The Clown's Jester

VII

Mister Jack growls, “And?” I jump, and Sally crosses her arms, “You two stop arguing, it’s rude, and you’re scaring her.” Mister Jack looks down at me with a look that says ‘sorry’ and mister Jeff walks up to the three of us, looking at me, “So, you got a name? You already know ours.” I nod before answering, “Magnolia.”

Mister Jeff seems very surprised, “Holy shit! Isn’t that Jason’s little girl?! Did you just take her?!” Mister Jack looks at him and says, “No, he asked me to watch her for a little. He’s got a new guy he wants to make into a playmate for her, but he needs to ‘teach him some manners’” Mister Jeff seems to calm down a little and he replies, “So, what’s the plan? I assume you have somewhere for her to stay.”

Sally gets really excited and says, “She could sleep in my room!” Mister Jack looks over at me saying, “Would you like that?” I quietly say, “Could I sleep with you, mister Jack...? I don’t like being away from papa...” He gives me a reassuring smile, “Of course you can.” My toy mouse begins to try to move in my hand, “Oh, sorry Sir Mousington, you probably wanna move around, huh?” I set him on the floor, still holding mister Jack’s hand, and he goes up to mister Jack’s foot, bumping into it a little.

Mister Jack looks at my toy mouse and chuckles, “What? Afraid I’ll lock you out?” Mister Jeff crosses his arms and says, “Wow, thought I’d never see the day you shared your room with a child.” Before mister Jack says anything, I look at mister Jeff, “You know, you’ve got something right here.” I walk up to him, mustering all my courage to touch the middle of his upper chest. Once he looks down, I bring my finger up to hit his nose and chin.

He looks at me with a slight fire in his eyes, “That hurt, what the hell are you?” Mister Jack and Sally both laugh before mister Jack responds, “She’s a human porcelain doll.” Mister Jeff looks at mister Jack, then at me, “So she could smash into pieces if I just push her, right?”

I gasp before feeling mister Jack move to be right behind me, “Go ahead and try, tough guy. She just pranked you, there’s no need to get so hot-headed over it.” I back up, feeling mister Jack’s body against my back, I don’t take my eyes off of mister Jeff as I speak, “I-I’m sorry...”

Mister Jeff crosses his arms, “Whatever, I should get going, It’ll be dark soon anyways. See ya, dollface.” He walks over to the door, “See ya later, Sally.” He walks out the door, closing it behind him. I sigh, and realize that I had been trembling. Turning around and lowering my head, I speak, “I-I’m sorry I caused a fight...I was bad...Go ahead and punish me...” Mister Jack kneels down to my height, sighing, and then places his finger under my chin, raising my head to look at him, “Hey...I’m not going to punish you just because you had some fun and pranked someone...”

I feel my toy mouse touch my foot, and I look at the floor, “But...it wasn’t because I was having fun...I didn’t like what he was saying to you...it made me upset...” He kisses my forehead before pulling me into a hug, “You have nothing to worry about as long as you’re with me. The last thing I want is for you to be afraid of me.”

I cuddle up to him and hug him back, “Can we...go to your room...? I don’t wanna see any more scary people...or make them mad...” He rubs my back a little before he picks up Sir Mouseington and me along with him, “Then let’s go.” He stands up, turning to face Sally, “Hey, we’re gonna head up to bed, Okay?” Sally nods, and smiles, “I’ll just be in my room if you need me.”

She begins cleaning up the remains of the tea party she was having. Mister Jack carries me up to a stairway, going up and walking down a bunch of hallways before arriving at a door. Opening it, he walks in, shutting it behind himself, “It may not be the best, but, It’s here when I need it. I didn’t want to take you to where I...live.”

I tilt my head in confusion and he chuckles a bit, “Don’t worry about it, girly.” He walks over to a bed, gently setting me down on it, I fiddle with my fingers, “I can see why papa doesn’t like the people here, if they’re like mister Jeff.” He chuckles, “People here tend to be hot headed, but not all of them.”

I feel so unsure of everything, I’m scared to be so far away from home. From papa. Mister Jack seems to notice my sorrowful terror, because he kneels down to my height once again, “It’s okay, you won’t be away from home for too long. And when you need me, all you have to do is call out for me.” I look up, looking into his eyes, “Mister Jack...?” He tilts his head a bit, “Hm?” I swallow my fear, “Why did you kiss me...? And what was it that you stopped from doing when we kissed this morning...?”

He looks like someone had shot him as he looks down at the floor then back at me, “I...Do you remember when you asked me about love?” I nod, and he continues, “Well, I think I...I think I might love you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~chapter End~~~~~~~~~~~~

Magnolia: But what about papa?
Jeff: Damn man, you're not only sharing your room with her, you're planning to bang her.
Jack: Watch your mouth, Jeff!
Sally: Jack, are you planning on breaking Magnolia?
Magnolia:W-what?
Jack: Never.
Me: Okay, before this breaks out into a huge fight, I should probably intervine. Thank you all for being here, I'm glad to have another chapter done.