Cruel (A Joker Story) [UNDER REVISION]

8: My New Life [Revised]

I left Joker's Funhouse after changing into the clothes I came here in. With my previous stunt, I had accidentally granted myself more privileges, as it's obvious I've settled into the insanity of his world. I was allowed to go out on my own leisure without him consistently checking up on me.

Unless he had hidden some tracking device, unbeknownst to me. 

After purchasing thrice the amount of clothing I had before my shopping adventure, I realized I had to buy a new cell phone in order to get in contact with Charlotte. I had to talk to someone about what had just happened without of course outing my employer and his operation. Additionally, Charlotte must've called me tons of times after my power outage, and since I hadn't been in my apartment, I wasn't able to check. I could just imagine what she was thinking. She probably thought I lost my home already, or even worse, ended my life. The last phone call we had was truly my darkest moment, and that thought wouldn't have been a stretch for me.

I walked into the Verizon store and bought an iPhone 6s (Author's note: This made me laugh in 2022 revisions so it's staying in).  As Joker had mentioned days prior, I was allowed to jump onto his phone plan which was created under the fake name Joe Kerr. As I had a felony on my record, doing anything involving money or credit under my given name was going to be almost impossible. This specific store had an in, Jason, who knew The Joker's operation and, with cash under the table, plus his monthly electronic deposit of hush money and services payments from our mutual employer, he was solid. He wordlessly linked the account to J's, and when it was all said and done, he placed the phone in my hand. 

"Who else has phones with him?" I asked Jason, but Jason curtly shook his head.

"I'd rather not answer that. Why don't you just ask your coworkers?" He asked before turning on his heel, through the back of the store and out of my sight. 

"Hmm," I hummed to myself in curiosity before leaving the store, looking at my phone while wondering how much access I had compared to all the other people who worked for Joker. He probably had a lot of his henchmen running double-lives, but for his own benefit. I believed that, because I was now his Doctor, I had more priority, and he had given me access to his accounts and the account information purely in case he had to contact me or in case he needed me to run errands for him or pick up medications. I went through my settings and saw my location was turned on, and accessed by the account holder. Ah, so this was a double edged sword. This served as a tracking device along as a useful tool. 

I sat on an empty bench by the parking lot and fumbled around for my wallet, finding the small slip I'd made with Charlotte's number hastily scrawled on it. I typed in Charlotte's number on my phone, and I double checked that no one was around me.

"Hello?" Charlotte's voice questioned. She sounded very tired, and I realized she must've just got off of a work shift.

"Charlotte! It's Lucy—"

She quickly cut me off. "Lucy! Oh, thank God you're okay! You're okay, right? What happened? What's going on?" She talked so fast, she sounded like a fast forwarded video clip.

I hesitated. Where to even start? I carefully thought of a summary for my situation. "Well, my power went out, which is why the line was disconnected. In an odd coincidence, I also haven't been home in a week, I actually got a job and I, er, live with my boss."

She responded with a puzzled tone. "Oh," followed by a brief pause, and then sincere words. "Well, I'm so sorry for what you went through, and I hope everything is better right now. What kind of job?" She questioned.

Oh, god, what to say. "I'm a, uhm, I'm a Butler." It was the quickest thing I could come up with, wracking my brain for a more logical explanation but I just left it as it was. 

"A Butler?"

"You'd be surprised how well it pays," I stammered. "I mean, my boss pays really, really well. I mean, I made enough in a week to afford a new phone and a shopping haul."

"Wow, that sounds great! I'm so glad," she sounded absolutely relieved. "He sounds like a good employer. I just want you to be happy."

I smiled at her sentiment, but I continued. "Yeah, I kinda did something stupid."

"Ooooh, Lucy. What did you do?" She asked lightly, humor lining her words. 

"Well, I just, something happened a few hours ago and I'm not sure how to handle it."

She grew more serious. "What happened?"

I hesitated. "Eh, well, I kind of, erm, slept with my boss."

There was a silence on the other line. I was about to speak when she let out a squeal. "Oh, my, God! How was it? Good chemistry? You slept with a rich guy."

I mean, kind of, I guess.

"Well, one of his, er, business associates came to his home, and he really ticked me off because he, uh, I have some really bad history with him, he's a mean person, and, and—I don't know, something came over me and I just. . . Pounced on my boss!"

She was squealing again. "Oh, girl! How was it?"

"Fantastic, but that's beside the point. He's kind of heartless, it didn't mean anything, now we both have to pretend like it never happened."

I could practically see her frowning, I knew she was. "Well, why?"

"Because. . .He's not the best kind of guy."

I heard her tsking. "Lucy, you're not a great picker sometimes."

"At least he isn't like Shaun. And, I mean, I don't like him like that. I can't. I just. . ." I rubbed my temple, leaning my head against my hand. "He's not good for me. But I can't help but think about what it meant."

"Are you off right now?" She questioned. I heard some sounds on the other line that sounded like the slam of a car door, and I could distinctly make out the sound of a car ignition whirring to life. I could hear her buckle herself in.

"Yes, I'm off doing errands on my day off. It's gonna be weird going back home and seeing him."

"Well, what are you gonna do? Try and talk to him, or try to ignore it?"

I pursed my lips, checking my phone to see I had an incoming text from an unknown number.

Save this number.

-J

"Speaking of the Devil," I murmured to myself, adding his number in my contacts without replying back. "I'm honestly not sure," I replied to her. "I'm gonna play it by ear."

"Well, let me know how it goes, I'm guessing you're heading home, same as I right now."

"Just catching a ride," I replied, I waved down a Taxi. "I'm actually on my way home now." I crawled into the back seat, covering my phone to give him an address near Joker's Fun House before putting the phone back to my ear. 

She let out an 'oooh'. "Well, have funnnn, girl, but be careful. Make good choices!"

"You know how I've always sucked at that," I snickered. We said our goodbyes and ended the phone call. I put the phone in my pocket, leaning back to watch the sights out of the window. 

In all the madness, at least I still had Charlotte. She was the only glimpse of normalcy left in life.