A Tortured Soul

Chapter 24

Jack and May decided it would be in Justin's best interest if he stayed with them for a while until they could figure out the next step. Justin pulled his bag from the cave in the backyard and brought it inside. The following day He and JT went outside in the front yard for a little while. Justin was sitting in silence staring blankly at his old home as all the bad memories came flooding back. A young girl from the house next to what was once his stepped out and began walking toward him and JT which pulled his mind from his flashbacks. She had long dark brown hair, dressed like a skateboarder, ripped jeans at the knees and a baggie white t-shirt, listening to music on her walk-man.

It was obvious she wasn't paying attention to them or anything else for that matter. She was staring down at her walk-man flipping through songs on the CD she had in it. "JT, who is that?" Justin asked nudging him. He looked up and noticed the girl walking. "Oh, that's Jaz, she has been here for about a year and a half. She moved in a few months before your parents moved out. She lives in that house right next to where you lived."

Justin nodded, "So I noticed." He watched her walk down to the end of the road and back. By that time she had taken her headphones off and was looking around the neighborhood. "Hey Jaz!" JT called out. "Hey." She answered back. "Come here I have someone I want you to meet."

She walked over and stared at Justin with a slight smile. "Jaz this is my best friend Justin, we have known each other since we were two. He use to live in that house next to you with the crazies. Justin this is Jaz." JT said introducing the two. "You know the crazy people?" She asked making a shocked look come across her face. "Yea, you pegged them pretty good, they are pretty crazy. That's why I left."

"Oh, so you don't just know them, you use to live with them."

"They are my parents." Justin said slightly embarrassed. Jaz stayed quiet looking at Justin trying to process what he said. JT spoke up and broke her concentration. "Yea well, that is all water under the bridge now. They are gone and I got my best friend back!" He said throwing a hand on Justin's shoulder. "So what have you been up to? I haven't seen you out much lately." He continued directing his attention back to Jaz.

"Yea I know, I have been trying to catch up on my school work. I haven't been doing to good lately." Jaz said sounding a little ashamed. "Why? Do you need help?" Justin asked. "Justin is a little to smart for his own good sometimes but if you need help he would be the one to go to." JT added. "Yea sure. That would be great actually. It would definitely get my dad off my back."

"Cool, just let me know what you need help with and when."

"I appreciate it!"

"No problem."

Jaz felt flutters in her stomach like she just ate a dozen butterflies. She felt an immediate attraction to him when she first looked at him walking up to them, but now it was more intense than before. May called the boys in for lunch and Jaz went home feeling excited for her first study date with Justin. JT seen the attraction in Jaz's eyes and began teasing Justin about it telling him Jaz likes him. "She just met me fool, how could she like me already?" Justin asked. "You may be smart but you dumb as hell when it comes to females."

"Watch your mouth young man." May said from across the room shooting JT a disappointed look. "Sorry mom."

"So you met Jaz?" May asked Justin turning her disappointed look into a slight smile. "Yes ma'am. JT seems to think she likes me, but she just met me. Plus I have a girlfriend."

"Oh yea, Cloe. Here is a question for you. How much longer do you think that is going to last now that you are way over here?" JT chimed in.

"You go to visit your uncle once a month so I can see her then. Isn't that enough?"

"Justin, I hate to break it to you kid but sadly no. Girls like to be around their boyfriend as much as possible." May explained. "Well, I guess its time to break it off." Justin said smiling.

"We are planning to go out there next weekend." May said.

"Great!"

"Why are you so excited to break up with her?" JT asked.

"Oh you will see."

Justin spent his week helping Jaz with her homework everyday after she got home from school. Her mom Star seemed to like Justin but her dad wasn't to happy about her finding a boy to come over and help her. In just that first week of Justin helping Jaz and teaching her new ways to figure out her math problems and retain key points in the stories she had to read in English her teacher seen a dramatic change in her tests that week and decided to send a note home to her parents explaining how proud she was of Jaz's improvement. Which also helped ease her dad's mind about Justin helping.

The weekend arrived and it was time for the trip to visit JT's uncle and break up with Cloe. When they got there Justin skipped out on meeting the uncle and went straight for the playground knowing Cloe would be there waiting. He called her the day before and told her to meet him by the huge tree near the slide. "Hey! I missed you!" Cloe said wrapping her arms around Justin and kissing him on the cheek. "Yea? I have a feeling you are going to be missing me a lot from now on."

"Yea, because you moved. Johnathan told me you skipped out in the middle of the night while he and his dad were sleeping. Why did you do that?"

"I have my reasons. Come on I want to show you something." Justin said grabbing her hand and leading her to the backside of the tree where no one could see them. He pulled a condom out of his pocket and smiled at Cloe. "Do you know what this means?" He asked her. "Yes!" She answered excitingly. It wasn't their first time, but it was going to be their last because when they were finished Justin broke up with her and said he just wanted to do it one more time with her before he said goodbye. She wasn't happy about it at all but Justin didn't care. He was never really that into her anyways.

He had a few minutes to kill before he had to be back at JT's uncles house so they could go back home. He decided to make a stop by Johnathan's house to check in on things and see how the man was doing. Johnathan wasn't home but Justin could see the man in the living room reared back in his favorite recliner. He looked worse than when he did when Justin left. There was also a woman sitting next to him fiddling with some cords that were connected to him. Justin's heart sank in the pit of his stomach and he all of a sudden felt ill. He couldn't bare the sight of the man in that condition. He felt horrible about the way he left and was worried about how Johnathan was handling it.

He lost his mother seven years ago to car accident because of a drunk driver and now he was about to lose his dad to liver failure. Justin wondered what was going to happen to Johnathan after his dad passed. Maybe he would end up in foster care, or maybe his dad will pay the nanny enough money to take him in. They didn't have family anywhere near, the closest one was an aunt that lived three hundred miles away. Maybe it was possible he would end up with her.

Justin couldn't bare the thoughts running through his head anymore or the sight of the man that once stood tall and strong now lying limp and helpless, so he made his way back to JT just in time. They were looking for Tatiana and loading up in the car to go back home. Tatiana said she would be at the playground so they all loaded up in the car and went to look for her. Jack and May called her name while Justin and JT got out looking for her. Justin found her hiding in one of the tube slides with her face buried in her arms. He knelt down in front of her and asked her what was wrong. When she looked up at him she didn't need to answer the question. Her left eye was puffy and her cheek bone just below it was swollen with a little bit of blood dripping from the center of the bump, she had be punched.