Freak is an Ugly Word

With a bored expression on her face, Jessica watched as Greg changed into, yet again, another outfit. It would seem his fourth attempt was his favored one. A dark blue button up long sleeved shirt accompanied with black slacks and black dress shoes. The shirt was made of silk and reflected the light every time that he moved. The fabric of the pants was dull in comparison and the only thing that attracted the eye to his waist line was his leather belt with a gold buckle.
He was dressed to impress whereas Jessica was the opposite. A long black skirt that came to mid calf covered her bottom and a white sweater her top. Her feet were bare unlike his for she was not going out as he was. Greg was heading to a dinner with his mother and sister and their attachments. Jessica would be left alone in the house with no one but Musket to keep her company until later that evening.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come?” asked Greg for the hundredth time that hour. He was anxious about leaving her alone even if it were for a short time.
Jessica smiled and walked over to him. “I’m positive. It’s a family thing and I’m not family. Besides, Selina and Holly are coming over and I can’t just abandon them. They’re my family. I’ll have fun with mine, and you have fun with yours.” The truth was that Jessica badly wanted to go with him, but the fact that Holly had decided to come over was a huge thing. She had only ever let that little apartment she shared with her sister twice before. Her willingly coming out just to see Jessica was an honor the girl was not about to pass up.
“I think you’ll have a lot more fun than I will. I am going to be stuck in a small building with my Mother after all.”
“At least it’s not a small room,” Jessica told him optimistically.
“Something I’m very thankful for.” Taking her into his arms he smiled down at her. “I loved the way that you told her off this morning. No one has ever stood up to her before. They usually just cower in fear or run off crying.”
“There’s a first for everything. I think she’ll think twice before she bad mouths someone again though.”
“And that’s a good thing. Alright!” Greg exclaimed. “I have to get going now. They’re waiting impatiently downstairs for me. I’d ask you how I look but you always say the same thing, even when I’m wearing my scrubs.”
“Perfect.” In her eyes, no matter what, he was perfect.
With a quick peck on the lips Greg released her and headed downstairs. Jessica followed behind and Musket trotted behind both. “I’ll have my cell on me,” he explained as they headed down the stairs, “call me if you need anything.”
“Don’t worry about me. Everything will be fine. Trust me, if anything were to happen, Selina would take care of it. She’s a very capable woman. She’s taken a lot of crap thrown her way.”
When his feet the bottom of the steps he turned around forcing Jessica to stay on the last step. “But what if there are intruders. What would she do then? I think you put too much faith in her.”
Jessica could not help but smile at him. “I’ve seen her take on men three times her size and come out with not a single bruise on her pale skin. She’s as agile as a cat and as tough as an ox. There’s nothing for you to worry about.” Reading had done her a lot of good. No longer did she sound as if she had thrived on the street. A fact that she was rather proud of. She briefly wondered what Selina would think of it. Jessica mentally shook off the thought. She already knew the woman would be happy as long as she was happy.
“I’ll take your word for it. I’ll be back in a few hours, hopefully sooner.” With one last kiss that lasted longer than either of them had planned, Greg and family finally left.
Greg, Erik, Alicia and Olivia, James had family in Gotham and had went to visit them as he did every year, made the short trek to Alicia’s silver minivan and they entered it. Alicia had gotten a babysitter so her son was left behind at their home less then a mile away. The men sat in front while the women took the two rear cabin seats. Once they were all settled in, Erik drove off in the direction of the restaurant.
The ride was silent and the quiet was enjoyable to Greg. That was until his sister decided to ruin it. “I don’t see what you see in her!” she blurted out.
Greg rolled his hazel eyes knowing who his sister spoke of. “I don’t need to explain anything to you. Isn’t it enough that I care about her?”
“No, it’s not!” stubbornly Alicia replied. “She’s a whore! She’s probably slept with more men than me and you combined! How can you bring it to yourself to even touch her?”
“Alicia that is enough!” Olivia screamed shocking everyone within the vehicle. Erik had nearly slammed on the brakes from the initial shock. “There is nothing wrong with the girl,” she said shocking them even more. Never had Olivia said such a thing about anyone, not even her own children.
“How can you stick up for her?!” Alicia asked the woman that sat next to her.
“Because she reminds me of myself when I was younger,” explained Olivia. “I was not the most virtuous of women when I met your father. In fact, I was quite scandalous even after we were married.” That was old news. Everyone who was anyone knew that Olivia Johnson had slept around on her husband, even he himself had known. “Besides,” she shifted sitting up straighter, “the girl stood up for herself to me. Something not even my own children had ever dared to do. I rather like her.”
“You only married Dad for the money,” Alicia hissed trying to prove her point.
“There are many differences between her and I and that is two of them. Her and your brother are not married and she seems to care little about the money.”
Staring out of the window, Greg spoke, “She hates the money,” he informed them in a quiet tone. “She hates when I buy her anything that she considers expensive. Even when I bought her Musket she complained about it though she adores the hell out of that little pup.”
“Jessica lived in a world where the price of something determined everything.” Erik rarely spoke, but he had deemed then a good time to do so. “The price of something determined if she was going to eat the next day or after. None of you had to deal with such things. You always had money and spent it carelessly. If Jessica had lived that way, she would have died. She would have been considered lucky if someone had even thrown her a scrap of moldy bread.” After he had finished his speech, the rest of the ride to the restaurant was back in the silence Greg enjoyed so much.
An hour and a half later they were returning to Greg’s house. Dinner had been horrible. Alicia was still pouting about losing the argument in the previous van ride and had not said a word the entire time. Not that Greg cared much; he thought it was for the better. Erik had tried to strike up a conversation only to be shot down. Not a single one of them truly wanted to talk. They all had the same thing in mind. A need to return home, though Olivia would be returning to her son’s home and not her own.
The only time they had spoken a sentence was when they were ordering their food which they quickly consumed down. As soon as they were done and Greg paid the bill making sure to leave the waiter a hefty tip they left. Now, they were in the van pulling into Greg’s driveway that curved into a roundabout.
A frown crossed Greg’s features when they reached the front of the house. Parked in front of it were two vehicles. He had only expected one. The one he had expected was an old two door rust bucket with paint so faded that the original color was lost on the eyes. The other car was much newer and much more expensive. Greg was not a car man but he recognized it as a Rolls-Royce, the signature “RR” hood ornament giving it away.
Once Erik parked the van Greg rushed out in a furry, slamming to door shut behind him. The others followed him into the house only Alicia donning a smug smile. Together they entered the house. Erik was the last in and closed the door behind him. Before any of them could shrug off their coats, a scream came from the kitchen.
The group rushed to the kitchen and stopped dead in the doorway. In the room stood Jessica with two other women, Selina and Holly, an older gentlemen and a man they all recognized as Bruce Wayne. All of them were covered in what appeared to be pink slush as were the walls and countertops of the room. Even the cabinets had not escaped being splashed in pink. The blender lay on the island and it appeared to be where the slush had come from as it had a small portion of the concoction in it. The rest had scattered itself everywhere.
Jessica, who had a measuring cup full of sugar in her right hand, had taken the brunt of the assault and was covered in nearly head to toe in the stuff. Mouth agape she stood stock still until Selina started to laugh at her. Her mouth closed and she glared at the woman. “It’s not funny,” she stated through gritted teeth. When Selina did not stop laughing, Jessica did the only thing she could think of. She threw the sugar at the woman. “How do you like that?!” Jessica asked triumphantly. The sugar stuck to the pink slush and started to form a sticky substance. Selina’s only response to this was another fit of laughter and the others joined in.
“Jessica?” Greg called from the doorway. Jessica turned around quickly. Spotting the man her face fell into that of shame. Taking a step into the room, he slipped on some of the slush but managed to keep his feet. “What the hell happened?”
“I was making strawberry smoothies for me, Selina and Holly,” she answered quickly. “After I had everything blended the doorbell rang and I answered it. Mr. Wayne and his butler Alfred were standing there and asked for a cup of sugar. I invited them in because it’s cold outside and had them follow me into the kitchen. Selina and Holly came in ‘cause I was taking too long and they wanted their smoothies. Isis followed them into here and jumped on the counter and stepped on one of the blender buttons which didn’t have a lid on it and we were all covered in strawberry smoothie.” By the time she finished talking she was out of breath and just as pink as the smoothie on her face.
As if on queue, what could only be Isis, jumped onto the countertop of the island and proceeded to clean it with her tongue. The cat was black as the shadows with vivid green eyes much like her owner’s. Musket was cleaning the floor not having the ability to jump onto any counters. The cat looked up at Greg and stared at him as if daring him not to believe Jessica’s story. She had nothing to worry about, he believed it. The story was too unbelievable for him not to. When people lie, they make it creditable and she had made no attempt at doing so. She, also, had plenty of evidence to cover her story. It was all over her, the room, and the occupants, with the exception of Greg and his family.
“I’m so sorry,” Jessica started taking a step toward her. She only managed one step before she slipped and fell, landing quite “gracefully” on her butt. “Ow, my ass!” she cried.
Everyone, save Alicia who looked a little bit peeved at being proven wrong, burst into a fit of laughter and Selina went to help her only to slip herself. Being the gentleman he was Bruce tried to stop her fall. Her weight combined with his and his loafers, both fell into a giggling heap on the floor. Holly cracked up, her light blue eyes twinkling, shaking her curly blond head.
The rest of the night was spent with the remainder of the group, Alicia and Erik had to relieve their babysitter from her duty, trying to clean up the mess. The kitchen got cleaned but they were left standing with the smoothie now drying on their skin. Selina, the unfortunate soul, was sticky from head to toe from the sugar smoothie mix. It was caked on her and quickly turning hard. Her and Holly left explaining that she had to get the stuff off of her and Jessica lead them out of the door, followed closely by Bruce and Alfred, who had received their cup of sugar. With one last wave they pulled out of the driveway, laughing at each other.
Once they were out of sight Jessica shut the door and made her way into the living room where Greg was sitting on the sky blue couch. Jessica had failed to realize just how much the house was decorated in the color until Selina had commented on it. The curtains were blue, the blinds were blue, even the rug underneath the glass coffee table was a shade of blue. Even the kitchen was not saved from the sea of blue. Cabinets and countertops were light blue in color, though the countertops had been stained with splotches of pink.
Standing before him her anxiety showed in the form of lip biting. “I’m sorry about the mess I made.”
Looking up, he smiled at her, placing his hands on either side of her waist. “Don’t worry about it,” he reassured her. “It’s cleaned up now.”
“The cabinets are stained,” she pointed out.
“And we can paint over them.”
“Do you always look on the brighter side?”
“No,” admitted Greg. “When we first pulled up and I saw the extra care, I was not looking on the brighter side. When I heard you scream, my heart stopped and I feared the worst.”
Normally his last testament would have been sweet to Jessica, but she was too caught up with the first. Her gray eyes narrowed at the man. Jaw tight with anger she removed his hands. “You thought I was screwing around?” she asked through gritted teeth. When he looked away from her, she got her answer. “I can’t believe you would think that.”
Pain and anger washed over her. She wanted badly to lash out at the man, but could not. To hurt him would be like hurting a piece of herself. Little did she care about hurting herself, but he was a different matter. Though she had only known him for a short time, she cared for him deeply. He had done so much for her she could feel nothing less. He housed her, clothed her, fed her, and bought her things though she thought them frivolous and unimportant. The only reason why she cherished them was because he had been the one to give them to her. If it had been any but him, she would have long ago tossed them out. The little pup that was now happily lapping at her leg was the only thing he had bought her that she truly cherished.
The doubt that he had worded left a gaping hole in her chest where her heart used to reside. Pain tore at her, clawed at her from the inside out like a hideous beast. It tried its best to free itself but could only manage to escape in the form of tears. So not to show the man her pain, she hastily left the room. He called after her only once and she ignored it making the now long trek to their shared bedroom.
Once in the room she rushed into the conjoined bathroom. Closing the door behind her, she took extra care to lock it. She was overcome with another sea of blue. Blue shower curtain, blue rugs, and even blue tiles on the floor. Sighing she made her way to the bathroom sink to gaze at herself in the mirror. Still covered in strawberry smoothie her appearance was closer to that of a lame swamp monster. The stuff was caked in her hair matting it and that upset her the most. It would take a few washings for it to all come out. Even after she was done she would still smell strawberries for that was the scent of her shampoo and conditioner.
Her hardened red rimmed eyes glared back at her already puffy from the tears she had spilled. Never before had she experienced a pain that harsh. Even the beating she had taken could not compare. She had read in a book once that physical anguish was trivial when compared to that of the heart. It had never crossed her mind to believe it until then. She had experienced heartache before, but none even came close to what she was now feeling. Even the abandonment of her mother was nothing next to what she was feeling now.
Greg had honestly thought that she would betray him as had his sister. She had seen the smug smirk on Alicia’s face when the woman had first came into the kitchen, and how upset she was to be proven wrong once again. Jessica was starting to dislike the woman more and more with each passing day. Alicia going to the dinner had been the reasoning behind Jessica not attending. She did not want to deal with the woman.
“Don’t worry about her,” her reflection called to her. “She’s not important.” Jessica gazed away from the mirror not wanting to deal with the inner workings of her mind at that moment. She busied herself with getting ready for a shower. It would be a long one considering the goop that was mangled in her hair.
While Jessica was in the shower, washing her hair with a furry, Greg was downstairs contemplating on what he had said to the younger woman. It was wrong of him to doubt her and he knew that. He fully trusted her and knew that she would not betray him, but there was always that lingering doubt. It came to him while he was away at work and she was home by herself and any other time that she was not by his side. A doubt that Michelle had placed within him.
That woman had made it easy for him to believe that anyone was capable of cheating. He had never thought it of her, though there were many signs, until the day that she had flat out told him. Even then he did not believe it, just thinking it was another way for her to refuse to marry him. It was not until he confronted his friend that he got the confirmation that he needed. Starting out as a nice boy’s night out and ending up in the emergency room of a hospital for both of them. Greg had received the lesser of the beating, but would forever have the scar of a beer bottle slicing into his skin where as his friend would not have any physical remnants of the fight, just the memory of the beating of a lifetime.
Musket sat on the floor between Greg’s feet staring up at the man. The little pup, feeling the tension radiating off of the man, knew that Greg was upset. He could not understand as to why he was, Musket did not understand the minds of those that took care of them. What he did know was that the man before him was upset and all he wanted to do was comfort him. To catch Greg’s attention, the little pup pawed at his pants.
Not even being able to muster a smile at the dog’s attempt to earn his attention, Greg reached down and picked him up scratching him behind the ears. The velvet tongue of the pup licked his chin and he let out a small whimper. “I fucked up royally, didn’t I boy?” Greg asked the pup. As if to confirm his fears Musket growled lightly.
“Yes, you did,” came the voice of his mother startling the man. She was standing, adorned in a light pink bathrobe, in the doorway of her room, arms folded across her chest and a hardened look upon her face.
“You heard?”
“Of course I did! Sound travels very well in a big house like this, though it is smaller than mine.”
Greg rolled his eyes. “It’s not always about you, Mother.”
“I know that, but I would like to believe so. Makes me feel more important than I really am.” Her feet bare she walked to him on the cold wooden floor and sat next to him on the couch. “I know I have not been the greatest of mothers or wife and seem only to care about myself. Despite what all of you think, I do care about you. Despite all the infidelity, I still cared for your father. Hell, I might have even loved him if I did not love myself more. Though I hid my emotions considerably well, I know what pain feels like and you hurt that poor girl.”
“What should I do?” Taking advice from his mother was a strange concept to him. Never once in his life had he ever asked her for help. He had always believed that if it was not about her, she did not care. Maybe he had been wrong for all of those years. Maybe Olivia Johnson really did give a shit about her children.
“Apologize of course. It’s the only thing you can do.”
“But how? I can’t buy her things, it’ll just upset her more. She hates when I buy her things.”
Olivia smiled at her young naïve son. “There is only one way for a man to truly apologize to a woman. Grovel. Get down on your knees and beg for forgiveness. You don’t have to literally get on your knees, that would just be pathetic, but you get the point.” With what she had to say being said, she left her son on his own to contemplate. In her heart she knew that he would do the right thing, Greg always did. He was the best of them, the Johnson family, though he had inherited his father’s small lust for blood and pain. That was no matter, he had virtually stopped doing so once he had dropped out of medical school and the temptation was gone.
Wasting no time, Greg headed up the stairs as soon as his mother’s door shut closed behind her. With Musket in his arms, still tirelessly licking his chin, Greg made the short trek up the silent wooden steps. Once in the room he heard the tell tale signs of running water and inferred that Jessica was taking a shower. She had needed one after being covered in her own beloved concoction.
Strawberries seemed to be Jessica’s choice food. Every chance that she got she was consuming a handful of them. Not only were they her favorite treat, but her favorite scent as well. Everything that she owned that had a scent was of strawberries. It would seem that she could never grow sick of them.
Settling himself on the edge of the bed, Greg waited for her to get out of the shower. He released Musket who instantly took a spot at the head of the bed. Making a few circles before he lay down, the pup soon was comfortable enough to curl up into a ball and fall into a deep slumber. His small chest rose and fell in a rhythmic pattern though sometimes one breath would be deeper than the rest. Turning from the dog, Greg looked to the door of the bathroom. The water had shut off and soon Jessica would be exiting the attached room.
Several minutes later the door of the bathroom opened and Jessica stepped out clad only in a midnight blue towel. Her normally dark brown hair was now black with the water it was soaked with. It clung to her face in an unruly fashion though it was evident that she ran a comb through it. There was no blow dryer or any hair products besides shampoo and conditioner in the house. Neither of them used them. Jessica failed to for the reason that her hair was straight and no matter how she styled it, it would seem to fall back in place. Greg because he just did not want to.
“Jessica, I-“ he started, but she quickly cut him off.
“No. Don’t apologize. Apologies mean nothing. Words mean nothing. You can say something and not mean it. I don’t trust apologies.”
“But I do mean it,” he stated quietly, standing up and walking to her. Brushing a strand of hair out of her face, he gazed down into her storm gray eyes. “I mean every word that I say to you. I am sorry. I’m sorry I ever doubted you. It will never happen again.”
“You say that, but it will happen again.”
Frustrated Greg took a step back. “Do you have to be so cynical about everything?” he asked harshly.
“I’m not cynical,” she answered plainly, “I’m a realist.”
He was upset, that much she could tell. A fear was rising inside of her. When people were upset, they hit her. So imprinted on her brain that was that when he raised his hand to run his fingers through his hair she flinched. “Why do you do that?” he nearly screamed at her. “I’ve never hit you. I wouldn’t hit you. No matter how many times that I try proving it to you, you still flinch every time I raise my hands to do anything. Why?”
“I don’t know,” she lied. She knew very well why she did it. There would always be the fear of being hit.
“You’re a terrible liar,” he informed her kicking off his shoes. “I’m going to bed.” Walking to his side of the bed, he started to strip himself. “Musket go to your bed,” he commanded the sleeping pup. The dog woke up and obeyed the order, climbing into his own bed at the foot of theirs on the floor.
Deciding it was best, Jessica joined him on the bed dropping her towel on the floor. She would retrieve it in the morning, at that moment, she was worried more about sleep. It had been a very long day. Though she had not done much, she was exhausted. Slowly and carefully she crawled underneath the cover as if not to wake the man lying on it though he was not asleep. She was more fearful of upsetting him more than he already was.
“Will you ever forgive me for doubting you?” he asked her, his back to her.
She took the time to think about it and only reached one conclusion. “I already have.”
Rolling over and reaching out to her he pulled her to him by the waist. Her head lay in the crook of his arm her back flush against his torso. “Good. I just have one question.”
“What?”
“Why didn’t you turn off the lights?” She could feel his smirk that was placed on his face.
“Fuck the lights,” she muttered.
“No, I don’t think I will. It’s sounds very uncomfortable. But you, on the other hand, are a completely different story.” Using his arm as leverage, he turned her head so that she was facing him and planted his lips on top of hers. With the position that she was laying in, she tried her best to deepen the kiss. With a suddenness, Greg pulled away. “Good night,” he whispered in her ear.
Mouth agape Jessica stared at the man. He had just stopped. “What the hell?” she asked bewildered. “Why did you stop?”
“A few reasons. One, I have to work early in the morning. Two, my mother is here.”
“So.”
“My mother has a nasty habit of eavesdropping. I’m, also, pretty sure that if she doesn’t like what she’s hearing, she’ll come up here and command me on how to do it. ‘Not there, there,’” he stated in a mimic of his mother’s voice and he was doing a very good job at it. “ ‘You silly boy, can’t you listen to a word I say! I might as well do it myself! Move over so I can show you how it’s done.’”
Jessica burst into a fit of laughter so harsh that the bed shook. The sound of her laughter still gave Greg the chills. He would never tire of hearing it. It had somehow became his duty, or so he felt, to make the young woman laugh as much as possible. So far, he was doing a pretty damn good job at it.
“I love your laugh,” he admitted when her laughter died down smiling.
“I love your smile and your voice,” responded she fully rolling over to face him.
“You’re not the first person to tell me that.”
“You’re the first to tell me,” she established.
“And why’s that? With that laugh, I would think people would be admiring it all the time.”
Having limited mobility Jessica gave him a half shrug. “I never had a reason to laugh before. Before I met you, I hadn’t laughed in years.” Her eyes started to slowly drift closed. She was more tired than she had expected. “I’m tired, Doc,” she said in a barely audible whisper.
Planting a light kiss on her forehead he told her, “Then go to sleep.” She nodded curling up closer into his chest. Her wet hair clung to his arm and her face in small separate strands. Both of her hands lay flat on his chest and her legs were entwined in his. That was the first time in a while that she had fallen asleep before him. He knew that for the fact that she would wake him up in the middle of the night complaining about how she couldn’t sleep and she was jealous of his ability to find sleep almost instantly. Soon after the conversation was over, he would be back to sleep only to have her wake him up once again.
Her falling asleep before him was a strange notion to him. Of course, he had known why. The night before she had stayed up later than usual, having a harder time to fall asleep. Stress and worry about his mother staying had caused a near sleepless night. He had awaken every time that she had left the bed to check on some minuscule detail she thought she had forgotten. The tiny pattering of Musket tirelessly following her echoed across the house. After waking for the dozenth time, she had given up on a fitful rest and left the bed for good. Being exhausted, Musket had stayed sleeping in his bed.
The entire day she had looked exhausted, but tried to hide it behind a bright smile. It had worked on the others but not him. He had tried many times that day to get her to take a short nap, but she had refused multiple times stating that she was “just fine.” After a few hours of pestering her he had finally given up. Now, she was asleep and showed no signs of waking. A blessing for him for he had something to take care of that particular evening. Something he did not want her to know about. More like a someone he needed to talk to.
After gently slipping his arm from underneath her, he clambered out of the bed and got dressed as quiet as possible. As he snuck out of the room, making sure to switch off the lights as he left, Musket tried to follow but he ordered the pup to stay. He reluctantly obeyed watching the man walk out of the bedroom door with sad brown eyes.
Walking down the noiseless steps, he made his way into the kitchen, and grabbing his keys proceeded into the conjoined garage where is car awaited him. From there he was going to go and have a talk with a drunken bastard that he did not know. Still having many connections on the streets he had heard many things. There was just one in particular that he did not like. Jessica’s father was searching for her and apparently he was getting closer and closer. Greg wanted him to stop his search and leave the girl alone.
Having finally found where the man lived, he was going to talk to him about it. Maybe even pay him off. Greg did not know if would work, but it was worth a shot. One must try for him to fail or succeed. Greg prayed for success.

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Here you guys go. I hope that you enjoyed it. Another one will be out Friday. Review and rate, please and thank you!