Know-It-All V

7 years ago:

Janie had caught a cold at the beginning of February. Well, she thought it was a cold at least, but two weeks went by with it getting worse before her mother finally took her to the doctors.
“Mono?! You?!” Leon demanded as he made himself at home in Janie’s room.
“Yup,” was her reply, she was too cross to come up with anything wittier.
A sly grin was growing on her uncle’s lips.
“Barely a month you started dating and you’ve already got the kissing disease.”
“Shut up.”
A well aimed throw delivered a pillow into Leon’s face.
Janie herself was tucked in bed under a mass of blankets. Her laptop was plugged in and downloading another movie, and a half-eaten bowl of ramen sat on her dresser. It was the typical sick kid’s room.
Once her parents found out she had contracted mono, they had immediately informed the school that she would be out for a while. After that, they set about trying to make her as comfortable as possible, by moving the basements TV into her room and delivering extra blankets. Barely 15 minutes would pass between one of them checking in on her to make sure she was okay. Being coddled wasn’t something she liked; Janie was about ready to explode unless she got someone else to talk to. So her parents complied and invited her dearly beloved Uncle to visit for a few hours.
“It explains why Kelsey was sick a few weeks ago. He must’ve caught it somehow and then passed it to you.”  Leon speculated aloud as he started flipping channels on the television.
“I suppose so.” Janie sighed as she settled down deeper into her blanket nest.
She must’ve really been out of it, because her Uncle gave her the most surprised of glances.
“What?” She asked, starting to get irritated.
“You actually fell for it... When I grasp for information you never ever give it! So that means you and Kelsey...” Leon explained, another triumphant smile on his lips.
“Go away.” Janie grumbled as she pulled the blankets up over her flushed face.
“Janie and Kel-sey sittin’ in a tree”
“Leon...”
“K-I-S-S-“
“I swear, Leon, don’t you-“
“-I-N-G”
“That’s enough! Please stop!” Janie shrieked.
Leon shrugged his shoulders, still grinning all the while.
“Whatever you say, my darling Niece.”
“I really hate you.” She retorted.
“So have you been doing the assigned homework? It might actually be challenging for you now that you’re not at 100%” Changing the subject, Leon started a new conversation much to Janie’s relief.
“Yeah, I’ve already finished it. Being sick hasn’t really changed the level of difficulty unfortunately.” The girl sighed as she pulled the blankets back down and sat up.
A sudden knock on the door interrupted further conversation.
Janie’s mom poked her head in. “Knock knock!” She called as she pushed open the door, revealing the tray in her hands with two bowls of ice cream.
“Hey Laura, is that for us?” Leon greeted with his best winning smile.
“Of course it is, there aren’t any other sick people in need of icecream here!” Laura laughed as she handed him a bowl.
“I disagree ma’am; we’re all sick at heart, see. The need for ice cream is constant for everyone.” Leon replied dashingly as he took up the spoon and took a rather large bite.
Janie’s mom laughed as she handed Janie her bowl.
“You’re a philosopher, Leon.” Janie said sarcastically as she dug into her own bowl.
“So how’s school going?” Laura asked.
Gently, she sat on the corner of Janie’s bed as not to disturb the laptop’s loud whirring.
“Its good, its been kind of lonely though. Kelsey’s still shaking off the last of his Mono and Janie’s still getting over hers, so I have no one to play with.” Leon sighed dramatically.
“Nonsense, you have a bunch of people you’re friends with.” Janie pointed out.
“Kelsey’s sick with Mono? That must be where you got yours, Jan. Did you guys share a drink perhaps?” Laura said thoughtfully as she smoothed out the wrinkles in the comforter.
“Oh they’re a little closer then that I might say.” Leon snickered.
Janie shot him a warning glance, which he thankfully received.
Maybe Janie’s mom didn’t pick up on the hint, or she merely chose not to pry, because after that she stood back up and left the room with a cheerful goodbye and promise to bring more snacks later.
“That was close...” The boy breathed in relief once she left.
But Janie was frowning.
“Hey, relax. I really doubt Gerald will hear about it. Even if she knows, your Mom probably wouldn’t mention anything to him, right?”
Janie heard Leon’s hopeful suggestion, but she wasn’t convinced.

Out in the Kitchen, Laura hummed as she chopped up the beef tips. The stew was in the first steps of preparation, but it was a family favourite. She knew that Leon and Janie, and even Gerald would appreciate her efforts.
“Something smells good!” Almost as if he knew she was thinking about him, Gerald appeared in the doorway leading to his office.
Smiling as she looked back at him, Laura gestured to the stove.
“Its got quite a while before its done. But I thought we could all deserve a reward. Leon also loves stew, so I thought it’d be fitting.” She said cheerfully as she added them to the mix.
“My little brother’s here? I didn’t hear him come in. Maybe I should check on them...”
Gerald began wistfully.
“No need, I just left her room. Leon’s fine, he said Schools good too.”
His wife explained.
“If he’s here, then is that other one Janie is always with here too? The Circus boy, what was his name..?” He wondered.
“Kelsey. And he’s also sick. Turns out he’s got Mono too. I’m willing to bet he’s the source of Janie’s.” Laura chuckled.
“Ah she’s really got to watch herself around her friends. She lets her guard down too easily with them. Normally I’d expect her to be more careful!”
Gerald shook his head and was about to turn back into his office when something his Wife said stopped him.
“There’s nothing you can really be careful about with kissing, Ger, you of all people should know that.” Laura added mischievously.
Turning ever so slightly to his door, the question he asked was almost too quiet to hear.
“Kissing? Janie’s dating him..? Hm...” He mused to himself.
Laura’s sharp ears picked up on it, and she turned to lock eyes with him.
“Gerald, she’s 15, lots of girls her age start dating around this time.”
She said sternly.
“No need to worry Laura, I trust Janie.” Gerald said with a smile on his face.
But as he turned to enter his office, the smile dropped.
A calculated expression replaced the warm one that was there moments ago.
“I trust her.” He reiterated as he closed the door.

The Present:

Leon’s wrists were duct-taped together, as were his ankles. Kurt was on the phone with a tow truck, and Jason and Janie were watching the unconscious man.
“Are you absolutely sure its him?” Jason asked quietly.
“Positive.” Janie answered in the same low tone.
Deftly she smoothed out her skirt while she waited for Kurt to come back.
Something unexpected came as she turned back.
“You look pretty.”
She barely heard Jason’s compliment. Much to her shock, she felt heat in her cheeks.
“Thank you.”
“Alright, he’ll be coming around soon. I also called a taxi, you live right around the corner, right? We’ll go there.” Kurt summarized blandly. It seemed that the vandalism of his car had affected him deeply.
“Yeah, we can use the back entrance to get him in too.” Janie agreed as she gestured at her unconscious Uncle.
“What I want to know is how he knew you’d be here and in that car.” Jason pondered.
“Simple, I set a trap.” The usual haughty tone had returned to her voice as she smirked.
“If he really if, to put bluntly, stalking me. Then it would make sense that he’s following me on Social media, no? So I tweeted I was going on a date.” To emphasize, she pulled open the twitter app on her phone. Kurt peered at it from over her shoulder.
“That’s pretty clever. If only my poor car didn’t pay the price for it...” He sighed.
Janie slid her phone back in her purse. “I’ll pay for the damage.” She volunteered.
“No, that’s okay. I’d rather have Leon pay for it once he’s back in his right mind.”
Kurt said confidently.
Jason snorted. “He’s a broke college kid, theres no way he could afford four brand new tires.”
“Yet you think she could?” Kurt countered.
“Didn’t you see the apartment building she lived in? That place is for people with big bucks.”
“You both are morons, and the taxi is here.” Janie stated abruptly as the black car pulled up on the street at the end of the alley.
“Better get this guy then...” Kurt mumbled to himself as he hoisted Leon over his shoulder in a potato-sackish fashion.

It took quite a few bills from Janie to get the Taxi driver to stop asking questions as to why they put an unconscious man in the trunk of his car. Thankfully, it only those few bills to get him to stop talking entirely. The three knew that talking in front of him was a bad idea, so they waited until her dropped them off behind Janie’s building to start discussing what they’d do next.
“We should interrogate him. Leon or no, something made him act the way he did and its important we know what.” Kurt declared as he hoisted the man in question through the back door.
“Agreed.” Jason acknowledged as he followed the other two to the elevator.
There was one awkward moment when one of the retired women who lived on the floor above Janie got in the elevator. But Kurt quickly came up with a story about their ‘drunk’ companion and charmed her into keeping quiet about it as they exited onto Janie’s floor.
“Betcha the one time I don’t want any of them around will be the one time all my neighbors come to invite me to dinner or something.” Janie quipped as she pulled out her keys.
“Haha. Hurry up or something like that might actually happen.” Jason warned as he cast a quick glance around the hall.
With a click, the door swung open and the three piled into Janie’s well furnished sitting room.
Dropping Leon on the couch, Kurt stretched out and draped himself across a tasteful armchair.
“You have a really nice place, Janie. Maybe you could have a dinner party of your own sometime and invite us over, yeah? Let Leon cook, hes really good at that.” He yawned with a content look on his face.
“I’m going to go get changed. Keep an eye on him and for heaven’s sake don’t put your feet on the coffee table.” Janie scolded before trailing down the hall that apparently led to her room.
Jason stood next to a picture window that overlooked the city.
He glanced out and then back in the apartment. As he did so, Leon started making noises.
Kurt sat up straighter in his chair.
Then the man who was Leon opened his eyes.