The Rusty Jug - Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Jin kept his word about not coming out of his bottle, and Lia practically had to tape her mouth shut to stop herself from ordering him out of it several times a day. She missed him with all of her aching heart, not that she let anyone see that side of her. Just keep smiling no matter what!

Guests that had attended the rocking frat party – all males – reported a string of accidents occurring after they mysteriously disappeared. They chattered on and on about how the experience with Lia was the highlight of their year, and then how strange it was that they all had something horrible happen to them afterwards. No one blamed her, of course, since there was no way she could have caused them, but it caused wild speculation none-the-less.

This mystery surrounding her caused her business to pick up. She was very in demand. Lia didn’t know what else to do, so she threw herself into her schoolwork, actual work – both stripping and prostitution – or practicing her kickboxing every second of the day. She did manage to sleep for a few hours each night, but not nearly enough to make the circles under her eyes disappear.

*******

“Hello, Sheriff?”

“Is this Lia?”

“Yes… I’ve decided… I’m gonna do it.”

“Good for you! Let me give you the number to the detective in charge of the case… and yes, he’s still in jail.”

*******

Lia had a few dozen phone meetings with the detective during the end of her second semester, and a trial was set for the second week of her summer break. She packed up all of her belongings, and said goodbye to Ned, and all of her regulars. This was not unusual since most students left for the summer; in fact, the dorms required it.

After packing, Lia sat down to balance her bank account. By this time, she had enough in a high yield savings account that the interest she earned each month was more than enough to pay her bills. In fact, she could live comfortably off the interest alone, provided that she didn’t go overboard buying things that she didn’t really need.

Deciding on a budget for her trip, she obtained transportation, and prepared to leave. She felt as if she were walking to her own hanging, and treated this like a journey she may never return from. She hugged Jin’s bottle, bit back an order for him to come comfort her, and packed it in her things.

*******

The trial was long and tedious. Most of the case was built around Lia’s testimony, and the defense tried to discredit her by maligning her character. The prosecution encouraged her to simply acknowledge any accusation they threw at her that was true, since all of it ultimately proved their case… That she was a victim of a gang.

Both sides argued back and forth for days. Finally, the prosecution managed to convince other gang members – mostly girls – to come forward in exchange for witness protection, which would actually give them a chance to change their lives for the better. They were strangely hostile to Lia despite the fact that without her actions, none of them would be here.

At the end of the trial, the jury pronounced Rick guilty, and the judge sentenced him to the maximum sentence he could. Warrants were issued for Rick’s top gang members, and Lia was allowed to go home. Only she wasn’t really sure where home was.

The entire experience taught Lia that she really needed to get serious about what she was going to do with her life. This, in turn, prompted her to surf the net researching what she really wanted to learn in college. Despite stripping and private sex parties, Lia had managed to get credit for all of the generals she would need, and it was time to choose a major.

She found a program that would give her a degree in history, specializing in ancient civilizations. She naturally decided to minor in languages. The program was offered in a different college – in a different state – than she had gone to, but she applied to it anyway, certain that her credits would transfer.

*******

Two years passed quickly since Lia had nothing to do but study. She kept to herself, made very few friends, and told any guy interested in her, “I have a boyfriend.” This didn’t always work, but she soon made her point clear – her kickboxing class had really polished her self-defense skills.

After she graduated, she was offered a job through the college teaching language. Her teachers and advisors all recommended her highly since, “She has such a natural affinity for it!” She accepted the job – Ironic how the one real wish I made actually is going to be how I earn my money! – but she privately wondered when her life was going to have any meaning.

She loved her chosen area of expertise – it never failed to inspire her – but she didn’t feel like an enjoyable job was a good enough reason to live. She wasn’t suicidal – she had survived far too much to end her life now – but life had no purpose. What am I supposed to do with my life? Why was I even born?

Lia naturally moved out of the college dorm when she graduated, and was able to get a loan to buy a house. The bank loved the amount that she earned in interest each month, and made it easy for her to buy the house she chose. It was a smallish three bedroom house with a nice, private, fenced in yard.

She had the whole summer to settle in. This gave her plenty of time to wonder why she had bought a three bedroom house when she only needed one of them. She decided to turn one room into a study, and walled over the door to the third room as an attempt to forget about how empty her life was.

One week before her job started, she was feeling lonely and depressed. So, she took a relaxing bath, and then went to bed early. There was no use staying awake with her thoughts, so she took a sleep aid to ensure that she slept.

Jin’s bottle always rested on the pillow on his side of the bed, and Lia had gotten in the habit of talking to it. She knew from experience that while he was inside the bottle he could not see, hear, or feel anything that happened outside or to the rusty old jug, but she talked to it as if she were talking to him. It made her feel like he was still part of her life.

She drifted off, and as she did so, began to wonder if she should move his bottle to her study, or the attic. I know! I can put it in the third room! Maybe if she stopped clinging to his bottle, she could finally move on. Eventually, a clock announced that it was midnight, but she was too deeply asleep to notice or care.

Once in a while, Jin came out of his bottle when his clock told him it was midnight wherever his jug was. The first few times he had done this, Lia hadn’t been in her dorm, and Jin knew she was out making money. Then, one night, she surprised him by actually being in bed sleeping.

That night, he had looked around to find that she was in a hotel room, and he was shocked that she was alone. He figured that she must be with a client, but he had no idea why she would bring his bottle with her. Clearly she has.

He snooped through her things, and was amazed to find that she was trying to testify against Rick. He read through all of the notes she had about the case on her laptop – he had taken his into his bottle with him on his first visit – and was impressed that she was putting herself through such an ordeal. He put everything back the way it was, and left her alone.

The next time he popped out for a visit, she was back in a dorm room, but it was different than the one they had shared. He watched her sleep, and wondered why she was actually in bed and asleep at midnight. It was a mystery to him.

He read her assignments, and realized she had changed schools, and picked a major. Her life was changing before his eyes, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about it. Clearly, she was moving on, and getting over him.

Tonight, he was amazed to find her in a house. He explored her house, impressed with what he saw. She’s done well for herself! She really hadn’t needed him to grant her any wishes.

In her study, she had framed and hung on the wall both the paper declaring Rick’s verdict, and her degree in history and language. He studied both carefully, proud of her. He was certain that she had worked hard to obtain both.

Next to the study, Jin sensed a false wall, and magicked himself into the room on the other side. This room caused his jaw to drop. He looked around at every detail.

The room was completely empty, but the walls were painted with a garden of flowers underneath a beautiful sunny sky. Jin’s name was painted in gold on some of the flower petals, and lyrics to a song about him were painted on the clouds. It’s almost a shrine!

The words “I love you,” and “I miss you,” were painted in tiny letters along the bottom of the walls, until Jin found a hastily painted, “I can’t do this anymore; it hurts too much!” Lastly, the words “I’m so sorry!” were written in bold letters, and then apparently she had slashed through them with a paint brush.

Jin was torn. She obviously missed him – which was probably why she slept with his bottle on the pillow next to her. However, she had made so much progress in her life since he had left. He felt that if he came back to her now, he’d undo all the healing she had gone through.

He left the sealed room, and climbed into bed with Lia. He always spent the rest of his visits watching her sleep. She often whimpered, and mumbled his name. Tonight, he had an urge to calm her whimpers with a kiss.

“Jin,” Lia murmured in her sleep, and kissed him back.

He held her tightly, kissed her, and made love to her for the first time since he had left. Afterwards, he fell into a contented sleep. He held her close, and was glad that his dreams prevented him from thinking about the morning… when he would leave her again before she woke up.

Lia, still sleeping, snuggled up to him, and had a dream about talking to him. In her dream, and out loud, she told him, “Jin, I really wish that I could have your baby and that we could be together for the rest of my life.”

As dawn lit up the sky, Jin woke, and decided that it was time to return to his eternal prison. He kissed her gently, and watched her sleep for one more moment. Now, before she wakes!

Lia woke up a little while later, clutching the sheet on Jin’s side of the bed. She had to convince herself that there wasn’t an indent where he would have slept.  I swear that I can even smell him!

*******

By her second month of teaching, Lia really felt she had a grasp on her job. She enjoyed getting to know her students, and she didn’t feel so depressed anymore. She still hadn’t decided to move Jin’s jug off the pillow on his side of the bed though. One step at a time.

Feeling generally good about her life, and confident in her job, she was baffled that she kept experiencing nausea. She had butterflies in her stomach and the shakes her entire first week of teaching, but she attributed that to nerves. She thought she was over her nervousness, but decided that she couldn’t be since she still had symptoms.

Thankfully, her nausea disappeared after her third month of teaching. Good, I am relaxed now. I can do this! Then it was replaced by a whole slew of other symptoms, and Lia finally decided to visit a doctor. I’m sure they just need to prescribe me an anti-anxiety drug.

She made an appointment with a general practitioner, and arrived extra early to fill out paperwork. The nurse showed her to a room, and led her through the initial intake. Since she had not been to a doctor in years, they were giving her a full exam.

She had to give a urine sample, and have blood drawn. This was done before she even saw the doctor because the doctor was running late, and they didn’t want Lia to have to wait an excessively long time when she had things that could be done. Finally, she was in the exam room wearing a hospital gown, chatting with the doctor to review the results.

“Hi, I’m Dr. Teresa Germain. What brought you to me today?”

“Well, I was nauseous for a few months,” Lia described her new job, and her symptoms of nervousness. “Now even my breasts are starting to ache, and I just want you to give me something to make it all stop.”

“I see…” The doctor reviewed the results of the tests, and smirked slightly. “Any chance you’re pregnant?”

“No, that’s impossible,” Lia answered decisively.

“Well, I need to give you a physical, so hop up on the table.” The doctor gave Lia a large paper sheet to cover herself with, and Lia wondered why she needed to cover herself when the doctor was going to have her face up close and inspecting Lia’s naked parts anyway.

The doctor examined Lia from head to toe, including a gentle breast exam to check for lumps, and a pelvic exam and pap smear. This was all routine to rule out any possible disorders. Lia had known this was all going to happen, but she had no idea how uncomfortable it would be. Can she press on my breasts any harder, damn! I’ve had rough lovers who hurt them less!

“You can sit up now,” the doctor informed her. She consulted the lab results again. “I have all your test results, but even if I didn’t I could tell you exactly what’s going on.”

The doctor paused for dramatic effect, and then announced, “You’re pregnant!”

“What?!” Lia demanded in shock. “That’s impossible! I can’t have a baby; I don’t have all the necessary equipment!”

“I’m sorry if this upsets you,” Dr. Teresa sympathized.

Lia didn’t realize that she had tears streaming down her face. “I’m not upset, well… I wouldn’t be if it were true, but it can’t be. They broke me! I don’t have a womb!”

“I don’t know what to say. I can assure you that you do. I felt it.”

“But I don’t!” Lia began to sob. “I don’t I don’t!

The doctor patted her shoulder. “Get dressed and wait here a moment.” She left the room – Lia got dressed – and returned a minute later. She guided Lia to a different room.

“Miss Beaumont, please lie on the table, and push your pants down a bit,” Dr. Teresa ordered, and Lia complied.

The doctor applied a gel to Lia’s abdomen, and then rubbed a sensor all over her stomach.

“What’s that?” Lia asked curiously. Her tears finally drying.

“This is an ultrasound diagnostic tool. If you look at the monitor, you will see what is inside you.” She pointed out a few landmarks to Lia, and then said, “Do you see this white line here? That’s the baby’s spine… and this blinking dot that’s making the machine make funny noises? That’s the baby’s heartbeat.”

The doctor noticed Lia’s look of shock, and took a moment to measure the baby, and print up some pictures of easily recognizable body parts. Such as a tiny tad pole looking arm. She handed them to Lia.

“According to these calculations, you are about three months along…”

Lia had finally gotten over her shock, and was too busy laughing and crying to hear the rest. It’s true!!! It’s fucking true!

Go To Chapter 14