THREE

"Now I know some of our older residents will find this tiring" the main counselor Keith said "but I'd like to welcome you all to our monthly open talk where we talk about who we are and how we got to Ivy Hill Rehabilitation Center"

"We'll also be introducing some of our new residents during this session as this is their first open talk---"

Jackson wished that Keith would get to the point already there were better things that the patients could be doing on a Sunday afternoon like watching Bill O'Reilly talk about how he does not have white privilege.

It was only twelve noon and all of the residents were sitting in chairs in a circle in the center of the community room no doubt they would be here for the entire afternoon.

"...why don't we have some of our older residents go first" Keith suggested "that way our newer residents will feel more comfortable opening up"

Jackson noticed how Al bit her lower lip and duck her head when Keith mentioned this. He also noticed how she cupped the sleeves to her oversized sweatshirt so that her wrists didn't show.

"Jack why don't you go first?"

"Really?" Jackson said slightly annoyed "come on Keith everyone's heard my story millions of times"

"Not everybody"

Jackson looked over at Al once more and knew that Keith was right he wasn't sure if his story would help her or make her shy away from him but she did need to hear it.

"...Jack there's somebody I want you to meet"

The thirteen-year-old looked up from his homework to see his mother grinning with a beefy reddish brown-headed man.

Jackson Adam-Griffin Ford didn't care much for the man even though his own father died three years ago he missed him greatly. Although he knew his mother was happy he didn't want her to forget his father.

"Jack this is Mr. Gregory Montgomery" Elizabeth smiled "you remember me telling you all about him don't you?"

"Nice to be meet you Jack" Gregory said holding out his hand in greeting

"It's Jackson" the boy said firmly he didn't like people he rarely knew calling him Jack

"Jack don't be that way" Elizabeth scolded her son "I apologize Greg he was very close to his father"

"I understand" Gregory said "hey Jackson I'm not here to replace your father I would never do that but I hope that we can be friends"

"I guess"

"I'll get us something to drink" Elizabeth said as she went into the kitchen "I'll let you men get acquainted with each other"

"So what are you up to Jackson?" Gregory asked

"Math"

"What kind of math?"

"Pre algebra"

"Pre what?" Gregory laughed "I'm sorry by the time I was your age I wasn't in school anymore"

Jackson didn't really care what Gregory knew or didn't know he just didn't want him bothering him anymore.

"Your momma is a real looker Jackson" Gregory snickered "it's hard to find a woman her age that's got a banging body---"

"Can you not talk about my mom like that" Jackson said disgusted

Gregory chuckled "Sorry Jack but before she was your momma she was a woman I hate to break that to you kid I mean how old are you?"

"Thirteen"

"So you know about sex then"

"I don't want to think about my mom doing that"

"How do you think you got here?"

"Do you even like my mom?" Jackson asked annoyed with Gregory now "or are you just using her for sex?"

"Jackson Adam-Griffin Ford!" Elizabeth scolded him as she returned to the table.

It was obvious that she heard her son's remark

 "I don't ever want to hear you say those things to Mr. Gregory again!"

Jackson balled his fist up when he saw that ugly menacing smirk crack on Gregory's face. It was at that moment Jackson knew that Gregory Montgomery was a piece of shit. Pissed the young boy got up from the table without a word.

"Jack you come back here!"

Jackson ignored her and as he made his way up to his bedroom he could hear them talking

"Greg I'm so sorry..."

"Hey it's okay it's obvious the kid isn't used to having another man in the house..."

"He hasn't been the same since Adam died...he's his father's son...."

"He'll come around" Jackson heard Gregory say  "I'm the man in the house now"

"...even at thirteen I knew Gregory was a piece of shit" Jackson said, "the man's dead but his name still leaves a bad taste in my mouth"

"So you don't believe that he really loved your mother?"

"Fuck no" Jackson said "I mean I knew my mother was lonely since my own father had been dead for three years but that asshole certainly did not love her"

Al could see how Jackson was fuming inside although his exterior seemed calm and collected.

"What else happened?"

"The shit gets even worse"

"You look just like Adam" Elizabeth smiled at her sixteen-year-old son as she straightened his tie "I mean really Jack you are the spitting image of your father"

"I wonder what he would think of you marrying this guy" Jackson said

"Now Jack please---"

"Just because you're pregnant doesn't mean you have to marry him Mom"

"Jackson I'm marrying Gregory because I love him not because I'm pregnant"

Jackson wasn't buying it yet here he was about to walk Elizabeth who was four months along down the aisle to marry the piece of shit.

When Jackson had learned his mother was expecting he wasn't too surprised since she was thirty-six and had him at age twenty. So it wasn't as if she were too old but that just further tied the knot to Gregory being in their lives.

The door of the sanctuary opened and there stood Gregory standing next to the pastor with a smirk for Elizabeth. Jackson wanted God to strike Gregory down right where he stood but it looked like that wasn't going to be the case.

Jackson had to give his mother away since Elizabeth's father had already passed away much to his dismay. Looking over at his maternal grandmother she seemed to share his same thoughts as well.

"Who gives this bride away?" the pastor asked as he smiled at Jackson "is it you young man?"

"Yes" Jackson said reluctantly "I do"

Elizabeth gave Jackson a kiss on the cheek and a hug and he gave Gregory death glare as he took his mother's hand to be his wife....

"....I'm no Norman Bates" Jackson explained "I'm not obsessed with my mother but I do love her very dearly we were all we had after my father died; so I didn't want some man taking advantage of her being a widow"

"My baby sisters were born premature two months later" he went on to say "they almost died but of course Gregory didn't really care since they weren't born male"

"Surely he couldn't have been that cold"

"Oh he was..."

Jackson walked in the NICU to see Elizabeth with some of the nurses as they helped her pack the twins things and give some instructions on caring for premature babies.

"...looks like both Miss Sophia Rose and Miss Olivia Grace are ready to go home now"

"And right in time for Christmas too" Elizabeth said wiping her tears of joy "Jack what are you doing here? Shouldn't you still be in school?"

"I came to get you and the girls Mom," the seventeen-year-old said simply he had his own car for about a year now

"Honey Gregory was going to come get us" Elizabeth said "you didn't have to leave school it's only one o'clock"

"It's the week before winter break," Jackson pointed out "all we're doing at school is watching movies and playing board games"

"Still it's not your responsibility"

"Somebody had to come I doubt he'll show up"

A little embarrassed Elizabeth introduced Jackson to the nurses "This is my oldest child Jackson"

"Oh yes Mrs. Montgomery" one of the nurses shook Jackson's hand "we've met many times at the nurses station your son's a fine young man stopped by everyday for the girls after school"

As the nurses got called back to the station Jackson helped get the girls into their car seats. He could already tell them apart. Sophia was older by three minutes and her top lip always curled whenever she was fast asleep or being fed.

Olivia although younger was the more vocal one and made her presence known and had inherited Gregory's reddish brown hair that was bright orange on her tiny head.

Elizabeth nervously eyed the clock and muttered, "I did tell Gregory we were being released at twelve-thirty"

"Mom it's supposed to start snowing within the next hour" Jackson said "the girls have a lot of things with them and they should be at home before the weather gets bad"

"He'll come through I'm sure..."

Jackson knew that was a crock of bullshit he could literally count on one hand how many times Gregory had been to the hospital to see Sophia and Olivia since they were born and the number wasn't impressive.

Once the doctor had announced the sex of the babies the nurses had to quickly rush them to the NCIU; yet Gregory kept on insisting that the doctors check the sex twice to make sure. 

After the doctors confirmed to Gregory that neither one of his babies "had a penis" he stormed out the hospital pissed.

Not even twenty-four hours old and their father already failed them so Jackson knew that Gregory was going to be a no show.

"He's not coming Mom" Jackson said,  "that's why I'm here"

"I just figured...well the girls need...."

Elizabeth couldn't finish her sentence and she didn't need to Jackson understood what she was trying to say.

"What the hell is all this shit?" Gregory barked after almost tripping over a cord to the girls' oxygen tank "did you bring the whole hospital home with you?"

Olivia whimpered a little and Sophia opened her eyes to see the man who was her father annoyed.

"They were sleeping" Elizabeth said gently rocking their swings and Jackson was watching this whole ordeal from the dining room table

"Do they need the whole damn living room for it?"

"Gregory the girls are premature you know they'll need this equipment for a few months---"

"Yeah how much is this shit?" he snarled, "the insurance company isn't going to cover all this! half of this is coming out of my pocket!"

"They're your daughters Gregory" Elizabeth said disgusted "does that mean anything to you they could have died since they were born so early"

"Then maybe they should of!" he spat "they aren't going to carry my name anyway and that boy of yours isn't either didn't take my name when we got married ungrateful bastard---"

"Gregory!"

"It's okay Mom" Jackson got up "he wants to call me a bastard he can say it to my face"

"Jackson don't---"

"I mean if he's not too drunk"

"I've had about enough of your shit!" Gregory said storming over to Jackson

"And I've had enough of yours!"

"Gregory please!" Elizabeth said coming between the two of them and she held her son back "just leave for a little bit okay?"

"Leave?!?" he barked, "you're telling me to leave in my house and this boy who's damn near eighteen not paying for shit in this house is staying?!?"

Olivia began to cry now which made Sophia start to cry too

"You're upsetting the girls" Elizabeth said "just let your head cool for a few hours and come back later that's all I'm saying"

Gregory pointed his finger at Jackson before he left "One of these days I'm going to really stick my foot up your ass boy"

With that said Gregory walked out the door slamming it behind him causing the girls to cry more.

"Shh" Elizabeth soothed the babies "you're okay...everything is okay now"

"I killed him about a year ago" Jackson said, "the bastard had it coming for years"

"Have you ever killed somebody before?" Keith asked, "you know the Bible says it's a sin to commit murder"

Al bit her lower lip at that and Jackson caught her reaction to Keith's words and didn't like it. 

This was supposed to be a place of healing not judgment besides Jackson was willing to bet half of the trained professionals were hypocrites themselves.

"I'm not exactly what you call religious but I'm pretty sure God doesn't approve of what I'm about to say next"

"Thanks for taking us to see a first PG-13 movie Jack! It was awesome" Olivia giggled, "wait until we tell Mom!"

"I think we'll just keep this between us" Jackson chuckled "Mom would kill me"

"But we're thirteen now" Olivia said stubbornly "Mom won't even let us have a Tumblr"

"Yeah but you know how moms are" Jackson said ruffling his little sister's wild red hair

Sophia reached for another slice of pizza but then changed her mind and Jackson had taken note of her behavior most of the evening. Sophia was the more reserved twin but she usually wasn't this quiet.

"You okay Sophie?"

"Yeah"

"Is the pizza bad?" Jackson asked, "because Livy's tearing hers up like there's no tomorrow"

"It's fine I was just wondering if...well...um" Sophia stuttered "is it okay if we spend next weekend with you too?"

"I don't know Sophie I have overtime next weekend"

"Please"

Sophia's eyes grew big and Olivia went silent.

"Please Jack," she begged "Dad is coming over next weekend and he's always drunk and..."

"What is it?" Jackson asked alarmed now "did something happen?"

"Don't be mad Jack please" Sophia said, "don't hurt Dad"

Jackson didn't like the sound of this what the hell was Gregory doing to the girls?

"Sophie you know that you and Livy can tell me anything" Jackson said sincerely "I'm your big brother"

"Last weekend Dad came in my room and he....well I guess he thought I was Mom" Sophia struggled to say, "he put his hands under my sheets and touched me---

"HE WHAT?!?"

"Jack you said you wouldn't get mad" Sophia said scared now

"How long has this been going on?"

"It only happened once" she explained "I was scared he would touch Livy too so I made her sleep in my room and I locked the door so he wouldn't bother us"

"He actually tried to open the door too," Olivia added

"You're staying here" Jackson said firmly "does Mom know about this?"

"Dad is still hitting her" Sophia added "that's why she doesn't let him in the house except weekends to see us"

"I'll talk to Mom then" Jackson said "I know he's your father but Gregory hasn't gotten away with too much I told her to leave him when he started hitting her but this is too much"

Sunday evening the girls were still at Jackson's and he would be driving them to school in the morning. So it was no surprise that Elizabeth called once the girls were sleeping.

"Jack is everything okay?"

"Yeah it's fine"

"Are you taking the girls to school in the morning?"

"You know I will Mom" Jackson said

"They can home back home after school---"

"I think they should stay with me for a while"

"Jack I know the girls like to spend time at your place but---"

"Mom Sophia told me that Gregory touched her"

"He...he did what?'

From the way Elizabeth responded Jackson could tell she was genuinely surprised and had no idea.

"Oh God...I...Jackson I had no idea really---"

"Mom" Jackson said gently but firmly "this is it you're going to have to divorce him you and the girls can stay with me for a bit but you have to leave him"

"I know" Elizabeth whispered "I know I'm trying to keep things under control it's just that you know Gregory had a temper..."

"He's still hitting you isn't he?"

".....Jackson I know what you're thinking but please don't"

"I have to Mom he's not laying another finger on you or the girls"

Gregory Montgomery pulled up to the house to see his wife and daughters loading suitcases onto Jackson's truck. And he was pissed. He always hated Jackson what was his deal anyway?

What thirty-year-old man is always checking up on his mother? Gregory didn't give a damn if Elizabeth was his mother the woman was his wife and he was going to do as he said.

Elizabeth's eyes grew wide in fear as she saw Gregory angrily make his way towards them.

"Mom you and the girls go inside" Jackson instructed "now"

Elizabeth wrapped her arms around Sophia and Olivia as she quickly escorted them in the house and further pushed Gregory's buttons.

"GET YOUR ASS BACK OUT HERE LIZ!" he spat "YOU AND THOSE TWO LITTLE BITCHES!"

Jackson stepped between Gregory and the front screen door and said very calmly "You better leave right now Gregory you're not welcome"

Gregory just threw back his head in laughter "Not welcome? Not welcome this is my damn house and you best remember that Ford---"

"Actually you best remember that this is indeed the house my father Adam Ford brought in his name" Jackson replied "which was left in my mother's name after he died so whose house is it really?"

Gregory grew red and furious

"I'M THE MAN OF THIS HOUSE!" he roared "I PAY FOR THIS! AND THAT'S MY WIFE!"

The girls flinched and clutched onto their mother and Elizabeth held on to them

"LIZ I SAID LET'S GO!" he barked "YOU AND THEM GIRLS GET THAT SHIT OUT OF THAT TRUCK! YOU AIN'T GOING ANYWHERE!"

"No Gregory we're leaving"

"THE HELL YOU ARE!" Gregory rolled up his sleeves and tried to push Jackson out of the way and he pulled out his gun and pressed it to his chest

"Jackson don't!" Elizabeth feared for her son's life despite the fact that he was the one holding the gun

Gregory chuckled "You ain't gonna shoot me Ford I know that"

"You sure about that?" Jackson asked his finger puling on the trigger

Gregory took a hold of the gun and clutched it and he said to him in a low haunting tone "You shoot me and I'll wring your fucking neck"

"Daddy don't!" Olivia cried out "please don't!"

"You hear that?" Gregory asked taunting Jackson now "your sister doesn't want me to kill you either and that's what's going to happen if make the stupid move you're thinking of doing now"

"Jack!" Olivia called again "Jack please!"

"Who's going to be there to protect her and her sister from all the evil fucks in the world if big brother is dead?"

"You fucking bastard!" Jackson hissed through his teeth knowing what he did

"So what's it going to be Ford? What are you going to do---"

BANG!

"...like I said the bastard had it coming" Jackson concluded "and don't you ever again tell me what I did was a sin when that fucker did way worse than me"

"And that's my story of why I'm in this hell hole" he added "because I refused to show remorse for a piece of shit like him"

"Okay" Keith said a little speechless now but had a better understanding now of why nobody really went out of their way to piss Jackson off except Wilson

"Would anybody else like to share their story? Aaliyah how about you---"

"Al" she cut him off "my name is Al"

"Right" Keith said thinking to himself that he didn't get paid enough listening to loons talk about their fucked up issues "well it says here your name is Aaliyah---"

"Al!"

"Hey if she wants to be called Al then call her Al" Jackson said speaking up for her. She was going through enough shit already she didn't need one of the counselors chastising her

"Okay Al would you like to tell us why you're here?"

"....I killed my mother," she quietly revealed and that surprised Jackson as well as everybody else in the room. Al was petite and gentle looking young woman with a gentle spirit. Her mother must have really drove her off the deep end for her to do that

"Would you like to tell us why?"

"No"

"Aaliyah you're required to---"

"I SAID NO!"

Al proceeded to mumble to herself and rock in her chair back and forth and the room grew silent. The only sound in the room was her mumbles and whimpers

"I'll get one the nurses to escort you into the hall---"

"No" Jackson said getting up "I'll escort her she's a person she doesn't need to be drugged every time you professionals can't handle her"

Keith didn't even object after hearing Jackson's story he wasn't going to push his buttons anymore. However the same young man who told the story of why he killed his stepfather spoke softly to Al and seemed to calm her down.

Everyone watched as Jackson gently took Al's fidgeting hand and led her out the room. Jackson knew Keith didn't give a shit as he could hear him drone on as if what just happened wasn't important.

"Anyone else want to tell their story?"