He Use To Be A Son Of Anarchy

Chapter Seventeen: When The Creep Catches Up To You

A few days passed. I hadn't seen Jax in a while. I was so busy at the library I barely had time to breathe. Miss Wayforth wasn't even mad at me anymore. It was beyond that. This was something entirely different. I was being worked like an ox through the plough fields.

I kept my mouth shut though. I needed this job.

One afternoon around midday Lulu showed up. Miss Wayforth was out on her lunch break and I dared to take a breather.

"Hey, Val," she greeted me cheerfully as she spotted me sitting behind the desk.

"Hey, Lulu. Haven't seen you in a while," I said.

"I know. I've been busy. But I'm here now. So do you maybe want to go have some lunch at the deli?" she asked.

I looked at the time on my phone. It was nearly 1pm. I only worked half days on Wednesdays.

"Yeah, sounds great. I just have to wait for Miss Wayforth to get back from her break," I said.

"No problem, she replied and headed off to browse through some of the magazines we had on a rack.

Once Miss Wayforth returned, I announced that I was heading out and grabbed Lulu before she could protest.

We made our way to the deli with Lulu babbling on about how sad she feels for Miss Wayforth. I couldn't share her sympathy. I knew that Harold May had a huge crush on the librarian, but she just refuses to give him a chance. Then again, he was the brother of a deranged psychopath so maybe I understood a little where Miss Wayforth was coming from.

We sat down at one of the small tables and Lulu ordered us one of her favourites.

"So where have you been?" I said stirring my iced tea with a straw.

"At the salon mostly. My mom has been making me put in extra hours. By the time I get home I just want to go to bed," she said. I knew that feeling all too well.

"The only reason I'm here with you now is because the salon is closed for a few days," she said.

"Why?" I asked after taking a sip of my drink.

Lulu's face dropped. I had never seen her as anything but cheery, but this time she looked genuinely sad.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," I quickly said.

"No, it's okay," she said trying to smile again, "I guess I have to talk about it."

She sat up a bit. "My mom is visiting my aunt in Nevada. She and my dad have been at it for weeks now and she needed a break. He has a drinking problem."

I didn't quite know what to say to her. Of course I knew exactly how that felt, but blurting out my whole story to the poor girl seems out of place.

"My mom used to have a drinking problem too. And she was an addict," I decided to let Lulu in anyway.

She smiled softly. "So then you know what it feels like. We tried to get him help, but he refuses to admit that it has gotten out of hand. He's not a bad man, my dad, he just isn't the type to admit his own faults."

We left the subject at that. Further discussions included what it's like being an only child, how bad the cell reception in Georgeville was and sharing school days stories.

"I better get going now," Lulu said, "I need to check on my dad at the station, call my mom and then start dinner."

Lulu reached into her purse. "No, don't worry about it," I said pointing at the cheque, "I'll get it."