Senseless | Jerome Valeska

II. Stop, Drop, Truck and Roll

I leaned up against my trailer, popping my gum. Jerome shoved his hands in his pockets and began to whistle. It was 12:30ish and there was a show going on, so camp was pretty dead. I looked down at the ground, noticing the mouse carcass was gone, one of the cats must have snatched it up.
"You ever been 'round Gotham?" Jerome asked, joining me against the trailer. I looked at him, a mischievous smirk on his lips.
"We drove through it on the way here," I informed him. We stopped for gas a few times, got something to eat, but that was the most of it. He hummed, and grabbed my hand, dragging me out of camp and towards an old truck. "Where are we going?" I asked hastily, he opened the door, ushering me in with the wave of his hand.
"Showing you around Gotham, my lady." He said, in a cheesy British accent. He gave a little bow and I curtsied in reply- obliging and hopping in the truck. He jumped in after me and brought the engine to life.
"Who's truck is this?" I asked. I was curious, it couldn't have been his. "Is it your dad's?"
He looked down at the steering wheel and coughed a little, then looked at me slowly. "My father was a sea captain," he started giving me a sad smile, "he died at sea" he averted his eyes back to the steering wheel. I reached for his hand that rested on the center council and laced my fingers between his. It was an intimate action I'll admit, but the past few  days I've grown fond of Jerome. As he started to drive out of camp and towards the city he started chuckling.
"Hmm?" I hummed curiously. What could be so funny after that serious conversation? He looked at me with that peculiar smile,
"I don't know who's truck this is" he giggled. I looked at him with wide
eyes, and then joined him laughing
By the time we had made it into the city it was a little after one and I was growing peckish. It was evident, my stomach made a loud noise drawing his attention. He looked at me with sarcastic surprise.
"Gee, indoor voices," he said. I looked at him for a moment, confused. I hadn't said anything? Then he looked at my stomach, and his comment became more humors. My cheeks heated and I looked down in embarrassment.
"Let's get something to eat?" I suggested, Jerome hummed in agreement. He patted his pockets, looking for change and sighed.
"Looks like you're payin'" he said with a chuckle. I shoved my hands in the pockets of my jeans finding nothing but lint, I looked back at Jerome to find him distracted by this thoughts.
"What's your idea?" I questioned, knowing that's what the look on his face meant. He turned the wheel quickly, jerking me towards the window. I looked around, there was loads of wandering people-homeless I suppose. We pulled to the side of the road -bare of traffic- and parked.
"Get out" he said sternly. I furrowed my eyebrows, and proceeded to open the door and step out. Shortly after he followed. The air smelled disgusting along with the people who passed us. I leaned over to Him whispering,
"Jerome, what are we doing here?" My stomach growled again, and I held it, as if to shut it up. He looked up and down the sidewalk before stopping.
"Rhae," he started and I nodded my head. "Ya' see that Skeezy lookin' guy over there," he directed his eyes to a man not far down the street. He was leaning against a building. He had a rough and mangled flannel on, along with some baggy jeans and an old hat baring a few holes. His beard was scruffy, like his eyebrows. Jerome looked back at me, "I want you to go and flirt with him."  I was perplexed and discussed, scoffing at him I backed away. He grabbed my wrist, pulling me towards him, closer this time. He leaned down, I could feel his lips on my ear. "You will flirt with him. Distract him." He said sternly. I gulped and bit down on my quivering lip. While Jerome could be light and spirited, I suppose he could also be quite dark and demanding. He pulled back, giving a wide smile. He tucked some loose strands of hair behind my ear - I leaned into his hand as he did. "For me," he said in chirpy voice. My lips pulled up into a smile. I adjusted my breasts, and flipped my hair over my shoulder as I walked towards the man. I threw Jerome a wink and courageously strutted down the sidewalk. As I grew closer the sound of my shoes clicking against the cement drew the mans attention. I walked up to him, quickly trying to compose a seductive sentence. He smiled at me, his gaze directed at my chest.
"You look like you could use a friend," I said, tugging on my lip. He hummed in agreement. Up close he looked to be about thirty, and he smelt of smoke. I tugged on the collar of his flannel, his back facing Jerome who watched us from down the sidewalk.
"What'sa pretty lil' lady like ya'self doin' in this part'a Gotham?" He asked looking me up and down. I slid my thumb under my bra strap and made it snap on my shoulder.
"M'lookin' for some fun," I said with a wink. Hopefully I was putting up a good act -I was terrified. Over the man's shoulder I saw Jerome quickly approaching. The skeezball went to grab my waist, when Jerome's arm wrapped around his neck. From his hand Jerome flipped a blade out. I stared with a smirk -both entertained and surprised. He whispered something inaudible, to me anyhow, into the man's ear. His eyes grew wide and immediately he threw his flannel coat to the ground along with the contents of his pant pockets. He scurried away, taking one last look back at us and I blew him a kiss.
I turned back to Jerome, who was counting the money from the poor man's coat pockets. He looked up with a face full of satisfactory,
"Bout' twenty bucks here," he stood up, snaking his arm around me. It sent chills down my spine, and I could feel my cheeks go red. He looked at me with amusement and laughed, walking towards the truck.
"Let's go grab some grub, doll."