Fabricating Jada

  Wondering for a moment how she knew we were there, I snorted when it hit me. Mrs. G must have called her. She probably told her how she beat Jesse with her cane. Oh crap. That meant they knew Jesse was with me.

  Dread flowed through me as we crept across the yard.

  My mom's smile dropped from her face as I reached up to grab her hands, and she saw my bandage. "So that's true?" she whisper-hissed, hatred blazing in her eyes as she stared over my head at Jesse.

  "No," I hissed back.

  I glanced at him over my shoulder. "Can you give me boost, Valentine?"

  He nodded silently, still under my mom's scrutinizing stare. His hands wrapped around my waist, and he lifted me almost completely through the window. Like I weighed nothing. Maybe to him I didn't, but I'd worked hard to put on the extra ten pounds I carried. One hundred and five pounds was something I was proud of.

  Especially by Carter's Polly Pocket standards. I cringed thinking about her as I clambered through the window the rest of the way.

  Jesse pulled himself up, making it look effortless. I couldn't imagine being a sixteen-year-old girl and having someone like Jesse climb through my window for a late night visit.

  My lady parts clenched just thinking about it.

  Pulling me out of my naughty thoughts, my mom pulled me into a bear hug. "Oh, love. It feels so good to have you in my arms and know you're okay." Crestfallen, her smile quickly faded as she glanced at my arm again. "Well, for the most part. You want to tell me what happened there?" she asked, her penetrating gaze no longer on me.

  "Maybe we should go into the living room where we can sit down and talk about everything," I offered with a tentative smile.

  My mom strode to the door expecting us to follow.

  Jesse's oversized frame dominated our tattered love seat beside me. It was a hand-me-down from one of my mom's friends when they'd gotten new furniture. By the looks of it and how uncomfortable it was—the way it creaked and popped every time you sat on it—it belonged in a dumpster.

  I grimaced at the state of all of our furniture. I shouldn't have been embarrassed by what we had, but I was. And that made me feel worse. Like the worst possible person on the planet for not being grateful for what we did have.

  "What the hell did you do to my daughter, Valentine? I know not to believe all the shit the news says, but when they're claiming you beat her and then she shows up with a bandaged arm—it proves the rumors about you being scum are true." My dad's voice was full of bitter demands.

  Jesse's body tensed beside mine. "Mr. Carmen, while I can appreciate your need to protect your daughter—I don't appreciate the assumption I've beat her. I've never lifted my hand to woman and I never will. I don't condone it. Period. The last guy who lifted a hand to my mother, learned the hard way. He now walks with a permanent limp."

  He was seething. My eyes darted nervously back and forth between him and my dad, who may have been sitting in his wheelchair, with his pant leg pinned up to where his thigh would have been before the amputation, but looking like he was ready for a fight. Regardless of the fact he'd lose. I needed to intervene before it got worse.

  "It wasn't Jesse, Dad," I said as I unwrapped the bandage.

  Jesse's fingers overlapped mine, taking over the process. "You should leave it on."

  "They need to see it." Our eyes locked as he continued to unwrap it and gently pulled the nonstick pad off. Whoever called them nonstick bandages was a filthy liar. They stuck and they hurt like a son-of-a-beach! I bit down on my bottom lip—hard—my face twisting into a grimace of pain as he pulled it off the rest of the way.

  "You okay?" he asked in a gentle tone.

  "Jada, are you all right?" my mom asked and rushed to my other side.

  She gasped and covered her mouth in horror as she looked at the four-inch oval of redness, white and yellow puss staring back at her. It was much worse than it seemed earlier.

  My dad wheeled closer and gripped my hand, pulling it toward him. Pain shot through my arm as Jesse snatched it back just as fast. "Easy there, pops. She's in pain," he snapped.

  "I ain't your pops, asshole."

  Regaining her wits, my mom patted my cheek and turned to the two overgrown apes in the room. "You both need to shut up."

  She sat down in her rocking chair across from us and lifted her brow at me. "I would like an explanation, please."

  So I launched into the entire story. I told her about the first day and how my bench partner's lack of experience was what got me hurt. My dad's face looked a little less murderous as he stared Jesse down, but I didn't see the two of them being buddies anytime soon. If ever.

  Not that it mattered.

  "Is that why you've avoided coming home and have been staying at Carter's?" my mom asked.

  Hearing Carter's name made me flinch. She'd betrayed me in a way no best friend ever should.

  "Yeah."

  "She also knew we wouldn't let her go back if we saw his neglect," my dad ground out the words between his teeth.

  Jesse, who'd been quiet throughout my retelling of the incident and the aftercare, spoke up. "With all due respect, sir, but your daughter is a grown woman. I don't think she needs your permission to do what she wants to do."

  My dad fired right back. "Look at you coming into my house, telling me about my daughter. I know she thinks she's an adult, but she's naïve to the world and also has responsibilities that she's walked out on since she met you."

  Jesse physically bristled. I squeezed his massive thigh to try to keep him calm, but he didn't even seem to notice. "Responsibilities? You mean working her ass off at a place that treats her like shit and then giving her entire check to you?"

  My head whipped around to him. He had been listening when I told him off the first day we met.

  "She does what she needs to for her family. I'm sure you wouldn't know anything about that," my dad snapped.

  "Now, boys—" my mom tried to interrupt, but was drowned out by Jesse's shouts.

  He stood tall, his broad expanse making the room feel small as he gestured to me. "Oh, so doing what she needs to for her family means her not going to the damn hospital to get her arm looked at? I find it awfully convenient that every time I asked her about it she made excuses as to why she couldn't go."

  "Jesse, stop," I hissed.

  This was going to go sideways. And fast.

  "No. This is bullshit. I want to know why you haven't gotten your arm looked at," he demanded.

  Everyone's heated gaze fell to mine.

  The pressure was suffocating.

  So I blurted out the truth. The one no one in the room was supposed to know. "Because I don't have any insurance, okay? Does that make you happy now? I'm too poor to afford it."

  "Jada! You told us you had insurance through work! So now you're a liar too?" my dad said in an accusing voice.

  My mom's eyes looked haunted and sad. "Oh, love. You should have told me. We could have figured something out."

  Jesse stared at me in shocked silence with his hands propped on his narrow waist.

  "I couldn't afford it, dad."

  It was the truth. I couldn't. If I'd signed up for the insurance the company offered, it would have taken half of every check. We needed that money.

  Dad's jaw thrust forward. He was ready for a fight. I knew where this conversation was going to go. This was the side of him I was most embarrassed of.

  "Well, if you didn't waste so much money on those damn scraps of shit you buy, and having your head constantly in the clouds with things you'll never accomplish, you could probably afford it. Dreaming is for losers, Jada. Wake up to the real world already."

  "Roy, that's not fair," my mom warned.

  It wasn't fair, and I'd had enough of everyone telling me what I could or couldn't do.

  I broke.

  Shoving myself into a standing position, I lost it.

  "Maybe if I didn't have to pay for your damn prescriptions every month, I'd have money to take care of mysel
f. Maybe if you'd taken better care of yourself you wouldn't be in the position you're in! I'm sorry you lost your leg, Dad. I'm sorry you're no longer able to work. But you know what? A lot of that sits squarely on your shoulders. You ignored your own health when you still had time to do something about it. It's been on my shoulders to have to take care of you since I was a freshman in high school. That's not fair. Knowing my life will never be my own, because all my money has to go to you—that's not fair. Having you spit on my dreams every time I get excited about something, even though I've given up my entire life for you … That's not fair!" My chest rose and fell rapidly as I tried to catch my breath.

  I'd never spoken like that to either of my parents in my life.

  I hadn't realized how much I resented my dad until that moment.

  And I felt like crap for it.

  "Maybe we should go," Jesse said in a silky voice.

  "Yeah. Maybe we should."

  My dad's head bowed to his chest. He refused to meet my eyes. I grabbed my discarded bandages from the couch and stalked out of the room.

  "Jada, please don't leave like this," my mom pleaded, hot on my heels.

  I stopped mid-stride and turned to face her. "I'm sorry, Mom. This isn't how this was supposed to go."

  She pulled me into a hug. "We've expected too much from you and it's not right. This is your life to live and I'm not going to let us hold you back anymore."

  It felt like a goodbye.

  My chest ached as my bottom lip quivered.

  "Wait right here. I have something for you. Don't go anywhere." She darted out of the room.

  Jesse strode over to my bed and sat down, gesturing for me to sit beside him. Without saying a word he held his hand out. I knew without asking what he wanted and rested my hand on his thigh. He took the gauze I'd stuck in his awaiting hand and tended to my arm. Rewrapping it the best he could with used bandages.

  I felt so numb inside, the pain didn't even register.

  Just as Jesse was finished, my mom appeared back in the room. She handed me a check.

  "Mom, I can't take money from you." I pushed the check back.

  "No. You need to take this and use the money to get your arm looked at. It looks really bad and you can't ignore it anymore."

  I shook my head at her. There was no way I was taking that money.

  "You don't understand, love. This is your check. The one DeAnna returned to me."

  That got my attention. I shook my head, my mouth parted in surprise. I was also confused as heck.

  "What check? What are you talking about?"

  I glanced from her to Jesse. His hand clamped down on mine, as his expression turned hard and resentful. Like he didn't want me to know what she was about to say.

  My mom sighed and leaned against my dresser. "Remember when I asked you about why the check for the class hadn't been cashed yet?"

  I nodded absently, vaguely remembering the conversation. "Yeah."

  "Well, after you talked to DeAnna about it, she called me."

  "She called you?" I repeated, not understanding why DeAnna would call my mother.

  She nodded and smiled tentatively. "Yes. She said she knew we were having a hard time financially and after seeing your work the first day, she knew you were the real deal and offered the check back in exchange for me not telling you."

  "And you just broke that promise, didn't you?" Jesse barked and stood abruptly.

  My mom's eyes softened somehow even though his face was like stone. Hard and unmoving.

  "You knew about this?" I asked him, suddenly feeling betrayed.

  His honey gaze hardened, yet he said nothing.

  "So you're telling me they gave you the money back? And you didn't say anything to me because they asked you not to? I've been stressed out, worried about how you were going to pay for his medicine because I wasn't working full-time. I worried you'd be working yourself to death trying to come up with the extra cash and you had the money to afford it all this time?"

  Tears filled my mom's eyes. "Jada, I'm sorry. I thought not telling you would take the weight off of you. I know how much you hate feeling like a charity case and we agreed that's exactly how you'd take it. You tend to get defensive about this stuff."

  She was right. I did, but it didn't make it okay.

  "What's your excuse?" I turned to Jesse with my arms folded over my chest in a huff.

  "You wanted to earn your spot. You did without having to pay for it. Just like any other apprentice would have." His expression was still hard and guarded.

  I rolled my eyes to try to keep my own tears from falling. "I don't want your money, Mom. I'll call you when I'm ready and tell you the rest of the story. For now, I need to go. I can't stay here."

  She pulled me into a hug and sighed. "Please don't hate me forever."

  "I don't hate you. I'm just upset and need some space."

  She dipped her chin and left the room.

  Quickly, I packed a bag with the essentials I needed. I didn't know where I was going to land, but it wasn't going to be here.

  Jesse climbed out the window and caught my bag as I tossed it down to him.

  When I climbed over the windowsill, with my feet dangling toward the ground, he lifted me by the waist and set me on the grass in front of him.

  Even though I was upset with him, I wrapped my arms around him.

  He returned the embrace and buried his nose in my hair, taking a deep breath.

  I wasn't sure how long we stood there, but it was long enough for me to pull it together before we skulked across the yards to his car.

  We left the trailer park unnoticed. How? With all the yelling that had happened … I was kind of in shock. Jesse's phone pinged the same time mine did. We exchanged a glance as I picked mine up to look at it. The text was from DeAnna.

  It was a picture of us, a half hour ago, wrapped in each other's arms outside my trailer after the biggest fight I'd ever had with my parents. I didn't bother to look for a caption. Whatever it read wouldn't be the truth. So it didn't matter.

  My lips parted as I sucked in a breath.

  "What is it?" Jesse asked, his eyes flicking from the road to mine.

  "They saw us," I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

  He grunted. That stupid non-explanation of a grunt.

  "Is that all you can say?" I demanded.

  Now look at who wanted to pick a fight. Realizing that just made me angrier.

  He shrugged dismissively. "I guess it just doesn't surprise me. With the telephoto lenses they have, who knows how far away he was."

  That made me bristle. "How do you live like this?"

  His shoulders rose and fell again. "What other choice do I have?"

  He turned in the opposite direction of his house. "Uh, where are we going?"

  "To get your arm looked at."

  The way he said it, like it was common knowledge and a non-issue, made me huff.

  "How many times do I have to tell you, that I don't have insurance?"

  Jesse growled at me. "Whatever it costs, I'll pay for it. But you need to get it looked at, Jane."

  Jane. The stupid nickname that used to drive me crazy, even a few days ago, now made my lips twist into a small smile.

  We pulled into Emergency parking and walked in side by side. Maybe an inch separated the space between our hips. His hand rested on my lower back, guiding me. It also drove my hormones crazy at the same time.

  After we checked in, we sat down to wait in the only open corner of the waiting room. Jesse had slipped a hat on, pulling the bill low before we got out of the car. It wasn't really the best disguise, but it was enough and no one seemed to recognize him.

  The last thing I expected was for someone to recognize me.

  "Jada?"

  I glanced up nervously to face whoever called my name. My shoulders relaxed as Toya and Quinten stood in front of us. Quinten's eyes were wide with admiration. Only he wasn't staring at me, he was openly gawking at Jesse.
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br />   "Toya! What are you guys doing here?" I stood and gave her a hug over her pregnant belly.

  "I was just about to ask you the same thing! Is your arm worse than you let on?" The mothering tone of voice made me smile. It reminded me of my mom.

  Thinking of her made the smile slip from my face.

  "Yes, her arm is much worse than she tells anyone," Jesse muttered. The rasp of his voice did things to me I wished I could act on.

  "It is you," Quinten whispered with wide-eyed innocence.

  Toya's eyes and mine turned to him and Jesse.

  Jesse lifted the bill of his hat just enough so his eyes showed.

  Quinten thrust his hand out to Jesse. "Hi, sir. My name is Quinten James. I love your cars. When I grow up, I want to be just like you."

  The volume in which Quinten kept his voice was low, like he knew Jesse didn't want to be recognized. The kid was incredible for only being six. I'd never met anyone his age with that kind of maturity.

  Jesse's lips twisted into a smile as he shook Quinten's hand. "It's nice to meet you, Quinten. Are you the same Quinten who rides the bus with my Jada?"

  My Jada?

  My head spun in a circle as I tried to grasp the meaning of that.

  "Yes, sir. Thank you very much for the picture and the hat." He pointed to his head, which for the first time I noticed he was wearing the Valentine's hat I'd given him.

  Jesse's gaze lifted to mine. He gave me a small nod and returned his attention to Quinten.

  Toya leaned in to talk to me. "You guys just made his year."

  I smiled at her, understanding what it was like to meet your idol. Even though I didn't exactly idolize Jesse anymore. Somewhere early on, our relationship had shifted into something else. I had no idea what it was … but it was definitely different.

  "He's such a good boy. I have to tell you, you've done one heck of a job raising him."

  Tears filled her eyes. "Thank you. That's very kind of you to say."

  I turned to face her while the guys continued to talk. "Is everything okay?" I glanced at her swollen belly. "I never expected to see you in the ER."

  She gave me a dismissive wave. "Oh, yeah. We're fine. I have appointments three times a week for fetal non-stress tests. My pregnancy has been high risk, so this has been part of our routine for the last few months."