TEACH ME TO SIN

Chap.3 Jerry's Curiosity

JERICHO

“I’ve got a friend!”I yelled excitedly as I skipped into the house. I slowed my pace considerably when I entered the living room and got the stink eye from Ethan. Protective much. He probably thinks I’ll just fall and never get up again.

He and mum are on the couch. He’s typing away on his laptop, and mum is flipping through stations and nursing a glass of wine. I plopped down between both of them, ” did you hear? I’ve got a friend.”

“I’m sure the whole street heard honey,” mum said. I swung my eyes to Ethan just in time to see his mouth ‘pathetic’ over my shoulder.

“I’m one step in place,” I said.

“In place of what?”

“Getting my husbands”

Mum choked on her wine. Ethan went so still. His eyes narrowed to slits. “What did you say?”

I thumped mum’s back. “I’m kidding dad. Sheesh,” then lower“ hypocrite.”

His cheeks tinged red. He opened his mouth to say something.

“ Dinner’s ready.” Father says from the door post, cutting dad off. I skipped out of the couch. Bubbling with all the enthusiasm and excitement of having a friend. My very first real friend. We’d live on the same street in the future and our kids would be best friends. Not to skip ahead or anything, though. God, I was blowing this out of proportion. It was still early days. The vipers could get their hands on him by tomorrow. Or he could die. That’d suck. I kissed my father's cheek as I walked by.

“What’s this about a new friend?” he asked, pulling out a stool on the island for me. We had a huge dining table. But we preferred all our meals here. The kitchen was big and cozy and bright. Seating arrangements were as usual. Dad at the first stool, mum second, me third and father last.

“His name is Bennett and-”

“He's a boy?” father sputtered.

“Chill” the three of us chorus, glaring at him.

“She’s seventeen” he grumbled.

“I’m pretty sure he hasn’t tried to look down my shirt. I will, of course, inform you once he does”.

“now look here-”

“You are destroying Jerry’s whole ‘new friend’ bubble” dad glared at him. Father glared back.

“Testosterone” mum whispered to me out of the side of her mouth. But I couldn’t laugh. I suddenly didn’t feel good.

“I’m going to go walk around. Or something” I stood up.

“ Jerry” dad stood up too.

“Go”Father smiled at me. I didn’t wait to listen to Dad’s growl. I picked my way out of the house, stuffing my feet back into my sneakers. I wished I had my bicycle. What I’d give to ride around the neighborhood. Mrs. Darren looked at me with a question on her weathered face. I smiled assuredly at her and left the gated compound.

I got why Dad was overprotective. It wasn’t just me. It was just how he was. He growled at any guy who looked at mum. Once, mum had an extra painful period and Ethan had admitted her into the hospital. Mum used to be a bartender at a hole in the wall diner in New York. Dad would stand nearby and scowl at anyone who talked to her and stared at her. Mum described it as being so annoying. She got zero tips, and it pissed her boss off so much that she got dismissed. She refused to talk to him for a month.

It was just that I'd always been good. The most rebellion I’d done was telling my parents I hated them because I had no friends in school.

I wanted to do something bad. Like getting a tattoo. Oh boy. Dad would freak out.

Get Drunk. Dad would kill me.

Sleepover. Dad would never let me.

Get a boyfriend. Little hope for that.

Dye my hair. Dad would murder me.

Get a piercing. I didn’t even want to be pierced.

Christ. Even in my head, Ethan was speaking to me. I wondered how he’d like being treated like a hopeless teddy for once. Ha! I’m –” oomph”

I bumped into something. I frowned. Someone, actually.

“Sorry.” I mumbled, ready to walk away, when my nostrils suddenly filled with a heady scent. I leaned forward and sniffed. This man smelled like something I wanted filling my lungs, forever.

I looked up and up. My angel of death. The dark hair and mysterious eyes. The aquiline nose and scruffy jaw. The wide shoulders were new, though. So was his scowl. Jeez. I’d be enough of frowning men in a day.

“Hello”I smiled. Mum always said I had a charming smile. So I used it now. His scowl didn’t leave, leaving me to wonder if that was just how his face was set, “I’m Jerry.”

His mouth kicked up at one corner. Great. He thought my name was amusing.

“What’s your name?”

“Rose”He said.

I narrowed my eyes at him, ” are you lying? Why did your parents name you rose?”

“I was precious.” He has an accent, I realize. I looked at him closely. He was definitely not American. It was an Italian accent if I wasn’t mistake. I knew because my mum is always trying out new accents. It was really amusing to me. But for some reason, it never made my dads laugh. They just stared at her hard. If I were her, I’d have stopped doing it years ago. Poor reaction was discouraging.

“You aren’t precious anymore?”

“How’s your head?” he asked instead.

“Eh, good?”

“Good” then he turned and began to walk away. I looked up and realized I’m standing just past what I can now correctly say is his house. It’s bigger than the other houses on the street. I wondered if he lived there alone.

“Nice to meet you-er- Rose?”

He doesn’t even look back. Just disappeared into his gate. I blinked. Okay, that was weird. I didn’t know whether to think Rose was rude or not. On the one hand, he asked me about my head.

And why was I fascinated with him anyway. He was probably two decades older than me. I traced my steps back to his gate. It was terribly high. On a closer look, even his fence was so high. The house looked sort of like a castle. Older and more classic than other of the neighboring houses. There were pillars and a grand front door. Like huge and unwelcoming. There was a man in a suit at the front door. Not Rose. I peered closer.

“Do you need something?”

I yelp. A tan man in a suit was staring at me. Looking very unhappy to see me. I blinked. Another Italian accent. Who are these guys?

“N-no. I- I don’t need anything. I’m just -uhm- going to go” with that, I turned and ran back the way I came. Unfortunately, I knew the mystery of Rose and the Italian suits would weigh in my mind. I promised myself I wouldn’t try to do any snooping or investigating.

Even as I made the promise, I knew I was going to break it.