call us reckless(herophine+90210)

25: The Jailbird

JOSEPHINE

Now that school was finally out, I had a chance to return home. My mother had sent a plane ticket and a note in the mail. The note had told me that when I arrive, to not go home. To meet her at the address she had provided below. It's not like I wanted to return home. Again, another reason why I slept around for most of my Freshman and Sophomore year. I had not wanted to be around him. I didn't want to be around the man who had hurt me so many times. I didn't want to be under the same roof as the man who had used me. A man so sick he used his own daughter in more ways than he should have. A man, who thank god, is now rotting in a prison cell, and will spend the rest of his life that way. Karma had come back and bit him in the ass. It had come back and fucked him over so many times. I knew the things that went on behind the electric wire fences and cinder block walls. I've heard so many people poke fun at it. Do some of the people behind those walls deserve it? No, but a majority of them do. Including my father.

   I get off the plane, and thank god for Hero accompanying me. I would be so lost if I were alone in the airport.

   "You sure about this?" He asks as we head toward the bagage claim to pick up our bags. We weren't staying long. Less than a week, but we brought all of the essentials. I had once called this place home, but now it felt so unfamilar. So foriegn. This wasn't home. California was. Hero was. The twins and the rest of the gang were home. This place wasn't.

   "Yep, we're just here to help my Mother and Kathrine pack their things and get out. It'll only take a few days." I reply. The reason we had come is because my Mother said in her note, 'It's time to get away from here. From the past'.

   I couldn't blame her. I mean, I did it the minute the oppertunity opened up. I wished my Mother and Kathrine had too, but they hadn't. They focused themselves on cleaning up my father's mess.    They ran a support group where the victims could spill their emotions. They had both also paid for all the lawyers and medical help for any of the women who had needed it. I denied that I needed help, instead, I ran away from my issues and responsibilites. I pushed away everything from the moments that had ruined my childhood. I pushed away everything. I pushed it into a small box. It wasn't until Val and I saw the girl at the carnival, then Val shared her story, that I began to realize that I couldn't just run from my issues. I couldn't just push it all away the way I had throughout all my early teens.

   I had learned that if I actually wanted to do something about the past, I had to grow in the future, and my time spent in California has taught me to grow. I've grown to be the best that I can be. I've grown to my own and now it was time to confront the past.

~

We arrive at the address provided by my mother. It's an apartment complex that rises up four levels, and stretches to at least 10 doors across. Hero and I slide out of our Uber and he takes my hand as we head to the main door to get into the building.

He holds open the door for me as we move into the building. The floor is lined with carpet, and a large spiral goes up four floors, having an exit on each floor.

The walls are a crusted white and it reeks of cat piss and mildew.

Hero sets our bags down, "You sure this is the right place?"

I nod slowly, then look around. There's nothing but the staircase and a small couch against the wall. There's chunks missing from the fabric. A large stain sits in the middle, and I assume it's cat piss.

I check my phone once more to the address. It says Apartment 4E. Hero picks up our bags and follows me up the four flights of stairs. We stop in front of 4E and I raise my fist to knock, but Hero stops me.