Jacklyn Baker (called_jack) wrote in the_colony, @ 2009-10-10 21:44:00 |
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Entry tags: | ^ week 00, jacklyn baker, jed bailey, | jack and jed |
Characters: Jack Baker and Jed Bailey (and Rocky)
Location: Albertson's grocery store in Jack's neighborhood
Summary: A surprise encounter leads to a new, if fragile, relationship.
Rating: G
Jack didn't always like grocery stores. It was the smell. There was a lot of produce and meat that had gone bad, but Jack avoided anything that had once been fresh. The store was so big, the smell eventually got lost. Besides, there was no better place to find canned food. She pushed a cart up and down the aisles, narrating her trip in her head, but keeping quiet. Applesauce, applesauce. Going to have some applesauce. Shampoo. Am I out of shampoo, I don't remember. Hey! Twinkies! These things never go bad! She tossed a few boxes in the cart when there was a click on the tile. That hadn't been her.
Jack stilled, eyes darting around, looking for the source of the noise. Click click click. A dog appeared at the end of the aisle, his toenails clicking on the tile. Part of Jack relaxed, but not all the way. She'd seen some mean dogs. But this one was friendly, coming up to her with a hopeful look and a few thumps of the tail. "Hi puppy," she said guardedly. Gingerly, she held out a hand and the dog smelled it gently and gave it a friendly lick. She smiled. "Where did you come from? Are you alone?" No one was following the dog, so he must have come in on his own. Jack stroked him and the dog pushed against her hand. "You're nice. You want something to eat? You want a twinkie?" She opened the box and unwrapped a pastry, breaking it in half. "Here you go." The dog took the treat with a gentle nip against her fingers and pressed his body against her legs. Jack laughed. "I like twinkies too. You want to stay with me? I'll look after you, I promise."
Then there was a loud screech. Jack knew what it was; the busted sliding glass doors had made the same sound when she came in the store. If there was any doubt what that meant, it was dispelled when a loud voice echoed through the store. "Rocky! Come'ere! If you eat somethin' rotten and throw up in my truck again, I'm gonna kick your ass!"
The dog, probably Rocky, looked back towards the voice, his tail wagging. Then he turned back to Jack, nuzzling her twinkie-box-holding hand. Jack didn't get much of a time to react when a large, angry-looking, rifle-toting man came around the end of the aisle. It was a couple steps before he saw Jack, but the moment he did, his eyes flew open wide and he darted back around the aisle corner faster than seemed possible for a man that large.
He wasn't the only one who looked surprised - Jack's expression shifted from one of utter shock to terror in the time it took for her heart to start pounding. Rocky was trying to beg for another twinkie but she dropped the box. There was a man. A big man. A big man with a gun. She had to get out of here. The man with the gun was on the other end of the aisle, the one closest to the door so she turned and raced the other direction towards the back of the store. Jack decided to go around the edge of the market. Maybe if she ran fast enough, she could get by the man at the front of the store and out onto the street. There were places to hide on the street.
Too bad the dog was running along with her, his noise giving away where Jack was. "Go away," she hissed. Jack jerked to a halt as she came out into the front of the store, checking to see if the way was clear. Where was he? Where was he? Oh no. There between her and the exit. She backed up a couple of steps, eyes focused on the gun. "Look, there's a whole store full of stuff you can have. I don't have anything worth taking, okay?" She tried to put an edge in her voice she wasn't sure she felt.
The man locked eyes with her, just for a moment, then he slid the gun's strap over his shoulder, holding up his empty hands. "I didn't mean to scare you, kid, you just startled me. And you got nothing to worry about; I don't take things from live people." As he spoke, he looked slowly around the store, though his feet didn't move. "You alone?"
The blond man putting his rifle away didn't make Jack feel any better. He was big and tall, that meant he was strong. Jack was small. He didn't need a gun to hurt her. The man who robbed her a couple months ago hadn't had a gun either. Jack watched him carefully and kept her distance. "My dad knows where I am," she lied. "He's going to be here any second to pick me up. If I'm not waiting outside, he'll come looking for me. He was a Marine." None of that was even close to being true; Jack's father had been a contractor and he definitely wasn't going to look for her. Hopefully, the big man would believe her and go away. Too bad this was his dog though. It would have been nice to have someone to talk to.
The man tensed, looking at the door. He seemed to be thinking, his eyes narrowing before he looked at Jack. "Your dad just left you here alone? What's he doin' that's so important?" he said, raising a doubtful eyebrow.
"None of your business." Why wasn't it working? Why didn't he just leave? She didn't know how many lies she could get away with. The dog whined and nuzzled her hand but she kept her attention on the man in front of her. Jack tried to judge the distance between big man and the door. Maybe she could outrun him.
"Okay, yeah, you got me there," the man said, smiling slightly. He also took a couple steps back. "Look, I really don't mean you no trouble. If you want, me an' my dog can just get outta here and leave you alone. But if you need help -- you an' yer dad need help -- maybe we should talk some."
For a second, Jack looked less tense now that the big man had backed off and offered to leave. But she couldn't stop herself from twisting her fingers in the fur around Rocky's neck just for a second before she let him go. If only she had a dog. Then she'd had something warm and alive to be with, something to love and love her. Something to talk to even if it couldn't talk back. If Jack had a dog, she wouldn't be alone. But this wasn't her dog.
"I don't need any help. I mean, we don't," she added quickly, trying to cover her mistake. "We're fine." That at least was generally true. Jack had a place to live and plenty of food. Sure, she was secretly terrified about what would happen if the power and the water went out but for now, she was taking care of herself just fine. "Are you going to leave now?"
"If you want," the man said again, his eyes darting down to the dog. "His name's Rocky, y'know. I was just takin' him for a walk, tryin' to tire him him out some, but I always get tired first. He's too fast a runner for me. You look like yer a real fast runner, though." He raised his eyebrows with a smile, not saying the question aloud.
Jack was torn, looking back and forth from the dog to his owner. Was he saying she could play with his dog? Could she trust him? So far, he hadn't seemed interested in either robbing her or hurting her. Would he stay not interested? It had been so long since Jack had seen another person, she wanted desperately to believe not everyone was like the last person she'd run into: the man on the street who'd hit her. How did she know what to do? Still scared, she nodded wordlessly.
"Alright then," the man said, his face breaking into a full smile before he turned and headed for the door. As he went through a checkout lane, he grabbed a stick of beef jerky and, on second thought, one of the plastic sticks that used to separate people's food on the conveyor belt. He looked back at Jack, holding it up. "Hey, this would work real good for fetch. Left all his toys at home, so gotta improvise."
"Okay." Jack was too busy watching now to do a lot of speaking and though Rocky ran back and forth between her and his master, she still kept her distance from his owner. As they walked out onto the empty street, some part of her relaxed. If anything happened, at least she was outside and there were places to run and hide.
As soon as his foot hit the curb, the man steadied his rifle with one hand before throwing the plastic stick as far as he could. Rocky bolted after it, snagging it up before it had even stopped skidding, and raced back just as eagerly. "That way, he's the one who wants to play," the man said, giving the dog a shove in the right direction. After a moment of confusion, Rocky eagerly bounded up to Jack with his prize.
Jack realized with a start that the big man had called her a he. She was wearing baggy boys' clothing, which was normal for her, and her hair had grown out from when she'd cut it to about her jawline but being thought of as a boy was a shock. Jack had been a tomboy her whole life, but never had been confused with an actual boy. It made sense that being a boy would be safer than being a girl, so she didn't bother to correct him.
When she was sure the big man wasn't going to go reaching for his rifle, she took the stick and threw it. Rocky chased it down in a matter of seconds but when he'd given the stick back to her, instead of throwing it again, she ran and the dog chased after her. Rocky bounded at Jack and when he'd nearly bowled her over, she threw the stick again. They spent the next several minutes like that; Jack and Rocky chasing each other until it was time for another round of fetch. Eventually, she had to stop to catch her breath. She was standing closer to the big man than she'd let herself get at any point up to now and smiling for the first time in weeks. "He's a good dog," she said as Rocky raced circles around her, trying to convince her to keep playing.
"He's a real good dog," the man agreed, his smile easy. "Though it looks like he's already managed to tire you out."
"Has not!" Jack protested. "It's just easier for him cause he's so big." The fear had gone away while she was running around with Rocky. If the big man was going to do something to her, he would have done it already.
"Yeah, guess I see yer point there," the man said, though a smile still pulled at his lips. With a breath of a grunt, the man sat down on the curb, pulling off a piece of beef jerky. He held it out to her. "Want some?"
Jack came closer to take the jerky and stayed where she was, not backing off for once. She gnawed the end of the meat, watching the big man with curiosity instead of fear. It was interesting that he didn't seem to be mean but the last person she'd seen had been. Jack wondered why that was. Must be the dog, she decided. If she had a dog like Rocky, she wouldn't be mean. Jack wished she could think of something to say but it had been so long since she'd talked to anyone, it was hard to remember how.
"I'm Jed," the man said, filling the silence and holding out his hand. "Don't think I mentioned it."
Despite thinking that if the big man - Jed - was going to hurt her, he would have done it already, Jack still hesitated before taking his hand. She had to remind herself that she was brave. "I'm...Jack." She shook his hand and nothing happened. "Do you live around here?"
"Naw, I drove out in my truck. It's parked a couple streets away," he said, nodding his head east. "You gotta live close, right? Since yer on foot."
Immediately, Jack's defenses went back up and she narrowed her eyes. "Maybe I do, maybe I don't. I told you I got dropped off."
Jed shifted where he sat, leaning his elbow on his knee. "Look, kid," he said, smiling. "We both know that ain't true."
It wasn't true because there was no one to drop her off. First her mom had died and then her dad had died but Jack hadn't died. She hadn't come close to understanding why. "You don't know anything about me," she protested, crossing her arms. "What do you care?"
"I care 'cause yer alone, and that's tough," he said, the smile gone but his eyes steady on hers. "You got someplace to sleep tonight? Somethin' good to eat?"
"I can take care of myself." And she could. It'd been months now and she was still doing it. It felt like it had been forever; her old life felt further and further away all the time.
He opened his mouth pretty quick but closed it again without saying anything. Nodding, he said, "Yeah, I'm sure you can. I could use some help though. Rocky could use someone else to play with sometimes; I ain't enough for him." Jed's smile was back. "You seem pretty good with him. Maybe we can meet up sometimes and you can entertain him a while."
Jack considered this carefully. She wanted to agree immediately just because she wanted that dog. "Okay, but only if we pick a time and a place to meet. And then I'll just come there." Jack would go and meet Jed and Rocky, she wouldn't tell him where she lived.
"Sounds like a plan. You know any place good? I'm still new to Vegas, so don't know the best places fer a dog yet."
This was Jack's neighborhood and she knew it well. Knew it better now than she ever had before. "There's a park over there." She pointed. "Maybe a mile or something on Sandalwood." Jack had skateboarded there more times than she could count. Jed looked the direction she pointed before pushing himself to his feet.
"I'll grab my truck an' you can show me the way," he said.
"No way." She shook her head. "You got a car, go drive around until you find it. No way I'm getting in a car with you." Jack wasn't completely stupid and letting Jed drive her would be giving him control. That was too risky.
"Alright, yeah," Jed said, holding up a hand. "I understand that. So when you want to meet? 'Round the same time, tomorrow?"
Jack nodded, already making plans. She'd skateboard down there and bring Rocky a treat. It was nice to have something new to look forward. "Okay, yeah."
Jed gave a nod and then his eyes wandered down the street. Then he looked sharply the other direction. "Shit," he muttered, turning a full circle. Then he yelled. "Rocky! Wherever you are, get back here! Now!"
There was a skitter of claws from the store they'd come out of, and then Rocky came galloping out. His muzzle had a spattering of white foam on it.
"Ew," Jack offered. "What'd he eat?"
"Hell if I know," Jed grumbled, setting his gun down so he could pry Rocky's jaws open. The dog didn't resist, even wagging his tail. "Whatever it was, it's gone now. Juss hope I don' see it again later."
Gross. "Maybe it's twinkie. I gave him one earlier." Jack gave Rocky one last pat. "I'm going to go." Already Jack was planning. She'd hide until she was sure Jed was gone, then she'd come back to finish her shopping and get Rocky treats for later. "I'll be at the park tomorrow."
"Twinkie wouldn't be the worst he's eaten," Jed said, shifting the rifle over his shoulder again. "Alright. You sure you don' need any help gettin' home?"
Jack shook her head. "I'm okay." She didn't know what else to say so she added, "Bye Rocky," before she ran off, racing out of the parking lot and around the corner.