So Kiss Me

Ch 12

The thumping on the door startled the house's occupants. The door swung open to reveal Hunter.

"May I help you?" the woman asked.

"I'm looking for Garrett--does he--"

"Yes, I'm his mother. Is everything okay?"

"Of course, I just need to talk to him, is he home?"

"I don't believe so. He went out and hasn't been home since--oh, here he is right now," the woman looked past Hunter to see Garrett who was coming up the walkway looking frustrated and worried.

"Thank you," Hunter told the woman. She nodded and shut the door while Hunter walked toward Garrett.

"What the hell," Hunter began.

"What?" Garrett asked.

"What did you do to her?"

"To who?"

"Who do you think? Jaclyn, of course!"

"Shh," Garrett said, looking past Hunter at his house, "Not here, come with me," he said.

Hunter followed him, his anger growing. All he wanted to do was sock Garrett for making Jaclyn cry, but he followed him until they were alone near the park.

"Is Jaclyn okay?" Garrett asked.

"What do you think? Whatever you did to her earlier sent her home crying. She locked herself in Sandra's room and won't speak to anyone."

Garrett ran his fingers through his hair, "I didn't mean to upset her, I was just worried!" he defended, still scratching his head.

"What are you talking about?" Hunter asked, confused now."

"I saw a bruise on her arm! I asked her if her father did it and she wouldn't answer me. She just got upset and left with Sandra."

"So you didn't hurt her?"

"Hurt her?" Garrett asked in surprised, turning to face Hunter again, "I would never hurt her!"

Hunter nodded, turning away to look around while he thought. After a moment, he suggested something to Garrett. Garrett turned and the two made eye contact. They stared for a moment, as if deciding if it was a good idea.

"Do you think it would do any good?"

"It's worth a try."

Garrett paused, "Okay. Let's go. Let's do it."

Hunter nodded and the two jogged off down the street, slowing only when they reached the block where the Charity house resided. They grew nervous as they neared the house, seeing only a couple, dim lights on in the house.

Hunter glanced at Garrett and he nodded. Hunter then reached up and knocked on the door that they had finally reached and stood in front of.

After a moment or two, the door opened and Mr. Charity, the esteemed mayor of the town, stood there in rumpled clothing, looking tired, "Can I help you?" he asked.

"Mr. Charity," Hunter began, "I'm Hunter--Sandra's older brother. This is Garret--"

"You," Mr. Charity said, pointing to Garrett, "Are you the one who gave her those clothes? Those vile, un-wholesome clothes? You're the one that changed her, aren't you?!"

"Mr. Charity," Garrett began, "I didn't do anything to your daughter. All I did was show her care when I saw she needed it--"

Mr. Charity reached forward to grab Garrett, but he moved and Mr. Charity stumbled. He then grumbled something under his breath and re-entered the house, leaving the door open.

Hunter glanced at Garrett and whispered, "Is he drunk?"

Garrett shrugged and then followed Hunter into the house. The two boys walked in and saw the dining table near the stair case. It held a case of beer bottles, half drunk. Mr. Charity had opened another one and was now moving to sit on the couch and stare at the blank wall where a television would have perfectly fit if he didn't believe that they dimmed a person's intellect.

The boys stood a moment, then Hunter cleared his throat.

"What are you two still doing here?" Mr. Charity grumbled after hearing the noise and looking to find it's source.

"We came to talk to you," Hunter began, "We've seen Jaclyn and we're concerned. She told us the whole story of how you fought, then you grabbed her and nearly pushed her down the stairs--"

Garrett, upon hearing this, grew even more worried. He looked at the flight of stairs and his mind imagined what it would have been like to see Jaclyn's small body tumbling down them and landing at the bottom. The thought gave him a shudder, so he turned his attention back to Hunter.

"We're afraid you've hurt her physically and that is grounds for calling Child Protective Services. An investigation would be launched," Hunter continued. Garrett was impressed at his research skills and listened on, "We don't want to have to do that, but after seeing how you're behaving now, Mr. Charity, we believe that it may be necessary to contact authorities of some kind."

"So a man can't have a drink in his own home anymore?!" Mr. Charity asked.

"It's just that, it's only been a few days since you made your daughter leave and we're afraid you're spiraling now that we've seen the state you're in--"

"How dare you address your mayor in that manner?" Mr. Charity scoffed, standing slowly to face the boys. He pointed a finger at the two and said, "If you come around here again, I will do more to you than what I did to Jaclyn. She was being just as disrespectful as you two and I will call the police if you ever trespass on my property again! The same goes for Jaclyn!"

The boys were scared at the man and simply left without another word. Once outside, Garrett didn't even realize that he was following Hunter home. The two just walked and thought about what had just happened.

"What do we tell her?" Garrett asked once they'd reached Hunter's home.

"The truth is usually the best route," Hunter sighed, "I'll do it," he continued, "She's upset already, I wouldn't want her taking it out on you--"

"No," Garrett said, "You're clearly special to her. You're her emotional support. I don't want her to be angry at you for any reason, let me talk to her. Just allow me inside for five minutes and I'll tell her I went to see her father and then I'll leave and you can take over."

Hunter nodded slowly, "You're a good man, Garrett."

Garrett shrugged, "I'm nothing special..."

Hunter then let him inside and Garrett followed him to where Jaclyn and Sandra were sitting on Sandra's bed. Hunter asked Sandra to leave the two alone for a few minutes and she followed him out. They listened from the bottom of the stairs and didn't hear much until the very end, when Jaclyn shouted at Garrett to get out. He retaliated in a calm voice that they couldn't hear, then they heard Jaclyn shout again. Sandra closed her eyes and sighed at the harshness of the words and Hunter felt guilty for allowing Garrett to take the fall for this conflict.

Garrett came quickly down the stairs a minute later and glanced at Hunter and Sandra before continuing past them to the door and leaving. Hunter started to go up stairs, but Sandra grabbed his arm, "Don't. She needs a woman right now."

Hunter nodded and went back down while Sandra started up the stairs.

In this particular situation, however, Hunter may have been a wiser and kinder choice to talk to Jaclyn because the words Sandra chose to say to her were far from comforting. They were, however, what Jaclyn needed to hear, whether she liked it or not.