We settle the twins at Rita’s and I run back to my apartment to grab my purse and car keys. I take the stairs two at a time and crash through the main door out on to the street, then jump straight into the car and start the trip to Kenilworth.
I pull up outside Jake’s Bar and prepare myself to go inside. I don’t know what I’m going to find inside, but I do know I’ll find the place trashed and Ken slumped over the bar or on the floor out cold. I don’t know why he always insists on drinking here. I suppose it has something to do with Jake not calling the cops on him, but that’s only because I keep telling Jake I’ll pay for the damage. I have no idea how I’ll ever do that, the bill must be stupidly high now.
I pass through the door and see Ken slumped against the wall. Three broken stools lie in pieces across the floor, while two tables appear to be missing a leg or two. Shattered glass covers the majority of the floor and table tops, soaked from the liquid that was once inside them.
“Jake, I’m sorry,” I say instantly to the bar owner. “I’ll take care of it.”
“You’ve been saying that for the last four months that your dad has been coming in here to drink, Sarah-Jayne,” he replies. I don’t know why, but Jake has always used my full name, like he’s trying to assert authority over me. Unfortunately, it works, because although the man is tall, dark and handsome, he scares the shit out of me. You would never know from the charming smile and sapphire blue eyes, his jet-black spiky hair and perfect teeth that he was part of an underworld crime syndicate. He’s someone you really don’t want to mess with.
“I know, I’m trying to get the money together it’s just rough right now,” I try to reason with him.
“The damage your dad has caused is adding up, it’s approaching the ten grand mark. After all this, I’d say we are past that now, wouldn’t you?” Jake says, staring at me intensely.
“Can’t you just ban him from coming in here?” I ask.
“I could but then where is the fun in that?”
“I don’t understand,” I reply, not liking at all how dark his eyes have become as they settle on my breasts.
“I know how much you don’t want your father to be arrested and in all honesty, I wouldn’t call the police anyway,” he says, his voice taking on a dangerous edge. “So I can take my ten grand out of your dad, but I can’t promise he’ll be alive when I’m done, or you and I can come to some sort of arrangement to cover his debt.”
He prowls toward me, licking his lips like I’m his prey and he’s ready to devour me. “Wh-what sort of arrangement?” I ask as my stomach lurches and my throat feels like it’s closing up.
“Oh come on Sarah-Jayne, you aren’t that innocent.” he says, his hand shoots out rapidly and cups my sex. I flinch and practically stop breathing as his eyes light up and a malicious grin spreads across his face. “My, my Sarah-Jayne, you really are that innocent.”
His statement and facial expression sends my brain into survival mode. “Get your hands off of me!” I yell as wrap my hand around his wrist and yank it away.
The smile drops and fury takes over his expression, he steps forward and grabs a handful of hair on the back on my head. My scalp feels like its burning and tears begin to form from the pain and fear. Using my hair as a leash, he tilts my head up and brings his face down to mine so they are practically touching. They say that the eyes are the window to the soul, if that’s true then Jake’s soul is dead.
“You owe me, you little bitch. I will get my money or I’ll make you pay my way. This is your last chance Sarah-Jayne, am I clear? Next time, I’m taking that virgin pussy of yours,” he grates out angrily. “I do not take kindly to being screwed over.”
Tears are falling freely down the sides of my face, but I manage to answer him. “There won’t be a next time. I’ll get you your money.”
He brings his lips to my ear. “There will be a next time, and a time after that, and a time after that,” he whispers. His tongue forms a path around the shell of my ear, down along my jaw and then up and over the seam of my lips. I whimper in fear, but I think he mistakes the sound, either that or fear is what get’s him off. “Now there’s a noise I can’t wait to hear more of.”
I don’t say anything. I try to hold in the tears that keep slipping out of the corners of my eyes. After staring at me for the longest time, Jake finally lets go of my hair.
“Get your dead beat dad out of here. I’ll see you very soon, Sarah-Jayne.”
I shake Ken, but he doesn’t wake up. “Ken, get up!” I shout firmly. All I get in reply is a grunt. “Ken. Ken, please wake up. You can sleep in the car.”
“Looks like the old man doesn’t want to leave,” Jake chuckles behind me.
“Can you help me please?” I ask, because he’s my only option.
“What do I get in return?” he asks smugly.
“You get to lock up and go home,” I snap.
He appears to think about it for a moment. “Yet this seems like more fun,” he laughs.
“Screw you,” I mumble under my breath.
“I already offered you that,” he replies. I ignore him and go back to trying to wake Ken. “Fine, I’ll help you,” he says genuinely after a minute. The charming grin plastered back on his face.
I want to scream and shout, and be stubborn and tell him I don’t need his fucking help. That I’ll do it my goddamn self, but I want to get out of here and I can’t move Ken on my own. Finally I nod, keeping my eyes firmly on the floor.
Jake is a lot stronger than he looks, he literally picks Ken up with one hand and drags him to the car. I go to climb in the driver’s seat when Jake blocks me from entering the car with his arm. He grabs the top of my arm and turns me around, slamming my back into the side of the car quicker than I can react. He blocks my escape by placing his hands on the roof of the car on either side of my shoulders.
His mouth comes down on my lips, ferocious and feral. There is nothing romantic about this kiss. His tongue strokes the seam of my lips, seeking entry into my mouth. I pull myself together and push him away, wiping his saliva from my face.
“Don’t you dare touch me. You might not call the police, but I will,” I threaten.
The growl that emanates from his throat scares the shit out of me. I notice too late as the back of his hand connects with my right cheek. I fall to the ground in a daze. I stay down. On my hands and knees I look at the ground, taking short sharp breaths to stop myself from crying and looking even more pathetic than I already do. I don’t need to get up though, Jake lowers himself to my level.
“Don’t you dare threaten me. Next time you won’t leave this place with your innocence intact. Willingly or not, it’s mine to take until you have paid me every penny you owe me,” he tells me, stands up and then spits on the ground beside my hands. He walks off laughing and I turn to sit on my ass, blinking rapidly and biting my lip to stop myself from crying. Eventually a whimpered sob passes my lips and the floodgate open. I cry for a good ten minutes before I finally get up and dust myself off. I will not be a victim. I’ve spent my life making sure the twins and I don’t end up being just another statistic, I’m not about to fold now.
***
I pulled up outside the house, were Ken rents a room, half an hour ago. I tried to wake him, but he didn’t even stir. Eventually I hear the tell tale sign of his breathing changing and the small movement that seems to spasm through his arms and legs.
He grunts as he sits up, holding his head and squeezing his eyes shut. When he finally opens his eyes, he looks around. A little confused and dazed, his eyes land on me.
“SJ? Wh-what’s going on?” he asks.
“You got drunk again Dad. I had to pick you up from Jake’s after you trashed the place again,” I tell him.
“I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t Dad. I don’t want your excuses. Just get inside so I can go home. I have to work in the morning,” I say and lower my head.
He doesn’t say anything for the longest time. We just sit
in the car in complete silence. When I look at him, he’s staring at me, his hand comes up to touch my face. “What happened?” he asks, lightly rubbing my cheek.
“Let’s just say, Jake’s fed up of waiting for his money,” I say and leave it at that.
“Jake did this?”
“Yeah,” I say simply. “Why do you keep going back there?”
His face is a mixture of anger and guilt. “He doesn’t cut me off, he lets me drink until I pass out.”
“Why are you drinking? I thought you were sober?”
“I was, until a social worker got back to me about Maddie and Mitch.”
“Oh yeah,” I say, gulping down my panic. “What did they say?”
“They can’t find them. Can you believe that? My children are lost in the system.”
I don’t respond, too scared my quivering voice will give away my secret. Ken isn’t my biological father, but he has been there for me since I was a very little girl, so it hurts a little that he hasn’t mentioned me as one of his children.
“SJ, I can’t stay here tonight.” Ken’s voice finally cuts though my thinking.
“Why?”
“I’m on my last warning. If I come back drunk once more, I’m out.”
“Where do you want me to take you then?”
“I don’t have anywhere else to go,” he says and before I know it, I’m offering him a bed for the night.
***
We pull up to my building and I turn to him. “One night. You sleep on the sofa and you’re gone first thing in the morning.”
“SJ, I know you hate me right now and I’m truly sorry,” he tells me.
“I don’t hate you, I just don’t understand you,” I say and go to get out of the car when Ken grabs hold of my upper arm in a tight grip.
“You don’t understand me?” he growls. “I raised you like my own, you ungrateful little shit. Your whore of a mother got herself knocked up and I took you both in. She was whoring herself around for years. I’m not even sure the twins are mine, but I stayed and took care of you all,” he says as he starts to raise his voice. “Even after the skank ran off and abandoned us, I took care of you all until those fucking social workers turned up.”
“No Ken, you turned to alcohol and I took care of us. We ended up on the street because of you. Now remove your hand from my arm before I drive you back to Jake’s and you can pay your own debt to him,” I threaten.
“You wouldn’t dare,” he argues.
“You want to bet on that?” I ask as I turn the ignition back on.
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry,” he begs, his arm dropping back to his seat.
“I put up with your shit for two years after the skank left us and I’m still doing it now, the difference now is I’m an adult.”
“Then why do you put up with me?” he asks.
“Because I love you Dad and because you’re the only parent I have.” And because I have the twins and I’m hiding them from you to protect them, and every time you fall off the wagon I know it’s because you miss them so much and that it’s all my fault.
“I love you too, Sarah-Jayne. You know that right?”
“Then get yourself sober,” I tell him in a last ditch attempt to help him.
Chapter 6
I waited all morning Saturday to hear from SJ but she didn’t call. I hadn’t heard from her for the remainder of the week and I was worrying now. I needed to do some digging and find out what had happened to her. Find out why she was on the streets at such a young age and not going to college. I had a surprise for SJ that I wanted her to share with the other residents in her building. I couldn’t wait to tell her but she hadn’t called me. Taking control of things, I decided to call her.
“Hello?” she answers quietly.
“Hey, it’s Caleb,” I reply hesitantly.
“Is everything okay?” she asks, clearly perplexed as to why I’m calling her.
“I was going to ask you that. You said you’d call and let me know about tonight.”
“Oh, you still want to take me out?”
“Of course I do,” I respond to her surprised comment.
“Well, the thing is, I don’t really have anything to wear to dinner,” she confesses.
“I don’t suppose you can get away for a bit?”
“Sorry, I’ve got Rita’s children till six.”
“Okay, I’ll send someone to you.”
“Huh?”
“A shop assistant and stylist, be ready by seven,” I playfully demand, smiling like a fucking idiot into the phone.
Once I hang up, I take a few breaths—I will not get myself this riled up over a girl. I call Macy’s and ask them to send someone over to SJ’s with a selection of evening dresses, shoes, and accessories. After giving them a rough profile of her, I ask if they know any good hair and make-up stylist and she is also now on her way to SJ’s.
I then call Taberna Del Alabardero and thanks to the power of money, secure us a secluded table that any other person would have had to wait a year for.
I pull up at SJ’s in a sleek black limo. I decided that if I’m going to dress her up and take her out, I might as well do it in style. With a bouquet of pink and white calla lilies in hand, I knock on her door. I can’t believe how nervous I am, but then again, it’s been a long time since I’ve been on a date with someone I actually want to go out with and not just have sex with. When SJ opens the door, I’m speechless. She is wearing the most innocent and elegant dress that still manages to look goddamn sexy. It clings to her in all the right places.
“Do I look okay?” she asks nervously. She’s wearing a Betsy and Adams, black floor length dress, tight fitting all the way down. It has a high neck line and capped sleeves made from lace, with ruffling detail down the side. She’s wearing black heels and a black beaded bracelet, so understated yet so perfect. Even her hair is quaint, pulled back into a simple high bun.
“You look...” I start, trying to find the perfect word.
“I don’t know whether your silence is a good thing or bad,” she says hesitantly.
“Good, definitely good,” I manage, handing her the flowers and offering my arm. “Shall we?”
“Yes, one moment,” she says and unsteadily walks back into her apartment, placing the flowers in a sink of water and saying goodbye to her children and Rita. “I’m ready.”
I open the door and help her into the limo. She hasn’t said a word about it and now I’m worrying about the same thing she did—is her silence a good thing or bad?
“You okay?” I ask, trying to break this icy silence.
“Yeah, sorry it’s a lot to take in,” she responds.
“First time in a limo?”
“No, I ride in them every day.”
Sarcasm seems to be her go to defense mechanism. “What about when you went to prom, isn’t it all about the dress and the limo for a girl?”
I watch her closely as she wrings her hands in her lap. “I didn’t get to go to prom.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing?”
“I mean, for bringing up a subject that obviously hurts you.”
“It doesn’t hurt me,” she snaps. “I knew I would never go to prom, the twins came before a dress.”
“Okay, I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“I’m sorry I snapped. Money has always been tight for as long as I remember. I learned to budget and live on twenty dollars a week with the twins to feed. I get a bit angry when I see money wasted now. I don’t know why, it’s not like it’s my money to worry about.”
“I get it, I haven’t always had money.” I wince as I say it. I’ve probably always had more than she has. “I’m not trying to compare us, but I do, sort of understand.”
Her smile puts me at ease, letting me know she’s accepted my apology. “I don’t resent money, it’s greed that gets me.”
“What do you mean?”
“You for example,” she starts and I get ready to de
fend myself. “This limo, this dress, it’s what I would call a waste of money, but it was thoughtful of you and I feel like a princess.”
I love the blush that colors her cheeks. “You’re welcome.”
“I’m not finished,” she says and looks at me sheepishly. “You’ve brought our building to tear it down and build a new one, all for more money.”
“That’s my job,” I respond.
“Maybe, but you’re making sixty-six families homeless.”
“No I’m not. I’ve given plenty of notice.”
“You may think that, but you could give these people a year’s notice, and most of them still wouldn’t be able to find a home.”
“That isn’t my fault though. The building was for sale, if I didn’t buy it, someone else would have and they may not have been as lenient.”
“Look, let’s not spoil our evening. I’m sorry. Let’s just agree to disagree,” she says and I agree, I don’t want to spoil our evening, but I’m finding it hard to let it go.
“Okay, we’ll agree to disagree,” I respond. I won’t let anyone make me feel bad about what I do for a living, even if I am starting to think it might be the wrong thing to do. Wow, since when did I have a conscience? Damn, this woman is getting under my skin.
“So, where are we going?” she asks.
“Taberna Del Alabardero, it’s a beautiful restaurant. I hope you like Spanish food, they have the best tapas,” I tell her.
“I’ve never had Spanish food, except paella.”
“They have that too,” I say and receive a heart stopping smile in return. “How’s your week been?”
“It’s been good, thank you. Made even better by the new bathrooms. I actually relaxed in the bath last night.” She grins like it’s the best thing in the world.
“You should try my bath,” I say before thinking.
“Umm.”
“It’s okay SJ, I meant it jokingly,” I say to try and calm her nerves.
“You never know, I might take you up on that offer.” She laughs. “I bet you have all sorts of gadgets and stuff on it.”
Caleb (The Unseen Series Book 1) Page 6