Jem...Chapter 41

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Jem…Chapter 41

Chapter 41

“Randy…Danny.” I nod to both of them as I just adjust my footing. They’re big guys and I might be able to get around them to the drivers side. I was just distracted enough that they rushed me. Randy first and I duck his swing and stomp kick the front of his ankle pitching him forward and bouncing him off my car.

Danny takes a swing just behind Randy and I lean back out of the way of the swing and give him a kick in the ribs.

It doesn’t slow him much.

I’m pretty sure he’s wired at least a little, that’s the thing about meth. It’s a really potent mix of stuff really it’s the fact it’s an amphetamine and a lot of people use it to go through the day, to get shit done…I’m not saying it’s remotely a good thing but it gets them through the day. But that wired on speed even if it’s meth makes your body jacked up.

Randy’s up by then and it’s on. I could give you this play by play of the fight but it’s me whittling them down. Both are double teaming me and that’s fine. I’ve done MMA for awhile and been in street fights. The thing about getting teamed up on is it’s only effective if they can corner you or actually know what they’re doing.

They don’t.

Both of them are big boys, they’ve been bruisers likely most of their lives and they’re really confident, overconfident. I just keep moving, dodge, weave. Not a fight Mike, treat it like a match. Get hit, gab and throw. Breathe out at the impact hits, protect my face, they can’t work your body for shit.

They’re flagging, there’s only so much that they’re able to take. They’ll both fuck off soon and back off.

Then there’s this burst of pain across my back and Brook’s mom’s there and she just hit me with a baseball bat. The boys jump me and it’s rough, they’re beating me pretty hard. I’m lucky that they don’t know really how to.

Well It’s almost funny when Mrs. McWhitter cranks Danny upside of the head with the bat trying to hit me. I grab the bat from her when she’s going. “Shit, shit Dan get up an kick his ass.”

“Thanks.”

I butt strike Randy’s ball-sac with the bat like it’s the end of a rifle and when he rolls off to the side crying I leg sweet Brooks mom, yeah well I could’ve done worse but getting knocked on her ass will get her out of my way. I roll up to my feet and as Danny’s starting to get up I put a strike right into his breadbasket driving the wind out of him.

Both are down enough and I point the bat at her and she scrambles away. “Yer fucking dead!, dead Henry’s gonna fuck you up so bad you ain’t going to wish you was born.”

I ignore her and kneel on Randy bat into his throat. “This is done, fucking done. I was just getting Brooklyn’s stuff and I paid her five hundred for it.”

He looks at her.

“Yeah she never told you that huh. Well it’s done, you look for me, and it’ll end really bad…Mountie bad asshole got that?”

He nods. “You’re not a cop. Yer too young…”

“True but my old man is and we both know not even the local bacon’ll have a problem sweeping you boy’s off the street and on that bus to Kingston.”

“Fucking Brook, lil bitch…” I tap him hard on the head with the bat.

“She’s never said shit and she won’t, neither will I. This didn’t happen right?”

He looks at me hard. “Yeah…Never happened…”

“Good, maybe she should share that five after the shit you two got dragged into.”

His eyes narrow looking at her.

I get up and force myself to stalk to my car and toss the bat in and drive away, I’ve got the pipe wrench I used too in the boxes. I was print careful, I’m not too worried about them and my plates, all three are stoned and tweaking. Most people that are stone cold sober aren’t able to get a proper plate number.

I pull out and I head way and part at the closest gas station to the house. I sit and wait listening to the police band radio. No calls to that address. I wasn’t in the house so god only knows what’s in there but likely stuff they don’t want.

I’m stiffening up with the bruising. After a good thirty minutes I head home to Uncle Remy’s and pull in to the back, I can unload the stuff into the side kitchen door.

I move the boxes first and as much as it hurts I want to do it before I stiffen to where I don’t want to move. I leave a note saying “Brook’s stuff from home…explain later.”

I head upstairs hurting and tasting blood on my teeth finally now that I’m stopping. After a check over…ow…nothing’s broken, well my fingers and knuckles are hurting not aching but hurting…no gloves, no tape just ow…my arms are a mess too from blocking the rest is ignorable.

I stop in the shower before turning the taps on.

Proud? Damn Skippy I‘m proud of her. Just getting out of that situation. Falling through the cracks is damned well easy enough to handle. Add in the drug culture it’s really hard, make this about family….beside that being child abuse or worse. It’s damned near impossible.

You ever find out something about someone they’re never told you and it just makes you fall for them deeper?

I’ve never felt like this before….I think I’m really falling for her.

Ow…even the water stings right now.

*Angel…

I get up from my place on the steps and pretty chilled from the morning air even with the blanket. Okay I’m strange because I like getting chilled. It just feels so good when I climb into the shower.

I smile at the ideas floating around in my head and I take the last of my cookies and some of the bread and I make a list of a few things and get dressed. Faded jeans, cute tee-shirt with Barbie on it a white knit beret and a plaid shirt over that.

Yeah, that works. I like this look. I grab the acoustic too and call the cab.

The taxi van pulls up and I stow my guitar in the back and get in the front and smile then kiss the driver on his scruffy grey cheek. “Morning Jimmy.”

“Morning Angel, how’s things going?”

“Drive us to Tim’s first and I’ll catch you up.”

He does and I tell him about the band and the girls and how it was his idea with us getting a You Tube channel. He blushes and grins at some of the descriptions of things. I never really had grandparents both sets being gone before I came around. Jimmy is very grandfatherly.

“I’m not a rock n roller there Angel but I think I can stop by for that slow song stuff on the Tuesdays.”

“That’d be awesome Jimmy please do and bring a date.”

“A date? No I’m just an old codger…I’m too old to date.”

“Then it’s coffee, and some music. It’d be good for more than just you. There’s lots of old widowed ladies in this town.”

He blushes some more. “I’ll put some thinking into it….here we are.” I got him to take me downtown and I’m at the bank. I’m using the TD (Toronto Dominion.) bank not because I like them better than the others but they’re open late, that’s more useful to me I think.

“How much Jimmy?”

“No, nothing at all you girls still aren’t out of struggling yet and I’m not going to be taking money from you yet.”

“I though you’d say that…here.” I pass him the bag I’d packed of the leftover cookies and baked goods.

He doesn’t object to those and he’s smelling the bag like Kim would. “Oh Angel darling it’s been years since I had any really good home cooking.” He takes a cookie and he bites into it and even a few days old he’s got this big smile going on. I can’t help but have this big smile too. I give him another peck. “Gotta go, love you Jimmy.”

I grab my bag and my guitar and wave as he heads out for another call talking with a cookie in his mouth.

It’s one of the things that kind of makes me glad about being Angel. I have a perfect excuse to be sweet to people. Guys can’t really do that, you have to have a macho way of doing things and even a reason sometimes for the whole open interplay with people. Girls can be as open and show as much heart as they want to, but also there’s no stigma from letting a girl be sweet to you.

The banking was pretty standard stuff just keep in mind I was helping Dad with the books and stuff. I used my new I.D.’s to get my account set up, the online stuff set up, apply for a credit card yes there’s a teen card that they offer with a five hundred dollar limit and set my cheques up so that every time I cash one twenty goes onto the credit card. Oh yeah I’m approved and even recognized by a few of the younger people at the bank? Apparently the Lucky’s commercial go figure and I even get my debit card to round the change off of every purchase to the next dollar to go into a savings account. I get two of those, one I can use normally and the other one I can’t unless I come in and sign at the bank. The debit funnels into that one. I will just have to wait for my credit card and cheques-books in the mail. Yeah I got written personal cheques since I might need them for the band and stuff. They’re good for deposits on things.

I get a Sprite and go from there to the bus stop and I open up the guitar case and I start to play doing the busking thing.

*Time after Time.* By Cyndi Lauper and that’s a good one because people remember it, it takes them back and I smile at people with big happy smiles as the tip me going by.

*River of Dreams.* By Billy Joel and like me a lot of people like Billy Joel and I enjoy playing it too.

*I can see clearly now.* By Jimmy Nash an incredible song…I get up onto the bench I was sitting on and I play and project out my voice just falling into the joy of the song, thinking about this morning and last night, getting my I.D.’s all of the good stuff, the girls the band being me.

Everyone likes the song and being up on the bench I can see the bus coming so I can finish up and thank the few people that stayed to watch me. There’s decent tips, really decent tips here downtown around the banks and stuff. I’ll count it later and I pour it into my pack and get on the bus to the Hunter Street Mall the old one I went to before.

I get a bus pass from the driver and the transfer slip I’ll need for the other bus that I’ll need to take and ask. “Hey, it alright if I play? I’ll take the back bench.” I shy smile him.

“Yeah, sure it’d be a nice break from the radio.”

I kiss his cheek making him blush. I notice and even touch his name tag. “George…thanks George, I’m Angel.”

“I…Uhm..I..G’wan you’re holding the other up.”

I smile and head back to the back seat and I open up and start playing again. I know a lot of songs and singing but I’m actually training myself. Before becoming Angel I was mostly a songwriter and sang occasionally mostly because I was shy and really would have only been beat all the more for it. Besides in Harper’s Point I’m pretty much one of less than a handful of busking singers or maybe the only one. It’s not a big thing here because we’re a small city/Large town and a lot of people that’d try just assume there’d be trouble with the town seeming kind of blue collar.

We’re actually a pretty decently musical town really and we’re on the college band list from our schools. We’ve a community college, a business school, a compu-college and an orbital campus for the Ontario arts college. Add in the pubs and bars and other places it’s a decent venue for small bands and “The Cat.” is the Lez bar that gets you booked at any other lez-club in Canada at the nod of the owners I hear.

I play as we go. *All I wanna do is have some fun.* By Sheryl Crow and go into *Stand by me.* By Ben E. King, I love this song too and so does everyone else too. That’s the trick to busking and that’s to really play things that have great universal appeal. That and bus busking is pretty good money wise too since I seem to be quite the novelty. I catch a burst of kids from one of the schools and there’s a lot of change and there’s a few bills too…even a twenty from this asian guy who gives me a head bow thing and a big smile. “Was-awesome, thank you-very much.” he says before leaving. He has the look of one of the community college exchange kids.

Yeah it was a good idea when they did that, even if I hear on of the Marshals came up with it. Bring in exchange kids from all over for the trades and not just the academics. We’ve got a course there that teaches well drilling and building and irrigation stuff that I’ve never heard of around here.

I relax and save my voice on the second transfer and drink my Sprite and count my tips up. I’ve close to a hundred and thirty dollars thanks to the last bunch of kids and it you get a good number of dollar and two dollar coins too.

That’s awesome actually. I’m just bouncing by the time I get to Hunter Street Mall and the first thing I do is head to their TD branch to convert the change to cash. I also put thirty away twenty into my locked down savings account and ten in my regular savings account.

Okay I’m already ahead in my savings.

First stop is Frenchy’s. That’s a second hand used clothing store that’s mostly binned stuff you have to sift through things and I’m looking for t-shirts just plain but in any color. I get a whole plastic grocery bag of them for five dollars. It’s some thing that the thrift stores do like here and the Salvation army somedays. I see this girl doing the same and she looks at me. “You’re Jem aren’t you?”

“Guilty as charged, You?” I extend my hand.

“Kate, my sister is one of the waitresses over at The Pine Tree, I heard about you sharing the band tips, right on for doing that y’know.”

“Hey, unless you’re born rich or win the lotto we’re all struggling, every little bit helps.”

“Fair’s fair.”

She smiles at me. “Not everyone’s as decent. So…what’s with the t-shirts?”

“I’m going to stencil them with stuff for the band.”

“Cool, here.” She takes a bag of elastics out of her pocket. I catch on quick to what she’s doing and that’s on bag days it’s what fit’s in a standard grocery plastic bag and Kate’s folding and rolling things up as tight as she can and using the elastics to hold them in place. I start doing the same. I grin as we’re doing that with her and I feel like I’ve learned a secret girl thing.

I shop in general there too getting a pink fuzzy sweater dress that Kate just shook her head at and some old rock t-shirts that are really old and faded have holes and just perfect, AC/DC, Judas Priest, Motley Crue, Some others…I hug Kate before going.

“Thanks Kate, this was fun.”

“No Problem, I’ll see you at the show tonight you’re playing some faster stuff?”

“Hot, fast, sexy change the whole hump day vibe in town with a shake off the middle of the week.”

“Cool, we’ll be there.”

I grin heading off and to the craft store for fabric paints, glitter, and glow in the dark glitter. Then I head to Dollarama for a few things there and then the Superstore for the groceries I want.

I call Jimmy to come and get me and wait outside with my grocery cart smiling and thinking about…I check my watch and take out my phone and text Brooklyn.

[Hey, What’s up?]

[Lunch, Mike’s here. *Squee!!!*]

[Coolness, very yay girl. So what do you think of this line?]

We text back and forth and I was just starting to bounce the ideas off Brook but we just back and forthed and maybe, maybe ten minutes later we wrote our next song.

[Awesome, just killer…my cab’s here. I’ll see you at home?]

[Yeah, I can get the music written by then in study hall.]

[Yay! Love You Brook.]

[I know, laters.]

I head home and invite Jimmy in for dinner, which he accepts and I show him around before letting him take a nap while I make us tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches on really thick sliced homemade bread. I like a bit of grated cheddar and mozzarella in with the cheese slices and I use real butter on the grilled cheeses. You shouldn’t eat this stuff all the time but when you do, make it good don’t scrimp, make yourself drool. He loves the meal and hugs me tight and I walk him to the van and give him a big hug.

I like being good to people.

Okay….

Supper I get my rice cooking and put the sausages I bought in the pan all chopped up with chopped up kielbasa then I chop onions and some garlic and boil the cabbages.

Yep I’m making cabbage rolls. I make the filling out of rice, ground beef, sautéed onions and garlic, the hot Italian sausage and the polish kielbasa, to that I add grated carrots, celery buzzed up in the food processor and grated cabbage…I never though not having grated cabbage inside them made sense. Some paprika and then I roll them up. That’s the biggest secret.

Boil the cabbage and cool it and the wrap really east especially if you take out the stem like part of the leaves. The sauce in three things…Campbell’s canned tomato soup, a couple table spoons of raspberry jam and Frank’s red hot sauce.

Once it’s cooked it’s really good.

After that I make “Pine Tree Brittle” I toast some pine nuts with garlic salt, butter and fresh rosemary and some fresh cracked black pepper and I pour candy ready sugar and butter into it when it’s ready then spread it out on a buttered cookie sheet and toss some sea salt on it. It’s something I want to surprise Mr. Walker with and have it this savory, herby, brittle that’s still sweet and buttery.

I kind of really want this to work for the band and the Café. It’d be nice to get things happening more downtown. The more they do the more other places will hire bands and other stuff and the better the nightlife gets the more people will stay in town, or come here instead of other places.

While the stuff’s cooking and baking away I start on the t-shirts. I use the ironing board and using a picture of the butterfly on the van I try and match the colors and cut a stencil from Bristol board/Poster paper and try it on some newspapers. I use a roller for getting the paint on then add the glitter and press it down with waxed paper and take the hair dryers and the fans to dry the whole thing.

Once they’re drying I whip up some bread dough, and boil my sweet potatoes. I make a couple of sweet potato chunky pies. Sugar and butter and gingersnap crust with the boiled sweet potatoes chopped to chunks with butter, brown sugar, two eggs, nutmeg and cinnamon and pecans then just baked slowly in the oven with some sweetened coconut on top. They don’t need to cook long just enough for the eggs and stuff to bind together and brown. The bread goes in lastly and I make a coleslaw with bean sprouts and grated apple in it to go with the cabbage rolls. Just regular slaw but just adding the two other things, it’s not bad actually.

I know, I’m busy but if you get things all organized in your head then you can do a lot of stuff. Plus not going to school, I’m not used to the freedom and the full time. I’ve got the cooking dishes done and I’m checking on the shirts when I hear the girls coming in.

Y’know I don’t care how momish it seems but there’s this look when they come in and them the smells and stuff hits them. I’ll even admit it smells good I here with the pie spices and the smell of baking bread and the under-scent of the cabbage rolls.

“Omigawd! It smells sooo good in here!, Like…like…Ooooh!!! Shirts, Ohmygawdwehavebandshirts! Brook, Brook, Look we got band shirts!” Kimmie is going a thousand miles an hour just all wired and excited.

Brook hugs me. “It smells awesome in here.”

“Kimmie’s happy.”

“Mike brought Timbits and got her a Mountain dew slushie mixed with Red Bull.”

“Oh holy hell, if she goes much faster then we’ll have the female Flash.”

Brook laughs and even she’s all smiles and stuff. I guess Mike showing up was a good thing. She’s talking to Kim and trying to get her own pic of the shirts when Rayne comes in. I go over and kiss her as she’s coming through the door…I take her bag and sling it over my shoulder and I kiss her.

“Hey you.”

She blinks at me and looks around the house and smells the air then leans in on me and smells me before kissing me. “Hey……..” I love that soft sweet way she can just say that.

We actually just do that for a few minutes before the girls take off to get changed. “Ange the sheets are on the coffee table.” Brook says taking off upstairs.

“Sheet?” Rayne ask lifting an eyebrow.

“We wrote another song today for tonight’s show, so we can go over it in practice before we head into the show?”

“Okay, can I see it?”

“Sure, how about a coffee and a foot rub while you read them?”

“Angel you don’t have to do this?”

“Rayne, I want to. I mean it, this stuff was the stuff that I’d sort of daydream about when I was all alone.”

“You dreamed about rubbing my smelly feet.”

“I dreamed about the way you’d feel, the faces you’d make and stuff like that…”

“Like?”

“I wasn’t sure that everything’s work right…but I still wanted to be with somebody sometime y’know….”

She looks at me and she’s looking at the me under all of this…I can just feel it and I just look back. I mean what can I do really but love her, trust her and hope…I am who I am biology and all.

My knees almost give in Yay-relief when she steps up and she kisses me. It’s one of those great kisses…her fingers tilting my chin up kisses. I’m being kissed like I’m “the girl.” I’m feeling that I’m so, so Angel for real like this…and it’s not just clothes and make up either.

She breaks the kiss. “How about we learn the song together and slip to my room and have our spa moment.”

“Okay…”

We go upstairs and she bangs on Brooks doorframe. “Give me a shout when you’re done in the shower okay?”

“Sure.” She’s already fingering her strings getting into it.

In Rayne’s room was fun…we sort of cuddled and kisses and I’d pull her foot up onto my lap massage them with lotion and then she’d do the same and…oh…Yayness…foot rubs are good I think for everyone unless you’ve squick thing about feet. I kiss her all the way to the bathroom when it’s her turn.

“Rayne?”

“Mmm baby…?”

“Date night tomorrow night?”

She gets this smile on her face. “That’d really be great actually.”

“Good…” I bite my lip sexy like and walk backwards down the hall.

I’m getting supper set up and Mike pulls in and he’s got some baskets with stuff like he’s got laundry.

“Brooklyn get the door your boyfriend’s here!” I yell and laugh to myself as I heard that running pounding feet of a girl running through the house.

*Brooklyn…

I was practicing the chords for our new song and the first one I’ve ever worked on with the band. I mean it means a lot. I Love the way things are, I though they were okay before but everything’s changed since Jason showed up.

Yeah Jason, I know he’s living as Angel right now but I can see Jason in there. I see Jase more that Rayne does. I mean Angel’s awesome, really awesome but Jase made her up, everything Angel is comes from Jason. He wrote Invisible and Washed away before he was with us.

Yeah we’re accepting Angel, Rayne’s with Angel but is she putting Angel that forward in her head that she’s blocking out that Jason’s the actual person there.

The TG wasn’t even on his radar.

There’s a lot I know he’s doing, that Angel’s doing so that we don’t leave them.

Heavy stuff.

Yeah well Kim’s my best friend in the world but Jase/Angel would actually be number two. I love Rayne but I get Jase’s beat down everyday life.

That not giving up because you do it just once…you’re so tired in your soul you’ll never get back up.

Kim and Rayne’s really been trough stuff too but when it gets to be physical abuse…it’s different.

Angel brought…Her father…Uhm…Dad…into my life, Mitch…Mike…sigh…shit Mike changed everything really…He’s a professionally trained fighter…it’s sort of part of what he does and instead of being Mr. Bigman and becoming a bullying asshole he’s the exact opposite.

God he’s the gentlest guy I know. Soft, sweet charming yet still hard in the right ways, and the right places. I always knew I was straight but getting to trust guys to get that close.

After my Donor…He’s not my Dad, not even my Father…That’s Remy Powers now.

I’m playing hard putting all my energy and anger into it and then slowly try to diffuse in the shower once it’s my turn. God Angel keeps the bathrooms clean. I can guess that being in a house full of girls gets you paranoid in that stuff and well the other thing…

Hey, doesn’t bug me. We’re all human. Besides you think both bathrooms having variable showerheads is just because they’re handy? Besides…it’s not like I’m not got my head on the tiles saying Mike’s name over and over again right now.

It just feels good to be able to have these feelings…really…really good…I towel off and towel dry my hair for now and wrap it more to keep it from air drying. It’ll be easier to do for the show wet and stuff than drying it right now. I just get into a tee-shirt and my sweats when I hear Angel yell that my Boyfriend’s here.

My Boyfriend…God that’s awesome…normal…I never thought I’d have this.

I open the door for him and he’s got three laundry baskets. “Hey, I though you guy’d be keeping up on…”

My quilts, my concert tee’s Heart, Go-Go’s, Alan Parsons Project….Joan Jett…

“M…Mike?”

He sets things down with a uhn on the couch…he’s got a long sleeved t-shirt on himself under another baggy t-shirt all Kirk Cobaine and stuff. But his hands, his knuckles are bandaged, over his right eye…the more I look the more I see the bruises.

“M…Mike? What happened? Are you okay!?”

He kisses me first and the towel falls off my hair and I don’t care because he’s sliding his fingers through it as he kisses me. He breaks it to nuzzle with me. “I met your family.”

I shake. “Mike…Oh…I’m sorry Mike I’m not like them…I’m not…”

He hugs me tight. “The thought never entered my head beautiful.”

“How’d you…I never was able to find my stuff. I thought they wrecked it all?”

I’d gone a few times when everyone was out, they never sold it I looked in the pawnshops…I thought they wrecked it all like I told him.

“The boys were working and Henry left for more beer so I went to talk to your Mother.”

“How’s she look?” Dammit I shouldn’t care but I left her there.

“Bad, strung out, thin, pissed at you.”

“I left her there Mike, left her there to be their victim.”

“She was more pissed you weren’t there to cook smack for them than that. She was pretty pissed she had drug you down with her I think.”

“I used to feel sorry for her…but she could’ve gotten out too. I left when he and the boys were gone…she wouldn’t come with me..it was her that locked my room from me getting my things to try to get me to stay…I had to leave it all or they’d be back then I’d never get away.”

“Yeah…None of this is your fault Brooklyn, no one with a soul will blame you for surviving.”

“I know…I just feel guilty…”

“Don’t, she could leave, she could get rehab, she could be happy that you got out Brook, she’s none of that.”

He kisses me again. “I’ll be back I’m going to get the rest.”

“There’s more.”

He smiles at me like no guy ever has and says. “Yes there is beautiful.”

I’m looking things over when he brings in my books…my cassettes and CD’s the things I used to escape from that place. Kimmie comes down and Rayne and Kim’s freaking out while Rayne sits and gives me her shoulder and wipes away my tears.

He brings in my stuffed animals next and I see my Winnie the pooh stuffies, cookie monster…Cookie was my hug buddy…he was…I’m holding him and bawling into him I had Cookie since I was five…Angels there too behind me having slipped over the back of the couch to hold me as I cried. I would have fell off the couch crying if I never…There’s some more things but I’m just crying too hard then Mike’s kissing me and wiping my tears away in front of me and…He kisses me.

“There’s more broken stuff up at Uncle Remy’s place Brook but I wanted to make sure this was okay…It’s not part of your stuff but I took all of it anyway before it did get sold off or something…”

(Sniffle.) “Huh….?”

I see him sit on our coffee table and he takes out this old acoustic guitar with scratches here and there and chips out of the paint and my breath just stops catches in my throat…my heart and it’s, it’s….My Grampy’s guitar.

Mike fingers it with a little wince of pain from his hands.

He smiles shyly. “I hope I can do this justice…”

He starts to play and sing to us as Rayne’s on one side of me and Kim on the other and Angel holding me from behind her chin on my shoulder.

The song… *Daughters* By John Mayer…

I know a girl
She puts the color inside of my world
But she's just like a maze
Where all of the walls all continually change
And I've done all I can
To stand on her steps with my heart in my hands
Now I'm starting to see
Maybe it's got nothing to do with me

Fathers, be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers, be good to your daughters too

Oh, you see that skin?
It's the same she's been standing in
Since the day she saw him walking away
Now she's left
Cleaning up the mess he made

So fathers, be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers, be good to your daughters too

Boys, you can break
You'll find out how much they can take
Boys will be strong
And boys soldier on
But boys would be gone without the warmth from
A woman’s good, good heart

On behalf of every man
Looking out for every girl
You are the god and the weight of her world

So fathers, be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers, be good to your daughters too  

So fathers, be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers, be good to your daughters too  

So fathers, be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers, be good to your daughters too  

……………………………….....................Ow…Oh God…Ow…Can you fall in love when you’re hearts breaking in a good way?

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Comments

Brilliant

Absolutely brilliant, love the actions, interactions and storyline. So well written it's just brilliant - alright said that twice but it is.
Thanks, Dave

Thanks so, so Much Dave54:)

I was trying really hard to get the chemistry right on this chapter.
*Great Big Hugs*
Bailey.

Bailey Summers

Wow!

I'll try and leave more of a comment when I can see though the tears. Ran out of Kleenex!
hugs
Grover

Mike is awesome to have

Mike is awesome to have gotten Brooks stuff, but to the serenade her with grampy's guitar is just that step further. Sweet sweet chapter, thanks for sharing.

Big hugs

Lizzie :-)

Yule

Bailey's Angel
The Godmother :p

Thanks Lizzie:)

Mike was really sweet to get her stuff and he didn't know all of the story but it didn't matter he had to take the chance. That serenade, that song is just perfect for the girls.
*Great Big Hugs*
Bailey.
The Godfather;)

Bailey Summers

Thanks so much Dorothy:) Offers paper towels...

This turned out really well and I really love that song too. I heard it the other day and the Lyrics...and the girls in the story...

But That song fits so many girls here too:)
*Great Big Angel Hugs*
Bailey...A Proud Big Brother.

Bailey Summers

Happy Tears

Jemima Tychonaut's picture

There are so many words I just can't find right now to say what I want to say. Wonderful, that's one of them. Uplifting. Worth the pain of the last few chapters to have this one.

Thank you Bailey.

*big hugs*



"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

Thank You Jemima, Happy Tears are just perfect:)

Uplifting...I got a few happy tears myself just seeing my story described with that word:) I'm so thrilled that it touched the right notes.

You're so welcome honey.
*Great Big Hugs*
Bailey.

Bailey Summers

Some songs

...are just so perfect they can hurt. In a good way.

In the couple of days between the day my dad died and the day we buried him came the first time I ever heard Harry Chapin's "Cat's In The Cradle". I had to pull to the side of the road and cry. It was as if he had written it with my dad and I in mind. I still choke up when I hear it, but in a good way now. At the time, it just hurt.

Great chapter, Bailey. I'm loving this story and all the interaction. Wonderful.

Hugs,
Erica

Thanks for that Erica.

That still does the same thing for me too. I was really close to my Dad and that song still gets me caught up too. "Daughters." is just like that in it's own way.
*Great Big Hugs*
Bailey.

Bailey Summers

so much...

its amazing they did not trash her stuff. people are so carless with other peoples stuff.
great chapter, thanks

Actually they broke a lot of her stuff and

took a piss on most of everything. Mike spent the rest of the time post shower washing and drying what he could. The "Dads" Remy and Mitch are putting things that they can together.
*Hugs and Howls*
Bailey.

Bailey Summers

Awww!

I'll leave a proper comment tomorrow (well, today) as it's gone midnight (well, 00:40 as I write), but awww! Mike serenading Brooklyn... really talking the girls' language :) Also a further glimpse into Brook's first song for the band - no doubt there'll be more to come (with possibly some solo compositions coming eventually, thus making three songwriters in the band... allow Kimmie to have a go as well and they'll soon have enough original material for a hat trick of albums [commercial albums are often 8-10 songs long, or about 40-45 minutes])

Meanwhile, you really should gather together and compile all your meals / recipes (I assume Angel!Jase's meals are dishes you've cooked or eaten yourself!) as "Bailey's guide to home cooking". Flog it on Lulu and make yourself a bit of pocket money :)


As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!

Yeah a very Awwww moment for me too.

Mike's a stand up guy that's fallen hard for a shy sweet girl that just turned out to have been brave enough to drop everything that she ever knew to get away from a life that swallows families whole.

You'll have to wait but I'll say now, it's not a bad song.

I have a cookbook in My Blog for Images:)
Thanks Mittfh!
*Great Big Hugs*
Bailey.

Bailey Summers

A banquet.

This chapter was a banquet for all of the senses and emotions.

First forget the Kleenex and the paper towels go for the bath towel. Your characters are all so very real and never single dimensional. You also have a great ability of avoiding gender stereotypical black and white. This has been a pain in my mind as I know either side does good or bad things. This is shaming one side or other, when the reality is that there is good guys like Angles father and Mike and bad guys. There are good girls like Brooklyn , Kim and Rayne, bad girls like Summer and Brooklyn's mother.

Also Woman you can cook for me any time. I love to cook and I experiment all the time. But your suggestions have been kicking things up a notch in my kitchen. Will you ever consider a cook book?????

I love the story and your worlds in general thanks for all of your work.
Huggles
Misha

With those with open eyes the world reads like a book

celtgirl_0.gif

Thanks so much Misha:)

Yeah I try to write things I know about people for good or for bad and I see a lot of both in my work. The people that advertise that they'll shine will suck while the poorest can impress you the most.

I did put up a cookbook.
It's in my Blogs for Images.
*Great Big Hugs*
Bailey.

Bailey Summers

Love the changing POVs

It is making these folks into real 3D characters.

Brook is very lucky. I am glad Brook is one of those who had the courage to make her own destiny given what she came from. She is very lucky to have people to take her in and help her and love her.

Angel, well I do not know how long Angel will have an existence, at least as a physical manifestation. Ultimately all of Kim, the me that is now, is just a relabeling of what was there all along. It really comes down to what brings the truest presentation as to who you are when you face the world and within yourself. Can she do that as Angel and can Rayne accept a humping spurting penis to be blunt about it. I am not looking for that as I am lesbian. There are some really nice guys out there and I have met them but physically it just is not where its at from my lesbian perspective.

Kim

Thanks Kimmie:)

I like the POV shift too it's still Angels story but to get to see the world through the eyes of the others really helps.
I'll definitely agree with you're take on self representation and being Angel has a whole growing list of things that she's finding that she can do as Angel that she couldn't as Jason.

Rayne has been top before.
And Guy/Girl, Guy/Guy, Girl/Girl if you're not moving your hips you're doing it wrong.
But I get what you mean it's far more spanning than that.
*Big Hugs*
Bailey.

Bailey Summers

You put the TOP in topshelf

Just give me a sec, ok?
tick
tick
tick
having a bit of trouble swallowing that lump in my throat
tick
tick
tick
Ok, I think I'm alright now.

Bailey, how do you do this. A lot of writers have to make a choice: quality or quantity. But you, my darling, are both incredibly prolific and proficient. Wait, scratch that. Proficient doesn't come close to describing your talent. Hmmm... how about ace, crackerjack, professional, masterful... Well, that'll do for a start.
.
.

Teary.jpg
The girl in me. She's always there, but that lump
in her throat has left her struggling for words.

Wow...Lora I'm seriously blushing now:)

That's a huge...HUGE compliment and well list of compliments I just really wanted to get this part of the story out because it was just needing to come out. I'm not even sure what part got to me the most. The song, or when she got Cookie back.

*Great Big Hugs*
Bailey.

Bailey Summers

You never fail to impress me.

Everyone has their own style, their own way of doing things. They can be sweet, scary, confrontational, political, whatever. At one point I would have described your style as emotional, but instead I'd have to describe it as thoughtfully loving. OK, except for the Adumb and Skummerslut chapters, the REAL kind of love, whether its family or romantic love, is woven so well into your stuff. It makes me feel good to read it.

Gimme another few shots of love, my friend. I need it!

Wren

I'll definitely try Wren:)

I'm a firm believer in just how powerful and healing that love can be. I try to write the things both as fiction but also kind of real too even in a non-real-life setting. I do try to do the thoughtful thing since the best or my favorite are introspective.

*Big Hugz and much Love!*
Bailey.

Bailey Summers

Why?

Why did JEM 39 disappear from the front page when you posted JEM 40, and 40 disappear when you posted JEM 41?

All the comments Bailey

Were spot on.

Excellent chapter, you had it all there, violence, passion, love, friends, music and not to forget cooking and food.

When will Mike sing with the band?

I actually felt sorry for Brook's Mum!

Hugs

Age is an issue of mind over matter.
If you don't mind, it doesn't matter!
(Mark Twain)

LoL
Rita

Thanks Rita, I'm so glad it hit the right spot.

Mike might sing with the girls but it'll be a guest appearance thing. He doesn't want to mess with the all-girl band chemistry. I'm glad that all the elements where there to make it as good as it turned out.
Brooklyn's Mum is like far too many these days caught in a spiralling life.
*Great Big Hugs*
Bailey.

Bailey Summers

This is an absolutely

This is an absolutely wonderfull story I used a lot of tissue, I can't wait for the rest of the story the anticipation is killing me.

Thanks for kind words Raychelle_A:)

I'm so glad that you've gotten to enjoy this chapter and the rest of the story. I hope you'll enjoy the rest of them as they come:)
*Great Big Hugs*
Bailey.

Bailey Summers

I love it lone wolf!

great, there's already a Lego figure of Jem out there !

DogSig.png

Lego Jem is awesome!

Thank you so much for this!
*Hugs and Howls*
Bailey.

Bailey Summers

packages

if you feel the package carefully you can find the unique guitar shape so you don't have to buy 20 of them to find one.

...

ya know, it doesn't matter how many times I read Jem, I can never go more than 3 chapters without needing a tissue. And with 215 chapters and counting, that's a lot of tissues.

If I was

to comment on every chapter I found wonderful, or made me laugh, or made me cry, you would be swamped with comments because I would be commenting on every one. This is just so wonderful.