Tapestry

Chap 1b - For the love of sleep!

" Yo, K.P." Grace; Joni's 21 year old sister, stood at the door of her room.

" Yes Grace." Joni rolled her eye balls at the nickname Grace gave her when they were little then turned. "I mean G.P." she gave her a smile then continued what she was doing.

" Dinner's gonna be ready in 5." She walked into the room and threw herself on the bed. "Hey-hey-hey, why you messing up my bed?" she said without turning.

" You're too uptight," she sat up and looked at the bed that still looked neat " And way too neat." she tapped her chin " I don't remember you like this petite soeur." she observed keenly~ little sister

" Grace, I don't like what you're insinuating." she said with a feigned seriousness.

" Ah-ha!," she snapped her fingers "You've gotten yourself a little copain, haven't you?." ~ boyfriend

"What?!-no, you're crazy." Joni said defensively. Grace walked up to her and gave her shoulder a little squeeze then whispered in her ear " then you're about to."

" In your dreams!" Joni called after her. 

" Come down and have dinner." she said as she was leaving. " Dad made something delicious and I can't miss it."

"Vincent is not my dad." she retorted

" Prove it." Grace said then left.

She closed her book to come downstairs when she noticed a sheet of paper  had fallen out.Truth be told, though Vincent was her stepdad - that she hated for no reason except for those known to her - she couldn't skip dinner especially when  he was the one in charge of the kitchen that night. So she picked it up hurriedly to put it back but stopped. The handwriting was barely readable but she saw something  that confused and fascinated her at the same time

              " I'm dyin' of this, slowly eating me like a disease

                My soul's fightin' for a release

                From pain

                But I don't stand a chance

                They say give in your everything, but what do I gain?

                  Nuthin', And it hurts so bad.

                 To see  'em sad.

                 I take my medications, from the damn doctors and the clinic.

                 They all fail, even the 'P.E.' doesn't work.

                  I'll still do it, light a fire on that stick.

                  Do things that make both my heart and soul sick,

                  'Cause there's no hope for the hopeless,

                   and only death for the condemned ."

                She turned the back and saw a name scribbled there: 'Andre Christopher Reed'

               She was stunned and confused and stood there gawking at the sheet of paper belonging to her worst nightmare yet.

" Jonelle Kristiane Loira Peron!." Her mum yelled her name. That can't be good. She quickly placed the paper under her pillow.

" Yes maman ." she headed for the door.

" Loira!." 

That was not a good sign. She flew down the stairs or to be honest, slid down the railings before her mum could begin a lengthy talk in both french and italian.

" I'm here!." She announced, disrupting the not-so peace and quiet of the dinning room.

" Pourquoi es tu en retard?." Brianne asked her as soon as she sat down. ~ why are you late?

" Sorry." she muttered, focusing on the mouth watering dish being passed her way. France is a country obssesed with food and even the very art of it. so having an Italian as a step father who knew not only delicious italian dishes but also knew had to prepare french dishes the french way, didn't help issues. 

Dinner was successful; meaning Joni didn't or simply passed up the opportunity to attack Vincent. Everyone -though unspoken- was pleased. Joni lay awake that night thinking about her dad -Matthieu Peron- and the man who has been like a father to her - Vincent Zanelli. She couldn't believe God let her life get this worse. She was still struggling with grief and God was just up there doing nothing?.

" Okay, enough Joni. If you can't sleep, read." She told herself and grabbed Andre's poem or whatever it was and read it one more time. It was deep, insightful, yearning and yet seemed to reach out to her as if she knew or even cared about whatever made him write this. 

"This is bullshit." she concluded before tucking herself under her duvet and drifting into sleep.

***

" You won't listen, you won't listen!."

Derby Reed's voice pierced through Joni's sleep. 'For the love of sleep!, what could make a mother so mad by-'

She checked the time, " It's almost 2am , god damn it!." She hissed before flinging off the duvet and stormed over to the balcony to give the Reeds a piece of her mind, in a calm respectful way.

She peeped into the Reeds' backyard and saw Andre's mum flushed with anger while the bad boy maintained his forever-on poker face.

" It's freaking 2 am in the morning, what the hell is wrong with you?."She folded her arms and waited for her answer.

" It's was just a party, just a fucking party." she heard Andre say.

" Just a fucking party?," she stared at him with disbelief " You're just 17 years old and look at you, you're  drunk." she stated the obvious then threw her hands in surrender " I'm not ready for this right now." And left, slamming the door in the process.

Joni had watched the whole scenario and this pretty much proved her theory, that Andre Reed was under the influence of demoniacism.

She was just about to go in when she sneezed and Andre looked up. He was quite drunk but he could still recognize her, she could tell 'cause he gave her that look he gave her 8 years ago when they met at the park and she tried to ask him about his family. He crammed up and gave her a death stare. However when he asked about her dad, she ran away to avoid breaking down infront of him.

Their eyes were locked together for few seconds before she realized herself and ran inside.

" Wierdos." she sighed as she closed the door. At least, sleep was possible.