Jacklynne
I should have expected not to get an answer ringing a number off a card given to me by some weirdo. But that didn't stop me from trying. And that didn't reduce my disappointment when I went to bed.
I woke up in the afternoon to Aasim calling me. Well actually, when I picked it up, it was a frantic Leyna. "Jackie please come. I don't think my brother feels well."
I get ready and leave the house, managing to avoid the tension of a conversation with mum after last night since she has a day shift.
When I arrive at their temporary, basically illegal home since they could be classified as house squatters, Leyna is sitting on the couch eating a bowl of cereal without milk happily. Leyna abandons her cereal next to Aasim's phone on a coffee table and runs up to me to hug me tightly, only reaching the middle of my torso so she has to glance up at me. Her worried eyes makes me concerned and she grabs my hand, pulling me towards one of the doors and knocking.
Aasim's exclamation penetrates through the door, "Sis I said I'm fine!"
Leyna yells back, "Jackie's here!" She whispers to me, "Maybe he doesn't want to see me. He might like to see you." That breaks my heart and it makes me wonder why Aasim would purposely hurt his little sister's feelings. But I also know Aasim adores her and wouldn't do this without reason. There's silence for a moment.
Aasim eventually shouts a response, "I can't tutor you today!"
"I'm not here for tutoring."
"Oh. Then why did you come?" I can hear that he is closer to the door. I'm not offended by the question, but it does make me feel slightly embarrassed that he doesn't consider us close enough for random, spontaneous visits in case I did decide to make them more frequently. It also stirs a sadness within me since he automatically assumed that I only came for him to help me with something.
"Leyna called me."
"Leyna," Aasim groans in irritation then sighs. "You can come in."
Leyna squeals, holding my hands tightly whilst jumping up and down in triumph.
"Just Jackie."
Leyna pouts and snatches her hands dramatically away from me. "Not fair." But she quickly recovers and with energy only a little girl can have in the morning, she skips back to the couch and continues eating her raw cereal. I make sure she's focused on the cartoon she is watching on Aasim's phone before opening the door and shutting it rapidly.
"Lock it too." I follow Aaism's instruction, concentrating on doing it. When I look up, I step back in a jolt.
"I didn't want Leyna to see me like this." Aasim discloses, looking at me desperately. But I can only focus on his bruised right cheek, with a little scar near his eye.
"God it's terrible isn't it." He slumps onto the bed, then sits up.
"What do I do?" At this moment he seems so helpless and desperate so I sit on the bed, reaching across intending to inspect the injury but he jumps up suddenly and immediate humiliation etches onto his beautiful features.
"Sorry-I-I didn't know what you were doing," he stutters.
I almost frown at his weird reaction then remember the disturbing things Leyna said about the relationships at their home. Me sitting on the bed with him may have triggered him somehow. I pull a small, reassuring smile onto my face even though there is nothing to smile about in this situation.
"It's okay. Are you-okay?" I hesitate asking. He copies my smile but I can see it takes effort as he winces.
"I have to be don't I?" Honestly, not the best answer from someone but you can only wish so much.
"I know it's a trek but it will be better going to my house. My mum's a nurse and she brings alcohol wipes from her work sometimes. We need to put some on your cheek to prevent infection."
He races his eyebrow and his smile, wonderfully for me to see, becomes more cheeky. "So your mum is technically a thief that steals wipes?"
I laugh, "Well it's benefiting you right now isn't it? The power of mums."
The fade of Aasim's smile tells me not to talk about that subject anymore. And I know not to pry about his sore either. I hastily move on.
"Shall we go?" I ask getting up and unlocking the door.
He opens the door for me like a gentleman, "We shall."
_
We left Leyna with Orabelle so that Aasim and I could go to my house. He pulled the drawstrings of his hoodie tighter to hide his face when apologising to Leyna by lifting and twirling her around in a brotherly embrace before we left her. So adorable!
When we arrive at my home, I let Aasim go in first. After shutting the front door, I immediately burst out laughing. Aasim stands stiffly without moving, as if he's just entered a palace for royalty and isn't supposed to be there. He looks like a lost puppy waiting for his owner's instructions.
I start pulling him behind me like Leyna did to me as I jog up the stairs to go to the bathroom.
"You can sit," I inform him, absent-minded whilst I turn on the light switch then search for the alcohol wipes in the bathroom shelves. When I turn back around, he is awkwardly perched on the ledge of the bath pulling off his hoodie. His hair is dishevelled and he attempts to comb through it with his fingers as I open the first packet.
I know I practically dragged him up the stairs but I still feel like I need to ask for consent to touch his face because we are in closer proximity. "Could I..." I gesture to his cheek and he registers what I'm implying.
"Yeah sorry of course," he turns his right cheek towards me and I begin lightly patting it. There is a few uncomfortable seconds of silence, the only sound being our barely audible breaths. I tell him I'm done after a minute and he faces me again. Looking up at me with a mixture of gratitude, vulnerability and... something else in his fatigued, pretty eyes.
"Could I ask you...um...a kind of weird question?" Aasim mumbles.
"Yeah of course," my voice comes out breathy and quiet without me understanding why.
"Do I...smell?"
"Huh?" I was so entranced in the moment that the randomness of the question makes me step back, probably making him feel more insecure.
"It's just- I've started to panic over this whole, living in a nice lady's son's house thing. What if water usage shows up on their electricity bills?"
"If they have enough money to go on holiday, they'll be fine with a slight increase I'm sure," I shrug.
"I just feel guilty."
"They won't know it's you."
"Mrs Landry could connect the dots and realise. She's a librarian for God's sake! She's smart enough to figure it out." He runs his hands down his face in exasperation, rubbing his temples as if it would alleviate his stress. I take his hands in mine and squeeze them gently.
"Even if she does I'm sure she won't expose you. She loves you and Leyna."
I touched the uninjured cheek so that he makes eye contact with me and sees the certainty in my eyes despite me fearing the worst anxiety for him now.
"It'll be fine Aasim," I console gentle. Nerves float in my stomach when he peers at me through his dark long lashes for what seems like eternity. I start to feel afraid that he can sense the doubt exuding out of my pores. And that he might be observing all of my pores!
"Thank you, Jacklynne." He caresses the back of my palm with his thumb slowly, causing my heart to pound, before letting go.
"But I don't know how much I can trust you since you you still haven't answered my question. You know-if I smell?" The blunt Aasim has returned.
"I don't think you stink. Honest truth! And I promise you that I am not just being nice." I put my palm to my chest like I am swearing on the Bible for court. A thought comes to mind but then I put it aside. Aasim and his sister could have used Orabelle's shower but I feel I know him well enough now to understand that he would not want to bother anyone anymore than he thinks he has.
"So I smell okay?"
I nod my head and point both my thumbs up. "Okay."
"Okay," he says with relief. "It's just... I'm a bit worried about hygiene. There were lots of times the heating stopped working, or the hot water stopped running because we couldn't pay the bills on time."
I don't miss him saying the word "we" but pretend I did not hear it. "Damn, how did you deal with that?"
"Lots of baby wipes," he chuckles. "That was if the electricity wasn't working. If it was, I just boiled a kettle of water and diluted it with cold water in a bucket. Or so that Leyna would have fun, we'd go to a leisure centre where they have a swimming pool. And in the cubicles for showering, we could scrub ourselves off there. I had to get creative sometimes." He shrugs casually. I want to give him an endless hug but I'm not sure he will react particularly positively to that amount of physical touch from me.
"Well... you could...shower here when you need to," I offer.
"Thanks but no. You've done enough. I can't do that to you and your mum."
"I'm telling you, it's completely fine," I try to assure.
"It may be fine for you Jacklynne since you're not paying for it."
Hurt catches in my throat but I understand where he's coming from. After all, Aasim probably knows the experience and the pressure better than me. Regret starts to form in the furrow of his eyebrows and Aasim stands up.
"I'm sorry. That was rude. I should go."
Right then my phone starts ringing from the back of my pocket, buzzing against my bottom. I assume it's Orabelle calling for us to pick up Leyna but I recognise the digits from the Joker's card on my screen. I freeze whilst seeing Aasim's eyes switch from my phone to my face back and forth in confusion. I wait too long to pick up and it goes to voicemail.
_
Back at Aasim's and Leyna's temporary accommodation, Orabelle, Jiaying, Zeth and Aasim stood around me as I held up the phone so that they could hear the voicemail too. The gruff voice of the Joker sparked both unease and excitement in my veins. Leyna slept in the other room soundly, oblivious to the meeting I called where I disclosed a little about the dad and Joker situation, uncaring if they thought if I was crazy or not. Orabelle and Aasim had a more cautious approach, voicing in concern how they thought I was incredibly insane to contact some creepy, older man. It juxtaposed greatly with Zeth and Jiaying's nonchalance about my safety, and their eagerness as if we were about to solve a great mystery.
How the Joker knew it was me that called? I have no idea. I also had no idea at that time how much this would change our lives. With a mixture of emotions, I played and replayed the voicemail over and over. "I knew you'd call eventually junior. Cage. Ten pm. Tonight. Be there sharp as a blade."
******
Yeah that's right, stick with this story. A bit of danger is coming on! The plot is going to pick up soon, don't worry.
This story will deffo have romance but I am not rushing things since I don't want to romanticise someone getting out of trauma or not dealing with it properly.
Please also, if you are experiencing molestation or non-consensual violations at any time, please seek a police station and speak to someone, or contact the NSPCC to speak to a practitioner, or tell an adult at your school; call childline at 0800 11 11; or call 999; there are also other options available.
Thanks, CornettoBook.
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