Missing

"I'm home," I called out, shutting the door behind me. I put the chain through the lock and made sure the deadbolt was tight before walking into the living room, "Jesse?" I called out.

"Kitchen!" He replied and I let myself sniff out the air. I could smell that something good was cooking, meaning Jesse had made a good sale today. I followed the scent and sat myself down at the table, watching Jesse put spaghetti on a plate, "It's the only thing I know how to cook good," He laughed and brought the plates to the table.

"What do you want to drink?" I asked, getting up from my spot and walking to the fridge. I opened it and looked around. There were a few beers, some canned sodas, and a bottle of vodka.

"Soda," He replied, his mouth filled with food. I grabbed two for us and sat back down at the table, glancing down at my plate. I grabbed my fork and dug in. The taste was amazing, and it could of been that Jesse had actually cooked well, or that I was starving.

"Was today a good day?" I asked and he let out a big grin.

"Made a grand today. Few hundreds from one kid and a few from another. When I counted up I realized how much I had made," He boasted.

"Well, I made two hundred today, but just off one person," I shrugged.

"That Daniel kid again?" He asked and I nodded. We ate in silence, as we were both hungry and desperate for a meal. When our plates were finished and loaded back up with seconds Jesse looked up, "You want to come with me on a sale tonight? It'll be a big one, and I don't really want to leave you hear alone that late," He said.

"Sure. And what's so bad about staying here at night? I've done it before," I reminded him and he laughed. He grabbed both our plates and kissed the top of my forehead.

"Sometimes I forget you're not my age, Van. It's hard to believe your only fifteen," He told me as I heard him start to run the water.

I let myself relax for a few hours before Jesse told me it was time to get ready. I threw on a pair of jeans, some old Vans, and a sweatshirt. I tied my hair up in a ponytail and followed Jesse out the door.

We had a car, almost. Jesse and I stole it from an impound lot up North. It was a Honda Civic and it ran beautifully. It was compact and dark, which was a good necessity when dealing at night.

I hopped in the front seat and Jesse revved up the engine. The car took off and we made our way down by a local park where most deals went down. It wasn't a far drive so we didn't bother to turn on the radio.

When we parked in the parking lot, Jesse killed the lights and handed me several baggies carrying meth and cocaine. I pocketed them easily as we waited for our signal to get out of the car.

From across the lot we could see a car flash their lights. Jesse and I got out of the car and started walking over there, "Get behind me. I don't want them trying to get at you," He demanded and I did so. It had happened before and it could very well happen again. Sometimes on deals, the guys offer to pay for a night with me instead of the drugs. Times like that were a predicament mainly because guys who asked that sort of thing usually didn't give up easily. Jesse's beaten up quite a few people because of it, and hopefully tonight it wouldn't be like that.

"You got it?" A guy stepped out of his car. He was a dirty blonde with dim blue eyes and thin as a twig. His shirt rode up a little in the front and I could see a few sores scarred on his skin. He was a meth addict. He had a few tattoos but no piercings.

"Depends if you can show the money," Jesse said with his strong voice. He was an intimidating guy if he wanted to be. When making a deal, you never want to seem like the weaker one. The unknown man pulled out a wad of cash and tossed it to Jesse.

"There's four hundred for the whole lot," He said and Jesse shook his head, tossing the money back.

"No deal. The whole lot if worth six hundred. You're lucky I'm not charging you for the gas I wasted coming to meet you here," He snapped and I took a step forward, head high. If there was going to be a fight here, I was going to do my damned best to keep Jesse out of it.

"Fine," The guy took out two more hundreds and added them to the roll of money, "The whole lot," He handed the money back to Jesse. He took it and counted it all before turning and nodding to me.

I reached in my pocket and grabbed the stash and held it out. The guy reached forward and instead of grabbing just the bags, he grabbed my wrist as well, "On second thought," He smirked, "How about I pay something extra to have this beauty escort me back to the party at my place," He grinned cockily and I tried to rip my hand out of his grasp, but he wouldn't let me.

Jesse stepped in front of me, eyes blazing, and grabbed the guy's wrist tight. With Jesse's force, the other boy let got of my hand and bit his lip to keep from crying out. Jesse pulled me close to him and laced his fingers with mine, "She's my girl, Punk. And if you every think about touching her again, I'll rip you to shreds," He growled and he gave the other his arm back, "Let's go, Van," He said softly and I grabbed onto his arm as we walked back across the lot to our car.

As soon as the car drove away, we were silent. Jesse hadn't started the car yet, but remained still as he stared out into the darkness in front of him. I watched him, intrigued by his strange actions, "What are you thinking, Jess?" I asked and he remained silent for a while before speaking.

"You're getting older, Van," He started, "I can't keep you safe forever."

"Sure you can, Jesse. Don't tell me you're giving up now," I was overcome with fear. I didn't want Jesse to leave, and I could feel a lump in my throat rise.

"I'm not leaving," He turned to me and looked me in the eye to assure me that he was telling the truth, "I just want you to be more careful. You're getting older and I'm afraid something bad might happen to you."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" I asked and he shrugged.

"I talked to a friend up in Orange. He owns a bar in Huntington and offered to give us jobs. He knows you're only fifteen, but you could wait tables in the lounge and take drinks to people. I'll be a full-time bartender. This way we can always be together and I can look after you better. Selling isn't going to get us very far, Van, and it's time you realize that. I don't want to lose you just because a sale went bad," He finished and I sighed.

"We're moving back up to Orange County?" I asked and he nodded.

"In a few days. I found a nice apartment on the beach. With the money we have saved up, we can afford it, and with what we'll both be getting paid for working full time, we can manage. Life will be good, Van, I promise," He smiled.

I was about so answer when lights pulled into the lot and we recognized a black and white car, "Shit," Jesse muttered and took the keys out of the ignition. It was too late to drive out, it would looks suspicious. A flashlight shown towards us and there was a knock on the window. Jesse rolled it down and looked up at the officer, "Good evening, Officer," He greeted.

"Hello. You got a reason to be sitting out here alone, Son?" He asked.

"We were just passing through the city. We're on a road trip for our high school graduation. We stopped to eat before getting back out on the road," He motioned to the fast food bag on the floor, thank goodness Jesse is a messy person.

"Hm," He looked around the car, "Can I have you both step out? We got a call in for a possible drug dealing. If you're clean, you can feel free to leave," He said and Jesse opened the door. I got out and followed them both to the sidewalk.

The cop searched Jesse first, having him turn out his pockets, open his mouth, and take off his shoes. He was of course clean and the cop turned to me, "Lean up against the car, Ma'am," He said and I did so.

I didn't look at Jesse as the police man ran his hands on the side of my legs, patting down for any baggies that could be hidden within me. He got to my ankles and started to run his hands up the inside of my legs. I bit my lip tight and shut my eyes as his hands landed on my backside and reached into my back pockets of my jeans. He turned me around and I turned my head to the side as he reached his hands in my front pockets, "You're good to go. Have a nice night," He smirked deviously before getting back in his car and driving off.

"Fucking, Prick," Jesse muttered as he motioned for me to get in the car, "How could he just do that? Don't all cop cars have cameras in them? Don't they see what he does?" Jesse was ranting by now and I remained silent. When things like this happened to me, it seemed to bother Jesse more than it did to me. I was numb to it now, but Jesse would never let something like this go. He has too much fire within him, "Just a few more days, Van, and we'll be out of here," He turned to me and smiled. I nodded.

Jesse continued driving and pulled into diner. He knew ice cream made me feel better whenever stupid shit like this happened to me. We got out and went inside, finding a table not too far from a group of guys.

There were about five of them. All covered with tattoos and most had some piercings. The guys looked almost too intimidating to look at. One had piercing green eyes, snake bites, and black hair styled all around. Another had blue eyes, was extremely tall, and a piercing below his bottom lip. There was a short one, who looked the most normal of them all. He had tattoos but not any piercings that I could see and didn't seem to look so scary. The fourth man had high cheek bones, tattoos down his arms and a fedora perched upon his head. Finally, the last man had hazel eyes, tattoos, and was well-built. Even for a strong guy like Jesse, this man looked as if he could break him in half. They all seemed to be older, mid-to-late twenties.

"What would you like to order?" A waitress, an older woman with a perm in her hair, asked us.

"I'll take a slice of apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side," Jesse ordered.

"Can I have a slice of cherry pie with a side of chocolate ice cream?" I asked and the woman looked at me.

"Cherry and chocolate?" She asked and I nodded. She smiled and gave out a small laugh, "That's a first. I'll bring it right out to you."

Jesse looked past me towards the table with the large and rather loud group, "Van," He said in a low voice.

"What?" I asked and he turned to look at me.

"You recognize those two?" He questioned, motioning behind me towards the table with the guys.

As the others laughed and enjoyed their time, two of the men were staring right at me. The man with the fedora and the man with the hazel eyes. They seemed fixated on me and I gave a small smile before turning back around, "No," I replied and he nodded, he moved to get up but I stopped him, "Jess, not here. They're probably drunk and confused. There's got to be tons of bars out here. Let it go," I begged and he seemed to calm down.

We had finished our treat quickly before paying and getting up to leave. As we did so, we passed briskly by the table. The men's eyes did not leave me as I walked by them. And when my back was to them as I was walking out the door, I could feel their gazes into my back.

When we got to the car I buckled myself in and looked inside the diner once again. The two men were still staring, watching our car as Jesse turned it on. I could feel my heart break at the sight of them.

They had tears running down their faces.