Who: Charlie, Obi-Wan What: Obi picks up Charlie from a strip club... Obi uses the Force to figure out just what Charlie's problem is When: Wednesday, 2:30AM Where: Somewhere in Irvine Ratings/Warnings: PG-13 Status: Complete
It was about 2:30 AM when Obi-Wan rolled into Irvine, and quarter-to-three when he located the gentleman's club--and Charlie was right, there were no gentlemen to be found. But there was also no Charlie. Obi's glare through the car windows was strong enough to melt the glass, as he searched for the man's identifiable petite shape among the shadows. He had given orders for the kid to wait outside.
Obi pulled out his phone and sent a quick text message: I am here. Where are you? That was code for, You better not make me come inside.
Good thing Charlie spoke code. He appeared at the door a few minutes later. Obi rolled down the window and shouted, "I'd like to get out of here as quickly as possible, if you don't mind."
Charlie stumbled to the car and crawled into the back seat, where he flopped down like it was a sofa. "You have something against naked women, mate?"
Obi ignored him for at least a full minute, preferring to step on the gas and get them on their way. For once, he wasn't driving like an old man.
He would have been lying if he said he had never been to a gentlemen's club before, but he had been very young at the time. Younger than Charlie. He didn't care for it then, he abhorred it now. "I have something against paying women to undress for me, yes," he said at length, glancing at Charlie through the rearview mirror. "Stuffing dollar bills into the G-string of another man's daughter, or some child's mother... You enjoy that?"
Charlie was quiet, except for a muffled and indecisive, "Ngh."
"You better not get sick in my car," Obi muttered. He shook his head and kept his eyes on the road.
Charlie grunted again, and pushed himself up to a seated position. The lights of other cars were blinding, as if he was already as hungover as he was drunk. His head ached, too. Frankly, everything hurt, his soul included. He felt heavy, like a body unable to float in water, like someone drowning.
"Every man who knocks on the door of a brothel is looking for God," he said, after a long while had gone without either of them saying anything. "G. K. Chesterton."
Obi squinted into the rearview mirror. "I'm sorry, I don't know the man."
Charlie didn't reply right away. He squeezed his eyes shut and leaned back in the seat. He played with the hem of his Drive Shaft T-shirt. "You'd probably like him."
At this, Obi flexed his brows. He realized now, that he was really fighting giving the kid a good mental lashing. A spanking, perhaps. But he bit his tongue, recognizing his own pride. All he really wanted to do was go back to his own home--his own home--and sleep. Beside Dani. Whose breasts he didn't have to pay to see...
Had Charlie really not had anyone else to call? He knew the kid's family wasn't around, but weren't there friends somewhere? Old co-workers? Legally, the club owner would have been forced to provide him with a taxi.
Charlie's eyes were drifting closed now, and as Obi pulled up to a red light, he dared for the first time to poke around in another person's brain. The Force was especially powerful on the drunk and the asleep. No walls to work around, no defense mechanisms in place. He didn't feel guilty in the least; and the longer he spent combing through the refuse, the more convicted Obi became. His eyes glazed with sadness.
Poor kid. Poor Charlie.
Obi had picked up Charlie from his apartment before, which was why he knew exactly where to go. After what he had seen, he wasn't so sure leaving the kid on his own was a good idea. In fact, it seemed like a very dangerous one.
He parked on the street. Charlie snorted awake. "What? Where am I?"
"Don't you live here?"
"Oh yeah..." Charlie sighed, opening his car door. "Yeah well... thanks, mate... I guess I'll catch you later." He wanted to sound more grateful, but he was too drunk. It was possible it was still a little high from the afternoon.
So he was understandably startled when Obi got out of the car, too, and began to follow him.
"Unfinished business, mate?" he asked.
Obi shook his head. "Mind if I crash here?" he asked, as if it was the other end of the bargain for picking Charlie up. He sounded very casual.
"Well... why? What's up?" He knitted his brows together.
Obi lifted his hand. He waggled his fingers in the air for good measure. "You don't mind if I crash here."
Charlie tilted his head. "Naw, man. I don't mind if you crash here..."
"You'll let me sleep on the sofa, tonight." So I can keep an eye on you.
"You can sleep on the sofa tonight..."
Obi smiled. Ah, so it really does work.
But then Charlie shook his head. "Wait, I don't have a sofa."