Jack had just exhausted the figurative gold mine of sapiens-in-snapshot achievements, and was excited to maybe finally get his questions answered, when he heard his doorbell ring. At this time of day, it was almost certainly solicitors, and he was planning on just ignoring them, but then they rang the bell again. And again, and again. Seriously?
Thoroughly annoyed at whoever was answer-blocking him, got off his bed and stomped towards the front door. If this wasn't a solicitor offering a god damn free blow job, he was going to be doing some yelling.
Not bothering to look through the peephole to see who it was, he just jerked the door open. Standing on his doorstep was a young woman with frizzy reddish-brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, wearing baggy black denim jeans and a gray hoody large enough to qualify as a short dress. She was looking down with slightly hunched shoulders and flinched when Jack yanked the door open.
"Madison? What was she doing here?" He'd known her since sixth grade, and she was the only person he considered as a friend. They spent a lot of time together during the school year, but her home life was complicated. Like him, she was an orphan, but unlike him, she had living relatives, and had ended up living with her aunt and uncle. They were weird; controlling, and permissive in strange ways. They hardly ever let her out of the house except for school and didn't let her have a cell phone. But at the same time they give her a laptop and Internet access, never seeming to care what she did with either. So, he was surprised to see her on his front porch.
"Um, hi?" she said, timidly. She was unusually subdued.
It was at that moment he noticed she was also wearing a backpack and had a small roller suitcase next to her. "What happened? Are you okay?"
"Maybe? Can we, um talk inside?"
"Sure, okay." He stepped back, holding the door open, and waved her inside.
She picked up the roller case and hunched her shoulders as she squeezed past him, stopping just at the edge separating the hardwood foyer from the carpeted living room.
He close the door, then walked past her to stand closer to the middle of the living room.
"So, what happened? I thought your wardens never let you out." Calling her aunt and uncle her wardens was a morbid inside joke between them.
Still looking at the floor, she took a deep breath, paused, then let it out. Then she did it again. It seemed like she wanted to say something but was having trouble building up the courage. He opened his mouth to say something, not sure what, when she took another deep breath and spoke.
"I left. I had to! I just couldn't take it anymore. They were getting worse and worse, and I just knew if I didn't leave, they would do something awful! So, I left. I came here because Fran said I could. Please don't make me leave." Everything came out in a rush, and she said the last with such desperation that Jack almost walked over and gave her a hug. The only reason he didn't was because she had made it clear very early in their friendship that she did not like being touched.
He really wanted to know what she meant by "they would do something awful". Who was "they"? Her aunt and uncle, her cousins? And what awful thing? And when had she talked to Fran?
"Fran told you? When?" He wasn't comfortable asking her about the "something awful", but he had no qualms asking her about whatever Fran was supposed to have told her.
"During graduation. I wanted to talk to her one last time, before, you know..." she paused, probably worried how he would react to her referencing Fran's recent death.
"I understand. Go on." He did. He wasn't going to get mad at her for bringing it up. And he certainly couldn't fault her for wanting to talk to Fran one last time. The few times she had been allowed to come visit him over the summer breaks, she and Fran had seemed to get along just fine.
"So, um...when I talked to her, she asked me if everything was alright. I said things were fine, but I don't think she believed me. She, um...she said if I couldn't take it any more, I should come stay with you. She said you wouldn't kick me out. She also said if you looked hesitant, that I should remind you of the shelter. What did she mean by that?"
At the end she had looked up and was looking at him, with a look of desperation, and hope and confusion.
The shelter. The woman's shelter. During Fran's last days, they had discussed what to do with her clothes and some other possessions. In the end, she had declared that she wanted him to all her stuff to a specific woman's shelter that was unaffiliated with any religious organization.
So, if Fran was telling Madison to mention the shelter, then it was possible that the "something awful" was physical, or maybe even sexual abuse. He felt a rage building inside him. If they were abusing her, then they would pay.
"Did they do something? Do we need to call the police?" he asked, almost growled.
"What? No. No police! They...they didn't do anything illegal. Not yet, anyway."
The way she said it left him wondering if that was true, that they had done nothing illegal. But he wouldn't force the matter. And he had no reason to think she was lying about talking to Fran, not after mentioning the shelter. So...
"Okay, you can stay. The other bedroom is mostly empty, so you can use that. We'll need to go buy you an air mattress, though. Unless you like sleeping on the floor." He said the last jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.
"Um...I can just sleep on the couch. There's no need to spend..."
He interrupted her. "It's not a problem. They are not that expensive, way cheaper than an actual mattress. A week's worth of lattes from Stetle Brew would cost more."
She chuckled at his reference to the famous coffee chain known for their expensive coffee. "Okay. Thanks."