Diamond in the Rough

Doug kills the engine and sits for a few minutes, letting his mind wander to what might have happened to Jem in Walpole. He taps his fingers and looks up to Krista's bedroom window that's closed tightly, a good sign that she's not there. He always knew when Krista was getting high in her room, always leaving the window open to let out the reek of whatever she had smoked. He feels sorry for Shyne who is growing up in the same lifestyle Krista had, struggling,
forgotten. Doug knows all too well what it feels like to be abandoned, just left to his own devices after his mother left and his father was sent to prison. His father had told him to make his peace with his mother's departure, but he couldn't. He couldn't bring himself to just give up on finding her, always living with that tiny glimmer of hope.

Doug walks casually into the living room, his eyes glued to the empty drug bags that are on the scratched coffee table, two empty bottles of whisky on the floor. He goes into the kitchen where he finds Jem sitting at the table. He looks like hell. Doug grabs a water from the fridge and turns to Jem who is staring at the wall. He doesn't know for sure whether Jem realises he is there.

"You okay?" Doug asks, waving his hand in front of Jem's face.

"Sure" he replies.

He watches Jem as he takes a beer from the fridge, pulling off the cap with his teeth and spitting it in the garbage.

"You wanna go do somethin?" Doug suggests. He wonders if getting Jem away from the coke and booze would help him judge when to bring Fiona and whatever happened in Walpole up.

"Fuck that. I'm gonna sit here and get so pissed I can't see straight" Jem says and swallows down half the contents.

"Okay" he replies and twists the cap off his water. If he doesn't do it now he doubts he ever will.

"I saw Fiona earlier" Doug watches
Jem carefully and watches as his jaw clenches.

"How is she?" Jem asks and grabs a second beer.

"Honestly? She's pretty cut up. About you. She's worried"

Jem swallows and looks out the window. He's hiding something.

"What did you break-up with her for anyway?" Doug asks casually, taking a drink of his water.

"Dunno"

"Come on, you've gotta know why you broke up with the girl. She seems nice" Doug asks.

"I had my reasons, okay?"

"What reasons" Doug pushes him.

"I said I had my fuckin' reasons!" Jem snaps and throws his beer bottle into the sink, shards of glass flying.

"Do you feel better for pushing her away?

Jem shakes his head.

"I feel like fuckin shit"

"The drugs and booze aren't exactly helping are they?" Doug adds.

Jem shakes his head again.

"Did you push her away 'cause of what happened in Walpole?" Doug takes this opportunity.

"What do you know about it?" Jem glares at him like he's just told his friend and brother something evil.

"Huh, what do you know about my time in fuckin' Walpole?" He snaps"You know jack fuckin' shit"

"Tell me" Doug shouts louder "Tell me what happened"

Jem waves him off and turns to the fridge.

"Fiona said something happened. You never told me anything about your time" Doug says in a reasonable tone.

"'Cause you were never there on
visiting days. Were ya?"

A river of guilt starts to pool around Doug. He should have been there and he wasn't.

"Fiona say's it's fucking with you"

"Fuck off and leave me alone" Jem replies coldly.

Doug realises that he's not going to get anywhere with Jem by talking. He had learned through his meetings that talking was the best medicine, a chance to heal the body and mind.

Something in Doug snaps. He grabs Jem by the throat and shoulder, swiping his legs and they crash on the floor. Doug pins the smaller man under his bigger frame, Jem cursing and trying to push him off.

"The fuck?" Jem snarls. He tries again to push Doug off, but in this position he can't.

"The fuck, Doug?" He snaps"Fuckin let me up, motherfucker. You let me fuckin go or I'm gonna smash your skull into the ground. Get the fuck off me"

"Not until you tell me what happened" Doug's face is inches from Jem's.

"Go fuck yourself" Jem replies viciously."Get the fuck off me!"

"What happened, Jem? What happened that made you so much of a fucking hard-ass. What happened that made it okay for you to treat Fiona and everyone around you like shit? What happened, Jem?"

Doug has his arms pinned beneath his knees, that way the smaller man can't lash out.

He continues to shout in Jem's face, pushing him into a confession. Both men are angry as hell, a testosterone overload. Doug raises his fist in temper.

"What happened?"

"I got fuckin raped!!"