by J. L. Brooks
Waves of nausea rolled over me as my mind flashed with the images from my nightmares. Just the thought of a different woman with her mouth wrapped around his cock was traumatizing and took me right back to that dark place. I turned around on the barstool to peer up to where the boys were sitting. A small horde of girls was crowded around Eli and Hunter with several others making their way up. Through flashes of light, I could see my presence was not missed and wanted nothing more than to disappear.
“Can you call me a cab? I want to leave now. How much do I owe you for the drink?” I reached into my clutch and pulled out my credit card. “Let me settle their bill, too, please.”
Savion pushed my card away. “Lila, I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m sorry. It’s just been so long. Anyways, let me make it up to you and take you out for lunch sometime, catch up properly. I will take you home, too. Let me tell the guys I will be out for a bit.”
Although I wasn’t happy with Savion’s comments, I knew he meant well. “You don’t mind?” I asked quietly.
He rubbed my back lightly. “Come on, it’s me. Of course I don’t mind. Finish your drink and we can go.”
I knew Eli and Hunter were getting shitfaced rather quickly. Thankfully I made Eli give me his keys before going in the club so they would be forced to get a ride from someone or take a cab. Getting my license renewed was one more thing to add to the never-ending list. I just wanted to crawl in bed and sleep. We left the club, and Savion opened the door to what appeared to be a brand new Mercedes. Before I went to sit down, I ran my finger along the hood and gave a low whistle.
“Business must be good.”
He chuckled lightly as the sound of the club grew louder with the opening of the front door. I looked up to see the boys charging towards us, a few others behind them.
“What the fuck is this?” Hunter shouted and reached for me.
“Hunter, he’s just taking me home. It’s fine, you and Eli can hang tonight. I’m just going to bed.”
Still grasping my arm, he started to pull me back away from the car. “He’s not taking you anywhere.” Hunter’s voice was full of ice and venom. Contrary to what I had assumed, it was easy for me to tell he was not drunk.
Savion leaned his arms across the top of his car, unfazed. Raising a brow, he shrugged and shut the door. Circling the hood he stopped next to Hunter and gave a dark smile. “It’s a little late to play hero, don’t you think?”
He made it two feet towards the club before I heard the pop of Hunter’s fist plowing into Savion’s jaw.
“You motherfucker,” Hunter sneered.
Savion bent over, grabbing his knees for stability as he spit blood onto the ground and laughed. Slowly standing up, he called for Hunter to come at him again. Surprisingly Hunter didn’t take the bait but shouted to Eli to call the police and warned Savion not to move.
“Dude, you threw the first punch, you’re going to jail. You sure you want me to do that?” Eli asked nervously.
With the utmost seriousness, Hunter asked me to walk along the yellow parking line. I had only had a drink and a half, so it should have been simple. I placed my right foot on the line and lifted the left, only to stumble to the side. The lines were quickly blurring, causing me to misjudge where to step. I kept trying and failed miserably. After a few attempts, I raised my head to see Eli punching Savion repeatedly in the gut as another guy held him in place. Hunter was at my side, trying to help me to stand. The bright red and blue lights of the cruisers were unusually blinding as they flew into the lot. Unable to walk, I sat on the ground and watched as Hunter, Eli and Savion were arrested and placed in separate cruisers. Two officers approached me and started to speak, but I could not hear them clearly. Words traveled down a virtual tunnel, garbling before my brain could decipher their meaning.
“I just want to lie down for a minute,” I mumbled.
I was so sleepy, and the ground was so comfortable. Reaching my arm out, I closed my eyes for just a moment.
Hunter, this is the best idea I’ve ever had!
Summer was sweltering, and without school to keep us entertained, I couldn’t stand one more night in someone’s basement, listening to records while getting high. I needed something different to do, and it was too dangerous to drop at the park and have to drive home. The pool in my parents’ backyard was secluded and private. Hunter scored some amazing acid, and we planned out an evening under the stars, diving for glow sticks in the moonlight, just the two of us. Giggling like children, we snapped an entire crate’s worth of glow sticks of various shapes and colors, poking them into cups so they would sink in the water. Having some float, the two depths gave the most spectacular display. Vivid pinks, oranges, yellows and greens glowed all around us.
“Lil, it’s incredible. I want to go first.”
Diving headfirst into the pool, Hunter swam past several of the glow sticks and snagged my legs, pulling me under. The sensations of the cool liquid against my skin, the droplets traveling down my face, breasts and arms made me feel like I was connected to the water, not simply immersed in it. The swirls and waves were hypnotic, distracting me from the task at hand. Trying to stay focused while tripping my face off was impossible. We danced, kissed, splashed and swam. Each stroke of my arm sliced through the glowing water. Hunter had managed to find all of the sunken glow sticks and layered them on the deck surrounding the pool. One last pink one remained, and I claimed it. Unable to gauge the true distance, my head smacked the concrete bottom, sending a sharp pain through my skull before the warmth tingled through my body. Trying to hold my breath, I kept swallowing water but could not find the surface. Knowing I was freaking out, I stopped struggling and simply let go . . .
It was the most unusual song I had ever heard. The drum was deep and soothing, but there was an unpleasant beep steadily pitching every few seconds or so. I waited for another instrument to come in, but it never did. It was the same rhythm on an endless loop. I dreamed of music often, yet this was the melody of hospital machines monitoring vital signs against the beating of my own heart. The air was cool and antiseptically scented. Opening my eyes, I saw that the room was empty. It was closer to dusk, based on the color of sunshine streaming through the drapes. Finding the call button, I pressed it and a nurse came in immediately to greet me.
“Hello, Lila, how do you feel?”
“My head is killing me. What happened?”
She smiled and turned off the annoying monitor, and then unhooked the IV attached to my arm.
“Let me get the doctor. It’s not really my place. Wait just a moment; I will get him.”
I tried not to get upset, but it was hard not to. The last thing I remember was sitting at the bar with Savion, hearing about the horrible things Hunter had done. Perhaps I had fallen off of the barstool and hit my head. Was I in another accident?
Dreaming about the pool and waking up in the hospital was more than I could comprehend. Luckily the doctor came in and held a gentle smile. Wheeling a laptop to my side, he began typing notes and asking a few questions. After a quick exam, he exited the room and returned with two police officers, causing me to swallow with fear.
“Ma’am, I’m Officer Gleason, this is Officer Johnson, and we are with the Cleveland Police Department. Do you mind if we talk to you for a few moments?”
I nodded, unsure of what they wanted, but I had nothing to hide. They asked me about the evening, how I arrived at the club, what I did there, who I saw. What I wasn’t able to tell them was how I left and ended up in the hospital. Together with the doctor, they explained at some point in the evening I had been given the drug Rophenol. Because it had been such a short time period and they were told that is what I was given, they were able to test for it and catch it in my bloodstream.
“Where is my brother Eli? Where is Hunter? Are they okay?” I started to sob uncontrollably with the disaster my life had become. I just wanted to go home.
“Ma’am, your brother is in the lobby with your parents and Mr. Michael
s was released and is on his way to New York with his lawyer. We could not let anyone in to see you until we had spoken to you ourselves to get your side of the story. We have been investigating a long series of date rape crimes, and because of last night we were able to finally catch the perpetrator.”
Shaking my head I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Savion? No way. He wouldn’t hurt anyone. It must be a mistake.”
Officer Gleason walked a little closer to the side of my hospital bed, holding the metal rail for a moment pulling back his lips in a tight line.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Keaton, fingerprints have already confirmed he is our suspect. We may need you to testify for us if it goes to trial.”
Closing my eyes again, I rubbed my face and wiped away more tears. “Are you kidding me?”
“Afraid not, ma’am. Were sorry to tell you that. However, you are a very lucky woman. Some of the victims have been left in pretty bad shape. You managed to escape relatively unharmed. I would say someone is watching over you.”
I didn’t want to think about what could have happened and what was happening. It was all too much.
“Can I please see my family now?”
“Of course, thank you for your time. Here is our card. We will be in touch. Try and get some rest, Ms. Keaton.”
The officers left the room and brought my family back. My mother ran to me and nearly knocked me off of the bed with her embrace. Eli stood timidly next to my father. I had so many questions but knew not to do it in front of them. I only had one request.
“Get me out of here.”
Walking into the empty house without Hunter waiting for me formed a fissure in my heart so deep, I was unsure I would ever recover. Across my pillow was a t-shirt he left behind. My face buried in the fabric to capture his scent any chance I could. Clutching it to my chest, I feared it would leave just as he did, far too soon. My calls went unanswered; however, the phone never stopped ringing with reporters pursuing a story. Our week together had become a tabloid magazine’s jackpot, according to my mother.
Cable access shows and grocery store racks were bursting with theories on what the past week had created. Supposed ex-boyfriends and girlfriends, neighbors and co-workers came out of the woodwork with “eye-witness stories.” All of it was garbage and did nothing but worsen my depression.
Despite two months going by, I chose to remain disconnected to the outside world. There was no one I wanted to talk to anyway. Eli’s wife Rachel was constantly bringing the kids over, knowing that was the only thing to get me out of bed each day. Seeing how miserable I was, Rachel handed me an envelope after dinner one evening and held her index finger across her lips, indicating to keep quiet. Inside was a round trip plane ticket to Denver, leaving the next day, and a ticket to Hunter’s show at Red Rocks Amphitheater. On a post-it note a short message had been scrawled.
Don’t give up.
I hugged her tightly and tried my hardest not to cry. My mother came up behind me and rubbed my back, obviously playing a part. Eli was in the truck with the kids, waiting for Rachel to leave the house, honking impatiently.
“Good luck, Lila. I will pray for you. It will work out, you will see. Coincidences are when God chooses to remain anonymous. Hunter was back in your life for a reason.”
I smiled and kissed her cheek as she headed out. When I turned to my mother, she ushered me upstairs to begin packing right away. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she smoothed her hand over the patchwork quilt with an anxious look on her face.
“Mom, what’s going on? Why are you guys so quick to send me after him? I don’t think he wants to see me or else he would have called by now. Are you sure this is even a good idea?”
A small tear slipped from the corner of her eye, which she caught before it fell down her cheek. “Honey, you know I love Hunter like a son. Before you go, there are a few things you need to know. His mom is on her way over here; we’d like to talk to you.”
I closed the top drawer of my dresser and sat next to her on the bed. “Is this going to freak me out? Because I think I have hit my limit. If it’s not absolutely critical, can you wait until I am in a better place?”
She shook her head and grabbed my hands, placing them in her lap, rubbing them softly. “If only there was time. I would never put this on you, but you will see. Let’s go downstairs and put on a pot of coffee.”
“Way to build suspense, Mom. If you are going to tell me you’re pregnant or you guys are getting a divorce, please let me get drunk first.”
She stopped on the stairwell before entering the hall to the kitchen. “No, Lila, it is not that. I no longer have a uterus, remember?”
I laughed a little and ground some beans from the freezer for the coffee pot. “Oh yeah, details . . . But you and Dad are good?”
Lifting her head to smile while setting out the mugs, she replied, “Yes honey, we’re fine. Bailing your brother out of jail may have caused your father to lose the last few hairs he had left, but it was for a good reason.”
Savion was still a sore spot in my book. After finally talking to Eli about everything, I ran to the bathroom and vomited. Knowing how dark he had become broke my heart. Tired of being rejected for being the good guy, he began to take drastic measures. Eli was not aware of what he was doing or he would have never stepped foot in the club. He was just as shocked as I.
“How many bad things can possibly happen to a person in such a short time?”
Unable to answer me, he shrugged as we shifted the conversation to the trial. Savion had pleaded not guilty and refused to take a plea for a lesser sentence. Being the only proof connecting him to the use of the Rophenal, I was subpoenaed to court to testify. I pushed the thought from my mind until I had to deal with it. So far, Hunter’s lawyer had successfully kept him away from the case, despite the altercation, meaning he would not be coming back unless for a different reason.
The sound of the door chime dragged me from my thoughts, a welcoming relief. Hunter’s mother Virginia was waiting anxiously on the stoop, holding a container with some type of pastry and a manila folder resting on top. I hadn’t seen her in years and did not anticipate the emotion that would well up in her presence. I reached out to take the items from her hands, and she followed me into the kitchen before falling apart in my arms.
“Virginia, it’s okay. What’s wrong?”
She looked to my mother and nodded as if giving silent permission to share whatever it was that seemed to cause turbulence in these two women. Holding both of our hands, my mother cleared her throat.
“Honey, Hunter has only been back to Cleveland once in the past four years. Did he mention seeing his family at all?”
I thought about it, and until that moment had not paid much attention, simply assuming he would be visiting his family. Also meaning Savion lied about him being in the club that night.
“Now that you say something, no, he didn’t. Why?”
With a trembling hand, Virginia reached into the folder and pulled out an aged piece of blue paper, then handed it to me. I gently unfolded the document and grew even more confused. In faded ink it read:
It was a birth announcement. The only thing I recognized was the person had the same birthday as Hunter. Handing it back to Virginia, the two women glanced at each other, speaking volumes without saying a word.
“Someone going to tell me what’s going on? I don’t read minds.”
Stirring her coffee, Virginia set the spoon to the side and held the hot ceramic in her palms. Taking a slow sip, she gained her composure.
“A few years ago, a woman claimed to be pregnant with Hunter’s baby. He couldn’t be sure, but being Hunter, he stepped up to the plate and was prepared to do what he needed to take care of his child. He spent thousands of dollars in healthcare, set the woman up in a nice apartment and took care of a one night stand only to find out it wasn’t his baby after all. He had demanded a paternity test, which required him giving a blood sample for DNA profiling. He began to ask
all kinds of questions about family history, and the results came. The baby was type A negative. I am B positive, his father is AB positive. ”
“Okay? Blood type isn’t an indicator, so what gives?”
“Hunter discovered he was a type O negative. Lila, Hunter is adopted. We never intended on telling him. I know that might seem selfish, but it just never seemed like the right time,” she said quietly.
Reeling, I took a deep breath to absorb the information. I couldn’t imagine finding out in the same span of time a child you thought was yours wasn’t, nor did you belong to your parents. How devastated he had to have been.
“Why are you telling me this?”
After taking another sip of her coffee, she twisted the bangle on her wrist to diffuse some of her anxious energy. My mother stepped in to tell the rest of the story, especially since she had become an accomplice to whatever scheme they planned on me embarking upon.
“Honey, until you came back, no one had even heard from or seen Hunter here this whole time. His family has been terribly worried, but he’d shut them out completely. They know it was wrong not to tell him and have him find out the way he did.”
My heart shattered for him. The unimaginable weight he had to be carrying. Suddenly it made sense why he was so eager to take Dinah’s bait. I was something from the past that hadn’t ever let him down, until my decisions placed him into a position of unnecessary strife. I could not blame him for ignoring me. Going to Colorado suddenly didn’t seem like such a great idea.
“He deserves to be happy. I don’t think I can give him that. I seem to bring him nothing but trouble.”
Slamming her mug so hard on the table I was sure it had cracked somewhere, my mother yelled, “Bullshit.”
“What do you mean bullshit? What do you know about us?”
She shot daggers with the ferocity in her eyes towards my cowardice. “Listen here, Lila, you didn’t see his face when he was forbidden to see you. I did. Never before have I seen someone so crushed.”