The Town (Book 1, Lonstino & Greenwood Series)

Chapter 16 - Bad Memories

CHARLIE

It's been a while since we've all been together and I miss these moments. Around these guys I can be myself. They are my brothers in good and bad times.

"And then I told them: guys, I know it's called the Love Tunnel but you need to go somewhere else. And the guy is trying to pull up his pants and the girl couldn't find her panties and is pulling down her too-short skirt. He had to give her his shirt and walk shirtless out of the fairgrounds. This morning I saw a white thing floating on the water and I pulled it out with a stick. Those panties probably had been swimming around the whole night but nobody noticed."

Brian's loud laughter booms across the café and Jess looks at us with disapproval.

"I've been telling you to add No sex on the fairgrounds to the park rules," Jaden says before sipping on the mug of coffee I just topped.

"Yeah, right, like that will make any difference. In fact, please raise your hand if you lost your virginity on the fairgrounds," I say while placing a plate with sliced cake in front of my friends.

We all look at each other, and besides Greg, we raise our hands and burst in laughter. Except for a couple of elderly people who are watching Jaden's tattoos with wide eyes, the café is empty as the Sunday rush is over.

"I'm not one bit sorry that I lost mine on a bed with my wife," Greg shrugs and pushes the cake plate towards Brian.

"We all can't be as decent as you," Jaden smirks.

The door opens and Ximena comes inside. Her hair is all over the place and her cheeks and nose have a pink tint as today is quite windy and cold. I didn't forget she was coming to continue our conversation, but I wasn't counting on the guys being here. She smiles at me and the guys turn around to see who's got my attention.

"Here comes trouble," Jaden says and makes her laugh.

Brian turns his back towards her and plays with the cake crumbles on his napkin.

"You guys are busy, I'll come back later," she says.

"I was about to leave. Thanks for the cake, Charlie," Brian says and walks past her without acknowledging her presence.

"That was awkward. What's going on Ximena?" Greg asks.

"It's not important," she mumbles as she takes Brian's place at the counter.

"It didn't look like that," Jaden says.

"You know Jaden, maybe it's time that you set things straight with your friends so you can save me the trouble of being the talk of the town," she says in a challenging voice, grabbing the attention of Jessica.

"What do you want me to say?" He looks puzzled.

"That you tricked me into going on a date with you, that we only talked and we didn't kiss," she says exasperated.

"Oh! That. Yeah, whatever she is saying is true," he shrugs and my sister relaxes.

"And now I hope it makes it to Brian because he didn't believe me."

"Brian is jealous... That is something," Greg smirks and earns a glare from Ximena.

"Well, I'll tell him if I remember," Jaden stands up and puts on his jacket. "We'll start plotting the renovations today. See you around Ximena," he gives her a nod and kisses my sister's cheek on the way out.

"I'm going home too. I think it's time to take a look at the second room I'm using as storage," Greg says and leaves.

Ximena and I are left alone, and she looks uncomfortable. "I will make you breakfast. That will make things better."

I steal glances at her while I prepare her food. She has taken a notebook out of her bag and writes in it. Suddenly she stares at nowhere in particular, her lips move a bit, but no sound comes out of them, she tilts her head and then scribbles a bit more on the notebook.

"What are you doing?" I ask as I place the hot plate in front of her.

"I'm going through the plot points for my new story, adding some ideas, modifying others."

"You looked kind of funny there for a moment. A bit crazy, like talking to yourself."

"Did I? Well, I never look at myself in a mirror when I'm doing this so I wouldn't know. Anyway, I'm here to continue our conversation. What is the deal with Jaden and his uncle?"

I know I can't put the topic on hold for much longer. It's an unpleasant story in which all of us suffered along with Jaden. Only he suffered much more.

"I've known Jaden since we were babies. Lonstino was then full with young families and our parents were good friends. That's also how I know Greg and Brian too. He was a happy kid and his parents were warm and loved giving back to the community. When they got killed in the robbery I didn't hear about it immediately as my parents wanted to protect us from the bad news. Eventually we heard about it in school because he didn't attend for a while. His custody went to his mom's brother as he was the closest living relative. My parents were shocked and mad with social services for placing Jaden with a 25-year-old with a reputation for trouble. He probably didn't think about the responsibility, but the money from the insurance was plenty so he accepted to raise Jaden gladly. In the beginning, things seemed to be going okay as social services were watching him like hawks. But Jaden's uncle is a drinker and a gambler, and I say this because he still does it. He depleted the money intended for Jaden within a year and that's when things started to go wrong. Jaden would come to school with small bruises, saying he fell from his bike. As a child I was very accident prone and I knew how my arms and legs looked from falling from a bike and his skin didn't look anything like that. One time, during rough play at the schoolyard, Greg grabbed him by his arm and he whimpered. He covered it quickly but had something that looked like a cigarette burn."

Ximena seems to have lost her appetite as she moves a piece of egg around with her fork.

"Should I go on?" I ask.

"Yes, please. I'm only thinking about how some people are not fit to be parents."

I wonder if she's talking about her family, but decide to continue with my story instead.

"When I was thirteen, my mom came into my room in the middle of the night. She didn't intend to wake me up, but the light in the hallway did. She went to my dresser and pulled clothes as quietly as possible then left my room without saying a word. I caught a glimpse of her face in the light outside and it looked as if she had been crying. I found it very odd, so I stayed awake, and maybe ten minutes later, my father entered my room with an air mattress and bed sheets. I turned my lamp light on and sat on the bed while he arranged a bed on the floor. He said then in a very serious tone that Jaden would stay with us for a while. The third time the door opened, he entered the room together with my mom and went straight to sleep. The next morning, I was getting clothes to go shower and when I turned around a gasp escaped me when I saw his mouth was swollen and had a big bruise around it. He only stirred a bit from the noise and kept sleeping. With the clothes in my hand I found my parents in the kitchen and my mom's worry got worse when I broke down in tears. They told me how Jaden appeared at our door around eleven thirty in the evening with a split lip and clothes stained with blood. They insisted on bringing him to the hospital and he declined, but also he didn't want to say who did that to him, although my parents knew very well who it was. He stayed with us for about two weeks and my parents spoke with our teachers to make them aware of what happened. My mom came home during her break at the café to check up on him and make sure he ate properly. He gained some weight back and looked almost healthy. Until one night, when his uncle appeared at our door and argued with my parents, saying they had kidnapped Jaden and that he was going to the police to accuse them. Jaden was standing next to me and shook all over from the nerves. His uncle barked at him to get in the car and he did. I pleaded to him to stay, but he left without even looking back. Years later I understood that he was protecting us from his uncle."

"I just can't understand why someone would hurt a child. Jaden went through hell with that man," Ximena looks at me with so much pain in her eyes.

"That was not the worst of it," I say and her eyes widen in disbelief.