Roads Leading Back
folder
Romance › General
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
8
Views:
1,713
Reviews:
17
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Romance › General
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
8
Views:
1,713
Reviews:
17
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.
Chapter Two: Streets of Uncertainty
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, I'm back! Thanks for everyone for their support. I noticed that people really hated Jennifer and Erica's dad, but you know what? Stuff like that happens all the time, we just don't know about it. It is sick and twisted, and I agree that any father that does that to his own daughter should get castrated. But enough about my views. I know what you all dropped by for! On with the story, and don't forget: reviews and/or constructive criticisms are greatly appreciated!
Roads Leading Back
Chapter Two: Streets of Uncertainty
Jennifer finished packing the last of her duffel bags. Tears in her eyes, she took one last look at the room that she grew up sleeping in. It had changed so much from the light pink to the ocean blue, from the teddy bears and dollhouses to the bookcases and the computer and stereo. She sighed sadly. She knew that she paid for those things, but she couldn’t carry everything.
“I don’t know where I’m going to go,” she whispered, taking a final look around the room before putting the duffel bag down on the floor and rubbing a hand over her stomach. “I can’t stay with friends forever.”
There was a quiet knock on the door.
“Come in,” she said in a low voice. The door creaked slowly open in reply, and Erica, shaking, entered.
“Jenny? Can…” Her voice broke in a stutter. “C-c-can I…t-t-talk to…you?”
The tears that Jennifer fought so hard to fight back streamed down her face. “Erica…”
Erica ran to her sister and caught her in a fierce hug. “Jenny! Jenny…”
“Shh, shh, Erica. It’s okay.” Jennifer held her sister at arms’ length. “I’ll be all right.”
“J-J-Jenny?” Erica looked away. “I…I w-want to come with y-you.”
“Why?” Jennifer said, feigning innocence.
Erica moved her face closer to her older sister’s and shook her head, her voice a hoarse whisper. “You know, Jennifer. I h-h-hear you crying at n-night.”
Jennifer lowered her head. “Erica, I’m sorry. I didn’t think you wanted me to know.”
Erica’s voice suddenly became clear and as steady as a bell. “Jennifer, I want to stay with you. I’m…I’m dirty. Papa…” Erica choked back a sob. “…Papa made me do things to him, dirty things.”
Jennifer nodded knowingly. “Pack up as much as you can, Erica. I’m taking you with me.”
* * * * *
“Who’s the hero?”
James didn’t listen as he scanned the holding cell.
“You didn’t hear, man?” A young Hispanic man leaned forward. “This guy saved his momma from getting her ass beat from her husband.”
Another Hispanic adolescent clicked his tongue. “She probably got beat because she was stupid.”
In a second, everything was a flurry of motion. The first Hispanic man and a black man held James back while a white male and a third Spanish male looked quickly examined the broken nose of the unconscious hood.
Two patrolmen opened up the cell. “What in the damn hell is your problem?”
“It was a stupid mistake,” the black man snapped. “I’d bust up his ass, too, if he were messin’ with my mutha.”
The second patrolman pushed the young men defending James away gently with their nightsticks. “Let him be.” They escorted James out of the cell. “Call a doctor. We’ve got a broken nose in holding.”
* * * * *
“You cracked a hockey stick over his back, and you say that you did it in self-defense?”
James nodded. “Yeah. He was beating my mother and he was about to do worse to me.”
The door to the interrogation room opened and a well-dressed man strode into the room. He whispered something to the patrolman that was questioning James, who nodded and left abruptly.
“What happened?” James asked as the well-dressed man sat down at the table across from him.
“I’m the lieutenant of this precinct,” he announced. “We checked things out with your mother and your friend. Your story remains solid.”
“How’s my mother?”
“She’ll be fine, physically.”
James tightened his fists so hard his knuckles went white.
“Did you mean to kill your stepfather, kid?”
James relaxed, staring at his hands. “You know, I didn’t know what I meant to do at that point.”
“You’re able to ask for a lawyer if you want, you know.”
James shrugged. “I’ve watched enough cop shows, Lieutenant. I don’t want a lawyer. I’m telling you this out of honesty. If I get convicted because of it, I guess I deserved it.”
The Lieutenant nodded. “Go on.”
“I was playing pool with my friend when my mother called me, pleading that I come home…”
* * * * *
“Mister Allans, I’m a very generous man, but I expect everyone I work with to be equally generous towards me.”
“I understand, Mister Cronus, but I only have enough to pay off what I asked of you, no more.”
Cronus steeped his fingers in front of his lips. “Then you should have turned down my initial offer, Mister Allans. If you knew you couldn’t handle my proposition, you should have worked our negotiations to your advantage.”
“Mister Cronus, please…”
The conversation was cut short by the sounds of weighted footsteps slowly coming down the stairs.
“Jennifer! What in the damn hell have I told you…?”
Jennifer’s father stood to stare blankly at his two daughters carrying duffel bags and suitcases alike.
“Erica, what are you…”
“Papa, Erica’s coming with me,” Jennifer said. “I can’t sit back any longer while you do this to my sister.”
“And what might your father be doing to your sister, dear?”
Jennifer looked over to the sharply dressed man that walked up beside her father. His skin was a light shade of brown, his head was shaved bald and he wore glasses in front of his almond-shaped chestnut eyes.
“Jennifer, you stay out of this.” He looked to his younger daughter. “Erica, go back upstairs and take your things with you.”
Erica numbly shook her head.
“Erica…”
The sharply dressed man slapped a hand to their father’s chest.
“It has come to my attention, Allans. She can no longer, as you said, stay out of this.” He moved past Jennifer’s father and walked to the base of the stairs. “Tell me, Jennifer, was it? What did he do to your sister?”
Jennifer hesitated as he moved up the stairs, stopping at the step before her.
“It’s all right. No harm will come to you or your sister as long as I am here.”
Jennifer tentatively leaned down and whispered something in the man’s ear. As soon as she finished, the man’s eyes widened and his face turned red in anger as he looked down at Jennifer’s father.
“You, Mister Allans, have just lost any respect I had for you.” He glanced back up at the two young women. “You would actually use your own underage daughter to satisfy your physical needs? Even as you come to me???”
“It’s a lie!” Jennifer’s father blurted. “They’re lying to you!”
Cronus slowly walked down the steps and stood before Jennifer’s father. “I will take these two young women and put them in my care. Furthermore, I will give you three months to pay me back what you have taken from me.”
“But Mister Cronus…”
“That’s enough out of you, Mister Allans. As soon as I leave, you will talk to my associates, and my associates only.” He looked up at the two young women still staring at them in shock. “You have three months, Mister Allans. Do your best to pay me back.”
He moved to the door and gestured towards Jennifer and Erica. “Come. Your misery ends today.”
* * * * *
“You’re ready to face up to two years in a federal prison? You’re aware that this will stay with you as long as you live.”
James nodded numbly. “Mister Rawling, I knew from the first time I laid my hands on my stepfather for insulting myself and my ex-girlfriend that if I ever managed to overpower him that I’d be sent to jail. After all the times I’ve stood up to him, I’m ready to accept it.”
“James, why didn’t you just call the police?”
He glanced at his mother, who stared at the finely polished tabletop. “If I talked to the cops, my stepfather and my mother would have just waved them away.” He looked at the middle-aged Assistant District Attorney. “My stepfather has no one to back him up now. It’s his word against mine if this goes to court, and I have several people that can vouch for me.”
He stared hard at the ADA. “I’ve already said that I’m ready to go to jail for what I’ve done. As long as he can’t touch my mother or my friends, I couldn’t care less.”
The Assistant District Attorney took a deep breath. “I’ll talk to the judge presiding over your case to see if you can get a recommendation to a medium security prison.”
James nodded gravely. “I’ll take whatever the judge gives me.”
* * * * *
Jennifer and Erica stared slack-jawed at the three-story mansion.
“You…you live here?”
Cronus grinned as he stepped out of his Cadillac. “Well, not only is this my home, but this is also my office, as well as one of my…places of business.”
Jennifer and Erica nearly jumped as the white wooden doors opened before them. An auburn-haired woman wearing a leather bodysuit, high leather boots and arm-length leather gloves appeared, dragging another woman wearing nothing but a blindfold and a spiked collar out onto the porch.
“Who are you?” the woman spat defiantly, clicking her tongue at Jennifer and Erica. “Are you the new girls?”
“They are under my care,” Cronus announced. At that, the leather-clad woman stood and bowed.
“Welcome home, Mister Cronus.”
Cronus merely nodded his head. “Have someone prepare a bedroom for two.”
The leather-clad woman nodded.
“Before Sylvia takes you to your rooms, I should properly introduce myself.”
Jennifer and Erica turned to address their unlikely savior.
“My name is Omi Cronus, known in many underground circles as The Master.”
* * * * *
James stood up at the defense’s side of the courtroom.
“James Drake, you have admitted to the crime of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Do you object to this?”
James shook his head solemnly. “No, Your Honor. For my own peace of mind and for my mother’s, I admit what I have done.”
“And you are prepared to face time in a federal prison?”
James nodded again. “I get what I deserve, Your Honor.”
“James Drake, your mother went to the District Attorney’s office and pleaded with them to forego jail time. Are you aware of this?”
James failed to hide his surprise. “No, Your Honor.”
“As punishment for your crime, you will be sent to a medium-security prison for six months. After that time, you will report to a probation officer every week. Is that clear?”
James closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and nodded. “Crystal, Your Honor.”
The slamming of the gavel prompted someone to call him out. He turned around to see the tear-streaked face of his mother.
“I’m sorry, Jimmy. I tried so hard to stop them from doing this. I’m so sorry, Jimmy.”
“I know you tried, Mom,” he said stoically as the bailiff took him by the upper arm. “You tried for me. That’s all that really matters.”
=[ End of Chapter Two: Streets of Uncertainty ]=
A/N: Yeah, the shameless character insertion was just plain horrible. It's fine if you didn't notice, but believe me, that character just granted them salvation, and who better than the man I considered being? Anyway, on to the kudos...
born_to_do_it: As usual, your reviews are greatly appreciated. Thank you so very much for your support in all my writing endeavors.
7years: Thanks for the review, and for noting that. To be honest, I actually had a bit of a mix-up between the character's names while writing the last chapter, and I thought I fixed them all up. Thanks for finding that loose end for me.
That's all for now. Remember, reviews are always appreciated!
Roads Leading Back
Chapter Two: Streets of Uncertainty
Jennifer finished packing the last of her duffel bags. Tears in her eyes, she took one last look at the room that she grew up sleeping in. It had changed so much from the light pink to the ocean blue, from the teddy bears and dollhouses to the bookcases and the computer and stereo. She sighed sadly. She knew that she paid for those things, but she couldn’t carry everything.
“I don’t know where I’m going to go,” she whispered, taking a final look around the room before putting the duffel bag down on the floor and rubbing a hand over her stomach. “I can’t stay with friends forever.”
There was a quiet knock on the door.
“Come in,” she said in a low voice. The door creaked slowly open in reply, and Erica, shaking, entered.
“Jenny? Can…” Her voice broke in a stutter. “C-c-can I…t-t-talk to…you?”
The tears that Jennifer fought so hard to fight back streamed down her face. “Erica…”
Erica ran to her sister and caught her in a fierce hug. “Jenny! Jenny…”
“Shh, shh, Erica. It’s okay.” Jennifer held her sister at arms’ length. “I’ll be all right.”
“J-J-Jenny?” Erica looked away. “I…I w-want to come with y-you.”
“Why?” Jennifer said, feigning innocence.
Erica moved her face closer to her older sister’s and shook her head, her voice a hoarse whisper. “You know, Jennifer. I h-h-hear you crying at n-night.”
Jennifer lowered her head. “Erica, I’m sorry. I didn’t think you wanted me to know.”
Erica’s voice suddenly became clear and as steady as a bell. “Jennifer, I want to stay with you. I’m…I’m dirty. Papa…” Erica choked back a sob. “…Papa made me do things to him, dirty things.”
Jennifer nodded knowingly. “Pack up as much as you can, Erica. I’m taking you with me.”
* * * * *
“Who’s the hero?”
James didn’t listen as he scanned the holding cell.
“You didn’t hear, man?” A young Hispanic man leaned forward. “This guy saved his momma from getting her ass beat from her husband.”
Another Hispanic adolescent clicked his tongue. “She probably got beat because she was stupid.”
In a second, everything was a flurry of motion. The first Hispanic man and a black man held James back while a white male and a third Spanish male looked quickly examined the broken nose of the unconscious hood.
Two patrolmen opened up the cell. “What in the damn hell is your problem?”
“It was a stupid mistake,” the black man snapped. “I’d bust up his ass, too, if he were messin’ with my mutha.”
The second patrolman pushed the young men defending James away gently with their nightsticks. “Let him be.” They escorted James out of the cell. “Call a doctor. We’ve got a broken nose in holding.”
* * * * *
“You cracked a hockey stick over his back, and you say that you did it in self-defense?”
James nodded. “Yeah. He was beating my mother and he was about to do worse to me.”
The door to the interrogation room opened and a well-dressed man strode into the room. He whispered something to the patrolman that was questioning James, who nodded and left abruptly.
“What happened?” James asked as the well-dressed man sat down at the table across from him.
“I’m the lieutenant of this precinct,” he announced. “We checked things out with your mother and your friend. Your story remains solid.”
“How’s my mother?”
“She’ll be fine, physically.”
James tightened his fists so hard his knuckles went white.
“Did you mean to kill your stepfather, kid?”
James relaxed, staring at his hands. “You know, I didn’t know what I meant to do at that point.”
“You’re able to ask for a lawyer if you want, you know.”
James shrugged. “I’ve watched enough cop shows, Lieutenant. I don’t want a lawyer. I’m telling you this out of honesty. If I get convicted because of it, I guess I deserved it.”
The Lieutenant nodded. “Go on.”
“I was playing pool with my friend when my mother called me, pleading that I come home…”
* * * * *
“Mister Allans, I’m a very generous man, but I expect everyone I work with to be equally generous towards me.”
“I understand, Mister Cronus, but I only have enough to pay off what I asked of you, no more.”
Cronus steeped his fingers in front of his lips. “Then you should have turned down my initial offer, Mister Allans. If you knew you couldn’t handle my proposition, you should have worked our negotiations to your advantage.”
“Mister Cronus, please…”
The conversation was cut short by the sounds of weighted footsteps slowly coming down the stairs.
“Jennifer! What in the damn hell have I told you…?”
Jennifer’s father stood to stare blankly at his two daughters carrying duffel bags and suitcases alike.
“Erica, what are you…”
“Papa, Erica’s coming with me,” Jennifer said. “I can’t sit back any longer while you do this to my sister.”
“And what might your father be doing to your sister, dear?”
Jennifer looked over to the sharply dressed man that walked up beside her father. His skin was a light shade of brown, his head was shaved bald and he wore glasses in front of his almond-shaped chestnut eyes.
“Jennifer, you stay out of this.” He looked to his younger daughter. “Erica, go back upstairs and take your things with you.”
Erica numbly shook her head.
“Erica…”
The sharply dressed man slapped a hand to their father’s chest.
“It has come to my attention, Allans. She can no longer, as you said, stay out of this.” He moved past Jennifer’s father and walked to the base of the stairs. “Tell me, Jennifer, was it? What did he do to your sister?”
Jennifer hesitated as he moved up the stairs, stopping at the step before her.
“It’s all right. No harm will come to you or your sister as long as I am here.”
Jennifer tentatively leaned down and whispered something in the man’s ear. As soon as she finished, the man’s eyes widened and his face turned red in anger as he looked down at Jennifer’s father.
“You, Mister Allans, have just lost any respect I had for you.” He glanced back up at the two young women. “You would actually use your own underage daughter to satisfy your physical needs? Even as you come to me???”
“It’s a lie!” Jennifer’s father blurted. “They’re lying to you!”
Cronus slowly walked down the steps and stood before Jennifer’s father. “I will take these two young women and put them in my care. Furthermore, I will give you three months to pay me back what you have taken from me.”
“But Mister Cronus…”
“That’s enough out of you, Mister Allans. As soon as I leave, you will talk to my associates, and my associates only.” He looked up at the two young women still staring at them in shock. “You have three months, Mister Allans. Do your best to pay me back.”
He moved to the door and gestured towards Jennifer and Erica. “Come. Your misery ends today.”
* * * * *
“You’re ready to face up to two years in a federal prison? You’re aware that this will stay with you as long as you live.”
James nodded numbly. “Mister Rawling, I knew from the first time I laid my hands on my stepfather for insulting myself and my ex-girlfriend that if I ever managed to overpower him that I’d be sent to jail. After all the times I’ve stood up to him, I’m ready to accept it.”
“James, why didn’t you just call the police?”
He glanced at his mother, who stared at the finely polished tabletop. “If I talked to the cops, my stepfather and my mother would have just waved them away.” He looked at the middle-aged Assistant District Attorney. “My stepfather has no one to back him up now. It’s his word against mine if this goes to court, and I have several people that can vouch for me.”
He stared hard at the ADA. “I’ve already said that I’m ready to go to jail for what I’ve done. As long as he can’t touch my mother or my friends, I couldn’t care less.”
The Assistant District Attorney took a deep breath. “I’ll talk to the judge presiding over your case to see if you can get a recommendation to a medium security prison.”
James nodded gravely. “I’ll take whatever the judge gives me.”
* * * * *
Jennifer and Erica stared slack-jawed at the three-story mansion.
“You…you live here?”
Cronus grinned as he stepped out of his Cadillac. “Well, not only is this my home, but this is also my office, as well as one of my…places of business.”
Jennifer and Erica nearly jumped as the white wooden doors opened before them. An auburn-haired woman wearing a leather bodysuit, high leather boots and arm-length leather gloves appeared, dragging another woman wearing nothing but a blindfold and a spiked collar out onto the porch.
“Who are you?” the woman spat defiantly, clicking her tongue at Jennifer and Erica. “Are you the new girls?”
“They are under my care,” Cronus announced. At that, the leather-clad woman stood and bowed.
“Welcome home, Mister Cronus.”
Cronus merely nodded his head. “Have someone prepare a bedroom for two.”
The leather-clad woman nodded.
“Before Sylvia takes you to your rooms, I should properly introduce myself.”
Jennifer and Erica turned to address their unlikely savior.
“My name is Omi Cronus, known in many underground circles as The Master.”
* * * * *
James stood up at the defense’s side of the courtroom.
“James Drake, you have admitted to the crime of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Do you object to this?”
James shook his head solemnly. “No, Your Honor. For my own peace of mind and for my mother’s, I admit what I have done.”
“And you are prepared to face time in a federal prison?”
James nodded again. “I get what I deserve, Your Honor.”
“James Drake, your mother went to the District Attorney’s office and pleaded with them to forego jail time. Are you aware of this?”
James failed to hide his surprise. “No, Your Honor.”
“As punishment for your crime, you will be sent to a medium-security prison for six months. After that time, you will report to a probation officer every week. Is that clear?”
James closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and nodded. “Crystal, Your Honor.”
The slamming of the gavel prompted someone to call him out. He turned around to see the tear-streaked face of his mother.
“I’m sorry, Jimmy. I tried so hard to stop them from doing this. I’m so sorry, Jimmy.”
“I know you tried, Mom,” he said stoically as the bailiff took him by the upper arm. “You tried for me. That’s all that really matters.”
=[ End of Chapter Two: Streets of Uncertainty ]=
A/N: Yeah, the shameless character insertion was just plain horrible. It's fine if you didn't notice, but believe me, that character just granted them salvation, and who better than the man I considered being? Anyway, on to the kudos...
born_to_do_it: As usual, your reviews are greatly appreciated. Thank you so very much for your support in all my writing endeavors.
7years: Thanks for the review, and for noting that. To be honest, I actually had a bit of a mix-up between the character's names while writing the last chapter, and I thought I fixed them all up. Thanks for finding that loose end for me.
That's all for now. Remember, reviews are always appreciated!