CHAPTER 60

I don' t know how long we sat there but the water tank for these places must be fucking huge as the damn thing didn't go cold on us before we could get off the floor and get Jackie cleaned up. I got out of my now wet clothes and we took the time to get the layers of dirt off. The drain on the shower was able to take it all and I did the little things like wash her back and thank god my girls showed me different ways to deal with long damaged hair. You just can't put shit in and pray you have to work it and after a while I see Jackie start to finally relax as we get the last of the soap off and dry ourselves. My clothes are going to be dry in hours if not later so I settle for just a towel as Jackie tests out some of the clothes I got which leaves her in a loose ugly colored top and some brown baggy pants. We sit quietly and I see her staring at the food and watch as she grabs a banana and barely gets the peel off before devouring it. It goes that way with all the fruits and some of the vegetables as I order a pizza and soda, then at Jackie's request a large order of chicken strips and ranch sauce.

I don't know what to say to her and once the food arrives and I pay she's so busy devouring all in her path, it's like a food horror movie. I'm trying to numb myself as she finally get's full half way through a pizza with almost everything on it and sits quietly on the bed as the sun has set outside. We have the lights on but she can't seem to look at me as we sit in the silence.

"How long have you known," She finally asks quietly.

"Almost three weeks, I owe a favor to a friend and my whole family is worried as I told them I won't be home tonight," I reply solemnly.

"You aren't going home," Jackie asks concerned," Mrs. Delauter won't like that and you should be with your family."

"No I need to be here, I have been so worried about you this whole time that I had days where nothing could keep me pinned down. Everyone said to be calm and now I have you here, safe and I'm not taking any chances," I tell her with my blood pumping in defense mode.

"What about your girlfriends," She asks finally looking at me.

"They understand. Honestly they do and they want me to take care of you so that I'm not distracted all the time," I tell her getting a small look of disappointment.

"You should be with your girls," Jackie says with a level of finality.

"And Steven should be a corpse but I haven't killed him yet," I reply remembering who started all this.

"No, he could change his mind. You can't want me to raise my child knowing that one of the best people I've ever known has killed its father," Jackie says desperately.

"Knowing it would hurt you is the only reason he still breathes," I say calming down so that I'm not raging on her.

We bag up the trash and she uses a hotel fan to dry my underwear so I can at least remove the towel. We pack up her old stuff in the old bag and she starts sorting her new things. I watch as she goes through uses and what she calls tradeables when she finally realizes what she's doing.

"Oh my god I don't have to barter with this stuff," she finally says starting to tear up again.

"Jackie it's going to be okay," I tell her kneeling down and taking her face when I see tears and a smile.

"It might actually be okay for once," She says calming down and wiping her tears.

She explains to me how she got into the camp. We go over her panhandling for change on corners and dumpster diving for food. She even used her I'm pregnant and the Daddy left me to get food a couple times from businesses. I just sit and listen as the more I hear the more I want to kill when she touches my hand and tells me 'I'm okay'. It's not good enough for me in the long run but it is good enough now. I am still sitting in the chair when I watch as Jackie passes out with the TV on and her body under the blankets of the bed. I sit back down in my chair and somewhere in between letting my girls know that I'm okay and won't be home and them messaging me back I fall asleep.

I am woken the next morning to silence, too much silence. I get up from my chair and see that Jackie is gone, I see her old stuff, and some of the supplies are missing too and all the new clothes. I'm starting to freak out putting on my damp cold clothing and I wrench the door open and take two steps when I see her walking up carrying a new bag of stuff. She sees my face and gets me back inside as I'm trying to calm down with my hands shaking.

"Guy it's okay I didn't go anywhere I just traded in some of the clothes you got for ones that fit and I got a bra," Jackie tells me sitting me on the bed.

I nod absently and she sits down next to me and starts to rub my back when she realizes how cold and damp my clothes are and helps me strip out so she can get them dried a little better. We sit quietly on the bed with the TV on and me under the covers from the waist down. She cuddles up to me and we're quietly just relaxing when my phone starts to go off. I grab it and see that it's ten in the morning and Kori is calling. I grab the phone and answer.

"Baby are you doing okay," Kori asks skipping formalities.

"Honey I'm fine, we're fine," I tell her stoically.

"Oh thank god baby, where are you? I know you can't bring her back here but everyone is going nuts wondering where you are," Kori asks as I can hear people in the background asking a million questions.

"Honey we're at a ratty little motel about thirty minutes away," I tell her before she cuts me off.

"Guy Donnelly, I can tell by the sound of your voice that everything is not fixed and not even close to alright. I love you, we love you now tell me where you two are so we can help," Kori says with a determined tone.

"Honey I'm looking for the name on something in here as I'm in my underwear," I say before clarifying," My clothes got soaked and they haven't dried well."

"We'll bring you some but what motel," Kori asks again not letting it go.

"Buffalo Ranch Motel, it's off the interstate north," I tell her as Jackie hands me a card with the info on it from the nightstand.

As soon as the words are out of my mouth the call is ended and I'm staring at my phone wondering what new hell is coming as I turn to Jackie who looks a little concerned.

"Well we're gonna have company," I tell her as look to make myself presentable and realize that's impossible.

We sit quietly until I get a text asking the room number I let them know eight before watching Jackie duck into the bathroom. A sharp knock at the door and I open it a little as I see all my girls dressed nicely and all ready to break hearts as I let them in and immediately Kori pins me to the wall and does her soul gazing, I see her finally soften and smile.

"It's getting better, and we're here to help," She tells me as the rest of the girls have filed in and just kind of looked around.