Embers Of The Remembered

Chapter One| Jax

Jax 

Late May 1992- Chicago IL

"What the fuck is this shit hole?"

"He speaks." Franky's tone is heavy on sarcasm as he parks in front of some shabby-looking motel.

It's been a long and tense drive. I've been answering Franky's annoying attempts to talk to me in one answer grunts. He keeps reminding me how scrappy Sam is, as if that will help. It doesn't. I know this about her. She won't sit still in the cabin until I come back. She'll be out hunting, fishing, and probably playing with the goddamn bears. I'm going to be in a constant state of fear, and it's adding to the crippling anxiety I'm feeling over meeting Vinny tonight.

"We're here because I can't drive you into the city," Franky explains as he exits the car. I follow his lead, crinkling my face in distaste as a man walks out the main door with a smug smile while he zips his pants up.

"We won't be here long," Franky assures me. "Just need to get you changed into normal clothes and then on the bus."

"The bus?"

"You ain't walking all the way into the city." He stops before heading inside and turns to look at me. "Stay out here. I'll go book a room."

"Fine."

A scantily dressed woman walks out as Franky walks in. She gives me a look, and I quickly avert my eyes so she doesn't get the wrong idea. Her heavy perfume lingers in the air as her heels click across the pavement.

I hear a car backfire in the distance and nearly jump out of my skin. I'm struggling with all these noises, horns beeping, engines running, sirens imploding. It never stops. It's making me dizzy and giving me a headache. I never thought I'd miss the woods, but I'd much rather hear the sounds of rustling leaves and chirping birds right now.

"We're in room two ten, just up those stairs." Franky comes out with a key in hand.

We head up and walk in after he unlocks the door.

"Oh fuck!" I cover my face with my shirt when the overwhelming, musty smell nearly knocks me over.

"Little ripe in here," Franky agrees as he shoves a bag in my hands. "Go on and grab a shower and get yourself changed into these. I'll get your bus route figured out while you do that."

As I grab the bag, my shirt falls from my face, and the smell is way too much. I  start gagging as I dash into the bathroom. The next thing I know I've emptied my stomach into the rusty toilet.

"You okay?" Franky calls from outside the door.

"Worse coming up than it was going down," I groan.

"Maybe McDonald's wasn't the best idea for your first meal," Franky says sheepishly.

"You think?" I roll my eyes. I liked fast food before all this, but I had to choke down that burger. It was awful, and the fries were salty and soggy.

The shower is stained with yellow and brown rusty marks and doesn't look like it gets cleaned very well, but I jump in anyway. I suppose it's better than bathing in an old boat. The water coming down over my head feels amazing. A shower is something Sam and I would long for a lot when we'd torture ourselves about what we missed.

I close my eyes and start picturing Sam's face. Her sweet and loving eyes, her soft and sometimes teasing smile, and those cheeks that so quickly turn pink when I tell her how beautiful she is.

I'm coming back to you, baby. Stay strong. I tell her silently, hoping she can feel my words.

The water goes cold, and I hurriedly get out to change.