Anne with an E The Next Chapter

The Mess

Diana thanked Moody and Ruby for the ride and wished them both a good evening. She felt so happy for them but somewhere in her heart, she was hurting a little too. She was wishing she could wave a magic wand and make her parents love Jerry and see him the way she did, but she knew it would be much harder than that. As she walked up the dirt path to the house she noticed the little things about it that needed a lot of work. Paint on the upstairs shutters, garden beds badly in need of attention, the gate and latch broken. To be sure, there was a lot that needed to be done, but it wasn't beyond repair.

Diana took a moment to collect herself before she walked in the house. She needed to fix this with Jerry quick and couldn't wait to hold onto to him and everything he brought to her life. She tried to open the door but it was locked so she knocked at door waiting for him to answer. When he didn't come to the door, she wondered if he'd gone back to Green Gables for the afternoon but noticed the buggy was still in it's place. She peered through front window and couldn't see Jerry at first, until she got a glimpse of his boot, just peeking out from around the corner of the kitchen wall.

"Jerry!!!" she called to him. "Jerry... open the door". She knocked three more times waiting for something but there was no movement.

"Jerry?" She called out again. When he didn't move her heart started to beat rapidly in response to her worry that something horrible had happened. She ran to the back of the house to try the back door which was still unlocked and she burst through the door.

"Jerry!!!".

She ran to the kitchen through the tiny hall and found Jerry slumped over against the kitchen wall. As she ran to him, she heard the crunch of glass under her feet and noticed the spray of water and flowers on the floor. She tried to understand what was happening in short order and thought maybe a fight had ensued and someone had hurt Jerry, but as she approached him and touched his head, she saw a bottle resting sideways between his legs. She picked it up and read the label. The golden liquid filled about half the bottle and she smelled a strong smell of alcohol coming from both the bottle and Jerry.

"Jerry" she whispered shaking him a little, but he only responded with a kind of snort. She quickly ascertained that he hand drank much of the 25 year old whiskey and that he was three sheets to the wind. She sat a moment on her knees and felt the sharp glass pushing through her dress.

"Owww" she said and realized Jerry was also sitting in the glass. She took his hands and noticed the bruising on his knuckles and the dried blood. Diana grabbed the bottle and poured its remaining whiskey down the sink and then pulled out a broom to gather up the glass and flowers. She rolled Jerry onto his side and continued to clean up, then wiped the excess vase water. As she tidied up the mess, she noticed the bread was still out and the soup was now cold with most of it's broth evaporated. She took a peek at the roast in the oven and saw nothing but a shrivelled piece of meat, no longer fit for eating. She tossed the roast and drained the soup and then ate a piece of bread, as she herself was completely famished. She realized that nothing had changed from the moment she'd left today except a vase was broken to smithereens and the food had become unrecognizable. Something told her Jerry had not taken the outcome of the visit very well. She felt so responsible for the state he was in and decided to try to wake him.

She placed her hands on his face and chest and tried to tap him to wake him. "Jerry??? Jjjjerrrrrryyyy...wake up". When he didn't stir at first she became panicked thinking something horrible had happened to him, but he slowly started to wake up out of his daze.

He squinted at the low afternoon light and shielded his eyes "quoi???" he said totally confused about where he was.

"Jerry...what's happened?" she asked.