Warning

"I heard you crying loud all the way across town. You've been searching for that someone and it's me out on the prowl as you sit around feeling sorry for yourself. Don't get lonely now and dry your whining eyes. I'm just roaming for the moment, sleazing in my backyard., so don't get so uptight since you've been thinking about ditching me."

Billie Joe lit up another cigarette in fury as his fingers flew across his keyboard. His mind was reeling. "She knew she was pregnant when I left. That's why she wanted to argue. She wanted me to go away and not come back so she could live a happy little life as a little nineteen fifties housewife with a shit-load of kids. She wanted to break up with me."

He held the cigarette between his lips as he typed even faster.

"I heard it all before so don't knock down my door. I'm a loser and a user so I don't need no accuser to slag me down because I know I'm right. So go do what you like and make sure you do it wise. You may find out that your self-doubt means nothing; so was it ever there?"

Billie Joe looked out the frosted window of his apartment. "You can't go forcing something if it's just not right." He shook his head in disappointment. He always thought Adrienne was better than that. He always held her in the highest regard, but not anymore.

The television had sunk down a little on its boxes as a random show played softly in the air. The little apartment was cozily warm for once. Billie Joe's guitar was resting on a chair with care, he had been playing it furiously only an hour ago.

Billie Joe stared at the words he had typed. He saved it to a folder titled 'Shenanigans' and leaned back on his bed. The words still glowed at him as their meaning roared vindictively into the night.
He poised his fingers over home row again and began to type once more.

"She screams in silence. A sullen riot penetrating through her mind. Waiting for a sign to smash the silence with a brick of self control. Are you locked up in a world that's been planned out for you? Are you feeling like a social tool without a use?"

A series of sharp knocks at his door broke his concentration. He quickly saved the document and went to the door, which was knocked upon again.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." He muttered moodily to himself as he made his way to the door. He had no idea who would be knocking on his door after midnight. "What?"

When he opened the door he realized that Adrienne stood there with Katrina by her side and Jakob in her arms. He immediately felt bad for snapping at her when he opened the door.

"I didn't know where else to go," Adrienne said thickly as if she were holding back tears. She had dried remnants of tear tracks going down her face and the children had similar treks.

Billie Joe, coming to his senses, quickly moved aside and ushered them in. "What happened?"

"David." Adrienne whispered. "He went insane. He's always been bad, but this time," She broke off. "Can we stay?"

"Yeah." Billie Joe agreed. He felt a little bad at the fact that his place looked so bad and un-welcoming to the broken family. "Uh, sorry about the mess."

"It's all right. I remember how you disliked cleaning." Adrienne reminisced.

"Yeah. That hasn't changed yet," Billie Joe broke his gaze with her and shoved stuff off his bed, but carefully put his laptop up. "Uh, you guys can sleep in here and I'll take the couch or whatever."

"Oh, no. We can't take your bed from you." Adrienne had put Jakob down and for the first time, Billie Joe saw the blossoming bruises on the little boy's face.

"Sure you can." Billie Joe decided not to comment on the bruises yet. "I usually sleep on the couch anyways. Go ahead." He had lied about the couch. It was too cold outside his bed to sleep, but they didn't need to know that.

"Thank you." Katrina said gratefully. Billie Joe noticed a couple of scratches on her face.
"Sure. But one thing you can't have is my pillow." He plucked up a certain pillow from the bed and looked at the children who were managing to smile weakly. "Everything else is yours."
However, as he noticed that the removal of his precious pillow left only one miserable looking rag of a pillow, the heartstrings in him began to pull and Billie Joe was forced to sigh. "But you can have it anyway. I like couch cushions." And drop the pillow back onto the bed.

As the children clamored thankfully into the bed, Adrienne walked outside the bedroom with Billie Joe. "I really can't thank you enough for this Billie Joe." She started to help him make a palette on the couch with blankets.

"Don't worry about it." Billie Joe assured her. "What happened?"

Adrienne met his eyes, brown to green. "You mean you're not mad at me?"

"I didn't say that." Billie Joe threw a pillow off the couch. "But I'm more concerned with what happened after I left your house just then than what happened when I left it eleven years ago."

Adrienne pressed her bruised lips together as she smoothed a blanket down on the couch. "David has always been abusive." She started in weak tones. "Even when we dated the first time before I even met you."

"Then why?" Billie Joe wanted to understand.

Adrienne just shook her head. "I can't talk about that right now. Not like this. Just please, understand and believe me when I say that I was never unfaithful to you and I never wanted this to happen." She broke off.

"My children are everything to me." She leaned on the back of the couch, turned away from Billie Joe so she could see into the bedroom where her two children were sleeping safely.

"Katrina is so beautiful and bright. Jakob," She sniffed heavily. "Jakob is the smartest child I have ever known and he's so funny. All I ever wanted to do was keep them safe and happy.... but I failed. I put them in danger all their lives until tonight."

Billie Joe stepped over and placed his hand on her back soothingly. He didn't say anything, he only listened.

"David abused us. All this time. I finally stood up to him tonight and for the first time in eleven years, I felt like myself again. I've been living a lie Billie Joe. I didn't want this life. I wanted one with you, but I don't regret my babies. Not for one moment do I regret them, only their father." Adrienne was now facing Billie Joe, her eyes red-rimmed from tears. Billie Joe could see ugly yellow bruises forming underneath her pale skin.

Billie Joe, still confused but not concerned with the confusion, pulled her into a hug. His chin rested on the top of her head as they stood there. "It's gonna be okay. I won't let anything happen to you or Katrina or Jakob. It's gonna be okay."

Adrienne sobbed into his shirt. "I just don't understand why " She screamed into his shirt as her hands balled into fists. "Why did he do this? Why does he have to do it to him? Why?" Adrienne weakly hit Billie Joe on the arms and chest to release her anger.

"What? What did he do?" Billie Joe pulled her back so he could look at her in the eyes.

"He targets Jakob. He treats him so badly. He calls him such awful names that I can't repeat them. Then he hits him. Jakob is only five years old. He's still a baby He doesn't understand why his father does it to him. I don't understand. He never gave a reason, he just did it."

Adrienne stopped, her eyes wide. "I'm sorry." Her tone had lessened a great deal. "I shouldn't scream at you like that." She walked away a few steps.

"No." Billie Joe said as he matched her steps. "You scream at me until my ears bleed. Let it out. I'm doing this for you, Adie. Don't hold it in."

"I hate him " Adrienne screamed as she cried. "I hate him and I wish he would die so he couldn't hurt us anymore." She crumbled into Billie Joe's arms. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry for everything. It could have been so different."

Billie Joe said nothing, but stood there with Adrienne in his arms.