Ace Of Spades (Complete Raw First Draft, Unedited)

Fifteen: Eyes

Man, I couldn't wait to tell him about this.

"What about Bonnie?"  She pressed.  "Do you love her?"

"Of course I love her," I said.  "But I'm not in love with her.  There's a difference."

"Oh."  She lowered her eyes again.  "Then why..."

"Why did I reject you?"  I guessed when she trailed off.

"Yeah."

I sighed.

"Didn't you want to leave that all behind?"  I reminded her.

She nodded.

"Then, that's why," I explained, hoping that she'd drop it.

I could tell that she wanted to trust me, but she still wasn't entirely sure that she could.  It wasn't her fault, I suppose.  Her mother sold her into human trafficking just to save her own ass, then the person who she thought would protect her and look after her completely dipped out on her.  Fuck knows how she was treated by the people who bought her after that.

Jenna stayed there, laying on her side, seeming lost in thought, until, eventually, she drifted off to sleep.

My own eyes had gotten unbearably heavy, so I switched off the lamp, thinking about the morning.  I was supposed to go into work tomorrow, with Clyde, and I wasn't sure what to do with Jenna.

I didn't want her at the shop, in case those guys came back, looking for her, plus she would be bored out of her mind, but I really didn't want to leave her here.

Maybe, I could ask Debbie or Katy or someone to keep an eye on her tomorrow, I decided.  She'd obviously gotten in with the Specters, maybe she even had some friends there?  I'd bring it up with her in the morning.

It didn't take long after deciding that for me to fall asleep again, not waking again until the alarm went off in the morning, and the sheets beside me where Jenna had slept were cold.

***

"The craziest shit happened last night, man."

I was just arriving at the shop after dropping Jenna off with Katy.  Debbie was out, but Katy had been more than happy for Jenna to be there with her.  They'd dissapeared together before I was even gone.

Clyde had already opened and had started on the yellow sedan we had booked in for a wheel alignment first thing that morning.  He turned to me, his eyes bright with interest.

"Yeah?"  He smirked.  "And by 'crazy shit' do you mean sexy times with a flighty little blonde chick?"

"Do you ever think about anything else?"  I wondered, raising an eyebrow.

"Not really," he admitted, and I groaned.

"But seriously," I continued.  "I got her talking, and, she told me everything that was going on."

"Oh yeah?"  Clyde glanced at me from where he was working on the sedan, raising an eyebrow and I told him everything that Jenna had said last night, about her mum owing money, being sold to that Lucas guy and how he used her to earn for him.

Clyde said nothing the whole time, all of his attention was focused on his work.  I wouldn't have thought that he was even listening, if it wasn't for the scowl that twisted his face, or his sharp, angry movements.

"Fuck," he said when I was finished telling him.  He shook his head, staring at the part he'd been working on, still scowling.  "That's heavy shit, man."