Early May Julia arrived home and found the for sale sign in her front yard with a bright red 'sold' tag hanging on it. Her dad had let it be a surprise. He sold it below what he had asked for it. The money he earned for the sale, he and Ellen planned on putting on a new house together.
Julia had visions of living happily ever after as a blended family. Her dad didn't appreciate her humor in that regard, but wanted both her and Andy to have input on the house they would choose. Cal and Ellen spent a weekend dragging them from one open house to the next all over the expanse of Maverick. He and Ellen had chosen several different places according to their budget, then let the kids in on the real estate treasures they'd found. Ellen chauffeured them from place to place in her Toyota Prius. They'd been through 7 places and Julia was bored out of her mind. She'd seen the pricier side of ghetto that day. Losing hope and faith they arrived at the 8th place. They felt defeated, but dragged themselves out of the air conditioned Prius into June heat. They stood before the split level single home on a cul-de-sac. Three bedrooms, a finished basement, 2 bathrooms, large back yard. Julia toured the house with Andy, examining each and every room, trying to decide whether she'd fit into it. She liked the finished basement. Private side entrance to the back yard, roomy and clean. The typical cellar things like pipes, heater, and hot water heater were secluded.
Cable and internet hook up. They toured the house again as a family. Julia and Andy pointed out what they liked. When they left they all appeared agreeable that they'd found their new home and Cal and Ellen were prepared to put in a bid.
The better part of May had been involved with moving. Bidding, buying, packing. Julia woke up to boxes, empty ones, piled outside her bedroom door when she woke up. She was expected to fill the boxes by the end of the day. There was an entire house that needed packing. They lived off the bare essentials till the move, because Julia filled the boxes like she was told.
Ellen took her to the Goodwill where Julia shopped for old furniture. She found abandoned treasures of all shapes and sizes. An old army footlocker. A couple chairs with patterned seats, a table for her chairs. She found a fold out love seat, full size, a couple cool lamps, and a slew of other decorative furnishings like pictures, clocks, cool knick-knacks. Julia left there feeling like she'd hit the lottery. When Ellen asked her to go furniture shopping, Ellen had visions of IKEA. In fact she nearly gagged when she heard they were visiting the Goodwill.
She wanted to drive Julia to the local furniture store to choose a new bed, but Julia declined. She didn't want anything expensive and new. Ellen had another idea though, and drove to a second hand store just past the Square. It was a pretty big store in an old warehouse that had higher end second hand furniture. Julia fell in love with a queen size bed that was half the price of a new one that would eventually succumb to wear and tear. Ornately carved head board and matching foot board that came with a tall dresser and a standing mirror. To Julia heavy meant well made. At the end of a long day of shopping, nothing would fit in the Prius. but dad had a truck he'd rented for the move. Cal and Jay went to the Goodwill and picked up her purchases in the rented truck. The second hand store agreed to hold Julia's new room and deliver it the on moving day.
Dad had a few of the guys from the bar move them in the week after school ended. Once her stuff was in the basement she didn't come out till everything was put away and in its place. They'd ordered out for dinner and Julia ate in peace in the basement. She took pictures and sent them to Jay. As she took her pics, she realized she had no windows. She was in near seclusion. Her dad and Ellen had stopped in a couple times to check on her progress. They were impressed with the way she'd set everything up and how neat her room looked with her goodwill treasures. Andy finished up what he felt like finishing then flopped on her bed, watching TV with her, and that's where they both fell asleep.
Julia woke up around 6am. Andy lay curled up on her bed, still knocked out. Julia changed into shorts and a tee. She laced up her running shoes. With any luck she'd meet up with Jayson before he left for his morning run. Julia stretched in her room, listening to CNN before she left. Andy stirred from his spot on the bed. He asked where she was going.
"Running. Gonna meet up with Jayson." She answered. "See you later." She smiled, tucking her phone into her sports bra, then putting on her head phones. Going to meet up with Jayson hadn't worked out for her like she'd thought. She made it to the track at Mav West. Hanging on the court, stretching, waiting for him to arrive. She watched through the fence from above the field, watched as Hayley arrived to the field, watched as she stretched and sipped water from one of two water bottles. Fat Hayley, Julia thought. Maybe Jay was helping her out to drop some of the pounds she gained? Julia thought as Hayley stood alone on the track. She started a couple laps on her own by the time that Jayson got there. Julia watched as the two hugged hello, gave each other a peck on the cheek. She decided to hang back and watch the two of them work out, thinking Jay didn't need to start a whole workout class. Julia sat on the bench by the fence taking in their work out, was about to leave all together when they stopped and sat, then laid in the grass by the bleachers. She watched them hold hands, watched as he pulled her to him.
"No way." Julia sighed to herself, doubting the course that the conversation had taken. She couldn't believe her eyes as he held her and it took everything inside her at that moment not to go down there. They eventually stood up from the grass, started walking away with each other. Julia quietly followed them, staying back a safe distance. Their embrace, their kisses, the hands-his hands-on her ass. "Son of a bitch." Julia cursed. She watched Hayley run away from him. He stood there by himself a minute before pulling his tee off and looping it around his head to catch his sweat. The workout he gave Hayley was a light one and he had a run home ahead of him. He set out pretty quick and Julia gave chase.
She caught up to him at the Square where he waited on the light.
"Hey," Jay said, taken aback by the sudden appearance of Julia at his side.
"Hey," Julia said, catching him even more off guard with the fist that met his face. She caught him hard on his nose, feeling a slight crunch beneath her fingers. Blood gushed everywhere.
"What the fuck, Julia?" He gasped, grabbing his face.
Julia struck again and again before he finally put enough distance between them, telling her to stop. "What the fuck, Jay?!" She screamed at him.
Jay pulled his tee off his head and held it to his nose. "You broke my god damn nose, Julia."
"I'm gonna break your god damn neck, Jayson!" She screamed. "How long, Jay? How long have you and Hayley been fucking around?"
"April, Julia, since April." He answered quickly. "How about you?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" She asked angrily. She thought of Tavin. She thought of Hayley knowing about Tavin. She must have told Jay," What did she tell you, Jay?"
"Be honest with me. You tell me."
"Fuck. She told you?"
"She told me nothing, Julia. She told me to ask you. To be honest with you." Jay yelled, his body reeling from the pain as he straightened his nose. "Who was it Julia?"
"None of your business. Fuck you, Jayson. A mistake is a mistake, but months long fucking is something else."
"No, you don't get away this easy. Who was it?" Jay demanded.
Julia started walking away from him, crying, her mind convulsing from having caught and been caught. Jay followed her as she angrily stalked back toward the school, past the school. She was going after Hayley.
"Leave her alone, Julia!"
"Fuck you." Julia yelled through tears. Anger and resentment coursed through her at that moment. All she wanted to do was face Hayley.
"Jules, calm down and let's talk." He plead with her. Julia kept walking, but held up her middle finger back towards him. Julia arrived at Hayley's house, marched up the path to the door, screaming for Hayley to come outside. "Julia, we can work this out."
Hayley came outside, saw Jay with the blood covering him. He'd started to swell around his eyes.
"We can work this out, Hayley, what do you think?"
"Oh, my god, Julia. What did you do to him?"
Julia leaped toward her, grabbing her hair. She pulled her arm back to strike when Jay rushed from behind her to hold her from punching. Her elbow hit him in the very same nose she broke at the Square. Jay let off a blood curdling scream. More blood. Julia got behind Hayley and shoved her toward Jay.
"You take care of him. Cause I AM DONE." She cried. "I am done with both of you."
Julia went home. She had thrown Andy out of her room and showered, washing off Jay's blood and washing away her tears. Her eyes were red from crying. She'd been crying for hours. As soon as she stopped, she started again. All she could do was think, and she didn't want to think. She wanted to escape. She finally understood what Jay meant about running away. Her cell had been ringing off the hook, cell message alerts over and over, but she didn't care, she just turned off the phone.
Ellen and her father both visited her after she got home and both for different reasons. Ellen wanted to comfort her and help her through what was a horrible experience, first love ending. She patted her arm, told her a few stories about her past. She tried to soothe the ache she felt. Ellen had no idea what was going on, except she was experiencing a break up. To Ellen the circumstances didn't matter, it all felt the same. Cal got a call from Jay's uncle John before leaving for work. She got a lecture about physical violence. "You broke the boy's nose, Julia. Twice."
"The second time was an accident, dad. I swear."
"That was dirty, Julia. I didn't know you had it in you, but that was dirty. You keep your hands to yourself."
Chess showed up at her house out of no where. She heard a knock on her side door, then someone opening the door. He came in and sat down in her big comfy chair. Chess kicked off his flip flops and propped his feet on her bed. He looked angry. He looked beat up. He looked sad. A mixed bag of emotions. He dropped his string bag on the bed, opened it and pulled a bottle out.
"Thought you could use this." He said sullen, twisting off the lid. "Cause I sure can use some."
Julia sat up in bed, reached for the bottle and took a swallow. "Thanks, Chess."
"So you wanna tell me what happened today? Cause I got the story from my mom, okay. My mom. Hayley broke up with me through a text message. Jay spent the morning in the emergency room cause you fucked up his nose. Thanks for kicking his ass by the way."
"Cheers." Julia smiled, holding up the bottle.
Julia detailed the events of that morning while they shared the bottle of mad dog.
"Who'd you sleep with, Julia?"
"I can't say, Chess."
"Well, people are thinking it's me. My mom accused me of hooking up with you."
"Chess, I'd like to leave him out of this."
"Yo, is it your brother?"
"My brother? Oh, you mean Andy? No. He's not my type."
"Am I your type?" Chess asked, alcohol soaking his breath.
"Not really. But you wanna have some really hot revenge sex that we can regret in the morning?"
"Serious, Julia?" He asked.
"Hell, no. I am not serious." She giggled. "I'm not having revenge sex with you, Chess."
"How about a revenge blow job?"
"Nope." She laughed.
"Hand job?"
"Nope." She laughed. "Go home, Chess."
Chess gathered his stuff and put his flip flops back on. Julia turned her phone back on as she walked Chess to the basement entrance. He glanced at the screen, missed calls, voice mails and message alerts from Tavin, Hayley, Jay, himself, Cass.
"It was Tavin." Chess said, pointing to the screen.
Julia gave him a hug, then a gentle push out her door. "Thanks for hanging out with me, Chess."
"It was him. The brother." Chess pointed at her.
"Bye, Chess. Love you too."
Julia hadn't seen Tavin since the night he drove the truck away from Maverick. They'd resumed texting and chatting, sending pics back and forth, but seeing each other face to face hadn't occurred. His life had gone on and her life continued as it usually did. In addition to school during the day, three nights a week he went to the local community college and studied for an EMT certification. He had ended his probation in December and he'd completed six months without another infraction, so his record was cleared by the judge. That very judge hailed him as a success for the new at risk youth program. He'd continued with counseling and group meetings, achieved a B average in school. He advanced his life with the programs and assistance he'd received instead of making excuses and continuing to be a problem in society. He'd graduated from high school, turned 18 and readied himself to take the test for his EMT certification. He'd also started to see someone named Callie. Julia felt pangs of jealousy, because in some insane way she considered him hers. He had reminded her that she had to deal with that envy like he had to deal with it because she belonged to Jay.
But she didn't belong to Jay anymore. She didn't belong to anyone.
"Are you guys ok there, Red?" Tavin asked. "I been calling you all day."
"I am as good as I can be."
"Julia, does he know everything?"
"I didn't tell him it was you." Julia answered.
"He was with Hayley? Really?"
"It's true, Tavin." Julia replied. "Listen, I need to think. I'm going to sleep cause I'm fucking wasted right now. I just wanted to let you know that it'll all be ok. Eventually, it'll be alright."
"I wanna be there with you, but I have my cert in the morning."
"Go get your cert then. Call me after."
"I wanna see you."
"And Callie. What's Callie gonna say? You have a life there. Don't fuck it up over me. You can't ok. Just let the pieces fall, Tavin. I love you."
"Let the pieces fall, Julia? The pieces are my family, you are my family."
"And I will fix this." Julia swore. "I'll make yesterday right tomorrow."
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