Disclaimer: The characters of the Stephanie Plum series belong to Janet Evanovich and are used here without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.
Note: While re-reading “Seven Up”, I was stuck by Joe fighting a smirk while Valerie was telling them about Steve leaving her. Despite what some may think, that struck me as very out of character for Joe, to smirk at that sort of pain. So, as always, my little brain went to work to try and figure out why he would do something like that. This is the result, just a quick sketch, not really a story and not a lot of details, but hopefully enough to communicate the idea. Maybe someday I’ll flesh it out.
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Comeuppance
by TT
Growing up, Valerie Plum had been the bane of his existence. As far back as he could remember, ‘Saint’ Valerie made his life miserable.
Not only did she tattle on him in school, but also she made a point of bad mouthing him.
It was her taunting that “Plums don’t play with Morellis” that caused him to invite Stephanie into his father’s garage when he was 8. Stephanie hadn’t really minded until she found out she couldn’t be the train.
His eyes drifted over toward Stephanie. Thank God she wasn’t anything like her sister. Of course, it took him a while to figure that out.
In junior high and high school, Valerie did her best to malign him and give him the worst possible name. If he was completely honest, he would have to admit that she had done more for his reputation than he had himself. Oh, he hadn’t been an angel, not by any stretch of the imagination, but he wasn’t nearly as bad as Valerie made him out to be.
The problem was that he had been attracted to hYet every time he approached her or tried to be friendly, she would go off on how her family was too good to associate with the “likes of him”. It made him angry, but he still wanted her.
Then, one day just before he shipped off to the Navy, he was at a party. He still wasn’t sure what happened, but Valerie really let him have it. Despite how bitchy she’d been, she was still “Saint” Valerie, the perfect, the untouchable, and the one who could do no wrong because she was so sweet and serene.
The girl he’d brought with him left him after dumping a cup of beer on him. Everyone had laughed and he’d seen the spark of triumph in Valerie’s eyes.
Heading home, Joe changed and then, with the encouragement of his cousin, headed back to the party for a while.
As he entered the house, he went looking for one of his friends. Someone mentioned seeing him upstairs.
So, up he’d gone. The first door was cracked open and the sounds coming from it were something easily identified.
The little devil that seemed to have permanent residence on his shoulder urged him to take a peek and see who was going at it.
Silently stalking over to the door, he pushed it until he could peer through the crack. On the bed, on all fours was Valerie Plum and mounting her was Dougie Crouper. Dougie the Druggie.
Joe stepped back, horrified. He wasn’t good enough to touch ‘Saint’ Valerie, to associate with the Plums, but Dougie was?
He felt that insult keenly and stormed out of the house once more.
He somehow made it home and his mother immediately sent him to the Tasty Pastry to get some dessert.
He was hurting most of the way there and trying to figure out a way to get back at Valerie, a way to show her that Plums weren’t any better than Morellis, a way to bring her down a peg or two from “Saint” status.
As he glanced through the door to the bakery, he spotted Stephanie Plum beginning the close-up procedure for the night.
All the pieces fell into place. Not only could he have a Plum, but also he knew guys liked to write about their exploits at Mario’s and the stadium which meant the whole Burg would know before he was even on-base.
A vengeful grin curved his lips as he thought of his revenge.
Later, as he was leaving for his training, he felt the first flickering of guilt. After what he’d seen of Valerie and Dougie, he hadn’t expected Stephanie to be a virgin. Of course, at the time he’d been so involved with his revenge against Val, he didn’t think of Stephanie at all.
When he got his first letter from home, it was from his mother. She had been so proud of him when he joined the Navy. But this letter mentioned none of that. This letter contained her disappointment at him, at what he wrote at nearly ruining the girl’s reputation. Stephanie Plum might be odd, but she didn’t deserve the humiliation and disgrace she was suffering.
He had been stunned. Again, he had never thought of what his actions would do to Stephanie, he just wanted to humiliate Valerie, yet, it had all backfired. It might have surprised anyone in the Burg that Angie Morelli would take anyone’s side but her son’s, but she was also very strict with him about respecting women. It was her instruction that had taught him to be discreet, not his father’s. Joe had always bragged about how much he got, but the guys knew he never shared names.
He’d heard from a friend that Valerie was untouched and serene as ever. She had her usual crowd of guys around her and was doing well. His vengeance had failed there again. She was completely untouched by the trouble he’d caused.
When he punched his pillow, one of his buddies asked what was wrong. He briefly explained about this girl who had made his life miserable and how even his revenge had gone wrong.
He could still hear Kent’s words, “Don’t worry man, in time she’ll get hers and her whole perfect little world will come crashing down around her ears.”
Now, all these years later, he was sitting with Stephanie, the only woman with whom he had ever even contemplated spending the rest of his life, the only woman who ever inspired him to be faithful, and Kent’s words were coming true. Valerie was finally getting her comeuppance. And he couldn’t help the thought that it couldn’t happen to a more deserving person.
A smile quirked his lips and he put his arm around Stephanie, squeezing her.
End