Jacki and Lucy Two Sisters at War

A big thank you to Randi, for her exquisite editorial work, and guidance.

Wow, what a day for my assistant Jennifer to call in sick. The shop was packed. I gift wrapped the ring box and ran the card. It's hard to concentrate when the shop is overflowing with customers. It's only a small shop, and I have a lot of stock on display not locked away. Often described as Bohemian, some said it was Gypsy Chic, whatever the hell that meant. I liked it to be alternative: shades of Morocco, shades of early French. No set style or influence. I stole from many, but copied none.

I wrapped and chatted as I served. There was a woman standing going through a few necklaces I had in the shop front window. Standing with her back to me, I admired her slim petite figure, her dark olive complexioned legs, wow, very sexy, the Christian Louboutin pumps making her cute little bottom stand out. She wore a fashionable short business skirt and jacket. Her long wavy black hair really shone under the fluorescent lights.

Finally, I managed to work through the line of customers. The shop was empty except for the lone woman, who lifted and played with the necklaces. "Looking for something in particular?" I enquired in my most polite voice.

I watched as she lifted and admired an aventurine crystal necklace.

She turned slowly to face me behind the counter. "Hey, Jacki."

I just about choked. "Lucy, what are you doing here?" I mumbled through stiff lips.

She smiled warmly, her beautiful dark brown eyes as big and pretty as I remembered. "Just a bit of shopping, and hopefully going to lunch with my sister."

"Half sister," I corrected.

"No, I never thought of you that way. We will always be sisters, Jacki."

"Whatever, sorry, lunch is out of the question. You can see how busy I am." To accentuate my point, a couple walked in giving me a bright friendly smile as they came to the counter to check out rings.

Lucy handed over the aventurine necklace. "Is there anything special about the stones in this?"

"Its metaphysical properties say it provides strength, confidence, courage, and promotes happiness. It is supposed to renew one's optimism for life."

"Hhhhmmm, sounds perfect. I'll take it. Do I get a family discount?" She murmured softly.

Checking the price which I had listed at $349 dollars, I said, "Seeing as how it's you. I'll give it to you for $350."

She laughed sweetly. "Sounds perfect. Thanks."

I removed the price tag and started wrapping it. Moving to the till, I asked. "Cash or card?"

She handed over a credit card. I ran it, entering the price as two hundred, and handed it over. She looked a little shocked, when she glanced at the payment slip. "Jacki, I would like to chat. What time do you finish? I'll come back and take you to dinner somewhere?"

"Lucy, I'm pretty busy at the moment."

"Too busy for your sister? Come on, babe, it's my shout."

"Yeah, okay, be here at six."

The rest of the day flew by. It was just one of those crazy busy days. I loved my little jewellery and gem stone shop. Karangahape Road is a pretty full on place. The shop next door was an adult store, and it got some pretty wild visitors. Two doors down was a massage parlour. Interspersed with that, there were novelty stores, a couple of clothing outlets.

K Road as it's known, once had a bad rep. It was full of strip clubs, brothels and massage parlours. It was Auckland's red-light district. Still was, really, but nowadays it had a far more diverse group of shops and outlet stores. There was everything from music stores to Architects.

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Late in the afternoon, I had a chance to ponder what Lucy wanted. It had to be ten years since we saw each other last. It made me spit tacks that she was just as pretty as ever. In fact, now she had the figure to go with her looks. When she was a teenager, she had baby fat, and lots of it. She was cherubic. I always admired her tits, god they were gorgeous, soft and pillowy, yet firm and bouncy. Guys always drooled over her. They never even looked at me.

I was the overlooked one. Short, and skinny. No bum, no boobs and plain. That was me. All my life I played second fiddle to Lucy. She was the bright vivacious outgoing chatty popular kid. I was the awkward, I hate the world rebel.

Lucy was already living at the Browns' place when I arrived. She was a ward of the state, just like me, but she had been there about eight months or so. Mrs. Brown idolised her. She doted on her like she was a star. The Browns did take me in, as well, and I should have been grateful, but after having bounced around a few foster homes, I was feeling a little vulnerable.

Lucy was already installed in their lives, and they loved her. She was everything a foster parent wants: Smart, pretty and polite. Lucy could do no wrong in their eyes; she was perfect.

I, on the other hand, came with the reputation of being hard to handle, obnoxious and difficult. Unfortunately, the more love they poured on Lucy, the worse my behaviour got. Yeah, I was jealous, and I rebelled.

Lucy, I never understood her. She was always so nice to me. She wanted to cuddle up in bed and talk. She loved to gossip about school and boys and even some of the girls. Under the blankets at night, she ruled; she was the chairperson of our two person group. She loved to hold me, but I knew it was just an act; nobody's that nice. She was too sweet, too perfect.

She always offered to help with my schoolwork, and Mrs. Brown used to say, "Lucy, you're an angel. Now you listen to her, Jacki. If you listen, she can help you."

I hated that she was so clever, so of course, I never listened; I wanted to blame her for my failures. Come on, I needed an excuse, and she was right there, front and centre.

Of course, the Browns never saw it as her fault, even when I explained Lucy got it wrong. Mrs. Brown's sad face was always in my mind: the way she scowled when I said it was Lucy's fault. "Jacki, my darling, it is nobody's fault but your own."

That was our life. We shared a room for six years, and I grew to hate her, a little more every day. She seemed to get everything she ever wanted, she didn't have to work for anything. The boys all lusted after her, the girls all wanted to be her. The teachers adored her; she passed everything with honours.

Me, I was the perennial class clown; that persona was my mask. I used it to hide my stupidity. I figured it was my shot at popularity. If I couldn't be clever, I would make people laugh.

I couldn't wait to get out of school. The moment I turned fifteen, I left. The Browns hated me leaving school. I got lecture after lecture. I couldn't just stay there if I wasn't going to school. Of course, goody two shoes Lucy passed her school cert and stayed on to do sixth form so she could go to University. Me, I just wanted out.

Yeah, I was a bitch. I got into trouble; I found a group of street kids who hung out at the skate park and we started doing petty crimes to raise cash for booze and drugs.

Did I mention I wasn't very clever? Of course, I got caught, and the only way I could get out of having to do PD was accept a course at Polytech. That way I was given a suspended sentence.

Life at home was bad enough before then, but after that day in court, things got worse. Staring into Mrs. Brown's eyes and seeing her complete loss of respect, killed me. She was a strict old biddy; all I wanted was the love she showered on Lucy. All I got were lectures.

Lucy was a suck up, as well; she called the Browns Mum and Dad. I could never do that. I liked them, they took me in, but they weren't my parents. God, I didn't even know who my father was. I knew my mother; she visited occasionally, when she was out of rehab, or jail.

I guess I was following in her footsteps.

That's when I ran away. The guilt and seeing the look of shame, maybe not disgust, but loathing, on their faces drove home the guilt, I was already feeling.

I met a boy. He was trouble and I knew it, but he had a car, and he was heading for Auckland, that was good enough for me. Te Awamutu was a small town, and all I wanted was out. Sign me up.

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I was just clearing up and locking doors when Lucy walked back in. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah, just give me a moment to lock up."

Her car was nice, an almost brand new Audi. She kept smiling at me. Damn it made me uncomfortable. "Well, you seem to have done all right for yourself," she said.

"I get by, what about you? What are you doing these days?"

"I have have a physiotherapy clinic in Hamilton."

"Ah, a massage parlour, no wonder you can afford an Audi."

She laughed. "Still the clown huh, but I was being serious, I was impressed. Your shop is incredible."

"Thanks, I like it."

"Do you actually make all that stuff, or do you import it?"

"I make like 80% of it, all the carved stuff is mine. The rings and bracelets are mine; I make them. Some of the cheaper stuff I import."

"Wow, Sis, you are very talented, and the shop, that is stunning."

"Yeah, it's okay. It pays the bills."

The car went silent until we pulled over in Ponsonby Road. "Where are we going?" I asked.

"Some place called The Midnight Gardener. It's supposed to be pretty good."

"Yeah, it does have a good rep. Have you booked?"

"Yep, all done."

Guided to our seats, we sat in a small intimate table in the corner and the waiter brought us our glasses of wine.

"So, are you seeing anybody?" she asked with a coy smile.

"Nope, nothing serious, I date, but it's all casual. What about you?"

She shrugged non-committally. "Like you, I'm not seeing anybody seriously. I just got out of a three year relationship."

Seeing her wince a little as the words spilled out, I empathised. "Sorry to hear that. It must have been tough, three years."

"Yes, it was a bit messy. I'm still mourning I suppose."

"God, he died?"

She looked horrified. "No, god no. I meant I was mourning the breakup. Three years is a long time, and I put a lot of effort into that relationship. I thought we were going to get married."

The pain oozed out of her every pore, she was still feeling it. "I'm sorry, Lucy, what happened?"

"Oh, I don't know, I guess we both wanted something different."

We sipped our wine as we went over the menus. "Have you seen the Browns lately?" I asked, wishing I hadn't the moment the words burbled out.

"Yes, I see them a lot. It's part of the reason I'm here. It's Mum's sixty-fifth birthday next week, and she wants you to go."

"Wow, only sixty-five, I thought she was older than that when I left."

"No, she only looked that way because of the stress you caused."

"Oh yeah, it's my fault, huh?" And just like that, we were back at it. After all this time we were right at each other's throats.

"I didn't mean it like that, Sis, I was just trying to be funny."

"No, that was always your attitude, blame Jacki. Everything that went wrong was my fault."

She grimaced. "Some of it was."

I snapped sarcastically, "Yeah, I suppose you're right."

We put in our orders and got more drinks. "So, are you going to tell me what happened after you ran away?" she asked with a hint of bitterness.

"Not much to tell really. I came up to Auckland with my boyfriend."

"You didn't have any money, and I know damned well Greg wouldn't have any."

"We got by, slept in the car. He got a job on the docks and I got a job washing dishes and cleaning. We did all right."

"Why did you run away? it broke Mum's heart."

"Bullshit, she didn't care about me. All she ever cared about was her precious Lucy." I hissed venomously.

"My god, you self-absorbed idiot. She loved you so much. God she would do anything for you."

"All she ever cared about was you. It was always Lucy, Lucy, Lucy, fuck Jacki." I spat out.

Her response was sharp and aimed at the heart. "You bitch, she loved you unconditionally."

The tension levels increase as we went along, the only saving grace was when our food turned up. We both ate slowly, taking the time to stare accusingly at each other.

"Why would you think she never loved you?" Lucy sighed.

"Because all she ever talked about was you. She never cared about what I was doing, She was too busy running around after you."

"Oh god, Jacki, you are so wrong. She loved us both, if you could have seen her the night you ran away. She had the police there straight away. She cried for days afterwards. She blamed herself, she felt so guilty. She kept saying, where did I go wrong, what could I have done differently?"

"Jacki, she still talks about you. Every time I go to visit, she always asks if I have heard from you."

"No, sorry, Luce, you're talking shit."

"No I'm not, Jacki," She snapped caustically. Her face etched with anger. "I was there, I saw how destroyed she was. You may never know the pain she went through. She waited up every night, hoping that you would walk back in. She never ever locked the door after you left."

I tried to ignore the pain twisting my tummy in knots. "Jacki, she chased after the police, every day she was on the phone to them, checking, she wrote letters to the MP, she was distraught."

"I don't buy it, why now? Why chase after me now?"

"Now... God, Jacki, she's been looking for years. She hired a detective to search for you. She found out you went to jail, and she cried, she cried for weeks, blamed herself all over again. The guilt almost destroyed her."

"How did you find me?"

"I was reading "The Herald," and stumbled on an interview with you. I recognised you straight away."

I giggled, enjoying the effect of the wine. "I forgot about that stupid interview."

"Stupid? I thought it was beautiful, Bad girl does good. Rags to riches. You certainly picked yourself up."

"Yeah, well, I learned bone carving when I was inside. They did me a favour locking me up. If they didn't, god knows where I would've ended up."

"What happened when you got out?"

"I started doing the Sunday market up in Takapuna, selling the carvings, then I learned how to make jewellery and it sort of took off. I did a few trade expos, people really liked what I did, and then it grew from there."

"Wow, super impressed, Sis, you did well."

"Yeah well, you know, you do what you have to."

"How long were you in jail?"

With a shrug, I replied, "Eighteen months."

"Was it all right? I mean, were they cruel to you?"

"No point sugar coating it; there are some evil bitches in there that's for sure."

"But you weren't harmed?"

"No, nothing visible, just the occasional beating."

"God, I am so sorry, Jacki, it must have been horrid."

"Yeah, I don't recommend it as a holiday destination."

"Idiot," she scoffed. "You will never change."

"No, probably not. What about you?"

She shrugged. "Nothing compared to you. I went to Otago Uni, did my degree in Physio and moved to Hamilton. As much as I loved Te Awamutu, I sort of outgrew it. Needed to get out."

"Oh, hell yeah, I get that, Sis."

She smiled. "Sis, that sounds nice. I haven't heard that for a long time."

I shrugged as she wiped away a tear from the corner of her eye. "I have missed you so much, Jacki. Like Mum, I wondered what happened. I needed my Sis."

"Yeah, I could have used a hug from time to time, as well."

"Will you come to the party?" she asked quietly.

"I don't know, Sis, I sort of left that behind. She won't want me there."

"God you frustrate me! Did you not listen to one single thing I said? She misses you. If you want to give her the biggest present she has ever received, then come."

"I'm twenty-eight Lucy, I'm not a teenager any more."

"That's why it is so important. She needs to know you are all right."

"Why don't you just tell her?"

"Because if she knew that we met and you didn't want to see her, she would really be heartbroken. If you're not going, then I won't tell her."

"Jesus, Sis, you know how to lay down a guilt trip. You learned that from her. She specialised in guilt."

"I learned lots of things from Mum: empathy, love, care, sharing. I was a real bitch when I went to live with them. Mum changed me, she took all my anger and made it better, turned my anger into love. Then when you came along, it was like heaven, I loved having a sister. I remember all those nights cuddled together under the blankets, making up stories."

"That was fun." I sighed.

"Yes, it sure was. I loved it, playing dress up, sneaking makeup in. Stealing the sherry. God we were naughty."

I laughed too loudly. "If you think that was naughty, lucky you didn't run away with me."

She gave me a quizzical glance. "Were you that bad?"

"I went to jail didn't I?"

"Were all those charges true?"

"Pretty much; a girl does what she has to do to survive on the streets."

"Oh god, you don't mean..." She left it unsaid, but the implications were obvious.

"As I said, Sis, lucky you stayed at home."

"I would have gone with you; I didn't want to lose my sister."

"Oh come on, you were going to Uni the next year, anyway."

"You should have come with me. I wanted you with me. You were always clever enough, you just mucked around in class."

"Nah, you were the smart one. I was just a dumb bitch."

"No you weren't," She gasped. "I knew you were good enough, you were the only one who didn't think so. Mum and Dad knew. Dad was so disappointed when you left school."

"I know, he never said much, but I could see the frustration. I knew he felt let down. That's what made it worse."

Lucy gave me a faint smile. "But look where you are now. A famous jewellery designer and manufacturer."

"Huh, famous is a bit strong. One thirty-second spot on TV doesn't make me famous."

"That's not what I'm going to tell everybody."

Desert came and went, and the conversation loosened up. We told jokes and stories from our lives together and apart. It actually turned out to be pleasant.

As we walked out into the cool night air, I asked, "Where are you staying?"

"Kingsgate, where do you live?"

"I've got a flat above the shop."

"Wow, that must be noisy?"

"Most nights I go into the strip club up the road for a few drinks. Take the edge off."

"Strip club..."

She was shocked. "Isn't that dangerous?"

"Nah, they all know me. The bouncers look after me, they tell all the punters I'm a tranny. It's supposed to scare them away, but it makes some of them worse. Bloody perverts."

She frowned. "That's not very nice, Jax."

"It's a joke, there are lots of gurls working there. It was their idea."

She laughed. "I would love to see that. I have never been to a strip club."

"What... Never?" Now it was my turn to act surprised.

"No."

"Oh shit, we have to fix that. If you're up for it, I'm game."

She giggled mischievously. "All right, but you can't tell Mum. She would have a fit."

As we walked up to the strip club, I said, "Stay with me when we get inside."

The reality started to set in and she looked like she was going to pee her knickers.

Approaching the door, the bouncers gave me a fist pump. "Hey Jax, who's your hot friend?"

"Lay off Pauly, she's my Sister, and she's a black belt. So don't fuck with her."

As we walked up the narrow stairway, the music got louder. I felt Luce's hand on my back.

Inside, the place was jumping. A small crowd of noisy blokes at the bar were making fools of themselves. I walked us down the other end of the bar, and the girl working the bar leaned over the counter for a welcoming kiss. "Hey Jax, bourbon?"

"Yeah, two please. Brenda, this is my sister, Luce."

Brenda gave Luce a quick scrutinising stare. "Sister, aye? I would never have guessed."

I sniggered. "Hey, we're twins."

Brenda laughed with me, "Oh sure, sugar and spice. I hope she's the nice one."

"Nah, that's me. Luce is the dangerous one, she's into massage, got her own parlour."