2019-05-20 - Wiping The Slate

It was a quiet night on the Boardwalk, sometime just prior to when most of the shops close up and people start heading home. There was barely anybody out there; soon enough, the homeless people that migrate under the boardwalk when the tourists come out will resurface, and start digging through dumpsters. But right now? Right now it was quiet.

Violet's walk up to the Fried Fish shack was one of extreme hesitance. In fact, she's been pacing for the past twenty minutes - walking up to the Fried Fish shack and then straight to the next shop over, because she has lost her cool. But she knew this place was closing soon, and it was now or never. As much as she'd like it to be never.. well. "Excuse me," her voice, small and mouselike, can be heard at the counter. She's dressed in an outfit that can be classified as 'granny chic' - a long floral skirt, nylon stockings, a turquoise collared blouse, and a fuzzy wool cardigan over it all. Plus those big framed glasses of hers. Her frizzy hair is pulled back into a ponytail, her version of 'neat'. "Is.. Julia here?"

The acne-prone kid at the register looks bored as hell, pushing off the counter to lean way back and yell. "Hey Julia! Someone's asking for you!"

Well, shit. They don't often get customer complaints, but when they do, Julia's determined to handle them as best she can. It takes a moment for her to emerge. "Hi, how can I help..." she trails off. "Oh." she says, eyeing Violet uncertainly. "Doug, I'll be 'round the back for a bit. You got this?" To Violet. "Just go around." And with that, Julia heads toward the stand's back door area. She'll be leaning against the shack, arms crossed while she waits for Violet when the blonde makes her way to the back.

Violet folds her arms across her chest to make it look like she's awkwardly hugging herself while she waits for Julia to emerge. And when that uncertain eyeing happens, she visibly flinches. There are no words, at least for the moment, and she instead shuffles along to the back of the shack as Julia instructs. There's obviously a whole lot of awkward radiating off of Violet in the moment, and she looks about herself before she settles on Julia. "I.." she starts, her mouth moving but no sound issuing forth, and she frowns to herself. ".. Alice has always been better at people, than me. I'm Violet," she offers up, like this is something of a friendly introduction. "I.. we didn't get around.. to introducing ourselves."

"Yeah," Julia says, still giiving her stink-eye, though it's lessened by a few degrees. "I know who you are. I'm Julia. I was um," she looks around, suddenly awkward. "I was in there. With Alice. She basically saved my life. Why did you pretend like she doesn't exist?"

"I'm sorry," replies Violet, though it's attached to the 'being locked up' part of the conversation. It clearly affects her, the fact that Julia was in there, and it reads on the crumple of her brow. But the last part, that direct question, makes her look like she's been smacked across the face. She recoils, and her frown deepens. "I think you don't understand me and that's okay but I.. I should be given the opportunity to explain myself," she says in a rush. "People stare at me all the time. They look at me just like you do, and they don't ever have anything nice to say. The people here.. they.." She bites at her bottom lip. "Whenever they bring up Alice, it's not to be nice. It's to see if I'll crack, too. I.. I just wanted a night." Her bottom lip trembles. "A night where I could be normal."

"I don't have anything to say about Alice that isn't nice." Julia says frankly. "Look. It was me and her and one other girl, if we didn't have each other, it would have been..." she trails off, "Madre de Dios, I want a cigarette," she mutters, before continuing, "It would have been really bad. It was really bad, but we had each other and that kept it from being worse." Her hands grip her arms, the tightening of it less a fuck you posture and now more for self-comfort. "So when you acted like she doesn't exist, it was like a slap in the face, not just to me, but for Alice."

"I didn't know that. How was I supposed to know that?" There are tears that spring to Violet's eyes as Julia talks, but her words aren't necessarily defensive. They are just honest. "Alice doesn't.. she.. I didn't know. I don't know about you. Or about any other girls." She blinks once, twice, and takes a step backward, hugging her arms more protectively around her. "Alice is my best friend. My.. sister, she's like the other half of me. But I go into town, and people talk. They stare. They say things, and not just whispers. So when I saw you staring at me, I.." her shoulders fall. "I just wanted a normal night with Alex. I just want to go out sometimes, and not be me."

"She's all those things to me, too." Julia says softly. She runs a hand through her hair. "Okay, look. This is stupid. You jumped the gun about my intention, and I should have approached you better to begin with. We can call it square and move on. We both care a lot about Alice." It doesn't seem to surprise her that the other girls in the asylum weren't mentioned. "You know she's not crazy, right? I mean, it's hard not to be crazy when you're in there, because that place..." she shudders. "She told me to sign myself out. I didn't want to leave her. That was, god, six years ago."

Violet bites down on her bottom lip, nodding her head when Julia suggests that they call it square. But the part about Alice not being crazy? That earns her a wide-eyed look. "Oh, what? Of course I know. I.." she shifts awkwardly, one foot to the next. "Do.. you.. did she tell you? About Them?"

Julia shrugs. "I wasn't - I'm not crazy either." At that, there's a moment's hesitation, and she nods. "She taught me how to hide it. Too bad your boyfriend never learned that trick when he was trying to hurt me." The corner of her mouth twitches in irritation. "You got lucky they weren't waiting for you after what he did to the stool."

"They've taken a lot of bites out of us," Violet says in reply, 'us' clearly meaning Alex and herself in this situation. "He.. he told me what he said to you, Julia," and she looks quite sorry for it. "He was trying to protect me. Everywhere we go, people say things. They don't even seem to have the decency to wait until I'm not in the room to make it clear they think I'm crazy, that I'm not someone that someone else should be proud to be seen with." She scuffs a shoe on the boardwalk. "Being.. being seen with me.. It's not easy. But he does it. Willingly. No one ever sticks up for me, like he does."

Julia snorts. "Yeah, he's a real gentleman." she says, looking disgusted. "I bet you don't speak Spanish. What did he say he said to me? That if he was my family, he'd want to lock me away in that hellhole and forget about me too? Did he tell you that? Real compassionate, that man of yours."

Violet casts a look down to her feet, looking suitably ashamed. "He did tell me," she says in a quiet voice. "But he is. Compassionate. Caring. Loving. He.." She takes in a breath, steadily exhales it. "It wasn't right, what he said. He shouldn't have said those things. But he didn't know you. And I was hurting, and I was scared. And I think that night was a mess."

"Listen, I'll say this once: men like that who want to say the cruelest thing possible, to someone they don't know? They got a dark streak. And you better hope it isn't a matter of time when you say or do something that upsets him, that makes him feel like you might not need him anymore, and he turns it on you." Julia's arms relax at her sides. "You shouldn't leave it to him to protect you. You gotta learn to protect yourself. You gotta be strong for yourself, and fuck what anyone else thinks, querida."

Violet works at her bottom lip with her teeth, her brows furrowing. "I.." she starts, stops, and her frown deepens. "Julia, I don't think that you know anything about Alex. And I don't really think you know anything about me. I've spent the better part of the last ten years alone, since Alice was.. since Alice was put away," she looks up to Julia. "I have gone through all of this, by myself. I've lasted in this town. I've survived Them. I haven't needed anyone. And I haven't trusted anyone." She rolls her shoulders in a shrug. "But you don't know Alex like I know him. But I didn't come here, to make excuses for him, either."

"Well, whenever he's ready to apologize, I'm ready to hear him out. But you act like a mouse, people are gonna think you are one." Julia says, arms going back into their folded position as she resumes her lean on the door. "Was there something else you want to talk about?"

"Oh. Well." Violet leaves it at that, not continuing with whether or not Alex would come around to apologize. Magic 8 ball says: not in your dreams, probably. As for what else she has to talk about? She just shakes her head. "You said it's been... six years?" That seems to make her frown deepen. "I wish I could see her."

Julia makes a face, fingers twitching. "Yeah, that's how they get away with everything. They'll say she's unfit for visitors." She makes a sound of frustration. "I'm guessing you've tried all the usual stuff? Gaining power of attorney, all that crap?"

Violet hugs herself a little tighter, rubbing her hands against her arms. This is probably not a conversation that makes her feel very comfortable. "I.. my father.. our parents. They're still alive," she glances over her shoulder, and then back to Julia. "Be careful here, Julia. In this town. Okay?"

"I get it. Maybe there still can be a way to figure something out." She grins wryly. "I was born here, Vi. But yeah, I'll be careful. You do the same." She tugs a cellphone out of her pocket, and if Violet doesn't object, there can be a quick number exchange.

"I... Maybe." Violet doesn't say anything else about Alice though. She just stresses the being safe thing, and exchanges numbers dutifully. "It was nice to .. talk to you, Julia." And she means that!

"Yeah," Julia says easily. "You too." With that, she heads back into the shack. Time to fry some fish!