Jess Mariano's Sister

Cry For Help

-- Edited -- 

She sat on the floor of the small bathroom, legs straight in front of her, her back leaned against the outside of the tube. The bathroom door to her left is bolted and a chair, stolen from the dining room, is stuck under the knob. 

She stared at the cabinet under the sink, not lost in her own head, but she could still hear the yelling from downstairs and the sound of things being thrown and hits being given and received.

Tears ran down her face as she managed to somewhat ground herself and clutch the phone in her hand tighter. She looked at it and recited the number in her head a couple of times before taking a deep breath and dialing it.

She placed it to her ear, not the side on which her cheek was bruised, but right, the side with the small black eye and busted lip. She listened to the dial tone until the line was picked up.

"Luke's Diner, this is Luke," the man in the other line said.

His voice held only a hint of grumpiness, and the chatter of customers could be heard in the background.

She took another breath before responding, "Hey, Uncle Luke," I replied, my voice slightly scratchy from crying.

"Willow?" Luke responded. I can hear the confusion in his voice.

"Willow, what's wrong? Did something happen? Does it have something to do with your mom?" my frantic uncle asks.

At least I know for sure he still cares. He was one of few people in my life that ever cared about me, but back to the point.

At least I know for sure he still cares. He was one of few people in my life that ever cared about me, but back to the point.

"Yeah Luke, it's me," I reply.

"Tell me what happened, Willow," Luke demanded, "I can tell something is wrong. You get quiet, but you only get this quiet when something has happened."

He has been on the phone with me for just over a minute, I barely said a sentence to him and he can already tell I need his help.

"Liz has, kind of, reverted to old habits. She's bad Luke, and she's started dating again."

The line is quiet except for the normal diner sounds still audible from the background.

"I need you to listen to me Will. I'm gonna hang up the phone so I can go up to the apartment. I'm gonna call you on the phone up there. Too many ears down here," he blurted, in a hushed voice.

"Okay, Uncle Luke."

"All right Will, Hold tight."

Then the line went dead. I waited patiently a few seconds and let out a slight giggle and dial the number again. My cell might have caller ID, but I know for sure the diner phone doesn't, which means he has no way to call back.

A frantic Luke answers the phone again, and I rattle off numbers.

"Okay, I have a pen start from the beginning," he says in a rush.

I repeat the number one more time and he hastily hangs up again.

I again sit and wait, staring at the cabinet. The silver cell phone in my hand vibrates and without looking I flip it open and answer, "Hi again, Uncle Luke," slightly laughing.

"Tell me what's going on," he says, cutting straight to the point.

He's worried and upset. I should be in more of a panic, I should be rushing to give him all the details, but instead I'm almost completely calm, just because I can hear his voice, know he's there.

Growing up Jess and I knew that if things got bad, Uncle Luke was just a phone call away.

"I think I'm okay at the moment. She and her boyfriend, or whatever, are yelling at each other downstairs. She started using again a couple months ago. I don't know how I didn't notice."

"Did she hurt you Willow? Did he?"

"It started out okay, I thought she had finally gotten it together. That was until I found out she was hooked again."

"How long has it been bad? When was the first time it happened?

"Like I said I'm not for sure when she started using, but know for at least a couple months, but the fighting didn't start until last week. He went off for no reason and then he hit me. It was just once until today. They were fighting, and I was stupid enough to get in the middle of it."

"Why would you do that?" he asked confused.

"I just wanted it to stop. They just keep yelling and throwing things at each other. When I came in he lost it. I hurt everywhere, Luke," I said as my voice broke, tears filling my eyes.

"Where are you Willow?"

"I'm sitting on the bathroom floor. I have the door locked, and I put a chair under it for good measure. I should be able to get to my room. I don't have a lock, but try the chair thing, but I'm on the second floor, so I have no way out after that," I tell him.

"So you're out of your old place?" Luke asks and, confused.

"Liz moved the two of us into his house almost immediately. That should have been a red flag. I can give you the address."

"Yeah, do that. I'll get there as soon as I can."

I gave him the address and finally asked the question that was burning in the back of my mind.

"Luke where's Jess at?"