Chapter 8: Derrick the Pimp Comes for a Visit

Jenny and I were in the kitchen when a Corvette pulled up in front of the house. Jenny looked out and said, “Oh my god, it’s Derrick!”

I went to the door and opened it to confront him. Derrick walked up to me and asked, “Are you John Paterson?”

I was not about to lie. The name Paterson was on the mailbox, “Yes, I am. What do you want?”

Derrick stuck his finger in my face and said, “I am here for that bitch Jenny, and don’t give me any of your lip fuck-head.”

I was not about to back down and told him Jenny was not going anywhere with him. That’s when he sucker punched me and pushed his way into the house.

Derrick spotted Jenny and yelled at her to pack her bags and get in the car.

Jenny screamed at him to get out, or she would call the cops as she came over to help me up.

Derrick snarled at her, “Shut up bitch before I put you in the hospital again,” and went to grab her arm.

That’s when dad walked in. “Hold it right there, big boy. This is only a .22, but two shots in the chest will put you on your knees quick enough. Now back off!”

Derrick froze.

Dad looked at me and asked, “Is this the guy that beat on Jenny?”

Still rubbing my jaw where Derrick punched me, I answered, “Yes, it is.”

Dad lowered the pistol and pulled the trigger, “Oops, sorry about that, guess I forgot to put the safety on.”

Derrick howled and whined, “You shot me, you hick town asshole. I am going to sue your ass.”

“You will need a police report to do that, and what are you going to say, ‘I was trespassing, assaulted his son, and threatened his houseguest?’ By the way, the hick town police chief is my cousin.”

Dad threw him a dish towel and told him to, “Wrap this towel around your foot and get the hell out of here before I decide your balls will make a better target. Take a right at the end of the street. There is a clinic a couple of miles down on your right.”

Grabbing the towel, Derrick clenched his teeth, “Okay, I’m leaving. You can keep the bitch. There are plenty more where she came from.” Derrick hobbled out of the kitchen door, leaving a bloody sneaker print every other step he took.

The next day I had a call from the hospital. It was Delores, the nurse from the emergency room at Memorial Hospital. She sounded in a bit of a panic as she started to tell me how Derrick had tricked a Candy Striper into getting Jenny’s file under the pretense that he was a worried relative and wanted to know her condition. Then he grabbed the file and saw where Jenny had listed my name and phone number as her emergency contact.

I thanked Delores for the call and told her not to worry. He was here but would not be back.

Delores apologized for not warning me in time, but she just found out a few minutes ago, and she said, “I hope you had him arrested.”

I told her, “No, we didn’t have him arrested. My dad just shot him.” There was dead silence on the other end of the phone.

Deloris finally recovered and said, “That’s good, but I will pretend I did not hear that.”

I filled her in on the complete story and told her my dad only shot him in the foot, and he would recover.

She started to giggle and said, “Remind me not to piss off your dad.”

We said our goodbyes and hung up.

The rest of the summer passed rather peacefully after the incident with Derrick. Jenny became a full member of our little clique. We never went anywhere at night without insisting she come along. Carl and Ted went through a couple of girlfriends that summer, so those girls were not considered part of the gang. Half the time, it was just the four of us out for a night on the town. Jenny would openly flirt with them, much to their delight and drag them onto the dance floor, but she never went further than that with my best friends.

What Jenny did prior to coming to live with me and how we got together gradually came out. Jenny was not ashamed of what she did and did not deny that she would probably start turning tricks again at the end of the summer. Carl and Ted said they still wanted to adopt her, and I told them they had better hurry up and did it because then I would not have to worry. After all, who would want to screw their sister? How wrong I was. Carl and Ted both raised their hands.

Jenny laughed and said, “Not until I go back to work.”