layers | john bender

[08] "My maid's on vacation."

8. ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ ᴡɪᴛʜ ꜰɪʀᴇ

Bender began to impersonate his father and my face turned into one of pure horror.
"Stupid, worthless, no good, God damned, freeloading, son of a bitch, ret*rded, bigmouth, know-it-all, asshole, jerk!"
I looked over at Claire once again, she didn't even look back at me she just stood there staring at Johnny with scared eyes. John gets carried away and starts acting out his mother. "You forgot ugly, lazy and disrespectful." He slammed his hand back to act as his father slapped his mother. "Shut up bitch! Go fix me a turkey pot pie!" He turned and in his normal voice, said, "What about you dad?" He spoke like his father again saying 'fuck you!' and going back and forth with himself until he acted out his father hitting him.
"Is that for real?" Brian who looked scared and confused spoke up. Bender looked at him, slightly out of breath and his hair falling over his forehead. "You wanna come over sometime?"
Again, as if Andrew only knew how to make shit worse, he spoke up, not believing a word Bender just said. "That's bullshit. It's all part of your image, I don't believe a word of it." Bender looks at me and he seems visibly hurt. I motion for him to come over to me but he stands there and looks at Andrew. "You don't believe me?"
"No."
"No?"
"Did I stutter?" Andrew looked at him right in the eyes. I stood up and walked over to my original seat. I didn't sit down but I stood there and looked at Andrew as Bender walked over to him. He pulled up his flannel sleeve on his right arm and revealed a circular burn that looked recent. I covered my mouth in fear. I'd noticed bruises before and all kinds of injuries on him but never had I seen such a gnarly burn.
"Do you believe this? Huh? It's about the size of a cigar...Do I stutter? You see, this is what you get in my house when you spill paint in the garage." Bender then walked away from Andrew and I took Bender's place. "See I don't think that I have to sit here with you fuckin' dildos anymore!" He then walked over to the map table and threw the map off of the table. He stood up on the table and climbed up the railing of the stairs and sat down once he got up the second floor balcony. I turned facing Andrew again and glared at him.
"You shouldn't have said that, you fuckin' prick!"
"How would I know, I mean he lies about everything anyway!"
I slapped Andrew and Claire looked up at me, she didn't say anything or glare, just looked at me in shock as Andrew held on to his face. "He doesn't lie, he jokes. I get that he can be a fucking pain but have some decency." My voice lowered in hopes Vernon or John wouldn't hear me. I lifted up my own sleeve, revealing marks that make my pale skin seem like a canvas. "Do ya think you'll call me out, huh? Maybe blame it on me being a whore like everyone else?" Andrew shook his head and looked down at his lap.

I turned around and walked over to the bottom of the stairs looking up to see Bender's back. Once I got up to the balcony, I sat next to him and laid my head on his shoulder. After a short moment of silence, Bender held my hand.
"Why'd you lift up your sleeve too?" I picked up my head and faced him. He looked at me and for the first time, he wasn't trying to hide a smirk, he just looked at me seriously.
"I was proving a point. I think he understood."
I don't think Bender was satisfied with my response as he turned completely to face me and gently lifted up my sleeve with no words. I gulped as he looked at my fresh bruises. He didn't say anything as he did the same on the other arm, finding marks that were disappearing. Bender then pulled my sleeves down, still going with a gentle manner. We didn't talk, the silence wasn't awkward nor was it uncomfortable. We understood each other and didn't question it. He turned back around, pushing my head down slightly to lay on his shoulder again. I took his hand that was on his lap and played with his glove.
"I saw you slap the asshole."
I laughed quietly and sighed.
"Yea, he deserved it."
"That's my girl." I blushed slightly at his words and leaned up to kiss his cheek. I must've been seeing things because his cheeks turn slightly red and he smiles. I leaned my head back down on his shoulder and we sat there in silence for a few more minutes. The silence and his warmth was so comforting that I nearly fell asleep right then and there until he spoke up.
"Hey, sweets, remember how I said I had some stuff in my locker?"
I picked up my head once again and looked over at him, nodding.
"Well, what do you say we go now?" Before I could say anything, he got up. He took his hand out his pocket and reached over to me. Taking my hand in his and lifting me up. Still hand in hand, we practically sprinted off the stairs and walked over to the rest of the gang. I told them to get up and come with us and instead of questioning it, they obeyed.
Bender and I walked over to the library doors and walked out, followed by everyone else.
"How do you know where Vernon is?" I questioned Bender quietly. "I don't." Claire caught up to us, hearing the conversation. "Well then, how do you know when he'll be back" Bender looked over at Claire and I followed. "I don't..."
I gave Claire a smirk and placed my free hand on her shoulder as we walked. "Being bad feels pretty good, huh?" Claire gave me a smile with a shake of her head. I hear Andrew and Brian speaking behind us but I don't care for the conversation.

Once we reach Bender's locker, he opens it up and it's a mess. Andrew, Brian, and Al all stand to the right of us. Andrew looked disgusted by the locker mess. "Slob." I looked at him, squinting a bit, thinking of the fact that he was shoving a banana down his throat earlier but he ignores me.
"My maid's on vacation." Bender pulled out a brown bag and I knew exactly what it was. I gave him a smile and he winked at me.
"Drugs." Brian being the helpless goody he is, seems a bit taken back by the idea.
"Screw that, Bender. Put it back!" Andrew pointed at Bender but Bender just took my hand once again and we walked away. Heading the opposite of where we came from to avoid Vernon. I hear Brian say something about marijuana and Claire walked away following after us. Andrew ended up catching up to us and later on so did Brian and Allison.
We kept walking and I soon realized we didn't have any plan of getting back to the library.
"So what's the plan, boss?" I looked at Bender with a smile and he smirked. He already had this all planned out.