Topic: Tears For a Girl

Tommy · Date: 2006-11-25 18:11 EST

It was very late in the evening. The Figure was sitting behind his desk, reclining in his chair and smirking darkly. He had news to deliver ? bad news. It wasn?t bad news for him, but it was bad for the person to whom he was going to deliver it. He would enjoy this. He would enjoy this very much. Tommy was a master manipulator, and he was especially skilled at manipulating and motivating young men.

Molly came inside his study, paused before the desk and curtsied. ?You sent for me, Tommy??

?Is the boy back yet?? he asked in his deep gravelly voice.

?Yes, sir. He got home early this morning, just after sunrise.?

?What?s he doing now??

?He?s in his room,? said Molly. ?Sleeping, I suppose. I haven?t heard a peep out of him all day.?

?Wake his bitch ass up and tell him I wanna talk to him.? Tommy?s tone was low and forbidding.

The maid quickly fled the study, seemingly eager to be out of Tommy?s presence. She made her way through the dim, quiet mansion and knocked on the door of Skyler?s bedroom. ?Skyler? Tommy would like to see you in his study.?

Skyler · Date: 2006-11-25 18:14 EST

He sat bolt upright when he heard Molly?s voice. For a moment he felt lost and confused, then a wave of memory washed over him, and he remembered where he was. How long had he been asleep? A glance at his watch told him he?d been out for over twelve hours. The last words he heard kept echoing through his mind. Skyler? Tommy would like to see you in his study. Tommy. Did they have work to do tonight? He hoped not. All he wanted to do was lay in bed and sleep for another three days.

Skyler got out of bed, looking disheveled and disoriented. He was still fully dressed, his clothes were wrinkled and his long pretty shiny black hair was in disarray. In this groggy, aloof state he made his way downstairs to Tommy?s study.

The man sat behind his desk with a grave look on his face. Skyler said nothing as he entered the room and flopped down in the armchair in front of the desk. He sat there with bad posture, one leg slung lazily over the arm of the chair. The boy found that he couldn?t make eye contact with Tommy. The look on the man?s face was too intense.

Tommy · Date: 2006-11-25 18:16 EST

He let the silence hang for a long time.

During the silence, Tommy watched the boy very carefully. He seemed fragile and insecure, sloppy and nonchalant. This may be easier than he imagined. With Skyler in such an anxious state, he would be as easy to mold as clay.

Finally he began to talk, his deep baritone resounding ominously in the quiet room. ?There?s some things you need to know.? He spoke very confidentially, as if he was imparting some amazing secret, not as if he was craftily manipulating. ?Dat woman you with?? This was sneered out, his distaste for her quite evident. ?She?s leading you on, dawg.? Everything about the way he conversed gave an ?I?m on your side, I feel for you, you didn?t deserve this? impression.

Skyler · Date: 2006-11-25 18:18 EST

Helplessly, distressingly, Skyler lifted sad blue eyes to meet Tommy?s. That wasn?t what he needed to hear right at the moment. The boy?s face was naked ? he had not the resolve nor the presence of mind to mask his emotions. Vulnerable, confused, he waited for Tommy to continue. He had no idea what he was about to tell, but deep down he wasn?t too surprised by the declaration. Before he left, he?d given Jewell every reason to shun him. Why should he be surprised if she actually did?

Tommy · Date: 2006-11-25 18:21 EST

?She been seen getting pretty cozy with dat dude she was with before you. My scouts tell me a lot of what goes on at dat Inn you guys always hang out at. Jewell and him been talking. A lot. And who knows what else they been doin?.?

Tommy launched into his monologue.

?Look. I know her type. I seen plenty o? women like her. She one of those dat can?t be alone. She was always just keeping you there to warm her bed until he came back around. She wants a love triangle. To me and you a love triangle might sound like a real headache, but women like her need that kind of drama in their lives. Don?t ask me why, I don?t know. Women need drama like men like me need violence. Didn?t you tell me one time that she told you that she and him had some crazy magical soul bond thing or whatever? Did the two of you ever have anything like that? Hell no you didn?t. You could never be to her what he was. Besides, they both these weird magical races, while you just a human being. You just a teenage boy, nothing special about you.? He tried his best to sound like a logical, wise father departing valuable knowledge onto his son, even though he was simply trying to further tear asunder a couple that was already at odds.

?Take Jenna fo? example. I known her since she was a little girl, too tall and gangly, with no tits and no ass and no friends, and too skinny and dumb to even walk right. I got my hooks in her then. I laid my roots deep when she was young. I was her daddy when she didn?t have one. I filled a need she had. Now, even as an adult, even after she changed from an ugly duckling to a pretty swan, those roots are still there. No matter where she at or who she with, she always comes back when I call. No matter what I do, no matter how I hurt her, no matter what I put her through, she always comes back to me. Cause I been there since the beginning.?

Skyler · Date: 2006-11-25 18:23 EST

He took it all in with numb sorrow. He didn?t know whether he wanted to throw a fit or cry. It was too much for him to take in all at once. Yes, he knew Jewell had been talking with Alex. He?d seen it for himself. But she hadn?t seemed overly eager to jump into his lap, just that she wanted things not to be awkward between them. It didn?t really bother him, either, because Jewell claimed to love him, and he believed her. But now, after Tommy?s revelations, he was beginning to feel unsure. The things he said made a lot of sense. They sounded soundly logical to Skyler?s insecure, vulnerable mind. Still, though, he wasn?t ready to buy into this.

?Thanks for the insight, Tommy,? said Skyler, weakly. ?But leave me and Jewell to me and Jewell. I?m only interested in what I see with my own eyes. Things can lose their clarity when they?re passed from person to person.?

Though Tommy may be right about everything, he didn?t want to give him the satisfaction. And so what if he was right? If this really was the case between him and Jewell, it was his own fault.

Tommy · Date: 2006-11-25 18:24 EST

He gazed pointed at Skyler, narrowing his cruel eyes. Tommy knew the boy?s mind very well. While he might be denying things, the seeds had most assuredly been planted. More brilliant things began to pop into his head. With his next bit, he took a truth and laced it with speculation that sounded like truth, delivering it with a sort of resigned remorsefulness.

?Look, dawg. That ain?t all. Apparently you had some little outburst last week and really made an ass out o? yourself. Word on the street is she don?t want nothin? mo? to do with you now after dat.? His voice lowered. ?Word on the street is, next time you see her, she?s gonna make it clear it?s over. I just wanted you to be prepared.?

Skyler · Date: 2006-11-25 18:27 EST

His heart sank down into his stomach. Tommy really had been watching the Inn if he knew about that. Now, more than ever, he began to believe the things the Figure was saying. That was, after all, his worst fear ? that Jewell would not want to speak to him again after last Tuesday. That was why he truly began to buy into what he was being told. He knew in his heart that it had merit.

Skyler had had enough. He lurched out of the chair, fists clenched, mouth tight. ?Is that all, Tommy??

When the Figure nodded, the boy spun and walked out briskly. He ran up the steps to his bedroom, like an ashamed child who?d been banished without supper. Skyler leapt onto his mattress and buried his face in his pillow. He cursed into the soft feathers, writhing back and forth on his bed, feeling the sting of rejection in his sensitive heart.

?So, Jewell?? he whined into his pillow. ?Is that how it?s going to be? Is Tommy right about you? About us? Is what we had so weak that the umpteenth resurrection of your husband can make you forget about me? I know I?m not perfect, but damn!? He began to shriek, but his voice was muffled by his pillow. Tommy?s words felt like poison coursing though his mind. When he had shrieked long enough, he lay limp on the bed, taking shallow breaths. ?I guess I?ll just wait and see what you have to say,? he told himself aloud. ?I?m not afraid. I can take it.?

A duo of tears dripped from either of his eyes, streamed down his cheeks and fell into the pillow. ?Men aren?t supposed to cry,? he whispered to himself. ?Men need to be like rocks, anchors, solid foundations. They?re supposed to be there for women to cry on, not cry themselves. You?re such little baby. You don?t deserve her.? He wiped his face with his sleeve, and when his arm came away, Skyler?s electric blue eyes were cold and hard . . . and dry again. ?Good thing no one saw you bawling like a baby,? he assured himself.

Tommy · Date: 2006-11-25 18:33 EST

He watched Skyler storm away, a smile rising on his cruel face. When the boy was out of sight, the Figure began to chuckle. It was a deep, grating sound that echoed throughout his study, reverbating down the hall of the quiet mansion.