Junie & Jackie - A Love Story

3

Jackie was gently rapping on the screen door at 7:56.

"Come in!" I called, knowing Dad was already awake, getting ready to head to the fire station, and that Mom had always slept with ear plugs after coming home from a long shift, never knowing who would be coming in and out of the house and possibly disturbing her beauty sleep. Like I've said, there were kids here almost every day, save for early Wednesdays and Fridays when I had class.

"Shouldn't leave your door unlocked around here," he warned me, just like my father would've if he had come down the stairs to see the front door sitting open, inviting any type of company in.

He was pretty as ever, dark hair hanging wet from the shower and a white t-shirt, just thin enough to make out the impressions of the tattoos that littered his body. I couldn't stand him. If he was going to be mean, he should also be ugly. Life was cruel and unfair.

"I knew you were coming," I replied with a shrug. "Just opened it a second ago. Do you want a waffle?"

He glanced down at the table that the three of us were sitting at. Amelia had syrup all over her face and was too busy poking holes in the little indents of the chocolate chip Eggo to even look up at her brother. She was sitting on a stack of phone books so she could more easily reach the table, her hair combed into two little space buns.

I always loved babysitting girls because I loved making them look all cute.

"I'll pass," he sighed. "Sup, little dude?"

"This is Jada's kid," I gestured to CJ, who was grinning ear to ear at the nickname Jackie had given him. "Him and Amelia had so much fun together. Would you like to talk outside for a minute while they finish their breakfast?"

My tone was clipped, as it should have been. Regardless of how hard Jackie was working to try and get money to get out of that house, his baby sister should not be wandering the street. I felt zero sympathy for him.

"Can't we talk in here?"

"Outside," I repeated, smiling just so the kids could see it. "Now, please."

I grabbed my waffle off my plate and folded it like a taco so none of the butter and syrup would drip out, then let him follow me out to the porch. I shut the real front door behind us so the kids couldn't hear, though knowing devious little CJ, they'd be at the window watching within seconds. He was nosy, and always liked to have information to report back to his mother.

"Look—"

"No," I immediately cut him off with a dismissive shake of my head. "Your little sister was wandering around the neighborhood naked yesterday, Jackie, while her babysitter was sleeping off her fucking benzos. That is beyond unacceptable. She could've got ran over, she could've got kidnapped, she could've... I mean, so many bad things."

I shuddered at the thought of what someone who ended up in this cul-de-sac might do with a toddler they found wandering, no parent or guardian in sight.

"I know," he replied, the same stoic look on his face that was always on his face. It did nothing but piss me off. If there was ever a time to show some emotion, this was it. "I had a talk with Cherry, and she's not gonna take anything around Amelia again—"

"She shouldn't be trusted to watch her, period. She's clearly an addict," I rebutted. "I know your whole family is, but that's no excuse—"

"Don't talk about my fuckin' family like you don't see your own damn dad sneakin' over twice a fuckin' week," he seethed. It made no sense to me, how he could still defend his father. I had seen how Randy treated Jackie, witnessed first hand his bruises at the bus stop. When he was drunk and mad, you could hear him yelling with the windows shut and the TV on. "You're way outta line, Meadows."