"Get it back, now," Porcelain seethes, glaring over my shoulder at Lisanna.
"I can't just take it off her," I hiss back, my voice low as I hold Porcelain by her forearms.
"You can't but I can, and if you would let me go, I could be ripping it off of her now."
Although I'm holding her back, I've learned that there is no stopping an angry Porcelain. Play fighting with her, it's easy to pin her down but when she gets angry the game is over. Sometimes I can restrain her, sometimes I can't and this is one of those times where I can't. Especially since Lisanna has decided to open that big mouth of her hers.
"Are you angry sweetie," she taunts, from the corner of my eye I see her take a bold step forward. "I'm sorry your boyfriend gave me a t-shirt and bought me a bracelet. What has he given you?"
"Lisanna, I strongly advise you to shut up, because if she gets away from you I will not stop her," I say as calmly as possible, because she's starting to piss me off too.
"Let the dog off her leash, that bitch-"
I didn't have time to react before I am pushed back forcefully, and Porcelain is on top of Lisanna. She straddles the shorter girl's waist as she throws blow after blow to her face, and I find it scary how each one hits despite Lisanna's attempts to cover her face. But in the blink of an eye, the girls have rolled over causing Lisanna to come out on top. This doesn't sway Porcelain's rage at all as she continues land punch after punch. Somehow she gets her leg from underneath the smaller girl, and kicks her off of her body. My eyes grow wide as stands to her feet, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.
As she looks at her hand, which now has both of their blood on it, Lisanna tries to stand to her feet. I move out of the way when Porcelain stomps toward her, wrapping her hand up in her hair as she literally drags her across the grass. Throwing the girl against the brick wall of the school, Porcelain kneels down close to her face and I go closer to listen to what she says.
"Fuck with me now," Porcelain growls, slapping her across the face. "Fuck with me now, you stupid bitch."
To my utter horror, Lisanna laughs right after and spits in her face. Drawing back, Porcelain lets go of her hair to wipe her face. Just when I think she's going to walk away, she reels her foot back and kicks Lisanna in the face.
My first thought is why has no one stopped this, so I look around and realise that although there is a crowd of people everyone looks scared. There are two security guards standing in the front of the crowd, and they even look afraid to approach the girls. But after Porcelain kicked her, we all know the fight is over and they move in instantly. She doesn't even flinch as one grabs her by the arms, and take her away to god knows where. The other picks up Lisanna, who looks like she's sleeping, and I finally notice that there actually squad cars on the street. Did everyone just sits and watch this, no one had any common sense to interfere?
"Are you okay," I hear, and I look to my left to see Landon.
"I have no idea what the hell just happened," I reply honestly.
"Well, I got a video if you wanna watch it."
Shaking my head, the corner of my lip turns up slightly as I laugh at him. That's not what I meant, but I'm glad that he made me laugh. I tell him that I'm good, and he shrugs as he walks away. Random people come up to me, trying to talk to me about the fight but I ignore them. Keeping my head down, I manoeuvre through the dwindling crowd of people to get to my truck. I toss my bag in the back seat as I sit in the front, and try to clear my head. Sighing, I weigh my out my options; I can either go to the police station to see Porcelain, or I could go to the hospital to check on Lisanna. After a couple of minutes of just sitting, I finally make a decision and pull out of the school parking lot.
$ $ $ $ $
I laugh as I see her behind the plexy-glass window, and she smiles at as she sits down in the chair. They actually put her in an orange jumpsuit, and she looks horrible in the oversized clothing. Her lip is swollen, plenty of bruises dot her face and neck, and there is gash on her chin that looks in need of stitching. Other than that, she doesn't look that bad, but then I notice something on her neck as I glance over her again.
Picking up the black phone, I place it to me ear and watch as she does the same.
"Did she bite you," I ask, tilting my head to the right in question.
"Yea, the little vampire bitch, clamped down on my neck when we flipped over," Porcelain laughs.
"Babe, you didn't have to do that girl like that."
Throwing her head back, Porcelain laughs hard into the receiver and I do so along with her. Slowly our laughter dies down, and we stare at each other with ridiculous smiles on our faces. I tell her that I love her, and just to be cliché, I put my hand on the glass I say it. She repeats my actions, and I swear I see the guard roll his eyes. We drop our hands, and I lean back in my chair as I assess her through the glass again.
"You look good in orange, Porcy," I say, and this time she rolls here eyes.
"I'm not even sure why they put me in this damn thing," she huffs, cutting her eyes at the guard. "They're only holding me until I can see a judge, this was completely unnecessary."
Looking behind her, the guard is tapping his wrist and I choose to ignore him. They only gave me ten minutes to see her, and it seems like time moved against me as the guard yells that time is up. Who the hell pissed in his Cheerios this morning? Again I tell Porcelain I love her, then make my departure as she exits through a steel door. I leave the jailhouse, climbing into the Ranger Rover once again and going home.
My eyebrows furrow together when I recognise Andre's car sitting in front of the building. Getting out of my own, I bound up the stairs to my apartment and am surprised to see Andre and Porcelain's parents. They must have used the key I gave Andre --for the first two weeks he practically lived here so I gave him one-- which explains how they got in, but not why they're here. I know for sure that whatever reason they have it isn't good for me.
"Hello," I say, drawing out the 'o' as I sit my keys on the table by the door.
I take cautious steps toward the small recliner, adjacent from the sofa they are sitting on, and sit down slowly. Mr. Vance's eyes bore into me with each movement I make, and I see why Porcelain won our staring contest. His gaze is heavy, scrutinizing, and restrain myself from shifting in my seat. All I can think about are the times I've spent in his office, where he let off easy for fighting or skipping my classes. This is not one of those times.
"I'm going to keep this short and simple, I don't want you seeing my daughter anymore," he states, finality clear in his words almost giving me no room to argue.
"Why, I haven't done anything wrong," I exclaim, sitting up in my chair.
"She's incarcerated because of you, a petty fight with that girl over you."
"That had nothing to do with me! Just because Lisanna couldn't keep her mouth shut, doesn't mean it's my fault."
"Kieran, the situation isn't open for discussion, you will stay away from my daughter." Mr. Vance stands to his feet, followed by his wife who hasn't said a word, and begins to stride toward the door. Turning around to face me, he speaks one last time before leaving the apartment. "Your mother has been notified of this, so do not think she can change my mind."
The door clicks shut behind the couple, and I grit my teeth as I stare at the space they had been. I want to throw something, yell, but I just sit and stare. He can't do that, he can't make me stop seeing her; I won't. Running my hands through my hair in frustration, I rest my elbows on my knees as I close my eyes. He can't take her away from me, I can't lose twice. What am I going to do?
$ $ $ $ $
"You're agreeing with him," I yell, pacing the floor as my mother just watches on.
"No I'm not, don't put words in my mouth. I was simply saying maybe it's best if you hold off on love for awhile," she reasons, leaning on her elbows as she opens her hands.
Falling back into the semi-spherical chair, I drag my hands down my face in exasperation. When I wanted to be single, everyone wanted me to have a girlfriend and now that I have one it's the complete opposite. It honestly seems like I can't win in anything I do.
"You are definitely my child," my mother laughs, and I peek between my fingers at her.
"What do you mean," I ask.
"In the way you do things, you get more emotionally invested into things than you think you are. Your hearts in it but your mind is far behind, and you get so caught up in your feelings you don't see what's happening."
Something tells me this isn't just about me, but I choose not to comment on it as she smiles at me. No matter how upset I am, when my mother smiles at me, I can't help but smile back. My mother has one of those smiles that is extremely contagious, and no matter how hard you try you always end up smiling back. It's one of the things I love most about her.
Dropping my hands from my face, I sigh heavily as I lull my head back against the cushion. This day has been a rollercoaster that's continuously going down, and I'm just waiting for it to end. A knock on the front room brings me from my thoughts, and I get up to answer it before my mother can. Not bothering to ask who it is, I open the door only to be greeted with a swaying Frank. He reeks of alcohol and must, and I pull my shirt over my nose to block out the smell. Looking back at my mother, a deep frown is etched onto her face as she stares at him.
"My boy," Frank exclaims, throwing his arm around me in a drunken hug, "I love you so much, where's your mother?"
I move from under his touch, and squint my eyes at him in confusion. He's throwing around words of affection, and willingly looking for my mother; what has Jessica done?
"Not to be rude, but don't touch me," I say, then turn to my mother again, "do you want him here?"
I can see the war going on in her head as she thinks about it, then she sighs, "Let him in."
Not questioning her decision, I step aside to let him wobble through the door and it takes all of my strength not to trip him. I watch as he makes his way over to my mother, and falls to his knees in front of her. My eyes become wide as he instantly starts crying as he rests his head on her lap. He tries to speak through the tears, but the words just mix in with his sobbing and are incoherent. At first my mother doesn't move as she frowns down at her lap, but she hesitantly lifts her hand as she brings it to the short brown hair of Frank. The scene baffles and amazes me at once, because even though he'd hurt her she still shows him compassion.
Even though he'd put her through hell, she still shows compassion toward him. With this thought heavy in my mind, I leave out of the open door and close it behind me. And in my mind, I was closing the door to demons that long ago should have been locked away.
{this is a short chapter, but it's a double update, so be fucking proud of me! vote, comment what you think! until next time mofos.}