“Where are THEY Leslie? WHERE are they?” Jane
was looking through every room on the first floor, then rapidly heading towards
the stairs. Leslie tried to grab her arms but Jane slapped her hands
away. She knew she was getting closer. She heard loud footsteps and
looked up to see 4 dark shapes glaring down at her. Kevin, Howie, AJ, and
Brian. They stood like a chain-link fence, blocking the stairway.
Kevin was in the center with his arms folded over his chest, “I don’t
recall inviting you into my home Jane,” he spoke coldly.
“I
don’t recall giving my children permission to be in your house Kevin... ANY of
them. Where are Nick and BJ?”
“What
makes you think that we know?” AJ challenged her.
Jane
rolled her eyes, “Enough of these games. I could have you all charged
with kidnapping. Leslie is barely 14 years old... Move aside, if you
won’t tell me where they are then I’ll find them myself.”
They
stood strong, blocking the stairway, “You’ve hurt them enough Jane, can’t you
leave them be for a few more days?”
“Hurt
them?” Jane choked out incredulously, “How can I hurt my own children? Let me
through.”
Kevin
and Howie moved closer together to block her escape.
“I’m
warning you I will call the police,” Jane growled.
“And
what will that look like in the media Jane, isn’t that what you care about the
most?” Brian sneered.
Jane
paled, then slapped him. Brian held his head high, his expression
remaining the same. “You horrible people. I cannot believe I ever allowed
my son to travel with you. All the problems he has... I bet he gets them
from you! You...”
“SHUT
THE HELL UP MOTHER!”
Five
heads turned to face Nick who stood in the doorways of Nick’s designated room.
Nick clutched the doorframe weakly and soon BJ appeared beside him taking
his arm and coaxing him back inside the room.
“What
did you say to me?”
“
I said shut up.... You don’t give a DAMN about me. If you did... if you
did you would have helped me a long time ago when I was practically screaming
for it! You never saw me Mother...”
Jane
felt her demeanor wilting, “I saw you Nicky. I saw you and I did help you. I
got you a counselor...”
“WHO
DID SHIT FOR ME!” Nick yelled hitting the wall, “All he did was give me an easy
out instead of dealing with my problems. Did you know that mother, or was
it ok with you because ramming all those drugs down my throat shut me up?!”
Jane
stared blankly at him, “Get your things. Bobbie Jean you get your things too.
Leslie!” Jane turned to see if she could search out the form of her youngest
daughter, “We’re going home.”
“No,”
BJ said softly but firmly, “I’m staying here, and so is Nick.”
Jane
whipped her head back towards them, “I said get your things. She tried to
push her way through the chain-link fence of bodies but was held back,
“Nickolas, tell them to step away.”
Nick
stood silent in the doorway, his body visibly trembling. BJ wrapped her arms
around him trying to transfer some of her body heat into him.
“Nicky?”
Jane’s voice trembled, she stared at her two oldest children who stared back at
her. A single tear ran down her face before she cleared her throat and
literally shook herself, “Leslie, we’re leaving.” She turned and began to
travel down the stairs, she turned back once to look all 4 boys over, “You
haven’t won yet.”
Then
she continued on down the stairs still yelling for Leslie to gather her things.
“What
are you doing?” Aaron asked his father as he barged into Aaron’s hotel room and
began tossing Aaron’s things into a bag.
“We’re
going to Florida,” Bob said simply.
“Why?”
Aaron said never making eye contact with his father, he instead stared at the
television set ahead of him.
“Your
mother went to Florida... left right after I called her. I think that’s where
Nick and the girls are.”
Aaron
perked up immediately, “Are we leaving soon?”
“As
soon as we get to the airport,” Bob said tossing aside one bag and hurriedly
filling another. Aaron sat staring at him, “Dad?”
“Yes?”
“Why
do care so much all of a sudden? Is there something really wrong?”
Bob
threw a glance back at Aaron, “Yeah, there’s something really wrong, and it’s
me. I have to make things right... and I wanna do it now, before Jane has a
chance to poison his mind against me...”
“His
mind really doesn’t need much help from her,” Aaron muttered helping his father
pack his bags.
Bob
glared at him sharply, “Meet me in 10 minutes outside, a taxi should be waiting
for us.”
Aaron
smiled sweetly at him, not bothering to disguise the sarcasm in it. As soon as
Bob had left the room he dove for the phone. He dialed BJ’s cell
phone number that he knew by heart and listened to it ring, BJ please pick up.
I have to warn you about company coming.
“Some
one give me a hand here,” BJ was grunting under Nick’s weight.. It may not have
been much but she was still staggering under it. Brian and Kevin were
there in an instant, Kevin picking Nick up, and Brian hurrying to the bed to
move away the TV table and soup. Kevin set Nick down on the bed where
Nick curled up in a small ball and whimpered like a wounded puppy.
“Oh
Nick,” BJ lie down beside him and began to run her hands through his hair.
She grabbed the blankets which were tangled at the foot of the bed and
struggled to pull them over Nick.
Brian
took the task from her and spread the blanket over the both of them, “Why don’t
you both get some sleep?” he suggested, “You need it. You haven’t had a good
night’s sleep in a while BJ.”
BJ
nodded slightly. She moved closer to Nick... She remembered back when they were
little... Back when she had been afraid of the boogie man. She remembered
slipping from her room into her big brothers. She remembered climbing into his
bed. He’d be reading a comic book by flashlight with devilish pleasure...
Mom or Dad had undoubtedly told him to go to sleep hours ago, but he just had
to finish his comic. He would open his blankets and BJ would climb in.
She always felt safe with him.... He would always protect her. But
tonight, tonight she would be protecting him. She smoothed his hair away
from his lurid face and murmured something comforting in his ear. She could
feel his trembles lessen at her words and she smiled. Then she closed her eyes
and fell asleep....
Leslie
jumped as BJ’s cell phone rang, she snatched it open and pressed the “send”
button. She had no belongings with her and simply sat on the couch waiting for
her mother’s angry facade to end. “Hello?”
“Hello?
BJ?”
“No...”
“Leslie?”
“Aaron?”
“It’s
dad. Dad knows where you are and he’s coming. Now. I gotta go,” the line
disconnected.
“Aaron?
Aaron hello?” Leslie was saying into the phone. She felt her mother’s nails on
her hand. Jane took the phone, “Aaron?” She closed the phone at hearing
the dead air, “What did he say?”
Leslie
was quiet as Aaron’s words sunk in... Great more fuel to the fire...
“Leslie?!”
“Dad’s
on his way...”
“Dammit”