Ghost Rider

8; Seattle Time Pt. 2

Ricky's POV:
It's nice being around family again. I just am dreading telling them I knocked up Jessica. They hate her. Just because she is very opinionated and overall sensitive so my stubbornly rude family always made her cry.

Ghost was staring at the ceiling with me, holding my hand, rubbing his rough thumb against my knuckles. "Boys! Dinner is ready!!!" Rachel sheriks outside the door. "Ow, fuck." I hold my ears from the high pitched ringing sound in my ears. "Richard get out!" She yells. "We are coming! Jesus I need to put a muzzle on you." I mumble. "Sorry." She laughs. "Demon."

We run down the stairs, Ghost still holding my hand, up until he saw Rachel's cat. "Ooh kitty." He whispered getting sidetracked. "Of course." I chuckle, continuing towards the food. "He's a cat person I see." Mom smiles. "Yeah, he has two of his own." I nod, grabbing some casserole. "So between the two of you, you have three cats?" She adds. "Yup." I nod, focusing on food, I'm hungry!

Ghost walks in with the cat on his head. "What's the kitty's name?" He asks. "Bandit." Rachel tells him. "Bandit is adorable." He smiles, pulling the cat from his head, holding him in his arms. "Babe, put the poor cat down and eat." I tell him. "Poor cat? I am awesome with cats." He defends himself. "Devin." I stare at him as he puts the cat down, "Fine..."

We all sit around the table, eating and making small talk. Dad not here, apparently at work but I know why. God forbid your son love a man. My phone goes off in my pocket. "Sorry it's Jessica." I explain why I have to take the call. "You two still talk?" Mom asks, "Yes. I'll explain later." I tell her, answering the phone and walking out.

"Hello, what's up?" I ask. "Nothing much, got my second appointment scheduled. Not this Friday but next. Wanna come? You don't have to." She tells me. "No, no, I wanna go." I nod. "Okay, thanks. How's the family?" She asks. "Good, Rachel is going to college soon." I tell her. "Oh really? Last time I saw her she was just a bratty teenager!" She exclaims happily. "Yeah, she's a lot less bratty now. How's Florida?" I ask politely.

"Great! Thank you for this." She says, she sounds a lot less stressed and emotional then before. "No problem. Hey, I gotta go." I tell her, hanging up once she says goodbye.

When I come back Devin and Rachel are discussing different makeup companies and color theory things. Mom was just listening jumping in if she had something to say. "So what's with Jessica?" She asks when she sees me. "I'd rather say when everyone's here." I tell her.

"Honey whatever it is you can tell your dad later. I want to know." She is very nosey and won't take no for an answer. "I might have gotten Jessica pregnant before I broke up with her..." I tell them, running my hands through my hair, a nervous habit. "Ricky! What were you thinking?!" Rachel screams at me. She is a huge feminist so she probably assumes I used her and now am going to ditch the kid. "Please don't. I don't need that. She's only like a month pregnant and we don't even know if we're keeping it." I sigh. This is exactly why I didn't want to say anything. "You better fucking be there for that kid!!!" Rachel screams at me. "If she wants to keep it I will. Who do you think I am?! Dad was barely around when we were growing up! Why would I do what fucked me up to my own kid!?" I yell at her. I'm on the edge of tears, I hate confessing how screwed up I am or any kind of confontation.

"Quiet down..." Mom cries, tears falling down her face. "Mom..." Rachel comforts her, while I storm out. I hate my fucking family sometimes... I walk down the street, getting some air and pulling out a cigarette.

I sit on the curb, taking a drag, tears slipping down my face. I start sobbing from my own mistakes, hoping no one will see me. I hope Devin doesn't come, I don't want to be consoled, I just want to mope for a bit.

"You okay mister?" A young girl about seven asks. "Yeah, go on home." I tell her, most girls her age would be terrified of me, but I guess the tears streaming down my face made me look less scary. "I can tell something's wrong. Did you fall?" She asks looking me over. "No. I'm just sad." I tell her since she wasn't going away. "What for? Did your parents yell at you?" She asks, I shake my head. "Were they arguing? Mine do that a lot." She adds. "No, but that's sad. Does it make you sad?" I ask the little blonde girl. "Yeah but it's worse when daddy drinks. That when he's scary." She shivers from the thought. I feel horrible for the girl. "What's your name?" I ask her. "Addy." She smiles her toothy smile. I wipe my eyes with my sleeve and continued to speak. "I'm Ricky. Addy, why are you out here? Where's your parents?" I ask.

"Inside. Daddy's being scary again, mommy told me to run." She says, looking sad. "Addy, where do you live?" I ask, worried for her mother. A scary drunk guy to the point of telling your seven year old to run, he must be abusive. "Over there." She points to a white house with a stone arch over the door. 17541 is the house number. "Ok, Addy come with me." I tell her, pulling her hand to my house. "Ok. Do you think mommy's okay?" I nod. "Of course, she's fine." I comfort her.

Devin was just coming out of the house when we get to the driveway. "Who's this?" He asks, smiling but his eyes were confused. "I'm Addy." She smiles. "Devin can you watch her, I'll explain later, or actually, Addy, tell him what you told me." I tell her, walking away dialing 911.

"Police dispatch at your service. What's you emergency." A woman asks, "Hi, yeah, I'm at (address), and I found a little girl who said her father was drunk and scary and that her mother told her to run." I tell her. "Okay sir, do you know the address of the girl's home?" She asks typing something. "Uh, the house number is 17541 and just down the street from the address I gave you earlier." I say, watching Devin chase Addy in a small game of tag. "Ok. I sent out some men, we are a bit short tonight so can you care for the girl until further notice?" She asks. "Yes." I agree. "Okay I need your full name and number." She asks, once I give her that information she hangs up.

"Addy! Come here!" I call as she runs up and I crouch down to her level. "Your going to stay here for awhile. The police are going to check on your mom and then they'll decide when you go home. Okay?" I ask. "Okay, can I go play with Ghost again?" She asks, "If he's okay with it." I laugh seeing him breathing hard, laying on the grass. "Ghosty!!!!!" She shrieks jumping on his stomach. "Ow! Fuuh--" He stops, trying not to teach the girl foul language. "Please be careful, he's fragile." I tell her. "Oh, sorry!" She apologizes, backing away from him.

I pick her up, carrying her inside, asking if she was hungry. "Yeah. Do you have pizza?! I love pizza." She smiles. "Um. I don't think so. Do you like casserole?" I ask. "No, not usually." She makes a sour face that makes me laugh. "Ok then, do you like peanut butter and jelly?" I ask. "Yeah!" She squeals.

We walk into the kitchen where mom was. "Rick, who's this cutie?" She asks as I set Addy down. "I'm Addy and you look like the prettier version of him." She points at me. "Addy, that's my mom and why does she get to be prettier?!" I whine jokingly. "Because she doesn't have all that black running down her face." She says matter of factly. "True. Mom, she's going to stay with tonight, she's having family problems, the police will come when it's time for her to go." I tell her. She nods, Addy holding her stomach. "HUNGRY!" She complains. "Oh and please make her a sandwich, I'm going to take of my makeup." I dismiss myself.