Jellybean Jones

Chapter 53: Flashback

(Flashback: Jellybean is five and Jughead is eight.)

Third Person POV (ooooh exciting)
Another bottle smashed dramatically to the floor as a husband screamed at a wife and the wife screamed right back. This was not a rare occurrence in the Jones family household. The two young children, the small girl only five and her brother eight, were used to the fighting. It was all they knew.

The brother often found himself comforting the sister, as she just couldn't take it. The small girl, who went by Jellybean, hid inside her small closet, cowering at the sound of sour words being spat between a married couple. Her breath came in short gasps and tears slid down her cheeks. She was all alone. She was scared- terrified, actually.

A young child at the small age of five shouldn't have to worry about her drunken Father arguing with her fed up Mother. She already knew that they were bound to break up, but the thought of her and her beloved brother being split up had never entered her less than innocent mind. The sound of the closet door swinging open frightened her. She was relieved at the sight of her beanie wearing brother.

"J-Jughead!" She gasped. The boy, who was much more mature than any eight year old should have to be, wrapped his arms around his little sister. "Jellybean calm down." He whispered. He had seen his sister breakdown completely before. It scared him. He didn't like to see her like that.

The two siblings huddled together on the floor. The smaller one curled up in the bigger one's arms. The screams coming from the other side of the thin door made the pair worry beyond description. Both of them were much too young to have to experience what was happening to them. They didn't think anything of it anymore. This had become a routine.

Their Father would go out with some rough people. He would get incredibly intoxicated. Their Mother got angry and cussed at him. They always fought. It seemed that the older the two children got, the more screaming there was. The small girl with the long black hair fell into a much needed slumber. She rarely slept at night. She was always too worried about her parents to go completely unconscious for several hours at a time.

The boy was left alone to his thoughts. He shut his eyes and allowed himself to relax. He was so used to this by now that he was no longer phased by the several expletives he could hear being shouted out in the living room. An hour had passed now. The bedroom door flew open. The boy was sensible. He shook the girl awake and pushed her behind him, protecting her against whatever was about to step into the room. Both children were expecting to see their Mother, as that's who would usually come check on them, so it wasn't a surprise to see her, standing frustratedly in the door frame.

The words that were uttered from her mouth shocked the children into a vulnerable silence. "Get away from her." She snapped quietly at the boy. Their Mother never lashed out like this. She was always the calm one. Always the one to end the fight. Always the one to keep the peace. The sister clung to the brother and in an act of defiance shouted. "No!"

Gladys Jones did not listen to the five year old girl she barely acknowledged as a daughter. She walked farther into the small room and pulled the boy to his feet, pushing him to the hallway and lecturing him. "I don't want you near her. You might be just like him." She said coldly. The young boy flinched. These words stung deeper than any paper cut. He was not like his Father.

"I'm not like him. I actually care about her well being. I'm not like you, for that matter." He answered, despite the tears he could feel in his bright eyes. "Go to your room." She commanded. The boy didn't budge. Jughead could see his Father leave the trailer and head out into the late night air. "No." He said, matching her tone. He cared to much about the little girl in the room in front of him to be banished to his own.