Beautiful Disaster

Chapter One; The Kind Stranger

"You said you cared!" I yelled with my voice echoing through the empty, dark streets of LA. I pounded on the big wooden doors of an old orphanage. "You told me you wouldn't do this to me!" 

"Do yourself a favor, Jessica. Just live on the streets." I heard a voice shout from an upper room "or better, kill yourself!" 

"Fuck you!" I yelled, sobbing. I started running, then bumped into someone 

"Oh, sorry." He said as my purse dumped all over the freshly rained on sidewalk 

"Great." I chuckled, crouching down to pick up the contents of my dumped purse 

"I really am sorry." He crouched down in front of me, sliding off his hoodie "I'm Gerard." He helped me gather everything 

I just chuckled to myself, realizing that it wasn't just any Gerard. 

"Are these yours?" He asked holding up a drawing of a humming bird drinking from a honeysuckle 

"Yeah. You like it?"

"Yeah." He smiled "it's really good."

"Keep it." I stood up, "dead people don't need art." 

"Wait, do you have somewhere to stay tonight?"

I shook my head, "it doesn't matter. I'll be dead soon enough." I picked up my small beat up suitcase with all kinds of different stickers of flags

"Hey. Stay at my house tonight. My wife's making dinner right now, she won't mind." 

"You don't even know my name."

"No, but I know you need somewhere to stay. And I also know you don't need to kill yourself." 

I nodded and followed him, "Jessica." 

"Pardon?"

"My name, it's Jessica." 

"Oh, well Jessica, it's a pleasure to meet you." He smiled, grabbing my suitcase "so all these flags?"

"Everywhere I've been."

"Traveler?"

I shook my head, "something like that."

"I saw you coming from the orphanage after I heard some shouting..."

"Ah yes, that." I chuckled 

"What happened? If you don't mind my asking." 

"They got sick of getting a bad rep because of me. They kicked me out of the system, deemed me unadoptable."

"I'm sure that's not true." 

"With a record like mine, they'll probably make that word official just so they can call me something other than, "a careful case." Because that shit was getting old." 

"I understand. I'm sure your record can't be that bad." 

I scoffed and took a Manila folder out of my purse and handed it to him as he led us up to a house 

"I'll be the judge of that." He took it and opened the door 

"Daddy!" A little girl came running to him, then jumped in his arms "look what I drew." She held up a picture of three people holding hands 

"Aw that's adorable." He smiled then kissed her on the cheek, "Bandit, this is Jessica. Jessica, this is my daughter, Bandit." 

"Hi, you're pretty." She giggled

"Thanks." I smiled shyly 

"Hey babe, how was your walk?" A woman in an apron came out of the kitchen and kissed him