Give Me a Smile

Joker left me alone for a few days after that, off doing some huge crime. He left the TV on, as promised, and gave me a stack of books. They were all horror, which made me laugh, because of course Joker would like horror.

He did handcuff me again, but the chain was long enough that I could move around the apartment easily. I finished the books right before he came back. “Quinnie! I’m, ha!, back! You can’t, you can’t even IMAGINE the fun I’ve been, hoo!, having! I....They just stood there and WATCHED. And everything, he, was burning. It was such a, haha, gas.”

He wasn’t dressed normally. His hair was dyed brown, and the scars were covered. I decided I liked him better without all that stuff. I liked the green hair and scars. It showed who he was. Joker went to the kitchen and came back scrubbed clean, the dye still dripping from his hair.

“How’ve you been, Quinnie? Did ya get bored?” I shook my head and he grinned. “Good. GOOD! Do you, eh, wanna see what I did? It was....boom! It was just BOOM!” He was twitching next to me, eyes even crazier than usual.

I could tell he was still amped up from whatever crime he’d just done. “Uh...sure. What did you do?” “This!” Joker flipped the TV on and watched intently, tongue darting over his lips every few seconds. It was, of course, the news. A reporter stood in front of a smoldering pile of rubble, doing his best to be heard over the sirens.

“The Joker has struck again, this time taking down one of Gotham’s most iconic buildings, ‘The Clocktower’. He was last seen ten days ago, when he invaded Gotham High and kidnapped this girl...” The news switched to talking about me, then went back to Joker. “We’re not sure how many casualties there are yet, but it’s estimated that at least ten are dead, and more wounded. Authorities are still going through the rubble, but conditions are dangerous. Citizens are warned to stay away.”

I turned and gaped at him. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” “There’s nothing wrong with me. I’m just trying to make the world a little more....explosive,” he murmured, still focused on the news. “I got you something, by the way.” I looked around, but I couldn’t see anything. “Uh....”

“It’s in my jacket.” I waited, but he made no move to get it, so I went to find it myself. He still smelled like smoke. I hadn’t realized how many pockets he had. He must’ve made the jacket himself, because there was just a ridiculous amount of pockets, and more knives than I cared to count. I nicked my fingers a few times, got some weird smelling dust on my hands, but finally found it when my fingers brushed something that crackled, and I pulled out a plastic case. It held a toothbrush.

I grinned. “Thank you!” He finally tore his gaze away from the TV and smiled. “Ah, what a grin. I’ve made you happy, Quinn?” I knew he only meant about the toothbrush, but the question threw me, because he had made me happy.

Of course, he’d kidnapped me, hit me, and left scars on my arm, but he’d also said I was lovely, killed the man who raped me, and let me see the Narrows as beautiful. I felt alive with him, like his maniac personality lit me up.

It scared me, because suddenly I didn’t want to escape. I didn’t say anything to him though. I just nodded. “Yeah. I’m happy.” He patted my scars. “Good.”