Jade

Chapter 25

I wasn't really hungry so I just had a piece of apple pie and, of course, some more of the good wine.  I shared and everyone insisted that it tasted like wine this time, so even Lia partook.  I finished my pie and started to get sleepy, so I folded my arms on the table and used them as a cushion for my head.  I turned my head to where I was looking to my right.  My view was of Max and Lia.  They were so happy to be together again.  It was nice to watch them.  I felt a hand on my back.  I turned my head to look to my left.  It was Aris trying to get my attention.  “Are you ready for bed?” he asked.  “Let's have a cigarette first,” I suggested.  He stood up.  I slowly followed.  Everyone else seemed to be moving faster than me.  What's going on?  I feel funny.  Aris came to me and put his arm around me.  I changed into my pink snowsuit.  Even that seemed to go in slow motion.  “You are fine.  You have just had a little too much to drink.  Lia will you get Jade a water?”  We waited for her.  She came back with two waters.  “I have had too much too,” she explained, “The cold air will help too.”

We made our way, out back, where Max and Ripley were waiting.  Aris helped me sit in a chair and Lia sat in the chair next to mine.  “I'm sorry,” I apologized to Lia, “I've never been drunk before.”  “I have,” she disclosed, “and this is the best company to be in when you are drunk.  Nothing bad will happen to you.”  “That's good,” I smiled.  “Jade, you really do have a beautiful smile.  You should do it more often.”  “I've just been under a lot of stress,” I tried to explain it away.  The truth is that since my parents died I haven't had a lot to smile about.  I just kind of go through the motions.  “I have heard.  The men are all impressed with how well you handle yourself,” she confided in me, “I understand though.  Sometimes we are well put together on the outside, but a mess on the inside.  I want you to know that none of us will think less of you if you get a little messy on the outside.”  “Thank you for that.”  “You are very welcome,” she smiled, “just remember that if you ever need to talk, I am not far away.”

Aris handed me a cigarette, gave one to Lia and lit one for himself.  “Did Yaris ever tell you how he met me and Ripley?” she asked me.  I shook my head no, “please tell me.”  “Our whole family had been murdered.  He found Rip and I hiding.  He took us and sort of adopted us. He brought us to his home planet and placed us with a nice childless couple.  This scar,” she indicated the scar above her eyebrow, “is how they marked us for extermination.”  “I'm so sorry,” I whispered.  She smiled, “we were very small children, Rip is younger than me and even I do not remember very much.  It was long ago.”  “Were the killers ever brought to justice?” “No,” she answered, “I would know the faces, maybe.  Rip and I are the only ones who survived.  They wiped out our whole tribe.”  “So you are the only witnesses.”  “Yes.”

We sat in silence for a little while.  “What happened to your family?” she asked.  “It was little more than a year ago,” I started, “my parents had gone out to dinner.  They stopped at a local store for ice cream on their way home.  The store was robbed and they were both shot and killed.”  “I am sorry,” she whispered.  “Please don't say at least I wasn't with them when it happened,” I stopped her before she could say it, “sometimes I wish I were.”  I paused.  “I don't understand how that is supposed to console me.”  “I know how you feel,” she told me, “the pitying looks are the worst.”  “I agree,” I smiled at her, “There should be a limit on how many of those you are expected to endure in one day.”  “Yes,” she chuckled.

“Then there's all of the people coming forward who want money,” I started.  “What?” Aris perked up at that.  “Yes,” I continued, “claiming my dad owed gambling debts or that there were shady business dealings.  I just told them that the money is all in a trust and I couldn't even touch it until I turn eighteen.”  “I will take care of it,” Aris growled.  I startled.  I had never heard a noise like that come out of him before.  “Are you okay?” I asked him.  “Yes.  He was supposed to give all of that up when I brought you to them.”  “Give what up?”  “The gambling.”  “My father didn't gamble,” I protested.  I paused for a minute, “Did he?” “He did, but he was supposed to have given all of that up.  That was part of our deal.”  “Wait a minute.  What deal?”  “That they would raise you in a happy and healthy environment. He had to quit gambling and your mother had to quit dealing drugs.  I paid off all of their debts and gave them new lives far away from where they were.  When you turned eighteen I would come to retrieve you and I would give them money.  Then we would go our separate ways for good.”  “My mother was a drug dealer?” I was shocked.  “Did you have anyone show up asking about drug money?” he asked.  “Not that I know of, but Rosa and Jeffrey dealt with most of that,” I answered.

“Rosa and Jeffrey have their own problems,” Aris commented.  I just stared at him in shock, waiting for it.  He paused to collect himself.  “Keep in mind that your parents left you in the care of Rosa and Jeffrey, not I.”  I waited for the other shoe to drop.  “Rosa and Jeffrey are mercenaries, hired killers.”  I laughed in disbelief.  He may as well of told me that they were Mickey and Minnie Mouse at Disneyworld.  He didn't smile.  He just waited for it to soak in.  I stopped laughing, “I think I need some more of that wine.”  He handed me the bottle.  It was only about a fourth full.  “That is all yours.”  I took a gulp of it.

“Max, do you want to go get another bottle?” Aris asked, “I need a drink too.”  Max went inside and came back out a few minutes later.  He handed it to Aris, who promptly took a large gulp, straight out of the bottle.  “Can I have some of that?” Lia asked, “yours, not hers?”  He poured her some, in her glass.  “Anyone else?” he looked at Ripley and Max.  They held their glasses out and he poured them some.  We both took another gulp.

“Rosa and Jeffrey are no longer at your house.  In fact, they went their separate ways.  We took you and they disappeared the next day.”  It just gets better and better.  “I paid them for taking care of you and they split.”  I felt tears welling up in my eyes.  They didn't really care about me after all.  I really have no one now.  I felt a tear trickle down my cheek.  That is not true.  You have me and you know it.  You will always have me.

He lit a cigarette and handed it to me.  I took a gulp of the smooth fruity wine then took a draw off of my cigarette.  I'm just a poster girl for what teenage girls shouldn't be doing.  Cigarette in one hand, liquor in the other.  I couldn't think of anything to say.  I just kept smoking my cigarette and drinking my wine.  When I finished my cigarette, I got up out of the chair and walked into the house.  I rushed to our room and into the bathroom.  I had a date with the Jacuzzi.  I turned the water on and put in some sweet smelling bubble bath.  When it was full I turned the water off, pictured myself with no clothes and got in.  I sat down, leaned back, relaxed and pushed the button.  No squeal this time since I knew what to expect.  I closed my eyes and sort of floated.

Can I join you.  I opened my eyes.  Aris was standing over me.  He probably saw me naked or, at least, half of me naked, anyway.  The bikini leaves nothing to the imagination anyway.  I sat up.  The bubbles come up above my breasts when I am sitting anyway.  I just do not look.  It is called self control.  “Are you getting in, or not?” I asked.  He got naked too.  I averted my eyes.  “See, you have self control too,” he pointed out, sitting down behind me.  I took a drink of my wine.  “Where’s your wine?” I asked him.  “I decided I didn't want anymore.  I left it with them.”  “Are you an angry drunk?”  “I do not think so,” he answered, “it just depends on the situation.”

He slid his arm around my waste and pulled me back against him.  I closed my eyes and relaxed.  We sat like that, in silence, until the water cooled down.

“Are you ready to get out?” he asked.  I didn't answer.  I just started to stand.  He pulled me back down.  “Put the bikini on.”  “I thought that it leaves nothing to the imagination.”  “It leaves a little,” he admitted.  I put on a baby blue one this time.  He emerged wearing baby blue swim shorts and took my hand to help me out of the tub.  He followed me out and over to the bathroom closet.  He helped me into one of the plush oversized robes and put one on himself.  I just pictured my bunny slippers and he used some from the closet.

He took my hand and led me into the bedroom.  He sat on the side of the bed and pulled me into a hug, “Rosa and Jeffrey do care about you Jade.  They fought to keep you.  They fought hard.”  The tears began to spill down my cheeks.  “I should not have made it seem like they do not care, because I know that they do.  I do not know how anyone can know you and not care.  I am really sorry that I upset you.  I do not ever want to be the cause of your tears again.”  He pulled me back so that he could see my face.  He kissed each eye, then each cheek, then my lips.  I didn't say anything.  I still just didn't know what to say.  My mind was a blank.

“Change for bed and I will help you sleep,” he coaxed me.  I changed into pajamas. This time my long sleeved pajama top and pajama pants from before.  I took off the robe, handed it to him and climbed into bed.  I turned my back to him.  I heard him rustling around for a few minutes, then the lights went out and he climbed into bed behind me.  “Please face me Jade,” he pleaded.  I didn't move.  “Would you like for me to sleep on the floor?”  I took in a deep breath, held it for a few seconds, then let it go.  “No,” I whispered, “but I don't know what to do.”  “Can I hug you?  Just like this?” he asked.  After a pause, I answered, “Yes.”  He snuggled up close and hugged me from behind.  His scent was still comforting.  He slid his hand inside my pajama top, onto my stomach, for skin on skin contact.  I could hear him breathing in the scent of my hair.
He pulled my hair back away from my face.  I felt a soft feather kiss on the back of my neck.  I shivered.  Then I felt another soft kiss under my ear, then he blew on my ear.  I shivered and giggled at the same time.  “That is better,” he whispered, “I can not let you go to sleep angry with me.”  I turned over to look at him, “I don't think that I'm angry.  I just feel kind of numb.  Maybe a little hurt.  I just don't know what to do about it.”  “I am really sorry.  Your family's problems are not yours.  I should not have said those things to you.”

“I should know, though, shouldn't I?  I guess I am upset because they were lying to me.”  “I think they were lying because of me,” he admitted, “I am told that I can be very intimidating.”  I smiled, “no, not you?”  The sarcasm was completely lost on him, “I have been told by Lia many times that I should try to tone it down.  It is not easy though.”

“I guess I’m just disappointed that they aren't as perfect as I thought they are,” I admitted.  After a pause, I asked him, “Are you as perfect as I think you are?”  “You think that I am perfect?  Probably not.  I will definitely let Lia know about this the next time she complains, though.”  I smiled.  “That is better,” he traced his finger down my cheek.  “You are as close to perfect as anyone will ever get,” he stated with conviction, “did you know that you were made for me?”  “What do you mean?”  “You will understand in time.”

“Are you tired?” he asked.  I could see excitement building in his eyes.  “A little, but not really,” I answered.  “Good,” he hopped up out of bed, “I want to show you something.  Dress warm.”