Crazy Eyes ✧ Gotham [2]

chapter seven

Jane and Jerome were crouching under a table at their uncle's diner. Two cops had come in when they started their interrogation of him so they had to think fast. Jane had her ear perked to listen in on the conversation, whereas her older brother was admiring all the old gum stuck underneath the table.

"Those monsters killed my sister. I ever see them, their screams are what you'll be hearing," their uncle replied to the cops rather harshly. Jane frowned at that. She didn't do anything to their mother. Jerome could take all the responsibility for her murder. 

Regardless, their mother's brother was never the kindest, especially to Jane. It seemed her entire family had it in for Jane during her childhood. It used to make her so depressed to think about, but now... she just got angry. 

"Just maybe give us a call before things go that far."

The siblings waited till they heard the bell over the door go off to come up from underneath the table. "Jeez! There's a lot of gum under here!" Jerome held his small gun aimed at their uncomfortable uncle, while Jane just smiled smugly at him. "You're lucky those flatfoots didn't check under the table, Uncle Zach." Jerome reached under the table to grab a piece of the old gum and stuck it into his mouth. Jane cringed when he did. "I mean, gotta be some kind of health code violation or something." Their uncle didn't reply but rather glared at the two of them.

In front of the three of them were three bowls of soup, which took Jane by surprise at first. Their uncle never let Jane eat anything. Jane looked suspiciously at Uncle Zach as her brother turned on some music and proceeded to test the temperature of each soup out. He went down the line to too cold, too hot and just right. 

Jerome pulled the "just right" soup closer to him. "Mmm. You always could cook up a storm, Unc."

"Does he?" Jane kept staring at their uncle while she interrupted him. "I wouldn't know. Considering any time I went anywhere near your food after not being fed for days, I would be beat bloody." She smiled at the end. "But I guess that's all in the past now."

Uncle Zach looked at the little girl blankly. "You've always been so dramatic, Jane. I always told your mother she needed to be strict with you. You didn't learn any respect." Those words infuriated Jane to no end. To justify the horrible abuse she endured like that... She wanted to fight back. But she didn't. She just kept a hard smile on.

Jerome was stuck in a memory, not paying much attention to the short interaction his sister and uncle just had. "I remember back in the circus, we used to dare each other to sneak into the chuck wagon, steal one of your cookies or two. That reminds me of my favorite meal you ever cooked." Jerome's face twisted in a soft smile, but it wasn't out of genuine happiness. "You remember that time you caught me trying to snag a snickerdoodle? Oh! That soup you made that day, mmm, mamma mia!" He leaned forward. "What was that special ingredient again? Ah, Right. It was my hand." Uncle Zach started to smile his sick smile. Only a true member of Jane's family could pull of that smile and it sent chills down her spine. "The one you dipped in a boiling pot of chicken stock! That smell... It was.. mouthwatering." Then he started laughing hysterically. "Almost as good as this!"

Jane's face didn't budge. She remembered that day clearly. Somehow, she also got blamed for him trying to steal a cookie. So after everyone was done eating (Jane of course not getting anything), their Uncle Zach poured the rest of the still hot soup all over here, leaving some burns.

"That's a good story, nephew. But aren't you curious about the soup?" Her uncle had been giving her weird vibes the entire visit, especially with the way he handled the whole story and the soups. He was up to something. 

"Don't tell me it's poisoned."

Their uncle laughed. "Not at all."

Jerome kept eating the soup. "You had me worried there for a sec, Unc."