No One Knows

Jessie awoke the next morning to the calm after the storm. Leaning out of her window, the air felt fresh as she breathed it in, and the sky was a solid dark blue. It was strange, but that was kind of how she felt inside too.

Calm.

She had nothing to feel calm about. In fact, she had everything to feel anxious about, but it seemed that just Billie Joe knowing what she had been going through had lifted some of the weight from her shoulders, even though it meant yet more uncertainty about how things were going to work out.

When she got downstairs, her Dad was in the kitchen, nursing a hangover. She felt guilty for going against what Billie Joe had said and letting him into the house, but the thought of him coming back drunk and not being able to get in had frightened her. He would only have gotten mad. And her father drunk and mad was a dangerous combination.

He looked up as she walked in, and the moment her eyes met his, she felt a stab of fear and something like guilt. If he knew what had happened the night before... the thought terrified her. She quickly looked away, afraid that if he looked into her eyes for too long he might be able to read her thoughts.

"Hi Jessie," he said, rubbing his aching forehead with his hand.
"Hi."

Neither of them spoke another word as Jessie made her breakfast, and she was just heading out of the room with a bowl of cereal when he looked up.

"Jessie," he said, "You been staying in school lately?"

She turned around.

"Yeah," she said, and it was pretty much the truth. She'd been too scared to do anything else the way he'd been behaving recently.
"Good," he sighed, "Well, lets keep it that way, or I'll ground you again faster than you can imagine."

Hope flickered in her stomach.

"Does that mean-"
"Yeah, I'm un-grounding you. Just don't fucking slip up or you're gonna regret it. And I still don't want you at that damn record store"

She couldn't help her face from breaking into a grin. He was never going to know if she was at the record store or not. This was the best start to the day she could have hoped for.

"Thanks Dad," she grinned.
"Okay, get out of here. Don't be late for school."

Billie Joe did not wake up feeling calm. He woke up in turmoil. The moment he opened his sleepy eyes, the memory of the night before came rushing back, and the weight of what he had found out about John was almost too much for him to bear. He knew he had to talk to his mother, but he was nervous about how she would react to the information, or whether she would even believe him at all.

Ollie wasn't there when he got up. She was working the morning shift at the restaurant, which gave him more time to think about what he was going to say to her. Jessie had already left for school, and he knew someone would have let John back in by now, he was just hoping he'd be sleeping off his hangover so that he wouldn't have to see him.

He wandered sleepily into the living room with a cup of coffee, the first aid kit on the coffee table bringing his mind back, once again, to the events of the night before. He sighed, hunching forward and rubbing his face with his hands. It wasn't just John that had him feeling so unsettled that morning. There was something else. And he couldn't place what that feeling in his stomach was, or what was causing it, and that was unsettling him even more.

"Morning."

He looked up, slightly startled. John was standing in the doorway, looking hung over as shit. John didn't usually acknowledge Billie Joe's presence, their dislike was mutual and that morning was not a morning when Billie Joe felt like pretending things were any different.

He regarded John with a cold stare and went back to drinking his coffee. John folded his arms across his chest.

"You know, normal people answer when someone talks to them," he smirked, "It's called being polite."

Billie Joe sighed and set his coffee cup down on the table.

"Well, I'm sorry, I just don't feel like saying jack shit to you right now," he said,
John scowled.

"What the hell is your problem?" he asked, "You saunter around this place talking to everyone like you have something constantly rammed up your fucking ass."

Billie Joe stood up. He really wasn't in the mood for this.

"No, that's just how I talk to you," he said, "Because you are my fucking problem, John."
"You think you're so goddamn smart," John scowled, "I thought I warned you about getting smart with me. You need to learn to treat people with respect."

At that, Billie Joe had to stop himself from laughing out loud. He hadn't wanted a confrontation with John, but he couldn't hold back now. There was no way he was holding back now.

"How can you even fucking say that and keep a straight face?!" he demanded angrily, "You treat your own daughter with any respect? Huh?"
"How I treat my daughter is nothing to do with you. And I think I've already warned you that you'd better watch your step unless you want the cops to find out about the little drugs business you're running out of this place."
"Why don't you fucking tell them then, John? It'll be interesting to see what they're more interested in, a teenager selling dope by the joint or a guy beating on his sixteen-year-old daughter!"

For a moment John looked shocked, maybe even a little scared. But Billie Joe only had a chance to feel the first twinges of triumph before John had grabbed him by the shirt and pinned him against the living room wall.

"Ahh... fuck," he groaned, pain shooting through him as his back hit the wall,
"What the hell are you talking about?" John growled at him, his face so close that Billie Joe could smell the staleness of his breath, "Don't you fucking make up shit like that about me, don't you fucking dare!"
"Make shit up?! I'm not making anything up!" Billie Joe yelled, struggling against his hold, "You're fucking hitting her! It's wrong! How the hell can you even think about doing that to her?!"
"I haven't done a fucking thing to her!" he shouted, "She's a lying little shit! You know that! That's what she's like, it's what she's always been like!"
"I've seen the fucking bruises!" Billie Joe yelled, "I know she isn't lying! The game's up John, I know what you're doing to her, and if you're fucking touching my Mom, I will fucking kill you!"
"You can't-"
"-I don't care that you're bigger than me, or that you wanna grass me up for smoking weed, I think my gang could take your gang, since yours is so fucking pissed all the time they can't even walk in a straight line. I will fucking kill you!"
"You're talking shit. I would never hit Ollie, you little asshole!" John shouted, "I love her."
"You don't even know the meaning of that word."
"Don't you fucking patronize me Billie Joe! You're just a kid, you can't do a thing to me! And I have not hit Ollie, and I'm not gonna!"
"But you've hit Jessie!"
"I've never hit her hard. And never when she hasn't deserved it!"
"You make me fucking sick," Billie Joe spat.

John slammed him back against the wall.

"You aren't going to say a word about this to anyone," he hissed.
"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Billie Joe exclaimed, "I'm telling my Mom what you've been doing the moment she walks in that door!"
"Listen to me, you piece of shit," John growled, "Your Mom isn't going to believe a word you say. And in a couple of weeks, Jessie and I are going to be moving out anyway!"

That caught Billie Joe by surprise. He had thought he'd be putting up with him for longer than that.

"You are?"
"Yeah, I've found an apartment for rent in Rockridge. So we won't have to put up with each other for much longer. I've told you I haven't hurt your Mom, and if you can keep your mouth shut a little longer that won't have to change, now, will it?"
"Are you fucking blackmailing me?!"
"You can call it what the hell you like. But I've told you before. You don't wanna mess with me. Because I will win. Understand?"
"I hate you," Billie Joe hissed.

John chuckled a little as he loosened his grip on Billie Joe's shirt.

"I love how you say that like you think it's gonna bother me," he said, nastily.

He slammed Billie Joe back against the wall one last time before turning round and leaving the room. Billie Joe heard his footsteps in the hallway and the front door slam shut behind him, before he sunk shakily onto the couch and put his head in his hands. Suddenly, he understood how Jessie had managed to keep his secret for so long. He understood her fear. And he hated John for it more than ever.

"Hey, long time no see!" Eddie grinned, when Jessie walked into his shop that afternoon.

She grinned back.

"I'm un-grounded!" she sang, triumphantly.
"And before you're eighteen too," he smiled, "You must have really turned on the charm."
"No... I think I was just lucky," she shrugged. "So d'you still have a job for me?"

He chuckled.

"You think I was organized enough to replace you? Get over here."

She grinned, dropping her backpack onto the counter and hopping over it.

"Had your little green-haired buddy in here earlier," Eddie said, a few minutes later, looking at her sidelong as she handed someone their change.
"Huh?" she muttered, in surprise,
"Tre Cool? The drummer? He was telling me he found a band."
"Oh... yeah," said Jessie, biting her lip
"He's a friend of yours... right?"

Jessie sighed and turned round.

"Will you quit fishing for information?" she asked, in frustration, "You were practically forcing me on him last week... "
Eddie laughed.
"What can I say? It's fun manipulating you kids. Especially when you were making it obvious you had a motherfucker of a crush on the guy."
"Yeah, well, not any more."
"Oh really?"
"Yes, he dumped me before it could even get off the ground. It's a touchy subject."
"Ouch."
"Yes, ouch."
"What'd you do to deserve that?" he smirked in amusement.
"I didn't fucking do anything!" she said, crossly, "Will you shut up?! It wasn't even anything to do with me it was cause of Billie Joe."
"Billie Joe?" he repeated, "The infamous villain in your life? Wow, and I bet he thought you couldn't hate him any more than you did already... "
"I don't hate him," she protested, "We're kind of friends now. It's a long story. And it isn't very interesting."
"You're friends?"
"... Yeah," she said, realizing it for the first time herself.
"How'd that happen? Last I heard you were 'tolerating' each other."
"Well, he started being nicer to me," she said.

Eddie smiled, teasingly.

"Gee, Jessie, so many boys, so little time, huh?"

Jessie scowled at him.

"Billie Joe and I are... just, God, don't even joke about it, Eddie"
"He's that hideous huh?"
"No! He isn't hideous, he's... Billie Joe. Which makes the whole idea of it just plain wrong"
"Right... " smirked Eddie.

Luckily he was distracted by a music geek looking for an album by The Who with a misprint on the cover, and Jessie was left in peace, sitting back down with a sigh. Eddie drove her crazy with his incessant teasing, but it was good to be back.

While Eddie was talking to the misprinted album geek, Jessie's thoughts turned to Billie Joe. She wondered if he'd talked to Ollie yet. Thinking about it made her stomach turn. For all she knew, everything could already be complete chaos at home, with Ollie having kicked her Dad out on the street right away. She might not even have a home to go back to.

She was so caught up in her own anxiety that she didn't notice Freddy until he was waving his hand in front of her face. She blinked.

"Oh... hi," she said, managing a smile.
"Hey," he smiled, "Haven't seen you in some time. And you look pretty out of it."
"I was just thinking," she said, shaking the thoughts from her mind, "And I've been grounded. Oh, and going to school."
"That sounds shit."
"It has been shit," she sighed, "But I'm not grounded anymore."
"Cool," he said "You gonna start skipping class with me again? We used to have fun."
"I know," Jessie smiled, "But I just need to wait till my teachers take the heat off me a little."
"No problem," he smiled. "So how's life in the house of horrors?"

She sighed deeply, resting her elbows on the counter and putting her head in her hands.

"That bad?"

She nodded.

"Billie Joe found out about my Dad... " she said,
"Shit... what did he do?"
"He was pretty mad but... I kind of feel better that he knows. We get on better now, not that it matters cause once he tells Ollie she's gonna kick me and Dad out in the blink of an eye... "
"If you need a place to hide out, give me a call. My parents don't notice me and my sisters are there most of the time, so they definitely wouldn't notice an extra."

Jessie smiled.

"That's really sweet, Freddy," she said, gratefully.

Freddy hung around the shop while she worked, chatting to her and goofing around, and it was just what she needed to take her mind off things at home. She couldn't face going back there, so she stayed behind after the store closed up, chatting to Eddie and helping him sort out his stock. She liked the way he seemed to care about her, joke around with her, he made her feel safe in a way her own father never had.

It was late by the time they left. She couldn't believe how much time had passed, but she was glad that when she got back Ollie would probably have gone to bed and she wouldn't have to face her.

"Come on kid, I'll give you a ride home," said Eddie, as he locked up the store.
"Seriously?"
"Yeah... you can't walk home in the dark."

When they pulled up outside the house, Eddie turned to her.

"Night, kid," he said, "Good to have you back."
"Good to be back," she said, rolling her eyes, "I feel like I've been grounded forever."

He smiled.

"Just take care of yourself, alright?"

She nodded, before opening the door and getting out, waving as he drove off.

The broken panel in the porch caught her eye as she approached the front door, and she paused, taking a deep breath before going inside.

The house was dark and quiet, and she fumbled for the light in the hall, thinking everyone must have gone to bed, and wondering how so much more time had passed than she had realized. She almost tripped over Henry on the stairs, grabbing hold of the banister just in time to stop herself tumbling back down. She really didn't want anyone waking up that night. Not when there was so much uncertainty about what could have gone on in her absence.

Sighing, she pushed the thoughts from her mind and opened the door to her room. Reaching out to flick on the light, the unexpected presence of another person almost made her jump right out of her skin.

Why in the name of fuck was there a semi-naked Billie Joe asleep on her bed?