Demon Boyfriend: Jolly Jay 2 (special preview)

The Jolly Jay Smile Hour was one of the highest rated programs on the radio. Jay’s soothing voice was a welcomed presence into most people’s lives. I was even aware there were GIU cabinet members who listened in on the show. In fact, I was made very aware of which ones listened to the broadcasts. Thanks to the new equipment that Jay was updated with quite regularly, he was reaching a wider audience, and more GIU loyalists were tuning in to listen to his message of happiness and smiles.

Jolly Jay was your friendly neighbor, he always started and ended his shows by saying that. But as someone who does live in close proximity to Jay, even if I do like him, I am aware of the nefarious nature that he and his cohorts are embroiled in. They don’t seem to really want to spread the message that Jay puts out everyday, hence the scripts he’s sent in his packages every morning. But that’s just the thing, the cynic side of me buried beneath the masks and fake smiles loves this. The lilac and yellow suits have brought me into their world, and I like it. I try to keep my head above their murky waters for my own sake, but because I am ‘the Keeper’, I wield power and authority over them as well. I just try to keep my nose out of whatever business they are up to.

I still enjoy my friendship with Jay. We have long conversations after his broadcasts. I even have a table set up near his door so I can have meals with him. He’s told me that, out of all the keepers he has had, the bond he feels with me is deeper than all the others. The lilac and yellow suits have placed him with others over the years, experimenting with who best suits him should he ever need to be held, as he coins it. He said in the beginning, back when the GIU was taking power after the witch hunts, he was often placed with men, who barely spoke to him. After war broke out, he was placed with a female secretary under his old keeper, and they formed a bond. He was also placed with a young girl at one point as an experiment, and it was finally figured out he bonded well with women. Although they still used men for him mostly.

Why I was chosen was still a mystery to me. Perhaps it was because of my home and massive basement. Maybe my family had connections to this lilac and yellow suit organization. Like I said, I wasn’t going to put my nose too far into this. I just wanted the surface level of everything.

One afternoon, I was working with Matilda on fixing up one of the rooms. I had just rented it to a lovely couple and a few of their friends, but they left it in such a state they purchased me a new mattress and frame before they checked out. Anyways, I was helping Matilda with that while listening to Jay’s show.

“Now, for today’s poetry reading.” Jay always did a poetry reading during his broadcasts, as part of the happiness and wellness position that was required by GIU law. “I’ve never seen my lover’s gaze as she weeps with-” The broadcast cut out, Jay’s voice crackled and vanished amongst the blurt of static and feedback. Between the squeals, I thought I heard Jay continuing with something. Matilda eventually turned it off and sniffed.

“It happens. Sometimes a drone just flies into things,” she scoffs.

I tried to focus so I could hear Jay downstairs, but between Matilda sweeping and the old hardwood floors, everything was silent. I went back to putting the bed together and Matilda dumped disinfectant onto the floor.

After we were done, I went to my room to clean up from the sweaty work. I turned on the radio to hear Jay purring back into the mic. “Thank you all for your lovely mail this week. I do enjoy reading your letters, and I love seeing how happy you all are to enjoy the show. I am thrilled that I can pass that joy back to you through my broadcasts. But I must speak of something serious right now.”

I glance at the radio as I mop up my face with a cold, damp cloth. Something serious? How odd.

“As some of you may be aware, this coming Sunday is the anniversary of when I started broadcasting my program! So all this week, I will be planning out very special programming to be showing my appreciation to all of you. Hopefully, we will all be better people by the end of the week. I am very grateful to all of you for letting me be your neighbor.”

That evening, when I go down for our meal together, he is already waiting for me. The latch is open and he waves his long, strange fingers to me. “Good evening, Imelda.”

“Good evening to you.” I hand him his plate of food. “I wasn’t aware it was your anniversary this week. You’ve never announced that before.”

“So you heard.” He pulls in his plate.