“Imagine our surprise when this man, whom we’d heard so much about, and knew very well to steer clear of was on our doorstep. Of course we couldn’t say no. There wasn’t even a choice given. Anyway, we put on our coats and got Jenna ready and off we went. He asked us all these questions that we didn’t have the answers to, and then they put her in front of a computer. It was something to see. These grown men were in awe of my girl. Anything they asked her to do, she did it, and in less time than it takes to sneeze.”
“Bonata said he wanted to hire her for his business, she could work from home sometimes, but other times she’d have to come to him. I was still a bit weary about the hacking thing, and knowing his reputation, I was afraid that he would use her for these purposes, but he assured me that he wouldn’t. When I told him that it might be a problem getting her to come to him, since she never really went anywhere without me or her dad, he suggested that Alec could bring her.”
“Now I know what you think of my boy, but I’ll never believe that he knowingly led his sister into trouble.”
“I think it might be best for all concerned if you don’t mention your fuck of a son to me again. Carry on.”
“Um, okay, so they started out going there for a few hours everyday. I didn’t see anything wrong, or any real changes in her behavior, and Alec assured me that she was safe and that she loved what she was doing. In my mind it was like she’d gone out and found a job. Then the days started getting longer; sometimes she’d be gone ten, twelve hours. I started to worry, and Paulie tried to figure out what was going on, but you know, unless you ask her something directly, she sometimes have a hard time explaining herself.”
“Where did the gambling come in?”
“Oh that, that was an accident I think. Paulie was watching one of those stupid marathon poker games on TV, Jenna was sitting there with her dad just watching. I think he jokingly asked her if she liked it or something, for me it’s like watching paint dry.
But he was happy enough to have someone to watch with him. He got out some cards and started teaching her the game. I can’t remember how long it took her, but wasn’t long before Paulie was yelling for me to come see this. I watched her for a good ten minutes, because I thought it was a fluke you know. Then I joined in because Paulie’s never been the best at cards.”
“Anyway, this went on for a while, she loved it. We’d play with her for hours sometimes when she wasn’t over at Bonata’s place, trying to figure out how she did it. In over a hundred games that first weekend, she lost only one. Paulie found a card under the table later that he’d dropped when he was shuffling. To this day I think that’s the only reason she lost that one.”
“We stupidly told Alec about it, we were so proud of her; you gotta understand, until all this, our girl just sat and watched TV or did something quiet around the house. There was never any indication that she was capable of anything more, or that her life would ever be anything but those four walls. As a mother and father, it was very heart warming for us. I know it pissed you off about the chocolate, but it’s the one thing she loves, that means something to her. I would’ve given her truck loads of the stuff if I had to to make her happy.”
He could understand that now, looking at it from that perspective, though it still burned a hole in his gut. He didn’t say anything either way, as his mind sifted through all that she was saying. If she were to be believed, he’d jumped to the wrong conclusion and that’s something he hated. The wrong people could die if that happened. Like he’d almost taken her life when, according to her, all she’d been trying to do was help her kid. She went about it in a fucked up way yes, but if what she said is true, then she hadn’t set out to exploit her own kid.
“I’m guessing Alec told Bonata about the gambling?”
“Yes he did; I was so angry at him back then. He would do anything to be a part of them, of that world. Until then I think they barely paid him any attention at all. But after the computer thing, he started acting like a different person. Then suddenly he was Jenna’s best buddy; I should’ve known there was something fishy going on there. He never really had much to do with her before this all started. Paulie and I let him have his way in a lot of things, because we felt guilty. We’d given Jenna our all, and poor Alec had been left out in the cold.”
“You shoulda poisoned the fuck at birth.”
She looked at him askance; he really was a hard one; why her Jenna thought he was an angel was left to be seen. All she’d seen so far was a cold, unbending young man who didn’t seem to have much use for people, except maybe her Jenna. She picked up the story where she left off.