Everything's Different Now

"Have you turned the back light off?" I ask Kenny as he zips up his orange coat

"Yea." He nods following me out the door and closing it behind him.

Since its Linda's day off we've been put in charge of locking up.

"Erica!" As voice shouts from behind me, turning round I see Joe running across the street. Thankfully not getting hit by any oncoming traffic.

"Joe, what are you doing here?" I ask ignoring the annoyance on Kenny's face.

"I need to talk to you.... Alone." He says briefly glancing at Kenny.

"Erica we've got to go." Kenny quietly said lightly placing his hand on my back.

"Joe is it important?" I ask

"Very."

Rubbing my forehead with my fingers I face Kenny "You go ahead. Joe can give me a ride home."

"Are you sure?"

"Yea. I'll see you tomorrow." Briefly hugging him, Kenny eventually walks away, leaving me and Joe alone.

***

"So, what is it?" I ask Joe, closing my front door and taking my coat off. He didn't say anything the whole ride here, so whatever it is it must be important.

"It's about Darcy."

Hearing her name my head snaps up. He knows her name? How does he know her name?!

"Joe how-"

"Why did you lie to me?" he asks clearly trying to hide his frustration.

"What do you mean? I- I didn't lie. I don't even know what you're talking about."

"You know what I'm talking about!" he snapped

"Don't yell at me." I threatened

"You told me she wasn't mine." He said trying to calm himself down.

"She- she's not." I stammered

"Stop lying to me!" I jumped as Joe slammed his hand against the wall.

"Joe if you're not going to calm down then leave." I said crossing my arms over my chest looking down at the carpet.

"I'm not leaving until you tell me the truth."

"I am!"

"Really?" pausing Joe digs his hand into his pocket pulling out a crumpled envelope. As he began ripping out the content his eyes glare up at me; making me more scared then I already am. "If she's not mine then why is my name on this?" pushing the paper into my hand it only takes a second for me to see it's Darcy's original birth certificate. I can't believe he went and got a copy? How did he even get it? They told me it would be almost impossible for anyone to get a copy of the original, once Darcy was adopted. "Erica! Why is my name on this?" Joe asked again.

Pushing Joe, I walk away from him still clutching onto the paper. I can hear him following me but I keep walking, I just want to sit down. "Erica" he calls out "Erica, will you stop." Spinning me round Joe grips onto my arms, he doesn't look angry anymore. He looks desperate.

"What do you want me to say Joe?" I sigh

"I want you to tell me the t-"

"No!" I groan, pulling my arms from his grip "I want to know what you want me to say. Do you want me to tell you she's yours? Do you want her to be yours?"

"Yes... no.... I don't know."

The sound of knocking on the door gets both mine and Joe's attention, making us both go silent.

"Erica! It's Kelly. Is everything ok? I heard yelling."

Giving Joe back the birth certificate I step passed him heading back to the door.

"Kelly everything's fine." I shout before opening the door.

"Do you need me to call the police?" she whispers briefly looking over my shoulder at Joe.

"No." I whisper back "Everything's fine. Really."

"So why did I hear yelling?"

"Just a disagreement." I shrug

"Well....If you're sure. But if you need help knock on the wall twice pause then knock again."

"Will do."

Closing the door I shut my eyes and take a deep breath; preparing myself for the rest of this ‘disagreement'

"How long did it take you to come up with the story about the baby being Calvin's, and finding out you were pregnant so shortly after you left? Because now I think about it, it really did fall into place perfectly."

"Stop it." I threatened

"If you did come up with the whole thing on the spot then congratulations. You still managed to convince me; even though I should be able to tell when you're lying. You do it often enough."

Turning around I realize Joe has moved closer towards me, I guess it's so I could hear the last part of the sentence.

"That's not fair." I mutter

"I'll tell you want's not fair. Not knowing I got you pregnant and-"

"I was trying to protect you!" I suddenly shout, regretting it straight away.

Joe stares at me in silence then finally blinked "So it's true then? She is mine."

"If you need me to say it, then yes. She's yours."

"You're unbelievable." He mutters reaching behind me to open the door. I push myself back so he can't leave. "Erica move." He sighs

"No." I said crossing my arms and standing my ground.

"Erica."

"I'm not moving Joe. Not until you let me explain."

Copying me Joe crosses his arms too "You want to explain? Go ahead. Explain."

Clearing my throat I take a breath "First of all, the reason I didn't tell you was because I knew you'd act like this."

"I'm acting like this because you didn't tell me." He argued

"I was scared."

"Of what?"

"You. I didn't want you to be angry with me."

"I'm not angry because you got pregnant Erica. I'm angry because you took her away from me and lied about it. I didn't see my daughter because of you. Do you have any idea how that feels?"

"Do you?" I gasp "You have no idea what's it's like for me knowing that someone else is raising my- I'm sorry, our daughter- Knowing that I'm not going to be there to see her grow up."

"That's your fault and at least you got to see her. You got to say goodbye. I didn't have that chance."

"You wanna see her? Is that going to make you happy Joe?" I demand

"Yes it would. But it's too late now."

Sensing that Joe's getting angry again and knowing that i'm moments away from saying something else i'll regret, I step to the side, leaving the door exposed. "Go. I can't talk to you anymore. Just leave."