Justice For Juniper (Tatienne Richard) novel Chapter 147

Conversations Part I

Juniper was coming out of the shower after rinsing all the sand from her body when she noticed her phone on the nightstand lighting up with a message.

She’d left it in the villa while they’d gone to the beach, needing to disconnect from the inquisitive messages from her mother throughout the day. She felt a smidge of regret at ignoring her mother, but she also knew there was no way on earth she was mentally equipped to deal with everything until she was better rested. She’s slept well into the afternoon and then they spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach relaxing.

She lifted it up and saw the messages from Suki asking her to call her. She immediately wondered if Buttons was alright and called her.

“Hey, is everything okay?”

“What the hell, Juni? You found your father and didn’t call me?”

“What? How did you find out already?”

“Adil told Frank when he messaged to ask about how Buttons was doing.”

“How is he doing?”

“He’s great! We got him a toy mouse he’s been carrying

everywhere but he’s been meowing for you too. I think he misses his mama.”

She smiled at Suki’s words, “I hope so. I was worried he would not remember me at all.”

“Can we talk about the father thing now?”

“Oh. Well, we went for dinner at Beni’s grandparents, and it turns out my grandparents live right next door. My father was in an accident right after he met my mother and was in a coma and lost his memories and then by the time he regained them, Mama was no longer in the area, and he couldn’t find her. He only knew her first name.”

“Oh my god. No way. It’s like a romance novel!”

“Right? Anyway, he put my mother on a plane and she’s here

now.”

“Holy shit, Juni. Are you okay?”

The question from Suki made her smile.

“I think so.”

“Juni. You’ve been through it the last several weeks, How the fuck are you sane right now?”

“Honestly? I’m not but I’m supported so I’m doing the best I

“Girl, it’s crazy. All the shit with Kyst. Then three men

wanting to fuck you on the regular. Now your father out of the woodwork. If I were in your shoes, I’d be curled up in a ball in a corner rocking and back and forth talking gibberish.”

“It’s been a lot, but the guys have been helpful.”

“Did you finally get fucked? I mean fucking should help.”

“Suki!” she laughed at Suki’s question shaking her head. “You’re awful.”

“She didn’t say no!” Suki laughed loudly. “Want to hear something hilarious?”

“Frank got a call to give a statement about what he witnessed when Kyst assaulted that woman. I went with him because Frank does not like me out of his sight,” Suki giggled, “and we ran into Kyst and his father. They were in the parking lot arguing. Kyst apparently got fired from his job and his father was yelling at him for being stupid enough to do the dirty work of a slimeball like his boss without getting it all in writing in a contract. Now he’s fired but they wanted him to sign an NDA if he takes the severance package. His father is telling him to sign it, but Kyst was refusing. Anyway, Kyst saw me with Frank, and he came running up to ask me where you were. I told him you

were on vacation getting railed by three men on a beach getting sand in all your cracks. He freaked out and his father needed to drag him and shove him into a car. Then his father called you a whore and Frank lifted him clear off the ground by the neck and said if he ever heard him speaking like that again about you, he’d give him a firsthand view of the way the biologics he’s working with eat through flesh.”

“Holy shit. Frank?”

“Yeah. He’s so strong,” Suki’s voice took on a dreamy tone which made Juniper giggle. “Anyway, Kyst is out of his mind desperate to find you and talk to you again. He’s been fired. His father is ready to disown him.”

“He wasn’t an abusive toad to me when we were together, Suki. I mean, granted everything was a lie, but he was decent to me. He was my friend for most of my life. It’s just little things like when I met my father and I thought, oh man Kyst and Suki would be freaking out right now. He was literally part of my life every single day for so long.”

“I don’t think he was abusive in the sense that he smacked you around or belittled you but the gaslighting, the manipulation and the way he made it, so you relied on him for everything, I

think, in my opinion, it was abuse. Jesus Juniper. He convinced you that you could only cook three meals with any kind of ability just so he could say he took care of the meals at home. If you can roast a chicken or make a lasagna, you can follow a recipe. He sabotaged your efforts or made fun of the outcomes when realistically there was nothing to justify his opinion. He made it so you felt you couldn’t do it and then let him do it instead. The more you let him do, the less likely you would want to leave him because you’d have to do it all yourself.”

“Huh.” She pondered what Suki was saying and then nodded.

“I think, every time a positive thought comes up of him, you need to dissect it in your head. Was the thought positive or was it something he manipulated you into thinking. The thing with your father for example. Was the first thought to tell him because you wanted to know his opinion or because if you didn’t tell him right away, you knew he’d question it and make you feel like you weren’t valuing his involvement.”

“When did you get so smart?”

“I’ve always been smart!” Suki exclaimed, “it’s just that Kyst made us both believe because I am so loud and obnoxious, my ideas and thoughts were invalid. He’s a fucking idiot.”

She giggled, “I love you Suki.”

“I love you too. Now, go find a dick to climb on and have fun. Also, when you have a chance to send me pictures of your new

grandparents and your father, send them. I want to know who the guy is who managed to get Maeve on a plane.”

Juniper laughed and promised she would. Ending the call her eyes drifted to the door to find Phineas standing there in the entrance watching her.