Were all a little insane

5. J

*Lets see if anybody can find the Killing Joke references in this chapter*

"Get your hands off of the poor girl, you disgusting scum of the earth!" Somebody bellowed, crashing an empty beer bottle against the man's skull, causing him to crumple to the ground.

I took that as my chance to rip my wrists away from the other two and stumble my way to the new man. He slung my arm over his shoulder to steady me and held an arm in front of me protectively, glaring daggers at the other men. I recognized him as the man in the long coat of the corner of the bar from when I first walked in and could now see he was about my age, probably a few years older.

A few of the men returned his glare. One of them muttered "Let's just get out of here before somebody calls the cops, leave Adrian here I'm not carrying him." pointing to the unconscious man at our feet. The four of them strode out the door but right before they left Jesse said "until next time dollface" with a smirk and a wave, closing the door behind him.

At hearing that my knees buckled, I suddenly felt very heavy and could feel all of my wounds 5x more now. I dropped to the ground, but was stopped by hands shooting underneath my armpits to support me. I stood straight and looked up at his face (he stood at around 6'5" im guessing, standing about 10 inches taller than me) and observed curly brown hair, light freckles dotting across his face, deep brown eyes, and the most intriguing smile.

"Come on, stand up, I got you. They're gone now." He said kindly.

"Um, thank youuu..." I replied, asking his name.

"J. You can call me J." He answered with a warm smile.

"Well, thank you for helping me, J. I'm sorry you had to witness that..."

"No that's alright it wasn't your fault . Anyway, are you okay? They were quite the opposite of gentle, it's not the first time they started a bar-fight. This time, they just took it to far and somebody needed to intervene."

"Yes I am fine, just some cuts and bruises I can walk off" I replied and he nodded. We both were silent for a moment.

"Do you know those men back there? You said it's not the first time they started a bar-fight." I asked.

"I guess you could say that, I used to work here and they have been regulars for the longest time. I just came here after a long day for a drink because it's a bar that never gets very packed. But I would warn you, they will be back at their regular time almost everyday so I would advise you not to come back to this bar in particular. I could tell they triggered something in you, ya seemed very on edge." He answered.

"Oh, um, shoot... yes, I uh, well this man, he uh-"

"No no, you don't have to tell me, I can tell it is a difficult subject for you." He cut me off, not making me explain that horrible day.

"Thank you, yes it is. I guess I have relapses sometimes and that man Jesse triggered something. Other wise that fight probably could've been avoided..." I awkwardly replied.

"Don't worry, I know I did; as in I can tell you had one bad day and everything changed. All it takes it one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy.... just one day to push them down that hole. And it takes so long to climb out of it, and some people never do. I mean, it's all a joke! It makes it seem like anything anybody ever valued or struggled for... it's all a monstrous demented gag!!" J explained, and took a sharp inhale through his nose, "I- I'm sor-"

"No, oh my gosh I get it you have no idea." I cut him off, kind of stunned by how well he explained my thoughts over the incident.

"Oh, haha, sorry most people don't see eye to eye on with me on these things. For all you know you could be witnessing a person having their one bad day, you could be a part of it. That is why I helped you, because I could tell you already had one bad day and I didn't think you needed another, especially something so despicable as r...rape." J replied, stating that very last part with a cold glint in his eye.

The two of us were silent for a moment before I broke it with "Once again, J, thank you so much for helping me. I do completely understand what you were saying and I am grateful you realized what was happening in my situation. Now, I must be getting back to my paren-, er, apartment. I hope to see you around sometime!"

"It was my pleasure..."

"Oh I'm so sorry, Violet. Call me Violet." I filled in my name with a smile as I grabbed my purse and held out my hand.

"Well, Violet, until next time." He smiled as he shook my hand. I waved a goodbye as I walked out of the bar and closed the door.

I strode over to my little car and looked through my purse for my keys. I searched for a few minutes and got overly annoyed about not being able to find them. I roughly shook out all of the contents of my purse onto the seat and sighed when I found them. I began picking up my things and putting them back in my purse. Phone, wallet, some receipts, mascara, makeup wipes, tissues, a playing card? Why would I have a playing card in my purse. I picked it up and observed it. It was a Jack of hearts with a note written on the back of it that read "I hope tomorrow is one good day rather than one bad, a day where the joke puts the fun in funny. Until next time, -J"

I smiled at the note and thought about when he had the time to write and put it in my purse. What a strange man, so kind. And to me, strangely relatable. His smile lingered in my mind as I drove home, providing a good distraction from the hell I had been put through this long day.

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Okay chapter 5.  I split this and the last one into two shorter ones so I could name them a different thing and because I try to keep the chapters under 1500 words.  Anyway, we have met and talked to J. I think next chapter I might start it out with Joker's point of view, no promises though. Please comment your thoughts!!