The Beaten and The Ginger

9. Jack is Acting Weird.

When Simon got home, he saw Billy drunk on the couch and his mum cooking dinner. Billy was asleep so he didn't notice Simon had on a different shirt, Jack's shirt. Not that he would have noticed if he was sober and awake. His mother, however, did notice.

"Were you wearing that shirt this morning?" His mother asked.

"Yeah," Simon responded.

"Are you sure?" His mother looked at him skeptically. "It looks pretty big on you."

"Uh... I kinda spilled a drink on my shirt and had to borrow a friend's."

"Who's shirt is it?"

Simon blushed. Why was it so embarrassing to tell his mum it was Jack's?

"It's Jack's shirt."

"Jack Merridew? The rich red-haired boy?"

"Yes."

His mother glanced at him. She continued cutting vegetables with a smirk on her face that Simon failed to notice.

Simon walked out of the kitchen and went up to his room. He plopped down onto his bed. The shirt was rather large on him, but Jack was also a few inches taller than him. The shirt also smelled intensely of Jack's cologne. Like it was freshly sprayed on.

Simon ignored this thought and started on his homework. He worked on this until his mother called him for dinner.

He sat at the small table. Billy was now awake and shoveling food down his throat. It reminded Simon of Piggy and he couldn't help but to grin.

"What are you smiling at, boy?" Billy asked around a mouthful of food.

"Nothing." Simon tried to wipe the grin off his face and eat his food.

Billy finished his plate quickly. "Get me another beer, boy."

Simon grabbed a beer from the fridge and handed it to Billy. Billy popped it open and took a long sip then burped loudly.

Simon had to look away so he wouldn't gag.

"What's that smell?" Billy glared at Simon.

"What smell?" Simon asked nervously.

"You smell like a rich man."

Oh, Billy noticed the smell of Jack's cologne. His mother looked at him as if she was wondering if he would lie or not.

"Some guy was spraying cologne down the halls at school," Simon lied.

"Who?"

"I don't know." Simon shrugged.

Billy scoffed and threw the empty beer bottle at Simon's head. It missed his head and shattered on the floor. His mother leaned down to clean it up, but Simon didn't want her to hurt herself. He picked them up instead, only getting one big cut as he wrapped the shards in a napkin. Simon threw them away and sat back down.

Simon ate his food in silence while his mother talked about how bad the customers were at the store. Billy got up and went back to the couch after getting another beer. Simon finished his food and sat with his mother until she was finished too, then he took their plates and put them in the sink. Simon was still hungry, but they didn't have any more food to spare.

"Simon, could you take out the trash for me?" His mother asked.

Simon nodded and grabbed the trash bag full of beers. He left the house and walked to the dumpsters. The trash bag was heavy, and the tie dug into his cut from the glass shards.

He got to the dumpster and set the trash down. His arm was sore from lugging that over his shoulder. He opened the dumpster and tried to pick up his bag.

Someone appeared beside him and threw his bag away before Simon could. Simon looked to the side to see it was Jack.

"Fancy seeing you here." Jack smirked. "Did you learn my schedule so you could follow me around?"

"It's just a coincidence." Simon said as he struggled to pick up the heavy trash bag. Jack picked it up for him and threw it in the dumpster. The bottles made loud clinking sounds as it went into the dumpster.

"What's in there that's making so much noise?" Jack asked while he closed the dumpster.

"Beer bottles." Simon said.

"You drink?"

"Just my step-father."

"You have a step-father? Does he drink all of those beers by himself?"

"Yeah. He doesn't work, so he drinks all day." Simon turned around to walk back home.

Jack grabbed his shoulder to stop him. Simon winced. Jack had grabbed his bruised shoulder. Jack pulled his hand back.

"Where'd you get those bruises?" Jack asked, sounding like he wouldn't take Simon's lies anymore.

Simon knew he should tell Jack, but it was still so embarrassing. He lived in a slum and they barely had food to eat. Not that Billy would ever let him eat much food even if they had it.

"My step-father hit me." Simon said quietly.

"Excuse me?" Jack turned Simon around to look at him, but Simon averted his gaze. "He beats you? Why won't you get help? What about your mum?"

Simon didn't have an answer. He and his mum were always too scared to speak up. People might not believe them and Billy would find out. Which would result in more beatings.

"Simon!" Jack seemed annoyed.

"Just don't bother, alright?" Simon hoped Jack wouldn't tell anyone. He started to walk away.

Jack grabbed his right hand. The one that got cut by the glass shard. Simon pulled his hand away. He didn't notice how badly he was bleeding before.

"Why are you bleeding? You need to clean that and put on bandages." Jack said.

"Glass." Simon wiped the blood on his jeans. He didn't want to get blood on Jack's shirt that he was wearing.

"You're so fucking stupid. If I find out your step-father beats you again, I'll beat the shit out of him."

"Billy is very fat, and he has a gun."

"I'll call Sam and Eric. One against three."

"He could still shoot you."

"Sure." Jack said sarcastically.

"Just don't get yourself killed. I'm sure someone will miss you." Simon walked away. Jack didn't say anything else, but he didn't follow Simon this time.

Jack was acting weird. Why had he been so adamant about learning who beat him? And why did he want to kill Billy? Jack wouldn't have done that for Simon last week.

It doesn't matter, at least someone wants to protect him. Even if it was Jack.