Consumed

by Alycia Taylor

  I looked up and Jack was bent over me, now seeking to pin me down. I started swinging wildly trying to get in a head punch or two. I finally got off a lucky upper cut and it left him off balance enough for me to knock him back off his feet. It was like uprooting a tree, but he hit the floor with a crash and I’m sure the people in the outside rooms must have been running for cover from the earthquake.

  I jumped on his fat belly before he could get back up and I began pummeling him with a sequence of aggressive punches to his face. He kept struggling to sit back up and I kept knocking him back down. It was quick, but to an observer the whole thing may have appeared as carefully orchestrated. I was on fire. I didn’t know how many punches it took. I know it was quite a few, but finally Goliath toppled backwards one last time, helpless to get up again. I put my knee into his soft belly and was a little grossed out as I felt it sinking in. Then I put my forearm across his throat. I put enough pressure to keep him down, but not enough to cut off his air supply. Jack didn’t tap out; he just lay there like a slug.

  Then Sam called it a match.

  I was grinning when I got up.

  I looked at Sam, who groaned, “That was a damn sloppy mess of a fight.”

  He was always encouraging like that. It’s a good thing I wasn’t depending on Sam for my self-confidence. At least all of that pent-up sexual frustration I’ve been feeling all weekend seemed to have gotten channeled out through my fists.

  “Hit the shower and go home,” he shouted. “I’ll see you tomorrow. We need to work on your grappling technique.”

  I started to say something, I’m not sure what. Maybe I would point out that I had left the big fat guy on his back in the middle of the ring, or ask him if the gym was even going to be open on Labor Day but Sam stopped me by holding up one of his big, meaty paws.

  “I don’t wanna hear it. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  I kept my mouth shut, but before I got out of the ring, I walked over and held my hand out to Jack. I meant to help him up, but he just gave mine a quick shake and turned over like maybe he was going to take a nap. These old guys were too much.

  I showered and headed home like Sam told me. I drove a little slower so as not to tempt fate. I stopped off for a steak and fries. My body was craving the protein and the fries were a treat I didn’t always allow myself.

  When I walked in the door at home, I could hear my roommate on the phone in the living room. She didn’t seem to hear me come in so I stood there near the door in the hallway and listened. I was being nosy and I didn’t give a shit. I was just trying to get to know her a bit since she wouldn’t talk to me. I was beginning to surprise myself. I hadn’t cared to know anything about a girl for years. However, this time it was for selfish ways so I could get her in bed.

  “Yeah, that sounds good.” she was saying. “Club Envy is that new one off of the 180 and Cedar right?”

  She was talking about a new club that had opened up recently. This might be interesting. I wouldn’t mind getting her out on the dance floor and doing a little bump and grind.

  I listened more carefully as she said, “Okay, so, you’ll pick me up at nine?” She was quiet on her end before she said, “Um, no. I am not going to bring my roommate.” Another pause and she laughed and said, “You so would not be in bed with him already. Shut up! I’ll see you tonight.”

  I smiled to myself at the thought of her friend egging her on about me. I appreciated the help. I decided I better go take a nap if I was going out that night. I was dead tired after my exhausting workout.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  EMMI

  I had been in my new home exactly three days and I had already been propositioned, felt up and undressed with his eyes more times than I could count. It was a waste that God or whoever doled out the beauty gave so much to this guy. It seems like a personality would have gone further to make the world a better place. At least my world.

  My best friend from high school, Zoe, and some of her sorority friends were going out. Normally I wouldn’t go out to a club on a Sunday night, but it was Labor Day tomorrow so I wouldn’t be starting my classes until Tuesday. Zoe wanted me to come up over the summer when she did, so we could both pledge the same sorority, but I was working at a camp for developmentally delayed kids and I didn’t want to leave them high and dry right in the middle of it. I had already gotten special permission from the Dean to start a week late so that was about the time I’d started looking for an apartment.

  I didn’t have a car yet so I was looking for a place close to campus, preferably within walking distance so I didn’t have to spend a fortune on public transportation. When I saw the ad for this one, and looked it up on the map I had been stoked. In fact, I was stoked right up until angry Braxton had opened the door.

  I’d heard him come back in from wherever he’d been when I was on the phone. He must have gone straight to his room, and for that I was grateful. Avoiding him these past three days had been actual work, and I was physically tired from it. Tonight, I wanted to shower and shampoo and get all shiny without any perverse intervention, and then go out and have a great time with my BFF.

  As I stood in the shower and let the warm water cascade down my back I thought about my ex-boyfriend. I don’t know why, I had promised myself and Zoe that I wouldn’t think about him anymore. It wasn’t productive, and it just made me feel like shit all over again.

  My free-spirit father, who my mother despises goes around saying, “It is what it is,” to the point that I hated that saying. But the truth be told, that’s what I had told myself about the situation with Trent and I. I thought he loved me, and I knew I loved him. I thought we would get married someday and have babies and grow old together… right up to the time I caught him cheating.

  I was supposed to be at work, but I’d gone in that day and they hadn’t needed me after all. I’d been so happy because I knew his parents were out of town and I thought Trent and I could spend the afternoon together.

  I almost texted him, but had decided instead to pick up a pizza and go over and surprise him. I spent twenty bucks on that stupid pizza I’d never get back. I tried to make that a big deal to lessen the pain I felt. It never worked. When I got to Trent’s house I used the spare key to let myself in. We had dated all through high school so I’d been in his house hundreds of times. I didn’t see him downstairs, so I set the pizza in the dining room and made my way quietly up the stairs. I heard noises coming from his room, and for a second, I thought I had caught him masturbating, which would’ve been fine with me knowing what happened next.

  It was a lot worse.

  The door was cracked open and I could see Trent, the love of my life lying on his back on the bed with some fat-bottomed naked chick bouncing up and down on top of him. Dread instantly filled my stomach. I stumbled backwards to leave and knocked one of the pictures hanging in the stairwell down. Trent came running out of his room naked, cupping himself. When he saw it was me he knew that there was nothing he could say to deny what I had just witnessed. So as I turned to march down the stairs and out the front door, he turned and went back in his room, no doubt to finish what I had interrupted.

  I went by Zoe’s house on my way home, but she was out shopping with her mom. By the time I got to my house the tears were freely flowing down my cheeks and I nearly wrecked my mom’s new car twice because I really couldn’t see anything.

  I walked in the front door, and even though as far as my mother knew I had been at work, the first thing she said was, “What did that Son of a Bitch do?”

  I cried the rest of the night on her shoulder, and then the rest of the next day on Zoe’s. He called twenty times at least to let me know it hadn’t meant anything and that it was me he loved. I never called him back, and since we didn’t have any classes together at school it was easy to ignore him for the rest of the semester. I’d left my hometown with my pride and a promise to myself that I wasn’t going to dwell on it and become a bitter man-hater one day like my mom.

&nb
sp; I left the thoughts of Trent in the shower, hoping they would wash down the drain while I dried off and blow-dried my hair. I carefully applied my make-up- I didn’t want to be seen with a bunch of hot sorority girls and be the only plain one in the group. Then, I picked out a brand new skirt and blouse my mom had bought for me right before I left home. The skirt was denim and it came to just below my thighs and the shirt was sheer black and sleeveless and buttoned up the front. I wore a lighter colored camisole underneath and my favorite pair of black heels. It felt good to dress up and know if I got hit on tonight it would be because I looked good and not just because I was the only female available in the house. The thought had come to mind as I passed Braxton’s door.

  It was still closed, and he had been quiet all evening. I found it weird that according to Zoe he was the most popular guy on campus and the entire weekend that I’d been here he hadn’t had a single date… unless you count the one I interrupted on Friday. I had to smile about that.

  When Zoe got there I was ready. She tried to stick her head inside to see if she could get a glimpse of my lecherous roommate. I had to push her back out on the front porch.

  “He’s in his room, hopefully sleeping. Don’t wake him up,” I urged.

  Zoe laughed, “What is he an infant?”

  “He doesn’t act much older than that. He’s ridiculous,” I explained, rolling my eyes.

  “Don’t you find him appealing even a little bit?” she asked after we got in her little Honda Civic.

  Zoe was my best friend. I wasn’t going to lie to her.

  “I find him appealing… a lot, until he opens his mouth. He has to be the cockiest most arrogant man I have ever met.”

  Zoe giggled.

  “It would be hard not to be when you look that good and all of the girls in school want you.”

  “Whatever,” I told her.

  I didn’t want to talk about Braxton any more. This was my break from him tonight.

  “So who’s all going?” I asked, changing the subject.

  Zoe started naming a bunch of girls’ names who I didn’t know, but it got her off the subject of my roommate. It was obvious to see that the new club was a popular place when we got there. We had to park about half a mile up the road because cars lined both sides up and down the long street. Just before we got to the end of the line outside the door, we heard a long whistle.

  Zoe turned around and yelled, “Mike!”

  Some guy with tattoo sleeves on both arms, shaggy platinum blonde hair and a pair of skinny jeans was coming towards us. Zoe threw her arms around the guy when he got close and they hugged.

  “Emmi this is my friend Mike. And Mike, this is my best friend since kindergarten.”

  “Hi Mike,” I said.

  I was wondering now that I saw him up close if he had gotten all the tattoos to cover up how white he is. This guy put Casper to shame in the white department. His eyes were a pale blue, almost colorless too. He was borderline albino.

  “Hey, Emmi. Nice to meet you,” he said.

  “Mike and I had political science together over the summer. He cheated off of me all semester.”

  “You are such a liar. Trust me, if I needed to cheat to pass I would have copied off the guy on the other side of me first. What was his name, Lucas or something?”

  “Yeah, I think it was Lucas.” she confirmed. Then turning back to me she said, “Be nice to this guy. He’s going to be a U.S. Senator someday.”

  Mike hung out with us while we waited in line. He seemed to be a pretty interesting guy, and really smart. I had to wonder though, if he had aspirations of going into politics, why he had gotten his arms fully tatted up. I had yet to see anyone on CNN with that many tats, unless it was a picture of one of the FBI’s most wanted.

  The place was packed and they were only letting in groups of ten at a time so it took a while. Once we finally got inside, Zoe found her sorority friends. She had already told me which ones were the fun ones and which ones were your stereotypical sorority snob types so I would know who to be myself with, and who to avoid. I’m not good at being fake, which has never led to me being too popular.

  I’m just Emmi.

  I like to sing and dance and act in school plays. I’m an amateur photographer too, so I guess an overall descriptive word for me would be “artsy.” I don’t care to pretend to be anything else, and I don’t care if that makes me popular or not.

  Mike went off to find the friends that he was meeting here. The rest of us got lucky as we walked in because a group of guys were vacating a big booth near the dance floor so we actually had a place to sit. I wouldn’t have recommended the booth though if you’re an asthmatic. Eight girls, eight different perfumes, hair products and body lotion made me feel a little asthmatic myself. I sat there long enough to meet everyone and have one drink and then I had to get out.

  “I love this song. Zoe dance with me.”

  Zoe and I weren’t shy about dancing without a guy like some girls. It was one of the reasons that we had been friends for so long… Zoe was just Zoe and I loved her because of it.

  “Okay, let’s go,” Zoe said, smiling at her sorority friends before getting up.

  The dance floor was crowded so we just found a little spot near the edge. The music they were playing was mostly pop and rap so it was easy to move to. It was loud too but that didn’t deter Zoe. She kept up a non-stop litany of all the things she wanted us to sign up for and do now that I was here.

  She quit talking all of a sudden and said, “Hmm, look who’s here.”

  I turned to follow her gaze and there he was… my deviant roommate. My entire body tightened.

  “What the heck is he doing here?”

  “Maybe he’s looking for you,” Zoe answered.

  I gave her a look of dissatisfaction but she just grinned.

  “You should just go for it. What have you got to lose?”

  “First of all, I could lose my apartment if things didn’t work out. Besides, you know I’m still skittish since walking in on Tyler that day. This guy has cheater stamped on his forehead. Why in the world would I want to do that to myself?”

  “It’s perfect if you really think about it,” she said in all seriousness.

  “What are you talking about?” I asked her.

  “He’s not the relationship type. I heard that he hasn’t had a relationship that lasted longer than a week since he’s been here, and he’s a junior. A junior! You get all the fun without the worry. Think like a man for a change.”

  She was still grinning, but she was dead serious.

  “Forget about it,” I insisted. “And quit looking over there at him. I don’t want him to think we’re talking about him.”

  “Oh please,” she countered. “Every girl in this place is looking at him. He has to be used to it by now.”

  I just rolled my eyes at her, she was hopeless. She wasn’t finished yet though.

  A new song was coming on and she said, “Oops, you waited too long, he found some floozy to dance with.”

  It was like passing a train wreck, you didn’t really want to look, but you couldn’t help yourself. I looked, and when I did, he was looking right at me. He was dancing with some chick with lots of hair and a little bit of a dress on. Her boobs were spilling over the top and her ass cheeks were hanging out in the back. Okay, I was being a little bit catty. Her dress wasn’t that much shorter than mine, and she actually filled hers out better.

  I told myself to stop watching, but in my defense Zoe had changed positions and I just happened to be facing in that direction. For some reason, when Braxton saw me looking he grabbed the girl around the waist and started grinding his hips into her. She seemed to be loving it. I personally found it a little bit too vulgar, and my facial expression and eye roll took on a mind of its own. I turned and danced around so that Zoe and I had switched sides again and I didn’t have to watch.

  “He’s disgusting,” I barked.

  Zoe laughed, and started to say somet
hing but all of a sudden she was looking over my shoulder. What now?

  CHAPTER FIVE

  BRAXTON

  I wore a green Lacoste polo that fit snug enough that I filled it out nicely but didn’t look like I was trying too hard. I had on my faded black Seven jeans that I’ve been told about a hundred times look good on my muscular ass and I’ve only worn them three times. When I walked in I thought that it was so damn crowded I’d probably be lucky just to bump into Emmi, but my first glance out to the dance floor and there she was, dancing with a cute little blonde girl. Damn, she looked fine in her little black skirt. So far I had only seen her in pants. Her legs looked as good as I had imagined them though. The skirt was short, but it left enough to the imagination that she didn’t look like a hoochie.

  She was dancing and laughing and looked super-hot. I wanted to go over and say hello, but I got the feeling from her that she didn’t really see us as friends. So, I did the next best thing. I saw Nina, this girl I met in one of my classes and had a hot afternoon with naked in her Dad’s pool. I haven’t called her since, but I got the impression that Nina was the kind of girl who didn’t really care.

  I strutted over to her and said, “Hey gorgeous, you wanna dance?”

  She grinned and took my hand, leading me out to the dance floor. I made sure we stopped so I could get a nice view of Emmi’s backside and it looked delicious. I could see her little friend looking at me, and I knew they were talking about me. Her friend looked like she approved- if things worked out, maybe I could do her too.

  Not long after her friend noticed me, Emmi looked over her shoulder. I was looking right at her when she did, so I just shot her a smile. She didn’t look impressed, but then all of a sudden she was dancing on the other side of her friend so that she could look right at me.