by M. Robinson
Six months since my mom left us for Heaven.
In the wake of her death, our lives had changed in such drastic ways. Nothing was familiar anymore, not one damn thing. Our father was never around, drowning himself in work, leaving little time for anything else. Especially his kids. I couldn’t remember the last time I saw him walk through the front door, because he never came home.
Whatever was left of Aiden Pierce, our once family-dedicated dad, lived and breathed that fuckin’ hospital.
He didn’t give a shit about us anymore.
Not even the baby girl he’d always wanted.
It didn’t help that Noah and Skyler stepped in for him, taking care of his responsibilities. Explaining to us they’d promised our mom they’d be here for our family, or what was left of it anyway, in any way, shape, or form. It was like our mother already knew what was going to happen after she was no longer with us.
Fully aware our father would leave right along with her the day she took her last breath.
He did.
I didn’t know what was worse, assuming we were so easily forgettable or thinking he just couldn’t be near us at all. I always knew my mother was his everything, but I thought and believed we were a part of that too.
Journey didn’t even know his touch, his love, his devotion to give us everything. Never expecting anything in return. She had no idea who he was, which was sad in itself. He had yet to hold his own flesh and blood, his only daughter, in his arms. My baby sister lost both her parents all in the same day, and I hated that for her.
For my brother.
For me.
Jagger was becoming more reclusive than he normally was. He’d always been the quiet one, although now, you wouldn’t know he was around at all.
I spent more and more time with Journey, wanting to feel close to my mom. She was the spitting image of her with her bright blue eyes, button nose, and wavy brown baby hair. I’d sit with her in the rocking chair in the nursery and thank God everyday she was in our lives to begin with. Having a piece of our mother left behind helped take away the pain, the loss, the loneliness. That not only lived in our hearts, but in our home, which used to be filled with so much love and happiness.
Now, it was filled with nothing but emptiness and loss.
Skylar pretty much lived at our house day in and day out, fulfilling the role of our parent as best she could with having her own life and kids to take care of.
On top of that, she was expecting again. It didn’t surprise anyone when they announced it a few months ago. Noah couldn’t keep his hands off her.
It was only a matter of time until she could no longer meet the demands we needed, due to having a newborn of her own.
I was terrified of what would happen when that time came...
Would social services get involved? Would they take us away? Split us up? Would we be following in the same footsteps of our parents and be raised in the system too?
The questions were relentless.
If social services did fuck with us, I wouldn’t think twice about running away with them. At the end of the day, I’d fight for my siblings. No one would take them away from me.
They were all I had left.
“Bro, are you even listenin’?” Trigger asked, tearing me away from another one of my biggest fears.
“Mmm hmm...” I mumbled, walking beside him toward the bus after school.
“I was just sayin’ Friday’s game we sho—”
“The fuck?” I interrupted, taking in the scene unfolding in front of us. “This asshole again?”
“What?” he muttered, confused.
I nodded to the shit show that had captured half of our school’s attention. With Harley Jameson being front and center of it all.
Cash was leaning against the picnic table, strumming his guitar in that pansy-ass, bluesy beat she claimed to love. His head moving side-to-side with his foot bouncing up and down to the tune he was playing.
Boy toy was singing a song.
Not just any song...
Her song.
He’d been singing and playing it for the Gremlin since he’d picked up a guitar, and there she was dancing around in sync with his music. Putting on a show for everyone to see, lost in their own stupid little world together. Baby girl loved the attention, eating up every second of it. Swaying her head like his, closing her eyes while she rocked her hips back and forth.
Being one with the rhythm.
My temper was looming as the bluesy beat went da na na na na na, and then he sang, “There was a girl...”
Da na na na na na.
“And her name was Harley.”
Da na na na na na.
“She was the coolest girl.”
Da na na na na na.
“In all of the town.”
Da na na na na na.
“With her bright blue eyes.”
Da na na na na na.
“And snarky fuckin’ mouth.”
Da na na na na na.
“She was my girl.”
Da na na na na na.
“No matter what.”
Da na na na na na.
“She’d always be...
Da na na na na na.
“My very best friend.”
Da na na na na na.
“Now, forever, then.”
Da na na na na na.
It was like we were all outsiders looking in on their tight ass bond.
“Who does he think he is, putting on a show? Thinking he’s going to be famous, when we all know he’s going to end up performing at the nearest coffee shop for the rest of his pathetic life.” My glare shifted to meet Trigger’s eyes. “Wanna have some fun?”
“Pierce.” He slyly grinned at me. “You know I’m always down for a good time.”
“Well...” I cocked my head to the side. “If he wants to be the Greatest fuckin’ Showman, then let’s make it a reality for him today.”
Trigger arched an eyebrow, understanding my drift.
“Ten bucks for who can embarrass them the most?”
He nodded, smirking. “I never turn down a bet.”
Trigger wasn’t lying. That motherfucker never said no to anything the football team or I bet him to do. He was always up for a challenge.
The harder the bet, the more he wanted to show us up.
It triggered him. Hence, where he got his nickname.
He didn’t waver, beating me to the punch like I knew he would.
Clapping his hands together, he loudly announced, “Step right up, ladies and gents! No need to fear! Come see the dumbass pussy boy and his trained dancin’ monkey!”
Cash instantly stopped, making Harley whip around to face Trigger. The crowd fell into a fit of laugher, pointing at the dynamic duo.
Trigger didn’t miss a beat, staring only at them as he spun in a slow circle with his arms out in the air. “Only a two-dollar admission to the lamest show on earth!”
Harley bit out, “The only trained animal I see is you, Trigger.” Eyeing me, she added, “Jackson, call your lapdog before I give him a taste of what I’ve been feedin’ you all these years.”
I fired back, “What’s the matter, Gremlin? Can’t fight your own battles? Need a real guy to help you out? I don’t see your very best friend Cash moving a muscle to defend your honor.”
“Fuck off, Pierce! It’s you who needs protection from Harley. Better guard those balls, quarterback, we all know who owns ‘em.”
I growled, stepping toward him but Harley got in my face. “You know better than anyone, Jackson Pierce, I can and will fight my own battles. Especially when it comes to you. I just can’t believe YOU are still tryin’ to pick one with me! Cash and I are mindin’ our own business, and you two Neanderthals decide to stir shit up. What’s wrong with you?”
Everyone went quiet, too busy paying attention to every last word that flew out of our mouths.
“Nothing wrong with me, baby girl. I just know your daddy wouldn’t appreciate the way you’
re dancing.”
“Ugh Jackson! Why do you gotta be so frustratin’? After everythin’ we been through!”
Clenching my jaw, I snarled, “Shut your mouth, Harley.”
No one knew what happened between us on the roof. We didn’t even talk about it.
In my mind, it never happened.
I didn’t give a shit what she assumed in her fairytale-filled little brain. We hated each other.
End. Of. Story.
She met my heated stare, spewing, “Or what?”
I scoffed out a chuckle, I couldn’t help it. “You want to play with me?” I held my phone up and threatened, “Don’t make me send this video of you dancing like you’re working a pole to your daddy.”
Her eyes widened. “What? You filmed me?”
“Did I fuckin’ stutter, Gremlin?”
She reached for my phone. “Give me that!”
I held it higher. “Oh, I’ll give it to you... I’ll give it to everybody. How do you feel about becoming an internet sensation?! I wonder how long I can get you grounded for this time.” With my finger over the send button, I mocked, “Should we find out?”
“Rudolph, don’t you dare!”
I smiled, placing my phone in my front pocket. She wouldn’t go in there, not when it was so close to my dick.
“I’ll just hang on to the evidence... never know when I might need to use it... guess you’ll have to wait and see.” Leaning in close to her ear where only she could hear me, I whispered, “And I know you love waiting, Harley. Cause we both know you’re just waiting for me to suck on your tongue again.”
She shoved me as hard as she could, but I barely moved an inch. Laughing in her face instead.
“I hate you so much.”
“You wish you hated me,” I baited, meaning it.
“Why are you such a bully?”
“I’m not.”
“Yes, you ar—”
I smacked her ass nice and hard. “Now that’s being a bully.”
“You fresh assho—”
“Alright, students! Break it up! The buses are here and it’s time for you all to go home,” a teacher ordered, while I blew a kiss and winked at Harley. Reminding her who was boss.
I owned her.
Now.
Forever.
Mine.
Chapter 17
<>Jackson<>
She backed away, glaring at me like a rabid dog.
“What just happened?” Shiloh asked, walking up behind her, grabbing her arm. “I was getting my books out of my locker.”
“Nothin’. Let’s go,” Harley replied to her cousin, quickly turning to walk toward the bus.
“You owe me ten bucks,” Trigger celebrated, knocking his elbow into mine. “I kicked your ass.”
I handed it over, mouthing off, “Don’t go spending it all in one place, ya hear?”
“That’s your girls’ cousin, right?” he asked about Shiloh.
“Mmm hmm.”
“You wish she was your girl,” Cash chimed in, catching me off guard.
Pussy boy wanted to go one-on-one with me now.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “If I wanted Harley, I could easily have her. Trust me, she’d forget your name by the time I was done with her.”
“You mean like your mom forgot yours.”
I jerked back like he had punched me in the face.
“Shit, man.” He shook his head. “I didn’t mean that.”
“Yes, you did. Man up, you fuckin’ pussy.” With that, I rammed my shoulder into his before confidently striding my way to the bus.
Trying like hell to keep my shit together.
That hurt.
Hurt so bad, I found it hard to breathe.
Bringing back all the times my mom raged, yelling I wasn’t her son.
“I don’t know you!”
“I’m not your mother!”
“Get out of here!”
“Get away from me!”
“I hate you!”
“Jackson, it’s your stop!” the bus driver called out, making me realize I was lost in my own mind the entire ride home.
I nodded, getting off the bus with Jagger by my side.
“You alright?” he questioned, looking worried.
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.”
I snapped, “I said I was fine.”
“Whoa.” He held his hands up. “I was just asking.”
I brushed him off, too pissed to apologize. As soon as we got home, Jagger was the first to walk in, followed by me slamming the door shut. The walls vibrated with the wrath I was feeling deep in my bones.
Livid from the turn of events. These emotions were playing with my head, and they were starting to give me whiplash.
I rushed into the kitchen, roughly throwing my backpack onto the island. Overhearing Journey’s wails rumbling out of her full force. Getting louder and louder from her nursery. If she didn’t stop soon, she was going to make herself sick.
I grabbed a water bottle from the fridge, taking it down in one long gulp. Dehydrated from the madness running through my veins.
“You mean like your mom forgot yours.”
“What’s up with you? Coming into the house and slamming the front door like that,” Skyler reprimanded, fueling the fire coursing in my blood. “Journey could have been sleeping.”
“I’d never hurt my baby sister.”
“Of course, you wouldn’t.” She grimaced. “Where is that coming from?”
Jagger intervened. “Jackson’s just being a dick.”
“Screw you!”
“Jackson! Jagger! What’s wrong with you two?”
“Nothing’s wrong with me. I’m simply stating the obvious. My brother’s being a dick.”
“Hey!” she scolded. “Enough of that!”
“Wow, Jagger, you actually spoke words today. I’m surprised you still remember how.”
“I’m just calling it like I see it, dick.”
“I’ll show you who’s a dick.” I moved toward him, but Skyler got in between us. Exactly how her niece did with Cash and I at school.
“Jackson, control your temper! I swear you’re just like your father.”
My mom used to say the same thing to me all the time, and the mere thought further pissed me off.
“Whatever,” I muttered under my breath, sliding past her to go to my bedroom. Where I could be alone with the truth Cash threw in my face.
“Jackson! What is up with you?!” Skyler called out behind me down the hallway.
I didn’t answer, ignoring her nosey ass.
“Hey! I’m talking to you!”
One foot in front of the other, don’t stop. Just go.
“I said, I’m talking to you!”
“Oh my God, Sky! Just back off! We don’t want or need you here! Go home and raise your own damn kids!”
“Jackson! Don’t you walk away from me! You come back here right now!”
If she wanted a piece of me, then she was about to get it.
“Screw you, Sky!” I spun around. “I’m so sick of your shit! You’re just as big of a pain in the ass as your niece! But at least I can make Harley go away! Wish I could say the same for you!”
“Jackson, I get it! You’re angry! We’re all angry! Do you think this is easy on any of us?”
“You don’t know anything! Especially not how I’m feeling!”
It was the truth.
No one knew what I was going through.
Not one damn person.
“Jackson, I’m just trying to help!”
“Nobody wants your help!” I shouted, grinding my teeth. “When are you gonna get that?”
“You need my help, your dad needs—”
“My dad?” I scoffed out with pure disgust you could feel through the walls. “You’re seriously going to play that card? Oh, come on, Sky! That’s a joke and you know it!”
“That’s not fair. Your dad needs you now more than ever,
and you being a little shit doesn’t help any!”
“Where’s my dad, Sky?! Huh? Tell me! Where’s the man who needs me? Cuz I haven’t seen him in months! Why would he come home when you’re always here taking care of his responsibilities? How many times do I have to tell you, you’re not my mother?! So just turn your ass around and go home for once! Nobody wants you here!”
Out of nowhere, I heard a voice I didn’t recognize, roaring, “Jackson Pierce, you do not talk to her that way!”
Instantly, everyone’s heated glares shifted to the woman standing with a peaceful Journey in her arms. Her eyes widened when she realized what she had just done.
Narrowing my eyes at her, I scanned her up and down with a demeaning stare. “Who the hell are you?”
“Jackson,” Skyler snarled, bringing my attention back to her. “I’m interviewing her to possibly be your new nanny.”
My mouth dropped open. “Are you fuc—”
“Boy, you finish that sentence and I swear I will wash your mouth out with soap. Do you understand me?” the woman warned, interrupting me.
“Oh ... this is bulls—”
The expression on the chick’s face was enough to render me silent.
I scowled, shaking my head as I backed away. “Whatever.” Eyeing only the woman, I assessed her again. Except this time, I really took my time taking her in.
She was young.
Latina.
Pretty.
Closer to my age than my old man’s, that was for damn sure.
My friends would like her. A lot.
I cocked an eyebrow with a predatory regard. “At least Mary Poppins is hot. Maybe her ass will make my dad leave the hospital and come home for once.”
She jerked back, and Skyler seethed, “Jackson Pierce! You apologize! Right now!”
I rolled my eyes, snidely smiling. “You’re the one who hired her, right?” I shrugged. “Should have thought of that before you decided we needed a babysitter. I am a growing boy, after all. So now what? Should we call you Mommy?” I asked her.
“Oh my God, Jackson,” Skyler bellowed, her face turning bright red from embarrassment.
Mirroring Mary ‘fuckin’ Poppins.
Before anyone said another word, I angrily turned around and stormed into my bedroom. Slamming the door so hard behind me, it rattled the walls.
I waited, listening to them intently at the door.
Skyler sighed deeply with humiliation I could feel through the drywall.
