by Beth Burnett
“Do you want to go to my house?” I ask her.
“Yes, if we can stop at my place for a change of clothes.”
“No problem. Let’s pick up some breakfast food, too.”
“I do have to work tomorrow at four.”
“PM?”
“Obviously.
“I think I can get you to work by four.”
We come around the corner, and I spot my vehicle down the street. Focusing on Heather, I fail to notice the two men standing on the curb until we’re almost upon them. Heather squeezes my hand and lets go of it. The guys make eye contact and one of them smiles.
“Well, look at this. Two pretty ladies walking along the street after dark.”
The other leers at Heather. “One pretty lady, anyway.”
These guys want trouble. I’m checking them out to figure out if I can take them. I know Heather is quick with her knife, but I also saw her take it out this morning while we were showering and throw it onto the bathroom counter.
Heather holds her hands up in a pacifying gesture. “We don’t want any trouble. I’ll give you all the money I have.”
The smaller guy licks his lips. “Oh, honey. I’ll take your money. But that’s not all I’m taking.”
One of the guys is big, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. I’ve taken down big guys in a fair fight before. The other guy is skinny and rat-faced. He’s the one who is leering at Heather. My car keys are still in my pocket. I should have had them in my hand. At least then I could have tried to stab someone in the eye with a key.
Rat Face leans in closer to Heather and she backs up. I move closer to her and prepare to make the first move. Big Guy suddenly makes a grab for me, while Rat Face grabs Heather’s arm. She yanks it out of his grasp, but he moves fast and is wrapping his arms around her. I duck under Big Guy’s fist and slam my foot into his crotch. He doubles over for a second and I reach for his collar, thinking to knee him in the face. While I’m reaching for him, he comes up hard with his elbow and nails me in the chest. I can’t breathe for a second. Big Guy wraps both arms around me and slams me back against the building next to us. My head hits the brick and my ears start ringing. I kick out again, but he blocks my leg and slams his fist into my stomach. All of the wind goes out of me.
Vaguely aware that Heather is struggling with Rat Face, I punch out as hard as I can at Big Guy. I land a blow to his nose and blood comes gushing out of it. I still can’t quite catch my breath, but I’ll be God-damned if I let this fucker touch Heather again. Little black lines are hovering around my peripheral vision. Slamming my fist into Big Guy’s face one more time, I knock him away from me and dive toward Rat Face guy. He now has Heather pinned against the wall and is yanking at her breasts.
“Mother fucker,” I scream.
Big Guy’s foot shoots out and sidekicks me to the knee. It crumbles underneath me, and I’m down. In a flash, Big Guy is on top of me, pinning me down with the weight of his body. I’m struggling to get out from underneath him as he slams my face down into the cement and lays full length on top of me. His other hand is yanking hard at my waist band, trying to get into my jeans. I feel a button snap and then I hear raised voices. Big Guy is knocked off of me. I roll over quickly to see two guys dragging Rat Face off Heather. Two more guys are beating the hell out of Big Guy. I drag myself to my knees and then my feet. Heather runs to me and throws her arms around me.
“Are you hurt?” I ask.
“No, I’m fine. Are you?”
“I’m okay. Let’s get out of here.”
“Shouldn’t we call the police?”
The four guys have Rat Face and Big Guy down. One of the guys is kicking Rat Face repeatedly in the ribs, while another is stepping down on his face. Big Guy is slumped against the wall with the other two men taking turns punching him in the face and slamming his head back against the brick wall. Rat Face and Big Guy look close to death. The other four guys look pissed and aggressive. One is screaming about keeping the streets of this city safe. I figure they’re either rabid vigilantes or some sort of demented guardian angels. Either way, we’re not sticking around to see these villains get killed.
“No. We shouldn’t.” We stalk down the street and jump into my vehicle. My breathing has almost returned to normal by the time I start the engine and hear the automatic locks click. Heather is shaking, but she doesn’t look hurt. I can feel blood dripping down the back of my neck and my nose is bleeding from where the asshole pushed my face into the sidewalk. Heather grabs some napkins from the glove box and holds one to my nose.
“Do you think it’s broken?”
Flipping a U-turn, I drive past the scene of the crime. The four men are still beating on our attackers. “No,” I mumble. “I don’t.”
“Do you want me to drive?”
“No.”
“We should at least go to the hospital.”
Turning on to the next street, I lay on the gas. “Heather, I’m not going to the hospital.”
“Well, I think you need to get checked out, and I think we need to call the police and file a report.”
“What should we tell them, Heather? That we were attacked on the street by two guys who wanted to rape us?”
“Yes, exactly.”
“Forget it. They’re probably dead now. I don’t want to be involved in that.”
“This is why women find it so hard to report rape. Because other women don’t report it.”
We make it to the on-ramp for the freeway. I head west. “We weren’t raped, Heather. Please let this go.”
She doesn’t respond. When I look at her, she’s looking out the window, quietly crying. I reach over to take her hand.
“Heather. Listen. Those vigilantes saved us. We don’t want them to get in trouble if they killed the rapists, do we?”
She doesn’t speak.
“Heather? Listen. Those guys got what’s coming to them. Seriously. If they aren’t dead, they’re close to it. If we report this right now, we’re going to be involved in a pretty serious case.”
She sighs. “I just think not reporting it is the wrong thing to do.”
“I don’t think there is a right thing here.”
“Are we still going to your house tonight?”
“I was thinking we could go to Davey’s. Maybe Leah can give me some herbs for my scrapes.”
Heather nods. “Good idea.”
We take the Crocker Park exit and head into Westlake. Davey’s car is in front of her apartment and the lights are on. Heather and I get out of the Trailblazer and I knock on the door.
“Andy and Heather! What a sur...” Davey cuts off as she notices the blood on my face. “What happened?”
She drags us into the apartment. Danny jumps off the couch as soon as he sees us and guides us to sit down. Davey tears off into the kitchen for ice, calling for Danny to text Leah.
Lynne comes out of the bathroom, toweling her hair. She runs over to sit next to Heather and takes her hand. “What happened?”
Davey comes back out with a first aid kit and a bag of ice wrapped in a towel. “Put this over your nose.”
“Screw that, I need it on my knee.” I put my leg over the arm of the couch and lay the ice pack down on my knee.
Lynne has her arm around Heather while Heather relays the story to the three of them. My head is swimming a bit. I rest it on the back of the couch. I’m vaguely aware that Heather is still speaking. Davey is gasping. Danny looks dead serious. I wave my hand at him, trying to get him to smile, but he goes fuzzy before my eyes and everything is black.
Leah’s face is hovering over mine as I begin to focus. “Hey, Leah,” I say, trying to smile. “You look a little wavy.”
“You might have a concussion,” she says, frowning. “We need to take you to the hospital.”
“Rat balls! If I go to the hospital for a concussion, they’re just going to give me pain meds and tell you to wake me up every half hour.”
“Is it every half hour
?” Danny looks pensive. “I thought it was fifteen minutes.”
“No, it’s every hour,” Davey says. “I had a concussion in fifth grade.”
“She fell off the slide,” Leah says to Heather.
“That’s beside the point right now.” Davey is frowning. “We need to get both of you to the hospital, and then we need to file a police report.”
Heather snaps her fingers. “That’s what I said in the car.”
Leah shakes her head. “I don’t think Andy needs to go to the hospital.” She pauses. “You all know that I don’t think it’s a good idea to call the police.”
Davey puts her hand on her mother’s shoulder. “Well, honey. You think all police are just tools of the fascist government running this country.”
“Fair enough,” Leah answers. “Still, there’s no denying that people who go to the police more often than not get more trouble as victims than as criminals.”
“That’s simply not true.”
Leah rears her head back. “As a matter of fact, it is. How often are rape victims treated like criminals? Lawyers dig into their pasts. They are accused of asking for it. In Heather and Andy’s case, the fact that they are lesbians will most certainly be used against them. This system is broken and the only way to win is to take care of things yourself.”
Heather shifts on the other end of the couch and for the first time, I realize that she’s wearing different clothes. She’s showered, too. Her hair is still damp in the back. Staring at her, my eyes come into focus. She smiles across at me.
“Are you wearing different clothes?”
She lays her hand on my ankle. “Danny took me home to shower and get a change of clothes while you were out. Leah swore you would be okay.”
“Leah was right,” Leah crows. “Leah is always right. You should all listen to me.”
Heather laughs. Davey shakes her head.
“Where’s Lynne?” I swore she was here when we got here earlier.
Leah answers. “She went over to Sarah’s. We figured you two might want to spend the night here, so we’re making room for you.”
Danny comes back from the kitchen with a couple of fresh ice packs. He puts one on my knee and another on my nose.
“I don’t think her nose is broken,” he says softly to Davey. “Her head is all right, too. She has a pretty thick skull.”
I grin up at him. “Thanks, pal.”
Gingerly touching my nose, I feel a wad of toilet paper stuffed into each nostril. Great, I can’t imagine what all they did to me while I was passed out. My face feels a little greasy.
“Leah, what did you put on me?”
“Comfrey salve with some goldenseal for antiseptic purposes. It’ll heal fast.”
Danny grins down at me. “You look kind of tough, Andy.”
“I don’t feel very tough,” I say, half-joking.
He touches me lightly on the head. “You are. You were overpowered by lunatics. That isn’t your fault.”
Whatever. I ignore him and stare at the wall. It was my fault, though. I knew those guys meant us harm before they started talking to us. I should have taken a punch before they even made a move. The outcome might have been different if I had been more on my game. What’s the point in being a big, tough dyke if I can’t even defend my date from an attacker?
Heather is rubbing my leg and staring at me. I look back at her sadly. I failed her. She might not realize it yet, but I failed her. I take my legs off the couch and slowly come to a sitting position. My nose isn’t throbbing anymore, but my head is. On the other hand, I no longer have squiggly black lines in my vision.
Leah glares at me. “Don’t think you’re going anywhere in that condition.”
She knows me too well. I had been planning on driving back to my house. My head hurts and I want to sleep in my own bed. Heather squeezes my leg.
“Leah, I can drive Andy home. I’m actually fine.”
“Neither of you are perfectly fine,” Leah counters. “You had a traumatic experience, and you need to be taken care of. If you want to go to Andy’s house, that’s fine. But I’m going too.”
“As am I,” Davey says.
Danny grins. “In for a penny, in for a pound.”
My head hurts even worse. I love these people but it would be nice to be rid of them for five minutes. Heather smiles at Leah and reaches out for her hand. “Leah, thank you.”
Davey stands up. “Okay, getting an overnight bag. Then we’ll carpool over to Andy’s.”
“Now I feel bad for kicking Lynne out,” Leah says.
“Don’t,” Davey responds. “She needs to be spending more time with her wife and less time living on my couch.”
Davey packs a bag while Leah and Danny gather groceries and medicinal herbs. By unspoken agreement, we’re all letting Leah take the lead in my doctoring. I don’t necessarily believe in all of her new age hoodoo stuff, but I do agree that she has a vast knowledge of healing herbs and she has never yet let me down when it comes to something that needs repairing on my body.
Heather moves closer to me while the others are busy. “Andy? Are you okay?”
“Of course I am. I’m always okay.”
“It was a terrifying experience.”
She leans against me and I pull her into my arms. “It was. Are you going to be all right?”
“I think so. I have to say something.” She pauses, looking down at her hands. “If those guys are dead, I won’t be sad.”
“I know. Neither will I.”
She rests her head against me for a few moments. Her hair smells amazing. I just want to crawl into my bed and pull her tight against me and sleep for several days. Of course, it looks as if I am having a slumber party tonight. I guess that’s all right. This is my family and they want to take care of us. I’m actually pleased with their concern even though I wouldn’t mind being alone right now. Heather shifts in my arms and kisses me on the cheek.
“Andy, are you sure it’s the right thing not to go to the police?”
“No,” I respond. “No, I’m not sure at all.”
Chapter Fifteen
Sometimes the old adages do hold true. Everything will look better in the morning. Of course, the morning would have looked better if Davey, Danny, Heather, and Leah hadn’t take turns waking me up every half hour through the night to ask me my name, my birth date, my mother’s maiden name, and several ridiculous history questions that I wouldn’t be able to answer on the best of days.
Heather isn’t in bed. My bedside clock says it’s almost eleven. I wonder if Heather has gone home. Soft voices are drifting to me from the other room. If I lie here long enough, someone will come in to wake me up and ask me questions. When that happens, maybe I can order a cup of coffee. My head feels a lot better. Sitting up carefully, I test my dizziness level. It seems equilibrium has been restored. I gingerly feel my nose. Tender, but not intense. I guess Danny was right about it not being broken.
The urge to pee is winning out over the urge to stay in bed, so I stand up and walk slowly into the master bath. Figuring a hot shower can only help, I peel off my clothes and get into water as hot as I can stand it. I’m trying to remember what Leah says about clearing my mind. I don’t want to say “oms” or anything like that, but I’m trying to envision a stretch of beach with waves hitting the shore. Breathe in as the waves roll in; exhale as the waves dissolve back into the ocean. Breathe in through my nose, breathe out through my mouth.
I’m trying to keep the ocean in my mind, but the leering smirk of Rat Face keeps popping into my mind. My muscles are trembling with the desire to slam my fist into that smirk. Maybe that’s what gets me more than being bested by the big guy. The other guy, that disgusting fuck, put his hands all over Heather, and I didn’t even get to punch his ugly face-- not even once. The mind-clearing exercise isn’t working. It’s just as well. Anger is good. Holding on to anger will keep me focused through the next week of working my ass off to make sure something like that never happe
ns again.
As I’m toweling off, Leah comes into the bathroom carrying a cup of coffee. She sets it on the towel cupboard and sits on the side of the tub.
“How are you feeling?”
“Angry.”
“I figured as much.”
“Is Heather still here?”
“Yes, she’s in the other room talking to Wolf.”
“Wolf?” I’m irritated. “Wolf Featherstone?”
Leah nods. “Yes. He offered to come talk to the two of you today.”
“Somehow I don’t think I need help from someone who chose his name from a step-by-step guide to becoming an Indian.”
Leah smiles gently. “Andy, Wolf may have chosen his name or he may have been born to it. It doesn’t matter. If he feels that it fits him, then who are we to question it?”
“Whatever.” I finish dressing and Leah and I move to the bedroom.
She starts making the bed.
“Leah, you don’t have to do that. I’m not an invalid.”
“No, you’re not. But you need to take it easy today.”
“I don’t need to take it easy. I feel fine. I’m going to kick everyone out of my house and then I’m going to do a workout.”
“Absolutely not. You suffered a head injury yesterday. You’re not going to do anything but drink tea and relax.”
Taking a deep breath, I count to ten in my head. Leah continues to make the bed. I stare at her back until she finishes and finally looks at me.
“Yes?” She looks at me with a perfectly serene face.
“What’s for breakfast?”
“Danny made veggie burritos. They’re good.”
“Do they have bacon in them?”
She laughs. “Of course not. You shouldn’t be eating bacon anyway.”
“I’m not going to get into an argument about vegetarianism.”
“Neither am I. If you want to continue to eat meat, that’s your choice. But bacon is terrible.”
“Terribly delicious,” I trill, walking out of the bedroom.
Heather and Wolf are sitting on my couch, chatting companionably. Heather smiles up at me as I approach and tilts her face up for a kiss. Obliging, I give her a short, but soft kiss, and then move over to a chair. Wolf smiles at me as he rises. He reaches out to touch my hand, and I lean back, putting space between us.