the locket

Who: Jesse and Jessie
When: Morning
Where: The James' apartment

Jessie's night had been full of fitful sleep. She tossed and turned in the bed and spent most of the time with Leo curled up beside her stomach, stroking his head while she tried to go back to sleep. The whole day had thrown her for a loop, from finding that locket, to Dodge's impromptu kiss, to Roy's get-it-together talk with her. It just left her in the wrong state of mind. She'd been hoping she could go to sleep and try to really clear her head there, but it wasn't working. So it didn't surprise her when just after sunrise, she lost the will to even try to go back to sleep and instead meandered out into the kitchen.

She tried to be as quiet as possible when refilling Leo's food and water bowls, then taking a seat at the table to just stare at her hands for a while. She'd not taken the locket off since she got it back, fixed, from Roy. She could feel it under the shirt she wore, warm from having been close to her all night, which was the way it should be. That locket should be warm, should be wanted, and should be being worn by someone who appreciated it.

Pushing her hair behind her ears, JJ figured that if she was going to sit out here, she could at least be out here and making her dad some food. So she grabbed the carton of eggs from the refrigerator and turned the stove on, heating up a skillet. She had a few other things out including cheese and bits of cold cut meats that she intended to put on the inside of a very large omelet that she would share with her father.

Even if she was attempting to be quiet, Jesse was always pretty aware of his surroundings in general, and as a father, listened for his daughter. So, it didn't take a lot to rouse him from the light sleep he'd been getting. Stretching, he headed out into the kitchen, looking at her. "You're up early." he noted. Even it she'd have school and everything, it was still a bit early. She didn't have to be up for a while yet. So, he assumed something had gotten her up. Some reason, or something was on her mind. She was a lot like him in that regard. Sleep never came easy when there was something burning in the back of the brain.

"Couldn't sleep," She said, glancing back over her shoulder to give him a small smile. How was she going to bring this up to him? If there was anyone she actually did want to talk to about the locket, it was her father, but a part of her was worried that bringing it up was going to hurt him and she didn't want to see that, or instigate it in any way. But it wasn't something she could just sit on and not tell him, she had to tell him, it was just a matter of how to phrase it. She stared at the stove for a minute and finally turned around, hands lifted up and behind her neck to unclasp the locket. She held it out for him, the look on her face a mixture of anger and upset. "Found this in the pawn shop when I was looking for Aunt Ruby's present..."

Reaching out, Jesse frowned, not sure what she was getting at. At least, he didn't til he had ahold of the thing, and he looked down at it. Turning it over, he saw the inscription, and then he opened it, vaguely surprised to see the photographs he'd put in it so many years ago still there. Closing it again, he exhaled, sitting down at the table, and he looked at her. "Guess she needed something else more." he said, tone unreadable on that. "Do you want to keep it?" he asked her. Since she'd been wearing it, but he didn't know. Really, in general, he didn't know how to feel about it. Other than fabulously unsurprised. Ronnie was predictable, at least there was that.

Abandoning the eggs for now, she moved to the table and sat down in the opposite chair, studying his face closely. He looked...well, he looked like she felt and it just sucked all around to see him like that. Maybe she'd keep to herself that it had been broken when she found it. He didn't need to know that. "Yeah, I wanna keep it." She searched for his eyes, a seriousness in her own when she continued. "You put a lot of..." effort, money, love... "yourself into that locket and if she doesn't want it, I'll take care of it." It didn't sit well with her still that even her dad knew Veronica wanted money more than a special locket made just for her. She found herself repeating Roy's words from the day before, even if they didn't sound as confident as she wanted them to. "Her loss..."

He held it back out to her, mind ticking over everything. "Do you want to have it melted down?" he asked. "So we can have something made for you, instead of it being just something your mother threw away?" he asked her. That he would probably feel better about. They could take the pictures out of it, if she wanted to keep those, but he'd feel better about her having something that was specifically for her, instead of just something Ronnie hadn't seen fit to keep. Though he'd be hard pressed to imagine she kept anything he'd ever given her. Well. Beyond the knife, apparently. Which was odd, but possibly merely practical.

Taking it back in her hands, Jessie just stared down at it. "Wouldn't that upset you? Having to melt it down?" She wasn't sure what to think about it. Did she want to have it melted down and turned into something for her? Or did she want to keep it as it was, a reminder that Veronica was not the kind of person she wanted in her life. "I mean...it's special. It should have been special to her, but it was special to you when you gave it to her. Wouldn't it be hard, having to melt it down?"

Jesse smiled at her. "No." he said, perfectly honest there, and that showed. "It was special at the time, yes. But obviously it wasn't special enough for her. But you found it, so that's not something that should be a bad thing. If we had it melted down, and made into something else, it could be something just for you. You deserve it. I know you'll keep it and it'll mean something to you." he told her. It did ache a little. Not a ton, possibly not like it should, but by now, with Ronnie and his continued life long exploits with the woman, he knew her. He knew her damn well, and knew that this was just the kind of thing she'd do. He could even guess that she did it at some point when she was too strung out to care, and maybe it ate at her a little later, but not enough to try and find it again.

The smile on his face reassured her that it wasn't hurting him too much for it to not actually be a possibility. Turning the locket over in her hands, that small smile she'd had earlier was making its way back to her lips. She didn't want every time she looked at this to be awful, she wanted it to be nice and she wanted her dad to know that someone would always care, even if that someone wasn't Veronica. Catching his gaze again, she nodded a little. "Can I get an inscription too?"

He flashed a grin. "You can get whatever you want, Baby J." he told her. "Do you want me to just take it, and have something made for you, or do you want to pick out what it is and what it says?" he asked, figuring that he'd give her the choice in it, since she'd found the thing. Which then had him wondering how much she'd paid for it, and if she had any of her allowance left. "Hey, how much did you shell out for this, anyways? I can pay you back for it." he said, feeling she shouldn't have had to pay for it at all since technically, it was something of a family heirloom now.

She held the locket back out to him then. "Surprise me?" If Veronica got to have a from-the-heart inscription on a locket that he'd picked out for her, then she wanted a surprise, from-the-heart inscription too. Her face fell when he asked her how much she paid for it, a gnawing at the pit of her stomach. She had a bad feeling he was not going to like what she had to tell him. "Uhm..." Suddenly, she really needed to be making that omelet. She stood up and headed to the counter, cracking the eggs into a bowl to whisk them. "I didn't actually...pay for it. But I swear I didn't do it on purpose! Everything was happening really fast and.." This had just turned really bad for her. She wanted to tell him everything, wanted to give him a play-by-play of exactly what had happened, but how would he feel knowing Dodge had insisted on walking her home again? And she couldn't very well tell him that the reason they'd shoplifted it had been because he'd surprised kissed her and she'd already been so frazzled that it sort of just shut her mind off for a minute. "I gave the owner all my allowance though so..maybe it covered it? I don't know...I'm sorry."

Jesse listened, eyeing his daughter. "...how's it work that you didn't pay for it, but you gave your allowance to the owner?" he asked. That didn't seem to work out in his mind. Generally if you were going to go stealing things, you didn't pay for it at all, defintiely not handing over all you had. Kind of defeated the purpose as it were. "Also--don't take after me. Don't make that a habit." he added, because he had to, but he wasn't overly giving her hell about it, either. Defintiely not like she seemed to expect him to. But he was a career criminal by nature, it wasn't like he could talk much.

She glanced back over her shoulder, turning so that she was leaning up against the counter. "I bought Aunt Ruby a bracelet from there..I just didn't really take the time to think about how much it was or how much I should pay for it. I just took it and got out of there." She probably should have realized he wasn't going to be super upset about her snatching the necklace. These were extenuating circumstances and all. It was just that JJ thought her dad expected more of her than that. And she could have paid for the necklace had she been able to really think straight, but in all honestly she didn't know that she would. It just felt like she'd be supporting whatever habit Veronica had at the time and that was not what she wanted to do. She nodded, though, in response to him. "Promise. This was a one-time-only thing."

Pouring the egg mixture into the now-hot skillet, JJ walked back to the chair to let it sit for a few minutes and do the cooking it needed to. "While we're talking about one-time-things and all..Would you be really upset if I didn't go to school today? I don't have a test or have to turn anything in. I just...don't really think I'd be able to pay attention very well today." Locket situation covered or not, the unsavory thoughts of Veronica were still clogging her head. Maybe she just needed a day to not go to school and walk these thoughts off.

"Sure." he said. JJ never a girl who tried to shirk school or anything, so he didn't see the harm in letting her have a day off mid-week. He knew he'd needed them from time to time. Possibly far more often than she did. Though his definition of 'need' had been far different than hers as well. "You want to maybe go to the movies or something? Or is this a day you want to do things on your own?" he asked. Either way he knew he'd be on the look out for an ugly figurine while he was out today, to give to her. That and trying to think of what he might have inscribed on the new necklace.

Jessie sat there for just a moment, feeling her eyes water. She didn't much like crying, but this was a different kind of crying. The kind that came when she was able to just sit at the table with her dad and realize that no matter what else happened, she had him and that was really all that mattered. Standing up, she made her way around the table and to the back of his seat, wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug. "The movies sound great," She said with her cheek pressed against his head. Maybe later, after the movies, she'd need some time to herself, but right now there was nothing more that she wanted to do than go sit with her dad in a movie theatre, feet propped up on the seats infront of them, and snack on popcorn.

He was a little surprised, but hugged her. "Baby J, are you alright?" he asked, voice light. He turned a little to look at her, noting that her eyes looked a bit on the misty side, and she didn't do that a whole lot. She was a strong girl in general, and wasn't given to being overly emotional. She was more level than a lot of girls her age. So it was defintely something for him to see her breaking down a bit, and so he needed to figure out if she really was okay here, or not. Maybe it was time to have an actual Talk about her mother.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." Her voice was soft too, but not necessarily light. She didn't move from where she was, though, because fine or not, she needed a hug. Ok, well maybe she wasn't totally fine and if anyone was going to see her not completely fine, she wanted it to be him. "I don't know what to think. All I know is that I'm so mad at her." Mad that this locket wasn't worth anything to her, mad that she was making these choices, these stupid choices, over her and her dad and their family. Mad that she was even wasting her time thinking about Veronica now. Just plain mad.

Yeah, okay, it was time to have a talk about her mother. He rubbed her arm lightly. "Okay, c'mon. Let's talk about this." he said. He stood up, giving her a proper hug for a moment, and he kissed the top of her head. Then he walked over to the stove to take the pan off of the burner. They'd deal with that later. For now, he was getting her a glass of water, and walking them out to the living room to sit down on the couch. "The problems with your mother...they don't have anything to do with you, Jessie." he told her first. "And I know that doesn't make up for it. And I'm sorry that she hasn't really been a part of your life. But she...there's something a little broken in her." he admitted, thinking it was easier to put it that way than flat out coming out with 'something's the matter with her'.

Jessie let him lead her around the kitchen and then to the living room, sitting down on the couch with the water in her hand that she basically just stared at. "You shouldn't be apologizing for her. I don't want her in my life, I don't. I really don't. And I don't want you to make up excuses for her or apologize for her because it's not you doing anything wrong. She's..She screwed us over, Dad, and I don't really care if there's something broken in her. She broke herself." She could say it a million times over and over in her head, but it never came out sounding right. Most of her didn't want Veronica there because basically, to Jessie, Veronica was a bitch. She didn't need a mother, especially not one like that. But it hurt to know that her mother, a woman who was supposed to care about her and her father the most in the world, didn't give a shit about them. It stung, really bad.

What made this harder for Jesse was that it had never appeared as if his daughter had had issues with this before. She'd always seemed happy and fine, and the absense of her mother would really only be brought up if Ronnie happened to stop by and Jessie saw her. And even then, it was a passing thing, not something that lingered. And maybe it wouldn't this time, either, but he'd never heard her say that she was angry, and she seemed very upset in general. "I'm not making excuses." he said first. "I'm giving an explanation. They're different things. But right now you seem to be really, really upset about it all, so it seems like you need one. Or we should talk about it in general." he added. "Is there anything you want to know?"

"What I want to know, I don't think you can answer, Dad..." Jessie took a sip of the water, glancing back at him when she was done then down at her hands again. "I want to know why things like this don't matter to her. Why we don't matter to her. Why she chose something else over us. But I mean..I don't know if I'll ever get a real answer to that." And what was more, she wasn't sure the answer she would get would change or help anything. Because what was a good enough excuse for what Veronica was doing? Jessie certainly couldn't think of one.

He was quiet for a moment, mentally cursing Ronnie for being around at all. If she'd just dropped off the face of the planet, or moved to another city or something, at least she wouldn't occasionally remind their daughter that she existed, she just wasn't around. "She's sick." he said, eventually. "She's been sick for a long time. When we met...things were a little different, but it didn't take long for her to change. I don't know that she could ever handle things, just that she hadn't discovered some of the heavier stuff when we were that young." he said, sitting back and sighing. "But I think maybe she was always like this...it was just a matter of time. And I'm glad it was sooner rather than later that she took off. I'm glad she didn't take you with her. I'm your family, Baby J. So's your grandparents, and your aunts. And she'll always be your mom, but that's no reflection on you."

Jessie scooted a little closer to her father, pulling her legs up onto the couch and resting her head against his shoulder. "I know. I know I've got you and Grandma and Grandpa and all my aunts and that I don't need her. Just kinda sucks when I don't want to think about her anymore and here she is, dropping off lockets for money." She turned to look at him. "I just wish she would..I don't know...stay away."

"You don't ever have to see her if you don't want to." Jesse told her firmly. Point of fact, he tended to try and make sure that Jessie and Ronnie never crossed paths. He knew that Ronnie was just a fucking mess, she always was, and it disturbed him to see her like that. He didn't at all want to have to have Jessie see her in that state. Or any state, since she was rarely in one that could be considered okay. He wondered if he should tell Jessie that she was always asked about, but in the end he didn't. He didn't really think it would do anything resembling good, not really. It would just make things sting more, and she was already raw over the locket. She didn't need to think about more.

Jessie nodded a little. "I don't want to see her," She said after a moment of silence, a moment of really, truly thinking about whether or not she'd want to see Veronica at all. And she didn't. That woman was just a woman now, a woman Jessie didn't know and didn't want to know. But she was a little confused. What did his words actually mean? Because they sounded a little like Veronica was actually around somewhere...Maybe she was just imagining that, though. Maybe Roy was right, maybe the locket itself had been pawned off a long time ago and Veronica wasn't anywhere to be seen now. "I haven't seen her in a while anyway. I doubt she's going to show up anytime soon..."

Me too. Jesse thought. But then again, she had, just recently. Though it might be another six months or a year before he saw her again. Still, he winced very faintly. "I've seen her recently." he said. "But generally, she isn't around." he admitted. Generally. Just sometimes. Occasionally. Every now and then. When she wanted something. It was always when she wanted something.

That had been exactly what Jessie was hoping not to hear. She sighed, moving to put the glass of water on a small table beside the couch. "Great, what did she want this time?" Veronica only ever came around when she wanted something, specifically when she wanted something from her dad and that pissed Jessie off. She didn't like the way this woman played her father, and apparently continued to play him. That locket was a perfect example of Veronica using her dad. And that meant that if he saw her recently, maybe she'd slip back into the woodwork for another year and Jessie wouldn't have to think about her anymore after that. But that also meant Veronica probably had conned her dad into giving up something.

See, this was another reason why he tended not to tell his daughter that her mother had been around. There was that Tone. That 'again, dad?' tone. He hated hearing that in her voice, even if he knew perfectly goddamn well she had a right to have it. He sighed a little. "Same thing she usually wants, baby J. Money. So I gave her some, and she was on her way." He was going to leave out the part where he'd seen her the next day because she'd left him a note, and that things had gone way off the rails there. It probably didn't mean anything, and she'd just be gone again. "Sorry." he apologized, feeling like he needed to.

And that was generally how she felt when Veronica came around her dad, because that woman knew just how to get whatever she wanted out of him and it sickened Jessie. But then there was her dad, who was just trying to do what he thought was right by helping her out, and he sounded so sorry every time they had this conversation. She just wished he wouldn't see Veronica anymore. Not that it was his fault when she came around, not at all, but she wished Veronica would stop coming around. She hated that Veronica got out of him whatever she wanted and never thought twice about her actions, or if it was hurting him.

Looking back over at him, she made sure that the look she gave him showed that she wasn't mad at him. "She doesn't deserve your money, Dad. She doesn't deserve you at all." She knew, and she knew he knew, exactly where that money was going. Her father wasn't stupid, not in the slightest. Still, she reached for his hand and held it before adding, "Please don't give her any money anymore."

That was going to be one hell of a hard thing to promise. He knew himself really, really well, and he knew he had a weak point, one that Ronnie knew better than anyone, and she knew just how to hit it, too. "I'll try." he told her, so that he didn't get stuck with crushing amounts of guilt on several levels, instead of the ones he usually did. He gave her hand a squeeze, though. "I promise, I'll try." The quirked a humorless little half smile. "But you know what I'm like." he added. Because yes, Jessie knew as well. Hell, if his daughter wanted to, she could probably run all over him. He was just lucky that she wasn't manipulative like her mother.

It wasn't a full, one hundred percent promise, but she'd take it. It was something. She returned her dad's smile with one of her own. "I know what you're like. You're too nice for your own good sometimes." He was definitely too nice to Veronica, that was for sure. All she knew was that now she'd be keeping a look out for that woman because she didn't want her anywhere close to her dad.

He chuckled a little. "You're probably the only person who thinks that. But I'll take it." he told her. "So, okay. But still, I'll try to sort of not do that anymore. But then again, whenever she does show up it's usually just for a day and then she's gone again for ages, so maybe I won't even see her again til next chrismas, for all I know."

Jessie frowned again, but only slightly this time. She'd take solace in the fact that maybe Veronica was gone for now, that she wouldn't see her anytime soon and that her dad wouldn't see her anytime soon. "Let's hope so." But she was starting to think that maybe even next christmas was too soon. Finally ready for a change of subject, she turned back to her dad. "Want me to finish making that omelet?"

He had forgotten about it. "Sure. Or I could finish it, and you could relax, and we could pretend I'm the parent." he told her, flashing a grin as he got up. "How does that sound? You could be waited on and everything. It'd be novel. Think I'd like to try that." Even if he did, it wasn't like she was the only one in the house who did anything of the sort, but still.

Jessie couldn't help but laugh a little. "I like cooking for you!" She protested gently, following him into the kitchen with her glass of water as she sat down at the table. She sipped at her water and stayed seated, though, letting her dad take over with the omelet. "But I can make us coffee if you want some?" Even though she had a feeling that he might not let her do that either, if she was supposed to be relaxing and getting waited on.

"That would defeat the purpose of you relaxing, you know." he told her. "So, I'll get the coffee." he said, starting to get everything together for her. He started the coffee as well, leaning back against the cabinet to keep one eye on the omelet and one on her. "So, breakfast, then the movies, once they start playing for the day."

"Sounds great," Jessie said with a nod, already looking forward to it. It would definitely help, not having to sit through another boring lecture today, and just be able to go out and spend time with her dad. There was nothing like cutting school in favor of a movie with her father to put her on the fast track to forgetting Veronica again. "Thanks, Dad," She said with a smile. She didn't elaborate on whether the thank you was for something specific or just in general, but to her it was a little of both.