Right There with You

by R. J. Sable

  “Want me to show you a video?” Jason asked, taking out his phone.

  “No, thanks,” I laughed. “I've seen him get his ass kicked plenty of times.”

  They both looked at me like I was insane.

  “What do you mean?” Grayson asked. “I thought you hadn't seen him fight?”

  “Not in the cage, but I've seen him get his ass handed to him by our big brothers a bunch of times.”

  “Now that I wouldn't mind seeing,” Grayson laughed

  “Oh?” I raised my eyebrows at him, not sure how I felt about him wanting to see my brother take a beating.

  “No, not like that. He seems like a great guy. I just don't think I've ever seen him lose.”

  I found that hard to imagine. He always told me he'd won but I just assumed he was saying that to make me feel better. He often came home looking like hamburger meat after a fight. I took another sip of my water, not really sure what to say.

  “Well, if you guys want to come, I can let you in through the back at quarter to eight so you can get a good view and skip the queue,” he offered, looking at Jason and I.

  “You up for it, Jamie?” Jason asked, grinning at me.

  I briefly contemplated saying no, I doubted my brothers would be okay with it, but I'd moved out and it was only fair I started to make my own decisions.

  “Sure, can I drop my stuff off at my flat first?”

  “Yeah, I was going to do the same.

  When we arrived, a pretty big queue had already formed at the front of the building and Jason guided me round the back to a metal door between two large dustbins. He knocked twice and I studied my feet intently, thinking about just how much trouble I would be in if my brothers knew I was doing this. They were always insistent that the crowds at these fights could get too rowdy for me to be there. The door swung open and I glanced quickly at the gargantuan tattooed guy who stood behind it. I focussed on the tribal tattoo on his arm, I recognized the design but I couldn't place it.

  “What?” The inked giant grunted.

  “We're with Grayson,” Jason replied, not breaking eye contact with the guy and seemingly not intimidated at all by his sheer size. Looking down at the guy’s trainers, I wondered why he didn't budge.

  “Don't I know you?” He asked, the tone of his voice softening.

  When Jason didn't answer, I glanced up and saw that he was talking to me. Realization dawning, I recognized him as a friend of Craig's who'd slept at our house quite a few times. I nodded up at him.

  “Hi, Simon. I almost didn't recognise you without your hair,” I said quietly, inwardly cursing myself. Why didn’t I realise there'd be people who knew my brothers here? I saw Jason looking down at me with his eyebrow raised.

  “Hey, Carter's kid sister, right?” He said, a smile appearing on his face as he pulled me away from Jason and into a bear hug.

  He grabbed my shoulder and held me at arms length. “Damn, you've grown. Last time I saw you, you were… younger,” he said and I blushed as I felt his eyes travel up and down my body. “Craig with you?” He asked, looking around as if expecting him to be hiding behind us.

  “No, he's back home,” I answered, panic setting in as I realised there was no way Craig wasn't going to find out I'd been here. “I'm here to see Grayson,” I said by way of an explanation when he still looked puzzled.

  “Alright, come on in,” he said, stepping back.

  I noticed the watch-your-ass glare he gave Jason, who seemed amused rather than threatened and I wondered idly if he had a death wish.

  Simon guided us to the back room and through the door to where the fighters were hanging out. Glancing around, I saw a number of familiar faces and cursed myself again. Jason had told me that Craig was known within the MMA community, I should have guessed that his friends would be mostly other fighters. Grayson spotted us and waved, making his way over, dressed in his shorts and a baggy, navy hoody.

  “How'd you two get in already?” He grinned at us.

  “I recognised Jelly,” Simon grunted, squeezing me around the shoulders.

  I winced, wondering if my shoulder was about to dislocate, but I didn't say anything. Grayson looked confused, probably by the nickname, but chose not to comment.

  “Thanks man,” Grayson nodded at the considerably larger man. “Shall we find you two somewhere to stand?” He asked, looking at Jason.

  Simon shook his head at Grayson and took a step forward. He thankfully released me from his embrace but kept his hand tightly over my shoulder.

  “No way, Jelly can sit in the judges' section. She'll get crushed otherwise.”

  I cringed as my cheeks burned. I was really regretting coming here now and contemplated asking Jason to take me home. Grayson took a step back from Simon and raised his palms up.

  “No arguments from me, man. That'd be real good of you,” Grayson said to Simon.

  Simon turned to face me and guided me through another door towards the noisy cage area.

  “Here you go,” he said, pushing me down on to one of the plastic seats next to a guy with a flashy looking camera. “Does Craig know you’re here?” He asked and I felt my ears burn as I shook my head, my gaze resting on my lap. I heard him sigh with irritation.

  “Stay here until the fights are over, okay? There are toilets back through there if you need them. Don't go out into the main area,” he ordered.

  I nodded my compliance. He seemed satisfied and turned, heading back to the other fighters. Grayson and Jason stood next to me looking completely blown away. I winced and smiled apologetically at them.

  “Sorry, I didn't realise there'd be people here that I knew,” I said quietly.

  “No worries, little Squirrel,” Jason said, sitting down in the seat next to me, he put his arm around my shoulders, but quickly removed it again and I wondered if Simon had indeed managed to scare him.

  “I gotta head back in there,” Grayson winked at us. “Enjoy the fights, I'll see you afterwards.”

  He headed back towards the back room. I watched him enter and was pretty sure I saw Simon pushing him up against the wall and yelling at him just before somebody shut the door. I cringed, hoping he was just giving him a friendly warning, but seriously doubting it.

  “So,” Jason said, turning to look at me. I cringed and focussed my eyes on the palms of my hands in my lap. “Jelly?” He asked and I could hear the humour in his voice.

  “It's what my brother's call me,” I shrugged, feeling some of the tension disappear as I realized he wasn't too pissed about the way Simon had bossed everyone around.

  Chapter 6

  Saturday, June 1st 2002

  The twins had just passed their driving tests and were taking every opportunity they could to drive - everywhere.

  “Anybody want anything from the supermarket?” A twin shouted from the hall.

  I was sat on the floor in the den between Craig's legs whilst he played a shoot-'em-up game with Karl and Matt.

  “Take Jamie-Lea with you,” Karl yelled up quickly as he spammed the fire button trying to kill Craig's soldier. The twin didn't reply and we heard his footsteps on the wooden stairs. He looked confused as he reached the bottom. Karl paused the game and looked over at him.

  “Why on earth would I take jelly with me?” He asked, looking thoroughly bewildered. It was Danny.

  The others burst into laughter as they realised that he'd misheard my name as jelly.

  “I said Jamie-Lea, not jelly,” Karl laughed.

  “I’m pretty sure you said jelly,” Danny grinned, reaching down to scoop me up off the floor and hang me upside down by my feet. “What do you think, Jelly?” He teased.

  My t-shirt fell down and Craig tickled my tummy roughly. I squealed in protest and pulled my t-shirt back up, waiting patiently for Danny to put me down whilst all the blood rush to my head.

  “I think he said jelly,” Matt added, casting aside his controller. “I think all that military training’s knocked a screw loose.”

  Karl
shoved Matt playfully and they ended up on the floor with Karl demonstrating quite clearly how effective his training had been as he pinned his best friend down.

  “I still have twelve weeks left, don’t ruin my week off.” He rolled off of Matt and helped pull him up from the floor. “Ja-mie-Lea,” he said clearly. “How hard is that to understand?”

  “Well, if you say it fast?” Danny offered, setting me down on the floor.

  I scampered to my feet and scowled at them all. “They don’t sound anything alike,” I said quietly, sitting back down on the floor between Craig’s legs with my back against the sofa and my knees drawn up to my chest.

  They spent a good ten minutes saying my name quickly over and over again in fits of laughter. The others heard the commotion and came down to join in. I was pretty annoyed that they were being mean to me at first, but it was nice to see everyone so relaxed and acting their ages so I just sat quietly on the floor and covered my face with my hands so they couldn't tell I wasn't really that upset.

  “I don’t like jelly,” Jake frowned.

  “Good, you shouldn’t be eating it anyway,” Ian scowled, ruffling Jake’s hair.

  “You remember when Craig fell asleep in a bowl of jelly when he was like seven?” Rick asked with a mischievous grin.

  “I didn’t fall asleep!” Craig protested. “Karl shoved my face in it!”

  “I don’t remember that,” Karl laughed. “You probably deserved it,” he shrugged and relaxed back into the sofa.

  “I remember,” Ian grinned. “It was his birthday.”

  “Oh, yeah. Shit, that was hilarious,” Karl looked at Matt with a mischievous grin.

  “Yeah, I remember now.” Matt nodded. “Didn’t you accidentally fall into the dustbin after you woke up from your jelly nap?”

  I felt Craig tense behind me but he didn’t reply. He was smarter than that. They were just trying to provoke him. He was relatively safe whilst Ian was in the room but as soon as he left they’d make him regret it if he retorted now. Matt and Karl were meaner to Craig than Jake was to me.

  “He did,” Karl laughed. “You want to see if you’ll still fit, Craig?”

  Craig shook his head and my brothers all laughed.

  “I bet Jamie-Lea would fit,” Rick teased.

  “You mean Jelly?” Danny laughed.

  “She’d get smelly if we put her in the dustbin,” Ian grinned wickedly.

  “Smelly Jelly!” Jake exclaimed, eliciting tumultuous laughter from my brothers.

  After a while they'd recovered their composure and Ian had ordered the twins out to get the shopping. They took me with them and made fun of me the whole way there, but they both gave me a hug when we got out the car and Rick let me sit on his shoulders as they took me round the supermarket so I wasn't too bothered. They made a point of buying jellybeans on the way out with mischievous grins on their faces.

  Chapter 7

  Saturday, 22nd September 2012

  “So, let me get this straight,” Jason grinned at me, pulling my attention back to the scene in front of me and away from childhood memories. “Squirrel – which is adorable, I might add – is unacceptable, but Jelly – a jiggley, gelatinous desert – is totally fine?” His playful smile warmed my heart and I couldn't help but grin back.

  I shrugged up at him. “I have absolutely no say in whether or not I get called Jelly. It started when I was almost eight and there's no way they're gonna stop. Besides, I kinda like it now,” I said honestly. They'd started calling me Jelly that night and hadn't stopped since then.

  “But you don't like squirrel?” He asked

  “Squirrels are rodents with sticky-out teeth,” I pointed out.

  “They're cute! What's wrong with you, woman?” He joked, poking me in the ribs. I couldn't help but laugh. He really did make me feel comfortable.

  I looked up at the cage as the first fight was announced and leant forward in my seat, ready to watch.

  As the last fighters cleared the cage, Jason leant over and spoke into my ear so I could hear him over the crowd. “What did you think?”

  It had been pretty awesome to see, granted a little bloody and cringe worthy at times, but there was nothing worse than what I'd seen my brothers do to each other over the years. I had to admit that the sheer strength and dedication of some of the fighters was incredible to see.

  “It was amazing! Thanks for bringing me,” I grinned up at him.

  “I'm glad you enjoyed it.”

  We didn't have to wait long after the room cleared. Simon came sauntering out of the back room with his hands still wrapped, and made his way towards me. I beamed up at him and stood up to give him a hug and congratulate him on his win.

  “Nice job,” I smiled. “You made it look effortless.”

  “That's 'cause it was,” he winked smugly and motioned for us to follow him into the back room. We found Grayson sat on a bench with an ice pack pressed to his face but he grinned when he saw us approaching. He bumped fists with Jason and looked cautiously over at Simon.

  “You won!” I smiled at Grayson, bending down to give him a hug.

  “Barely,” Simon grunted.

  I narrowed my eyes at him and noticed Jason flexing his fists by his side. Grayson's eyes widened and he laughed, trying to defuse the situation.

  “You wanna head back, Jamie?” Jason asked me, effectively breaking the tension.

  “Sure,” I answered, trying and failing to suppress a yawn.

  “I'll take her home,” Simon grunted.

  “Oh, no, Simon, honestly. It's fine. You don't have to do that,” I tried to reason with him. This is so embarrassing!

  “I wasn't asking, Jelly,” he said, his mouth setting in a hard line. My shoulders sagged and I knew there was no point arguing with him.

  “I'll take her home, it's not a problem,” Jason said, looking Simon straight in the eyes.

  Oh dear. This will not end well. Grayson was hovering nervously behind Simon and seemed unsure what to do.

  “Are you deaf or stupid?” Simon snarled at him, the muscle in his jaw practically jumping off his face. “I'm driving her home, end of story.”

  “Jamie's a grown woman, you can't force her to do anything,” he said calmly, without taking his eyes off of Simon.

  “I'm not letting her walk through town at this time of night with some guy she's known all of five minutes!” Simon shouted, taking a step towards Jason, so that they were practically nose-to-nose.

  Jason continued looking calmly into Simon's eyes, barely blinking. “I'll make sure she gets home alright,” he said simply, refusing to raise his voice.

  The others in the room were staring now and I could feel the tension building. Knowing what would happen next and terrified that Simon would hurt Jason, I stepped closer to Simon's side.

  “It's okay Jason, I don't mind,” I said, trying to get him to look at me and relieve some of the tension between them. When that didn't work I tugged on Simon's arm. “Please, Simon, take me home. I'm ready to go,” I pleaded with him.

  After a few tense seconds, he pushed past Jason, knocking him back as he grabbed my wrist in one hand and his gym bag in the other. I turned my head back as Simon dragged me through the door and mouthed an apology to a shocked looking Jason. Simon pulled me through the backyard towards a small parking area round the side.

  “Please, Simon!” I begged. “You're hurting me!” He carried on pulling me as I struggled to keep up with him. “Please!” I begged again and he released me as when got to a black Golf and he pulled his keys out of his gym bag. I rubbed my sore left wrist with my right hand. I was dangerously close to tears, more from the embarrassment than the pain. He opened the passenger door and pushed me inside. I belted myself in and waited as he got in beside me. He does not look happy.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you?” He shouted, hitting the heel of his hand against the steering wheel.

  “I'm sorry,” I whispered, my voice breaking as some of the tears managed to break t
hrough. I wiped them away as quickly as I could and tried to pull myself as far into the seat as possible, keeping my eyes focussed on the floor of the car. Simon braced his arms against the steering wheel and took a deep breath. After a while he sighed and turned to face me.

  “Can you imagine how pissed off with me your brothers would have been if anything had happened to you tonight and I hadn't stepped in?” He asked.

  I nodded, knowing he was right, but thinking they'd be even more pissed off with me. I'd put him in an awkward situation.

  “Are you going to tell them?” I asked meekly, still unable to look up at him.

  He sighed again. “That's really not my place, Jelly,” he said, sounding much calmer. “But I'm not gonna deny it if they ask me,” he added, and the threat in his words was obvious.

  I nodded again as he turned the ignition on.

  “Where do you live?” He asked as he pulled out of the parking lot and headed out to the main road. He'd insisted on driving me right up to the front door.

  “You take care of yourself, okay?” He pulled me towards him over the handbrake and gave me a quick, one-armed hug.

  I nodded and smiled meekly at him. “Thanks for the lift,” I said, opening the car door.

  “Anytime,” he nodded back as I shut the door and headed up to my room.

  I pulled my clothes off and threw my pyjamas on before launching myself into the pillow, finally allowing all the tears to flow. I sobbed into my pillow. Jason will probably never want to see me again; he must think I'm so pathetic. I groaned as I remembered the look on his face as Simon had dragged me out.

  A knock on my door made me jump. I hopped off the bed, grabbing a tissue and wiping my eyes and nose as I went to open the door.

  “Hi,” Adam said sheepishly as I opened the door slightly and looked up at him.

  “Hi,” I said back, blushing as I realised he must have been able to hear me through the walls.

  “Sorry,” he said, looking awkward. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

  My first thought was to say I was fine and send him away, but I felt so pathetic and lonely and I just wanted a hug. I wanted to call Alex or Elise, but it was far too late to call them. I shook my head at Adam, tears spilling down my cheek.