Page 20 of Steel & Jenna
“Anyway, about two months after she disappeared, she came back.” Jenna let out a gasp of surprise, to which Jack nodded. “My reaction too. I was so excited to see her. I saw she was packing things up. Hell, I even grabbed some trash bags to start packing up Lilly’s and my stuff, too.” His voice broke. Looking down at his bitten apple, he cleared his throat. The remembered pain of seeing her sneer was burned into his brain like a brand. “But she wasn’t back for us. Just… Just her things,” headmitted. He looked up at the sky, trying to blink away the burn in his eyes. “I pleaded with her to take Lilly. But she didn’t. She walked out and left us behind. I couldn’t believe it. How could she?Icould have survived living with my dad, but Lilly…” He shook his head, his jaw tightening. “She’s not safe with him.”
Though he wasn’t hungry, Jack took a bite of the apple. Just to have something to do besides talk.
“When you say she’s not safe…” Jenna’s voice was soft, like she was trying to talk to a wild animal posed to strike. “Do you mean physically or sexually?”
Jack winced. “Physically,” he answered. There was a roughness to his voice as he fought to get his emotions under control. “He refuses to acknowledge her. That includes sheltering, feeding, and clothing her. He keeps threatening to ‘get rid’ of her—and I’ve always been too much of a coward to ask him what he means by that.”
“You think he would kill her?” Jenna sat upright, her eyes wide with horror.
Jack closed his eyes, unable to look at her. “I don’t know. But I know he could and that’s enough for me.”
“My God, Jack. Have you told someone?Anyone?”
He shook his head. “Who is there to tell? If the authorities find out just how bad it is, they’ll take her away. She’ll go into the system and I’ll never see her again.” Before Jenna could argue or claim that that wouldn’t happen, Jack pressed on. “She’s mysister. Everything I do, Jenna, is for her.Everything. I work two jobs to feed and clothe her. To save up so when I turn eighteen, I can get us out of this hellhole of a town. I can never leave her alone with him,” he pressed on. “If she’s not at school, she’s with me.” He tapped his chest. “I am her brother. It’s my responsibility to keep her safe.”
“It’s your parents’ responsibility!” Jenna argued. She pushed her tray aside so she could stand up. Moving in front of him, she braced her hands on his knees. “Jack, you’re fifteen. At least, I assume you are. We haven’t asked each other’s ages yet.”
“Sixteen in January,” he told her.
“May,” she informed him. Pushing on his knees, she pressed on. “But that’s my point.You’rea kid, Jack, and you’re basically raising your sister on your own. It’s both commendable and terrifying. I want to tell you to go to the police, an adult,somebodyto help you.”
“It’s a Catch-22, Jen. If I tell someone, they could look into it. Promise us help and safety. But what if they decide not to do anything? Those promises are just empty words. They leave…and then I have to deal with him. Right now, we’re invisible to him. If I rock that boat, if he decides toseeus…there’s no telling what he’ll do.
“Or maybe they do take us away. There’s no guarantee we’ll be placed together. Lilly’s young enough that she could find a good home, maybe even a permanent home, but me? No one’s going to want a fifteen year old boy from the wrong side of the docks.”
A gentle hand on his face drew his eyes to her hazel ones. “Iwant the fifteen year old boy from the wrong side of the docks.” She leaned in to press her lips to his just as the bell rang. Pulling back, she glanced over his shoulder at the school. “We need to get going. Thank you for trusting me with your story. I want to continue this conversation, but later. I got you out of one detention already today. I don’t want to push our luck.”
As she went to step away, Jack grabbed her wrist and pulled her back towards him. He widened his legs, making room for her to kneel on the bench between them. He held her gaze for a long second before saying sternly, “I am not my father. I wouldneverstrike you or Lilly.”
The smile she gave him was full of so much affection, Jack thought his heart might burst at the sight. “I know that. I knew that before you told me about your family.” Putting her elbows on his knees, Jenna leaned in to touch her lips to his again for a too-quick kiss. “If I thought for a second otherwise, I wouldn’t be here, Jack.” Just as serious as his proclamation to her, Jenna told him, “I am not your mother. I deserve safety, honesty, and love in my life—and I refuse to accept anything less. Moreover,” she added, “I wouldneverabandon my children.”
The warning bell sounded, telling them they had less than a minute to get to class. Still, Jack was loathe to move. “You’re fucking incredible, you know that?”
She smiled widely at him. “I know. Now let’s go.”
Longest fuckingschool day of his life! All Jack wanted to do was get out of that fucking building with all the eyes of judgment, the loose tongues, and teenagers withfartoo much time on their hands to carethat muchabout his life. More than one had referred to Jenna throughout the day as Jack’s ‘victim’, not his girlfriend. Personally, Jack couldn’t care what they said about him—but he’d be damned if they said anything negative about Jenna.
Jenna walked beside him as they journeyed the mile and a half to the elementary school. She was too big to ride in the wagon or on his handlebars like Lilly did and he didn’t have pegs on his wheels for her to stand on.
They had not brought up the heavier conversation from lunch. It seemed to be an unspoken agreement that it was to be saved for another time and a much more private setting. Jenna was telling him about her life in Seattle through most of the walk. The more he learned, the more he was utterly enraptured by her. Jenna was down to earth and didn’t have a pretentious bone in her body. He adored her philosophy to do one selfless, kind act a day for a stranger.
During their last class today, he’d seen her accomplish her daily goal when a fellow student’s backpack seam had broken. Jenna had offered the girl the use of her shoulder bag without a moment’s hesitation. The books Jenna needed to complete her homework were now in the wagon with Lilly’s pillow and blanket.
“What time do you have to be home for dinner?” Jack asked as they neared the elementary school. It was late enough that there weren’t as many cars in the parking lot as there had been that morning when he’d dropped Lilly off.
Jenna shrugged. “My dad’s in Seattle today. Mom was talking about going too, but last I heard she had a lunch meeting with the mayor.”
“And your sister?” Jenna had told him earlier about her sister,Carolyn, and all the problems she’d been causing their parents of late. As much as Jack didn’t like Jenna having to uproot her life for the sake of her sister’s immaturity, he also couldn’t help but be grateful for the turn of events. He wouldn’t be standing with her now if she hadn’t.
Another shrug. “She hasn’t come out of her room since we moved here. She’s tried to run away five times, but security always brings her back.”
“Security?” Jack questioned. Jenna had casually thrown in a few words that day that never failed to remind Jack who her father was. Like ‘chef’, ‘maid’, ‘driver’, and now ‘security’.
Jenna nodded, though he picked up on the pink in her cheeks. Like a true redhead, she blushed so easily. Jack adored that tiny bit of color and the bashful face that came with it. “Dad’s always had security people around him and Mom. Carolyn got hers when she was sixteen or seventeen after some paparazzi got some not-so-nice pictures of her at a nightclub.”
Jack couldn’t help but glance around as he parked his bike. He didn’t bother to lock it to the rack. High school students were mean and vindictive, but he didn’t foresee anything happening to his bike at the elementary school. “Doyouhave security?”
“Wellyeah.” She said it like she was questioning his IQ because he’d had the stupidity to ask such a question. Turning, she pointed to a thin tree in the sidewalk across the street. “That’s Enrique. He blends in great with the foliage.” Then she pointed to a trash can. “Oscar loves to hide in the trash cans. Thinks it makes him invisible, but I always catch him.” She pointed to the roof of the school. “Elmo should be hiding up there.” Two men exited the school building, both clearly administration in suits and ties. “And this is Bert and Ernie. You’ll rarely see them apart.” Then she did a full circle as if she lost sight of someone. “Mr. Snuffleupagus is around here somewhere. No one believes me that he’s here, but I know he’s real.”
