by Hazel Parker
Abby considered that. “I’ve never done anything like that before.”
“I know.”
She rolled her eyes. “Okay, I tell you way too much about my life.”
“So you’ll let me set you up with someone?” Chandra asked hopefully, and Abby raised her hands in mock defeat.
“I’ll think about it,” she caved. Knowing her friend, that probably meant that she’d be set up on a blind date by the end of the week, but if Chandra thought it was a good idea, maybe it was. God knows that her own judgment hadn’t been doing her any favors lately, so perhaps it was time to turn the reigns over to a new driver for a little while to see if she could get out of this rut of bad men. Trevor, she reminded herself, wasn’t the only bad egg in the carton, after all. Before him, there’d been Benjamin, who had started cheating on her not even two months after becoming exclusive, and before that, it had been Jacob, who she’d eventually found out had been stealing money out of her purse after every night they spent together.
For the rest of their meal, Chandra allowed the subject to change from boys, which, luckily, tended to bore her, to work, and so she didn’t have to fend off any more questions about her love life or lack thereof. Because they were so hungry, it didn’t take too long to finish dinner, and it wasn’t even an hour later that Abby was paying the tab and walking back to Chandra’s car. In the parking lot of her new apartment, however, both girls found themselves unwilling to move from the car.
“I don’t want to go back to unpacking,” Chandra whined. “I’m too tired.”
Abby agreed. “How about we finish tomorrow?” she suggested, and Chandra didn’t need more convincing than that.
“I’ll be over by ten,” she promised, “and I’ll bring coffee.”
Abby nodded, clutching her keys in her hands and glancing nervously to the new apartment that she was about to go back to, alone for the first time in months. She knew that she’d get used to this feeling of uncertainty; that’s what the internet forums for women who’d escaped toxic relationships promised, anyway. However, she didn’t know how long that would take. For now, the idea of opening the door to her apartment still filled her with the lingering dread that Trevor would be waiting behind it, drunk and angry. She shook her head to clear that thought away and reminded herself how irrational it was. It didn’t escape Chandra’s notice.
“You gonna be alright alone?” she asked, not for the first time. “I can stay with you if you need me to. Or you can come stay with me again.” She forced a smile and hoped it looked convincing.
“I’ll be fine,” she reassured. “I’m a big girl. I know he’s gone; it’s just going to take some time.”
Chandra frowned in a rare expression of sympathy “Well, if you change your mind, you know how to reach me. And text when you’re in safely.” Taking a deep breath to summon her bravery, Abby opened the car door and waved to Chandra as she entered the PIN and waited for the gate to open. Her heart raced as she beelined straight for her new unit and opened the door, then took the elevator to the third floor and opened her door, locking it quickly behind her and taking only a moment to lean against it as she calmed her anxiety.
Why was she still feeling like this? It made no rational sense—she was out of danger: the locked door and the fact that Trevor didn’t know her new address ensured that. With any luck, it would pass soon, like breaking a habit. She’d read somewhere once that it took twenty-one days to break a habit, and though she’d been out of his place for that long, she hadn’t lived behind a gate yet. She rummaged around in a kitchen box until she found her cups and warmed up a mug of hot water in the microwave, then dropped in a bag of chamomile tea that she’d dug out of the box of dry goods that still needed to be placed into the pantry.
The nice thing about being on the third floor was that she much preferred a balcony to a patio, so even though it was cold outside, she decided to wrap a blanket around her shoulders and have her tea on the patio. Fresh air usually calmed her mind, and she hadn’t taken a chance to take in her new view by starlight yet. Abby set her mug on the wooden railing of the deck and looked out over her beautiful view: namely, the parking lot. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing, and the cold air on her face took her mind off—
—Trevor. No, it couldn’t be. She was too far up to be able to see the license plate in the dark, but the old blue car she was staring at had a black hood, just like Trevor’s, from when he’d gotten into a fender bender and had to replace it with parts from the junkyard. It was a common car, though, so the chances of it being his vehicle were so slim…or were they?
Still, she had to check. She’d memorized his plates and texted them to Chandra right before she’d finally made the decision to leave, just in case something happened to her and the police needed to get involved. Abby took out her phone and snapped a picture of the car’s plates and brightened it until she could read the six characters clearly, then nearly dropped the phone as her stomach sank nauseatingly. She read them three times before she was fully convinced, but there was never any doubt that it was his vehicle. Her hands shook as she pulled up Chandra’s contact and pressed the call button, cursing and pacing as she waited for her to pick up. By now, after the time she’d spent finding her tea and brewing it, Chanda would most likely be getting home any minute if she wasn’t already inside, and she finally picked up on the fourth ring.
“Miss me already?” Chandra answered, but the casual greeting didn’t do anything to calm her down.
“Chandra, he’s here,” Abby said. Her thoughts were racing too fast to sort them, resulting in a disjointed, rushed explanation. “Trevor’s car is in the parking lot.”
Chandra sighed sympathetically. “Are you sure? You’re in a gated community; it can’t be his car. It might be the same model and color, but—”
“No, it’s not. I looked at the numbers. It’s him. I’m sure.”
There was silence on the other line before she heard keys rattling off their hook. “I’m on my way,” she promised. “Keep the door locked.”
“Wait!” Abby argued, too nervous to imagine her friend walking through that parking lot and up the stairs alone if Trevor was waiting for her. “It’s not safe; you can’t…I don’t…”
“Relax,” Chandra reassured, “I’m not going alone. Devon’s crashing on my couch tonight, so I’m bringing him with me. We’ll be there in fifteen minutes, okay?” Abby hummed in agreement, hanging up the phone and holding it in trembling hands. She closed the curtains frantically and grabbed a kitchen knife before settling down on the couch to wait.
Chapter Two: Devon
Devon ran a hand over his shaved head and blinked as the lights in his sister’s living room switched on and woke him from a dead sleep. He groaned as he sat up, sore from even just the few hours of sleeping on the couch and squinted at his younger sister as she fluttered through the room in a hurry.
“Chandra?” he asked, his voice gruff from sleep. “What’s wrong?”
“You know the friend I’ve been helping move to a new apartment? Abby?”
He nodded, glancing at his watch and frowning at the single-digit hour that greeted him. “The one with the crazy ex?” he asked, and she nodded, tossing his coat at his chest before shrugging into her own.
“Yeah,” she confirmed. “Well, the ex is in her apartment complex, and she’s freaking out. I’m going to get her, and you’re coming with me.” Devon didn’t know all the details of Abby’s situation, but what he’d heard hadn’t been good. He also knew that Chandra wasn’t one to worry, so if she was getting ready to leave in the middle of the night to rescue her and looking this panicked, he should put on his coat and shoes and do what she told him to. He got into the passenger seat and tried not to fall asleep on the way as he listened to Chandra talk about all the ways that this guy, Trevor, was bad news. Chandra wasted no time in parking in the lot and jogging to Abby’s door, pounding on it urgently.
“It’s us, honey; it’s Chandra and Devon
. Open up.”
The young woman who opened the door was tall and curvy, with wavy brown hair that was pulled back into a ponytail and an anxious look on her face. In her left hand, she held a kitchen knife, and her phone was in her right, already prepared to dial emergency services. She let herself be hugged by Chandra as she let them into the apartment and locked the door immediately. She showed the license plate that she claimed to be her ex-boyfriend’s and Chandra agreed based upon her aghast reaction. While they looked at the phone, Devon took a moment to look around the room and couldn’t help but notice that it was almost completely unfurnished. A pillow leaned against the wall as a makeshift chair in front of an overturned box that was serving as a table, and her television was in the other corner of the room. Other than that, the only thing that took up any space in the relatively large apartment she was renting were boxes, both packed and empty, and it would have possibly been comical if he were here under different circumstances. When he focused back on the girls, Abby was walking toward him, looking markedly less shaky and pale than when they’d arrived.
“I’m so sorry; I forgot to introduce myself,” she apologized needlessly. He understood, of course—it was late and she had much more pressing things on her mind. “I’m Abby Miller. You’re Chandra’s older brother?”
“Yes,” he returned, “hi. I’m Devon Morales. My sister told me about what happened—a little, anyway. I’m sorry to hear you had to go through that. Must’ve been scary.”
Abby tried her best to shrug it off and smile, but he could see the cracks in the facade. “Thank you for coming over with Chandra,” she changed the subject. “I was really worried about her being alone in the parking lot. Trevor knows her, so if he saw her…”
“Right, I understand,” Devon said, stifling a yawn. “It was no trouble, but if I’m being honest, I think that we’re sort of in over our heads, here. If this guy has tracked you down and somehow got past the gate, he’s probably waiting for you to come down, right? I think we should call the police on him.”
Abby looked like she hadn’t even considered that as an option, but adrenaline was a hell of a drug, so it was entirely possible that she hadn’t. “You’re right,” she said. “I guess I should go do that, huh?” Chandra gave her a supportive shoulder squeeze, and they watched her take the phone into her bedroom to call the cops.
“We’ll sit with her until the police get that creep out of here,” Chandra announced to Devon, and he nodded, not at all complaining. Abby didn’t look like she was in any headspace to be left alone right now, and it’s not like he had anywhere to be the following morning. However, he would prefer to be sleeping.
Abby returned a few minutes later with two more pillows and set them on the ground around the table like a Japanese living room. “They’re dispatching someone now,” she said, “but it’ll be a little while, so make yourselves at home.”
Devon laughed. “It looks like you’ve barely even had time to make yourself at home here,” he remarked, looking around once more at the bare white walls that made the room look much bigger than it was. Chandra elbowed him in the ribs, and he grimaced. “No offense,” he tacked on, but Abby chuckled lightly.
“You’re right,” she admitted, but the lighthearted joking only lasted a moment before her smile fell and she looked devastated. “I can’t believe I haven’t even been here a week and I’m already waiting for the police to come talk to me about my ex. Again.”
Chandra scooted her pillow across the floor so she could sit close enough to Abby to put her arm around her, and Abby leaned into the touch. “Don’t worry about it too much,” she soothed. “The cops will take care of it tonight and hopefully be able to help you get a restraining order. It’s going to be fine.”
Though Abby had a TV, she didn’t have cable or internet yet, so there was very little she could offer to pass the time other than a deck of cards, which Devon dealt for a quick game of blackjack to get her mind off it. Calm Abby seemed to be a different person: witty, with a good sense of humor, and quick as a whip, too. He could see why Chandra had originally had such a crush on her.
“You’re lucky to have found such a nice place,” he commented while they waited for Chandra to decide whether she wanted to hit or stand. “I’ve only been in my apartment for like two months, and it just got condemned.”
Abby’s jaw dropped empathetically. “Holy shit,” she said, “why? What’s wrong with it?”
“My neighbor had a kitchen fire,” he shrugged. “It got pretty big. Burned their unit pretty badly and caused some pretty serious smoke damage to some of the other units in that hallway, including mine. So a bunch of tenants, including me, all got kicked out. We weren’t even allowed to go in and grab our stuff; city inspector wouldn’t let us. Most of it’s probably ruined, anyway, though.”
“Yeah, he called me yesterday desperate for a place to stay, so I told him that he could stay on my couch until they fix the place.”
“How long will that take?”
Devon shrugged. “No idea,” he said. “They think the damage is easy enough to fix, but it’ll be at least a few months.” Before Abby could say another word, there was a knock at the door, and she went visibly stiff with nerves. “I’ll get it,” Devon offered. “I’m sure it’s just the cops.” Abby nodded, but the anxious look didn’t fully leave her eyes until he opened the door to allow the officer inside.
“Hello, all,” the man greeted gruffly. “Were you the ones who called about the unwanted guest?” He gestured to Abby, and she stood to shake his hand.
“That’s me,” she introduced herself. The officer took down some preliminary information about her for the report, and most of what she told him about the relationship itself, though shitty to hear, was not new information to Devon. The cop’s face didn’t betray a single emotion through the entire story, and by the time she finished, he’d stopped writing entirely.
“So, you’ve never filed a police report against this guy for any of this?”
Abby was a bit taken aback, so Chandra replied for her. “She didn’t know it was going to go this far,” she defended. “She thought that moving out of his place would be the solution.”
Reluctantly, the officer took out his radio and phoned in the address and Trevor’s name and plate number to dispatch. The response that came from the radio was nearly incomprehensible to Devon, but the officer seemed to understand it well enough because he was shaking his head when he turned back to Abby.
“Sorry, ma’am, but there’s nothing we can do about this. We can’t force the complex to evict him without a restraining order, and you haven’t—”
“Hang on just one second,” Chandra interjected, “did you say evict?” The officer nodded, and Devon helped to steady Abby as she began to look shaky on her feet.
“He lives here,” Abby breathed incredulously. “How? When?”
The officer shrugged. “I couldn’t share that information even if I had it,” he said, seeming a bit more sympathetic now that he could see her trembling. “But it doesn’t matter, anyway. The only way that you’re going to get him out of here is with a restraining order, and the only way a judge is going to grant a move-out restraining order is if you meet the qualifications, which, unfortunately, you don’t, so far.”
“What else does she need?” Devon asked. “She’s got a psycho ex-boyfriend following her around; what else does needs to happen?”
“In order to meet the qualifications for a stalking case, she’ll need at least three documented situations that would make a reasonable person fear for their safety.”
“I am a reasonable person,” she argued, “and I’m fearing for my safety.”
“I’m sure you are, ma’am, but those are the guidelines. For tonight, I can issue a no-contact order, which means that you can call the police if he calls or texts you, or if he shows up here, and it’ll count as a strike against him even if he doesn’t make a threat.”
She hesitated. “But he’ll be told that I call
ed the police on him?”
“Well, he legally has to be told about the no-contact order, so yes, I’m sure he’ll connect the dots.”
“What if that makes him angry enough to come hurt her?” Chandra asked, and the officer looked genuinely troubled.
“I won’t lie, that’s a concern for people in these kinds of situations,” he admitted, “but it’s all I can do at this point. Do you want it?” Abby nodded. At least it was better than nothing, even if it did piss him off. “Okay. I’ll set the wheels in motion on that, and if it’s awarded, it’ll be active soon. Please, don’t hesitate to call again if he gives you trouble, alright? And in the meantime, it’s good that your friends are here for you. Avoid going out alone, especially at night, and never open your door unless you’re expecting someone. Are you alright for the night?”