Beautiful Things Can Come From the Dark

The house was not in a condition to be viewed by strangers; dishes were piled up in the sink, throw pillows were carelessly scattered across the living room floor and the bedroom was reminiscent of a war zone, Charlie had asked Joey if she’d let him tidy up so she wouldn’t be living in such a messy home but Joey told him that she was quite comfortable with her mess, that it would keep her company while he was away.

That of course was a lie. Joey hated messy homes, it was a hatred that she had inherited from her mother whom always said that a home reflected its inhabitants and if the home was a mess then others would deem the inhabitants as lazy individuals who didn’t care enough to make an effort.

Joey also subscribed to that belief. To her a home, wasn’t just a home, it was an extension of herself and if she took good care of herself, then her home also had to be well taken care of but her injury had kept her from tidying up the day before and now that she had a guest over, she was truly embarrassed.

“Sorry about the mess, it’s normally not this dirty,” apologized Joey.

“It’s not that messy,” stated Cami in a voice barely above a whisper.

“Let me clear some space on the couch, I ended up crashing in the living room last night, that’s why it’s such a mess right now. I should’ve just let Charlie clean it, but I don’t trust that man, he would’ve broken something and then started rambling about how sorry he was, ugh, it would’ve been disastrous.” Joey chucked. “And now I'm the one that’s rambling and annoying you.”

“You’re not annoying me,” Cami reassured.

“Well that’s good to know,” Joey finished clearing the couch. “Make yourself at home; I'm just going to go grab a tea. Would you like one? They’re mixed berry green tea, my personal addiction.”

“If you want you can just tell me where they are and I’ll go get you one,” offered Cami.

“Nonsense, you’re a guest in my home and guests don’t run errands.” Joey smiled tenderly. “So, Cami, my guest, would you care for some delicious mixed berry green tea?”

“Yes, please,” answered Cami.

“Alright, I’ll be right back.” Joey grabbed the control from the nearby coffee table. “Feel free to change the channel; we have bootleg cable so we have all the channels.”

“You have bootleg cable?” her lips began to hitch upwards into a smile but stopped before they could get all the way.

“Yeah, it’s pretty much the best investment I’ve ever made, for two hundred dollars a year I get all the channels, including pay per view events, and it’s also my way of telling those massive communication corporations to go fuck themselves, because my money goes to those that abuse their trust.” Joey cleared her throat before adding, “Enough of my ranting, I’ll be right back.”

Joey hobbled in the direction of the kitchen, each step causing pain to shoot through her body but she restrained her urge to hiss. The last thing she wanted was to worry Cami and have her fret over her. No, the only person that needed to be fretted over was Cami, she was the one that needed someone to care for her; Joey hoped that Cami would let her be the one to do that.

When Joey reached the fridge, she began rummaging through it, pushing aside various plastic containers that were hiding the tea from view. A triumphant shout escaped her lips when she finally discovered the tea’s hiding spot. She quickly grabbed two plastic bottles and began walking towards the living room where Cami sat on the couch, the television was still off.

“Here you go.” Joey handed her a bottle.

“Thank you.”

Joey plopped down on the couch beside Cami, leaving a few feet between the pair since she didn’t want to invade the teenager’s personal space. The pair fell into an awkward silence, there were various times when Joey began a conversation on some random topic but the conversations didn’t last long; it was clear that talking wasn’t something that Cami wanted to do.

Had Joey been Sam, she would’ve pressed the teenager to tell her what was going on, but Joey had never been one to force something out of someone, she would tell them that whenever they felt like talking, she would be there for them with a reassuring smile and attentive ears.

“We should probably head over to La Push,” spoke Joey when she saw the sun begin to go down.

“I thought Emily was going to pick me up.”

“Well, she was but I convinced her to let me drive you back since I don’t want to cook tonight,” Joey lied

The truth was that Joey wanted to talk to Sam, to scold him for having acted like such an asshole in the morning but she couldn’t tell Cami that, she couldn’t tell the emotionally exhausted youth that she wanted to go to La Push just to get into an argument with her younger brother.

“But you shouldn’t be driving . . . especially not in the snow. What if something happens on your drive back and n-no one can find you? No . . . no, I-I’ll call Emily and ask her to pick me up, that way you can rest.”

Joey shook her head. “I'm afraid that you’re stuck with me as a ride. I know that I may not be the prettiest of drivers but I am good company. Now go get your coat so we can hit the open road! Emily’s making lasagna tonight and I plan on devouring half that sucker!”

“Alright then,” Cami slipped on her coat. “B-but if you don’t feel good will you promise to stay at Sam’s?”

“I will,” promised Joey.

The drive was tense; Cami was lost in her thoughts, terrified of how Sam would behave when she entered his home and Joey was just trying to get her mind off the pain emanating from her derrière, never in her life had the drive to La Push felt as long as it did at that moment.

When they arrived at their destination, Joey turned to look at Cami. Her heart plummeting when she saw the worried look on the younger girls face, it wasn’t right for someone so young to look so worried, no, when one’s a teenager they’re just supposed to be worrying about what dress they’re going to wear, boys and other seemingly pointless things, they’re not supposed to worry like adults.

“Everything’s going to be alright,” Joey reassured.

“I want to believe you, but I don’t think it will. H-he seemed so upset this morning. It can’t possibly go well . . . it can’t.”

“It will and do you want to know why it’ll go alright?”

“Why?”

“Because I'm here,” Joey smiled brightly. “And when I'm around things have a tendency of working themselves out.”

Those words served to comfort Cami, but the comfort was short lived because as soon as Cami stepped foot inside the house, Sam began interrogating her. He didn’t seem to grasp just how hard losing one’s mother was and when Sam told Cami that the first thing she should’ve told them was that their mother had died, Joey lost it.

“Why don’t you just shut up already!” hissed Joey, her eye ablaze with anger.

“Why don’t you stay out of this? This has nothing to do with you,” spat Sam.

“Nothing to do with me?” scoffed Joey. “You know for a fact that this has something to do with me!”

“How, how does this have anything to do with you?” he asked forcefully.

Joey left her place on the couch. “This has everything to do with me because Cami is my friend.”

“You’re friend? That’s laughable. You’ve only known her a couple of days how could she possibly be your friend?”

“You don’t need to know someone ages for them to be your friend,” argued Joey. “But that’s not the only reason this involves me, this involves me because I know firsthand what it feels like to lose a mother.”

“Joey, it’s not the same,” Sam’s tone softened.

“Last time I checked, I ran away for a week when my mom died. So how isn’t it the same?”

“For one, you were a legal adult,” Sam pointed out.

“And how do you know she’s not?” Joey cocked her brow.

Sam turned to Cami. “How old are you?”

Cami’s eyes flickered with fear.

“Don’t answer him if you don’t want to,” whispered Joey.

“She’s going to answer me. How old are you?” barked Sam.

“Don’t yell at her like that!” growled Joey.

“P-p-please don’t fight over me . . . I’ll leave, I knew that I shouldn’t have accepted the offer to stay here b-but I just couldn’t say but I’ll leave now . . .”

“You’re not leaving, you’re going to wait right here while I talk to my emotionally inept brother outside.”

Sam shook his head. “I'm not going outside with you.”

“Either you go outside or I call Charlie and tell him you took a swing at me,” threatened Joey.

“You wouldn’t dare,” his right brow twitched dangerously.

“Oh, I dare,” answered Joey.

“Fine,” Sam turned and walked out back.

Joey followed closely behind Sam, her head held high so as to appear in control of the situation. The truth was that she was terrified. She’d never seen Sam so wiled up about anything, but she was determined to make him realize how much of an asshole he was acting like.

“Are you going to keep acting like an asshole or are you going to start behaving like a normal human being?” asked Joey as she placed her hands on her hips.

“I'm not acting like an asshole. I just want to know the truth.”

“Well you’re going about it the wrong way,” Joey’s gaze softened. “You can’t scream at people and demand that they tell you things. That’s not right.”

“I have a right to demand the truth. She’s a guest in my home.”

“You don’t have a right to demand the truth, no one has a right to demand the truth of anybody, you have a right to ask; that’s what you have a right to do. But if you ask then you have to remember that you have the obligation to be courteous about it! How would you feel if you were her? How would you feel if someone that had promised to help you just started screaming like a madman demanding to know your past?” Joey sighed. “You’re going to lie and say that you’d feel alright but you wouldn’t. You’d be upset, you’d be mad, but most of all you’d be scared.”

“I deserve to know what’s going on,” repeated Sam.

“You don’t deserve to know a goddamn thing, not when you’re acting like this.”

Sam completely tuned out her words. He was a stubborn man, a stubborn man that demanded that things go his way and he was certain that he had a right to know what was going on with Cami.

“This is my house, as long as she’s in here, she’s going to have to answer to me and she’s going to have to tell me what’s going on, because if she doesn’t, then she’s not welcomed here and she can go out in the snow.”

“If she’s not welcomed here, then she can go over to my place,” proclaimed Joey defiantly. “She can stay there as long as she wants and NO ONE will bother her there.”

“Don’t you dare Joey,” Sam was beginning to lose his patience. “You don’t know anything about her . . .”

“I know that she’s a good kid that’s been through a lot!” the veins on her neck bulged. “I know that she needs a place to crash and people to care for her. That’s what I know and that’s more than enough for me!”

“What if she’s a minor? What if someone calls the police?”

“Is that a threat?” Joey stepped closer to him.

“What if someone calls the police?” repeated Sam.

Joey scoffed. “My boyfriend is the Chief of Police, he also happens to be completely in love with me so don’t you dare threaten me because if anyone, anyone at all knocks on my door looking for Cami, then I’ll make sure to have him arrest you and that’s not a threat, it’s a promise.”