap plastic. A five dollar pair of sunglasses. Funny how something so insignificant can mean so much to someone.
Just like that nylon CD holder that belonged to Grant. All of his stupid rap music contained within that black CD case, meant the world to me on that night that I'd rediscovered them.
I don't think that she's dumb or silly for having a fondness for something that wouldn't matter to anyone else but herself.
Daisy fiddled around with her sunglasses in her hands. Dark lenses held inside the frame of dark copper colored plastic, Daisy's favorite sunglasses, Jason knew.
"Jason… no, I'm not pissed with you." She said. Jason noticed how she appeared to be dreading what she was about to say.
"But… there's something that I've known for a while now. Well, I haven't actually known what it is, but I know that there's been something that's been bugging you, and you want to tell me what it is… but you for whatever reason, you haven't." Daisy continued.
No… she can't possibly know...
No way she can know the truth about that day.
So Jason decided to play dumb. "What do mean? You already know that I have bad memories, nightmares, and social anxiety… what do you think that it is I haven't told you? You know everything about me."
Jason watched as Daisy lifted her head and shined his sapphire eyes at him. As if she was penetrating his scar riddled skin with her eyes and looking directly at his soul.
Jason didn't know if he even believed in souls, but if he did, his would be looking for an escape from this body of this twenty something nine fingered man.
"Yeah, I do know all that stuff about you. But that's not what I'm talking about.' Daisy said. "Something else has been bugging you for a long time. And I have no idea what it is, but I've noticed that you've been hiding it away from me ever since you moved in with me."
"I don't lie to you, you know that." Jason said. And what he'd just said was somewhat of a lie itself.
Daisy put her left hand on Jason's right knee. "Sorry, I don't want you to think that I'm accusing you of being a liar or that I can't trust you. Nothing like that. But my meaning was… I know that there's memories and terrible things that you went through back then, that must be hard for you to tell me. But that doesn't make you a liar. It just means that your reluctant to talk about it. Either because your ashamed, or you believe that if I heard what you'd tell me, then I'd never look at you the same way ever again."
She nailed it.
That's all true.
But what I am keeping from her… is something that she wouldn't ever forgive.
"That's because it is goddammit!" Jason snapped at her. It wasn't his intention to snap at her like that. Just an impulse.
To Jason's surprise, when he looked at Daisy, she didn't look frightened or upset or mad.
Just… disappointed.
This was the first time he has lost his cool with Daisy. At least to this degree.
Back in the first few months that Jason had moved in to Daisy's house to live with her, the pair of them would occasionally butt heads of various things. Always minor disagreements and never blood curdling screaming or physical violence. Just arguments like cats and dogs, or squabbling siblings.
But those miniscule arguments only lasted a few minutes, before they both calmed down and usually hugged or cuddled with one another in a remorseful and loving state.
And they never retained any feelings of animosity after their apologetic cuddling.
Our fighting was never serious. Daisy has just always been a headstrong woman. That's probably just one of the ten million things that made me fall in love with her.
Without a verbal response, Jason responded by using both of his hands and picked up her left hand and gave it a soft kiss.
"I really didn't… I just… sorry for that. You didn't deserve that." He took her hand off his mouth, but held onto it as he looked at her eyes.
She just wants me to open up to her. Daisy loves me. And I've been crazy stupid in love with her from the day that I met her. But I just can't tell her the truth.
Because I'm a selfish coward.
I am just afraid. And I've always been afraid to be honest with her about that day on the pirate boat. Afraid that the truth will send her away. I'm afraid that she won't forgive me, and will no longer love me. Afraid that I will shatter her perception of me as a good man, and as a hero.
And if she ends our relationship completely…
What will I have left?
Nothing.
Nothing worth living for.
Daisy is my only piece of sanity left in this cracked and fucked up world. Without her, I become the man that Citra believed me to be.
If Daisy breaks up with me, would I go on an out of control murder spree? Despite my predicament of both hating and enjoying it, would I do it simply because that's the man that Citra had me believing that I am? How can that dead woman, still have so much control over me and my life?
Watching the life drain from people as their mortality leaves their bodies… that was what I enjoyed the most every time I killed.
But every time I look at Daisy's cute face, when I wake up to her laying on top of me or next to me as our arms curl around one another…
The way that Daisy can slip out of bed undetected by me as I sleep, and when I finally wake up to find her gone, I can always find her in the kitchen or in the living room, having the breakfast that she'd just fixed. And she always makes enough for me as well as herself. The way that we watch stupid television shows as we relax on the couch. And the time that we spend at the beach. The two of us, best friends forever, and then lovers.
That's the life I chose to lead that night at Citra's temple where she had enticed me to kill my friends.
While I didn't know at the time, that Daisy would bring me into her life as her new boyfriend, I still wanted to be that dummy from Santa Monica who was her best friend. To live that typical suburban life.
No more jungle, no more killing, no more torture or pain.
Daisy is the only thing that reminds me of the man that I once was. The man who was a fun brother, a caring son…
And a best friend to Daisy.
Daisy…
My Daisy…
And I knew that I could be that man who had caught her as she fell of that stage at that Bangkok nightclub, and into my arms. Her eyes looking into mine, knowing that I would always be there for her.
She was the woman that I had cared so much for that I decided to go and check up on her while she was hungover instead of spending time with my brothers, my friends, and my girlfriend.
That same sweet man who would hold onto Daisy in her tent that she'd set up in that cave under doctor Earnhardt's house. Those nights when it was just the two of us in that cave, before I'd rescued Liza and the others, I sleep next to you in that tent. Being there to protect you from whatever that island might have thrown at us. And while nothing sexual happened between the two of us, the happiness of just sleeping in the same ragged old tent as you, was worth a thousand words for pleasant that I simply don't know. I loved waking up before you and listening as you snored in that cute way that you do.
Laying by your side. Made me feel as if everything in the world was perfect. Some mornings, as I woke up to see you laying next to me, you being still deep in slumber, just felt right.
You made me momentarily forget everything bad that had happened.
The misadventures of our skydiving trip.
Those pirates rounding each one of us up, splitting all of our group up and sending us to different and unknown locations.
And I even would forget about Grant dying in my arms as I watch the blood pour from the bullet hole in his neck. Precious moment, that's all it was. A precious few seconds where I didn't recall all the misery. But I never forgot about Grant for very long after waking up. His death was always the first unpleasant thing that I'd remember.
However, all this was before I met Citra. Before she poisoned my mind.
And Citra almost got her way that night. I considered sliding that rusty blade across Liza's throat and slaying her.
But then I thought of you, Daisy. And I thought of the man that I knew you believed to still reside inside of me.
Immediately after I cut Liza down from her bindings, I rushed over to you and freed you from your own bindings.
As I put my hand on your shoulder and looked into your beautiful blue eyes, I realized that I had made the right choice. The hero's choice.
You looked into my eyes and without saying a word, I could still understand what you wanted me to know. I knew what you were thinking Daisy. I knew.
All along, you knew that I would make the right decision. To be the man that you loved. And while I wasn't sure if your love was strictly platonic or something more back then. I was glad to have it. And glad to be the man that Daisy loved.
Her best friend.
Her Jason.
And nothing was stopping me from being that man again.
Thinking about Daisy… that was the only reason that I chose to defy Citra on that night that she had me hold that old rusty and crudely forged knife to Liza's neck. I may have fallen out of love with Liza, but when I saw her eyes, an instant realization came over me.
I realized that everything in my life was my own choice.
I chose to not kill Liza because I chose to believe that there was more to life than mindlessly killing and blood lust. Liza was, and still is, too good of a person to ever deserve to have her throat sliced open by someone who she loved. Even if I wasn't ever going to be her lover again, she didn't want me to go down whatever path that Citra had planned for me.
They all had pure hearts. Liza and Daisy, my little brother Riley, Keith and Oliver, they were all untainted by the evil presence that engulfed those islands. They stayed pure. They kept their sanity. Even after getting kidnapped, tortured, threatened with death, they didn't become the type of monster that I became.
Especially Liza. How is it possible that a woman can have such a gigantic heart like Liza's?
And the way that I treated her… upsets me even to this day.
I wasn't in my right mind back on those islands two years ago. My judgment was clouded. Liza had always been someone that I could lean on when things were going roughly in my life. A friendly ear that would funnel in whatever difficulties I was having in my life as I expressed them to her in audio form.
And even after I began to give her the cold shoulder during my pursuit of the path of the warrior, Liza still cared about me so much that she made a cross for Grant since he hadn't gotten a proper funeral yet. A primitively strung together cross consisting of two sticks fastened together with rudimentary twine holding it together.
But the gesture was genuine and sincere.
And even after that act of kindness, I still gave Liza short shrift and never properly appreciated everything that she was trying to do to help me, and how much she loved me, even though our romantic relationship had strained, it was obvious that I still meant something to her.
So I decided, right then and there, fuck Citra.
Fuck her and fuck her bullshit.
There is no such thing as prophecy, no universal entity pulling the strings of destiny. Only personal choice and free will.
Up until that point, I had believed that I was destined to be the hero of the Rakyat, and that I would belong to Citra.
What dumb motherfucker I was.
No magic otherworldly deity forced me to do anything that I had done. I simply enjoyed the killing and the obscene violence. The way that only complete lunatics can understand. Even after I'd saved my friends, It was my decision to continue killing pirates.
And it was just sheer luck that I found Riley to still be alive after I believed him to be dead. Funny enough, If I hadn't agreed to kill Hoyt for Citra, I would never have discovered my little brother was alive, and I only needed to rescue him from whatever hellhole he was in.
But it was also my decision to risk my life, and actually almost losing it, when I decided to keep Daisy alive by harvesting those mushrooms.
That must be the "hero" that Daisy refers to when she calls me that. As well as saving all my other loved ones. Liza has told me in this last year and even earlier, that she sees me as a hero as well.
I wish they would stop calling me a hero. That was never what I happened to become.
But what makes a hero? A hero to some is a villain to others.
"Hey. What's up?" Daisy asked.
"Nothing… well something. But you already knew that." Jason responded.
How long was I sitting here and silently thinking?
"Well I guess it's time to unveil my first surprise." Daisy said with sigh.
As if she trusted that Jason would eventually be honest with her about what he was withholding from her, she must have decided that dwelling on this bummer of a topic wasn't worth ruining the rest of the day.
"Yeah I guess so." Jason said glumly.
Daisy turned away and pulled the door handle, opening it halfway before she was stopped by Jason's gentle gripping of her left wrist. She turned to look at him, and when he saw her face, it was one of hesitancy.
"I want you to know… that you're the only woman that I'll ever love. And every day, I wish that I was really the hero that you say that I am. But that's just not the truth. But I promise you, someday, I'll tell you what it is that I have been keeping from you. I swear. Just… I can't today. I'm-I'm just… not ready yet." Jason choked on his words.
Daisy let go of the door and let it softly close shut.
Jason wasn't expecting Daisy to give him a kiss right after he'd said what he'd said.
What does this mean? Her lips on mine? After everything that had just happened?
"I hope so. And when you decide you're ready, I'll be there." Daisy pulled away from his mouth.
"Now come on lets get going." Daisy said in an emotional one eighty degree way. Just seconds earlier she was no nonsense, but she now spoke in a giddy tone.
Before Jason could even open his lips to respond, Daisy was already out the door.
She is goofy isn't she? Beautifully goofy.
Jason grunted and got out of his car. Shutting the door behind him. His car chirped, locking as Jason pressed the button on his key.
Daisy had temporarily walked out of Jason's view.
"Hey there! I'm so glad that you're here!" Jason heard an all too familiar woman's voice shout out.
"Oh my goodness, Liza… I bought the cutest bikini that I've ever seen. Wait till you see it. You will be so jealous!" Daisy said to Liza in a friendly way.
"What color?" Liza asked.
"Crimson." Daisy answered.
"I've never pictured you as a chick who likes wearing dark red." Liza told her.
"Crimson, not dark red." Daisy corrected in a friendly way.
"Duh, that's what crimson is, dark red." Liza asserted, in a sweet way, as she always did.
"Oh my god," Daisy laughed, "Oh I'm soooo-so dumb!" Daisy answered.
The two giggling women continued as Jason made he way from the car to their position.
Jason walked up behind Daisy, and he saw that Liza and Menelik were standing in front of Daisy. Menelik had his left arm around Liza's shoulders.
Menelik was a good man in Jason's view. The type of gentlemanly guy that Jason remembered himself being before Citra had poisoned his mind. And Menelik is a perfectly perfect man, in Jason's opinion. A role model for proper gentlemanly graciousness and chivalry.
He's almost unbelievably gentlemanly. Liza always deserved better than I could give her.
Even If I had chosen to stay her boyfriend after we escaped and not pursued my boyfriend and girlfriend relationship with Daisy, I doubt that I could have ever returned to being that fun loving man who she had loved.
It was better for both of us when I dissolved our relationship as a couple. That way Liza could hang onto the good memories that we had together. And not the new memories of nightmares and psychotic outbursts that Daisy will always remember.
Daisy will only ever have memories of dating a lunatic, while most of Liza's memories of dating me, will be memories of Jason. And just Jason.
"So Daisy, how far are you going to try and swim out to this time?" Menelik asked.
Jason made his way to stand beside Daisy.
"Oh I don't know, maybe I will try and reach Japan." Daisy said sarcastically.
She cocked her to look at Jason after she said that. Giving him a sweet and sarcastically cute look. With a beautiful smirk to match, before twisting her face back to the other couple.
"Yeah right. Not even you're that good." Menelik joked.
"Bet I can prove you wrong on that slanderous remark. I'll challenge you to a 400 meter swim anytime." Daisy giggled.
"Careful now, you may not want me to take you up on that challenge. I'll have you know that I was top of the line up in my college track team." Menelik had a smile on his face that matched up perfectly with his A-lister celebrity good looks.
Should have been a movie star with those looks. Funny, Liza, who he's dating, also once dreamed of being a Hollywood star.
But Menelik chose a life of mundane civilian living as a lawyer, and not to take advantage of his suave and swaggering handsome appearance.
A decision that I completely understand.
I could have told the truth to the entire world. That I had been the one man army that defeated the pirates and Hoyt's mercenaries, killing dozens of them in my furious frenzy.
Talk shows, movie deals, a best-selling autobiography or commissioned author written biography, maybe a triple AAA video game company would have produced a first person shooter loosely based of my experiences. I might have had all the fame and money that I could have ever needed, which meant that I could have retired in my mid twenties, and never would need to work again.
But no, that wasn't for me.
Why should I have let my unbelievably horrific and traumatizing true story be turned into some mindless Hollywood action movie blockbuster or violent video game?
It wasn't a fun action adventure. My older brother died in my arms after we had been held in captivity together and successfully escaped. Well, I escaped. And my own innocent and filled with youthful spirit younger brother, was tortured by my own hands, even though I had to do it and wasn't my own wishes that caused me to bring physical pain upon him like that. My friends, both of my brothers, and my then girlfriend had been stolen away at once when those pirates rolled up on the beach where we had gathered after landing from skydiving. As they separated us and hauled us away to unknown locations, I hadn't known if I was ever going to see them again or what their final fate would be.
And, neither Indonesia or America would likely have pursued legal or judicial action against me if I had gone public, for a variety of reasons. Indonesia would have denied my existence. America would have made me a national hero, cash cow, or symbol or martyr of international pity to further their own national interests to whatever ever complicated end that I can't even imagine.
Indonesia was already on thin ice for their fuck ups in dealing with the pirates and Hoyt's private army persecuting the Rakyat, who were ethnically different to their Indonesian majority led government whom they were technically under the jurisdiction since the Rook Islands were and are still within the borders of the nation of Indonesia.
International condemnation and scolding, had finally forced the Indonesian government into military action to regain control and order over the Rook Islands.
So Indonesia certainly wasn't going to try and investigate the truth about whether or not Grant was really the hero that helped the Rakyat fight back against the combined force of mercenaries and pirates, pirates who were made up of a wide range of various peoples from across the world.
Jason definitely never spent the time to ask them or search through their corpses to certify their national identities. As they all spoke English well enough but were rarely, almost never, made up of white men. Jason assumed since English was an internationally standard language for a variety of countries and peoples who conducted business with the U.S.A., English must have been agreed upon as their lingua franca, or de facto language of choice.
But he'd realized the pirates were a conglomeration of various ethnicities. Some were black and most likely from East Africa, some pirates looked as if they were from India, definitely some pirates were Chinese, some probably came from the islands of The Philippines that had a Muslim majority population, maybe parts of Southeast Asia like Vietnam and Thailand or the surrounding countries, and occasionally from Australia and New Zealand, as on very rare instances, Jason could clearly tell that some of the pirates were white.
Hoyt's mercenaries appeared to be former soldiers. Mostly American, Canadian, Australian, New Zealander, and Europeans who were likely former service members who found employment in Hoyt's private military company after they returned from the overseas war on terrorism or had simply decided that they'd rather make more money being a piece of shit than serving another enlistment period or rise through the ranks of each of their respective nation's military.
"You've done it now Daisy. You're about to get an earful from this guy." Liza giggled.
Jason knew that being from Ethiopia, explained why Menelik didn't look the same as most African-Americans who mainly descended from their ancestors who were brought to the United States of America from the transatlantic slavery trade. And since they originated from western and central Africa, their descendants', if they were full blooded African, would usually have slightly darker skin color than Menelik's.
"Oh, I see, so you think that just because you were good at running, that means that you are also going to be amazing at swimming?" Daisy teased.
Jason put his arm around Daisy's shoulders.
He observed Liza and Menelik. He saw that Menelik had flip flops on and blue swim trunks while he wore a plain white t-shirt. Liza also wore flip flops an a white t-shirt as well, but she was wearing kaki short shorts, probably having her bikini on underneath her over clothing, and ha sunglasses on. Daisy had her favorite sunglasses on, and also had a white t-shirt on and short shorts similar in appearance to Liza's. And Jason hadn't remembered at first what he was wearing, but after a few seconds of clouded thoughts, he realized that he was festooned in almost identical clothing to Menelik. Blue trunks, white t-shirt, and flip flops. And both parties carried small duffel bags with them holding their belongings for the beach.
Good god, I hope that we don't become mutual double daters that always wear the same clothing as our counterparts.
Somehow I find that embarrassing. Which is an emotion that I haven't felt in over two years, and never thought that it was possible for me to feel it ever again.
"I think that the skills that I developed in track and field more than prepare me for being a pro at swimming." Menelik gave Daisy a sure of himself look as he light heartedly continued teasing Daisy.
Is this how normal people talk to each other? It's hard for me to remember how I used to be before.
Even as I'm amongst people who know me, my friends and Daisy, just talking with people… is hard for me. Ducking and dodging bullets, blades, and bombs never terrified me as much as talking to people in public. Even with good friends.
How weird is it that I like hanging out with my ex-girlfriend?
Weird? Yes.
But do I enjoy Liza's friendship? Hell yes.
I need someone in my life with a beautiful heart like she's always had. I don't know if knowing that a good woman like Liza cares for me is enough for me to forget about this feeling of not belonging.
But I hope that it does.
I'm sick and tired of the pull between my two halves.
I wish that I would have never become Citra's warrior. I wish that I never had to kill my way through Vaas's pirates and Hoyt's mercenaries. Even though I loved the feeling of bloodlust.
At least that way I would never have developed this internal conflict of a dual identity.
Jason thought about the great people that he had bestowed upon himself. Though few in number, he preferred to have people who cared for him that he could only count on one hand, than a bunch of minor acquaintances.
Close friends who care about me, a girlfriend, and a normal American life.
All things that I have, but sure as shit don't deserve.
Fate is a fickle bitch.
"Pfftt! Okay!" Daisy scoffed and stretched out that last word.
"Can you believe this guy Jason?" Daisy's voice was playful.
But Jason's arm could feel the movement of Daisy turning her head to look at Jason as she spoke.
Jason in return, turned to meet her gaze.
Oh right. I'm supposed to say something.
She's roping me into this back and forth kidding about between herself and Menelik. And she's probably hoping that I can respond like a normal person, not like an antisocial basket case.
Come on Jason, you can do this. Don't embarrass Daisy. Just try and be witty and smooth.
"Tell me about it. This guy's all talk. Bet he doesn't even know how to swim." Jason said, hoping that he succeeded in both sounding normal as well as slightly funny.
Did I do good. I hope so.
Fuck, will I ever get over this irrational phobia of public interactions?
Directly after his remark, Jason turned to look at Liza and Menelik to see if his joke had landed.
He saw that Menelik was smirking and Liza gave a short but genuine sounding laugh.
That's when Jason looked back at the blondie under his arm. Daisy must have had her eyes on him as he as he'd turned to the other couple. Probably anticipating that Jason would say something crazy or do something psychotic.
Jason was pleased to see a smile on Daisy's face.
I must have succeeded in Daisy's little social experiment.
If only her sunglasses were off, and her eyes were visible. Seeing her eyes means the world to me, and each time I look into them, their just as beautiful as the very first time I met her.
Those beautiful blue eyes got me hooked the very moment it first saw them.
Jason saw Daisy look back at the Liza and Menelik.
"Let's find a place. Hardly anyone is out on the beach, so there's probably a whole bunch of empty chairs under umbrellas." Daisy said.
"Yeah, we'll have to bring two chairs over from another spot, but there's barely anybody here, so we shouldn't have any trouble borrowing two extra chairs from another spot." Menelik said.
"Sounds good." Jason said. Now feeling less anxiety and more like a casual guy hanging out with his friends and girlfriend.
Maybe if I did this more, the hanging out, the joking, the spending time with good people…
It might just be enough to make me feel like I finally belong here, and not back in the Rook Islands as warrior. To be the goofy guy that I used to be. To be just like everyone else. And without this internal conflict of indecisive identity between being a warrior and being Jason.
Can it be all that I need to forget about my dualistic feelings of hatred and love for Citra?
That is a worth wild thought. But is it possible?
I hope so…
Not for my sake. But for Daisy's.
"Yeah you guys do that. I'm in the mood for ice cream. And I think that the store just opened, there's probably now one in there so it shouldn't take long." Liza said to everyone present.
"Ice cream? Wanting sweets this early?" Daisy asked.
"Of course! Who wouldn't want to not have to stand in a line to get ice cream?" Liza sounded positively excited.
Jason always enjoyed seeing Liza in good strides back during their days of dating. Some days, when they'd been dating, Liza occasionally seemed to be down in the dumps for whatever reason. And Jason never knew what was bugging her, but he always did his best to uplift her out of that melancholy attitude.
Jason, now feeling more comfortable in the presence of the good man Menelik, the sweet hearted angel Liza, and his Daisy, decided…
You know what, fuck it, I want some goddamn ice cream too.
"Care if I accompany you? All this talk of ice cream has given me a sweet tooth." Jason said.
He spoke in a way that was alien to him. A way that signified that he was relaxed and in no way suffering from social anxiety.
"You betcha! But since you're tagging along, could you do the paying? I don't have any cash on me." Liza requested.
"Liza, how were you going to pay for your ice cream? Or would you have just turned and ran out the door as soon as you got your cone?" Menelik chuckled.
Both Liza and Menelik turned their heads simultaneously to look at each other's face, almost as if it was choreographed.
Look at this synchronized couple.
"I was just going to borrow some money from you silly." Liza said to Menelik.
"You hear this Jason? Borrow? Yeah right, like I'm ever going to get her to pay me back." Menelik turned to look at Jason with a smile that accentuated his celebrity-like handsomeness.
Surprisingly, Jason actually chuckled for about a single second. But not a courteous and disingenuous fake laugh. No, an actual laugh.
Maybe this socialization is really working to fix me.
"Like you were ever going to tell me no when I asked you for money." Liza gave Menelik a kiss on the cheek while he grinned.
Menelik didn't say anything, he only gave Daisy and Jason a smile that looked like one that a professional model or actor would give during a photoshoot.
"Well fortunately for Menelik, I'm giving him a break from having his wallet raided by you. Don't worry buddy, I'll pay." Jason said to Menelik and Liza.
"Thanks a million bro." Menelik told Jason.
Those are the exact same words that Grant said to me. When I promised him that I would walk the hungover Daisy up to their hotel room.
Spooky.
"More like, thanks a million dollars, from what I've heard, that sounds like how much Liza owes you!" Daisy chuckled as her comment was directed at Menelik.
The other couple laughed with Daisy. And Jason once again found himself laughing as well. And it was genuine laughter, just like before.
It has been far too long since I've been this happy and laughing amongst my friends.
So long that I've forgotten this feeling.
Grant and I used to always laugh together as we talked about the most idiotic and unimportant shit. Whether it be the two of us making fun of one of our friends, or simply something that we found hilarious.
Those times, with my brother, I miss them dearly.
There's almost nothing in this world that I wouldn't give to have just one more moment of stupid laughing with Grant.
Thinking of his older brother almost caused him to lose the good spirits that he had found himself in.
Will I ever move on? It's been two years, and yet, Grant's death still hits me so hard.
But then he quickly remembered what he and Daisy had discussed that one night when Jason had stumbled upon Grant's CD collection.
She had told Jason that he should only try and remember only the good times that he had with Grant. And not that one bad memory of him dying in his arms.
She's right. My good memories of Grant far outnumber that single bad memory.
And just like that, Jason's good spirits had be restored.
He watched Liza and Menelik smile and chuckle as they both were enjoying the beautiful day. And as he kept his arm around Daisy's shoulders, Jason realized, that the life that he was living, was pretty good.
A good life. I only wish that this life hadn't come at such a steep cost.
Jason could sense that Menelik, is a good man, one without any grand or evil schemes. Jason had a professionally proficient bullshit detector. And in all the time that Jason had known Menelik, he hadn't ever once suspected him as being anything other than a good man.
Me and Daisy have hung out with Liza and Menelik many times before, but I've always had to force myself to put on a smiling face, hiding my true disposition of mixed emotions. In order to not be Daisy's embarrassing boyfriend in Liza and Menelik's presence, I have always found it necessary to plaster myself with the disguise of the average, and totally not loony, normal everyday guy.
But not this time.
This time, it's real.
Jason pulled some cash out of his wallet that was in his duffel bag as the other three people continued in small talk.
"Alright, Menelik you and Daisy go and check out the beach and find a good spot for us. Me and Liza will be right back." Jason said.
"Sure thing. Just make sure that she doesn't wander off okay? She has a habit of getting distracted by shiny things." Menelik joked.
"Oh, Ha-Ha-Ha!" Liza said sarcastically, then gave Menelik a sweet and short little kiss as they locked lips.
"Okey dokey. We will probably pick a place down over there. And I can take your bag with me." Daisy pointed at a section of the beach with her hand.
"Sure, thanks." Jason took his arm off of Daisy's shoulders and hand her his beach bag.
"And I'll take yours." Menelik said to Liza as she handed her bag over to him, while giving him a sweet smile.
"Come on buddy, let's go give ourselves a sugar rush." A giddy Liza said to Jason.
Such a sweet woman. Never would hurt a fly.
/
(couple minutes later)
Jason and Liza said their temporary goodbyes to their respective partners and walked several blocks to the ice cream shop.
The two of them talked as they walked down the sidewalk. From how happy and jovial Liza and Jason were, any onlookers or bystanders who saw them, would never have believed that the two of them had hated each other's guts just two years ago.
But they weren't holding hands as they walked along side one another, since they weren't together as boyfriend and girlfriend, as they had once been. The only woman that accompanied Jason to the ice cream store, was his best friend.
They each chose vanilla ice cream. Not an exotic flavor, but Jason enjoyed the boring and traditional flavor, as did Liza apparently.
The ice cream shop was a small family owned business that had been around for several decades, and was well loved and made famous by the local community.
They had made it about two blocks before deciding to sit down and eat their ice cream rather than try and eat it as they walked.
Instead of heading back to the seating area outside the ice cream shop, Liza and Jason decided to just sit down on the sidewalk near a building that had public restrooms and several vending machines. A rest and relaxation area built by the city a few years back. The height difference between the asphalt road and the sidewalk was quite high, which provided decent enough room to have one's feet sitting on the road while they sat on the sidewalk.
Traffic wasn't very heavy in this area or at this time of day, so Jason felt relaxed sitting that close to the road.
As soon as they sat down, they continued speaking with one another.
"I like this, you know?" Liza said in between licks on her ice cream cone.
"What do you mean? " Jason asked.
He hadn't made eye contact after he spoke, and assumed that she hadn't either. Jason had to pay attention to his ice cream, to avoid it melting over his hand, and he imagined that Liza was doing the same as him in regards to her ice cream.
"Oh, you know. Just sitting here. Nice day like today. Sometimes, those days where I have nothing to do but mess around and do silly things, they really help me. If you understand what I'm saying." Liza said to him.
I think I'm catching on to what she's getting at.
Stress free days, lazily sitting around and watching TV with Daisy next to me, yeah… days like that are nice.
"Nice days like today… yeah I get you. They do help with forgetting all the bad things… if just for a little while." Jason responded.
He stared across the street and down onto the beach, and eventually letting his eyes each focus on the ocean waves as the distant and calming sound of the salty sea water flowing onto the shore filled his ears.
"I knew you'd understand what I was trying to say." Liza said.
"Only problem is… the forgetting doesn't ever last long enough, and never goes away completely." Jason said in a sorrowful tone.
"Yeah…" Liza responded, sounding just as glum as Jason. "Still though, it is nice to forget about the past. If only for a little while."
Jason had a crazy thought.
I haven't worked up the courage to tell Daisy the truth about that pirate ship.
Maybe… just maybe…
Should I try and admit my evil act to Liza since I can't tell Daisy?
I might as well tell… someone. The guilt is eating my heart out.
"Hey Liza I-" Jason turned to his left to look at Liza, but she had gotten up while Jason was deep in thought.
Jason turned some more and saw Liza throwing away the empty paper that had been wrapped around her ice cream cone. Jason had lost his appetite to finish his ice cream, so he walked up next to Liza, and threw away the remainder of his ice cream.
She smiled at him when he walked up next to her. "Do you just want to sit down some more, not for very long? I'm sure that Menelik and Daisy are wondering what happened to us."
"Oh you don't think that Menelik would think that we were… uh… you know…" Jason said.
He had clearly implicating the idea of possible suspicion that he and Liza were fucking on the side in an affair. Or something like that, involving being unfaithful to their partners.
"Oh god no. No way. That's not what I meant. Menelik trusts me, and he does trust you too. We have this rule in our relationship. And that is, that we never ever lie. No matter how embarrassing or uncomfortable the honesty can be, we never are dishonest with each other." Liza said as she looked at Jason.
Honesty? I should try that sometime.
I never lie to Daisy.
Well… except for that one little… no… big thing.
"Hey, you alright?" Liza asked.
He hadn't responded to Liza, and was probably looking like a weirdo by standing and looking at Liza in complete silence.
Jason saw Liza give him the sweetest smile that he'd ever seen on her face.
"What's that for?" Jason matched her smile with one of his own as he finally answered her.
"Oh… nothing. I'm just happy. That's all." She said in a cheery way. Almost sounding like a naive schoolgirl.
But Jason new that Liza was intelligent and by no means naive or gullible. She was the complete package for any man lucky enough to date her. Intelligent, a sincerely sweet woman, gorgeous, rarely ever got angry or upset with anyone, and always willing to try and help someone stuck in a bad situation.
Which is way Jason still can't forgive himself for the way that he treated her two years ago. Back on the island, Jason had brushed her aside with his ungrateful attitude and sometimes he had downright vicious to her. And she still tried to have him talk to her about the psychosis and identity crisis that he was going through.
"Yeah, sitting down sounds nice." Jason said to her.
They went back to the spot on the sidewalk that they'd been sitting previously. Liza sitting to Jason's left.
He said. "Liza, listen, can we uh… talk for a bit longer. You know… I mean… just for a couple minutes. Before we go back to the beach?"
"Sure thing. You sound anxious or worried. Is everything going alright with you… or Daisy?" Liza asked.
"Yeah. She is doing fine, we both are. Well… I'm doing alright I suppose, considering that I'm… well me." Jason looked down at the black asphalt.
His hands hanging over his knees as he sat in a slouched posture.
"I can see that you both are doing fine, physically, and I can tell that there aren't any problems with you guys, like with money or anything normal like that. But something is nipping at you. I can tell. And I know that there is, we used to date, and I know you better than you probably think that I do. So, there's no use in trying to avoid or deny anything to me." She said.
Jason looked at Liza and she gave him a tiny smile, that could have been interpreted in a thousand different ways.
I need to tell… someone goddammit.
I got to get this over with. But it's just so… difficult to spit those words out.
"Right… you are right, you're dead right Liza. There is something that's been nipping at me. But if I told you what it is, you'll never look at me the same way ever again. Hell, you'd probably get up and run as far away from me as your legs would take you. All just to get away from me." Jason said, slightly exaggerating the gravity of the situation, but his words had some truth hidden behind the curtain.
Liza didn't respond.
He continued. "It's a secret that I don't want anyone to know, but it is also ripping me up inside as I keep it under lock and key."
He looked at the road beneath his feet. The tiny pebbles of busted up asphalt that had been pushed to the edge of the road over the many years of weather and road wear from automobiles. Jason tried to imagine up a way of determining exactly how many vehicles had run across this road in just the last year alone.
His train of thought derailed like an Amtrak crash, when Liza put her right hand on top of Jason's left knee. It was done in a way that he could feel the good vibes that she intended flowing through her hand. Always the sweetheart lady, she probably just wanted to show Jason that she was there for him.
Liza removed her hand from his kneecap. "If I told you a secret, about… me, one that only Menelik, my therapist, and myself know, would you then in return, tell me your secret?"
Secret? From Liza of all people?
What kind of secret could she possibly have that is crazy enough that she hasn't ever told me in all the years that we've known each other?
But, that just may make me feel comfortable enough to tell my secret. However, I'm not going to pressure her to tell me. This something that she needs to decide to do on her own volition.
"You shouldn't have to do something like that. I don't want you to tell me anything that you don't want me to know. This… exchanging of secrets, I'm not going to make you tell me anything. I hope that you know that. " He told her.
Also… did Liza say, her therapist?
"I didn't know that you are seeing a therapist. Is that the secret?" Jason asked.
He just had to look up to see her. This conversation seemed too important to for him to not make eye contact with Liza.
But Liza hadn't been looking at him. Instead, she was putting one of her flip flops back onto her foot. Probably had a piece of gravel stuck in there.
"I haven't ever told you that I see a therapist twice a month, have I?" She asked as she sat her foot back on the pavement.
"No. I don't think that you have." He answered. That's when she looked back at him.
"Well that's… uh… that is good… good for you, I guess. I meant… yeah. Whatever." Jason stuttered.
Without any indication that she was going to chuckle, Liza did just that after Jason's stumble tongue of a sentence.
"What? I didn't say anything funny?" A perplexed and confused Jason asked.
"I know. Just the way you were talking, was kind of funny. Sorry." Liza said, sounding as if she was about to start laughing again.
And seeing her giggle at his idiotic wordplay, Jason had laughed as well, for a few very brief seconds.
"You're right. I did sound like a moron didn't I?" He asked of her as he grinned.
"I'm so glad that you didn't get offended by that." Liza couldn't contain herself and laughed again.
Her sweet giggling was contagious, and Jason was soon stricken ill with Liza's laughing sickness. They chuckled on for what felt like several seconds more to Jason.
After they calmed down, they went back to all business talk.
"No. That wasn't the secret that I was talking about. But it is something that was very damaging to my life, and it still effects me even today. And will always be something that I can't forget as much as I want to." Liza's voice was filled with sadness and melancholy.
Jason had to do something, anything, to comfort her. So he put his arm around her shoulder. She returned the same comforting expression by allowing him to pull her close as she laid her head on his shoulder.
"Liza, listen… if you don't want to tell me, then I won't try and pry it out of you. I want you to know that this is your choice if you decide to tell me your secret. But if you do, I promise to tell you mine." He said to her.
Liza then said. "Thank for that. But what if we... oh my goodness, this will make me sound so stupid, but what if we… pinky promised?"
"Pinky promise? What grade are we in?" Jason asked half jokingly.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, its dumb. But I think that if we both do it, then it will actually mean something." She responded.
Hmm… come to think about it, a simple interlocking of pinkies would be sincere. In a childishly but just as meaningful way of determining sincerity.
"Agreed. Let's do it." Jason said.
And then and there, like kids on a school's playground, Liza and Jason pinky promised. Liza told Jason a most shocking story indeed.
/
(A few minutes after)
A sad and sickening tale was what Jason had just heard Liza tell him. As he sat down staring into the endless ocean off in the distance, he clenched his hands into fists. And so intensely did his fingers curl, that he could have crushed a diamond to smithereens if one had been held in either one of his hands.
And the story that Liza had told him, confirmed some of the suspicions that he'd developed back during their dating days. Suspicions that he dearly hoped were not true.
"Goddammit Liza. That's… goddamn, it's fucked. I don't know what to say." Jason said.
Yes… I may not know what to say… but I know what I should do.
Kill him…
That's what I should do.
Bash his motherfucking skull in with a tire iron, or crowbar, or with my bare fucking hands. Or I should flay him alive, torturing him to death by peeling his skin off inch by inch until he dies from blood loss and shock.
But am I really any different to him?
I'm a rapist as well. How can I throw stones in a glass house, when I've done the same thing to Daisy?
What he did to Liza though… feels different… worse than what I did to Daisy however. But was it?
Fuck!
I wish that I knew what is right and wrong. Good and evil. But I just don't know anymore. And is that because of Citra's mind poisoning? Or is it because I've always been a horrible monster, and the islands are what brought it to life inside of me?
Liza's arm went around Jason's shoulders. "Hey. I know that was a lot to process. And please don't say I'm so sorry. I didn't tell you my history because I wanted pity or sympathy. I did it because you are my friend and I trust you. And I love you. It was too hard for me to discuss this with you when we were dating. But it is something that I have to live with. And as much as I don't want to, I won't ever forget it. So I've learned that I will have to cope with it."
Trust? Me?
But right now I just need to hit something.
Jason started to stand up, but didn't say a word as he did.
He had already turned to walk away, as he didn't want Liza to see him loose his sanity.
But Jason felt his left hand get grabbed, stopping him.
"Jason, listen, are you going to be alright. I'm sorry to have upset you. Please don't do anything rash." Liza said to him. Almost as if she was pleading to him to not go postal.
But he didn't turn his head back to her. He couldn't look at her, not in his state of red eyed fury.
She knows that I'm insane. Everybody knows that. But I can't let Liza see me loose it in front of her.
"I'm not, Liza I promise, I swear. Just, I… I need to cool off. Please, don't worry. Nothing is going to happen. Be right back." He promised, without even looking at her.
Liza's grip on his hand weakened until his fingers were able to slide out with ease.
The door opened and closed as Jason walked into the men's restroom, part of the rest and relaxation building.
Nobody was at the urinals and Jason didn't hear anyone in the stalls. So he believed himself to be completely alone, with no company but his anger and thoughts of wrongdoing. In that moment, all Jason wanted to do was to kill someone.
I wish a pirate or one of Hoyt's henchmen, or even Vaas himself, would walk through the door so that I could kill them with my goddamn hands.
That would hopefully satisfy my blood rage. I need to see the life leave someone's eyes.
Need to… need to… need to…
As he had his hands on the edges of the white ceramic sink, he looked at his reflection in the mirror.
That's the problem with mirrors, they only show you what everyone who looks at you sees. They don't reflect the way that you see yourself.
In order to see his reflection, his true reflection, Jason decided that he needed to make some changes to the mirror.
The glass cracked around the impact point of Jason's fist. Like a stone being tossed into a calm pond, wrinkles of waves from the entry point rippled across the once perfectly serviceable mirror.
Much better.
Now that's the ugly bastard that I really am. This fractured mirror nicely reflects my fractured mind. This is how I see myself, and the rest of the world might as well observe me in the same way.
That way I can't cease this double identity of standard suburban millennial dude, and live full-time as the Joker or Ted Bundy or Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th. That's the real me.
His name was Jason too. And he was a murderer just like me.
Funny.
Only problem is, Batman or the cops haven't been able to throw me into the clink or a dungeon, or stop me permanently with a bullet to the head. Any would be hero doesn't even know that this monster is out there, blending into society, just waiting to escape its cage.
Maybe I should start seeing a therapist for myself. Just like Liza does.
But it probably wouldn't help me.
I'm beyond reconciliation at this point. All I can do for the rest of my life is keep my alter ego hidden away.
Jason inhaled and exhaled several times over what was probably a minute. But that orthodox technique of calming one's self down, wasn't working.
As his hands rested on the sink, Jason looked around the public restroom, thankful that he was still alone.
Unable to contain his vigorously violent emotions, Jason turned to the stall directly behind him.
The thin and hollow layer of mild steel forming the exterior of the stall door, was now in the redecorating process. The dark green door was being reimagined with knuckle and fist indentations, courtesy of Jason's interpretation of artistic representation.
Alternating between his right and left fists, Jason was punching the stall door with the ferocity of a starving and wild man-eating tiger. The two fist sized holes of the door stood side by side and at the same height and level.
After his likely thirty second punching temper tantrum, Jason then opened and slammed the stall door over and over in violently flamboyant repetition.
Jason felt satisfaction each time the door collided with the stall wall. He could feel the vibrations and loosing of the stall door's hinges and bolts every time he pushed its durability to the limit. Resounding and audible crashes and dings of the mild steel slamming against itself, echoed throughout the entire restroom.
It was probably another minute of his psychotic outburst, before Jason finally calmed down, and took his hands off of the stall door. Rapidly breathing in and out as he tried to catch his breath after that intense expulsion of energy.
As he looked at the top and bottom of the stall door, Jason could clearly see the damage he'd done. The thin metal lips at the top and bottom right hand corners of the door had bent to the point where they only made physical contact with the stall's frame at the very tip of the flat metal bars. Meaning the door would be loose every time that it was closed. And the two parts of the stall frame that those door lips made contact with, were severely dented.
Jason had no clue if he had been screaming during this violent episode, but he gave it a likelihood of fifty-fifty.
He thought it necessary to look at his hands to see what damage he had inflected on them.
His knuckles were only red and the skin had been slightly scrapped off. But he wasn't bleeding profusely. No blood was running down his hands and arms. And they were ringing slightly in pain and soreness, but to a manageable extent, nothing as bad as injuries he has had before. He would probably just soak his hands into a container of ice later on in the day.
Alright Jason. Put you mask back on. Liza wants you to be normal today. So that's what you're going to do.
Jason washed the small amount of grime and blood off of his knuckles, and forced himself to chill out.
Liza was only fourteen years old… God-fucking-dammit!
This explains a lot. The unusual way that Liza would have sex with me.
The way that she couldn't even look at me while we had sex. And how she wouldn't let me kiss her, or hold her hands, or thrust inside of her pussy unless I did it slowly. The way that she preferred to stay partially clothed during intercourse.
And the look in her eyes as she stared at me, as if I was about to physically abuse her if I wasn't sexually satisfied.
Never. I would have never have hit her. What kind of man beats a woman?
But now I know the reason for her acting cautious and timid during sex.
Jason had stopped walking halfway to the exit door. He was too deep in thought to do anything but stand still.
Her own dad… disgusting!
That story made Jason's blood boil the second that Liza had finished telling it.
Liza said that it only happened one time, and while they were the only ones at the house while her mom and little brother were away visiting their mom's sister.
Liza had come home a little after nine at night.
Liza said that he was angry that she had been hanging out with her friend from her neighborhood. Just because she was going through puberty, her dad assumed that Liza and that boy had been sexually experimenting. But Liza said that they didn't, they were just friends. And he yelled at Liza calling her a whore and didn't want people to think that his daughter was a slut.
She had told me, that she responded to her dad to leave her alone and that he was just drunk again. That when Liza angrily stomped her feet upstairs to her room and proceeded to take her clothes off to get her pajamas on then go to bed because she didn't like leaving her room when her dad was blackout drunk like he was that night.
But this had pissed off her alcoholic piece of shit father.
Liza had just so happened to have taken off her clothes and was completely naked. She hadn't locked her door while she was changing into her sleep clothes. That's when her dad burst into her room.
And I've only met her dad once, but that man is huge, so he would have had little trouble pinning a young girl like Liza down face first onto her bed like that.
And the worst part of it all, Liza mentioned that she had a tall rectangular mirror on her wall which she used to look herself when she compared outfits.
But the mirror was facing her and she could see all the mentally scaring horror happening to her. As well as the terrified look on her face as well as her own dad's face in the reflection.
Liza had also confided to Jason and said that she was still a virgin at that point in her life, and Jason understood what she was implying to him even without going into detail.
It was painful for her.
Jason exhaled deeply, for the final time.
He didn't know how long he had been away from Liza's company, but Jason realized that he had return to Liza in a totally relaxed state of mind. For both of them, that's what was best to not ruin this beautiful day.
And if he couldn't relax himself, then he would just have to pretend.
The door closed behind him as he walked up to Liza. She was sitting down with her elbows laying on her knees as she held her head up. Her brown hair was tied up in a ponytail which hung down motionless as there wasn't any wind out that morning.
Jason grunted when he sat down beside Liza. "Sorry, hope I wasn't gone for too long. My hands were sticky from the ice cream so I just had to wash them off." He put his left arm over her back, letting his hand hang over her left shoulder.
"I've always known when you're lying, Jason." Liza said as she stared across the street.
Jason sighed. "Worth a try, but I apologize. I shouldn't have been disingenuous with you."
"Will you be okay?" She asked with a concerned tone.
Jason didn't have any idea on how to move forward from this, from everything that he'd just heard.
"I'm good now, just needed to cool off before we go back to Daisy and Menelik." He told Liza calmly. He looked at the side of her face, seeing a couple fly-away strands of her hair hanging down.
He put his right hand on Liza's right knee. Trying to be comforting and show that he was calmed down. Well… pretending to be calm.
"I know that-" Liza stopped when her head turned down to see Jason's damaged hand.
Like a striking cobra, Liza's hands latched onto Jason's red knuckled right hand.
"Jason, what did I just say? You can't lie to me. I know you too well." Liza's voice was filled with disappointment. She tossed his hand to the side.
Liza may have believed that Jason had simply left her to do some deep breathing, but the evidence of him doing something more, was apparent on his mangled hands.
She snapped her head to glare at him. If only her sunglasses weren't on her head, then Jason would probably have seen her eyes on fire.
She's the second woman that I've disappointed today. And not even an hour after disappointing the first woman.
Good job Jason. You fucking idiot. You really know how to play it smooth, don't you?
"Dammit Liza! It's nothing to concern yourself with." Jason immediately regretted the tone that he chose to use.
"Sorry." Jason said before Liza could even respond to his previous comment.
Liza jerked her head away, most likely uncertain of which one of her emotions, sadness, despair, disappointment, anger even, should be the one that she prioritize and bring to the forefront.
"Please just, don't bring this up in front of Daisy or Menelik. Daisy will surely notice my hands, but I don't want to embarrass you in front of Menelik. I don't want him thinking that your ex-boyfriend is insane or that he can't trust you to be alone with me because he's fearful that I might do something crazy that gets you hurt. But I won't ever hurt you. You know that, right?" Jason pleaded.
But Liza was silent.
He continued pleading. "If… I think… if I stay far enough away from Menelik, the he might not notice my red and scraped up hands. I don't want him to be concerned about you being with me in the future. Daisy will notice probably immediately, but I know that she won't bring it up in front of you guys. She'll just bite my head off when we get home. I'm so sorry Liza, no amount of deep breathing helped me relax. I… I… just lost it. And I'm so sorry. Please, don't… let this ruin our friendship. That would devastate me. You're too good of a person for me to lose."
Am I about to cry? Maybe.
Nothing more could have been said on Jason's part. It was up to Liza to break the silence.
A small gust of wind blew by, Jason saw some of Liza's fly-away hair drift in the wind while she stood still, like a silent sentinel.
Jason took his arm off of Liza's shoulders. He used both of his hands to cover his face. Groaning and unsure of how to fix this situation.
Uncertainty filled Jason. He didn't want to lose Liza as his best friend. He hoped that if he surrounded himself with enough good hearted people in his life, then maybe over time, he would return to being a normal guy.
He had pinky promised Liza that he would tell her his secret in exchange for her secret. But how could he do that now?
If Liza heard him tell her the truth about what he did to Daisy, after hearing what her father did to her, how the hell could she not look at him like a monster?
But he was soon surprised when Liza wrapped her angel like arms around Jason's body. Her left arm tucked between Jason's chest and his arms that were holding up his grief-stricken face, and her other arm reached around his back.
"I'm not going anywhere." Liza whispered into his ear. "As long as you're there for me, then I will be there for you. Promise. Cross my heart and hope to die and all that stuff."
Jason scoffed at that last part. But not sarcastically. It was a real a laugh as he could manage in that moment of mental turmoil.
Liza continued. "And you don't have to tell me your secret today if you don't want to. But remember, you did pinky promise me. So you have no choice but to tell me someday soon."
Jason laughed again.
He felt comfortable enough to take his hands off of his face. That's when Liza stopped hugging him as he turned to look at her. Liza kept her right hand on his back.
"How did I get so lucky with you twice? First as my girlfriend and then as my best friend?" He smiled.
Liza rolled her eyes and smiled. "Maybe you have a guardian angel looking out for you."
"I think that you are right. I'd like to meet her someday." Jason said grinning.
"And how do you know that your angel is a woman?" Liza asked.
"Oh, I just know." Jason responded
/
Jason and Liza made their way back to Menelik and Daisy.
They all spent a few hours just hanging out and talking and laughing. Eventually Daisy challenged Menelik to a friendly swimming competition, which Daisy won easily.
After the two couples said their goodbyes, Daisy was ready to unveil her second surprise to Jason.
The two of them walked a couple blocks, and made their way outside of a tattoo parlor.
Daisy explained that she finally decided that she wanted to get her first tattoo. Jason teased her by telling her that she was twenty-seven years old and that she was way too old to be getting her first tattoo.
Daisy, undeterred by Jason's teasing, she told him that she wasn't going to back out of her decision.
Jason accompanied her into the tattoo parlor.
He had to ask her what on earth her tattoo was going to be. He assumed some animal or a symbol of some kind.
But Daisy told him that it was none of those things, that he would have to wait and see.
After Daisy's tattooing was finished, she showed Jason the small word that was inked into the underside of her left forearm.
It wasn't just a word. But it was a name.
~GRANT~
/
(To Be Continued)
Like to hear your thoughts in a review.
I'm not a heartless bastard, so I'm not torturing Liza for sadistic purposes, and you will be surprised at how Liza's story ends. My rewrites are halfway completed and published! So just bear with me, as I'm making fast progress getting these reworked chapters published.