Regrets of Childhood - Part Two

["The Fabulous One" Dan Fierce]

Regrets of Childhood - Part Two 

Dan comforted Jade, holding her tight while rocking slightly side to side. He couldn't help his own tears. They fell silently even as he tried to be her rock. His shirt began to get soaked from her deluge, but he held her as long as she needed. Neither said anything, just standing in the door of her room, sobbing.



Jade finally broke from her position long enough to look up at her sensei. Then she looked down the hallway, seeing the police tape still strung across the threshold of Jerry's room warning away those who might enter. Her bottom lop quivered with emotion, her eyes growing wide, before she buried her head in Dan's chest once more.



"I..." she stammered, "I'm the one who found him." Her knees gave as her bawling turned up to eleven. Dan managed to keep her upright. He led her to the edge of her bed since it was the closest seat he could see, leaving the door wide to prevent suspicion. In today's world, he knew he had to be careful no matter what.



"We don't have to talk about that, hun," Dan reassured her.



She ignored his advice and continued. "He was hanging from his closet door with his belt around his neck." She cried some more.



Dan's brain couldn't process the logistics. His eyes shot to Jade's closet door for a comparison, but it just didn't make sense. Jerry was an average twelve year old boy in the middle of a pubescent growth spurt. Average height, lanky build, almost comically large hands and feet, and legs seeming to outgrow the rest of his body in speed. Dan just couldn't envision how a boy of that age could figure out the mechanics of such an act. Something wasn't adding up. He just couldn't put his finger on it.



Dan looked up from comforting Jade. Barbara, the matriarch of the household looked in, deep sadness in her eyes. There was something else there though; an added element to her visage that set Dan's soul on edge. If he didn't know better, he'd have sworn it may have been fear. Deep in the back of his mind, Dan begin to question what he knew about the Wilkerson's. He'd known them for years. Their history was riddled with tragedies like this one. Dan feigned a smile at Barbara, waving at her from the edge of Jade's bed. He opened an arm to invite her into a hug, but she smiled meekly and turned away, heading back downstairs to the rest of the guests.



Dan pulled the Picachu keychain from his pocket, silently debating on whether or not this was the proper time, or even the right person, for a bit of an inquisition. He breathed in deeply, steeling himself. "Jade, honey," he soothed as she looked up. "Do you know what this might be to?" He held his hand out, jingling the key.



Jade's eyes popped wide as she snatched the chain from his hand, fright in her eyes. "Where did you get that?" She hid the keychain against herself as if it were the world's worst secret, occasionally glancing at it in utter disbelief.



Dan held out his hand to reclaim the key with silent authority. Jade hesitated, distrusting of the man whom she had just been confiding in. Dan shot her a fatherly, commanding look, caving her rebellion. As she dropped the key back into his hand, he softened, which seemed to ease her nerves a bit, but she remained guarded. "What is this key to?" he asked slowly and pointedly.



Jade's gaze shot to her door, her lips pursed so tight that they nearly disappeared. She sprang to her feet. "We can't talk here," she whispered as she reached her door, checking the hallways for prying ears. "You need to go. Now."



Dan slowly got his feet, pocketing the key. "What's going on, Jade? What aren't you telling me?"



Jade hastened him out of her room like an unwelcome guest. As she bum-rushed him, his patience wavered, but he swallowed back the need to protest, knowing it would likely make it so he never gets answers. "GO! NOW!" Jade softly screamed through gritted teeth.



Dan barely got through the door and turned around before the door slammed in his face. It took everything he had to keep from pounding on the door and making a scene. His common sense halted his fist just before it impacted the door, knowing that it would bring attention that might impact whatever was going on behind the scenes. It could even put Jade in danger.



He spun on his heels, slowly descending the stairs. He glanced over his shoulder only once, sadness enveloping his soul. He placed his hands deep into his pockets as he left the house. The Pokémon keychain felt sinister in his hand. He'd get to the bottom of this somehow. He just wasn't sure how. Not yet.

"It seems that my temper has been getting the best of me here lately. I guess I need to revisit my own teachings and keep a calmer head on my shoulders. Even though our match was ruled a double count-out, Whitey actually did something very few people can: he got under my skin. So much so, that I lost track of the official making the count.



"That was a rookie mistake on my part. I guaran-damned-tee you that it will never happen again. That little encounter was telling, not only of a weak spot in my own armor, but it gave me insight into the man that is Whitey Ford. I don't fall for the same thing twice. If we meet again, Whitey, sweetie, you'd better bring a new game plan. Momma is nobody's fool twice in a row.



"Now, at Trauma 206, there is a 'Battle of the Bitches' about to go down. I'm about to lock horns with one of the baddest women to ever grace the PCW ring. I'm going to stand toe-to-toe with Eira. Not only is she a former World Champion herself, she has had some of the most brutal matches you'll ever find within the PCW archives.



"Of course, that was then and this is now. Don't get me wrong. If I wore a hat on my perfectly styled hair, it would definitely be off to you, honey. But since you've been back, it has become blatantly obvious that the ring rust is real.



"Look, girlie. I get it. It's difficult to find your stride again, especially after having just given birth. I know that crazy bitch is in you. I know she's there. Give her to me. Let's see you parade her out just in time for that bell to ring. I'm not at the top of the heap to take a vacation like your husband did. I'm here to prove I have what it takes to stay.



"I predict that you and I will be crossing swords for my World Title in the near future. You, Whitey Ford, and of course, Grimm, are the first on a long list of people who deserve their shots. You're also on an even longer list; the one filled with people who will walk away from a match against me with a check mark in their 'L' column.



"I'll see you at Trauma 206, girlie. Let's give the boys a lesson on how we bitches get shit done. Toodles."