Piece By Piece Ch. 03

"What happened?" I asked as they carried Henry out the door.

"Your boyfriend can't handle his liquor," one of the kids said.

I followed them out as they planted him next to one of the trucks. Henry lurched over one of the branches and emptied his stomach.

"Great," I said, shaking my head. "He is my ride home. I have no idea how to get back from here."

A sheriff's car pulled up, and the guy from Jordan's picture stepped out. He was more handsome in person.

"Hey babe," he said as Jordan walked up to him.

"Hey," Jordan said as she stood by him.

"Mike, what do you want to do this time?" the black man asked.

Mike shook his head and looked at Henry, who was barely standing upright. "Don't know Brandon, what did I say last time?"

"Last time we locked him up for the night," Brandon said, walking over to Henry. He shone a light onto his face, and instantly, Henry looked away. "He is too wasted to drive."

"Staci needs to get back home," Jordan said with her arms folded. Now I knew how Gina felt when she stood next to me. I wore an H cup bra and standing next to Jordan I felt like I was wearing an A. How did she manage to walk around especially having those monsters on her small frame.

"Staci," Brandon said. "If we pack him in the car, can you drive?"

"Absolutely," I replied. I hadn't had anything to drink.

"If you get her to the interstate, the GPS on her phone should work," one of the kids said.

Mike turned to look at them. "We are going to have a serious talk about your drinking games, get back inside."

They packed him into the back seat with a large bucket next to his face. "You might want to drive with the windows down. Just so the smell doesn't get worse," Mike said.

"Thank you," I said as I hugged him.

"Thanks again," I said as I gave Jordan a huge hug.

"Follow Brandon, he will get you to the interstate," Jordan said.

"I will," I said as I got in the car.

"Don't you lose her," Jordan yelled at Brandon.

"Yes, Mother," Brandon said as he got in his car.

Brandon turned on the lights of his car as we drove through the curvy country roads. Henry snored in the back seat. I saw the signs for the interstate up ahead and tried the GPS app on my phone. It connected right away. Brandon pulled over to the side.

"It's working," I said as I stopped beside him.

"Jordan told me to give you this," Brandon said as he threw a wadded piece of paper into my car.

"Good aim," I laughed as it landed on my lap. I opened it up and saw that it had Jordan's phone number as well as some of her social media accounts. "Thanks," I nodded as I got onto the interstate.

I had a better feeling about myself now. The night out had done me some good. I pulled up to my house and saw Teresa standing with her arms folded at the door. She came down and saw Henry in the back seat.

"You okay?" Teresa asked as I got close.

"Thank you," I said as I hugged her. I started crying again. "Thank you for taking us in."

"Oh," Teresa said. "It's okay," she said, pulling me off her. "I know you heard what I said earlier, and I meant every word. You are my daughter, no letter or contract will change that," she smiled. "Jordan gave you a piece of her mind, didn't she?"

"How?" I began to ask.

"Let's just say, her mother and I go way back," Teresa smiled. "When I heard Henry was taking you there, I might have sent a message to her."

"I needed it," I nodded.

"Now you go up, and I will take care of this mess," Teresa said, taking the car keys from me.

I nodded and walked up to the house.

"Hey, asshole," I heard Teresa say. "You got two minutes to get up, or I will use the hose and wet you and the inside of your car."

I shook my head and went inside.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I put my notice into the diner, and they were happy that I had made up my mind. I sat down at one of the tables and scrolled through some of the available teaching jobs in the area. I heard the bell over the door ring and looked down at the time.

"May I sit," Henry said as he stood next to me.

"Sure," I said as I looked at my laptop.

"I am sorry, how last night turned out," Henry said.

"Which part?" I said, shutting the screen down and staring at him. "Flirting with girls half your age, nearly spilling drinks on everyone because you were staring at Jordan's boobs, drinking so much that you passed out? Leaving me to drive home from a place I didn't know?"

"All of it," Henry nodded. "I know we went out as friends and I should have been more of ..."

"An adult?" I finished his sentence. "I don't care that you were flirting, but I was your friend, those people saw you flirting with kids, they were kids. My daughter and my son are three years younger than them, three!"

Henry nodded.

"What grown man in their forty's, flirts with kids that just reached their twenties, they weren't even of legal age to drink?" I said a bit loudly.

Henry tried to make me lower my voice. "I know, it's not right, but they are..."

"If you say legal age, I swear I am going to hit you with this laptop!" I said through gritted teeth. "That's a cop-out, and you know it, you sick freak!"

Henry stared at me with fear in his eyes.

"What are the women your age too much of a challenge?" I asked. "Or is it because we can see through your bullshit!"

Henry shrugged. "I don't know," he said.

"So, all this coming onto me, onto Tabitha and all the other women is it some smokescreen? To hide what you really want, the young girls?"

"No," Henry said, shaking his head.

"Go!" I said, pointing to the door. "If I ever see you in this diner again, I will tell everyone what you did last night, playing drinking games with young boys and flirting with young girls. The people of this town will rip you apart."

Henry nodded. Then he walked out.

I took a deep breath as I watched him go. I couldn't believe I fell for the handsome looks, the great job, the fancy car. I nearly fell for him. I watched him get in his car then drive off.

"You okay?" Gina asked.

"If he ever comes in here again, call me," I said as I smiled at Gina.

"Something we should know?" Gina asked as she looked back at Frank, her husband behind the counter.

"No, not yet," I nodded. "I will give him the benefit of the doubt. Everyone deserves a chance."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It had been one week since I put in my notice and left the diner. I still hadn't found a real teaching job, but I was getting close, I could feel it. Jordan and I kept in touch through social media and text messages. It was nice having a good friend again, even though we were two hours away, it felt like she was right around the corner if I needed her.

"Did you decide on one?" Robin asked, peering over my shoulder.

"So silly," I said, kissing her head as it rested on my shoulder.

"What about that one?" Robert asked as he pointed to one of the openings on the screen.

"It's a bit of a drive," I said, looking at it.

"But it has the best pay rate, and it's full time," Thomas said.

"What about getting you guys up, making sure..." I began to say.

"We got it handled," Robin said. "We always do."

I looked back at all three of them and Jack sitting on the floor with his toys. "Yes we do," I nodded. "Okay, I will put in my application," I smiled and turned back to my laptop. "You guys get cleaned up and ready for bed."

As usual, there were moans and groans, but they left my room. I tabbed out and went to the other screen. I was working on finding the drug Jordan had taken. She had told me all about her little adventure back to New York. Something made me remember an article I read about it happening before somewhere else.

"Found you," I said as I found it.

I sent it as a forward to Jordan's email.

This is the article I was telling you about the other day. The same thing happened to this woman twelve years ago. I hope it helps.

Staci

I filled out my application and began to get ready for bed when I got an email back from Jordan. I laughed at its contents. It was a sight for adult toys.

This is the page I used to use before I met Brandon. I hope it helps with all your male-related problems.

Jordan.

I laughed loudly, then saved the site as one of my favorites. I got into bed with a smile on my face and hopes for the future.