photo above not mine. artist signed their name on it already.
CHAPTER 05:
MADE YOU LOOK
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Nothing significant happened after the funeral. Taina and Eddie thought it'd be best for now if they went home. (Taina made a short detour to the store for some grocery essentials.) Nearing nine in the evening Eddie left with little to no explanation, demanding Taina stay home and stay off the streets. He didn't want her being cornered by the Toon Patrol again. It was already bad enough he got his niece, a civilian, involved in this case. So, Taina made dinner, ate, showered, listened to the radio while thumbing through a fashion magazine, and then went to bed around eleven.
Taina woke up around ten and dutifully made breakfast-eggs, bacon, grits, and toast. As Taina mindlessly shoveled down her meal, she noticed how quiet it was. Normally she was welcomed by the obnoxious snoring her uncle made while sleeping, but it wasn't there. He wasn't there, hunched over his desk with a liquor bottle in hand. Neither was he squashed on the sofa or sprawled on the pullout. Eddie was nowhere to be found.
Just as she's about to call Santino and file for a missing persons report, the front door swings open with far more force than intended. In the doorway stood a short, stubby man that looked a lot like Eddie from the neck down and on his head was a toon pig mask with her uncle's fedora on top.
"Uncle Eddie?" asked Taina, unsure. "Is that you?"
"Sadly," he grumbled. Taina walked over to Eddie, trying to find out where he was speaking through the mask. The permanent "smile" the pig mask wore was where Eddie's face could be seen.
"What happened?" Taina wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel. Should she laugh? Should she be more worried? Should she actually call Santino? Is this considered assault? Or harassment?
Eddie brushed past her and beelined for the bathroom. "I don't want to talk about it, Taina!" he shouted, slamming the door. Taina could hear the shower start to run as she went back to her breakfast.
"No need to be rude," she mumbled, into a bite of bacon.
Eddie emerged from the bathroom ten minutes later, no toon pig mask in sight. Taina pondered how he got that thing off his head until she remembered what was in the toon eraser elixir Judge Doom had, turpentine. The bottle hung out with their bathroom cleaning supplies under the sink, possibly a horrible place to put it, but that's where Eddie decided to keep it, and Taina never questioned it.
Eddie got redressed and then wordlessly ate his now semi-cold breakfast.
"Uncle," sighed Taina, not wanting to let the toon pig mask go because it was too weird to just ignore. "Why didn't you come home last night?"
Eddie glared at his niece. He studied her face for a moment. Normally, she wouldn't hesitate to point and laugh at his misfortune, finding amusement in that for the last couple of years. But right now, he couldn't see that. Of course, the twinkle of mischief still sparkled in her eyes, but her lips were pulled into a frown. She looked a lot like Teddy.
He huffed as he moved on to the small bowl of grits. "I got into a bit of trouble, that's it."
"Well, it didn't seem like it was 'a bit of trouble'," pressed Taina, not convinced. "It looked like someone sacked you for something you shouldn't have done." It wasn't a far-off guess. Eddie's still a registered private detective.
Eddie only grumbled something under his breath before polishing off his breakfast and placing the plate in the sink. He fixed his clothes and placed his hat on.
"Where are you going?" asked Taina, as she started washing the dishes. Taina grimaced. How was he already leaving again? Did he even sleep after whatever happened to him? Or was he just eager to help Roger?
"To rattle Maroon's cage. I'll be back. And while I'm gone, why don't you clean up a bit?" Eddie leaves before Taina can protest. Clean up. What was she, the live-in maid? Men are abysmal.
Taina cleaned up the apartment anyway. The place was a stye after the weasels dismantled it. It took a good hour to straighten everything out. The copious amounts of closed investigation papers were a pain to sort through but at least they were labeled correctly. Taina had her mother to thank for that. When she lived in America-the woman moved back home to Jamaica because her mother wouldn't stop nagging-she like to help with her father and uncle's cases, making sure everything was legible and findable if they needed to refer to anything that could help a current case.
After she finished playing housemaid, Taina went back to her room and got dressed. As she pinned up her hair and applied some makeup, humming along to a jazzy tune on the radio, she heard the front door open and close. That was fast. Maroon didn't seem like a squealer, but she could be wrong. No matter. Mr. Crabby-pants was just going to have to wait. Taina dressed herself in black slacks held up with one of her father's leather belts, a mulberry pink short sleeved blouse and her most comfortable pair of black loafers. She hurriedly ran into the living room, scanning the room for Eddie's cranky face but instead her vision was shrouded with an overly stylish red themed humanoid toon by the name of Jesse Rabbit. His handsome face was deep in thought about something as he looked over the newly organized double desk. Taina quietly cringed as she slowly began to back away, hoping Jesse hadn't heard her. She was about to go and hide in her room when he spoke.
"Hello, Miss Valiant," he said in his sultry voice. "I rang the doorbell, but no one answered, so I let myself in. I hope you don't mind."
Caught red handed! Taina cursed under her breath, as she slowly turned back around. She opened her mouth to speak but then realized what he said. Her head whipped towards the front door with a hole in where the doorknob used to be and then back at Jesse. Doorbell? They don't even have a knob. Is that his idea of a joke? It was kind of funny, but she wasn't going to utter a smile his way. "We don't have a doorbell, Mr. Rabbit, let alone a doorknob, as you can see."
Jesse, caught in his obvious lie, smirks with one hand on his hip. Taina wills herself not to make a face at how uneasy his presence is making her. Tall, redhead and unbelievably handsome with a sexy voice that could make any man or woman weak in the knees. Taina made sure not to let herself be swayed this time. So, she tried to relax her face, and body, as much as possible.
"Oh, well," he said, now grinning. "I just had to see you."
"Okay, you've seen me," That came out a lot harsher than she intended. Oh well, whatever gets the point across. "Now, come back later when my uncle is here. He's the one you'll want to see about... whatever it is you're here for."
"You know what I'm here for, doll face," purred Jesse. "You and your uncle got the wrong idea about me. I'm a pawn in this just like my daddy. Can you help me find him? I'll pay you anything." Jesse took elegant strides toward her, and Taina nearly panicked. She didn't want him to get close, God only knows what could happen if he touched her. It's bad enough they're alone together.
"I'm sure you would," mumbled Taina. Her eyebrows then furrowed. Wait a second. Do people think he's involved? Of course, they do. He was at the Acme warehouse giving a statement to the police since he was involved with Miriam Acme. Taina paused. What if there was a possibility that Jesse was a cold-blooded killer? The idea does seem far-fetched, even for her, but you never know with these kinds of things. It's strange enough that a toon committed murder. If she played her cards right, Taina could coax a confession out of him for her uncle. A devious glint came to her eyes as she folded her arm over her chest. "Anything? Okay. Let's say, hypothetically, that you are a prime suspect. You would need you dad to make the scam work somehow."
"Oh, no, no, doll face," said Jesse. "I love my daddy."
Taina bit her tongue. He does seem sincere about that. Roger may be ridiculous and outlandish, but there was no way he could do wrong by his own child. But Taina wasn't going to get any information by being sympathetic. She needed to be mean, rude, like her uncle. "Oh, sure," she said sarcastically and then leered. "I can just see you now. Standing outside your little hutch, holding a carrot cake with mommy, waitin' for daddy to come home!"
An annoyed look washed over Jesse. He huffed, flipping his hair over his shoulder, and pouted. "Don't you make fun of me, Miss Valiant!" he snipped. His face softened a bit as he gazed deeply at Taina. "You don't know how hard it is being a man looking the way I do."
Taina couldn't help but scoff. Is he for real? "Oh, yeah, I bet it's so hard," she said sarcastically heading towards the kitchen. Her mouth was getting dry. Talking to him was sucking all the moisture from her body.
Jesse sashayed after her and batted his eyelashes. "I'm not bad, doll face, I'm just drawn that way."
Taina stopped what she was doing-in the process of popping open a coca cola with a bottle opener-and blinked at him a little open mouth. That was kind of hot. Fluttering his eyes at her. It tickled something in the back of her brain and had her stomach do summersaults. She shook her head, snapping out if it as Jesse quietly chuckled. Taina tore open the bottle and the cap went flying to the floor. Ignoring it she took a sip and sighed in satisfaction.
"You know, Mr. Rabbit-" began Taina but Jesse interrupted.
"You can call me Jesse, doll face," he smiled.
"No thank you," Taina made a face and took another sip of her drink. She'd rather not be on a first name basis with him. "As I was saying. I don't think you should be asking me and my uncle-but especially me because I'm not the other Valiant on the front door, that was my dad-in helping you find Roger. Eddie took the pictures of you and Acme playing pattycake, remember?"
Jesse slinked closer, coming up the step to the kitchen, a few feet from her now. "Maroon came to me, Miss Valiant," his voice was slightly softer, trying to recollect the memory that could be the reason of why this mess even started. "He told me he'd fire my daddy if I didn't do it. I went along with him for daddy's sake. It was only pattycake, after all."
"Well, it wasn't just pattycake to Roger, Jesse," sighed Taina as she set down her bottle on the counter. "He was really worked up about the whole thing, you should have seen him. Sobbing, snot bubbles-it was bad. Those pictures really hurt him." Guilt hit Taina like tsunami. Those pictures did hurt Roger immensely. How could Eddie do something like that? And how could she have stood there and watched it happen?
Jesse looked a little ashamed of himself. "This is why I need your help, Miss Valiant." He quickly composed himself.
"I don't know how I could," said Taina, leaning on the counter and folding her arms over her chest.
"Well, why not?"
"I just told you why, dammit!" snapped Taina, raising her voice. "I'm not a P.I.!" Now, she was annoyed. Will this weirdo leave her alone? She wasn't even supposed to be talking to anyone. Taina grabbed her drink and tried to brush pass Jesse, but he grabbed her arm. "Hey!"
"If I'm as bad as you think, Taina, what's stopping me from killing you right now?" said Jesse in a low voice as if he were trying to tell her something he didn't want anyone else over hearing.
Taina nearly flinched at the sound of her name coming out of his mouth. The way he handled every letter, every syllable of her name with care. She could feel her heartbeat quicken, the sound pounding in her ears. She gave him a hard stare, completely taken aback by his words. She could see it in his face, in his not blue but turquoise eyes, that he was scared. Scared of what could happen to his dad. That Roger could be tried and given the death penalty for a murder he didn't commit by the Judge. Taina's face softened. "Because you're like him, you wouldn't hurt anyone."
This, from the looks of it, caught Jesse off guard. It was enough for Taina to free herself and inspect the front door. How in the hell were they going to explain this to the landlord?
"Miss Valiant," said Jesse, back to his usual sultry baritone. "Can't you see how much I need you." Jesse took her coca cola out of her hand and set it on the nearby end table. He grew impossibly close as Taina backed away from him, completely confused. What's prompting this? Why does he keep trying to seduce her? Was this just him? Is he so incapable of making a connection without sexual innuendos being uttered? How? How do women fold for this kind of behavior? Jesse finally backed her up into the wall of file cabinets. "I'm desperate, Taina."
Taina's entire body felt like it was on vibrate as her shoes felt like they were glued to the wooden floors. He's got her completely caged. Jesse stares deeply into her eyes. Taina could make out every miniscule detail painted into his being. The faint freckles that dusted his button nose, the slight pucker to his lips, the light blush in cheeks for that rosy complexion. He was breathtaking. But as she stared at the details of his face, Jesse moved closer as his mouth laid on hers in a kiss.
Taina went rigid for a moment. How did it come to this? Kissing, really? And with a lothario of all people. But as the milliseconds passed, Taina grew less tense and relaxed more as Jesse kissed her repeatedly and she kissed him repeatedly. As odd as it was, and as unasked for, she liked it. The butterflies within her stomach released themselves as their mouths moved on one another and Taina snaked her arms around Jesse's shoulders, and he snaked his arms around her waist.
Their brief and oddly placed embrace didn't last long because just as things were going to heat up, the door swung open, and Eddie stood gaping at the scene before him: his niece locking lips with the toon speakeasy singer. A million emotions ran through him. But the main ones were shocked, annoyed, and mostly angry.
"Get the hell off her!" yelled Eddie.
Taina ripped herself from Jesse before Eddie did so, as a wave of disbelief swept over her. Why did she just do that? Kiss a suspect like that? A stranger? A toon man she barely knew. Taina examined the fuming face of Eddie then drifted to the other person in the doorway, Dolores. She smirked knowingly, "Dabblin' in watercolors, Tina?"
Taina glanced at everyone, utterly befuddled. How would she explain herself? Jesse flipped his hair over his shoulder and arched a brow, quickly glowering at Eddie. He then turned to Taina as his usual sultry pout settled on his face. Jesse took her hand in his. "I hope I didn't inconvenience you, Miss Valiant. My offer still stands. Think about it." Jesse then brings her knuckles to his lips and delicately kisses them. Jesse saunters past both Eddie and Dolores before disappearing out of the apartment.
"What was that?" asked Dolores, smiling too hard.
"Yes, what the hell was that Taina Valiant?" barked Eddie.
Still a bit dazed, Taina said, "I really don't know."
"What did I tell you about him!" shouted Eddie.
Seemingly snapping out of it, Taina turns to her uncle, frowning. "He came onto me!"
"Who was he, Tina?" asked Dolores, as Eddie dragged Taina out the door, down the stairs and outside to wherever they needed to be.
"The rabbit's son," she said, trying to rip her arm from Eddie's vice grip. "Let go, you buffoon. I'm not a little girl anymore, I can do as I please."
"Not in my house," spat Eddie. "I told you to stay away from him. Instead, I find that fiend with his tongue down your throat."
Taina made a disgusted face. "His tongue wasn't down my throat, you freak! He was probably feeling for a good place to stick a knife!" Taina managed to push Eddie off her as they continued to argue. Dolores watched on for a second, giggling at the two. They fought more like father and daughter instead of uncle and niece sometimes. Taina looked about ready to fight Eddie until Dolores thought it be best to jump in. They were wasting time.
"As entertaining as this is, we don't have the time," said Dolores. Eddie and Taina animatedly stop and look at Dolores. Both composing themselves and putting their feelings on the backburner, as they listen to what she has to say. "I stopped by to tell you that I checked the Acme probate."
"Maroon, right?" said Eddie, fixing his fedora.
Dolores shook her head. "Nope. It's the Cloverleaf outfit again."
Taina furrowed her brows. "What would they want with a gag factory?"
"Beats me, but unless the will shows up by midnight tonight, it's theirs."
Eddie considers this new development, but then cocks an ear. In the distance, the faint noise of singing travels. Taina eyes slowly widen at the realization.
"What's that comin' from the bar?" asked Eddie.
Dolores sharpens her hearing too. "Sounds like singin'."
"Oh, no," groaned Taina.
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Author's Note: heeeyyyy. sorry for disappearing again! but this chapter had to be important for me and y'all bc jesse is finally back. that kiss came out of nowhere, right but i wanted it to be out of nowhere. i think i'll have it explained later or not. but i mostly put it in because i randomly wrote a smut chapter on Google docs and I thought a little spice would help my version of wfrr. hope you enjoyed!