Crumbling Walls (Jack and Emily #1) (10 page)

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She dug in her pocket fruitlessly for the key to the front door before nearly crying as she realized, “It’s still in my locker.”

“Do you have a spare laying around anywhere?”

Nodding, she really did begin to cry at this point, “Jack, I’m so tired.”

“Then tell me where it is and I’ll get it.”

After he’d opened her hidden lock box and let them in, he helped her up the stairs to the second floor loft, “I didn’t realize you lived upstairs.”

“It's cheaper than an apartment because of just the one room.”

She aimed for the corner of the large room where a single mattress lay on the floor, an old comforter and several blankets neatly covering it. To his surprise, she also began shedding clothes as she went. By the time she crawled under the blankets, she had only a long-sleeve thermal shirt and a pair of faded blue long-john pants on.

Jack watched until she got under the covers. He was about to sneak back out when she called to him in a small voice, “Jack?”

Walking over to the bed, “Yeah?”

“Can you keep him away?”

His forehead crinkled in confusion, “Who?”

“Him.”

By now he knelt down next to her, straining to hear her whispers, “I don't know what you mean? Him who?”

The tears were rolling again, this time hard and fast, “Can you keep him away from here Jack? Please? Please keep him away.”

Still having absolutely no idea what she was talking about, he immediately pulled off his coat and lay down next to her, gathering her and her covers up in his arms, “I’ll keep him away, Em, I promise. I’ll stay as long as you need me to.”

Burying her head in his chest, she sobbed quietly for a few minutes until, at last, she slept. He held her for another half-hour or so until finally, gently, slowly, wiggling out from next to her. Sitting on the floor by the bed in case she woke up, he surveyed the room, until suddenly, he realized what had been bothering him since the second he followed her through the door.

She had said it was cheaper than a regular apartment because it was only one room. There was only one kitchen chair at the small table; there was only the one single mattress where they were. The bookshelves were homemade of bricks and boards, the kind that kids make in their closets and the kind that one makes when they can’t afford real shelves. The walls had old milk crates lining them, holding a sparse amount of clothes and a few other possessions while the cracked and extremely wobbly coffee table held piles of pictures, library books, charcoal and pencil nubs.

He stood, moving painfully slow so as not to make a sound, and headed to the kitchen. Feeling nosy, he looked in the cupboards anyway. They were full of Raman noodles, pasta, spaghetti sauce, macaroni and cheese, canned vegetables and fruit, extremely off-brand cereal and plenty of pretzels. The fridge and freezer held lots of hot dogs, cheap hamburger and from the looks of it, enough eggs and blocks of cheese to feed an army.

Already knowing what he’d find, he checked the small bathroom anyways. One toothbrush, one towel and one bar of soap.

Coming back to the main room, he sat down once again next to Emily, gently moving the hair from her forehead while he pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed, “Dex?”

“Hey man, what the hell happened?”

“Did you call my house looking for me or talk to Tim at all?”

“No. I figured I’d wait until you called. It had to be something important or else you wouldn’t have just up and left class. When I returned the pass, I also told Schettle that you had been puking in the bathroom, so she's not busting you for skipping out early.”

He breathed a sigh of relief, “Thanks. Um, can I ask you a favor?”

“Probably.”

“Can I use you as cover tonight? I’ve gotta stay here, but Mom’ll crack if I tell her where I am.”

“You at Em's?”

“Yeah. The no sleep thing kinda finally got to her. From what I can tell, she walked out of her exam and …” Trailing off because he wasn't sure what Dex might know, “Well, she’s here now, asleep and I think she’s sick, but no one’s with her and I hate to leave her alone.”

Dex, asking cautiously, “Do you know when her mom's getting home?”

Answering honestly, “I have absolutely no idea.”

“All right. Well, consider yourself sleeping on my floor tonight. If your mom calls, I’ll cover.”

“Thanks, man. I hate to do this, but I don’t see any other way around it.”

“Just let me know if anything changes. We don’t need our stories to be different if somebody corners me.” About to hang up, he suddenly remembered, “Oh, and can you tell Em I grabbed all her books for her. Figured she'd need them over break. I can drop them off whenever.”

“Yup, I'll tell her and thanks again. Talk to you later.”

▪▪▪

Next he called his mom, “Hey, it’s me.”

“Hi there. I was expecting you after school. Something happen?”

Taking a deep breath, “I’m at Dex’s. Is it alright if I stay the night? I came by after school and I figure since it’s now winter break, it might be okay?”

“That’s fine. I was just about to call and yell at you so nice timing.” Both Sam and Nate were trying to talk to her at this point, “Sorry, honey, I gotta go. Have fun and don’t forget, you start at the diner tomorrow morning, nine o’clock.”

“I won’t forget and thanks.”

“Have a good time.”

Hanging up, he continued to watch Emily's eyes move erratically under her closed lids. She was dreaming of something and he hoped with all his might that they were good dreams.

▪▪▪

A few hours later, Jack finally had to raid her cupboards for something to eat. He cooked several hot dogs over the flame of her stove and supplemented with a couple of granola bars and a few handfuls of pretzels. Washing it all down with a large glass of water, he turned on the small lamp by the couch and, closing the curtains, he perused her bookshelves. Seeing several old favorites of his alongside the new books he’d bought her, he pulled one off and began reading, glancing over at her every so often to make sure she was all right.

About an hour after that, he was pulled from his book by the sounds of her moaning. Quickly by her side, he watched her hands begin moving and her feet kicking the covers. Her clenched fists began swinging at the air and, before he could get out of the way, one connected with his face, plowing him right in the eye. She woke up instantly once her fist caught him and, panicking, she tried to stand, immediately falling because of the tangle of sheets wrapped around her feet.

Catching her and ignoring the throbbing of his face, “Hey, slow down.”

Fresh tears began falling as soon as she looked at herself, his eye and the slow trickle of blood from his nose. Dropping back on the bed, she curled her knees up to her chest and shut her eyes, “I’m sorry. For everything. I should have just told you to go home.”

He had her in his arms by then and, cradling her face, he kissed the tears from her cheeks. Following the trail to her mouth, he let his lips brush hers before hugging her again, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Shaking her head into his chest, “Not right now, okay?”

And with a nod, he eased her back down on the mattress and held her close as they both drifted off to sleep.

▪▪▪

He woke up when she moved to get off the bed. Watching her shuffle to the bathroom, he sat up rubbing his eyes, forgetting momentarily that he’d been punched just a few hours before. After swearing silently, he waited until the pain subsided then, checking his watch, found it was almost midnight.

She came back from the bathroom a minute later, pulling an afghan from one of the crates and wrapping it around herself, “You should probably go home.”

“I’m fine.”

After turning on the hall light and crouching in front of him, she touched the crust of dried blood near his nose and his already dark purple eye, telling him again, “You need to go home. Your mom’s probably worried.”

“I called her and told her I was at Dex’s for the night. Then I called Dex to ask him to cover for me. I’m good.”

For the third time, “I don’t want you to lie for me. Go home Jack. I’ll be fine, I promise.”

Remaining where he was, “How long have you been on your own?”

She brushed her fingers across his cheek, “This needs to stay between us.”

He nodded, “I know.”

Pulling the blanket closer around her, “There’s not much to tell. I’ve been by myself since I was 13. I got myself this far, decided to stay, eventually found this place and here I am.”

Still stuck on, “13?”

“It was either this or social services. Which would you have chosen?”

“But Em, 13?” Scooting closer, “What happened to you?” The minute the question left his lips, he knew he shouldn't have asked and retracted it immediately, “Sorry, I didn't mean to ask.” Realizing he might not want to know what would be bad enough to force a 13-year-old to choose independence over family, he apologized again, “I'm … I'm sorry.”

Her eyes closed slightly, the weight of her response bearing down on her, “I couldn't tell you right now, even if you demanded an answer.” Taking a deep breath in, trying to force her muscles to relax some, “All I can say is it was enough to make me realize that, right now, I live in total paradise.”

Even through the exhaustion that crept back across her face, he could clearly see her fear and reaching out to wrap his fingers around hers, “I won't tell anyone. I promise.”

“I know you won't.”

With that, she got a look on her face that mirrored his mom’s, stating clearly this line of discussion was closed for the moment. Knowing he couldn’t fight that look, he moved on, “Just for future arguments sake, I’m still staying tonight so you might as well stop trying to get rid of me.” With a small smile, “So, you awake now or ready to go back to sleep?”

She yawned her reply and crawling over him, slid back under the covers. Jack moved to sleep on the couch but she caught his arm, “You can stay here if you want. I’ve slept on that couch and it’s horrific.”

Not sure if this was such a good idea, “I’ve slept in some horrific places before. I think it’ll be okay.”

“Please? Except for the whole hitting you thing, I haven’t slept this good in months.”

Seeing the terror of nightmares looming on her face, he nodded, “Okay. Move over though ‘cause I need more than a foot of space here.”

Pulling off the long sleeve thermal he was wearing, he revealed his Grinch t-shirt, which made her laugh, “Grinch?”

“Hey now, don’t be messing with the Grinch. Best Dr. Seuss character ever.” After jumping up to turn off the lights, he made his way back to the bed guided only by the glow of the nightlights on the wall, “Do you have an alarm?”

Nodding, “Yeah. What time do you need to leave?”

“I start my job tomorrow … today ... whatever … at nine and I should go home and shower first.”

“Will six-thirty be okay?” Once he nodded, she settled in on her back next to him, waiting a minute before she spoke, “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to cause so much trouble.”

Shifting, he placed his head beside hers and whispered in her ear, “I just wish you’d have let me know sooner.”

“You shouldn’t even know now.”

“But I do and that’s a good thing. Trust me.”

Emily rolled her head in his direction, asking quietly, “Did you tell Dex anything?”

“No. I just said I didn’t know when your mom would be home. I wasn’t sure what he knew, so I played dumb basically.”

Whispering a ‘thank you’ in his direction, she curled on her side facing the wall, “G’night.”

“G’night.”