by P D Miller
Early in the afternoon Missy decided to go to Ben’s house and see if she could patch things up. It surprised her to find the house empty, and she paced for well over an hour before she asked her brother to call Ben at the office. At first he was told Ben was in conference. Missy asked him to persist and tell the secretary Mrs. Ben Spinelli was calling and it was urgent. His secretary switched the call and rang Ben’s office.
Since Ben had left orders not to be disturbed, his full rage broke when the phone persisted in ringing. He grabbed it and screamed. “I told you not to bother me! I’m too damn busy right now.” He slammed down the receiver and went back to his meeting.
Missy’s brother sat listening to a dial tone in stunned silence and then told her Ben said he was too busy to talk to her. She started shaking as she watched Paulo put the receiver back on the hook, then pulled her legs up and hugged her knees. She didn’t move and stared out into space while the house became dark. Paulo sat quietly and waited. She might have sat there all night except Paulo noticed lightning, turned on a lamp and suggested they go home. Moments later lightning flashed across the picture window, just as thunder clapped and shook the house. Missy felt it and started shaking all over, jumped up and headed for the door. Paulo took her home.
Just after one in the morning Ben came in soaked to the skin, didn’t even notice the lamp on and went upstairs. He took a hot shower, dropped on the bed and was instantly asleep. At six when the alarm rang, he rolled over and fought his arousal. Damn the dreams were getting to be nearly as bad as when he’d been close to Missy. He couldn’t continue this way. For nearly an hour he lay there trying to decide what he could do. It had been days since he’d even talked to her, and it seemed she didn’t want to see him anymore. Just touching her with his hand through her gown had done it. What would she do if he’d touched bare skin? He rose and headed for another shower. Dammit, he decided he’d quit early, go see her and have it out in the afternoon. They were just going to have to talk about it! He couldn’t take much more.
Missy too, woke up feeling empty and terrible. She wanted to know why Ben, hadn’t called, and she wanted to tell him what the doctor said—for him to ignore her protests and shaking. She tried to talk to her mother about it over breakfast after the guys left, but her mother was little help. In the first place, sex was never discussed in their house, so all she could tell Missy was about her own experience of being afraid on her wedding night because she was a virgin, and how it had hurt and then became a gratifying feeling when her husband was pleased. Missy sighed. Her mother considered sex a duty, something men want and women accept, and Missy felt even more frightened. Finally over her second cup of coffee, she decided to go see Ben at his office.
Ben was clearing up things so he could leave early when Ms. Erika Flambeau, a well known masseuse, angrily demanded to see him because he’d chosen not to allow her to rent space for a massage parlor. Ben didn’t want to see such a place in his mall and didn’t want to see the woman. She was overwhelmingly repulsive to him. This lady turned him totally cold. Every other word was “Dahhhling,” and she constantly wanted to put her hands on him as if it might convince him to see things her way. Her face was thick with makeup, and everything about her was disgusting. The moment she started around behind his desk, Ben rose and suggested they go out for coffee in the cafeteria which had just opened.
Half an hour later Ben’s secretary told Missy he went out for about an hour, and Missy decided to have coffee while she waited. She got no further than the cafeteria entrance. There Ben sat with this—this creature who was obviously playing up to him and oh damn! One hand was on his shoulder, another on his thigh! White, hot rage hit Missy. She turned and ran blindly from the mall, right into a car driving through the parking lot.
The frightened driver jumped from his car and went to Missy who sat on the pavement in a daze, her chest still heaving with anger. When the man asked if he should call an ambulance, she didn’t hear him and didn’t answer. She looked up, saw him ask if someone was nearby to help her. She glanced toward the mall with fury and shook her head no. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she told him to take her to the Sanchez Trucking Service! The worried man picked her up, put her in his car, and nearly flew to the shop.
Gonzalo saw the guy drive up, raced out to get Missy, hardly heard the guy’s explanation and rushed her to the emergency room. Still worried about her, the driver followed them. All the guy could think about was how he might be sued. He sat in a corner of the waiting room and watched it slowly fill with several men and an older woman. The older woman went to take care of Missy. Moments later Mrs. Sanchez called Gonzalo back into the room where he listened to how Missy ran into the car because of how she’d seen Ben.
In the meantime, the driver wished he was invisible when he saw signs of anger creep into the faces of the men. He nearly jumped out of his skin when Gonzalo walked from the patient room toward him, stopped in front of him and was instantly flanked by eight angry faces. Gonzalo held out his hand and thanked him. The man and her brothers blinked in surprise. Dumbfounded, they watched while the poor driver hurried out to his car.
“Missy ran into his car.” Gonzalo said quietly. “First we see she gets home, and then we go get Ben.” It wasn’t even necessary for Gonzalo to explain to them Ben was at fault. They knew, stood back and watched while their parents walked Missy to the car. All the doctor found was a small bruise on Missy’s forehead where she hit the window. As soon as their parents drove off, the brothers jumped in their cars and headed for the mall.
While Ben tiredly rubbed the back of his neck in his office, his secretary stiffened into a near catatonic state when nine men burst in demanding to see him. All she could manage was a wave of her hand to indicate Ben’s office.
“You’re a dead man!” Gonzalo burst into Ben’s office screaming.
“What the hell—” He dropped the folder in his hand.
“In here or outside?” Marco glared. “We don’t give a damn!”
“Out—” Ben mumbled totally confused.
Almost like robots the ten men walked outside to the vacant parking lot where building materials were stored. Foremen and employees looked up, could see what was about to happen and followed the crowd. Ben’s anger rose. Was all this because Missy went home? Damn, he’d tried to be patient, and when he tried to call she was always out or had nothing to say to him. Besides, how could they expect him to talk to her through someone? What the hell else did they expect? Well enough was enough! He could take no more! All his building anger and sexual frustration since he’d met Missy bubbled and boiled until it turned to white, hot rage. He wasn’t about to let these guys beat the hell out of him. Not this time. And this time he’d save Gonzalo for last!
When he saw the first clearing, he turned with arms swinging. Ricardo was in the way and went down with a crash. When two guys quickly jumped him, he threw them out of the way with little effort and went for Marco. He slammed his fist into Marco’s face several times like it was a punching bag, felt him go limp, let go and reached for Paulo. Gonzalo tried to step in, but Ben flung him away. Holding onto Paulo’s collar, Ben mashed his face twice then went for his ribs before he dropped him. Pedro and Luis jumped Ben. He knocked Luis out of the way and grabbed Pedro who managed to land one punch to Ben’s eye before he went down. Ben turned around looking for Luis and saw Jose nearest. Lunging at him, Ben knocked Jose in the right side of the head and then the chin. He went limp when Ben hit him in the stomach just as Tony and Gonzalo jumped in again. Ben flipped Gonzalo out of the way again and kneed Tony in the groin. No one noticed the police cars drive up, and the policemen get out slowly, not sure what they were seeing. Six guys were on the ground in various stages of consciousness and Ben was circling the other three.
“Come on.” Ben’s voice was so low it could hardly be heard. He was breathing hard, gasping, and his body was wet. “I’ve had it with you guys. Come on and fight me now.”
“Look there’s an ordinance—” One of t
he officers came to life.
“Screw your ordinance.” Ben glared at the three brothers he circled, giving him some time to catch his breath. “They’re on my property, and it’s personal. I hope I never hear the name Sanchez again.”
“But still the law—”
“Screw it!” Ben glanced at the officer and circled. Tony looked up at Gonzalo helplessly with his hand holding his groin. “Arrest me when I’m finished if you want!” He lunged for Luis. It just took two good upper cuts to down Luis, and Ben turned to Juan. He grabbed him by the collar, landed four blows to his face and felt him go limp. Ben dropped him to the pavement and turned to Gonzalo. Although none of the guys had managed to do much damage, tears rolled down Ben’s cheeks. One of the policemen quietly called for an ambulance.
“Dammit!” Ben yelled. “I tried! I don’t even know what the hell this is about this time.” He slammed Gonzalo in the jaw.
“She saw you with another woman!” Gonzalo circled and hit Ben in the ribs. “Sitting there at home every night waiting for you—you were with some damn woman!” Ben punched Gonzalo in the ribs.
Ben was stunned. “When?” Gonzalo slammed Ben’s eye.
“Today in the cafeteria. She came to tell you what the doctor told her to do—” Ben got Gonzalo in the right eye.
The day raced through Ben’s confused mind. “In the café—”
Gonzalo’s fist slammed Ben’s other eye. Ben’s reaction was instant. Both swung like they were competing for a heavyweight championship when a third patrol car and an ambulance drove up. A rooky cop nervously jumped out of the squad car, saw nothing but two men fighting, whipped out his gun and yelled “FREEZE!”
Ben and Gonzalo stopped too, totally surprised. For several moments no one moved like time stood still. Then, as if coming to their senses, officers quickly handcuffed Ben and Gonzalo and three of the brothers who didn’t appear seriously injured. These five were pulled into patrol cars, Ben was put in one all alone, and the rest of the brothers were put into the ambulances to have ribs taped and cuts cleaned at the hospital.
At the station, once the initial shock of such a large gang coming in was over, things slowly cooled down. Ben was hauled into a separate office and pushed into a chair. He was too tired to argue, too tired to make a call, too tired to care what happened, too tired to give a damn anymore. He barely heard the charges read to him and shuffled silently to a cell.
Gonzalo called his father while officers wrote up their reports. He watched as Ben was led away, felt a surge of guilt and then turned his attention to his brothers. In less than half an hour Mr. Sanchez came with an attorney who argued the boys shouldn’t be charged because Ben attacked them. He pushed for charges against Ben. It seemed since the police were outnumbered by Sanchez boys at the station they decided it was easier to arrest Ben than nine brothers. Besides, the witnesses verified Ben went after them. It amazed everyone how quiet the station was after the Sanchez family left. Even the Spinelli guy was quiet.
“In the morning we’ll formally press charges.” The attorney told Mr. Sanchez “The man must have gone crazy.
“No you’re wrong.” Gonzalo chewed his lip. “We went after him, and I think we pushed him too far.” Ben’s confused expression over their accusations haunted Gonzalo. Instead, in the morning he’d do some checking.
It wasn’t a quiet night in the Sanchez household. Gonzalo dropped on a sofa and ignored everyone when his brothers came back from the emergency room. Ben got some of them pretty bad. There was a lot of groaning and moaning. His mother fussed all over the place; his father stomped around uselessly. Gonzalo chewed his thumb worrying about Missy upstairs. Finally he jumped up, raced upstairs, hesitated at Missy’s door and quietly opened it.
“What do you want?” Her red, swollen eyes showed she’d been crying.
“I just wanted to be sure you’re all right.”
“How would you feel if you were me?” She bit her lip.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Gonzalo nodded.
“If that’s all you wanted, I’m all right, I’m doing fine.” She sighed heavily. “Why don’t you just leave me alone?”
“Yeah, goodnight Melissa.” Gonzalo left the room when she turned away from him. He wandered back downstairs and sat on the sofa, watched as one by one his groaning brothers went up to bed, watched his mother tiredly push his father upstairs too, and still Ben’s confused face about their accusations haunted him.
On the way to work the next morning, Gonzalo decided not to go to Ben’s office and scare his poor secretary again. The lady probably sat there all night frozen. The first thing he did was call her on the phone and find out who the hell the woman was Ben was with and why. Just as he figured, every one of them took it wrong. When he dropped the receiver, he knew much more too—how Ben had worked late into the night each night since Missy came home. So they HAD pushed him too far! Well the least he could do was see the charges were dropped and get Ben out of jail. Afterwards, the rest must be up to Ben. Even Missy seemed resigned to it.
“You can go.” The officer unlocked Ben’s cell later in the morning.
“Yeah?” Ben uncovered his eyes in surprise and rose from the cot.
“Charges have been dropped.”
“Oh.” Mechanically Ben followed the officer to the front office, picked up his personal belongings and walked outside. Still feeling numb he didn’t bother to ask questions, just called a cab and went home. What the hell happened to make them drop charges?
Still seeking an answer to the question, Ben let himself into his house, went upstairs and showered. After changing he went downstairs and dropped on the sofa. He felt drained—too drained to go to work—too drained to do anything. For over an hour he stared at nothing through the window. Then slowly he hauled himself up, went to the garage for his other car and went to the office. Nothing was left but work—a half finished mall. For a split second he considered chucking it all and going back to New York like a beaten dog, but it was only a split second. Ben never left a job unfinished. No, he’d call his attorney to arrange an annulment and free Missy, finish the damn mall and then disappear. Being forced to leave his intended marriage in a mess was enough.
When Ben walked into the reception room sporting two black eyes, his secretary’s mouth dropped open. His eyes were not the reason; she’d just spent the morning calling all the hospitals to see if he’d been admitted, then imagined he was dead somewhere.
“Get my attorney up here on the double.” Ben frowned and reached for his office door. “Bring some coffee.”
Once inside he put his face in his hands. Take care of the annulment first, then—no! He couldn’t just drop Missy. If he did, some guy like Eduardo would come around again. She needed to go to college—she needed a chance to fulfill her dreams even if she thought them impossible. Still he couldn’t just send money. Missy would think he was buying his freedom. Well, surely by now her family must know she’s not in a family way and nothing had happened. It’s what this was all about. Right? So the annulment could wait a couple of days. First things first—he picked up the phone and called his banker. If nothing else, he’d financially pave a way for Missy to do what she wanted.
When his attorney walked in, Ben forced a smile. “There are two things I want you to do.” For the rest of the afternoon Ben worked with his attorney and made phone calls to friends and DEA agents he knew who could get some information for him. The secretary brought in lunch from the cafeteria, put it on Ben’s desk and left shaking her head at the few words she heard. At five she covered her computer, buzzed Ben she was leaving and shook her head again. The man was possessed! It was after nine before Ben worked everything out with his attorney. When they were both sure it would work, they drank a shot of scotch. Ben tried to ignore his feeling of emptiness when the attorney left. He slowly locked up. Once in his car, he had no desire to go anywhere, forced himself to start the engine and drive, then became angry with himself when he realized he was in Missy’s
neighborhood. He forced himself to drive home to his empty, lonely house. In the library he picked up a bottle, carried it to the living room, sank down, drank and talked to the stars until near dawn when he passed out.
Bright burning sunlight awakened Ben and made him cover his eyes. He groaned loudly and went upstairs, considered a shower and dropped on his bed instead. All he felt was emptiness. Around eight-thirty he rolled over, called his secretary and said he wouldn’t be in. It was pretty obvious by then. He told her to put Juan Garcia in charge since he was the most capable, and Ben wasn’t sure but thought he might take off a day or two. Considering how much he’d been working lately up to twenty hours a day plus all the other mess, his secretary felt relieved. Ben dropped the receiver, rolled over and went back to sleep. Damn, if he couldn’t have Missy in real life, then he could at least have her in dreams!
Just after noon a new Lincoln Continental pulled to a stop in front of the Sanchez house. A man got out, looked around nervously and went to the door.
“Is this the Sanchez residence?”
“Yes.”
“I’m looking for a Melissa Sanchez, about twenty or so. Would this be the right house?”
“Oh my, yes!” Mrs. Sanchez smiled. “She’s my daughter.”
“Her father is Gonzalo senior, right?” The man smiled.
“Yes, yes, my husband but he’s—”
“Finally. I’ve got the right house! It’s Melissa I’ve come to see.”
“Well she’s—” Mrs. Sanchez glanced worriedly toward the stairs.
“Is she here? I bring good news.”
“Yes, please come in. I’ll see if she’ll come down.” Mrs. Sanchez blinked. She ushered the man toward a sofa and rushed for the stairs. Ricardo wandered into the living room wearing a headset hooked to his music. He jerked and bounced to the rhythm but stopped it when he saw Missy following their mother downstairs.
“You want to see me?” Missy’s expression showed absolutely no emotion.