Travel The Road

both of us broken, caught in a moment

Breakfast was quiet, unusually quiet. Joe couldn't help but feel that the omniprescent mood was a result of the man sitting across from him, eating his eggs in complete silence as Juliet sat, uneating (and unmoving, for that matter) with her hands folded on her lap and her head down.

Joe wasn't an expert on things like this, but even he knew there was a fine line between respect and fear. Respect was what he had for his parents. Fear was what Juliet was feeling sitting beside her father.

There wasn't much he could say, however. Not until John was gone, at least. And he wasn't about to piss off the man with the power to get his motorcycle up and running again, anyway. On top of that, Joe had the feeling that this was absolutely none of his business, but all of his business at the same time. This was where he was staying for the next few days, after all.

All throughout breakfast, his thoughts went on in much the same manner. Was it his business? Was it? His mind was contradicting constantly and he was more confused than he was when he had started.

It wasn't until after they were finished eating that Joe realized he had eaten it without tasting or even realizing he was forking it into his mouth. His thoughts were heavy, made heavier as Juliet gathered their forks and plates less gracefully than what she had earlier. Yes, something was off, indeed.

Juliet had excused herself to shower and Joe, not feeling particularly enthusiastic about giving John a hand in the garage, had followed her upstairs, only to go to the room he had stayed in the night before with thoughts completely new.

Below him and just outside the window, the clank of metal against metal could be heard from the shed. The slight breeze blew without direction through the window and into the bedroom, where it kissed his bare arms, making him shiver. Joe hadn't eaten much, and after not having eaten for days, he found that his appetite had gone down considerably much. He was even more surprised when his stomach didn't growl for more only moments later, after digestion.

Frustrated, Joe turned on his stomach, grabbing a pillow and forcing it under his chin. The odd demeanor of the father-daughter relationship wasn't the only thing on his mind. The daughter herself was interesting enough.

Juliet. A lovely name taken from one of the greatest love stories of all time. It was quite fitting. She was beyond anything he had ever seen in his life. She was beautiful, but a beauty he had never encoutered before. And he couldn't put his finger on it quite yet.

His thoughts, absurd as he knew they were, filled most of his afternoon. Was he exaggerating? Had the sun gotten to his head? Was he right?

"Juliet!"

A masculine voice Joe knew to belong to John called from below. Joe had changed positions from the bed to a bench beside the window and had been staring at the swaying grass until this disruption. He noticed the irony, of course, but didn't dare smile when Juliet leaned cautiously out her window in reply to her father's voice.

"Come down here," he demanded. "I need your help."

Joe could have imagined it, but he thought he saw her flinch before replying, "Yessir," and disappearing within her room.

One thing was certain. Joe had a bad feeling about this and he didn't like it a bit.

He looked up as he heard the door to Juliet's door close lightly just across from his own. She moved quietly, he noticed, as he strained himself to hear her footsteps. He heard nothing until she reached the stairs, the only noise to give her away was the light creak of weight beneath her. She left no sounds of footsteps. Coincidence or practice, he couldn't help but wonder.

Joe was completely aware that he shouldn't care as much as he did. That he shouldn't be leaning half-way out his window just to watch her exit the front door. But he didn't care. Not one bit.

Juliet paused just outside the screen door, knocking a gnat from her bare leg. Upon straightening, she ran a hand through her hair (habit of nervousness?) before slowly descending down the steps, her cascade of dark curls bouncing as she did so.

She paused again just outside the shed, obviously reluctant to go in. Leaning her head inside the shed, she voiced a question about exactly what her father wanted. Though Joe could hear the booming echo of John's voice, it was confined within the shed, the exact words lost somewhere between there and his ears. He could only imagine what he had said in reply as Juliet nodded solemnly before taking further steps into the shed.

And then things were quiet.

[&&&]

When Joe opened his eyes, the light outside was almost completely drained by a crescent moon in the distance. A blue-ish tint filled the air, taking place of the sunlight which had already fufilled its daily job.

Standing, he arched his back, stretching. When he looked at the bedside table after he was finished, the alarm clock alerted him it was 9:00 PM.

The next realization Joe had was the sound that woke him in the first place. It had been a rather loud clank of metal, even more disturbing than the regular pulse of them he had grown used to and had allowed him to sleep.

He cautiously approached the window, daring to look outside. Nothing was visible within the shed, but moments later, he caught sight of a retreating John, who angrily pulled open the door to the truck, slamming it with more force than needed behind him.

An alert went off in Joe's mind as he watched John pull out of the drive. Alone.

As he ran to the door, the only thought in his mind was his hoping Juliet was in her room, that he had missed her entrance in his slumber. Entering the hallway, he could feel his hopes were most likely in vain. And as he pushed open the door to her room, he found himself correct.

Joe was aware he wasn't thinking as he tore down the hallway, down the steps, and out the back door. This was all instinct. Which was what made this so different.

The door to the shed was still left completely open and Joe paused there as he took in the scene. Juliet was on the ground, not really laying there, but leaning on one hand as her other hand held her head, where blood was oozing from between her fingers.

Joe stopped in his tracks, his feet making a slapping noise as he did so. Juliet looked up to meet his eyes, and when she did, she cringed. "You weren't supposed to see this," she muttered quietly, pushing up on the arm below her. She struggled, and Joe made his way to her, offering a hand, which she ignored.

"I can do it myself, thanks," she replied shortly as she began to turn towards the door. Joe held out an arm, stopping her before she could. When Juliet looked back at him, her expression was annoyed, but that soon fell after she saw the look on his face.

Joe lifted a hand to her face. She flinched, but didn't pull back. "Let me see it," he commanded softly, eyes not leaving her hands, spattered in crusty blood, already drying on her fingers. Juliet began to shake her head, but Joe sent her a look, and she gave in, removing the hand slowly from where it covered the large cut. Joe cringed.

"This isn't right," Joe began to say, but he was cut off by Juliet swiping away his hand and taking a few steps back. "You really think you're in a position to tell me what is and isn't right?" she asked as she turned, grabbing a random rag lying on the corner of a work table covered in sawdust. After lifting the rag to her head, she turned back to him. "Look at yourself. What are you doing?"

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was aware that this wasn't exactly the kind of words exchanged by people who had met only earlier that morning, but now they had something in common. They had a secret. They had an identity hidden by an image of who they wanted to be and what others thought of them. And things were deeper than a quiet breakfast and a few extra eggs.

"What did he do to you?" he asked, ignoring her words completely. Juliet sent him a sour look. "I ran into a door."

Joe returned the look. "It isn't funny," he stated harshly. Juliet snorted. "And why isn't it? Why not laugh about it? This may come as a shock to you, but it's life for me."

Joe shook his head. "It doesn't have to be."

The moment the words had escaped his lips, he realized the truth behind them. Juliet needed a ticket away from her father, and he may just be the one to give it to her.