Warrior

Chapter 15: Joe's Back

-- FEW HOURS EARLIER --

Brendan has been gone training all day. I planned on going to the bar again tonight. I felt like I was losing myself more and more, everyday. I don't know what to do other then drink, pop pills, and shoot up. I was becoming more and more anxious about Joe comming back. I couldn't talk about it because I knew he'd hurt me more if I told someone.

It's been a few hours, I grabbed my pills, taking a few, and washing it down with alcohol. I put on some joggers and a sweatshirt and pulled my hair up. I made sure my sleeves were rolled down before I left. I made my way downstairs and Tess was making dinner for the girls. "I'll be back later." I say to Tess, grabbing my keys and phone. "Mommy, why does she look so sad?" I heard Emily whisper to Tess. I felt my heart drop a little but I quickly left. I got into my car and started driving to the bar.

I parked the car and made my way to the entrance. I walked in and saw many familiar faces. I didn't know any of them but they come here a lot. I noticed my good friend Teddy was working tonight. I went and sat down. "Teddy! How you been?" I asked excitedly, plastering my face with a fake smile. "Jadey! Long time no see!" He replied. I just happened to come on all the days that he wasn't working.

-- FEW HOURS LATER --

I had drank a lot of whiskey now. I'm pretty drunk at this point. Teddy, the big tattooed man, would give me drinks on the house. I don't know why he was so nice to me but I appreciated it. I heard another person walk in and sit next to me. "What the fuck are you doing here, Jade?" Joe asked. My muscles tensed and I held on to the glass of whiskey as tight as I could without breaking it. "Why are you in Philly?!" He asked again, more angrily this time. "Fuck off Joe. I'm done with your shit! I'm here because I'm trying to get away from you." I spoke, my voice stern but low. "You know you can't run away from me" Joe said grabbing arm roughly, insisting that we leave now. "Get your hands off of me!" I raised my voice and pushed him away, standing up and finishing my drink.

Teddy, who was busy, glanced over at me and walked over to Joe. "This guy giving you trouble, Jade?" He asked sternly. I nodded and left some money on the counter paying for the drinks. I ran out as quickly as I could without falling and got in my car, quickly starting it. I didn't see Joe rum after me so Teddy was probably roughing him up a bit. The bar doesn't tolerate guys putting hands on girls. Especially since I was Teddy's friend.

I drove back to Brendan's house and sat in my car for a bit. I could feel myself shaking with fear and anger. I got out of the car and went inside. Tess and Brendan got up from the couch quickly and shot me concerned looks. I ignored them and ran upstairs to the spare room and grabbed all my shit and put it in a bag. I was going to move in with Naomi but I planned on stopping by Dana's first.

I got all my stuff together and I made my way downstairs. Brendan stopped me at the end of the staircase. "Jade what's going on? What are you doing?" He asked, worry in his voice. "I'm moving in with Naomi." I reply coldly, making my way out the door. Brendan came outside and followed me. "Jade what happened?" He asked. I didn't reply, I got in the car and starting driving to Dana's before going to Pittsburgh.

I parked the car in front of Dana's house and ran up to the front door. She answered and let me in. "Hey babe. Hey, what's wrong?" She asked, quickly noticing I wasn't alright. I was still shaking. "Ahh just bullshit" I replied. "Well I can fix that" She said grabbing my hand gently and pulling me to her room. We both sat on the bed and cooked the drug on the small spoon. I was doing this with her a lot. Regularly I could say. I stuck the needle in my arm and injected the poison in my veins. Quickly laying my head on the bed and relaxing.