Force You Down

Chapter Sixteen

Jacklyn

We make small talk, and I gulp down my water. By the time the waitress comes back to tell us our food shouldn't be much longer, my water is completely gone.

"Let me refill that for you." She says and takes my empty glass, disappearing and coming back with a full glass a minute later. I smile at the table, hoping she knows I'm thankful. I couldn't break Mike's rules, my plan wouldn't work.

Mike stares at me while I sip my water. "Did you see what she was wearing? I would never let you dress that slutty." He remarks crudely. I furrow my eyebrows.

"That's her work uniform." I say slowly. He rolls his eyes.

"She could leave something to the imagination, Christ." He ends the conversation with the tone of his voice.

The waitress' outfit consisted of a dark green mid-length skirt and a white button up top tucked in. I mentally frown.

Five minutes later, the waitress comes back with our food. She sets it in front of us, and refills my empty glass.

She smiles. "Enjoy."

Mike eyes my water as I dig into my spaghetti. "Why are you so thirsty?" I shrug innocently, swallowing my bite.

"I'm not sure. I don't think I've drank anything today. That's probably why." I shrug nonchalantly. He frowns as he picks up his burger.

"You've got to stop doing that to your body. It's not good for you." He bites into his burger, and to prevent me from saying, "I almost died of thirst and starvation twice because of you." I take a bite of my delicious spaghetti. When my water is half full, my bladder throbs.

I dab my lips on my napkin, surprised my lipstick hadn't smudged. "Can I use the restroom?" I say as sweetly as I can manage, pulling an innocent look on my face. I look at my water. "I've drank so much water." He takes another bite, chewing slowly whilst staring at me.

He swallows before answering. "I'm timing you. You have three minutes." I smile appreciatively and scooch out of the booth, quickly walking to the bathroom. I pee and wash my hands in thirty seconds, and wait for someone to come into the bathroom.

The breath is knocked out of me when the next woman who walks through the door is my mother.

She looks exhausted and her body is thinner, her hair more frazzled. She walks into a stall, and I pretend to fix my hair in the mirror, my heart in my throat as I count the seconds. I have two minutes until I have to go back to Mike. Willing my mother to pee faster, I anxiously listen as she flushes the toilet, unlocking the stall door. She pulls up her sleeves and I turn to her.

"Mom." I say, my voice shaking. She freezes, and slowly turns to stare at me.

"Excuse me?" She asks, and just looking at her face makes me want to burst into tears. I turn back to the mirror. One minute and thirty seconds.

I take out my right contact, and I face her again. She steps closer to me, a tear falling down her cheek as she examines my exposed eye.

"Jackie?" She breathes, and I nod my head and she attacks me with a hug, her body shaking with tears. I unfortunately pull away, forcing the tears to go back into my skull.

"Mom, you need to listen to me. Mike is outside, waiting for me. I have one minute to get back. Stay in here and call the cops. Don't say anything when you go back to the table except for whoever you're with. Mike has a gun. I'm going to drink more water so I can use the bathroom when the cops get here so I can escape. Can you do that?" I explain quickly, and she nods, wiping her tears and whipping out her phone.

My anxiety squeezes my guts as I pop my contact back into my eye, my watery eyes lubricating the dry contact.

Twenty seconds.

I squeeze my mom into a hug, kissing her cheek and remembering the way she smells just in case this is the last time.

"I love you." I say, wanting to bawl my eyes out.

"I love you so much Jack Jack." She whispers, pressing her phone to her ear. I quickly walk out of the bathroom. Luckily the bathroom is far away enough so that Mike doesn't see me or my mother. I quickly walk to the bathroom, my eyes widening when I spot my father and all of my siblings at a table, looking miserable. I gulp and continue on. This has to work.

Our booth is far away from where my family is seated so Mike hasn't seen them. I slide back into the booth, noticing Mike had eaten half of his burger. He acknowledges me.

I continue to eat my food as normally as possible, finding it hard to have an appetite when it felt like my anxiety was suffocating me.

The atmosphere and conversation os awkward and I gulp down my water, nodding my head at the waitress as she refills my fourth cup of water. Five minutes pass and Mike is nearly finished and my bladder is full again.

"I'm so sorry baby, but I really have to use the bathroom again. I'll be much quicker this time." I gush guiltily, as though having to pee was a fucking crime.

"This is the last time." He says stiffly, and I nod gratefully as I slide out of the booth once more.

The bell on the diner door dings as I near the bathroom, and six cops file into the diner. My stomach lurches as I quickly turn and open the door. I lock the bathroom door and step into a stall, locking that as well. I quickly use the bathroom and wait cautiously in the stall as I hear loud yelling in the diner.

I hold my breath and my heart beat throbs in my ears, and I jump as I hear a gunshot, multiple following after. I wrap my arms around myself and try not to hyperventilate. A shaky smile forms on my face and I start to laugh hysterically, tears streaming down my face. I step out of the stall and wash my hands. I stare at myself in the mirror as screams ring throughout the diner.

I pop my contacts out and throw them in the trash. There are streaks of black and wet foundation on my cheeks.

I yank off my wig and the wig cap, throwing it into the trash as well.

"Jacklyn!" I hear a vicious scream. It was Mike. Frowning at myself in the mirror, I take down my hair and shake it out.

I was tired of the acting.

I was tired of hiding the real, rebellious, disrespectful Jacklyn motherfucking Cordy from Mike.

All of the rage, sadness, loneliness, and slight insanity spills out of me all at once, and I kick off my heels, and tear of the leggings, revealing my tanned skin.

I wet paper towels and scrub my face with soap, water dripping thickly into the sink. I'm shaking with so many different emotions as my smudged face shines through the thick makeup.

There's a hurried knock on the door and I quickly run to it, unlocking it. Standing outside of it is my entire family. Tears stream down their faces, and I'm passed around in tight hugs. Tears spill down my cheeks and I can't stop myself as I sob uncontrollably in my dad's arms.

Pulling away, my dad gives me a watery smile. "It's time to come to the morgue with us." The smiles falls off of my face.

"What?" I ask confusedly. The rest of family stares back at me in disbelief. Allan reaches out and touches my shoulder.

"Jack Jack, you're dead." He says gently.

And my family's faces are the last thing I ever see before every becomes black.

In the back of my head a heart monitor flat lines.