14 comments/ 16311 views/ 18 favorites Close To You By: DrSpidey Hey, guys. I hope everyone enjoys this story. I'm slowly working on three more projects I'll be submitting. Possibly six. Be patient with me and enjoy this in the mean-time while you wait. I haven't forgotten about Satana or Requin. Leave me a comment letting me know what you think. ***** When I was a little kid I used to play in the park all the time. I love all of the equipment, but my favorite piece of playground equipment that the park had, which was becoming increasingly rare, even back then, was the ever so magical merry-go-round. Well, one day on a Saturday when my mother was off from work, she took me to the park early before most of the other kids got there, and before traffic got too bad. There was two girls there; a pretty little thing named Amélie Anderson, and an even more beautiful angel named Jessica Anderson who was her sister, and was years older. Amélie was about six, and, at the time of our meeting was a brunette, while her Jessica was already starting to go blond. Both were a good few years old than me. I don't remember exactly how old I was at the time, but I remembered, at least, Amélie was six, and Jessica was already ten. Well. Even though I was severely younger than Jessica, she was my first real crush, even as young as I was. But I was just a little brat. I wasn't big enough to wander around on my own, I wasn't big enough to ride without tricycles, and I sure as heck wasn't old enough to date or know what love was. I think she knew though. Or, rather, I KNEW, that she knew. How did I know? Well, I actually kissed her once on my fourth birthday. Jessica didn't return the same kiss, but did treat me to a kiss on the cheek. But that single kiss would stay with me forever, my first kiss. I'd always remember how soft and creamy her lips felt, how warm they were, how her breath smelled so sweet that it made me think of candy, and how she smiled so angelically with her lips curving upward over her flawless, perfectly, porcelain white teeth when her lips left mine. Around the time Mrs. Lake got pregnant the second time, which was around Jessica's twenty first birthday, tragedy struck the Lake family: Amélie was struck by a car while playing a game of catch with a few of the neighbors kids and rushed out into the street after the ball because the kid wouldn't shut up about it. They tried to rush her to the hospital, but by the time that they did get her there, it was already too late, and Amélie died. She had been through countless relationships over the years, because in truth, Jessica was a helpless romantic at heart who just wanted to find the knight in shinning armor that she was destined to spend the rest of her life with. But no matter how hard she searched, no matter how many men that Jessica dated, it never seemed to really work out and she always ended up getting hurt...And every time she did, I fell into an uncontrollable rage wanting to kill whoever hurt her. She was about to give up, but she had met Johnny Gaston when she hit seventeen. Things went smoothly between them and they were a perfect fit for each other; he never hurt her, they argued and fought, yes, but Johnny never hurt her and treated her how she deserved. She was trying to move out of her parents' house, but was currently stuck at home living with them because she and Johnny couldn't seem to bring in enough money together. But on the plus side she got to watch as Amy grew up and walk and talk. It was about 9 o'clock and I was heading home from my job...Which I didn't really enjoy that much. I was actually a janitor for Ripley's Supermarket. Lately it started to seem like the bathrooms were getting more disgusting and unsanitary the more I worked, with rancid diarrheal that smelled like someone had ten helpings of beans and broccoli, and things were only mad worse with blood splattered all over the toilets, floors and walls of the women's bathroom, making it look like a damn murder scene. Sick bastards. My phone started to ring in my pocket, but because I had more sense than most young kids, I decided to just leave it in my pocket until I hit a stoplight, which, conveniently I came to a stop to just by the fourth time 'Never Gonna Give You Up' played on my phone. I reached into my pocket and pulled my phone up, saw it was Amy, and answered it, bringing the phone up to my ear while I watched the stoplight and waited for it to change colors. "Amy, what's wrong?" She said something about going out for a few milkshakes with some friends, and had thought of me, wondering if I wanted to tag along and hang out with them "Milkshakes?" I laughed. "Sure! That'd be fine. Okay, I'll drop by after I get home and change." I hit the end call button and just as I started to put my phone back into my rear pocket, the light turned green. I waited till a few cars drove ahead and then I resumed my drive back home. I always found something really enchanting about the night, so I always looked forward to leaving at night and setting off on the road with the stars and pale moonlight shinning down. There was just something really cool about the night. At least I'd be seeing more of it than usual since I'd be going to hang out with Amy and her friends for a few hours. I lived in a small town that was build around 1903. Many of the old buildings were never torn down, they were closed up, but weren't destroyed and were left as a reminder of the history that the town had. A few of the stores were still in business, though that was only a few. I noticed that the gas gauge was nearly empty, so I pulled up to the nearest gas station which was the last surviving gas station that was around since the town was built. Turning my Toyota off, I opened the door and stepped out, locking the car behind me before walking towards the entrance of the station. The gas station was pretty old; something you'd see from a ghost town. The building was made out of brick and the bricks were quite weathered along with one of the old gas pumps. There was a big sign on the building written in red bold print that said: 'Richford General Gasoline.' The only thing that had really been changed about the store was that one of the old gas pumps was removed to make way for a modern one; but the actual inside of the store had taken upon a more modern appearance. I noticed once I was inside that there was no one behind the counter. That was odd; I thought. But then I figured maybe the clerk was in the bathroom or something. But soon I noticed a rather burly looking black male walking in, and walking towards me with a rather unfriendly look in his eyes. He was about six foot two and he was dressed in all black; wearing a black tank top, black do-rag, and baggy pants that I only hoped weren't falling so low they showed off his ass, and wearing a gold chain around his neck and a few gold rings on his left hand. I turned away. I was taught not to make eye contact with shady looking people, because it could start something, but even though I had turned away, I could still hear the sound of his boots hitting the floor and growing in sound; signifying that he was getting uncomfortably closer to me. Finally the footsteps stopped, and I slowly, very slowly, turned around to look back straight ahead of me, and there, standing right in front of me, staring at me with an uncomfortable glint in his dark brown eyes, was the same African American. "I'm getting real tired of your brother's shit, cracka! Tell him to stop fucking around, and watch his bitch ass back!" "I don't want any trouble." "Well, you got it, cracka!" "Just leave." I said. "Fuck YOU!" He grabbed me. He slammed me hard over the counter and pushed me against it, and upon impact with it, I cried out. The taller black male pulled me away from the counter, then threw me forward, only to walk towards me pull me up to his face, and brought his right hand towards me, punching me over, and over, and over again in the face without mercy. "Tired of you honkies runnin' round here actin' like you own the place. Maybe I should send your brother a message.." He showed me his golden grills while he smiled. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a switchblade knife, popped the blade up, and brought it towards my face. I heard a voice directing us, or him, rather, and when the both of us turned to see who it was, it was the elderly old clerk who I had seen ever since I was three. "Break it up." The white-haired clerk spoke, fearlessly. "Go fuck yourself, you old wrinkly honkie!" The gangster said; staring intimidatingly at the clerk. But then the clerk went behind the counter, and while the black make started to push the blade against my neck, the clerk once again interrupted him. When the taller gangster turned to look back at the clerk again, all movement from him seemed to freeze in place when he saw the clerk was holding a shotgun in his hands; pointing it at the troublemaker. "You let that boy go." "And if I don't?" "Then, I'll blow your brains out." The clerk said; his voice serious with no hint of bluff. "Fuck this shit." Murmured the gangster. The gangster got off of me, put his knife away, and as he started to walk away, turned to me, pointed his right index finger at me, make a menacing face, and then turned back around and walked out of the store. "Are you all right" he asked. "I'm fine." I rose to my feet. "Who was that?" He asked. "Tyrone James." I dusted myself off and sighed. "He seemed pretty hostile towards you. Do you two have any beef with each other? He seemed like he knew you." "You could say that." I evaded his question. After being given a few things from the kindhearted clerk to calm down the swelling that would surely follow on my let eye and lower bottom left lip, I walked away from the checkout and slowly went over the racks of the store deciding I may as well snag something to eat on the way home until I could get some real food to satisfy me. My obvious choice was a fun-size bag of Ruffles Cheddar Sour Cream and Onion, a bag of Jack Links Peppered Beef Jerky and a throwback Pepsi made with real sugar. Once I had put everything on the counter, I paid for it, took it too the car, refilled my car up and left after having a brief conversation with the clerk. When I hit another stoplight, I popped open my Pepsi and bag of chips, and as of I hadn't eaten for five months, started to pig out, taking a handful of chips and stuffing my face with my hand and crunching and chewing all of the chips at once while my hand gently slapped against the steering wheel like it was a drum. I was starting to have second thoughts on going to see Amy, now, because I didn't want her or Jessica to see I got whooped. "Damn it, Jacky," I shook my head. "When is this white supremacist crap gonna stop?" I really did love my older brother. Heck, I'd gladly die for him if it meant him staying safe. But this 'Hail HITLER!' Nonsense was getting way too out of hand and was really getting him into trouble. But not just him, I was nearly killed, and would have been, if the clerk hadn't stepped in with that shotgun. It was pretty hard to believe that such a small town with such a cheerful, happy demeanor to it, could still hold such bad seeds. It was true Landersen was a pretty calm town for the most part, and crime was pretty rare as was with most small towns, but it seemed like Jacky had found the town's secret underbelly and let his views go to his head. It wasn't a great feeling; waking up everyday, wondering where the wannabe badasses where hiding and waiting to jump you and gun you down. Jacky already a few run-ins with trouble. He never shot anyone, but I think this was mostly because he never had that close of a chance and something always seemed to stop him or get in his way. Thirty seven years old and Jacky was still like a misguided teenager who had yet to truly find himself. Or maybe it was the other way around and he lost himself, unable to find himself again. I reached my hand down and took another handful of potato chip. My hand was no longer slapping the steering wheel but instead tapping against it in rhyme to the classic glam rock music that was bursting through the speakers. Once the bag was about half empty and my Pepsi was nearly gone, the light turned red and I continued back on my way home, driving down 24th Street and driving through a a meadow of big, shady trees. When I finally made it to my house, I sighed in relief and finished my bag of chips and my can of Pepsi, but decided to save my bag of Jack Links for my next day of work. "Home sweet home." I smiled to myself. I turned the car off, unlocked my door and stepped out of the car. My house wasn't that big. It was a typical small house, a country house, that was slightly rectangular, with a maroon roof and a flower garden right in front and a medium sized tree located right in our small front yard. My parents were wanting to move into this really nice looking, two story red brick house that had four bedrooms, and they were ready to buy it when suddenly the bills piled up so bad that idea had to be abandoned. I myself was working on getting out of the house. I just needed to save up a little more money for my apartment. I knew it'd be hard to survive on my own, I mean, it wasn't like back in the day when my dad was a teenager, things were harder now. But I refused to continue living with them; not because I hated them or they got on my nerves, but because I felt like I needed my own place. Then I'd be happier with myself. Walking towards the rectangular, tan brick house, I stopped at the screen door, and unlocked it with one key, then unlocked the aged wooden that was behind it and swung it open as well, walked inside, and closed the wooden door behind me once I had closed the old screen door first. Once I was inside I stopped when I heard carousing coming from the living room which was only moments away from me and the small hall I was standing at by the door. I shook my head at this; already knowing who all it was, and headed into the living room. "Cole!" Four voices greeted me. I stopped once I was in the living room and what, or who, rather, I saw was exactly who I knew it would he. Jacky was sitting on the couch and his two friends, Benny and Howard were sitting right besides him with a bottle of beer in their laps and a few bottles strewn out on the ground leaving behind a rather disgusting mess. Jacky was about the tallest out of the three, and was even taller than me. He was about five foot eleven, while Benny was five foot eight, and Howard was five foot nine. All three of them had their heads shaved, but Jacky had a long goatee, while his other two pals didn't. Jacky had the same colored eyes as me; dark brown, and his hair was the same dark brown as mine, as well. Each of them had on white wife-beaters, and, if they ever had their shirts off, you'd see the Nazi swastika on their abs. Jacky himself had an additional swastika and this one was smaller and tattooed onto his right shoulder. "Cole, what happened to your face?" Jacky quickly rose from the couch. "It's nothing." I lied. "It doesn't look like nothing." "Jacky, I'm fine." I turned away. "Cole, turn around." He said. I did as he commanded and turned to face him, and when I did, Jacky leaned his face closer to mine and took note of my swollen eye and lip. His lips started to curl while his face hardened. "Who did this to you?" He demanded. "I slipped and fell." "Bullshit!" He threw his beer. "Jacky, it's fine." I continued. "Who hit you?" He grabbed me by the shoulders and started shaking me. At this point I was startled. "It was Tyrone!" I quickly blurted. "What?" His face grew more fierce. "That darky piece of shit? I'll kill that fucker!" "Jacky! No." I tried to get through to him despite him obviously madding up his mind. "Getting tired of these niggas thinking they run this shit! Come on, you two!" Though I'd never seen Jacky kill anyone, I had seen his pistol plenty of times when he had attempted to shoot someone, and I knew Benny and Howard carried arms of their own as well. As I stood there and tried to think up a way to talk Jacky out of this stupid mistake he was making, Jacky and his boys left and just as thought I finally had an idea, and raced out of the house, through the doors they left unlocked, Jacky and his boys were already in his 1983 Ford F150, with him driving, and Benny and Howard in the bed of the truck, screaming and chanting like lunatics. I ran after the truck, but as I tried to chase it, I realized that it was moving too fast for me to possibly catch up to it. "JACKY!" I shouted at him. "See ya later, dude! We're off to kill us some darkies!" Howard roared in unrestraint laughter. "JACKY! Stop it, come back." The truck drove off while I stood in the middle of the street gripping my head from the sides and clamped my teeth together, only to let them loose and let out a frustrated yell. "Damn it, Jacky. What the hell are you doing?" I watched as the truck got farther away, but I soon heard the sound of another vehicle coming and narrowly got out of the path of a 1998 Red Mustang that was blazing towards me. "Damn it!" I strained my face. There was nothing I could do now, not at this point, at least. Jacky had already made up his mind and I could only hope he used 'I'll kill that fucker' loosely and wasn't going to literally take on Tyrone and try to blow him away. "What's he thinking?" I asked myself out loud while I got on the sidewalk. "He should have at least took more of his Neo Nazi buddies if he was going after Tyrone." Had Jacky lost it? Did this Neo Nazism garbage really go to his head? How could he have changed all these years and turn into this? I returned home and sat on my waterbed with my hands folded into prayer flotation over my lips. What was I to do? I could go after him and maybe try to talk some sense into him...But then, Jacky wouldn't listen because I knew how he was, and when it came to something like this, it was impossible to change Jacky's mind. I made a decision to go after him and follow him, but right as I did, I heard 'Never Gonna Give You Up' playing on my phone and I reached into my pocket. "Jacky." I whispered, relieved. But then, when I did answer the phone, Jacky wasn't calling to tell me he changed his mind, but, rather, that he knew I was going to try and follow him to stop him, and not to try it, because even if I did, he wouldn't listen. That was it. I couldn't stop this. All I could do was accept I jacked up and now, because of me spilling the identity of my assailant, someone was most likely going to end up dying. I was only hoping it wouldn't be Jacky. I sat quietly in despair as the clock ticked away, but, then, I decided, that if I couldn't stop the crap that was going to go down between the skinheads and gang members, that I may as well do something to take my mind off everything. I decided to get ready for the evening with Amy and her friends. I took off my blue janitor outfit and wandered towards my closet in my gray boxers and pulled out a plain, white short-sleeve T along with a pair of black jeans that were worn out around the knees and ankles. I never was one who cared about how people judged my clothing choices, and just wore or dressed how I wanted. The last thing I grabbed was a black denim jacket and a pair of all-black high top Adidas. Lastly was my socks. My rings could wait until I had taken my shower. I sat all of my clothes on the bed and grabbed a fresh pair of red boxers and sat them on my bed along with the rest of my clothes. I took a short shower and once I was done re-brushed my teeth, put on some deodorant and styled my short, dark brown hair into spikes and sprayed a little hairspray and then left the bathroom heading back to my bedroom to get my clothes. Close To You I started with my pants first, and once I had my black jeans on, grabbed a belt that nearly slipped my mind, put my belt on, then slipped the white shirt over my wet, muscled body. Last things to go where my socks and shoes. Then it was time to get my rings. I had three rings that I usually wore when I wasn't busy working. I had more, but I usually on out on the other ones for special events or occasions like Thanksgiving, Christmas, or something like that. I headed towards my closet and stopped in front if my jewelry box. My jewelry box looked like a crate, that was the design it had, but it had a keyhole specifically made for an old skeleton key. I always kept my skeleton key in a pair of crocodile hide boots that I hadn't worn for five years. I reached my hand into my crocodile hide boots and pulled out the key, brought it towards my jewelry box, and unlocked it. I ignored everything in the box except my high-school ring, which was silver with a big blue sapphire gem, as well as my favorite stainless steel ring that I usually over my left index finger, and finally my stainless silver shark ring that I wore on my right middle finger right next to my high-school ring. I put my high-school ring on my right index finger first, then my shark ring on my middle finger, and then my stainless silver band ring. I left the house and go into my Toyota and drove away, making my way to Blue Avenue. Blue Avenue was about twenty blocks away. It was located on an old road, one that was a lot older than 24th Street, and you could tell by the fact that the street was out bricks. I roamed around the street for a while before I stopped at Jessica and Amy's house. I parked on the side of their house by the ditch and turned the car off, opened my door, and got out; locking the vehicle behind me. The Anderson's' house was bigger than mine and had three rooms on the second story where the Anderson family slept at. The triangular roof of it was deep blue, while the rest of the house was white. The roof took over a good portion of the house when you gaze at it from the outside; with the blue dominating over the white. Once I got to the front of the house, I knocked on the door and waited for a reply while I gazed at the driveway noticing Jessica's vehicle was parked in front of the garage. As I waited and just gazed around at the countless shady trees that they had planted in there front yard, creating a small forest in their yard, I heard the door open, and the face that greeted me lit up immediately. "Cole!" "Jessica!" I returned. "I'm so happy to see you. Come in. Come to my room." I followed her inside and gazed at all the pictures that were hung up on her houses white walls and then followed her to the hall that was past the first bathroom downstairs, located by the kitchen, and followed her up a flight of stairs. Once reaching the top of the stairs, we reached a spacious hall that led both left and right, and she led me to the left where we soon came across two rooms. One room had a poster of a shirtless blond guy with short blond hair and blue eyes, that was Amy's room, and the other had no poster, but instead was decorated with a framed photo of a rose; that was Jessica's room. She opened the door and I followed her into the room and closed the door behind me. I stopped and looked at her once we were in her room. Jessica had really changed in terms of physical appearance in the many long years that had followed since we had known each other since childhood. When Jessica hit seven, her breasts started developing. She surprised her parents and friends with this, because, the older she got, the larger and fuller her breasts became. This might have been normal if it wasn't for the fact her breasts were growing at a rapid rate and she was becoming increasingly busty in a very short period of time. By the time Jessica had hit thirty, her breasts seemed to have stopped growing...But then she got pregnant, and her breasts started growing again. At the time of their halted growth, her cup size was a whopping O cup. When pregnancy came, Jessica grew further. She was now a PP cup and as always, her tops didn't fit her very well. While she was exceptionally large in terms of her breasts, Jessica was taller than most girls I had came across; standing at five foot ten, which was even taller than me, who stood at a laughable five foot eight. But I liked to think her height and the lbs she put on over the years helped ease her heavy burden. See, when I first met Jessica she was quite thin and was about the standard of beauty. She wasn't anorexic, nor was she fat or chubby; she was the perfect size for such a young girl. She stayed this way for many years until probably about her nineteen birthday which was when emotional stress and depression kicked in from all the guys and dates having cheated on her, or gave her some other crappy excuse to leave her. Why? I wasn't sure and it didn't add up since she had such an amazing body that most guys would kill for her. She lost her motivation for pretty much everything. Lack of activity and healthy eating started to weigh in on her, but she didn't hit her full peak until she met Johnny Gaston. When Johnny got her pregnant, that, along with her monstrous sized breasts and huge behind really did her in. Jessica was now nearly three hundred lbs, but clocked in at two hundred and eighty six lbs. Even despite her weight, despite the protruding belly that stuck out and tested the strength of her shirts and dresses, Jessica was still so beautiful and very much desirable. And her face seemed to be the least affected by her weight while her boobs, belly and butt took most of the weight she gained. She was still just as much of an angel as she was when we first became friends. Jessica had long, curly platinum blond hair that was well-kept and cared for, that reached down to her enormous assets and a few shorter curly strands that leaned down her forehead. Her eyes were captivating, the gentlest and most kindest and sincere blue eyes that anyone would ever have the pleasure of seeing. The most beautiful eyes I had ever seen. She had a rather pale completion, so much so that she was almost the color of snow or powder; which only further added to her breathtaking beauty and appeal; perfectly accenting her platinum hair and blue eyes. She rarely wore makeup, but Jessica's skin was so soft, so smooth and blemish-less, that one would think she always had makeup on. Age had done little to her in terms of her physical beauty, yes; she had aged, but she had nearly zero wrinkles and what little wrinkles she did have were only noticeable if you were looking, really, really hard. She wasn't from this planet. I think the other thing that made me so attracted to her, despite her genuinely sweet and tinder personality, and her beauty, was how soft and velvet-like her voice was in sound. She had such a sweet voice that it was easy to calm anyone's mood, and was easy on the ears just like relaxing music. "I'm so happy to see you. Cole, do you remember when I took you to Roseanne's Jeweler's last week?" "Of course." I nodded. "Well, I got you something." "Like what?" I blinked. "This.." She reached into the pockets of her white, linen pants and brought out a stainless silver band with a heart in the middle and the words that read 'best friend' on the sides in big letters. "This is for me?" I was speechless. She nodded her head. "When I took you to Roseanne's and had your finger measured, I was doing that because I was going to get you a ring, but," she beamed, "I bet you already knew that, huh?" "J-Jessica...I don't know what to say." "Just wear it, please?" "Of course I will." She giggled gently upon hearing the excitement in my voice, then walked closer towards me and put the ring on the middle finger of my left hand. "Do you like it?" She asked. "I love it." I quickly answered. "I'm glad." Her smile grew. She wrapped her arms around me and pulled towards her upper body in a hug that was much different than the way she would embrace me before she became pregnant. I blushed, but tried to ignore the fact her massive boobs were pressing against me, and just closed my eyes while I increased my grip on her, probably more than I should have, given the fact that she wasn't mine. But Jessica didn't seem to object; nor did she try to pull away of cut the hug early; she merely held onto me. An overpowering scent of roses and honey surrounded the air, and as I hugged Jessica, the scent was becoming more prominent. She pulled her arms away, and smiled; pecking my cheek with her lips, but even the a noticeable smack was heard when she kissed me. "How do you like my new shirt?" She let her hands fall to her sides. Jessica had on a shirt that barely covered her heavy, ample breasts. Her shirt was a button up shirt, but it barely covered anything on her; mostly it covered up maybe half of the corners of her breasts, but the massive amount of cleavage and boob that or showed off was pretty obvious; her bosoms were stretching the fabric and were barely able to be contained in the shirt. At the most, it may have covered up only a little bit more than half, but still not nearly as much as it should have. "Thank you." Her lips curved. "But I think it too small. I love it...But I forgot how much I grew." Jessica was pretty innocent. Me? I think some of my innocence remained through the years, but Jessica was still a little girl at heart, innocent to nearly a fault. The thought of someone ogling her chest probably never crossed her mind, and she was pretty open withe about her body, well, her chest at least. Heck, she was the one who told me about how her cup size Keon going up and her boobs wouldn't stop growing. "I can't believe you're nineteen." She spoke in a voice that almost sounded like a whisper. "I'm happy I was blessed to be so close to you all these years, Cole.." After a few minutes, she hugged me again. I think we ended up hugging longer than what we should have been, it was probably about two or three minutes, maybe even five, but our hug ended and we pulled away when the door of Jessica's bathroom creaked opened and Johnny came out. "Cole, hey man. Didn't hear ya come in. But then again, I always wear headphones when I take a shit." "Too much info." I jokingly commented. "Sorry." He tried not to laugh. "So, I just dropped my to see Jessica before I left with Amy for a few milkshakes an-" "Hey, man, what's wrong with your face?" Johnny pointed at me, interrupting. Jessica's eyes grew. "Cole!" "I-it's nothing." I lied. "It's something." She argued. "Gotta agree with Jess, man." "I just..." I turned away from them. "I just got into a fight." "Another one?" Jessica sounded more worried than she did disappointed. "Some...Punk. An acquaintance of Jacky's. I had a run in with him at the gas station. But I'm fine." "Are you sure?" She wasn't convinced. "Jessica, I'm fine!" I raised my voice. "I--I'm sorry." "No. I'm sorry. Look, don't worry about me, okay? I'm fine. I'll be fine." I turned to walk out of her bedroom, but once I got to her door, I could feel the warmth of Jessica's soft arms wrapping around me from behind; followed by the extra warmth and pressure of her boobs. "Be careful." Her voice was extra quiet, and I could feel her breath hitting my neck. "I don't want to lose you, too.." "I'll be fine." I touched her arms with my hands. She released me from her embrace and I walked out the door, closed it behind me, and walked over to the other room that was opposite it, on the right side, and knocked on the door; waiting for Amy to answer. It was only about a minute, maybe less, when the door was slowly opened, and I was greeted by a brunette who resembled a younger Jessica, in the face. Amy Anderson; Jessica's younger sister who never got to meet her other elder sister. Amy had light brown hair that she almost always had fixed into a side ponytail aligned to the left, and long bangs that fell down her face, with one being do long and thick that it covered most of her left eye. Her hair hadn't been cut in years and fell down past her lecture shoulder; touching her left breast. She was dressed in a pink tank top that said 'Princess' in bold letters with a crown atop the text, and a pair of pink shorts with matching pink boots and last her left ear was pierced with a stud earring and her left index finger and middle finger she had two silver bands similar to mine, but smaller. "Hey. You're here." She wrapped her small arms around me, but soon released me from her soft hug. "We'll need to go pick up the girls. They're at Courtney's." "Need a bodyguard, huh?" I gave her a smile while I teased her. "Hey. It's not like that." She frowned. "Well, okay. Thing is, my boyfriend is too busy at the gym with his friends." "And you knew I'd come, huh?" I messed with her more. "Hey!" She pointed her finger at me and made a pouting face while growling. "You said you'd come." "All right." "What's wrong? Too cool to be seen with a bunch of teenyboppers?" "Now, I didn't say that." I shook my hands in her face. "Cool! Then let's go." "All right. But I'M driving. I don't trust you or your little friends." "That's so unfair." She sighed. "Hey!" I lowered my eyebrows. "When you learn how to maneuver without nearly killing everyone, then you can drive." "Fair enough." She laughed. We left together and got into my Toyota with Amy sitting in the passenger's seat next to me, and then we drove down a few blocks until we stopped at a house that was, well, impressive to say the least. It was the Lee's house. The Lee's were some of the most wealthiest of the people living on Blue Avenue, and their daughter, Courtney, according to Amy, was the most popular girl in Wildling Jr. High. There was about three of them. There was Courtney, who had blond hair, Cassandra who was African American and was the brunette, and April, who had multi-colored hair of pink and blue, that looked suspiciously like cotton candy...At least that's what its color made me think of. Courtney felt she had to show off and flaunt her family's wealth by wearing an expensive blue dress that stopped at the knees, topped off with too many earrings and a gold necklace around her neck. The other kids were dressed in short sleeved shirt, shorts/jeans and didn't have piercings or jewelry on. Each of them got into the car. "Hello, Rhodes." Courtney snidely addressed me; making a rather arrogant expression. I could see her through the mirror. "Hello, Courtney." I restrained my voice. "Hopefully this place isn't going to be a dump like the last one we went to." "If you didn't like the last place you all went to, why didn't you pick?" The brat was getting on my nerves already. "Bad move on my part ." And simply replied. "Courtney?" "Yes?" She replied arrogantly. "Don't talk while I'm driving." "What? Why you...RUDE!" "Not as rude as you.." I muttered under my breath, driving away from the mansion. When we arrived at Mighty Shakes and Burgers on Garth Road, I got out first and then Amy. Everyone got out on their own, but whether she was doing it to be a little hell-spawn or really felt like she needed people to open doors for her, Courtney waited until I got the hint and opened her door for her. I didn't even get a thank you. Mighty Shakes was modeled after old-fashioned milkshake shops. It looked small on the outside and was on the shape of a rectangle, but on the inside it was a lot bigger and had the checkered floor, silver stools with the ruby red seat covering, ruby red desks, tables, brick walls, and some old photos hung up on the walls, of the founders and past workers. Amy ended up picking the spot we were sitting at and we sat on a boot close to one of the windows, that was closet to the ruby jukebox. I went over the menus the geeky waitress gave us; going over the various shake flavors and burgers that they had, and boy; did they have plenty to choose from. The milkshake that struck my fancy was pretty ordinary and old school; nothing adventurous or exotic; just a plain vanilla shake. I was currently on my cheat week from all the heavy lifting I had been; so I figured why not pig out a little and buy the triple cheese burger that was on the menu with a side of their signature fries. "So have you heard about what happened last week?" Inquired Courtney to the other girls. I closed my menu. "No, what?" Replied Cassandra while fiddling in her left pocket. "You know Jacky Rhodes?" "I think we all do, Courtney." Amy rolled her eyes early annoyed. "He's Cole's brother." "Oh, that's right. Well, my dad said he's a good for nothing lowlife who got out of jail just last month after being locked up for five years." I folded up my menu and sat it down while I shifted my dark brown eyes to Courtney and noticed the arrogant and conceited look she had on her face while she was saying all this; her look, the way she skills and the way her eyebrows were positioned, it made it more than clear she was saying these things on purpose just to piss me off. It was old news. Everyone knew it already "Courtney!" Yelled Amy. "Courtney, stop being so mean. Why are you picking on him? He brought us here." Cassandra pointed out. "I bet he'll be caged up again just like the jail bird he is." I tried to ignore her. I knew that Jacky had made plenty of mistakes, heck, he still was and wasn't making any attempt to change or step away from the mistakes that he was making. But still. He was family! He was still my brother and he still loved me and looked after me. I clenched my jaw at the things she was saying and tightened my hands into fists; trying to suppress my anger. "He's just a big racist criminal." "Courtney, shut up!" Amy finally snapped and slammed her hands on the table. The other three girls gasped. "It's fine." I managed out with some effort on keeping my tone normal. Amy reached her hand to my shoulder and then leaned into me; hugging me. "Was that really necessary?" April looked at the spoiled blonde with a look of disgust. "Cole, ignore her! Courtney is just a classless bitch who can't tell the difference between her ass and a hole in the ground." Amy hugged me tighter. "Classless bitch?" Stormed Courtney. April and Cassandra watched silently while the two girls clashed, but had a look on their faces that told that they were uncomfortable. "Lots of people talk bad about my brother." I strained my voice to sound calm. "He's a jail bird." "Stop it, stop it, Courtney!" "That's it!" I finally snapped and slammed my hands on the table while I rose up. Courtney looked genuinely afraid of me. "Look! My brother isn't perfect, he's far from perfect. He's made more mistakes than many will make in a life time. He may be a racist, but he's my brother and I still love him! YOU'RE just a little brat who thinks she's above the world because she comes from a family of millionaires!" "I'll tell my daddy on you!" Courtney threatened in tears. "Well, then do it!" I challenged; clearly livid by this point. I heard the sound of a typewriter coming from my phone and recognized it as my text message tone, realizing I had a new text message. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and pulled it up: A message from Jessica. We always texted each other back and forth and something that we always made sure we did was text at least once or twice a day. But I wasn't in the mood to text but read her message anyways. 'Hi! ^_^ how are you doing? Are you and Amy having fun?' That was her text message. Close To You I sighed to myself almost inaudibly and then tucked my phone back into my pocket and watched as the waitress came back by. I was only hoping we didn't create too big of a scene. "Thank you for coming. I'm your waitress, Becky. What can I get you all? I glanced towards Amy. "I'll have the chocolate shake." Amy cheerfully said. "I'll have the Oreo shake." Cassandra said. "I think I'll go ahead and try the mango and berry shake." April brought her hands to her lap. "I'll have the vanilla shake and Triple cheeseburger and fries." I said. "With or without bacon?" She glanced at me again. "With bacon." I answered. "And what about you, dear?" the waitress turned to look at Courtney who was still sniveling. "What will you have?" "I-I want watermelon." She answered through her tears. I shook my head at Courtney while the geeky waitress with black black hair wrote down the orders on a notepad she was holding, and rolled my eyes and slapped my left cheek. "All right. I'll be back with your orders soon. Sit tight and relax." Watching the geeky waitress skate away on her skates, I rose from the booth and walked over towards the jukebox, went over everything that was on it, and put a quarter in the machine and played Great Balls of Fire by Jerry Lewis before returning to the booth. "Are you still crying?" "You're an asshole." "You're not one to talk." I said. "I hate you!" Courtney snapped. "Maybe if you hadn't tried to start something I wouldn't have called you out on your disgusting attitude." I folded my arms. "Cole, forget Courtney. She's a stupid little bitch who's mad because daddy doesn't give her enough attention." "Fuck you, Amy!" Swore Courtney. "All right, look!" I raised my voice. "This needs to stop. Amy, I really appreciate you standing up for me, but the language needs to be toned down a notch, at least until we leave. And Courtney, stop picking fights and you won't get called out." Courtney finally gave up and stopped running her mouth; falling silent, ceased her crying, which I now figured was faked, and just stared at me hatefully. After a short while, the waitress returned with our order and placed the five glasses with striped straws on the table and then gave me my burger and fries that came in a red and white cardboard tray in another, much bigger plastic red tray, then skated away after giving the bill. "So, Cole," Amy brought the straw near her lips, "Jessica is saying the baby's a girl, what do you think of that?" I was about to reach both hands for my vanilla milkshake when she asked me this question. "A girl? That's cool. I don't remember her telling me about that." But, then again; it did seem like Jessica was becoming increasingly forgetful. "I know! I'll have a niece. I'll get to feed her bathe her and dress her up." "Sounds like it'd be a nice addition to the family. I'd like to see what she'd look like." I reached for a fry. "Cole?" "Yeah?" I glanced at her. "What was my sister like?" My hand froze in place just inches away from a French fry, and I felt my face weaken at the question that was being presented before me. "Amélie. Amélie was a bit of a tomboy and even though she was kind, she was the stricter of your two sisters and was known to speak up more than Jess." Even though it had been years since Amélie's death, I still found myself thinking about her and missing how we hung out and played video games together while quite literally sharing a few sodas with each other. Amy stared at me as if she was putting together cinematic images in her mind of Amélie. "She had a bit of a short fuse, but she only snapped on mr three times in total I'm the whole time we were friends. She was also fiercely protective of your older sister, and ready to kill anyone who hurt her. She was a lot like you." I gave a weak smile to myself upon the image of Amélie entering my mind. I knew I needed to stop. "I'm sorry. You better drink your shake before it melts." "Okay." She sipped the straw. I grabbed my burger with both hands and brought it up to my mouth, and sunk my teeth into it, chomping off a huge bite before I sat it back down and grabbed my shake, bringing it to my lips and taking a big drink out of it. The rest of the time at Mighty Shakes and Burgers was smooth sailing, without having to listen to Courtney's mouth, but then it got kind of awkward and uncomfortable to me when the girls started talking about what 'went on behind closed doors'. I dropped all of the kids off, and then I had to take Amy back home. "I had fun." "I'm glad, Amy." "Sorry Courtney was a shit." "It's fine." I broke out laughing. "I guess I better get to bed." "Goodnight, Amy." "Goodnight." She hugged me. I watched her as she pulled away and opened her bedroom door, walked into her room, closing the door behind her, and then saw the lights turn out. I left the house and returned to my vehicle and arrived home by about twelve fifty five. I was about to walk up to the house when I heard the sound of an engine. I recognized the engine; it was Jacky. They emerged from the truck after a few brief seconds of letting the truck run, and then Jacky and his buddies walked towards me with smiles on their faces, but not happy smiles...Smiles that made a cold chill run up my spine. They looked..Proud, like, those smiles were ones of pride and arrogance, yet..,Ones devoid of any remorse. But as I gazed at their faces, my eyes grew and I heard myself gasping while reaching my left hand up and covering my mouth with it. Blood. That was blood that was on their faces and tank tops, REAL blood. "Jacky...What did you do?" "It's taken care of." "Jacky...Please don't tell me.." "No more spooks!" Announced Benny with a disturbing amount of enthusiasm. "That little shit that attacked you is dead. We fucking blew his brains all over the fucking floor!" Jacky proudly declared. "Fuck the darkies!" Howard jumped up and down. "Jacky, what about finger prints?" I reminded him. "The police will know that it was you who did it! They'll know from your finger prints...Unless you threw the guns away." "Jacky was prepared. We wore gloves before we used the pistols. Then we threw them both away. We're not stupid." Cackled Benny. "What the hell is wrong with you, Jacky?" I stared him straight in the face; terrified. "Nothing." His voice was tinged with laughter. "You keep calling them names, but...But...you killed another person...Jacky." "It was a fucking spook!" He loudly countered. I didn't know what to say anymore at this point, not anymore. He was so convinced that anyone who didn't share our skin tone was evil. This Neo Nazi crap had gone too far to his head and now he TRULY believed that what he was doing was right...But worse; he felt like people of other color weren't people. "Cole," he slapped his hands onto my shoulders, "go get some sleep. Tomorrow I'd like to go out for pizza." I wasn't arguing. I wanted to go to sleep so I could forget about this bad day and have it off my mind. "Cole, I'm going to hang out with the boys for a while. Just wanted you to know we took care of Tyrone so he can't hurt you anymore." "Jacky, please don't." I begged. "I love you, Cole." He pulled my towards him and gave me a hug-pat and then walked away upon releasing me. "Damn it, Jacky!" I tightened my hands into fists. But he still left. I just surrendered in defeat and went inside, brushed my teeth, and took off all my clothes except my boxers. I crawled into my bed and covered myself up with my space print blankets and sheets; closing my eyes as my head hit my pillow. I fell asleep that night hoping that the next day that would come would be a better day, and just tried to push the thoughts of the murders that Jacky and his two friends had committed, from my mind. I slept peacefully for a few hours, but around three in the morning, I woke up to the horrifying sound of gunshots coming from right outside my window. I quickly pushed the blankets and covers off and jumped out of bed, raced to Jacky's room and pounded on his door urgently. He didn't answer. I opened his door, surprised it was open, and saw he wasn't in his room. My heart thudded against my chest when I saw he was absent from his room, and I quickly ran from the hall and passed through the kitchen and opened the wooden and screen front doors. "Jacky!" I shouted from the porch. There, in front of the street, was Jacky and six black men, and each of them were armed with pistols. "Stay back, Cole. I'm the only one who's got any beef with these spooks. Don't get yourself concerned." "Jacky, just tell them you're sorry." I begged; gritting my teeth. The tallest of the gang members went to shoot at him, but Jacky was the quicker of the two and rose his gun up and cocked it, and fired a round; blasting a bullet through the black male's stomach and unleashing a storm of red mist into the air while the other fell backwards, attempting to shoot him again in his last few moments, which Jacky simply replied to by shooting three more bullets into his bloody stomach. Jacky fired again, this time at the second shortest of them, and shot him right in the face; hitting him in the brain with a bullet, and, not quite satisfied, hit him with two more bullets in the same spot as he fell to the ground dropping his weapon. The shortest of the men was closest to me, and he seemed to have snuck into the scene unnoticed by anyone, and was readying to do Jacky in when I noticed him and charged him just as he started to raise his pistol up into the air. Jacky may have turned into something I didn't approve of, nor believed in or thought was right, but regardless of what he had turned into, regardless of how he felt of people who were different than us, regardless of who he had killed; he was still my brother, and if he lived through this, even if he went to prison, maybe he'd change for the better. Even if he didn't, I was still going to love him. I tackled the youngest gang member to the ground and instantly upon hitting the ground, before he could cock the gun, started delivering a series of blows to his face; punching him again and again and again before taking the weapon away and throwing it as far as I could. But...After what happened next, maybe it would have been better to have kept the gun and use it as a bluff for protection. I heard another series of gunshots, and directed my gaze towards Jacky, watching as another one of the gang members fell before him. But then...Then it all went awry. "JACKY! LOOKOUT!" I yelled urgently while it seemed like time had drastically slowed down around me. Jacky turned to his left, but it was too late. Bang, bang, bang, bang. I watched as blood flew forth from a staggering in place Jacky; his body almost seeming to twitch upon being taking the repeating rounds of bullets. "NOOOO!" Helplessly, I watched as the last bullet was fired and hit Jacky right in forehead. Jacky fell backwards; the pistol falling from his hand hitting the street. The remaining men he didn't shoot turned their gaze on me, and pointed their weapons at me; smirks spreading across their faces while they prepared to finish off the last person in front of them. This was it; I thought. Jacky was dead, and now I was about to be blasted full of holes myself. As they prepared to fire, the sound of sirens surrounded the area and the boys in blue pulled up; demanding everyone dropped their weapons and get on the ground and kiss it while they surrendered. I was spared, but...Jacky. I collapsed to my knees; my arms shaking while tears fell down my eyes and burned my cheeks. "Jacky..." I muttered in disbelief. As the ambulance pulled up and the men emerged from it, and checked Jacky for a pulse, only to shake their heads and mouth the words 'no', I finally broke down big time and slammed both fists into the ground with my whole body shaking. He was gone. He was gone. As he was put in a body bag and carried away, I realized this, that my older brother, who always watched out for me, who I always looked up to, even looking past his faults to find his good qualities, was gone. The police tried to ask me questions, but I was too much of a mess to even throw together a coherent sentence and I was unable to answer any questions that were posed to me, so they went to the neighbor instead, Mrs. Griffith, who apparently was the one who had called them in the first place before the shooting even started. All I could think of was Jacky. Jacky, and how I wished there was someone there for me to just hold onto. As I continued to just let all my emotions loose, as if she had known something was already wrong, there came Jessica pulling up in the driveway in her black Altima. She wasted no time on getting out and darted towards me as fast as she could, until she was right before me. She pulled me up, and gripped me tightly; pulling my head onto her shoulder. "Shh.." She uttered gently in a soothing voice. I grabbed her with both arms; my tears rolling down and hitting her nightgown while I buried my face in her shoulder. "I'm so sorry.." Her voice seemed to crack while she struggled to comfort me. Jessica's usually small and strengthless grip seemed to grow, and she tightened her force around me; embracing me tighter while whispering sweet and comforting words into my ears to calm me down. I watched as Jacky was loaded into the back of the ambulance, and then I just started tearing up all over again after Jessica had started to succeed in calming me down and comforting me. "It's okay...It's gonna be okay." I felt her lips touch my cheek. I shut my eyes and stood there flooding her nightgown with my endless tears; unable to put Jacky and his death that I had just witnessed out of my head. I kept replaying it over and over and over in my mind; of him being shot. No matter how hard I tried not to think of it, I couldn't seem to focus my mind on anything else. We just stayed there on the porch, even after the police and ambulance left. "Please stay?" I begged her through the tears. "I will.." She whispered into my ear; a small smile gracing her beautiful face. I led her inside, and we both headed to my room and got in my bed. Jessica moved as close to me as she could, while still giving herself enough room for the baby, and wrapped her always-warm, arms around me; her eyes focused on mine while she put on a faint, white smile. I put my arms around her; my arms wrapping around her body while I held onto her for comfort. We said nothing to each other, and soon I felt all of my sadness and pain being melted away while I lost myself looking at her blue eyes, and soon, she was almost the only thing that I found myself thinking of; though, Jacky still lingered in my mind. All I wanted to do was press my lips against hers and taste her, but I knew she was happily taken and in love with Johnny; and that soon she was going to be giving birth to his daughter and they'd marry after that. My heart thudded hard against my chest while looked at her; holding onto her was all I could do to keep myself from touching her and caressing her sweet face; and I knew that if I didn't fight it, I'd end up kissing her just as I was imagining in my mind. All I wanted was to tell her how I felt. How much I loved her and how badly I needed her. But there was no point. It wouldn't matter anyways because I couldn't have her. "Its okay.." Her tender voice was so quiet, it was almost silent. I nodded slowly and absentmindedly ran a hand up and down the trail of her back, but Jessica didn't seem to disapprove or even try to move from my touch. Instead: more of her porcelain teeth started to show while her smile increased. Her head left the second pillow on my bed, and I silently took a nervous breath when her head hit the big pillow that mine was on, and our faces were just inches away from touching each other's. I could smell her fresh, pepperminty breath hitting my face. "Goodnight." Her voice was still hushed. "Goodnight." I said quietly, but with a tad bit more volume than her. I closed my eyes and let my grip loosen on her, but as I started to drift off, even then, I kept my arms around her; just holding her plush body. I had hoped my sleep would be a good escape from the reality that was my life, but, as I did start to dream, I found that sleep was just as bad as being awake. Jacky had invaded my dreams, and as if pointing a finger in my face and laughing at me, the dream kept replaying Jacky's grizzly death over and over again while I felt the same emotions in my dream, that I did when I was awake. When I woke up, Jessica was already gone. I noticed this because my arms were resting on the side of the bed she had been on next to me, but a text message was left on my phone from her. 'I knew you were in some kind of trouble. I've always had a special connection with you. You were the only other person I had one with, besides Amélie. I knew when you didn't text me back. I'm sorry I had to leave." I groggily smiled to myself upon seeing her text message, and felt that love-sick 'butterflies in the belly' feeling when I read it. I tried not to think about Jacky as I started the day. I took my daily routine and fried up some bacon and eggs with a side of smoked breakfast sausage, took a shower, then brushed my teeth and threw on my janitor outfit. I grabbed my Jack Links from the previous day and went to work. When I got off, I was on my way home when I stopped and decided to head to Blue Avenue and go pay Jessica a visit before I prepared for the end of the day. I saw her car was there, and I also saw Johnny's black, 1999 Ford F250. I turned my sandy colored Toyota off and got out, locked it behind me, and put the keys in my pocket while I walked up to the front door of the Anderson house. I knocked a few times, but no one answered. Weird. Jessica's car was outside and so was Johnny's. But then as I touched the door, I noticed that it was unlocked, so I entered inside and proceeded to look around. No one was around. And Jessica wasn't in the kitchen or watching TV in the living room area. I decided to go up the stairs and when I got to them and got half way up, I heard some pretty loud arguing that was impossible to miss, coming from Jessica's bedroom. I made my way up the rest of the stairs, and passed Amy's room, and stopped by Jessica's. The arguing got louder, and soon, the arguing turned into yelling that may have well resonated all over the whole house. That volcanic voice was Johnny's. I knew I had no business of going in, but, I felt like since I was Jessica's best friend, that I had some kind of special privilege and permission to intrude. And so that's what I did. I twisted the doorknob and entered her room. "B...But why? Why are you doing this to me, Johnny?" "Look at you!" His words were practically spat out. "Just stop and take a look at yourself, Jessica! Look at yourself!" "I--I don't understand." Jessica's voice cracked while she spoke; tears falling down her cheeks. "You're repulsive." He coldly stated. Jessica seemed to cry harder at this; her lips trembling while she stared him straight in the face. "You're a disgusting fat fuck. I mean, you were hot as hell when we got together, with those tits and that ass...But look at you now. Those aren't the only things big on you..." "I'm pregnant!" She threw out. "You look like a fucking pig who's about to pop." "I--I'll try to loose the weight. I'm sorry I'm so disgusting to you. J-just please, please," she clasped her hands, "give me a chance to work it off. I'll do whatever it take..."