The Tattooed Devil Wears Chucks

Chapter 20: The Jail Bird

"Dad... please? Let him out..."

His eyes peer back to mine and his body loosens as I watch him cave.

"You watch his temperament..." his eyes are fixed on mine as he pulls the keys out to the library and the cell from his pocket. "If he seems even remotely angry, he stays. I'll give you money, get him something to eat from Mickey's Landing. Then you come home and we go back to him being off limits. Got it?"

"Fine." I take the keys and cash from him and walk to the door.

"Gabby?"

I turn back around to him. He fumbles with his glasses in his hands, pondering a question from the back of his mind.

"How did Jackson know about Tyler? He said he heard about the assembly from Courtney and knew to come find you..."

I frown at him, he muttered that he didn't want to know this just minutes ago.

"I told you, Jax drank water upstairs at Courtney's party. Tyler made us all play that stupid 'I Have Never' game and kept bringing up the night at the lake, forcing me to drink more than everyone else, and he was telling the entire room we had sex in the back of his car and that I couldn't remember it. When I cut myself off and started drinking water, Jax asked why I wasn't drinking with my friends. I told him I was afraid to be around Tyler when I drank because I would get tired and I didn't trust him. I think Jax put two and two together before I ever did. He constantly asks me how much I drank that night..."

My dad nods his head and says nothing more about it, returning to his paper. I put in my shoes and grab my phone.

"Take the keys with the pepper spray on them. Take your phone with you. Take your car, don't walk tonight. Stay away from Kane's. Got it?"

"Dad, Jax will be fine..."

"It's not for Jackson" he looks back up to me again.

Tyler. He's worried about me seeing Tyler.

"Okay" I nod and grab the other set of keys. "I won't be long."

<><><>

This car ride takes all of three minutes. I had three minutes to decide that I was angry at Jackson Parker. I didn't want to tell my dad. I hadn't even come to terms with what had happened yet. He promised he would stay with me and knew I was afraid to tell my dad. My knee bobs up and down the entire car ride, my frustration has been peaking the last twenty-four hours and I'm about to lose it.

I unlock the door to the small library and notice a light on in the hallway that led to the bathrooms and the jail cell. I walk slowly down the hall and see him sleeping on a cot with a book open across his chest. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein rises and falls with every sleepy breath he takes. I almost take a picture but decide against it; he doesn't look like such an angry criminal right now, even if he is in jail. He looks peaceful. Something about Jax has always felt off. It's as if he wants people to look at him as the mysterious town criminal that sleeps around. But as he sleeps, it's as if that wall is down. Maybe it's because of all of our late night conversations, watching movies and hearing him laugh and the dumbest parts with me. Maybe it's knowing what he really did for his little sister and how much he loves his family. Or maybe it's his book choice making me question him; I make a mental note to applaud his choice of British literature.