Unbelievable Pt. 07

"What are you laughing at Ray? I want to dance with my husband when we get married too," Wanda said, crossing her arms below her breasts. A smile was on her lips at how Ray sat frozen in his seat. Nonetheless, this was the first time either one of them ever brought up anything that involved marriage.

"Wanda, tell me you're joking right?" Ray asked, peering at her from over his right shoulder.

"No, don't you want to get married?" Wanda queried with a pointed look.

"Can we talk about this when we get home?" Ray inquired knowing she had backed him into a corner.

"Fine, no bouncy, bouncy for you tonight," Wanda huffed, her mirth filled her eyes while her lips held her scowl. Looking over at Ruth who just giggled behind her hand, flashing her a smile when she caught on that she was just faking her annoyance. Winking at John when he didn't know what was going on as his eyes darted from Ray to her and back again. "Just play along, I do love teasing your brother," Wanda whispered into his ear. Patting his leg when a smile touched his lips.

Ten minutes later Bill pulled his car alongside Annie's who was getting out of hers. However, the moment John slid out of the car. Annie's arms found themselves wrapped around his body.

"I knew you would come," Annie sighed happily into his ear. She didn't care if anyone saw them, she'd been wanting this all day. Melting into her brother as she felt John's arms wrapping around her whilst their kiss deepened.

"We're here too you know?" Bill grumbled as he peered over the roof of his car.

"I know, but no one compares to my Johnny," Annie whispered. Her blue-green eyes lustered as John blushed as he remembered the song from the diner.

"You best hold onto him Annie, I might just take him if Ray doesn't want me," Wanda said, getting her jabs in, loving how flustered Ray was getting.

"Not in a million years," Annie said, in a cute little voice.

"So are you getting power, does the starter click on, does the engine want to turn over?" Johnny asked, recounting what he learned in shop class. He only liked it because he didn't have to talk or be around anyone. Plus he got to be in his head for most of the class.

"No power, everything was dead when I came out after my last class," Annie said, so very glad John hadn't pushed her away. Ever since his session nearly five days ago John has been a little more open to her. More attentive to her needs, allowing her to touch him more often than he used to. He even allowed her to sleep with him every other night. Not sexual, they've only had sex twice and that was two nights ago. No. What she meant was he allowed her to snuggle up to him and wrap herself around him just like how she would do when they were sharing the same room at their lake house. She really did hope she was thawing that cold heart of his and warming it back up so it would open to her. So that he could turn to her whenever he needed a helping hand.

"Okay, pop the hood, and I'll take a look," Johnny said, rubbing Annie's back. "I see the problem," he muttered seeing the corrosion caked onto the battery terminals. "Ray get me an 8mm wrench and the silver thing that looks like a butt plug," Johnny ordered seeing how they all were fighting back their laughs. "And a rag," he quickly added.

"This it?" Ray asked, handing Johnny the battery terminal cleaner.

"Yeah," Johnny nodded, before getting to work. Within a few minutes he had the posts of the battery and the terminal connectors free of the corrosion that had baked on to it. "Okay, try starting it now," he directed as he peered around the hood of Annie's car. Smiling down at the purring engine, he might not be able to fix himself -- if ever -- he could at least make sure Annie's car was running correctly. Handing the tools back to Ray, shutting the hood once he was sure the car wasn't going to shut off on her. "Okay Annie, you're good to go. You off to your class now?"

"Nah-uh. Told my professor about my car trouble so I'm skipping tonight's class. He's going to email me the assignment," Annie said, peering at her brother from her open door. She knew her professor had the hots for her, given that he's tried serval times to get her alone in his office. Where she knew the less moral students got a bump in their grades if they did something for him, and she knew what that old man wanted from her. Given the leers she has caught as he stared at her vast bust. "Thought maybe you and I can meet Mom and Dad at that diner again for supper," Annie said, bashfully. "Then head home and relax with a movie, maybe some soft cuddling," she mumbled, as she brushed a strand of her raven hair behind her ear.

"Diner?!" Ruth and Wanda cut in.

"Yeah, you two can't go on a double date and leave us out of it," Ray said, loving how his sister's face was growing redder by the second.

"Show of hands, who wants to crash their double date?" Bill asked, smiling at John and Annie as they all four raised their hands.

"Surely you can allow us to partake in this 'date' of yours," Wanda said, loving how Annie pouted behind the wheel.

"Fine," Annie huffed in annoyance. Casting glances at her older brothers who snickered. "But Johnny is riding with me!" she said, in a commanding tone. Her cheeks burned as John walked around the front of her car without even having to be asked.

"We'll follow you," Bill said, seeing his sister nod as she shut her car door.

******

The parking lot of Billy Bob's Dairyland...

"Hey baby?!" Katherine cried joyously as she got out of her new Nissan NV they had traded in Brandan's BMW while he would take her car and she would take the van. Given that they would need the extra space due to the increased size of their family. Arching an eyebrow when she saw Bill pulling up behind Annie's car.

"Mom, what's up with the van?" Bill asked, once he got out of his car.

"We thought given our family's growing size we needed a vehicle with more seats, this way we only need to take one vehicle to the lake," Katherine said, in a chipper tone. Little did she or anyone of them know of the events that were going to take place in the near future. "So... why are the four you here?" she asked, eyeing the four of them. She really wanted to have the double date with her son. She wasn't expecting her other children to show up.

"To crash your date night, of course?!" Ray said, with a sly smirk.

"Plus Annie had car trouble," Ruth spoke joining her fiancé side.

"Car trouble?!" Brandon exclaimed as he rounded the front of the van. "What's wrong with your car?" he asked, looking at his daughter. Watching how Annie nudged Johnny forward.

"Just some battery corrosion, cleaned it off, runs fine now," Johnny muttered dropping his gaze when his father wore an approving smile. Ever since what was done to him praise, even silent praise, never sat well with him. It always felt like he was unworthy of it.

"Hey," lifting his son's chin, "I'm proud of you, you helped your sister. That's a big step for you," Brandan said, trying not to think of what his son said on that rainy night. "Come, let's eat." His thumb brushed along John's neck, his arm sliding along his son's shoulders. "I hear this place has some excellent ice cream sodas," Brandan stated squeezing his son's shoulder.

"Wow, big crowd." Whistled the same waitress that had waited on them just last week. "Oh! Hey, it's you!" Her smile brightened the room when her eyes fell upon John. "This place hasn't seemed so lively since you danced that little jig."

"Oh?! Well now, I do believe I need to hear all about this," Brandan said, with a broad smile. Listening intently as the waitress detailed the events of the last time they were there. "Elvis huh?! Didn't know you had it in you," he mused lightly patting John's back.

"You can push that table next to this one if you all don't want to have different booths," the waitress said, her pen pointing at the other table. "Let me get you some more menus," she said, before walking off as Bill and Ray picked up the table and gently set it down beside the one the rest were clustered around.

"Let me guess you want that ice cream soda again?" the waitress asked, smiling down at John who nodded. "The Pepsi one right?"

"And the steak burger with tots, although hold the onions," Johnny said, his stomach rumbling at the thought of tasting that soda again. Feeling his mother's hand rubbing his back as she and Annie sat beside him.

"Johnny, is the Pepsi one really good?" Brandan asked, as his eyes ran down the menu.

"Mmmhmm, it's really good. You'll ask for another one," Johnny said, with a smile after days of his dark mood.

"Hmm... I'll have what my son is having," Brandan said, looking over at the waitress.

"Okay, I'll get that right in for you," the waitress said, with a friendly smile.

"So Johnny, about what we talked about in the car, you wouldn't mind teaching your brother how to dance would you?" Ruth asked, once they put in their drink order.

"What's this?!" Brandan inquired looking around the table.

"Oh, he's going to teach Ray too," Wanda added, smiling at John.

"I so have to see this," Brandan said, with a warm smile.

"You'll need a partner won't you Johnny?" Annie asked, knowing what he and Dr. Copper had talked about in her office five days ago. Slipping her hand into his, knowing that as hard as this was for him, he needed to take that step in order to heal.

"Please, Johnny, it would really help us out," Ruth said, with a warm smile. Knowing they couldn't afford another expense as the bills for the wedding were growing.

"Okay," Johnny said, staring down into his lap. His eyes glanced up as the waitress sat his and his father's sodas before them.

"Wow. That is really something," Brandan exclaimed slapping his wife's hand away when she tried to steal his cherry.

"Thank you baby," Katherine cooed as John held out his. Smirking at Annie when she was too slow given how she had taken his the first time they had visited the restaurant.

John's eyes moved around the table as Disturbed's 'Hold on to memories' played in his mind. Seeing their smiling faces as they enjoyed their evening meal. Dr. Copper's words ringing out in his mind. Looking over at his mother as she placed her hand on his shoulder.

"You okay honey?" Katherine asked, softly.

"No," shaking his head, "but I'm trying," Johnny replied. Looking over as Annie rested her chin on his left shoulder.

"Then you lean on us, we'll carry you until you can stand on your own," Annie said, in a loving voice. Seeing everyone there nodding along. "Have faith in us, allow us to help when you need it the most," she spoke, her fingers interweaved with his, feeling his curling around hers as she held his left hand. "After all, the woman that loves you, isn't going to be dismayed so easily," Annie whispered, her breath hot in his ear. "I thought I lost you once, I'm not going to lose you again."

******

Falslate county jail seven am...

John's eyes scanned the room that the guards had brought him to. His mother and father waited out in the hallway. Fighting down his anxiety being in such an enclosed space. He couldn't let that get in the way of why he had come. His mother had to keep his attention on her as they patted him down. Now, he sat in that cold room, on an equally cold, hard metal stool that was connected to the table. His fist curled against the top of his legs as he heard the chains rattling as someone approached. Reminding him of the keys that haunted his dreams as the orderlies walked down the corridor of ward E. Taking deep breaths to keep the horror that was inflicted on him from surfacing.

"Johnny?! It's okay," Jared said, speaking through the bars of the door that lead to the holding cells. "It's just me," he said, hoping his voice was reaching him.

"What's wrong with the kid?" asked one of the guards.

"People like you tormented him," Jared snapped as they pushed him into the seat. "Hey," John felt the light touch on his hands, "it's okay. You can open your eyes. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Julia would hate me if I did."

"Thank you..." Slowly opening his eyes, seeing Jared smiling at him as he did, "I know if everyone was here, that lived in ward E, were here they would thank you for killing him. Since they aren't, that falls to me," seeing Jared's eyes glance down as he took hold of his cuffed hands, "thank you for killing the monster that stalked us nightly, that continues to stalk us in our dreams."

"Johnny, who do you think I did it for? I did it for you and Julia," Jared said, lightly squeezing John's hands. "I did it so you could be free, and so that bastard never touches another girl. Plus, my life was over the moment Julia was taken from me. Yours is only just beginning no sense in you getting blood on your hands. I can shoulder the burden," he stated in a strong fatherly voice.

"Why did you kill Julia's mother?" Johnny asked, seeing the anger flare in Jared's eyes at the mention of his ex-wife.

"That bitch knew!" Jared seethed. "She tossed my daughter into that hellhole knowing what was going on there! She was even blackmailing the staff and the hospital to keep quiet about it. All this time my baby was in there she knew. Knew everything that was happening to every one of you," he said, seeing the rage building in John's green eyes. "Yet she didn't tell a single fucking soul! She was all the more willing to take their blood money without a care to the daughter we brought into this world!" Jared hissed in anger as his fist slammed down on the table causing the guards to draw closer to them. "Sorry fellas," he apologized looking to the guard to his left.

"How do you know that?" John asked, his grip turned deadly as he gripped the edge of the table.

"She was bragging about it when I showed up at her place to ask her why she wouldn't take Julia out of that place. I know my daughter, she would have written to her mother, given how they kept her from writing to me. I found the letters they kept of hers to me once they shut the hospital down. Then well... things happened my rage got the better of me, and she and that douche was lying dead on the floor of their home," Jared said, not sugarcoating the facts.

"Good," Johnny uttered in a cold tone. "If she was doing that, she, along with the rest of them, deserved to die." His cold, green eyes glanced at the guards as they eyed him.

"I knew you would understand," Jared said, lightly patting John's hand. "Now, tell me, how are you?"

"I've... had better days," Johnny admitted.

"Tell me about it," Jared said, in a fatherly voice. Nodding as he listened without interrupting John as he went through what was bothering him. "Your dad is right; Julia wouldn't want you to live in the past. She would want you to move forward even if she wasn't a part of it. That doesn't mean you'll ever forget about her," he smiled warmly at John, "no one who has met my daughter will ever forget her. You more so than all the rest, want to know why?" Jared whispered as he leaned forward seeing John nod. "Because I read her letter about you that the staff didn't destroy," he said, seeing John's eyes widening at his words. "So I know you meant a great deal to my daughter before she took her life to escape that place. I want you to know, she never blamed you for not helping her. You were as much a victim as she was locked in your cell like she was while they did those things to her. You were the one good thing in her life in that place."

"S-s-she... wrote... about... me?" Johnny asked, with a trembling voice. Trying not to tear up in front of Julia's father.

"She did," Jared nodded. "She loved you very much Johnny. I want you to know that. And I quote 'Dad, I met a boy name Johnny a few months ago. Since then even with what they do to me here, I wake up yearning to see him. To have our little walks in the courtyard..." Jared squeezed John's hand as his lip trembled, "to sit beside him, forgetting we are in this place, to see him smile when we both know what awaits us when we go back through those doors. If or when you get this letter please do what you can to get Johnny out of this place. They're doing things to him that I don't know how long he will last if it keeps up.' That's how I know she loved you very much. Julia was willing to endure that Hell if it meant she could get you out of that place. So I mailed copies of the letters to your home in case I did something stupid," gesturing to his surroundings, "along with a couple of pictures of Julia I think she would want you to have," Jared said, peering over his shoulder as the guard to his right cleared his throat giving him the signal that his time was almost up. "Johnny, our visit is almost over. I want you to take care of yourself, can you do that for me?" he asked, with a caring voice. "Good. Now I've put you on my approved visitor list, so you come see me whenever you need to, okay?"

"I can do that," Johnny nodded.

"Now you live a good life Johnny, try to stay out of trouble. And if you ever need someone to talk to, you can always write me," Jared said, sliding a slip of paper to him. "Tell your parents I said hello, and my thanks for bringing you down here on a school day. Now you get to school," he said, over his shoulder as the guards led him out of the room and back to his cell.

"I promise I'll write!" Johnny called out to Jared as the door closed.

"How did it go?" Brandan asked, getting up from his seat.

"Baby, what's wrong?" Worry touched her voice as she saw the look in her son's eyes. "What happened?" Katherine inquired, running her hand down John's arm.

"She... she wrote about me," Johnny said, he still couldn't believe Julia had written about him.

"Who are you ... you mean Julia, don't you? Oh honey," Katherine said, softly. "How does that make you feel..."

"How about we talk about this in the car," Brandan said, feeling eyes on them.

"Have a good day Johnny," Brandan said, peering back at his son as he turned in his seat.

"We'll talk later at home if you want Johnny," Katherine said, laying her hand on her son's left leg. She had rode in the back with John in order to talk about what had transpired during his talk with Julia's father. While she was happy that her son was opening up to her or more so than he was the night of the thunderstorm. Yet it still felt like he was holding something back from her. Even when they first met it seemed that her son actually opened up to Jared, a man her son never knew, when she was his own mother! Katherine watched her son walking towards the front of the school with a mix of sadness and anger, that her son would talk to someone he barely knew when she was right there. Willing to listen, willing to be there to shoulder the burden of John's troubled mind.

"Give him time Katherine," Brandan said, pulling away from the curb to drop his wife off at home.

"But I'm his mother?!" Katherine pouted.

"And to him we left him in that hellhole. We left him to watch as Julia took her own life to end the pain. We're going to have to come to terms that our son may never fully trust us with what's going on with him," Brandan said truthfully, knowing it was going to hurt either way.

"But... Brandan! I want my baby back!"

"Honey, we may never get the John we used to know back, ever. We're just going to have to come to terms with that," Brandan stated taking a right hand turn towards their home.

"But I miss him so much," Katherine sighed resting her head against the window. Remembering the days that her son would seek her out, snuggle with her on the couch. Laughing with her at some silly thing that was on TV at the time.

"I know honey, so do I," Brandan replied.

******

Saturday afternoon...

John sat beside his brothers on the porch of their home. His nose deep in one of his Spawn comics, trying not to pay attention to what Ray and Bill were discussing. Looking to his right as Ray nudged his arm only to have his eyes follow Ray's nod. John's face heated as his eyes fell on Annie's 46DD, Wanda's 32B, and Ruth's 38C breasts bouncing in their sports bras as they slowed their jog down as they neared their front yard. Shifting in his seat, watching the sweat slowly running down Annie's flat stomach, the sheen of Wanda's skin along the tops of her breasts. How Ruth's breasts rose and fell as she tried to catch her breath. Quickly burying his face back into the depths of his comic. His heart raced as he heard footsteps on the boards of the porch.