Dented Ch. 02

"So how often did she text you?" I asked.

"Not once," she said looking up at me over her salad.

"That's odd. I must have fifteen texts from her today."

"It's not odd," Jess said smiling sympathetically at me as if I couldn't see something so obvious.

"No?"

"No. I told you. She has a crush on you." Jess said playfully.

"No, she doesn't," I said emphatically.

"Yes she does," she answered in the same tone. Then playfully again, "She wants to jump your bones."

"Oh for God . . . No, she doesn't."

"Three years. Without a man," Jess pointed out. "I'm surprised she didn't hump you the minute the guard left."

I just shook my head, returning to the sandwich.

"What?" Jess prodded. "You can't tell me you don't find her attractive."

"So? Yeah she's pretty, but so what?" I took her hand in mine. "I already have a pretty girl."

"Uh huh," she said teasingly. "Even though she has bigger boobs she than me?"

"Hmmm," I said, looking off to the side and stroked my chin exaggeratedly. "Bigger boobs. Never thought of that..."

A pack of crackers hit my forehead, and we broke into laughter at the absurdity of the conversation.

*****

"Hey Mom!" Jess and I exclaimed as we opened the door.

Mom gave us both a hug as she stepped through the door. Even though this had been her house for years, she waited until we invited her in.

"Sorry for dropping by unannounced," she said, putting several grocery bags down. "I wanted to surprise you. Plus, I wanted to make sure you were eating right, so I bought some groceries."

Jess and I rolled our eyes but thanked her. If she hadn't done this regularly since they moved out, we might've suspected that she was checking on us to make sure Maggie hadn't tied us up and was torturing us. Still, this was the first time Mom had done this since Maggie moved in, and our tension levels spiked the moment we opened the door.

We walked into the kitchen carrying the bags. Maggie was in there, getting something to drink. Both her and Mom froze when they saw each other. Both of them had a wide-eyed expression that conveyed both fear and curiosity.

"Mom, this is Maggie. Maggie, this is our Mom."

"Hello," Maggie said meekly.

"Hello." Mom said finding her resolve.

Maggie quickly excused herself and disappeared into her room. Mom watched her go, then turned to us.

"She's in my old room?" she asked surprised.

"Well, yeah," I said. "Gives her privacy, and we weren't using it."

"Well, it is your house," she said reminding herself as much as us.

"We're about to make dinner," Jess said putting away the groceries. "Wanna stay?"

"Sure," she said, sounding a little unsure. "How can I help?"

In an hour dinner was ready. Mom and Jess gathered around the kitchen table, while I went to fetch Maggie.

"Your mom still here?" she asked

"Yeah. She's going to eat dinner with us."

"Maybe I should stay in here tonight."

"Nonsense," I said putting my hand on her shoulder. "You live here too. And if there's one rule we have, it's we eat together whenever possible."

"When did we have that rule?" she asked with a crooked smile

"About five seconds ago."

She laughed but shook her head. "I dunno Jace..."

"Relax. Once she gets to know you, Mom's going to love you." She looked at me curiously. "Trust me."

I pulled her up off the bed and onto her feet. She let her momentum carry her forward and into me. She wrapped her arms around me and put her head against my chest. I held her for a moment, enjoying the feeling of her against me. A moment later she pulled away, nodding.

"Okay. I think I'm ready," she said.

Taking her hand, I led her to the kitchen. We sat at the table and started dinner.

Two hours later Mom and Maggie were laughing and talking like old friends. While Maggie didn't have much to say, Mom definitely kept the conversation going, usually telling embarrassing stories about Jess and I and the series of follies of our youth. I was beginning to regret insisting that Maggie eat with us.

Eventually it was time for Mom to head back home.

"Jace? Walk me to my car," she said.

"Sure."

We stepped outside into the cool night air. It was just turning cold enough where I could see my breath, and the chill in my lungs felt invigorating. I took a deep breath, enjoying the feeling when Mom stepped outside behind me.

"I'll admit, she's a nice girl," Mom admitted.

"Yeah, she's pretty good. Just made a few mistakes."

"Big mistakes, but yeah." Mom said as we walked. "She really has changed her look, hasn't she?"

"Yep." I nodded. "I think she changed it all when she first went in and she couldn't get the dye or keep her piercings. But then I really believe she really wanted to change and leave that old life behind her."

"I'm proud of you, you know?"

"What for?"

"Believing in her. Standing your ground. Dad and I were worried, but I think she's going to be okay."

"I hope so."

"Speaking of girls, any chance of a girlfriend somewhere?"

"You're thinking Maggie?"

"Oh no. I don't think I'm ready for that!" she laughed. "But maybe there's a cute girl at the office you could take out?"

"Ha!" I laughed. "You know how hard it is for me to date Mom."

"Yeah." she sighed. "I know. I love both of you kids so much, but I'm sad that you can't have a normal life."

"Everyone's normal is someone else's strange," I said.

"Well, aren't you sagely." she laughed.

"It's true." I shrugged. "This is what's normal for me. Maybe I'll find someone who can understand that Jess needs to be with me almost all the time, but I'm not sure where she would be."

"It would make the honeymoon awkward." she nodded.

"Okay, and that's the end of this conversation." I laughed, but hearing Mom even remotely referring to sex squigged me out.

Mom just chuckled at my discomfort and kissed me good night. She got in her car and pulled out of the driveway. Standing there until her taillights had disappeared, I heard footsteps coming up behind me.

"Still after you to get a girlfriend?" Jess asked.

"Yep."

"She wants grandkids so badly."

"I think she'd give up wine if one of us would reproduce."

"Well, let's not go that far." Jess laughed, then she looked over at me. "I really am sorry I can't do that for you."

"And I told you there's nothing to be sorry for baby." I put my arm around her. "It's the two of us, forever."

"Well, maybe three," she said, angling her head towards the house.

"Maybe. I mean, it's possible she'll stick around with us forever."

"Wouldn't be the worst thing," Jess said

"You just like her boobs." I joked.

"They are some nice boobs," she said wistfully. "You should've them seen in Victoria's Secret."

"And you did?"

"Uh huh." She said dreamily.

"Oh, you are so getting spanked later."

"Promise?" she laughed.

Then, swatting me on the rear, she skipped into the house with me looking on, trying to keep my erection from being too obvious.

*****

Maggie received "free days" every so often. Those were days she was allowed to go almost anywhere she wanted. This allowed us to go see movies or go to the mall or whatever else we wanted to do. Today, Maggie wanted to go to Millennial Park. It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon and the place was packed with people enjoying the sunshine and semi-fresh air.

Jess had gone to get us a table at a nearby restaurant while Maggie and I had to run to the restrooms. While I was waiting for Maggie to come out, I sat on a nearby bench and relaxed for a moment. That moment was cut short when I heard someone call out behind me.

"Mags?! Holy fuckin' shit!" a woman's voice cried out.

I turned in my bench. Through the trees I saw Maggie talking with two other women. A few branches and leaves obscured me well enough that they couldn't see me watching their exchange. The women were around Maggie's age, but that was about the only thing they seemed to have in common.

The taller one sported a nearly shaved head with dark stubble. She wore a hodgepodge mix of clothes, none of which seemed to be in the best of shape. She also had on way too much eye makeup, but at least her black lipstick matched her black nail polish.

The other had a wild mane of red hair that looked like it hadn't seen a brush in a few years. She was naturally pale and didn't sport much in the way of makeup.

The most striking feature was how gaunt they looked. Their skin looked thin and hung from their skeletons like a sheet. Any beauty they might've had had long since been weathered away by whatever drugs they had ingested or injected.

"Olive, Sarah," Maggie said, obviously uncomfortable with this chance meeting.

"Holy shit girl, look at you!" Olive, the no-haired one, said.

"Heard you got put away," Sarah said, laughing. "What the fuck'd you do?"

"Something I shouldn't've." Maggie said, looking around.

"Holy shit!" Olive exclaimed, much to the annoyance of passersby. "You got a skanklet!" she pointed at the bulge around Maggie's pant leg.

"Uh, yeah."

"Hell, we need to celebrate you getting out! Like we used to!" Sarah said excitedly.

"Fuck yeah!" Olive nodded with enthusiasm.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small baggie with a white powder in it. Maggie took a small step back but didn't take her eyes off of the drugs.

"This is some of the best shit, Mags. A few hits of this and you'll be flying higher than the fucking clouds."

"Yeah," Sarah said, eyeing the bag like a long lost lover. "We know a spot just around the corner. No one will see us."

Maggie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Slowly, she shook her head.

"No. I don't do that anymore. I don't need it, and I don't want it." she said defiantly. "Get that shit away from me."

"Oh ho ho." Olive chuckled ruefully. "Looks like somebody went and got herself cleaned up. You think you're better than

I was amazed at how quickly they had turned on Maggie. Where just a few seconds ago they were wanting to get high with her, now they were ready to pounce on her.

"You think just because you did some time and now you got yourself looking all prim and proper that you're not the same bitch you always were? Bitch, you ain't nothing."

"Whatever," Maggie said and turned to leave.

Sarah reached around and grabbed Maggie's arm, holding her there. Maggie looked frightened, and the "Knight in shining armor" part of me surged forward and rushed over to her.

"Maggie?" I asked, drawing attention from everyone there. "You okay baby?"

Baby? Where did that come from?

"Jace!" Maggie cried out, pulling herself free and rushing over to me. Instinctively, I wrapped my arm around her as she fled her two former "friends". They glared at us, and I was suddenly reminded of the glares Jess and I received from Maggie across the table years ago. Holding her in my arms, I was struck suddenly by how this Maggie was no longer the same Maggie we met back then.

"Who the hell is Prince Charming here, Maggie?" Olive asked, mocking Maggie's name change from 'Mags'.

"Doesn't matter who I am," I answered taking Maggie's hand in mine. She interlaced her fingers with mine, squeezing them tightly.

"Last chance bitch," Sarah said, trying to entice Maggie away. "You wanna stay with the loser or do you want to party?"

Maggie looked up at me and smiled. She squeezed my hand, steeling her resolve.

"I'm never touching that shit ever again." she said. "

Olive and Sarah squinted their eyes at us as if trying to determine if we were worth the trouble.

"You've changed," Sarah said accusingly. "You're not the same girl we used to party with."

"You're right, and thank God I'm not," Maggie said, standing a little straighter. "Thank you for noticing."

The two scoffed at us, then turned away and headed towards whatever hole they had scoped out for getting high. Maggie's hand held onto mine, and I could feel my bones starting to strain from her grip. As soon as they were out of sight, she sagged against me, breathing hard.

"Old friends of yours?" I asked

"I don't know if you could call them that," she said, sniffling. "They're who I got my drugs from most of the time."

"Ah," I nodded. "Pillars of society."

She chuckled. "More like the moldy stones that are buried deep underneath the pillars." She glanced towards the way they had gone. "I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting to see them again."

"It's not your fault," I reassured her. "It's not like you went looking for them."

"I know. Can I tell you something and you promise you won't think less of me?"

"Of course."

"I was tempted to go with them."

"Yeah, I kinda figured."

"That stuff is evil." she shuddered. "But a part of me wanted it so bad."

"So what stopped you?" I asked.

She looked up at me, tears shimmering in her eyes. "You did, and not just when you showed up. The thought of you stopped me. How you've done so much for me, and how disappointed you'd be if I did."

"I'm glad," I said and gave her hand a squeeze.

She pulled me close and kissed my cheek. Her lips were soft and I could feel the warmth of her breath blowing gently from her nose. She lingered for a moment and a part of me was tempted to turn my head and meet her lips, but before I could act on any impulse she pulled away and wiped her eyes.

"Come on," I said, my voice heavy. "Jess is probably wondering where we ran off to."

"Yeah," she said with a hint of disappointment in her voice.

We walked towards the restaurant where we saw Jess, looking around trying to find us. She looked our way and waved us over. As we got closer, a bemused look crossed her face and a hint of a smile played at her lips. I wondered what she was looking at until I felt Maggie's hand squeeze mine one last time. We were still holding hands!

Maggie released my hand as we approached. Her eyes were a little red still, so she excused herself to the restroom.

"You two looked cozy." Jess teased as we sat at our table.

"Oh shush you. She had a rough moment."

"What happened?" Jess asked concerned.

I proceeded to give her the quick rundown of what transpired in the park.

"Jesus," Jess said when I finished. "That's gotta be hard on her."

"Yeah. Poor girl."

"At least you were there to help," Jess said, smirking a little.

"What's so funny?" I asked

She took her napkin, dipped it lightly in her water, then proceeded to clean my cheek where Maggie had kissed me.

"You had a little lip gloss there." she chuckled. "At least you were well rewarded."

"I didn't expect her to do that, I swear." I tried to defend myself.

"It's okay Jace." she said reassuringly, "Besides, you two make kind of a cute couple."

Before I could respond, Maggie sat down in the seat next to mine. She looked more composed than she did before. Jess and she began talking in depth about what had happened, and I could barely get a word in edgewise. Maggie's hand moved and rested on my knee, and I suddenly didn't trust myself to speak properly anyway.

*****

I sat in my office, leafing through the contents of a plain manila envelope. It had been delivered to me via special courier. A soft knock on my door pulled my attention away. Jess walked in, smiling when she saw me. The door closed behind her with a loud click, and she walked over to me and gave me a gentle kiss.

"Sorry," she said, sitting beside me. "Had to do that."

"Didn't get enough this morning?" I smiled at the memory.

"Oh, I did." her hand drifted between her legs. "But a little extra never hurt. What's that?" she nodded towards the papers in my hand.

"Me being an idiot."

"Well, what else is new? What'd you do?"

"I hired a PI to track down Maggie's parents," I said with a sigh.

"You did what?! Why?!"

"You and I are too much alike. We want answers to things. This has been bugging me for a while now. Where did they go? What happened to them? So I called a firm and asked them to find out for me."

"Don't think that's an invasion of privacy?"

"It's close, but I'm not looking into Maggie. I'm trying to find her parents. Maybe give her some closure if nothing else."

"Splitting that hair awfully thin." she admonished, "But I guess it's admirable in a way. Kinda," she said as she leaned over and looked at the papers. "So what'd they find out?"

I handed the papers to her and she glanced through them. Her expression grew more and more concerned as she looked through them.

"Oh," she said softly

"Yeah." I took the papers back and looked at them for the hundredth time.

The PI had done an excellent job with not only their current whereabouts but also a thorough background on them.

The Cavanaughs were up and coming power players in the local political arena. They probably could've gone national without much effort. All of that came crashing down when their son went on his rampage. The payout didn't wipe them out, but it severely hamstrung them. Still, they were left with more than enough to enjoy a comfortable life and would have if it wasn't for some incredibly bad investment decisions on their part.

By the time Maggie was caught, what was once a large family fortune had dwindled into a meager savings account. Without any real skills other than "failed politician," the couple sold all of their remaining assets as a means of survival. They now lived in a small suburban garden home, living off of the proceeds from what remained of their previous life.

"So they just moved across the city?"

"Looks like," I said, putting the papers back in the envelope. "Right across the city and never once cared what happened to their daughter."

"No pictures of them?"

"No. I wasn't interested in what they looked like, only where they went."

"So what are we going to do about that?" Jess asked pointing at the envelope.

"I think that's up to Maggie."

After dinner, I called a quick family meeting in the living room. The January winter had fully embraced the area, but the fireplace kept most of the chill at bay. The soft pops and cracks from the wood sap helped to ease the tension I felt as I explained what I'd done.

"I wasn't trying to pry into your past Maggie, I swear. I just wanted to be able to give you some closure, and maybe a chance at reuniting with them if you wanted."

"Do . . . Do you want me to move out? Move in with them?"

"God no!" Jess and I both cried out.

"This wasn't for that at all Maggie," Jess said. "Jace was just trying to help. Even if he didn't do a very good job of it."

"Here." I handed the envelope to Maggie. "This is yours. You can do whatever you want with it."

She looked at it like it contained anthrax. Hesitantly, she took it from me and stared at it.

"You know, when I was in Logan I would often dream that they'd come to see me. They never did of course. Then I started to think what if they did, you know? I doubt they'd've changed any. Mother would still be the same judgemental bitch. Father would still be the demanding, dominating asshole he always was. The only thing they ever gave a damn about was their legacy, and how they could ensure it would continue."

She was silent for a moment, still staring at the envelope.

"Are you sure you don't want me to leave?" she asked quietly.

"Maggie," Jess said, walking up to her and putting her arm around her. "We love you and love having you here. We want you to be happy, and if living here makes you happy then you can stay forever as far as I'm concerned."

"Same goes for me," I said, smiling warmly.

Maggie nodded and wiped a tear from her eye. Then, with little flourish or preamble, threw the envelope into the fireplace. I almost moved to take it out before I stopped myself. It was hers do with as she pleased.

With Maggie in between us, the three of us watched as the paper caught fire. It flared to life briefly before being reduced to black ashes.