by Paige Powers
“Your Mom—.” I grabbed his shirt. He looked stunned.
“I want to know the truth,” I whispered fiercely. He frowned. I dropped his shirt and picked it up. There was another bruise forming and the one on his hip yellowing. He looked away, teeth clenched.
“I don’t—.”
“If you don’t give me an answer I swear to God….” I warned, my hands almost shaking. He looked at me with sad eyes.
“I think I should leave,” he said and moved around me. I shook my head tasting blood in my mouth again. I grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around.
“Jack,” I breathed. “I want to know now.” With that, I pulled him in and mashed my lips against his. He acted a little late but slowly put his arms around me pulling me tighter against him. But somehow it wasn’t tight enough. I kissed him, putting every ounce of everything I felt about us. Finally I pulled back, both of us panting. His lip was bleeding a little bit but he didn’t seem to notice. He was frowning with his blue eyes dull.
“Lidia,” he said his voice sad and miserable. I shook my head. He looked away then nodded. “OK,” he breathed. “I’ll tell you,” he whispered.
Chapter 27
I turned out the light and turned the one on at my night stand. Jack sat on my bed with his legs stretched out leaning on the post. I sat leaning on the head rest. Jack sighed and looked away from me.
“My mom met a guy at a bar a couple of months ago. Scott. When he first started coming over, he was nice and Mom loved him. I even thought he was cool. He started living with us about 2 weeks after they met.” He bit the inside of his jaw trying to find the right words. “One night, he and my mom came back to the house and he was drunk. My mom was trying to get him into bed when he told her to get him another beer. She wouldn’t. He hit her.” My mouth fell. Jack looked tense and about to hit something. A nerve bulged in his neck. He wouldn’t look me in the eyes. “My mom was so shocked. Then as he went to swing at her again I told him to stop...and he hit me. As I started to yell and tried getting my mom out of there he got up and started hitting me.” I looked down at his hands clenched tightly into fist in the sheets. My heart pounded. “The next day I told my mom she needed to kick him out. She wouldn’t. She said it was one night and it wouldn’t happen again. Luckily she didn’t get hurt as bad as me. I stayed home that day and when Scott woke up he said he was sorry. He came in and told me he was drunk and it wouldn’t happen again. It did. The next week, he came back drunk and falling over. The next time he wasn’t drunk. He hit my mom again for nothing. When I saw, I was so mad I wanted to kill him. He was stronger.” His voice was so low I had to listen intently. “I can’t stop him. Almost every weekend he hits me. I rather it be me than my mom.”
“Why won’t she kick him out?” I almost yelled. He shook his head.
“He threatened her. He said that if she kicks him out he will kill both of us.” Tears were stinging my eyes. I was clenching the blanket now. “He gave me these last weekend for not taking out the trash,” he said, raising his shirt to show the bruise I had seen before. My lungs didn’t have any air in them.
“Why don’t you call the cops? He’s abusing you!” I said beating my hand against the bed. He shook his head.
“We can’t. If we do, we don’t have any proof that he’s beating me. They know my criminal record and they’d think I got into a fight with a kid from school.” He shrugged.
“Jack...,” I said almost crying. He looked at me.
“He’s never sober but I try to stay out of the house. I try to get my mom out, too, but she doesn’t want to make him mad by not being at home when he is. I wanted to leave. Just move back home. Her and I. But she wouldn’t. She says she ‘loves him’.” He rolled his eyes but you could see that they were sad. The anger. I looked down at his chest where his shirt revealed the bruise his mom’s boyfriend gave him. How could he let this happen? Suddenly I was mad at him. Why can’t he fight back? Why can’t he take his mom and just leave! Instead of staying and getting beat up! Then I was mad at Jane: for letting this happen to her son, for letting her son get beat up by her boyfriend.
“That’s why you didn’t want me to come over this Saturday.” I whispered. He looked up and nodded. How could I have not seen this? Why didn’t I see? I could have helped him. I could have let him stay here with me. “Why is your mom letting this happen?” I finally asked. He shrugged.
“Don’t get me wrong, she hates seeing me get the ass knocked out of me. It’s just that she’s afraid. I got into a fight with her tonight about moving again. That’s why I asked to come over here.” I nodded. “Plus Mr. Oversize Pants threatened if I didn’t leave the house tonight he was going to give me a punch in the face.” My jaw clenched. I hated this Scott guy more than I have hated anyone in my life. I almost imagined myself killing him. He put Jack through all of this! He hurt him. Jack snorted. “I slept in my car a couple times because of him. I mean I love my car but those seats are uncomfortable, but it’s better than getting another bruise.”
“How long has this been going on for?” I asked. He looked at his hands his jaw still tense.
“A month and a couple of weeks.” I swallowed, staring at him as he looked away, avoiding my eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” I whispered. He looked up, angry.
“Like you would even care!” he growled and stood up, turning his back to me. “It’s humiliating. Not being able to fight back,” he whispered. I stood up, my legs shaky.
“Jack,” I said, coming up to his back. I pulled at his forearm, turning him around to face me. I looked him in the eyes. “We might not be together for real and may not be the best of friends, but I care about something like that.” Just tell him Lidia! No! Yes! No, I can’t. He looked at me. I could feel him almost looking into my soul again. Knowing me, for who I am. “You can always stay here if you need to. I am always here for you.” I said and gave his arm a squeeze.
“Thanks,” he said quietly, almost in a daze. I put my arms around his waist and hugged him. He was a little shocked at first but he eventually put his arms around me and hugged me tightly back. “I think we can count ourselves as friends,” he mumbled close to my ear as he put his head down to my hair. I laughed a little. I didn’t want to let go. His smell was so familiar and I wanted him. No, I didn’t! Yes, you do. No, I don’t! I argued with myself. His warm body felt good against mine and I stuffed my face into his shoulder as much as possible. I wanted his bittersweet smell to rub off on me. Finally, we pulled back and stood awkwardly. I laughed.
“Well, um, thanks for telling me.”
“You can’t tell anyone, Lidia,” he said, panic in his voice. I wanted to call the cops. I wanted to tell someone so they could take Scott away but Jack would hate me. I nodded.
“OK,” I looked down. “Wait,” I said looking up. “Will he hurt me on Saturday?” I asked, feeling scared. His eyes blazed.
“No. I won’t let him. I will kill him before he touches you.” He sounded so serious it almost scared me.
“What should I do? I mean, what if he finds out that I know?” I said. Jack shook his head.
“He won’t hurt you, and if he finds out…,” he trailed off and swallowed.
“Oh, Jack,” I said, feeling tears again.
“He can’t hurt you! Not for me!” Jack smirked down at me, which surprised me.
“What?” I asked. He shook his head and laughed. “This is not a laughing matter!” I yelled. He put his hand over my mouth and I stopped.
“You sound like a really freaked out girlfriend afraid that her boyfriend is going to die.” I raised an eyebrow and he pulled his hand back. I shrugged and looked down.
“I am,” I whispered.
“Just don’t say anything about it and stay close to me.” I nodded. “And my mom said he might not even come. Depends.” Relief filled me. I don’t want Jack to get beat up because of me. It wasn’t right. I would call the cops if he did.
�
�OK,” I said and looked at the clock. “It’s midnight already,” I said with a sigh. He nodded.
“We should probably go to bed.” I went back to my bed and put away my books. “You read?” he asked, surprised. I looked at him and showed him the book. He raised an eyebrow. “Lord of the Flies, a little gory for a bedtime story?” he asked, amused. I laughed but then stopped and looked at him.
“You read it before?” This time he laughed and lay down on the floor.
“I’m not as dumb as I look, Princess.” I shrugged.
“You don’t seem the type.”
“And you shouldn’t judge.”
I narrowed my eyes at him and climbed in under the covers.
“I wasn’t judging…it’s just…”
“Yeah, you were,” he said.
“OK, so I was!” I said. “But can you blame me? I mean Jack Walker reading? Really, I would think hell would freeze over before that happened.”
He chuckled.
“I read. I read a lot, actually,” he said quietly. I turned off the light and just the light streaming through the window from the street came in. It cast an orange glow.
“Mm, you know I’m a little worried about you?” I said, leaning over the edge of the bed where he was. He had his hands behind his head and not under his Barbie cover, just lying on top with his clothes on. He looked up at me and my pulse started to beat faster.
“Why?” he asked. I smiled a little.
“Because you’re always doing things I would never have expected.” My words were soft and sweet and they meant a lot. He smiled without showing his white teeth. “Goodnight,” I whispered.
“Night.”
I lay back in bed and pulled a pillow to me and closed my eyes, smiling. Even though everything with Jack was on my mind, I couldn’t get that smile out of my brain. Or the fact that he was sleeping on the floor a foot away from me.
Chapter 28
I woke up to my alarm clock going off. Jack and I both groaned. I slapped it off and put my face back into the pillow. ‘Why couldn’t it be Saturday?’ I thought to myself. I want to sleep in! I sat up and yanked my hair out of the pony tail and let the curls fall down around my shoulders.
“I think my parents left,” I mumbled. Jack grunted in response. I stood up and went to my dresser, pulling out a pair of jeans and a pretty shirt. “I’ll be back,” I muttered and left the room. I went to the bathroom and changed quickly, brushing my hair out and putting on a little makeup. I grabbed my clothes and went back into my room. Jack was still sleeping. I smirked. I threw my clothes in the corner and went over to him. He was laying on his stomach with his brown locks covering his face. I leaned down, my legs on either side of him. “Jack?” I coed. “Get up.” I grinned as I thought of a plan. I grabbed the pillow off my bed and stood up. “Waky waky,” I muttered and went to throw the pillow down on his face when he jumped up scaring me. He grabbed my waist and pushed me back onto the mattress. I screamed and laughed as he landed on top of me. His blue eyes were still a little sleepy but his lips curved up into a grin. “You’re a rat,” I said, laughing.
“And you were going to hit me with a pillow,” he said, sounding insulted. I giggled. He laughed and got off of me. Not like I wanted him to, though. He put out his hand after ruffling his hair. I took it and he pulled me up. I laughed and fixed my shirt. “Can I use the shower?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Yeah, go ahead.”
He nodded and grabbed his backpack and headed into the bathroom. I heard the shower start as I grabbed a pop-tart and headed back to the room. Not too long after, he got out and came back into the room wearing dark jeans and a red T-shirt. He smelled good too. His hair was wet and fell down in front of his eyes. It was hard not to stare but I averted my eyes to my finger nails.
“Mm, a pop-tart,” he said and took it from me.
“Hey!” I yelled. He sat down beside me on the bed and I felt drips of water land on my arms and face. “That’s mine,” I said as he took another bite out of it. It was half way in his mouth already.
“What are you talking about, girl? You don’ need it.” I gasped and he laughed, almost choking on the pop-tart. He pulled it out of his mouth as I hit his shoulder and he laughed.
“Dork,” I muttered. At least I had eaten the other one. He finished it off and sighed.
“I’m still hungry,” he mumbled.
“Oh, poor baby,” I said and stood up, already dizzy from his cologne. “We’ve got school, mister.” He nodded.
“Let’s skip,” he said, putting his hands behind his head.
“Ugh, no.” I said as a matter-of-fact. “Did you even bring any of your books along?” I asked looking at his old backpack.
“Nope, I leave them at school.”
“Don’t you have homework?” I asked. He looked at me and smirked.
“Yep!”
I rolled my eyes.
“I wish we could but—“
“Why can’t we?”
I looked at him, scrunching my nose up while thinking.
“My parents would kill me,” I said. “Especially if we leave the house—“
“We don’t have to,” he said. I looked at him with knitted brows.
“You’ve done this before haven’t you?”
“A million times.”
“Figured.” I looked up at the corner of my room and sighed.
“Fine,” I said, giving in. Jack grinned. I put my backpack back down and jumped into bed beside Jack, putting my hands behind my head and staring up at my ceiling. “So, what now?” I asked. I felt him shrug beside me. It was silent as we thought.
“Ooh!” he said and jumped up. He turned and looked down at me, grinning.
“What?” I asked.
“Smallville is back to back all day on demand.”
I grinned.
“I think we found a plan.”
I thought for a moment.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. I looked at him.
“We need food.”
He nodded smiling.
“Agreed.” He was staring at me now. His eyes drifted from my eyes, down to my neck, then my chest then to my stomach and finally landing on the bare skin showing around my hip. His chest heaved a little. I realized we were in an uncomfortable position and sat up real quick, bringing my top down. I cleared my throat.
“Um, let’s go to the ‘7 Eleven’ down the road and get some snacks.” He nodded and cleared his head. ‘See Lidia, all he’s looking for is sex and someone to hook up with. I’m sure he's had sex before. He seems like he has but maybe that’s just a cover up. Of course he did it with Kendra! She bragged about it!’ I sighed to myself. Don’t let him do this to you. I’m sure he looked like that when Kendra was lying around the house in her thong and bra! I got to my feet and went to my dresser.
“I’ve got some money we can spend.” I grabbed two twenties and turned to Jack making a smile come to my lips even though my mind was showing me pictures of Kendra and Jack together….doing something that I had no experience with. “Let’s go.”
Chapter 29
I drove quickly to the ‘7 Eleven’ and walked in. I went straight to the ice cream section and looked around, holding my keys in my hand.
“Ice cream,” Jack said behind me. I nodded.
“Yes, a big box,” I confirmed. I smiled as I saw mint chocolate chip. I opened the door and grabbed it. “Which one do you want?” I asked. He looked over my shoulder, trying to choose.
“Rocky Road,” he said. I grabbed it. I shut the door and felt the cold ice prickle the skin on my fingers. He had two bags of chips and a bottle of Mountain Dew.
“You know me so well.” He smirked. We paid for our stuff and headed back. We put our junk food on the coffee table and Jack searched and found Smallville on the T.V. as I grabbed some blankets and threw them on the sofa with us. I pulled one around me and started to eat my box of ice cream wit
h a large spoon.
“Here we go,” Jack said as he found season 5 of Smallville.
“Wait. Let’s start from the beginning.” I said. He sighed.
“They only have seasons 5 to 7.” I frowned and he laughed.
“Fine, okay.” He got his box of ice cream and propped his feet up on the coffee table and I smiled, remembering the time we fought and landed on each other.
“Man, he is such a hunk!” I gushed as Aqua man jumped out of the water along with Lois without a shirt on.
“Lidia!” Jack yelled, laughing. “I do not want to know that.” He shuddered. I laughed.
“Why? Look at those abs! I mean come on! Only he can look like that.” Jack frowned playfully.
“I have those abs. Want to see?” he asked. I shook my head laughing. He put down his half empty box of ice cream and pulled his shirt up. He sucked in his gut and flexed. I burst out laughing. He did look good but I wasn’t about to tell him that. “What?” he yelled. I fell back onto the sofa laughing hard.
“Those are nothing!” I said pointing to his stomach. He laughed.
“Not yet.”
I rolled my eyes and settled down. I took a chip and put it in my mouth. I looked at Jack’s half empty box of Rocky Road.
“Before you eat it all, I want a taste.” I said. He took a big mouthful and smiled at me the spoon sticking out of his mouth. I rolled my eyes.
“I want a taste of yours too,” he said. I grabbed my box and spooned a big bite.
“Here,” he pulled the spoon out of his mouth and filled it with the chocolate rocky road.
“Aren’t you like disgusted by eating off the same spoon as me?” he asked. I laughed and shook my head.
“I could care less. I’ve already swapped spit with you.” He wiggled his eye brows.