by Korry Smith
In my anger, I spilled the beans. It was the one thing I hid from my guy.
Alex shot his eyes down at me with his jaw clenched. “He fucking touched you?”
“He did,” I admitted to him and myself. The aftershocks of the revelation would be deadly, but why was I smiling? And why couldn’t I look away?
“Motherfucker,” Alex hissed and shoved the muzzle harder into Terry’s head as if he was trying to drill the gun into his skull. “Say goodnight, asshole.”
Terry closed his eyes and prepared himself for the bullet.
Suddenly, bright headlights were shining on us and illuminated the escalating scene out of the darkness. A loud rumble of an engine distracted Alex, and he eased his finger off the trigger. Looking behind us, he groaned and cursed to himself. I turned around and held my hand up to block out the light, squinting my eyes, and seeing Sawyer behind the wheel of the Chevelle.
He stuck his head out the side window and yelled, “Get in the fucking car!”
“I’m busy!” Alex snapped, turning his focus back to Terry with a devious smirk. “Give me a second to blow this fucker’s brains out.”
“Madison,” Sawyer called, gesturing for me to grab Alex’s gun. “Get his dumbass in the car. Now.”
As much as I wanted to see Terry pay for all the pain he caused and make him answer for his sins, I knew Sawyer was right. Hell would rain down on Alex if he killed Terry. The law would know who committed the murder and arrest him. I didn’t want the man I loved taken away from me because of this raping asshole.
“Come on,” I said, slowly putting my hand on the gun. “Terry can’t hurt me anymore.”
Alex looked down and searched my eyes. It was my words that made the difference. If I told him to shoot, Terry would be dead.
I was using that power to spare a life: mine.
“Okay,” Alex huffed, reluctantly jerking the gun away from Terry’s head and putting it in his back waistband. He grabbed my hand to pull me towards the awaiting car. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
“Hold on,” I said, stopping, and going back over to Terry. I placed my hands on his shoulders as though I was going to hug him. He smiled all snooty; thinking he won. “There’s a special place in Hell for people like you and Susan,” I told him, bringing back my knee and ramming it up, hitting him squarely in the balls. He doubled over in pain, coughing and sputtering. I kicked dirt in his face with my foot. “Give my condolences to my mother.”
As far as she was concerned, I was dead.
Alex threw his arm around my shoulder, leaning down and kissing my ear. “I’m proud of you, baby.”
Sawyer was whistling, urgently waving his hand, trying to get us to speed up our pace. I looked behind me and saw Susan running out of the building with a few cops behind her. They would be reaching us within a matter of seconds.
“Oh, shit. Oh, shit!” Jumping in the car and sitting on Alex’s lap, I slammed the door behind me.
“Fucking hustle,” Alex said, snapping his fingers.
“I know, asshole,” Sawyer replied, shifting the car into first and spinning the tires. Dust and gravel kicked up by our mad escape had pelted Terry in the face.
I watched nervously in the side mirror as he rose to his feet and pointed the police in our direction. Luckily, Sawyer turned a corner before anyone could get a good view of Tanya.
We were on the ten heading back home when Sawyer unleashed his anger upon us.
“What did I tell you?”
“Man, I don’t need this fucking shit from you right now,” Alex sighed, leaning his chin on my shoulder, and protectively wrapping his arms around me. “Drop it.”
“No, you’re going to hear it. I warned you, Alex. I said, if you didn’t keep your distance, this shit would happen.”
The night at the pool hall, Sawyer pulled Alex aside and told him to stay away from me. He saw the way we looked at each other and knew our pairing would be disastrous. Alex argued with Sawyer, saying he was overreacting. Nothing was going to happen between us. He was smart and knew what he was doing, but Sawyer was persistent. If Alex got closer to me and didn’t stay detached, I would be the one who suffered the most. The dark world that encompassed Alex would swallow me up and destroy me from the inside out.
Sawyer had said, “That means no college, no life, no nothing for her.”
That’s what convinced Alex to push me away.
“You knew the risks, and yet, you still went behind my back and did it,” Sawyer ranted. “And look at you? The first week as a couple, what do you guys do? Steal a car, get fucking arrested, and nearly kill a man? You two are trouble together.”
I glanced over my shoulder at Alex and smiled. “You hear that? We’re trouble.”
“We’re gonna fucking own this town.” He winked and tapped the tip of my nose with his finger. “Just you and me, kid.”
“Jesus Christ.” Sawyer groaned. “You’re still not listening to me.”
“No, we hear you, man. Loud and clear.” Grabbing my face and bringing me down to his lips, my guy spoke only to me. “We just don’t care.”
Gliding over my skin with his long fingers, Alex drew lazy patterns from the top of my breasts all the way down to my belly button. Each stroke left a tingling sensation that sent shivers down my spine.
“Are you sleeping?” he whispered.
The exhaustion of yesterday’s events kept us in an awake but a lethargic state. Our bodies were winding down, but our minds were spinning wildly.
“No.”
“Nine more days,” he murmured as the lure of sleep took over.
I flipped over and snuggled into the nook of his body. “It’s not a countdown anymore. The only thing I was looking forward to getting on that day was you. I got that.”
He scoffed. “I gave in too easily.”
“You should have given in sooner.”
“I did.” He yawned and pulled me closer.
“When?”
“That first night.”
There were so many first nights when it came to Alex and me; I needed him to narrow it down.
“Which night?”
“The night you passed out from smoking that weak weed.” Deeper and deeper he fell into a sleepy state, his voice coming out ragged and incoherent. “I kissed you.”
My eyes snapped open, and I sat up straight in the bed. I turned around to look at Alex. He was watching me, playing on my reaction, but he was two seconds away from falling asleep and leaving me without any answers.
“You kissed me the night we met?” I shook my head in disbelief. “Where?”
“On the lips,” he said with a shrug. “It was nothing. Barely even a peck.”
I rubbed my face raw just trying to get my head wrapped around the idea that Alex kissed me. “And I was unconscious?”
He chewed his lip, teeth scraping against the ring, and looking like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “You were a little…out of it.”
“Out of it?” My eyebrows raised high on my forehead. “So, how many times have you’ve kissed me without my knowledge?”
“It was just that one time,” he said, sitting up in bed, and now wide awake.
One time? That was his reasoning? Through all his so-called ‘morals’ and all those weeks of ignoring me, he was the one who had already broken the rules and crossed the line?
He didn’t even have the decency to tell me about it.
“You’re such a…jackass!” I groaned, twisting hard on his nipple, and scooting away from him.
Alex yelped out in pain and quickly reached out for my hand. In one swift jerk, he brought me back over to him and enveloped me in his arms; tightly restraining me as I struggled in his hold.
He laughed as he rocked me side to side. “Why are you so mad?”
“Because if you’re going to kiss somebody, at least you can do is wake them up for it.” I kicked the sheets to release all my pent-up frustration.
“What does it matter?
I’ve kissed you plenty since then,” he said, trailing his mouth along the side of my neck. “And you’ve been awake each time.”
What killed me the most was all those days when he acted like my feelings were singular. It was a lie. The jar proved he thought about me in a way that wasn’t platonic. Now the kiss? It all points to one truth: Alex had been into me from the beginning.
“God! All that time and you didn’t tell me?” I struggled a bit more again. He made me crazy. “I hate you.”
“Liar,” he said as he released me from his grip.
“No, I mean it.” I glared, twisting my body back around to face him. “I hate you.”
Alex was already waiting, expecting my need, and grabbed the sides of my face. He held me still, leaning in and placing gentle, feather-like kisses along my jaw and up to my lips. There he lingered the longest, eliciting a low moan from me. I tried to tell him how much I hated him, but my fight was waning. Further proving his point that I didn’t hate him, he continued his kisses on my nose, eyelids, and forehead.
I was breathless and dazed.
“You were saying?” he asked.
Taking off my shirt, I lied back on the bed and didn’t have to say anything. Alex lost his focus and his smug smirk. He grabbed me by the ankles and yanked my ass into his lap. My nipples perked up and ached in pain under his gaze. I arched my back, begging him silently, to take them into his mouth.
Just like that, he saw how easy it was to gain the upper hand and win me over, and his severe, unrelenting confidence returned. Hooking a few of his fingers in the top waistband of my yoga pants, he pulled them off me and threw them over his shoulder. I was bare to him. He skimmed his hands down my legs to the apex of my thighs. I held my breath as he gently stroked my lips.
“Fuck.” Alex groaned when he pulled his fingers back and saw they were glistening.
“Please…” I reached out and drug my nails down the side of his jeans.
“Remember last night?” He slid himself off the bed and to his knees. Pulling me close and spreading me wide, his hot breath tickled and teased my pussy. “When you said I could eat you all day?”
“Yes.” I clutched the sheets as he put his mouth on me.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
The sudden and loud pounding on our door ruined everything.
Alex’s head popped up as I propped myself on my elbows. We stared at each other, staying still and quiet, and hoped the person would go away.
“Alex? Madi?” Len hollered amid his loud, incessant banging.
“Jesus Christ.” Alex head lolled to the side and rested on my inner thigh. “What the fuck do you want?”
“You guys need to get out here. Now!”
“What for? We’re trying to sleep in here!” He was glaring at the door, vainly trying to burn a hole through it.
Len laughed, and I could see the big lug rolling his eyes. “Get out here. It’s important.”
“What can be so fucking important?” Grumbling to himself, Alex grabbed my discarded pants off the floor and slipped them back up my legs. The expression on his face when I put my shirt back on was so sad.
Sitting up on the bed, I adjusted my clothes, that were slightly cockeyed, and smoothed down my hair. “It’s like Len knows or something.”
“He’s just playing the odds,” Alex said.
Once we were presentable, and our faces weren’t so flushed and aroused, we exited the bedroom. The entire family was there, sitting in the living room with their eyes glued to the television screen. They barely acknowledged us, and I couldn’t figure out what was so important, but then I took a good look at what they were watching.
It was Channel 3 news, and the reporters were discussing an assault at a police station captured on their security camera. The black and white footage was unmistakable and showed what had gone down less than five hours ago.
“What the fuck?” Alex watched the replay of himself pressing the gun against Terry’s head. “How the hell is this even news? I didn’t kill him.”
“You didn’t kill him?” Sawyer laughed dryly. “Yeah, and you can thank me for that, asshole. Because otherwise, it wouldn’t be an assault with a deadly weapon, it would be murder one.”
“But I didn’t hit him. I pressed the gun to his head, big fucking whoop,” he said, leaning closer to the TV. “And why are they just showing this? What about when he was strangling Madi? Where’s that?”
I touched my bruised and sore neck on reflex.
“They don’t have it,” Nyx said. “The camera hadn’t panned around at that point. They only caught you.”
“Oh shit,” I gasped and fell back into the couch. Nyx wrapped her arm around my shoulders and gave me a small squeeze.
Oh, no. Things were bad.
“What the hell were you thinking Alex—in front of a police station? Were you fucking high?” Len asked.
“That asshole was choking Madi, man. What the hell was I supposed to do? Tap him on the shoulder and politely ask him to stop?” Alex was strung-out now, anxiously pacing, and running his hands through his hair.
“No, but there are other ways to go about a situation,” Dev said from the far-back corner, but still, she was impossible to miss. “You don’t go wielding your gun around and pointing it at people like some savage.”
Alex’s feet came to a halt, and he glared at her. “Maybe I should use your technique and just stab people.”
“Ugh.” Dev groaned, rising from her chair, and punching him in the shoulder as she passed. “Fucking asshole.”
She gave me a fleeting glance, one mixed with sympathy and irritation, as she walked into the kitchen.
“They’ve been talking about the Lamborghini all morning too,” Sawyer said.
“Do they suspect Alex and me?” I asked.
“No,” Sawyer replied. “They don’t have any leads.”
“But how long do you expect that to last?” Len asked, his words pointed towards Alex. “They’ll put two and two together, and then the next thing you know, your dumbass is behind bars.”
“You’re reaching,” Alex said, looking back at me. “We cleaned it, right?”
I nodded, but doubt seeped in. What if I missed one tiny spot? My fingerprints were on file from the assault and battery charge. Alex has had multiple arrests. He told me once in passing the law was also in possession of his DNA.
How could we be so stupid?
The report continued at length, and towards the end of the segment, they flashed our mugshots. Alex’s appearance in the picture was younger, but the same. It was me who looked different. My hair was shorter with blonde streaks, and due to the altercation, I had blood spattered on my face.
All of them, like a cartoon, shot their eyes to me.
“When were you arrested?” Alex asked.
“Um, a year ago,” I answered.
“For what?” Nyx asked.
“Assault and battery,” I replied sheepishly, ducking my shoulders.
“No shit?” Dev asked, strolling back into the room carrying a bottled water. “Baby Madi was arrested for whooping some ass? Who was it? Was it some bitch scamming on your man? Maybe she was sitting on his lap?”
I smiled at her, getting the joke. “No, not exactly.”
Alex looked stunned, but also in his eyes there was this new-found amazement for me. “What happened?”
I blushed under his stare and spoke quietly, “I broke a vase over my stepfather’s head.”
“The same guy on the video you kneed in the nuts?” Len asked.
Alex’s proud smile faded as he realized why I assaulted him so violently.
“Yup.” My gaze fell to my lap where I was pulling at my fingers and popping the knuckles. “The one and only.”
“Damn, what did this guy do to deserve such hostility?” Dev asked, bending down, and putting her face close to the television screen, trying to get a better look at Terry.
“He’s a dick, Dev. Let’s leave it at that!” Alex snapped.
/> Not only was he protecting me from the discomfort of talking about the man, but what I went through was our secret and vice versa. The parents were a taboo subject to everyone outside of our bubble.
“Damn, whatever he did, it seems like he deserved it,” Dev said, waving her hand dismissively and sitting on Len’s lap.
“Well, they know who you are now,” Nyx said, hugging me affectionately. “Eventually, they’re going to tie you to that stolen Lamborghini.”
“They won’t,” Alex argued. “We were careful.”
“They have ways of gathering evidence,” Dev said. “You know, they got these CSI people who gather hair and blood samples, not just fingerprints.”
“And what kind of hairs will they find?” Len stared at me and waggled his eyebrows. “Straight ones or small, black curly ones?”
“Eww.” Dev slapped him on the back of his head. “Why you gotta be so crude?”
“Regardless,” Sawyer said above everyone else and gaining the room’s attention. “It doesn’t matter if you get arrested for the Lamborghini or the assault, you guys are going to jail…” he paused, looking over at me. “Well, maybe not you. You’re still underage.”
The only time it would ever work in my favor.
“No,” Alex said, decided. “If they come for us, we’ll run.”
My jaw dropped.
“Run? Shut the fuck up, man.” Len laughed. “Where the fuck will you guys run? Mexico? The drug cartel isn’t too happy with you after the stunt you pulled last week.”
“I don’t know.” Alex kept his eyes on the floor and rubbed the back of his neck. “We’ll go somewhere.”
“You’re crazy,” Dev scoffed. “An assault charge is not the end of the world. What is that?” She looked back at Len. “Five years?”
“Depends,” he answered. “If he didn’t pull out his fucking gun, five years, but he’s a moron and will get ten to fifteen, considering this is not his first offense.”
“Ten to fifteen?” I struggled to breathe.
“Madi, fuck that!” Alex took one long stride across the room and fell to his knees in front of me. Taking hold of my hands, he forced me to look at him. “That’s not going to happen. We’ll leave and go somewhere.”