Josephine Gems

Chapter 1

A/n: Well let’s try this, another draft, which weirdly enough I like...weird...

Xx

A man with black hair and green eyes stood holding a knife covered in blood. A blonde woman lay at his feet in a pool of blood. Her blue eyes gazed up at the man, glassy. A little girl cowered in the corner, watching. Her hair was black and her eyes green. She made no noise, no sound, knowing it to be useless. The man smirked at her and then looked back to the woman, whose eyes had shut and whose breathing had stopped. She was dead. The man laughed and thrust the knife into his own stomach. The little girl closed her eyes, hid behind a curtain of her own hair and did not move.

Xx

The same little girl held a tall woman’s hand. The woman was wearing a grey suit and her equally grey hair was tied up in a tight bun. The little girl clung to her anyway.

“Right Josephine,” she said in her stiff and strict voice, “This is your Uncle Dave. You’re going to live with him now. Is that okay?” The woman indicated a tall man with messy black hair and whose face 

was creased with many wrinkles, but two grey eyes could just be seen. He smiled at the little girl, Josephine. The woman left and Uncle Dave took Josephine into his arms.

“What do you do for fun little Joey?” he whispered to her, his wrinkly face exceedingly close to hers.

Joey said nothing.

“I’ll show you what I do, shall I?” Uncle Dave grinned. Josephine squirmed as he peeled her clothes off.

Xx

Josephine held Uncle Dave’s hands at the entrance to the school; she had aged a little, two years maybe.

“Bye Uncle Dave.” She mumbled as he made her kiss him.

“Bye little Joey, take care now.” He pushed her through the school gates and into the playground.

Joey caught her balance and turned around just as he got into his car and drove away. She sighed with relief and walked into the big white school building.

“Hello?” a big woman with a cheery voice stopped her, “Who are you sweetie?”

“Josephine Gems.” Joey looked at her own shoes and noted how dirty and scruffy they were.

“Well hello Josephine. Is today your first day?” the cheery woman bent down and tilted Joey’s head up.

“Yes. My uncle had to go to work.” Joey could not let herself look into the woman’s eyes, because she knew that her uncle had no intention of going to work, he and his girlfriend never went to work, at least not during the day.

“Well, I’m Miss Harris. Let’s get you to reception and they’ll be able to tell you what class you’re in.” Miss Harris attempted to take Joey’s hand, but Joey pulled back. Miss Harris pretended that she did not notice this and walked in front of Joey, glancing back every few steps to make sure that Joey was following.

They arrived in the reception area and Joey hid behind her hair as she was surrounded by people. There were loads of children her age, but they were all clinging to their mum’s and dad’s. Joey followed Miss Harris right into the middle of the mass. Miss Harris went up to the desk and smiled at the receptionist.

“Mrs Dawson,” she said in a high booming voice which rang over everyone else’s, “I have a Josephine Gems here, could you tell me what class I should take her to?”

“Your class Miss Harris.” Mrs Dawson the receptionist said clearly when she had found Joey’s name on the list in front of her.

“Good, good.” Miss Harris clapped her hands together and turned to Joey. “You’re to come with me, is that okay sweetie?”

Joey nodded and followed Miss Harris once more.

Xx

“Hi,” a red-headed girl of the same age sat next to Joey, she was wearing a blinding lime green dress, “I’m Jessie. What’s your name?”

“Josephine.” Joey said simply, her hair fell in front of her face again.

“You don’t look like a Josephine.” Jessie stated, “I don’t look like a Jessica, that’s why they call me Jessie. You look like a Jo or a Joey, yes a Joey. I’ll call you Joey, is that okay?”

Joey nodded.

“You’re very quiet.” Jessie stated.

Joey nodded again.

“I’m not, well, my mum says I’m not anyway. Says little girls should be quiet and polite and if my grandmamma could see me now she would have a heart attack.”

Xx

“Joey?” They had aged two years now, and Jessie had stayed Joey’s friend the whole time, but its easy when you’re little, to keep friends. “What’s up, you’re very distant today?”

Joey and Jessie were leaning against the railings in the school playground. Joey in white skinny jeans and a black long sleeved top, her sleek black hair trailed down her back, and her blue eyes misted over, and Jessie beside her in a lime green pixie skirt and matching top, her red hair was wild, curling round the top of her head and her green eyes flashing in a very exciting manner. She hadn’t changed since Joey had met her, but Joey had changed.

“The sky is up.” Joey sighed, this was her usual reply, but she said it today with less enthusiasm.

“Come on Jo, tell me what’s wrong!” Jessie demanded, pressing her face against Joey’s. “Tell me. Tell Me. Tell Me! Tell ME! TELL ME!”

Joey pushed her back. “It’s nothing.”

“TELLLLLLLLLL MEEEEEEEEEEEE!” Jessie was starting to attract the attention of some of the other pupils and so Joey grabbed the end of her skirt and started pulling her to the girls’ bathrooms. They smelt bad, but at least you could be away from the boys, and unwanted attention from teachers. “Are you going to tell me?”

“I’m just...confused Jess.” Joey swung her hair over her face.

Jessie pushed it away, not taking any of this nonsense. “Confused about what?”

“My uncle.” Joey’s eyes were wet, and Jessie feared she would start crying. She hugged her tight and patted her back. “He –” Joey gulped and looked away from Jessie, “He does things – things I don’t think I’m meant to see, and he – he does them to me Jess. Not just to his girlfriend.”

“What sort of things?” Jessie kept her friend in a tight embrace.

“He makes me take off my clothes, and when I tell him ‘no’ he takes them off for me. And then he does stuff, stuff I’ve never seen before, I don’t like it.”

“Who would?” Jessie shook her head.

“That’s the point Jess. HE likes it. He and his girlfriend like it.” Joey let a tear roll down her cheek, but she wiped her eyes on the back of her sleeve and plastered on a fake smile. “You won’t tell anyone, will you?”

“No.” Jessie shook her head, though she knew she would tell her mum as soon as she got in. As soon as.