This Love, This Hate (A Lesbian Romance)

TLTH Chapter Eight

This Love, This Hate

Chapter Eight

                “Where are we going?” Zoe asked emphatically.

                “You’ll see, Zoe. It’s a trust exercise, remember?” Jesse teased, linking arms with her and leading her up the road ahead.

                Zoe walked along with Jesse quietly and curiously, anxiety bubbling in her belly as they grew closer and closer to where Randall’s little ‘meeting’ with her had been. When they stood before the side door of Jesse’s home, she looked into the yard where it had happened and swallowed hard, “Is this some kind of sick joke?”

                “Not at all. Come in.” Jesse denied, putting the combination into the lock he’d placed on the latch of the door and letting her in. Inside, it was dark and a little cold and obviously not the typical homestead, but it had a clean, homey look to it despite the sparse furnishings and scuffed wooden floors. He switched on the flashlight standing up on his kitchen counter and looked at Zoe to gauge her reaction of the place.

She was amazed at how it looked inside. From the street, it seemed like it would just be a foul-smelling, abandoned mess on the inside, but it was entirely the opposite. For a place that was void of electricity and running water, it actually looked like a home and in Zoe’s opinion, was definitely a step up from a cardboard box that most would opt for if they didn’t have others to live with. “Wow Jesse…did you do all this?”

“That’s not the usual reaction,” Jesse joked, slyly masking the fact that he’d only showed one other person, “Do you want anything to drink? I have Dr. Pepper, water, and a little bit of Crown.”

“Dr. Pepper’s cool with me.” Zoe answered, watching him pull two cans and a small bottle with caramel colored liquid inside out of a Styrofoam cooler next to the dated kitchen island, which she guessed was probably the Crown.

“Don’t be a stranger.” Jesse urged, walking into the living room and plopping down on the red and white floral couch he’d found a few years ago. Zoe sat next to him and looked around, still amazed at how it looked inside compared to the outside.

“I’m homeless,” Jesse said bluntly, more serious than Zoe had ever seen him. She chuckled slightly at his approach and looked to him in interest, most homeless seventeen year olds would not be so open or have such accommodations. Then again, Jesse would never qualify as ‘most people’ in any situation, “Or, I was. I technically have a home. I ran away when I was thirteen.” Zoe looked down at her boney knees, not sure if it was appropriate to pry for more answers, “It’s okay to ask why.”

“Why?” Zoe asked, tilting her head and looking into his eyes, which were shadowed by the memories she could sense he didn’t often return to think about.

“I was abused…verbally, physically…” He trailed off and handed her one of the cans in his hand, locking his jaw as he glared at the wallpaper ahead of him. He opened the small bottle of alcohol without breaking his gaze on the old navy striped wallpaper and took a small pull before going on, “Sexually.”

“Jesse—” Zoe began a little uncomfortably. She too had been abused in all of those ways at least once or more by her father and a fair few of her mom’s men of the hours.

“It’s okay.” Jesse interrupted, holding up his palm to stop her before passing her the bottle, “It was by my dad. He was…not right.” Zoe was quiet as she took a pull of her own from the bottle and handed it back to him. She could sense he didn’t really want commentary until he was finished and didn’t want to lose the opportunity to learn more about her happy, carefree friend. “I ran away. It became too much and I couldn’t stay there anymore. I stuffed a backpack with as much as I could that I thought was useful at thirteen and literally began by running as fast as I could along the highway. It slowed to walking eventually. I would go until my legs wouldn’t let me any longer and then I’d sleep wherever I could. If there wasn’t a house or somewhere public nearby, I’d find a place in the trees or out of sight from the highway so no cops would find me. I found my way here after a few months and lived on the streets for about a year. My mom found me eventually and she had left my dad after he confessed to what he did to me. She didn’t know about the inappropriate stuff. She and I were in a tiny apartment in the sketchy part of town a few months after that and she changed our names, giving each of us a different last name and got me back into school here but…” Jesse trailed off, his eyes misty. He swigged the rest of the Crown down and cleared his throat before saying barely above a whisper, “Dad found her at the apartment on night and…I wasn’t home. I was working at a movie theater to help pay the bills at the time. I came home to her dead.”