Moral Dilemmas

Who: Jesse and Lily
Where: Around Town
When: Late Morning

Lily had found Jenny having one of her 'days' when she went to the apartment that morning with a suitcase of clothes to drop off. She was firmly ensconced under the covers but didn't want Lily to call for her mother, so Lily left quietly, contemplating what she should do. She had the remainder of the week and the weekend off from the library and didn't particularly want to go back in so she was left walking aimlessly down the sidewalk kind of window gazing.

Despite the minor setback the night before, Lily was in a visibly good mood. It was like everything in her life was turning around for the better and she actually had a reason to wake up in the morning. So she treated herself to a chocolate muffin that she was half way through, and dolled herself up. She curled her hair fashionably around her shoulders, actually put on a little make up and a nice red dress, the ruffled hem swishing just below her knees.

She wanted to do something for Jenny. Something to cheer her up. She just wasn't sure what to do just yet.

Jesse was walking around too, though his purpose for doing so was a little less charitable than looking for something to cheer someone up. He had a list he was going over, something he'd had a few things scribbled down in. It was his list of narrowing things down, to find the man who'd assaulted his sister. So far he didn't have a name or anything, but he'd gotten a few things. He paused and looked up so he didn't crash into anyone on the sidewalk, when the color red caught his attention. And, after looking appreciatively for a second, he recognized that it was Lily.

Closing the small pad of paper and shoving it into his pocket, he headed over. "Hey, Lil, looking good today." he told her, not above handing out compliments when they were due. Hell, sometimes he handed them out when they weren't.

Lily looked up, surprised to see Jesse standing beside her. Although why she was surprised, she wasn't sure. She wasn't that far from his apartment. She smiled brightly at him, a smile that came with someone being on top of the world. Her whole face lit up, brown eyes bright. Not just happy to see him, but just because things were good. "Hello yourself," she said. "Not bad yourself. Up to anything interesting?"

"No, nothing interesting." he lied smoothly. Mostly he just wasn't airing out his sister's business for the whole world, so as far as everyone else was concerned, he wasn't up to anything today. "Yourself?" he asked. She definitely looked like she was having a good day. That was pretty clear.

"Wandering aimlessly, really. My roommate isn't feeling too good this morning so I'm trying to figure out something to cheer her up. Hungry?" She held up the muffin, which was still mostly intact. "I didn't bite out of it or anything." Lily wondered if she should mention that she saw his sister the other day. Obviously Evelyn had her secrets and she wouldn't divulge them.

"So you moved?" Jesse asked, latching onto that immediately. "Out from under?" He smiled at her, glad to even think that. She'd been...well. Oppressed was a good word, and he didn't think it was a harsh one either. He took the muffin from her, and tore off a little bit before handing it back. "Thanks." he said, popping it into his mouth. Occasionally when he got a little obsessive over things, he forgot to do little things like feed himself in appropriate intervals.

Lily blushed, shrugging and looking down at her muffin. "Yeah, I was having a bad day, saw Jenny and the next thing I know we're cleaning out the second bedroom in her apartment and I brought over some clothes this morning." Another shrug. "I'm actually moving in right down the road. Not as intimidating as the old place," she said casually. Not dropping hints or anything, but just trying to show that she was more... accessible if he was really sincere about doing something together again. "You can have the rest of this if you want."

"Good for you." Jesse said, tone very genuine, because he meant it wholeheartedly. "Very good for you. I'm really glad to hear it." he said. "Right down the road, huh? Good to know." he said, flashing a grin at her. "Who's Jenny?" Obviously her room mate, but he didn't know any Jenny's himself. Or, none currently, anyhow.

"I've known her for a few years when she started coming around the library. Easy to talk to, very sweet. She's..." She wasn't mentally deficient, no. Lily tried to think of how to appropriately say what she meant. "She's gone through a lot of things and so this arrangement is mutually beneficial." There. That sounded good. And it was true. She smiled back. "She's even okay with me giving the address out." Lily wisely didn't add that Jenny's brother was a cop. That would scare him away and she didn't want to do that. "But this morning she isn't doing too good so I'm trying to figure out what to do for her... and trying to figure out how to tell Gran about this situation without giving her a heart attack."

"I suggest a letter." Jesse told Lily. He wondered what the deal was with the room mate. Why Lily had hesitated over things, what seemed a little...what. Shady? Not? He wasn't sure. He guessed he'd figure it out eventually. "Want to give me said address?" he asked. He wanted to ask what 'mutually beneficial' meant, but didn't. Again, he figured he'd find out eventually.

"A letter doesn't sound like such a bad idea," Lily agreed. That didn't sound like a bad idea at all. "Um, here," She awkwardly opened up her purse to dig inside for the piece of paper with the address on it. She was going to take it to the post office but she could do it again on some other day. "Here. So how've you been? Jess doing alright?" Lily smiled brightly and handed him the paper.

He took it, glancing it over to be sure he knew where it was, which he did, then he stuffed it into his back pocket. "I'm alright, I guess. Jessie's fine. Stayed over her grandparent's house a night or so, she's got some project she's working on there. Not sure what it is, but she's excited about it, so I'm happy to let her do whatever it is she's doing." He never wanted to take something positive away from her. Not ever. Which had him thinking about his sister again, and what happened to her, and everything.

"She's a bright girl," Lily complimented. And Jessie was. Well spoken, well mannered, and smart as a whip from what she could tell. "And you? What have you been up to lately?" She noticed that he hadn't even touched upon himself, but straight into what his daughter was doing and while she knew that Jesse loved his daughter and was proud of everything the girl did, she wanted to know what was going on with him.

"Just taking care of a few family matters." Jesse said, wanting to give her an answer, but not really the details of it. "I'm working on it though, should be taken care of soon." he added. "You like being free?" he asked, again switching the topic back to her. "Want to go grab a proper bite to eat or something?" he added, figuring hanging out for a while was a good plan.

Lily nodded, wrapping her muffin up and putting it in her bag. "Food sounds good. Know any good places around here?" So he didn't really seem to want to talk about things on his end and Lily wanted to know but she didn't want to push. None of her business and it was maybe another one of those 'things you're not allowed to ask about'. So she looped her arm through his, being more forward than usual but she was in a good mood and she was going to make sure it stayed that way.

Jesse had to grin when she took his arm, and he did nothing to stop her. "I do." he said. "Little place around the corner up there is pretty good. Kind of doesn't look it, but the food is really great." he told her. It was probably someplace she'd never actually been to, with her social bracket. Little hole in the wall dives probably weren't on her list of places to go. But some of them were in fact, absolutely supurb. Her good mood was nice to see though, and a little infectious. "Don't judge it by it's outward appearance, though...looks like it's about to fall over, but I know the cook, and he's on the level."

"Really?" She didn't think to ask Jenny about anywhere that morning because the younger woman was really in no mood to talk, let alone ask for advice about places to grab food. "That's good to know. Have to get better acquainted with the area. At least there's actually more to do here than there was over there." Lily stuck close to him as they walked, not out of nervousness or fear like she did that first time but just because she wanted to. "I don't care what a place looks like. As long as there's good food, it's okay in my books." And... preferably not infested but that was on a different level.

"Yeah, there's more to do." Jesse said, though he wasn't sure all of it would be up Lily's alley. "...and this might be me being overly protective and paranoid, but you have a safe, don't you? Or you don't have large amounts of cash or jewelry in your place? You don't want anyone getting wind you might have something there. And don't tell people around you who your grandmother is. Don't make that connection for them. You don't want to be a target."

Like how I told your sister? she thought but nodded dutifully. "Jenny has a huge safe." A present from Jackson if she guessed correctly. "And the really important stuff I have somewhere else." A nice safetey deposit box at the bank. She smiled at him. "Thank you for the concern though. It's nice to know that you care."

"'Course I care, Lil." Jesse told her, looking down at her and smiling. "You're a friend." he said. And that was true. And he did care. And he knew that it'd be really fabulously easy for her and whoever her roomie was to get taken for everything they were worth if they weren't careful, and he didn't want that for either of them. Even if he didn't know the mystery roomie. Didn't matter, in his book. Pausing, he waited for a car to pass before he brought them across the street. "Good to hear about the safe though. Just wanting you girls to be safe is all." he added, wondering if they had anything resembling a weapon in the house either of them could use. Like a bat. Those worked well.

"Thanks," she said again, tucking a stray curl behind her ear as they walked. This was nice. There was no awkward start to the conversation. She didn't feel like she was being taught the basics of proper social interaction which meant she'd benefitted from them the first time. "We were going to get a dog," Lily said after a little while. "You know, for security? But the landlord doesn't allow them. Something about yappy dogs, so I've been trying to think of what else we could do. I don't like to think of how Jenny's made it this long without something in the house to take care of herself."

"First thing you need is a baseball bat." Jesse said, not hesitating. "A good swing will knock anyone off their stride. And if you've got a second to aim? Aim here." he said, pausing them on the sidewalk. He took her hand, and reached up to settle her palm against his collarbone. "Either side, but aim for the bone right there. It snaps pretty easy, and whatever they're there for will seem a whole lot less worth it with a broken collarbone."

"Know that from experience?" she asked lightly, making a mental note to look around for a baseball bat or something similar to it. Her eyes darted from his face to her hand on his collar, his larger one sort of resting against her wrist. Lily hadn't expected it and it wasn't that she was nervous at touching him -- she was the one who'd grabbed onto his arm after all -- just sort of caught off guard.

"Yeah, I do." Jesse told her, giving her that, because it was the truth, and if she knew he knew from experience, and wasn't just making shit up off the top of his head, maybe she'd remember better. it was why he'd taken her hand to show her in the first place, to put it in her memory firmly. He gave her a light half smile. "Just trust me. Hit hard and fast right here, and anyone coming at you isn't going to be having the best of days after that. And any strength they've got there is going to plummet. They probably won't do so well with chasing you either, so...yeah."

Lily nodded and pulled her hand away slowly, not wanting to seem like she was scared to touch him or something and that sounded weird in her head. "I'll have to see if Jenny has one or I'll have to get one." She jerked her head to show that they should continue on and they began walking again, but Lily felt unsure if she should take his arm again. "Her brother had the locks all changed out and some new ones added when she moved in. He's a bit of a control freak. Jackson hasn't been around for awhile though, so I won't have to deal with him." She gave him a little grin when she said that.

Jesse realized only belatedly that he hadn't let go of her hand and such, though he did when she moved, and he fell into step with her again. "I could get you one after we get food." he told her. He arched a brow and looked at her sideways when she said that. "A control freak, huh? That's no good." Especially since she just got out from under a control freak of her own. "You just let him know you're not under any obligation to listen to a damn thing he says."

She laughed at that, tossing her head back briefly as she laughed. It was a happy sound and Lily felt good about laughing too. She'd laughed more in the past two days than she had in a long time and she hooked her arm through his again. "Oh, I sure plan to," she assured him. "Jackson and Jenny are really close. He loves her to death, really and it's not all unfounded," Lily explained, wanting Jesse to understand that without outright saying what had happened with her best friend. "Believe me. But, like I said, it's mutually beneficial. Jenny's helping me with the real world and I'm helping her with her things. She's a lot better than she used to be." Lily realized that she was quite possibly confusing Jesse, but hoped that what she had said and tried to hint at was enough for him to get a general idea about it.

She was confusing him a little, and he smirked. "Anyone ever tell you you talk in half-thoughts?" he asked, pausing as he turned them towards the place he'd been talking about. Holding the door for her, he let her in first, then followed. "Want to clear things up for me?" he asked, nodding towards the little table in the back he usually occupied when he got there.

"Sorry," she apologized over her shoulder as she slid into one of the seats at the table, taking the one closest to the wall. "I'm just not sure how to say it because well, I don't have all the facts but I still..." Lily bit her lip. "Something really bad happened to her when she was a teenager and she still has to spend some time in the hospital because she gets sick. Jenny is perfectly normal most of the time. There are some days -- like today -- when she can't get out of bed. She gets really nervous around large groups of guys." She scratched the side of her neck. "So consider yourself very important in getting approval of coming over." She smiled at him, trying to lighten the mood.

Jesse sat, but frowned a little. "...if she gets nervous around men, maybe I shouldn't." he said. As a man with four sisters and a daughter of his own, he was incredibly sensitive to that kind of thing. And he had been around the criminal element for most of his life, and knew some true fucking scumbags and what they thought of women. In no way did he want to aggravate that, or be looked at like he might be a threat of that nature. It would be something he couldn't handle well.

Lily shook her head. "No, believe me, you're fine. Promise. If you weren't, I wouldn't be telling you." She tried to assure him of that without saying that Jenny had been her sole confidant regarding her childhood crush on him. "You're a wonderful guy, Jesse, which is why I asked her if it would be okay if you came around on occasion. That not all guys are terrible."

"You already asked?" Jesse asked, totally having missed that if Lily had implied it already. "Oh. I...and she's okay with it? You're sure?" he asked. He needed that confirmation. If it was there, he might give it a shot, but without it, he'd steer clear, he knew he would.

"Well, yeah. I wasn't going to say anything about where I was moving to until I had confirmation if I could tell you or not. I didn't want to make it seem like I was trying to avoid your or something." She smiled gently at him, nervous and blushing again. Some of that old Lily showing through. She may be a lot happier and a lot more positive that day, but she was still Lily who was nervous around attractive men.

"Okay, well, I guess I'm cleared and all, so at some point I'll have to stop by." he said. It was a theory. Really, he wouldn't mind. And at least if he did drop in, he could case the place, and see where the weak points were, so he could make an attempt to strengthen them up. Like getting her a bat. Small? Yeah. Vital? It sure as hell could be. He handed her a menu which was on the table, knowing already what he was getting. Which he said as much when the waitress came over, winking at him, clearly a girl he knew. "You know what I want, darlin." he told her, then looked at Lily. "And whatever the lady would like..."

Lily didn't look up at him, still quickly scanning at the menu but arched an eyebrow up at his address towards the waitress, but seemed more like she was thinking. She wasn't sure if she should be amused or not. "The turkey club, please," she said after another fast perusal. "hold the tomato." The waitress nodded, setting down a little basket of pretzels for them to snack on while their orders were prepared. "Nice place," Lily commented, popping a pretzel in her mouth. "Gotta ask Jenny if she'd be interested in coming."

"Depends on your definition of 'nice'." Jesse said. He was aware it was run down. Very run down, even. Like the chair he sat on and the table they were at wobbled a little, and there was a clear crack in the main window that looked out onto the street. 'Upscale' wasn't anything that could be applied to it. He just knew the food was good and so were the people. "But I think so." he added, smiling at her.

She eyed him shrewdly, munching on her pretzels. "Are you humoring my 'delicate' sensibilities, Mr James?" she asked, a smile playing on her face that showed that she was teasing him. "Afraid I was going to run away screaming." If that's what he thought, she wasn't going to be angry or anything. It was a perfectly valid assumption. And yeah, the place was run down, but plenty of the city was. It didn't mean the people were always rundown.

"No. Just I'm pretty positive that you've never been to a place like this, or would even have noticed it on the way by." Jesse explained. "You don't really like being lumped in with the rest of high society, but darling--you are high society. And they have different ways of looking at things in general, and I know there's some things that people who grew up in an environment like yours...well. You just don't see. Not because it's not there, but because your eyes skip over it."

Well didn't he have it all figured out. She didn't respond, not immediately, munching on the pretzels as she thought of the best way to reply. "I know," Lily said, looking over at him over the pretzel bowl. Honesty was the best way to go with Jesse, that's what she found. So she was being honest. "And I better start learning how it works if I'm going to make it."

"Well, consider this your first lesson then. Or...second, I already gave you the 'have something onhand to snap a collarbone with' one." Jesse said with a flash of a grin. And he still planned on getting her that bat before they parted ways today. "Talking about moving places though, I'm actually starting to think I need a new one." he admitted. "Someplace a little bigger, for one." Though really that decision was prompted directly by wanting a place for Evie to stay if she got to a place mentally where she'd let herself.

"Really?" Her face brightened, not just by the upturn of the conversation, but the fact that Jesse was looking to start new things in his life as well. "Well, what kind of place are you looking for?" Thinking about where Jesse lived now, she wasn't sure how he'd be able to move into a bigger place, but for all she knew, he'd been saving up for years and realized that sleeping in the living room wasn't as good as sleeping in a bedroom.

"Not sure?" Jesse suggested honestly. "Just someplace bigger. Possibly three bedrooms if I can swing it, though I'm not entirely certain I can. But I want someplace where Baby J can spread out in a little better, and if my sisters stop in or anything, they can stay too." he said. Specifically Evie, but any of his sisters would be welcome. They just tended to stick where they were.

"If you look in the right places, you can," Lily offered, remembering when Jenny was looking to move out on her own. Although she wasn't sure if Jesse would believe that or not. "Sometimes it might be cheaper to rent a house than it would be to rent an apartment in certain places." That she knew from looking things up on her own. Again though, Jesse might not believe her.

"Maybe." Jesse said, not sure, but then he hadn't been looking seriously quite yet. He'd had other things to take care of in the meantime. "Would those houses be in worse neighborhoods though?" he asked. "I don't want to wind up somewhere where it's worse off than we are now, just bigger and worse off. I need to think of my daughter's safety." Not that anyplace in the city was truly 'safe'. Not really.

"Well that's where the searching comes in. It depends on people's needs. Let's say you worked for this shop owner and they were renting a house. You could possibly get that place cheaper if you agreed to work for the land lord." She wasn't sure if that was to Jesse's taste, but she threw the possibility out there. "I say start where you want to ideally be. Closer to your parents. Closer to the school. That sort of thing. And then work your way out."

Well, at least that was something resembling a course of action, and he'd not had one of those yet. "I'll do that." he told her. Their order came up too, and he waited til it had been set out, and then looked back to Lily. "Not sure I'd be cut out to be a shop boy." he added, smirking a touch.

Lily laughed a bit and bit into her sandwich, not realizing how hungry she was for something more satisfying than the muffin she was snacking on earlier. "I'm sure you'd be able to stock shelves with the best of them," she joked back. "You really never know. Could get a place cheap if you agree to fix it up. They cut down the rent and instead provide the materials." Her fingers itched to make a list for him. Plans were nice. Everyone should have a plan for one thing, from grocery shopping or moving.

"Do you think I'd actually be able to do handy man stuff?" Jesse asked, honestly curious if she did think that. And some stuff he could probably work out how to do. He wasn't useless, really, but he had no idea about a lot of things as well. He was good at illegal things, primarily. That he had a talent for. That he could do in his sleep. But the practical, normal day to day stuff, that he didn't so much have an adept hand at.

She paused, considering him. "You've got the cute handyman look," she said boldly. "And I'm assuming you know how to use a hammer." She took another bite of her sandwich right after she said that so she didn't say something stupid. Give herself a minute to collect her thoughts.

Jesse laughed a touch. "There's such a thing as a 'cute handyman look'?" he asked. "Nevermind, don't tell me." he added quickly on the end of that. "And yes, I know how to use a hammer. but I'm pretty sure not everything can be fixed by swinging something heavy and hard at it." he added, eating a few of his fries.

"Oh, I'm sure you could find a way. It's just something to consider, you know?" She was proud of herself with how well that turned out, although Jesse's comment about not wanting to know made her wonder a little bit.

"I suppose." Jesse answered, though he didn't really think it was. He wasn't some stock boy. He was in his thirties, and wasn't going to be working some entry level kid job. End of story, he wasn't. It would not only be humiliating, but it wasn't something you did. Especially not with a family. Maybe when he was fifteen, but now? Hell no. He just wasn't going to say as much to her, because he knew she was trying to help and the like, just her perspective sometimes was a little suspect.

Lily was quiet after that, wondering if she had offended him but he didn't look like he was offended so maybe he was just thinking. She took the time to munch on her sandwich, deciding that maybe she shouldn't offer anymore suggestions unless he specifically asked for her opinion. "Did you tell Jessie about the plans yet?"

"Not yet. She's been spending time at my folk's place." Jesse said. "I figured I'd look around, and see about something first, instead of tell her, have her get excited, and maybe it falls through. I wouldn't want to get her hopes up then disappoint her." he admitted, since that was his principal concern with the whole ordeal. No way was he going to see her light up only to have to tell her later that he'd failed on things. That was a no go.

"Makes sense," she said, polishing off a few more french fries. She wondered why his daughter had been spending so much time at his parents' house lately, but then, with such a small apartment, their place was surely bigger. Had Jesse been spending time there as well? It was all very curious, Jesse's family. "If another play catches her eye, I'd be happy to take her again. Or get tickets for her and someone else."

"I think she liked going with you." Jesse said. "I think it sort of made her feel like she was really part of something, because it was with you." he added, so Lily would understand why. "She sees you as high society, and you're taking time out for someone like her. So... it means something."

Lily was surprised and it showed. She didn't think she was anyone special, but, as Jesse had been telling her, no matter how she saw herself, she'd be a 'high society' girl. "That's quite the compliment," she said, wondering if it was her that Jessie had enjoyed spending time with, not just the fact that Lily had money and was taking her to a play in a private box.

"Not really, if you look at it from Jessie's point of view." Jesse said, still thinking Lily needed to get it through her thick head how the social order worked. It was probably going to get her into trouble someday if it didn't sink in, and that would be bad. The upper class didn't play nice. He knew that for a fact. They didn't get to be upper class by being nice people. And you didn't stay upper class by being nice either. "It's truth."

She felt like maybe he misunderstood what she had meant, but she didn't think she should attempt to clarify because she knew she'd come off being an idiot and she didn't want to do that. It wasn't like she asked to be born in her situation. "It's just nice to know that I made someone happy."

"You definitely did." Jesse assured her. "It was pretty big for her. She still talks about it and everything. I know she's told some of the kids at school about it as well." he added. And if she could go again, she'd love it, he knew that. He still didn't think he was the one to take her, but still. If Lily wouldn't mind, he'd jump at the opportunity. Just for his daughter's sake.

"You have to promise to come with us," she told him. "We'd do an afternoon show. They're hardly half full so you wouldn't have to deal with stuff that would make you uncomfortable." That seemed like a good way to put it. And she knew that Jessie had mentioned maybe having her father come with her to the theater. "I think she'd really like that."

"Maybe." Jesse said, doubtful on that, but he didn't want to outright say no. "We'll see." He still didn't have the right clothes, or anything, and still was quite aware he was a man with a record, and people knew that. It wasn't like it was a secret or anything, and people tended not to like that at all. No, he was an undesirable, in those circles, where as Lily...that was where she was 'meant' to be, according to her upbringing. Maybe not quite according to her, which he was understanding. He knew she was uncomfortable with all the connotations.

She wanted to say that he should let himself go out and enjoy something but didn't want to run the risk of being lectured again. It was starting to make her angry. So she munched on her fries again, wondering if he was going to launch into something about how she shouldn't try. But all she wanted to do was do something nice for people. To make someone happy. Instead, "Well, I'm sure we can find something," she said optimistically because yeah. She needed to stop being negative.

Pretty oblivious to where Lily's thoughts and emotions were headed and the like, he was just eating, waiting for her to respond. "I'm sure you will." he said. "Anyways. How's the library?" he asked, changing the subject. "And the kids at school and all that?" He paused a long moment. "Do you happen to know a young girl named Arden?" he asked. "She goes to school with Jessie."

"Arden?" Lily frowned. "Yeah, I know her pretty well. I've been tutoring her for a couple of weeks. She's been cutting school a lot." Arden was a smart girl and she hated that she'd been losing focus as of late. And the library... well, that was an awkward subject right there.

"What's her situation like? What do you know about her?" Jesse asked. He'd get back to the library question, since she hadn't answered it, but the thing about Arden was more pressing at the moment. He didn't know why he hadn't immediately thought of asking Lily in the first place, but it made so much sense.

Lily pondered her answer for a bit, taking a sip of her drink. Arden Elwaine was a bright, pretty girl that seemed well liked by her peers but as of late... "She's been acting out," she finally said slowly. "Like I said, she's been cutting school which is why I've had to start tutoring her. She's always been a handful. That much I know for sure." Lily took another sip of her drink. "She hasn't said anything but her father's come to the school. Told them explicitly that Arden's mother wasn't to come near Arden." There'd been gossip going around the teachers and she'd naturally heard about it. "Mr Elwaine has been very upset about Arden's mother leaving."

"Can he actually do that?" Jesse asked. "It's a public place, and there isn't any court order or anything, is there?" he asked, turning slightly more towards Lily, abandoning his food for the moment. "Is the school complying with that, just on his say so?" he asked, not accusing Lily of anything there. He knew she'd have to go with whatever the school said, it wasn't her decision. Plus he wasn't sure that Lily would be all that on board with trying to keep family members from any child, considering her lack of parents at such a young age.

"I don't know. Just that we're not allowed to let Arden's mother pick her up from school or approach her or anything. And I was told that her mother left to go work at Babylon." Which... seemed odd to Lily that a mother would just get up one day and decide to leave her husband and daughter to go work there and it visibly confused her. "Not officially told, of course. But one of the teachers was talking about it. Mr. Elwaine was talking about it. And Arden refuses to acknowledge that she has parents, as in two. She only has her father and that's just a 'parent'." She frowned. "It's actually really annoying, what she's been doing."

"She refused to acknowledge she's got parents?" Jesse asked, arching a brow. "How do you see the situation? Just from an objective point of view? What's your take?" he asked, honestly wanting to know. Lily would be impartial, and she had close contact with the girl in question, so that was an important point of view to know about. Plus, he trusted Lily not to either sugarcoat it, or lie or anything.

She ran a hand through her hair, exhaling slowly before resting her chin on her fist. "Well, she's twelve years old and she's angry. I don't know if her mother really did walk out to become a prostitute, but Arden's... I think she's scared. I think she misses her mother and she's angry because she doesn't want to miss her mother." Arden was always a handful. That much Lily knew for sure. But the level that Arden had apparently gone to was more than just her mother leaving. "It doesn't sit well with me. The whole hooker angle."

"I wouldn't go assuming the hooker angle without evidence." Jesse said. Kess hadn't come off like a hooker, that was for certain, and he did know women in the past who were. Also, Babylon was off the map now, wasn't it? Something like that. "I don't suppose you know whether or not Arden hears from her mom, do you? Letters, perhaps?" he suggested. Kess had said she sent letters but never got replies, and Jesse's theory was that the kid wasn't actually getting said letters.

"No, neither would I," Lily agreed grimly. "I mean, it's too out of left field and I don't understand how anyone could believe it. It's just weird and it scares me, especially with her father acting the way he is." As for letters. "I really don't think there's any contact. If there's letters being sent or phone calls? Her father is keeping them from her. He wants no contact between Arden and her mother."

Jesse was quiet for a moment. "Acting the way he is...explain?" he asked. If there was more going on than Kess had said, Jesse wanted to know about it. He also still maintained that men like Eugene didn't change. And just because he wasn't smacking Arden around when she was little didn't mean he wouldn't start at some point. "...you don't ever see bruises on her or anything, do you?" he asked lightly.

"He acts just so devastated and so upset and crying that 'my wife walked out on us. Oh she's a hooker now' and all these women are pouring over him while he tells this. I may hardly remember my childhood, but when my mom left, my dad didn't cry and beg for sympathy. That much I do remember." It was obvious that Eugene Elwaine's behavior just rubbed Lily the wrong way and ticked her off. But then, her father was apparently murdered by the mob and she didn't want to think about that. "She looks fine. She walks fine. It's not like I can go over and ask her if she's hiding belt bruises across her back or something. She's just angry all the time and cutting school. I've seen her around work from time to time. Or in the park."

"Oh is that what he's telling people." Jesse said, rolling his eyes. Then he sighed. "I've met her mom." he explained, getting into why he'd been asking in the first place. "She's upset, he's trying to keep her from her daughter. Not the nicest man in the world, if you catch my drift. I know she's written Arden a lot of letters, but she never gets responses. I figured she wasn't getting them at all. It's not a good situation, obviously. Sounds like it isn't even from where you're standing as well."

Lily visibly relaxed and she was surprised at how tense she felt when speaking about Arden. "Well that's good to know, at least," she said, in reference to the fact that Arden's mother wasn't a hooker and that it was now clear that Mr Elwaine had been lying. "Just because she doesn't have any bruises, doesn't mean he isn't hurting her though," she said quietly. "But if that were the case, she wouldn't be siding with her father, so to speak. She wouldn't' be denying her mother." She looked at Jesse, curious. "What are you thinking of doing?" Because Jesse was looking for information on Arden and it didn't exactly seem like he was just trying to get information to relay back to Arden's mother.

Jesse shook his head. "Not necessarily, Lil." he said. "A kid'll side with people, and their world is what their parents make it. If she doesn't know any better, she could still side with it. How many women out there say 'oh it's just when he's drinking'?" he posed. "And for a kid, who's only got him in the world, and has no contact with her mother, she can't side with her. She isn't even there to side with." he said, thinking about it from the kid's point of view. "If all she's got is her dad, and her dad is actively cutting her off from her mom...who else would she even have?" After a moment, he answered her question. "Not sure yet." he said honestly. "I know Kess is devastated over it all, but I think she's also in a place where she doesn't feel like she's got any chance of helping the situation either. I've kind of seen it before, battered women, they lose that perspective. It's hard to fight back when someone's stacking the deck. I just know I want to do something."

She frowned as he spoke, about a child having no way out, not really understanding of the world and... it really didn't sit well with her. Not for Arden's case, but for hers and what had happened to her. It showed routes she hadn't entirely considered and now wasn't exactly sure she wanted to consider. Had that been what Jesse meant when he warned that maybe she didn't want to look into the past?

Lily realized he was probably waiting for a response and tried to come up with one that might be useful. "Well, I think it's pretty clear that he's cut her off of everything. Any potential friends or people in the neighborhood who could help her. Did she mention any course of action that she might look at even when she's feeling hopeless?"

Jesse shook his head. "No. Actually, when I was trying to talk to her about possible actions, she kinda sorta walked away from me. I think she's too stuck in that 'helpless' state of mind that she can't see past it at the moment. I just--I'm a father. I can't imagine someone doing that to my daughter, and I hate the idea of it happening to some other kid, too. Even if she isn't mine, there's still...something there. I don't know if I can really explain it." It just offended him on some deep level. "And it really really concerns me that this kid is living with a guy who would knock his wife around. As far as I'm concerned, men like that don't change, and just because he hasn't--or we think he hasn't--started hurting Arden yet, doesn't mean he won't. Especially if she's started being really defiant, like you've described."

"Instinct?" she suggested. "I heard good fathers are supposed to be protective of their children." And there weren't as many good fathers -- good parents for that matter -- out there that should be. "The tutoring has just been a recent thing. She's had pretty decent grades but she's been cutting school and so they've naturally been slipping. He might not be hurting her now, but give it a couple years..."

"Depending on just how much the little princess is rebelling, I'm not sure I'd give it years." Jesse said. "Either way, the guy's a manipulative fuck, from the sounds of what she's said, and what you've said." he added. "Just not sure what to do. Any suggestions? You don't have to put yourself out there, I wouldn't want you doing anything you weren't comfortable with or anything of the kind, but..." he trailed off.

"Her best bet would be to look for some legal counsel, I think," she said softly. "I... I might know someone actually who could be willing to help that I could contact." And if he wasn't willing to do it for free, well then she'd pay for it. She'd already decided that. "If she wants, have her write a letter to Arden. I'll get it to her." Because yeah, Lily could be useful. And if she had been in Arden's position when she was a little girl, she'd want someone to do this for her. "Some kind of explanation. Even if Arden doesn't want to read it, she'll have it for when she's ready."

Jesse smiled at Lily, a kind of appreciative, softer expression than he usually had. It lacked the general cocky demeanor he usually had. "I'll let her know. If I see her again, that is. Like I said, she walked away from me. You might have better luck that I would, who knows. I mean, this is me sticking my nose in." he admitted. "I told her she should look into the legality as well, but she said she couldn't afford it. I thought she should look into things anyhow. Still, the letter's a start. Her name's Kess, if you happen by her at any time. Long wavy hair."

"Yeah, but I'd be some random stranger coming up to her. And wavy hair?" Lily reached up and showed off a lock of her own. It wasn't that she sounded angry or anything. Just a bit amused. "Not much to go on... I'll keep my eye out. Guess I could look at Arden's file in the office for more information. See exactly what her husband's been saying. Documented, I mean." There was a definite connected feeling to the situation that Lily had and now she couldn't walk away from it. And now she was wondering if maybe her and Arden's situations were more similar than she originally thought.

Jesse smirked. "Yeah, I know, gimme a break, I didn't ask her for identifying marks or anything." And he hadn't seen any. He'd just gone for a short walk with the woman. "But if you did want to look into it...I think it'd be worth doing. Worth going into. I know it's been bothering me since I talked to her." he said.

"Well, I'm hoping to see Arden on Monday when I go back in. Hopefully she'll show up. If not, well, I'll try figure something out. And I'll see what I can do for Kess... track down Andrew to see what he could do." Lily offered him a small smile and looked back down at her plate, most of the food already gone. "Is there anything else I can do?"

"I don't know who Andrew is." Jesse said, feeling there was significance there he wasn't getting. "And I have no idea. Hope for the best?" he suggested. "Thanks for listening, and helping out in any way you can, too." he added. "You skipped over my question about the library." he pointed out, nudging her gently in that regard. "Something up?"

"Lawyer friend. Sort of. Sorry, just kind of thinking out loud." Ah, the library... She wondered if Evelyn had said anything about the job to her brother and she wondered how much to say. "It's... the same thing. Still. Boring. Very boring. That's the library."

A lawyer friend. Of course she had a lawyer friend. That could be a great thing, depending. When she answered about the library, though, he kind of gave her a look that clearly said he didn't buy that. "Okay, Lil." he said. "If you're going to lie to me about things? At least do a convincing job. Otherwise just tell me it's none of my business." he told her, not unkindly. There were some things people didn't want to chat about. And while he wasn't entirely certain that he'd be able to come up with reasons why talking about working at a library would be sticky, maybe there were interesting things going on behind the scenes. One never knew.

"Well it is boring!" Lily said. "I just reshelve books all day or fix them or help people who then get mad at me." She trailed off, thinking of her encounter with Evelyn. How defensive Evelyn was. How freaked she had gotten. "Your sister has some books on hold by the way," Lily said finally, casually. "When you see her, if you could let her know. I'm not sure if she forgot about them or not." There. Then maybe Evelyn could tell her brother that she was working at the Drake. Yeah, she should stay out of it, but Lily was nosy. "I was thinking of finding a new place of employment actually. Maybe. Eventually."

"You know my sister? Which one?" he asked. Considering he had four of them. "And I thought you loved the library." Jesse said, frowning lightly. "You know if something's going on, you can talk to me about it, right? I'd be happy to listen." he said honestly. Now he was convinced something was up, he just didn't know what. But he wanted to find out.

"Evelyn," Lily said. "It was nice to see her. She hasn't been by as much as she was when she was in school." Casual. She could play it casual and she was doing a pretty good job of it to. "Nothing's wrong, per say. I just..." She munched on another fry as she considered what exactly she felt about the library. "Fulfilling? Not as fulfilling as it used to be." That seemed to be a good way to put it. "I like it, but there's problems. Like fixing the burned out half. It's been in half repair for years."

"They're never going to finish that." Jesse said. "It's been ten years, if they haven't got round to it by now, they're not going to." Which was just strange, but something that was very typical of the city. "And Evie's been distant in general. Got her own thing going on, I suppose." Not that he liked that, so much. No, he'd rather his sister was around where he could see her much more often, and all that. It just didn't mean she was, and while it bothered him, he couldn't go making decisions for her.

"I know," she sighed, rather saf about it. She had been in the library when it happened. Couldn't be quite sure how it had started. And as for Evelyn... boy, did she want to tell Jesse. She really did. He was obviously worried about her and she wondered what the story was that Evelyn was giving. "What is she doing now, anyway?"

"I don't know, honestly. Getting herself into trouble now and then?" Jesse suggested, sitting back in his chair a little. "She's gotten distant. Like she was always a little independent and all of that, but she moved pretty far away from the rest of the family, and she's been keeping secrets. Or, I think she has been, anyways, because she never seems to have much to say, even though I know there can't be nothing going on in her life. And she got jumped recently, and...." he trailed off, that harder edge creeping into his expression just at the thought of it.

Secrets. Yes. A secret that she knew and Jesse didn't and he was torn up about it. "I'm sure she's handling everything. Perhaps she has some stresses at work that she doesn't want to bother anyone with," Lily offered gently, trying to offer a less sinister perspective. "Just one of those 'come home and pass out on the bed' sort of deals. I'm sure things will get better soon. She's the youngest, isn't she? She might be trying to find her independence."

"I don't think she is handling everything. And not only that, but Evie...she thinks she has to handle everything alone, too. Or wants to. She's...really fucking stubborn is what she is. And she just doesn't get it that she doesn't have to do everything on her own, and half the time she shouldn't. I really, really worry about that girl." Jesse said, quite clearly meaning every word of it. "She's going to find herself in deep someday and she won't even see it til it's too late, and then, then who knows what'll happen. sometimes you get in so deep there isn't a way out." He knew that pretty goddamn well. "And yeah, she's the youngest. She's headstrong is what she is. And I don't think she's got the brains to actually see what's around her. Not that she isn't smart because she is. I just...don't think she gets it. And she won't get over herself long enough to get any help, either." Jesse sighed heavily, then looked over. "I'm sorry, you didn't need all that."

Lily listened quietly as he spoke, how pained he sounded, how worried he was. She felt guilty, knowing what Evelyn was doing and really not wanting to tell Jesse, but he sounded so sad. "Jesse, you've listened to all my issues and you haven't run away. What kind of friend would I be if I wasn't here to listen to you? You may be difficult to get rid of, but so am I." She gave a small, self-depreciating smile. "I think my track record speaks of that." Oh boy, she really wanted to tell him. "And... Evelyn is okay. I promise you that," she said carefully, inwardly wincing at the secret's line she was toeing.

"If Evie was okay, she wouldn't have got herself into a situation where she got herself strangled." Jesse said under his breath, but loud enough that Lily'd be able to hear it. "Lil, I have no idea what I'd even do if that happened again, or what I'd do if anything worse happened. Though I've been tracking the guy down." he added, going against what he'd decided when he first saw her, and he went for the truth. "It's what I was doing when I saw you."

She was not going to tell. She was not going to tell. Lily kept the mantra going in her head but she was really worried now. "Does she know who attacked her?" she asked softly, moving a little closer because, well, Jesse seemed really upset so she wanted him to know that she was there.

Jesse shook his head. "No. Said she never got a look at him." he said. "But that someone else helped her too. I'm pretty sure I can find the guy. I've...got a few connections, as it were." He took a drink of his water, and looked at her again, noticing she'd got closer. She smelled nice. "Here's where I should stop that part of the conversation." he told her. Since he didn't exactly plan on buying the guy a beer when he hunted him down.

She looked startled at what he said, then frowned. Jesse was definitely talking business but she didn't want Jesse getting hurt. "Um..." Lily took a deep breath. "I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone what she was doing. She didn't tell me!" she added quickly, looking guiltily over because, well, she was really close at telling Evelyn's secret. "I figured it out. But if it helps any, she works near the Drake." REALLY near the Drake...

Jesse frowned, looking at her for a long moment. "How near the Drake? That's...rather bad fucking news, that place. She knows that, right? You know that too, don't you?" he asked, so he was sure about that. Everyone who had even minor dealings in shady business knew the Drake was DiGiovanni territory. And good christ did he ever not want his sister mixed up with the mob. He'd done his level best his entire fucking life to keep clear of them. She'd better not be getting swept up in that shit. But Lily said 'near' which didn't mean 'at'. Still, the proximity didn't make him happy.

Lily shifted uncomfortably. "I dunno. It always seemed find to me," she said lamely, pretty sure she was going to get lectured again how the perils of every single place in this city. She kind of missed her ignorance. But then she had to go find out the mob killed her dad so... "She's not working near the Drake," she said quietly, feeling guilt in practically every fiber of her being and it showed on the crestfallen look on her face. She was terrible.

Jesse frowned, looking at her. "What do you mean? She's not, now? Where is she working?" he asked, really not understanding what she was getting at here. And he was under the impression he should really understand before he said anything else. Anything at all else. "...Lil? What's going on?"

"She's working at the Drake." She blurted it out, deciding that was the best way to get it out. She tensed and relaxed at the same time, both relieved to get the secret off her chest but now worried that she was going to get yelled at or something. Not that she exepected Jesse to yell at her, but she was still nervous. "As a concierge. And I promised her I wouldn't tell because it's not my secret to tell but I didn't know she got mugged going home and now that you're tracking down whoever did that to her, well, I don't want you to get hurt either." She looked at him, still upset and nervous too. "I'm so sorry, Jesse. I really am."

It was a little like Lily just opened up his chest and dumped ice water down inside his ribcage. He looked like she could have just struck him. "You're telling me," he started, voice very low. "That my baby sister has been lying to her family, and working at a hotel the fucking mafia runs?" he asked, voice still very low, for her ears only. He wasn't angry. He was in the middle of some form of undescribeable internal emotional storm.

Lily couldn't speak. Jesse's voice kind of scared her so she just nodded. She kept looking at him though, because she figured it might be worse if she looked away. She wanted to though. His face was so hard to read. She thought it was cold anger at first, but then it seemed like hurt. She couldn't be sure. "She makes dinner reservations," she said quietly, as if that could make everything better.

"Does she." Jesse said. "Because the fact that she's been lying about her whole life and all makes her so trustworthy on the matter." He stood up. "I...need a minute." he said, heading towards the door. He dragged his fingers through his hair, exhaling sharply, wanting to just get outside for a minute, needing that. Needing air. Something.

She watched Jesse go outside, pacing a little bit outside of the somewhat foggy window. She looked back at the scarred table,, the basket of pretzels and her water. She felt too guilty to snack on anything while she waited. She already felt bad about scaring Evelyn off and now she broke the promise she made her and Jesse was freaking out. Maybe. At least he wasn't yelling or screaming.

He leaned his back against the building, and just tried to breathe. That wasn't such an easy task, really. Breathing required him to be calm, and he was anything but. Shit. He couldn't believe--but he could, couldn't he? Lately, with everything, and now this...yeah, he could really fucking believe it. And all he kept thinking about was that she was going to get sucked in if she wasn't already, and she was going to be hurt or killed or worse, and they'd find it so easy, so fucking easy to use her family against her, and he had a daughter. They had a niece, too. Children. Just teenagers. Hell she wasn't much older than them to start with, and fuck this could all so go wrong. So really, really fucking wrong. In the end, he went back inside, and dropped money down on the table. "Lily, I'm really sorry, but I have to go." he told her.

Lily blinked, but she wasn't surprised so she nodded and smiled a little bit. "It's okay. You go do what you have to do. Just... promise me you'll be careful?" He looked tense and intimidating from her view of sitting in her chair and she was pretty sure that when he tracked down whoever hurt his sister? Well, she didn't really want to think about that.

He nodded. "I will, I...you too. And don't say anything." he said. "Please." A warning could be bad. Worse than anything else, even. Fuck, he still didn't even know what he was going to do. Jesus. Of all the things, of all the fucked up, stupid things to get into...fuck.

"Promise!" She called after him, but he was already gone. Lily sighed and leaned back in the chair. This was going to be bad. There was no way any of this was going to end well.