The Rookie & Tom Hanson: A "21 Jump Street" Story

Chapter 15: Sleepy Days and Dreams with a Pound of Truth

This chapter may be triggering; it has references to sexual abuse and other forms of abuse.

It was raining as Tom drove me home, despite him being utterly exhausted, but he managed to follow all the traffic laws without getting too sidetracked.

To say that it has been an emotional and exhausting day is an understatement. First, that Russo kid made us go to the weirdest place ever, then my crazy older brothers came and started acting as if my virtue had been robbed, and Solomon and Tom's ex-girlfriend, who seems to have a lot of issues with social climbing. Not to mention my mother and father's subtle appearance in the matter. I have never been so mortified in my entire life! My only consolation was that both Solomon and Tom seemed to share my embarrassment.

Once we arrived at my apartment, Tom walked me up the steps.

"Thanks, Tom. I'm sorry for my crazy brothers making an appearance."

"I forgive you as long as you forgive me for the stunt my crazy ex-girlfriend did."

"Hey, she was almost my sister-in-law, so she got two for the price of one."

"True."

As we walked to the door of my apartment I noticed Tom swaying back and forth trying to remain awake and keep his balance. He suddenly dropped his keys and almost lost his balance as he bent down to pick them up.

"Tom, I think that you should rest for a little before you try to drive home."

"I don't want to impose," he started to say.

"Well, I don't want you to have an accident while trying to remain awake," I said as I grabbed him by the arm. "What kind of a partner would I be if I didn't have your back?"

Tom chuckled as I locked the door behind me.

"You're staying."

"Can I have something to eat before my mandatory nap?"

"Sure, but I won't have anything with chocolate."

"That's alright, I'm so hungry I can eat an entire pirate ship."

"Well, considering it's lunch time, I can order a pizza!"

"Sure, can we have pepperoni?" Tom asked.

"Umm, I can't eat pepperoni but I can order two pizzas: pepperoni for you and vegetarian for me."

"Or maybe just order a vegetarian because I don't want to make you order two pizzas," he said as he sat down on my sofa.

"I'll do that!"

I reached the phone, which was nailed to the wall, ordered our pizza and quickly hanged up. I made my way back to the living room and sat down on the sofa that was opposite of Tom's.

"I'm sorry about the brother brigade, but I can assure you that it was all Josh's idea."

"How come," Tom asked.

"Josh has always been very protective of me since I was a kid, even more so than our parents. He used to go out of his way to protect me from bullies and cousin Rachel."

"I thought that your mother talked them into it."

"I think it was more Josh talked her into it and that's why she called Solomon to come to Jump Street."

"I didn't wanna pry, but it seems that your relationship with your parents isn't the greatest."

"It's never really easy to have a relationship with your parents when you're adopted and feel like they are punishing you for being of a different ethnicity after turning five."