2010-01-31: FB: Switch is Back

Starring:

Jamie_V4Ricon.gif

Date Set: April 23rd, 2009

Summary:

A normal day ends badly for Jamie. (Vignette.)


Nine Months Ago…

"Switch is Back"

Clancy Apartment

It's an ordinary April afternoon. The sun shines, helping to combat the spring chill in the air, and for Jamie it's been a completely normal day. She went to school in the morning, then after school she spent time talking with Sydney as she has every week since January. Sydney, as usual, bugged her to take her medicines and as usual she said she would while having no intention of doing so, hating how they made her feel.

Everything's completely normal, until Jamie gets home from school. Usually, her father would be there to greet her, with supper already cooking. (Never anything exceptional, mac and cheese or grilled cheese or Chef Boyardee pasta.) Today she walks in and finds the place empty. No sign of life in the apartment at all.

Never one to be put off by a break in routine, (more than a little anyway), Jamie settles in, turns on the TV and goes about getting her own supper.

When her father finally arrives home hours later, she's got her homework done, piled up on the table by the couch, and is watching some sitcom made decades before she was born.

The instant the door opens, though, she's up and running to meet her father with a hug. “Daddy! Where've you been?” Before he can answer, though, someone follows him through the door, a face Jamie remembers clearly. She shows no fear, though, just a confused look, “Switch?”

The man Jamie calls Switch steps inside, closing the door behind him before he says, “Joe needs your services again, Jamie. And this time you're not getting out of it so easily.”

Jamie, of course, shows no fear on her face as she looks up Switch, instead frowning, “I'm not stupid, not gonna help him steal stuff anymore.” Still, she backs up a bit, instinctively positioning her father between Switch and her.

Her father, though, shook his head, “You have to, little star. Just for a little while.” Switch smirked, “He's right. You see, your daddy owes Joe money. A lot of it. So, you'll work for him again, doing whatever he says, and you'll earn the money back. All of it. When you're done, you can go back to your daddy.”

Looking between Switch and her father, Jamie ends up backing up a little more, “But… what if I don't wanna?” Switch answered it without hesitation, “Then your daddy ends up just like your mommy and you work for us anyway. Now, come on.”

Biting her lip, Jamie again looks between the adults, then says, “I gotta get my stuff.” Quickly she runs to her room, grabbing her school bag. She dumps out her school stuff and quickly pushes the phone her father got her inside, then stuffing in some changes of clothes into the bag on top so it won't be visible. Hesitating a moment, she looks around and then grabs a stuffed animal from the bed to put in as well.

Running back out to the living room, she stops to give her father a tight hug, and whispers in his ear too quiet for Switch to hear. Then, walking much slower again, she's walking outside with Switch.

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