Runaway Love

An Encounter with the Others

Suddenly sensing some one’s presence she looked up and found Nathaniel staring at her. He had slipped into the house without her knowing. His arms were crossed and again Jazz felt fear and froze. He smiled; he seemed to enjoy her fear.

“What do you want, Nathaniel?” Jazz asked, hating the way her voice shook.

He cracked his knuckles before answering; like he was getting ready for a fight. He eyed her carefully.

''Listen, I've seen Seph do everything. The one thing that breaks him is girls. He likes you, I can tell. You break his heart and I promise you I will break you and send you right back to your ‘Pimp Daddy’. Got me sweet cheeks? I’m not afraid to go back to jail,” Nathaniel said, his eyes and voice were ice. She froze, scared he might hurt her. He smirked, enjoying her fear. She could only nod. A minute passed before she could talk.

“Mick abused me, that's why I'm here. Why do you hate me so much?”

 He sighed heavily and sat down beside her on the couch.

“I don’t hate you. Maybe if you knew my story, my past, you’d understand.” Without prompting he told Jazz his story. His mom was a drunk and beat him for the first nine years of his life. Ann found him in the hospital battered and bruised

“Ann’s a saint. She adopted me when I was nine. I couldn’t stay with my mom,”

            His story was so similar to hers; she thought he was mocking her. Nathaniel turned to look at her; his eyes weren’t ice any more, they had melted.

            “I don't like people hurting me,'' he said his eyes frost once again.

She simply said, ''That makes two of us.''

He replied with, ''That includes when people I love get hurt...then I get hurt.''

Jazz knew he was talking about her hurting Seph. She knew he was warning her and nodded once again. He smirked at her sudden fear.

“So, we’re not so different after all. I bet your stepdad was a drunk too. What he did to you, that’s sick. You shouldn’t have been treated like that. No girl should ever be treated like that. If anyone treats my Sunshine or my sister like that, I’ll kill them. Any one looks at my brothers the wrong way, they’re dead. I won’t let anyone hurt my siblings or Sunshine like my mom hurt me,” he looked out the bay window, but he wasn’t really looking; his eyes were glazed over, and he had a look in his eyes that said he wasn’t really there.

“Where do I fit into all this?” Jazz asked, confused by Nathaniel’s words but also understanding, in a way.

“To be honest, I don’t know. Part of me, I want to protect you. I want to make sure no one ever hurts you like that again. The other part of me wants to hurt you, scare you off. Keep you from hurting Seph, or Tyler. I don’t know Jazz,” Nathaniel rushed the words out, like they were hurting him. He got up and punched the wall.

“I won’t hurt them. Ever. Tyler and Seph, they’re too sweet to hurt. You don’t have to worry about that,” Jazz was trying to reassure him.

“It doesn’t matter. Come on, Dad will be home soon and the boys will be out of school and at the bus stop in ten minutes. It’ll make them happy to see you there,” Nathaniel said as he walked out the door. Jazz quickly shoved her shoes on and hurried after Nathaniel, unaware that an hour had passed while they talked.

When they got to the bus stop several parents were there, little brothers and sisters too young for school in tow. Nathaniel pulled out a cigarette and stared down a little boy. The poor kid ran back to his mom, screaming.