Under Jersey Skies

We jerked awake at the sound of pounding on the door.

“GERARD!” Donald’s booming yell came from the other side of the door. “THAT BOTTLE OF JACK’S MISSING FROM THE FRIDGE; DON’T THINK I DON’T KNOW IT WAS YOU, BOY!”

Gerard held me tightly, he was just as scared as I was, but as always, he was determined to protect me. But when we began to realize Donald was on the verge of breaking the door open, we both jumped up from the bed and ran into the bathroom, locking the door.

I pulled out my mobile.
“What’re you doing?”
“Calling for help.” I replied, trying to maintain a calm tone of voice.
“No cops, please.” he pleaded.
I smiled at him. “No cops. I swear.”

I rang the two people I’d always been able to count on; Joey and Arriana. The three of us, unbeknownst to Gerard, had been planning the big confrontation with Donald for quite some time. They let me know they were on their way, and hung up.

As I slipped my phone back into my pocket, mine and Gerard’s attention snapped back to the locked bathroom door as we heard a loud crash; Donald had managed to break Gerard’s bedroom door open. All was quiet for a few moments, until Donald began bashing on the bathroom door.

“I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE YOU LITTLE SHIT!”

I grabbed Gerard’s hand and ran over to the window. I opened it and looked outside. The distance between the window and the ground outside was a fair drop. I pulled my head back inside.

“There’s no chance we can make it down.” I was unable to hide the panic in my voice.

Gerard climbed up into the window frame and beckoned me towards him.

“Do you trust me?” he whispered.
“I trust that we might die dropping from this height.”

Gerard pushed us out of the window, wrapping his other arm around me as we fell, making sure to support my head. By some miracle, we managed to land without dying, but not without a few scratches and a fair amount of pain from the force of the drop.

We ran around to the front of the house and sat on the porch. A few moments later, two cars pulled up. Joey and his father; Bill, and Arriana and her mother; Bella, got out and ran towards us. Bill ran inside and Joey remained outside with the rest of us.

Bella kneeled down to our height. “Are you okay?”
“We had to jump out Gerard’s bathroom window to escape Donald, so we’re a little sore and scratched up, but nothing too serious.” I explained.
“Alright, you wait out here with Joey and Arriana.” She smiled, hugging the both of us before going back to her car and driving off.

Joey approached us. “Up you get, and come with us.”

We followed him and Arriana to Bill’s car. The four of us got in and Arriana locked the doors.

“You got here just in time, guys.” I gave them a genuinely thankful smile.
“What’re you planning to do?” Gerard asked.
“Dad’s gonna go get Donald under control, and Bella’s gone to pick up Donna from work, she’ll explain what’s been going on on the way back here.”
I cupped Gerard’s face in my hands, making him look at me. “We’ve been planning this for awhile now; I was just waiting for the right time. I don’t want you to be in danger anymore, you’re too important to me, and if I were to let it continue, I could lose you, and I don’t ever wanna lose you.” I sniffled a little as tears began to threaten at the corners of my eyes.
Gerard let out a sniffle of his own, and a couple of tears began to roll down his cheeks. “Thank you.”
I smiled and pulled him towards me, and kissed him.
“Wait.” He said, pulling away quickly. “Mikey’s still in there!” he went to open the door, but it was still locked.
“You’re not going out there, let Bill handle it!” Arriana snapped.
“Unlock this door.” Gerard protested.
“No.”
“Unlock the fucking door.” He growled.
Arriana looked at me, asking with her eyes what she should do.
I nodded.

She unlocked the doors, and Gerard got out of the car. Before he could take one step, the front door of the house opened, and Mikey came running out. He dived into the car, and Gerard got back in and closed his door again. Arriana re-locked all the doors, and Gerard hugged his brother, thankful that he was safe.

“You okay?” he asked as he pulled back.
Mikey nodded.

The five of us waited in silence, Gerard and I keeping a lookout through the back window. Ten minutes which felt like ten years passed before Bella’s car turned into the street. She pulled up on the side of the road, only a few meters behind us and Donna got out, Bella a few seconds after.

Bill and Donald emerged from the house and we watched as Donna walked up to her husband and began to yell at him. Donna smacked him across the face and Donald stopped yelling back at her. We watched her lips move as she spoke once more, and saw Donald grab her arms; looking like he was pleading with her about something.

She shook him off, and Bill pulled him away. We watched as Bill and Donald walked over to the garage door and opened it. The two of them walked inside, and a few moments later Donald’s car pulled out and drove away.

Arriana unlocked Bill’s car as Donna and Bella approached it. Donna opened the back door and pulled Mikey out, Gerard following him. I watched from the open door as she threw her arms around her two sons, crying. I was sad to see her so upset, but at the same time, happy now I knew Gerard would be safe.

“Why didn’t you boys tell me what was going on?”
I watched as Gerard struggled to find a way to answer.
Donna shook her head. “Doesn’t matter, I’m just glad you’re both safe.”

Joey tugged on my sleeve and I turned to face him.
“I just got a text from Dad, he’s taking Donald to a motel, Donna kicked him out.”