The One Who Was Taught To Survive

I woke up the next morning in my bed, I sighed as I smiled remembering the night before. I looked over at the clock and saw it was only 8, I knew that Bobby and Jimmy were probably still sleeping. I allowed myself a few more moments to relive the memories from the night before with Matt. God I had such a great time with him, his laugh as we walked along the beach, the feel of his strong hand connecting with mine.

It’d been a long time since I’ve felt that connected, that safe, with someone. I couldn’t help but feel my stomach flutter when I thought of him. The butterflies becoming a contagious outbreak of happiness over my body. I decided to get up and share the happiness I felt. It had become a routine that I’d make breakfast and coffee for everyone before they went to work on the weekends.

I got up and put on a pair of denim shorts and a black spaghetti strapped tank top over my bra before going downstairs. As I walked, I put my hair up in a messy bun to keep it out of my face. I brought up spotify on my phone and played the playlist “Jams” which started playing throwback songs from the 80’s as I started gathering things up to make French toast.

As I sang, I felt myself kind of get absorbed in my own world, it wasn’t until I heard a knock on the door that it jolted me into awareness. I skipped over to the door figuring it was the guys, but when I looked out the peep hole, I saw men in black suits. I immediately backed away, my paranoia getting the better of me. I moved back to the kitchen, shutting off the stove and ran upstairs as quietly as I could and getting Bobby.

“Bobby,” I shook her slightly.

She immediately woke up and looked at me confused, “River? What’s wrong baby?” she sat up and pulled me down to where I was sitting on the bed, then we heard the knocking on the door again.

“There’s men in suits and I don’t know who they are or what they want. I didn’t want to answer the door in case they’re looking for me,” I explained nervously.

She nodded and got up, wrapping her robe around her. “You go to Jimmy’s room, stay with him. I’ll figure out what they want and it’ll be okay, alright?”

I nodded and went down the hall to Jimmy’s room, I knocked before entering and went over to the bed where he was passed out cold. “Jimmy,” I whispered worried that I’d be too loud. “Jimmy,” I repeated a little more forcefully as I shook his shoulder.

He stirred with a “hmm?” without opening his eyes.

“There’s men in suits here, they’re downstairs.” I whispered on the verge of tears.

This however, woke him up and he pulled me to him protectively, recognizing the panic in my eyes. “Riv, it’ll be alright, Bobby will handle this. Everything’s okay.” He held me to him, hugging me tightly and kissing my forehead.

We stayed like that for about ten minutes, waiting for Bobby to come get us. It wasn’t so much that I was scared of someone finding me, it was more the fear of having to return to a life of hell. I wasn’t okay with that, all I had to do was make it another 3 months, then no one could make me do anything.

Jimmy pulled out his phone and texted Matt as we waited, he realized I didn’t have my phone. His phone buzzed about a minute later with a reply, he read it and nodded obviously answering Matt’s question or remark. “He said that he’ll be over soon, it’ll be alright.” He tried to reassure me again.

Once about five more minutes had past, Bobby came up the stairs and knocked on Jimmy’s door. “Come in,” Jimmy replied, holding me to him still, just like a protective older brother would do.

Bobby smiled at us slightly and sat on the edge of the bed, “That was a couple of detectives from the police department. They said that the old apartment you two were staying at had caught fire. Faulty wiring is what they were writing it off as, but they needed to cover all their bases. They wanted to know where you were last night, Jimmy. I told them you were home in bed by midnight.”

Jimmy shook his head, “I would never do that Bobby. I’d never set a fire to anywhere that I knew would be traced back to me.”

I giggled, “so just places that wouldn’t be eh?”

Jimmy grinned widely, “Yeah, like Canada.”

Bobby shook her head smirking as she held back laughter, “Anyways, they heard a rumor that you were staying with me, and they wanted to speak with me about it.” We both nodded at her, “River, we need to talk though. Why’d you freak out about the suits? Besides the fear of being found.”

“Well, I…” I bit my lip, trying to decide if it was the right time to tell Bobby; however, Jimmy made up my mind for me.

“Her parents were abusive and neglectful,” he paused as he stroked my hair. “Her step-dad is a very mean man. If they find her before she’s 18 then she’ll have no choice but to go back to them.”

Bobby eyed Jimmy for a moment, then redirected her gaze to me, “Is this true?” I blushed and looked down, afraid of her judging me and nodded slightly. I felt Jimmy pull me closer to him and start stroking my hair. “River, I think you and I need to have a drink and talk later, while we’re at the bar.”

“Okay,” I mumbled softly not meeting her gaze.

Bobby leaned over and lifted my head to where I was meeting her eyes, “You won’t ever have to go back to them, do you hear me? I’ll fight for you if it comes to that. You’re my baby girl, and I love you very much.”

I felt tears prick my eyes and I leaned over and threw my arms around Bobby, “I love you too.”

Jimmy obviously felt left out because both Bobby and I were engulfed by a very naked Jimmy in a hug. “Me three. I love both of you.”

Bobby and I laughed as she smacked his head playfully, “James, cover yourself up now.”

Jimmy pouted but did so, “I thought you guys love me!”

I giggled and kissed his cheek, “We do, but it doesn’t mean we have to see ALL of you.” Jimmy smiled and shook his head, falling back into the pillows on the bed. The door bell sounded, signaling that Matt had arrived.

* * * * * * *

That afternoon, as promised, I arrived at the bar with Bobby to find Dilynn waiting for us; ironically, so was Zacky. “Zack, what are you doing here? We don’t open for another 4 hours,” Bobby said lifting her sunglasses and resting them on her head.

He shrugged, “I wanted to spend time with River today and she said she was busy this afternoon working here with you.”

Bobby glanced at me which made me blush, “Uhh, well she’s going to be working Zack. Maybe come back after we open? Spend time together then?”

Zacky kicked the dirt kinda, “Can I work too?”

Dilynn rolled her eyes, “Zack you’d actually have to pay attention, wouldn’t be able to goof off or anything. Bar tending is harder than it looks.”

Zack huffed a bit, “Well of course it is, I never said it was easy.”

I looked at Bobby to see if she’d make the decision, “Alright Zack, but like Dilynn said, you can’t goof off or stand around talking. Or staring at others and not paying attention. Okay?”

Zacky nodded and smiled, “Thank-you Bobby, I won’t let you down.”

She shook her head chuckling as she unlocked the door, I smiled at him as Dilynn went in, “This is a bit extreme to get my attention Baker.”

He rolled his eyes playfully, “Not everything is about you princess. I need extra money to buy my smokes.”

I giggled and shook my head before walking in, Johnny’s seemed so much different without anyone here. It almost felt...well a little scary. Bobby flipped on the lights and moved behind the back of the bar. “Alright kids, sit down over here. Time for official training.”

Dilynn sat on my left, while Zack sat on my right, “Alright, who can tell me the most important part of bar tending?”

“Don’t drink on the job?” Zack asked.

“Keep your area clean and stocked,” Dilynn said.

“Connect with the guests and make sure you pay attention?” I guessed.

Bobby smiled at all three of us, “Well all of those ARE important parts. But the most important part of bar tending, is making sure that everyone has a drink. Our goal as a bar is to make sure that we sell enough that we make back more than what we spend. Yes that does include keeping track of customers, it means keeping track of what they order, and it means being polite and courteous to them.”

Bobby went on to show us how to get everything clean, and how to keep guests happy. She explained all the qualities that bar tending has to offer before she decided to show us how to make a couple drinks. “I know all of your parents allow you to drink, so I’m going to give you just a taste of this next one.”

We all nodded as she mixed up an Amaretto Sour, as she put the topper on it, which was 7 up, she set it in front of us. Dilynn and Zacky both dipped their straws in, using their fingers to suction it up before depositing some of it into their mouths. Zacky made a face, “I’ll stick to whiskey and beer.”

Dilynn smiled, “That’s good, a little too sweet for me, but it’s good.”

They all three looked at me expectedly, “Oh um…I can try it, but I actually love Amaretto sours…it’s my main drink when I drank in New York.”

Bobby smiled, “Good choice, the drink, not the drinking.” I blushed and smiled back, “Well kids, that’s the lesson for today. Time to earn your keep and help me get everything cleaned. Zacky you want to go ahead and start wiping down the kitchen for me, Dilynn you wanna go clean the bathrooms, and Riv, go ahead and start wiping down light fixtures above tables and the pool table and vacuum out here?”

We all nodded and fanned out, Bobby cleaned up the bar area and dusted, making sure to keep an eye on all of us. “Alright kids, when you’re done, you’re free to go if you’d like, or you can hang out here.”

Zacky and Dilynn nodded and went and sat in a corner booth, “River?” Bobby asked me as I turned to join them.

“Yeah?” I replied looking back at her.

“Sit at the bar for a moment will you?” She sat an Amaretto Sour in front of me and came around sitting next to me with an old fashioned in her hand.

I did as I was asked and took a sip of the amaretto sour, “What’s up?”

“I wanted to talk to you more in depth with what Jimmy said this morning, and I figured you’d need a drink while we talk,” Bobby looked at me with kind eyes.

I blushed and nodded, “What would you like to know?”

“What did he do to you?” Bobby asked as she looked at me concerned.

“Everything,” I whispered taking a drink.

“What do you mean everything?” she asked, a fire sparking in her eyes.

“He started sexually assaulting me when I was 12, only stopped when I was 14 because I threatened to bite it off…that’s when the beatings started,” I took a big gulp of my drink.

Bobby looked at me, her heart breaking as she pushed my hair out of my face and behind my ears, “Where was your mom in all this?”

“She said that I seduced him,” I fought back tears, my lip starting to quiver. “She said that I deserved the pain that he gave me because I went after her husband. That I’m just a whore who needed to learn a lesson.” I dropped my head, letting the tears fall freely.

Bobby immediately gathered me up in a hug, “Shh…it’s okay baby girl, you’re safe now. You’re home. No one’s ever going to take you back there. I’ll make damned sure of it.” I hugged her back, sobbing into her chest.

She stroked my hair and rubbed my back, rocking us gently, soothing me. “She alright?” I heard Dilynn ask concerned.

Bobby nodded, “Just talking about her past,” she looked at Zack. “I assume you know?”

Zacky nodded and quietly said, “She also has PTSD…from everything.”

Dilynn stared at us all confused, “Wait, you’re traumatized? What the hell happened?”

Zacky looked at me, “Can I tell her?” I shrugged, it felt better to have people know, to know I had people on my side. That I wasn’t all alone. Bobby held me to her as she rocked us. “Her step-dad did some pretty messed up shit. We were at Jimmy’s that night that she grabbed the Jack. Everyone was drunk, there was yelling and she flashed back. Screaming and cowering. Matt and Jimmy were the only ones that knew what was happening and were the only ones that could soothe her.”

"Now it makes sense as to why Jimmy told Matt to come over this morning," Bobby said softly.

Dilynn looked at me concerned, “Are you okay?”

I nodded as I sat back up and wiped my eyes, “Yeah…I’ll be okay.”

Dilynn hugged me tightly, “If you ever need to talk, I’m here.”

“You too,” I whispered and she looked at me astonished.

Suddenly there was a pounding on the door, “Aunt Bobby, why aren’t you open yet?!” Brian’s voice came from outside of the glass door.

Bobby rolled her eyes, “That boy need to find somewhere else to hang. I swear, he’s in here night after night.”

Dilynn giggled, “Maybe I could help with that?”

I smirked, “That’d actually work. He’s seriously head over heels for you.”

Zacky laughed, “Ouch, selling Brian out to his crush.” Bobby rolled her eyes playfully at the three of us bantering as she went over and unlocked the door.

Notes

Hey guys, sorry it's been so long since I've updated this story. It's been a hell of a few months, but it seems like everything's letting up a bit. So stay tuned, love you all.