"...quit if he had to..."

[morrobay1990]

Title: “...quit if he had to...”
Author: morrobay1990
Genre: post canon
Warning:
Word count: 313
Disclaimer: Jack & Ennis are AP's
♥ Jack

Ennis went back to ranch work, hired on here and there, not getting much ahead but glad enough to be around stock again, free to drop things, quit if he had to, and go into the mountains at short notice.













But he couldn't always quit.

That last phone call from Jack...shit, he wanted to go, always wanted to go...why couldn't Jack understand that sometimes he just couldn't?

Even though Alma was married, he still had the child support and this month was even worse 'cause Jenny had to go to the emergency room for her asthma...poor kid suffered with it something awful...and doctors don't come cheap. Alma asked him to help out, pay half the bill...what was he supposed to do?
Sorry, Alma, I can't work no overtime to help pay for my kid's doctor, I gotta quit my job and go to the mountains so me and Jack can fuck.

He couldn't tell Jack all his problems, sound like he was asking for sympathy...or worse, money...so he put it on the foreman, told Jack the guy said he would put out the word that he wasn't worth hiring, wasn't dependable...goddamn it, he just couldn't quit like he used to.

But that phone call kind of bothered him, Jack sounded so...hopeless, or desperate or something.

Sometimes he wondered...didn't like to let his mind go there, but sometimes he wondered if Jack ever...if he would do something with another guy. He asked him once and Jack said no, but that was a long time ago, maybe he...maybe Lureen wasn't enough...he wondered if Jack ever did to Lureen what he used to do to Alma.

They sure were different, him and Jack. Ennis didn't know what to make of it half the time...sometimes Jack made him feel like he wasn't doing enough, like he wasn't there enough...and that goddamn cow and calf operation he kept bringing up...sure, it would be perfect...except for the part about getting beat to death.

And he wondered what it must be like to live like Jack lived...good job, regular hours, good money, nice house...even Lureen sounded like she was pretty good, for a wife.

Ennis did the best he could, got away as much as he could...shit, he wanted it, too...why couldn't Jack understand?

Well, he'd make it up to him next trip, it was only a month away.

Comments

Re: communication

[morrobay1990.livejournal.com]

Interesting...if he knew what Jack was doing, would he quit the job, or would he quit Jack?

Re: communication

[soulan.livejournal.com]

I think that, unable to do either, he would just drink himself to death.

Re: communication

[morrobay1990.livejournal.com]

damn, really? i didn't see that coming...

Re: communication

[soulan.livejournal.com]

He's completely wedded to the status quo. But of course the name of the game of AU is to invent circumstances that you believe would force him to choose. So go to it! :)

Re: communication

[morrobay1990.livejournal.com]

yeah, but drink himself to death??

Re: communication

[soulan.livejournal.com]

Not intentionally, but I can imagine him being so wrought up that he goes on a very long bender and has an accident.

Re: communication

[kathan12.livejournal.com]

I agree, soulan.

Poor Ennis. Why do some people take it out so much on him?
How can anyone say he does not love Jack? These two are so tied together they could never quit - and the love between them is like glue.
It's all fate anyway. Ennis is so afraid of exposure.