Jerome's standing over Judith as her eyes flutter open. They meet each other's gaze and though a smile creeps onto her face, his expression remains stoic.
"Well, aren't you a sight," she says to him with a hoarse voice. As she clears her sore throat, he turns his face to his left and she follows his gaze to his radio.
"Sauvera called me when she found you on the floor," he tells her, and she glances at the leather belts hugging her wrists to the bed rails. Jerome looks at her as she scans the small, bleach-scented hospital room. "She wanted to go, but I made her stay. Judy, when will it be enough?"
"What're you talking about?" She knits her brows at him, then at her restraints. "And what's this? What's going on?"
"Your Mom said your cousin died of the same thing you have: anorexia," Jerome crosses his arms as Judith darts her watery gaze to the closed door. Her jaw shifts as she grinds her teeth. "Sauvera was hysterical when she called me. Your uncle and mom had just stepped onto the porch to talk and – Judy, you need help."
"No, I don't. I'm fine." He rolls his eyes and shifts to his left, facing his radio. "So, what now, they're gonna hold me here until I gain a hundred pounds? Ten extra pounds is a cakewalk."
"Try one-ten and you're eighty-seven pounds, so recheck your math." He turns the dial and Dream Lover by Bobby Darin plays at a low volume. Jerome and Judith lock eyes, her lips agape as the melody serenades her for him. "I used to play this on repeat before I met you. I prayed for a woman to love and when I fell for you, I had given up on romance."
"Jerome," her voice cracks when she calls for him, and a tear slides across her nose bridge to her right eye. He flashes her a half-smile.
"I lost my dad, my sister, and now my brother. I can't lose you before I can even get to know you," he continues, forcing the grin to remain on his face. "Please, if you can't think of Stevie and Sauvera –"
"It's Vera," Judith corrects him and he scoffs humorously before bowing his head.
"Well, she made it clear that I can't call her that. I don't know why." She leans toward her right hand and wipes her tears on her fingers before he looks at her again. "Listen, I'm a patient person. Just tell me what I gotta do to help you."
"Why do you want me to gain weight so badly? So, I can look like you," she snaps, and he blinks back, surprised by her sudden shift in tone. He turns the knob, and the music shuts off. "Maybe David was right. You want me to be fat so you can feel better about yourself."
"I'm gonna pretend it's the meds making you act like this." Jerome shakes his head at her. "But is that really what you two talk about, how ugly and fat I am and how he's a perfect fit for you?"
"No. I told him that I liked you and he said you're only into me because you want me to look like you. I've seen you naked – sort of. Is that why you wear that every day?" Jerome looks down at his sweatshirt and pants, then at her. His once kind eyes are now void of emotion and though her mind is telling her to stop, she doesn't relent. "Of course, it is. You're probably gonna die before me and you know it so you're trying to make me weigh more than you."
"Are you done," he asks nonchalantly, and she takes a deep breath, her face still scrunched with malice. "When I was in high school, I was bullied every day. I was on the football team and before my injury, I was a beast. My coach kicked me off the team, of course, and instead of working out what I could while I was in that cast, I ate. I ate anything in the cabinets, the pantry, the fridge. I wasn't hungry and I wasn't bored. I was sad. By the time I got to school once the cast was off my leg, I was almost two-thirty, and I was compared to a sideshow freak. You remember those carnivals in Darlington?"
"Yeah," she says in a whisper. He sits in the chair behind him and stares at the radio. Throughout their on-again-off-again friendship, he didn't mention his body or anything regarding it. Naturally, Judy had questions, but never wanted to ask.
"The bullying made me eat more and I couldn't walk the stage, because of my weight," he continues. "When I was accepted into Darlington University, I exercised three times a day and I may not look like Leroy Colbert, but if you saw me before –"
"I believe you," she interrupts him and as he takes a deep breath, they soul gaze. "I'm sorry for what I said. I guess I'm having a hard time figuring out who to trust and who to ignore."
"Well, I never hit you, so I don't see why it's so hard to believe me." Judith rolls her eyes onto the door. "What? It's true, he can beat and force sex on you, and you take his word as gospel."
"It's not as black and white as you think." He raises an eyebrow, waiting for her to elaborate. "David's violent because his uncle is. He told me he saw his uncle hit his aunt and when he called the police for her, she denied it and when the police left, she watched his uncle beat him."
"As sad as that is, it doesn't change anything," he says, and she draws her inner cheek between her teeth. "I've seen stuff at parties in Justin's dorm, but I never reenacted what I saw."
"Stuff like what," Judith asks and he shakes his head.
"It doesn't matter." Jerome pushes himself to his feet. "My point is that David's gonna do as much as you'll allow him to. As much as I wanna knock him into next year, I'd only be like him, and you'd be the same way if you fought him."
"So, he can hit me and what, I turn the other cheek," she asks rhetorically with air quotes that he doesn't notice. She scoffs incredulously. "How many cheeks will I have left if he punches the other one? Sorry, but that's bullshit. I let him get away with a lot, I know, but I'm done."
"The expression isn't about turning your face to give them another punching bag, it's saying to turn your back to them," he clarifies, and she leaves her lips agape. "And if he hits you, obviously you hit him back, but words are just that. Remember when you hit him, and I told you not to do that?"
"Yeah, and you didn't even understand what was going on," she starts to explain herself, but he lifts his right index to his lips.
"He didn't touch you, is my point," he calmly says, lowering his arm.
"Yeah, because you were there. He's afraid of you." Jerome sits his hands in his pockets and shrugs, pouting his bottom lip.
"Maybe that's true, but if you gained a few pounds, he'll probably be afraid of you too. Ever wonder why he wants you to be frail," he asks while raising an eyebrow and when she doesn't respond, he says, "It's because the smaller you are, the easier it is to overpower you. I'm not saying you should look like Jonathan Pillsbury, but a drape on a canopy isn't better."
"Very funny," she sarcastically says with a dry, forced chuckle. Her response draws a smile on his face, and he lowers his head to hide it, but she notices. "I'll think about it. It's not as easy as you think."
"All I heard was I'll think about it." They look at the door as it opens, their smiles fading when they see David locking arms with Mary. "Hey, get out. Both of you!"
"No, it's fine." Judith and Jerome share a glance. His eyebrows are lowered as he stares into her soft dark browns, and he follows her gaze to David. "What're you doing here?"
"Sheryl told me you're here. I went by your house because Michelle said she saw Ken Norton here," he says while glaring at Jerome who rolls his eyes. Mary tightens her fingers around David's arm, clinging to the bend of his elbow. "carrying you to his car. What the fuck, Judy? Remember, your grandma died because of her eating habits."
"Don't talk about my grandma," Judith sternly tells him and he shifts his weight onto his other foot. Mary glances at his suede shoes, then into his eyes. "Why do you care, anyway? You brought your blonde bitch –"
"Who the fuck are you calling a bitch, bitch," Mary raises her voice, and when Judith jerks forward to strike her, Jerome quickly stands up. Mary tucks her hair behind her left ear and Judy notices the sapphire and diamond ring on her finger; the heirloom she refused to return after they broke up.
"Get out before I throw you both out," he orders them and Mary scoffs, her baby blues scanning him from his dreads to his grey shoes.
"Come on, Davie. Jude's mandingo prince doesn't want us around and frankly, I'm in the mood for a milkshake." She takes her eyes off Jerome and smirks at Judith. "And a hotdog, fries –"
Jerome takes a step forward and David tugs Mary's arm, pulling her to the door. Standing at the foot of her bed, he watches them turn away and he faces Judy when they shut the door behind them.
"She's such a fucking dumbass. She's just a toy he flashes to make me jealous, and I don't even feel sorry for her." Jerome sits in the chair beside her, leaning on the edge with his hand on hers.
"Don't stress over them. I mean, you see who he is and who she is." He licks his lips as he watches hers tremble. She shakes her head while staring at the door. A shuddering breath catches in her throat and Judith turns her head to her left before tears roll down her eyes. He hears her whimper and wrinkles his brows. "Hey, it's okay."
"I hope he beats her – like he did me." Jerome's face relaxes and he lowers his head in thought. He licks his lips again and sighs at her. "I tried to be understanding. He would hurt me and – I always thought if I was patient enough, he'd change. She saw how he was with me, and I often felt bad for the way things went that day he pushed her, but – God, I'm such an idiot."
"No, you're not," he tries to assure her with a flat tone, but she shoots him a disagreeing look.
"They were fucking the whole time she was telling me to leave him. Their relationship started while I was in that asylum and even after I left, they were still in love! What the hell?" He exhales then draws away from her, resting his hands on his lap.
"After my dad left, my mom used to tell us, 'How you get them is how you lose them,'" he says before licking his lips a third time. "I never understood it until I was in high school. I used to cheat, and I don't know – I blamed my dad but really it was me. There was one girl, Toni. I digged her something bad. I cheated on my girlfriend to be with her, and she did the same with her boyfriend. We started dating and not even a week goes by, I see her kissing someone else."
Judith lowers her head and Jerome watches her shift her jaw, struggling to suppress a smile beneath her pout.
"It's okay. You can laugh," he assures her with a dry chuckle that resembles a scoff. She looks at him over her glasses and they smirk. "Anyway, I'm not mad. Whatever's wrong with Mary will most likely be gone by the time David's done with her. As sad as it is, we gotta let the chips fall where they do."
"I feel conflicted," she tells him after a short pause. Judith averts her eyes to the stump where her feet are, but he doesn't take his attention off her face.
"What do you mean?" She takes a shaky breath to prepare herself to answer him.
"I hate her and him, but – I don't know. After everything they did to me, I still risked my life over and over again to help them, and look where I am." With a hollow chuckle, she adds, "I almost got shot getting David that stupid ring Mary had on her hand."
"Wait, what?" She glances at Jerome as he forms a confused expression, and she rolls her eyes.
"It's a long story." Judith takes a deep breath and as she exhales, her cheeks puff. "But I suppose I deserve this. I should've listened to Kacey when she said to leave her at that party. I should've paid attention when she would make certain comments. It's like the signs were right in my face, but –"
"Hey," Jerome interrupts her while leaning forward. He takes her face in his hands and her eyes dart onto his. He holds a serious expression as they stare in silence, but it doesn't last long before he cracks a smile. "Let's not talk about those two anymore; Forget Mary and forget David. For once, focus on yourself and your health. You almost died, for Christ's sake."
"You're right. I'm sorry," she begins to say but he shushes her in one smooth sound: a hiss. He retracts his hands and watches them tug her blanket over her chest.
"Get some sleep." When his fingers reach her jaw, Jerome sits his palm on her cheek and caresses the corner of her mouth with his thumb. "I'll be here when you wake up."