No Rest for the Wicked

She quickly rushed around the small condominium picking up anything she hadn’t already packed away. She shoved a few pieces of clothing into a pillowcase that was in her left hand as she poured the contents of the red gallon behind her.

Lying on the counter in the kitchen she noticed a pack of cigarettes and a lighter and grabbed them both. She lit a cigarette, taking one puff and smiled to herself. This was it. No more living in this hellhole condo in this huge city. She was ready to leave it years ago but today was finally her chance. She walked to the front door and turned the knob. She didn’t check all the bedrooms but she hoped the biggest thing to be left behind was still in the back bedroom.

She flicked the cigarette behind her as she slammed the door shut and quickly made her way outside. She ran down the street to where her boyfriend’s car was parked and her younger sister Lennox was sitting inside.

“Got everything you needed?” he asked. She nodded her head as she threw in the pillowcase in the back of the car where everything she and Lennox owned was packed in.

“Thanks for letting me use your car Nick,” she said. “You have to take care of mine properly though.” Nick leaned in to give his girlfriend a kiss on her forehead and held her close. “I’ll take care of yours until you come for it.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I get everything settled here,” Nick said into his girlfriend’s ear as he snuggled her close one last time. “Drive safe Jackie. Call me when you get there.”

Jack let go of her boyfriend and opened the car door to his Tahoe that was just a bit too big for her taste but it fit everything she felt the need to bring on her long road trip down to Miami. She started the SUV and waved one last time to Nick. Jack looked over at her sister who was starting to doze off already. It was going to be a long trip down to Miami especially if her sister was going to be asleep most of the time.

---

Jack took her time driving from New York to Florida. Ideally she had planned it all out to be at least a two day drive but it ended up taking the two sisters almost a week. Jack wasn’t exactly a nervous person but she hadn’t seen her dad in almost five years and to suddenly drop in to live with him again didn’t seem quite amazing anymore.

Jack had been more or less planning this Bohannon family reunion for a while. She’s kept more in contact with her brothers than her father but she assumed he knew of his daughter’s plans to leave their mother.

Jack knew she was nearby her father’s house by day seven. She was slowly driving around the neighborhood until she reached his house.

“There it is,” Jack said shoving her sister’s arm to wake her up. Lennox grumbled a little and looked out her window at the big house in front of her.

“Shit,” she whispered to herself as she raised her seat up to get a better view, “Looks like there’s plenty of room for us after all.”

Jack put the car in park and continued staring at the large house to her right. “Well, he only has to deal with me for a few weeks if he doesn’t want us back.”

Lennox snorted as she unbuckled her seat belt and turned to face her sister. “How could he not want us? We’re his kids. We’re still underage so he technically has to take us. I still think we should have done this years ago… Or call CPS on that cow of a mother.”

Jack finally got out of the car and as she and Lennox were walking towards the walkway she saw the front door open. Her younger 16 year old brother Ryder was running full speed towards her and when he finally reached them he stopped to embrace his sisters in a warm, welcoming hug.

“Welcome back, whores,” he said as he squeezed them tightly. Jack hadn’t seen her brother in almost a year since he last visited the two of them last summer. He had practically grown even taller and was at least four to five inches taller than his older sister.

“Classy,” Jack said as she playfully shoved her brother away from her.

“You know it,” Ryder said as he stood in front of his two sisters. “Nate just went out with Liam and Jackson, so he’s not here but I’ve been waiting patiently all day. You sure drive like an old lady.”

Jack rolled her eyes while her brother stood there with a goofy grin on his face. “Where’s dad?”

“Working, of course. He was trying to be home for you but shit came up so of course he bounced.”

Jack was hoping that this was the case. As much as she loved the father she grew up with, she knew that he was a workaholic that would almost always choose his career over anything else; including his own flesh and blood. Some things never change.

Ryder brought his two sisters inside his house and started showing them around. The downstairs looked like a normal downstairs part of the house; kitchen, living room, dining room, a bathroom and a door that led to the garage. Upstairs was even bigger. It had five bedrooms, three had their own bathrooms, a den and Jack lost count at how many closets there were.

“Do you guys really need this much room?” Lennox asked. “I mean shit there’s only three of you.”

“Actually,” Ryder said as he leaned on the banister of the stairs, “There are five of us living here. And we practically just moved in here four months ago which is why we’re living in such a bigger home. Dad was hoping you’d come when you turn 18 Jack. He wanted you and Len back where you belong.”

“There are five of you?” Jack asked. “Nate moved back in? Who’s the fifth? Jackson? As in Nate’s butt buddy?”

Ryder had missed a door purposely on his quick tour of the house. He opened the door that and both sisters finally understood. Behind the closed door was a pale blue room with a crib and a rocking chair and all sorts of things typically seen in a baby’s room.

“What the fuck,” Jack said out loud, “Since when is there a baby living with you? There’s another Bohannon?”

Ryder laughed as his sister’s expressions and finally felt it was time to let them know more. “Nate had a kid.” They both continued to stare at him expressionless. “With an old girlfriend.” Still nothing. “Who felt she wasn’t fit to be a mother so dumped Nate with Jackson.”

“Holy shit,” Lennox finally said, “Why didn’t anyone say anything? How old is he anyways?”
Ryder smirked as he led his sisters out of Jackson’s room and downstairs to the living room. “He’s seven months. Nate moved back in four months ago which is why the main reason for the big place but also because dad was hoping you’d come back.”

“You said that already,” Jack said as she sat down on a leather recliner. “If he wants us back so much why didn’t he try harder?” There was silence between the three siblings. “So why Jackson? Named after me of course?”

“No. After his butt buddy of course,” Ryder said referring to Nate’s best friend since childhood, Jackson. All these “Jacks” around were going to get really hard to get used to. Jack contemplated that second whether or not to start going by her full name, Jacqueline, but decided she stuck with Jack long enough, she was going to keep it.

After an hour of small talk, there was a series of doors slamming outside followed by the footsteps of a small child. The front door was thrown open and Jack noticed the youngest Bohannon child flying through the front door and into the living room.

“Hey Liam,” Ryder said poking the young six year old in the arm, “Look who’s here!”

Liam gave Jack a shy smile and giggled as he walked up to her and hugged her knees. Jack smiled down at her youngest brother who barely knew who she was but hugged him back. “Hi Liam. I’m Jack. Remember we talked before on the internet with the camera?”

Liam nodded and giggled, “I saw you on the screen. I know you.” He let go of Jack and squeezed in between Ryder and Lennox. He gave Lennox the same hug he gave Jack and sat back with a childish grin on his face.

Nate eventually made his presence heard after yelling for Ryder to help him being in the groceries. Jack used to be very close with Nate but felt the long separation put a damper on the relationship. They spoke every day after she left but within a few months the calls stopped and they weren’t the same. He definitely wasn’t the scrawny kid she remembered from before she left. He was more muscular, tan and taller and looked his age rather than an anorexic teen she remembered he was.

The two shared a brief hug followed by an awkward silence as Jack stared at the small baby in his arms.

“How was the drive down?” he asked. “Any problems?” By this time Lennox had already helped Ryder with the groceries and grabbed Jackson leaving the two oldest siblings outside.

She shrugged her shoulders, “It was alright. Lennox slept most of the time.” There was more silence between the two. “So you have a kid…”

“You drive a Tahoe?” he asked. “Thought Ryder said you bought a smaller car.”

Jack made a face and pursed her lips. Whether he was trying to change the subject or not she was going to continue to stare at Nate until he answered her question.

“Where’d you get the car anyways?” he asked. Jack continued to stand there with the same look on her face. “I thought I told you.”

“Obviously not,” Jack finally spoke as she walked back into the house. She walked into the already open front door to see her family sitting on the floor around Jackson. She hasn’t even seen her father yet but the fact that she’s not even getting along with her older brother didn’t make things any better. She was seriously considering leaving already. She wanted to take all the money she had saved up to live on her own for once.

She knew it wouldn't be long before someone from New York would come looking for her. She just hoped it wouldn't be so soon.