Julie's POV
"Merry Christmas!" Jay exclaims.
"Merry Christmas." I smile.
"I got you something."
"Why?"
"Because. Now come on." He takes my hand and walks me down the stairs, but slowly since I'm still recovering.
"See?" He asks as we walk into the living room where there's a tree with boxes around it.
Just... a tree. And not a Christmas tree. Literally a tree. Oh my god, he dragged it in through the house from outside. I can tell because there's a dirt trail.
Oh Jay. What will we do with you?
"Very... nice." I nod. "Jay."
"Yeah?"
"Where did you get that tree?"
"Umm, outside."
"Oh." I nod.
I screech when suddenly a squirrel jumps out, lands on the floor, and runs around.
"Sorry." He says.
"That's okay." I pat his shoulder. "You do know they sell trees at like Walmart, right?"
"They do?" I nod. "Oh. That's why there were always trees in store around this time."
"And you didn't get one of those, because..."
"Because I didn't want to risk going out in public and having your dads gang find and kill me."
"Jay, are you scared of them?"
"N-no."
"It's okay. They scare me too."
"Well it's not okay for me. I'm a gang leader."
"Not anymore."
"What?" He asks confided.
"You're not a gang leader anymore. You can give your gang to someone else. Like, your friend, or whatever. But you don't like being a gang leader, so I declare you retired from being a gang leader." I say sternly.
"It doesn't quite work that way, Julie."
"Well it does now."
"You're so nice."
"Yeah, well," I shrug.
"I wish I were nice like you."
"You can be."
"No I can't."
"Yes you can. Go to therapy and work on it. Carlos could use that too."
"I think we all could." He chuckles and I nod. "Here's your present." He hands me a little box.
"Why did you get me a present?"
"Because it's Christmas."
"I didn't think to get you anything, though."
"That's okay. No ones ever gotten me anything before."
"Oh."
"Well anyway, open it already." He says impatiently.
I smile as I open the unwrapped box, revealing a phone. My phone.
"It's my phone." I say as if he didn't know, even though he's the one who got it.
"I know. I took it from you, but now I'm giving it back."
"Why? Aren't you afraid I'll call the cops or something?"
أنت تقرأ
Julie Bane
العاطفية*Sequel to 'Innocence is Just Her Disguise'* I look at the girl who just sat down in the chair across from Adam and Dennis. I can't put my finger on it but something just seems so familiar about that girl. "Julie," Dennis speaks and clears his...
