Somewhere in Between

by Lynnette Brisia

  A few minutes into the drive, he called Mary and asked her if it was okay he stop by. He knew it was late, nearing eleven at night, but with a shaky voice, he said it was important. Mary agreed, probably hearing the horror he couldn’t disguise. It was in this moment Gemma began to panic, but not about seeing Mary.

  “Oh God, everyone is going to know! Everyone will see!” she cried.

  “It’s okay. You’ll be okay. No one will know anything. Mary will make sure you’re well taken care of.” He wasn’t making a promise because he wasn’t sure it could be kept. But he knew Gemma needed to hear something soothing.

  “Please don’t let anyone find out. Please, Elliot,” she sobbed, fat tears falling to the jacket covering her trembling body.

  “It’ll be okay, Gemma. I won’t let anyone find out,” he tried to promise.

  After several long hiccups, she just nodded and went back to staring out the window, though he could tell she was only partially appeased.

  The moment he turned down his Aunt’s street, Gemma tensed. “Maybe you should just take me home,” she whispered as the large white house Elliot’s aunt lived in came into view. “I’ll just take a Tylenol and go to bed.”

  He didn’t respond, just got out of the car and then moved to help her out, lifting her small form into his arms. There were so many things he wanted to say to her, the first being that Tylenol wasn’t going to fix anything, but he remained silent, not wanting to snap. Because he wasn’t angry at Gemma. He heard the front door open and as he turned, again carrying Gemma delicately in his arms, he saw his aunt standing in the frame. She looked horrified. He was sure the image before her was ghastly.

  “Elliot? What’s going on?” Mary asked as Elliot passed her. He rushed Gemma into the living room, setting her gingerly onto the couch, despite her protests of ruining the furniture. “Gemma? Oh God, child, what’s happened?”

  Elliot walked to his aunt, his face ashen and his eyes wild. “Mary, you have to help her. Please. She won’t go to the hospital, she thinks she can be fixed with a fucking Tylenol, and I know they had to have hurt her really bad. Just look at her legs and the blood. Oh Jesus, the blood. I just, please, you gotta help her!” It was a harsh whisper breaking from his lungs.

  She studied him for a bit before nodding, manic written all over his body. “I’ll do what I can.” With that she turned her attention to Gemma. “Hi, sweetie, you think you can come with me for a minute? I just want to check you injuries, clean you up a bit.”

  Elliot watched his aunt and best friend walk slowly out of the room with lead in his stomach.

  LtB

  Mary had Gemma go with her to her guest bedroom on the first floor. It had a bathroom, and it was closest. After helping Gemma remove Elliot’s jacket, Mary was able to get a better look at what she was dealing with. Gemma knew she looked hideous. A quick glance down her torso in the alley had shown her bruises and blood, her blood. But knowing how much she hurt, she didn’t want to think about all the damage her body had sustained.

  “Sweetie, can you tell me what happened?” Mary asked softly, her eyes carefully roaming over Gemma’s still trembling form, cataloguing.

  Gemma shook her head hard, biting her lip and then regretting it when she discovered it was split. Blood coated her tongue and it made her gag.

  “Well, someone beat you up pretty good. That much I can tell. But you’re clothes are ripped too, and you have blood down your legs,” Mary observed, noticing Gemma flinch. “Something had to have happened to cause that. Can you tell me how that happened?”

  “Nothing happened, I tripped going to the movies,” Gemma whimpered. She didn’t want to say it; she didn’t want to face the truth.

  “This doesn’t look like nothing. This doesn’t look like a fall.” Mary tried coaxing.

  “Nothing happened because if I don’t say it, it isn’t real. Please don’t let it be real.” Sobs escaped. She couldn’t stop them.

  Mary closed her eyes briefly, taking in a deep breath. She would have to tread very carefully and pull in all her training. “Let’s get you cleaned up first. We’ll go from there.” For the next forty-five minutes, Mary helped Gemma rinse away the blood on her face, being careful of her new black and blue eyes and split lip. She helped clean away the dirt and rocks imbedded in the skin on her back. Then she helped her remove her tattered clothes, offering her sweats to change into. By the time Gemma was free of the visible mess and redressed in Mary’s clothes, Mary returned to the invisible mess. “I understand you don’t want what’s happened to be real. I don’t blame you at all for thinking that way. But there are some things I need to talk to you about.” Gemma only nodded, tears brimming in her eyes. “I’m going to go into nurse-mode now to explain. Okay?”

  Gemma nodded. A nearly inaudible “okay” leaving her lips.

  “Okay. You’ve been hurt. And from the little Elliot has told me he stumbled upon, and from what I can see, I know someone hurt you.” At this, Gemma whimpered. “Someone’s?” It was hesitant, but Gemma nodded, her eyes squeezed tight, despite the pain that caused. With a nod of her own, Mary continued, “More than one person hurt you. From seeing your injuries, I can see that some of the damage is not only external, but internal as well. I need you to be checked out to make sure you’re okay, that they didn’t do too much damage. Inside.”

  “No, I can’t. No examination!” Gemma was panicking again. Just the thought of someone touching her there, after tonight, made her skin crawl. “I can’t go through that.”

  “Okay, okay, it’s okay. Just take a deep breath. Try to breathe,” Mary soothed. “I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to, but Gemma, there could be evidence. And at the hospital, they can give you the morning after pill, to prevent pregnancy, as well as check for any STD’s that may have been passed on.”

  At this Gemma started to cry. She’d never even been kissed and suddenly, everything, all those pure, sweet moments she dreamed of, suddenly all of it was taken from her. She didn’t want to end up pregnant, not because of this, especially not because of this, but also because she was only fifteen after all. And she didn’t want to get sick. What if they had AIDS? She started to hyperventilate, tears spilling down her face. Oh, God, what if they had AIDS?

  “Gemma, breathe, sweetie. I need you to breathe.” Mary placed her hands on Gemma’s shoulders, stoking them gently. But Gemma couldn’t get her breaths to regulate, no matter how hard she tried. Images of them on top of her, images of her pregnant and dying from AIDS flashed across her mind terrifying her further.

  It wasn’t that Elliot was listening, it was just that they hadn’t traveled far in the house, so when Gemma began to cry, loud body-shaking sobs, he’d heard her. Worse yet, he heard her and couldn’t fix everything for her. After listening for several minutes, though, he couldn’t take it anymore. Rising from the couch, Elliot rushed toward the guestroom, and pushed open the door. He saw the bathroom door cracked so he hurried toward it.

  Just as he reached the door, he heard Gemma speak, her voice disjointed, broken, “Please, no!”

  Pushing forward, he nudged his aunt out of the way and pulled Gemma tight against him. He knew the quick action might startle her, but as she clung to him, he knew she needed him in that moment. He could feel her tears drenching his shirt; feel her chest-deep sobs quaking around her whole form. But he held on. “Shh, baby, it’s okay. I’m here. I’m right here. It’s okay, sweetheart.” He ran his fingers through her hair, wincing every time he came across a knot full of dried blood. “What happened?” he asked his aunt just above a whisper.

  She shook her head, a sad look on her face. As Gemma continued to cry against his chest, Mary mouthed, “I’ll tell you later.” Elliot nodded and continued to console Gemma.

  Thirty minutes later Gemma had stopped crying, her body slackened against Elliot’s. He peered down and noticed she was asleep, having cried herself out. As carefully as he could, he lifted Gemma and carried to the bed in the guestroom. The mo
ment she was curled up on the comforter, he took inventory of her. Her face was unnaturally pale, and it was even more apparent by the bruises forming around her eyes. Her soft, full, pink lips were damaged, her bottom lip split. She was wearing a t-shirt so the bruises forming on her arms were prevalent. Thankfully, pants covered her legs so he couldn’t see the damage there.

  With a heavy sigh, Elliot fell to the floor beside the bed, his head in his hands. Only hours ago he was trying to figure out a way to convince Trisha Scott that he was worthy of her time. Only hours ago, he was pathetically pursuing someone who didn’t care two cents about him. Only hours ago, the one person who did care was being brutally hurt, and he was being too ridiculous to save her from that hurt.

  Moisture splattered against his palms as his heart bled through tears in his eyes. “I’m so sorry, Gemma. I’m so sorry.”

  “Elliot?” Mary whispered, her hand lightly coming to rest on his shoulder. As soon as his wet, red eyes gazed upon her, she spoke, “Elliot, what happened tonight? Gemma just had a massive breakdown over just the suggestion of seeking help. I need you tell me as much as you know.”

  He had to take several shaky breaths before his lungs would cooperate to speak. Then his mouth ran dry, the images of Gemma stumbling toward him, her clothes ripped to shreds, her jacket barely covering what the clothes couldn’t, and her whole body beaten and bloody. And the images of those three guys congratulating each other, like what they’d just done was the greatest thing ever… he couldn’t hold back the agony any longer. Jumping from the bed, Elliot darted into the bathroom and promptly threw up the day’s meals.

  Heavy sobs wracked his body. Mary held him just as he had Gemma, letting him release his pain. Once he was able to calm down a little, he pulled away from his aunt, and began his tale.

  He told her how stupid he’d been obsessing over Trisha for months and how everyone couldn’t stand to be around him because of it. How everyone told him Gemma liked him but since all he talked about was Trisha, she didn’t want to be around him either since it probably broke her heart, as Christie put it. He told his aunt about not asking Gemma to go to the Homecoming dance because he was so delusional to think he should try for a chance with the head cheerleader, and didn’t think about anything else, so Gemma made up a story about hanging out with Ryan Matthews to keep from being humiliated, to keep from seeing him fall all over himself for someone he didn’t even know.

  Then he told her how Josh, the quiet one through his stupidity finally said something and it made him realize he’d been a dunce this whole time. And then Ryan had shown with his back on-again girlfriend, not knowing anything about hanging out with Gemma, and Leighanna didn’t understand why Ryan was at the dance when he was supposed to be with Gemma at the movies.

  Finally he told his aunt about Leighanna not being able to reach Gemma, and the anxiety he felt along his spine that got him moving and heading to the strip mall.

  Fresh tears sprang up in his eyes as he began to tell Mary about seeing the three guys, and knowing it was them who hurt Gemma. And then the moment he saw Gemma, stumbling down the alley, he completely broke down again. “I know what they did to her. I know they… I know they r-raped her. She won’t say it, but I know that’s what they did.”

  “I know, honey. I know it too,” Mary sighed somberly. “But we can’t make her say it if she doesn’t want to.”

  “Could I, could I report it? I mean I saw the guys, so could I file a report on them?”

  Mary seemed to think for a moment. “I don’t think you can. I mean, okay, you saw three men, but you didn’t actually see them do anything.”

  “But I saw them walk out of the alley, the one Gemma was in. Shouldn’t that count for something?”

  “If Gemma goes to the police and files a report, you are a witness to the men who potentially caused her harm, but because you didn’t actually see them hurt her, it’s just your word against theirs.” Mary was sympathetic, but it wasn’t what Elliot wanted.

  “So, they just get away with it?” he cried in anguish.

  “If Gemma doesn’t file, then unfortunately, yes.”

  A look of determination crossed Elliot’s features. “Then I’ll just convince her she needs to go to the police. I’ll make sure she sees a doctor, and files a report.”

  “You can’t do that, Elliot. You can’t make her do this if she isn’t ready.” Mary again reached out to Elliot. “She is in a very fragile place right now, any pushing on your part may make things worse.”

  “I just can’t sit back and do nothing though.”

  A soft smile graced Mary’s face. “Just be there for her. Put aside ‘you’ and that unhealthy thinking you had about that girl, and just be there for Gemma. Talk about what she wants to talk about. Do things she wants to do.”

  “I’m not going to be thinking about Trisha anymore. I can’t believe I was so stupid,” he lamented heavily. So much wasted time, and for what? Nothing. That was what.

  “You’re not stupid. You’re just sixteen, and a boy at that. One day you may grow out of it. Just look at your dad,” Mary smiled weakly, the joke falling flat. “You think he was always this put together? No, before your mom, my brother was a pretty big jackass. But he got his shit together, and became the respected man he is today. One day, you’ll lose your teenaged boy ways too.”

  A whimper escaped from the bedroom, and it made Elliot shudder. The idea of those teenaged ways seemed so far away now. “I think I’m growing out of it now.”

  “Yeah, I know. And honey, I am so very sorry this was what propelled that.” Mary grabbed him and hugged him again before they both got up to go check on Gemma.

  CHAPTER THREE

  They were coming at her from every direction, and no matter where she turned, they were right there to grab her. She tried to scream, but no sound would come out. Her throat felt constricted, and then her arms felt like they were being held down. She tried kicking but her legs were now being restrained. There was no way out.

  “No! Please, let me go!” she cried out, tears pouring from her eyes.

  Her shirt ripped, her jacket torn away, as hands began to feel along her torso, touching her chest and yanking away her bra. She was exposed to them but they weren’t stopping. Next went her pants. She felt the material pull against her flesh, digging against her hips as they tried to tug them down. Just as she saw one of them come to rest atop her, preparing to destroy her, her eyes flew open.

  “Gemma?”

  It was Elliot, his voice calling out to her as she broke through the fogginess of her nightmare. Her body trembled, even under the thick comforter, and her teeth chattered. “Elliot? Oh, Elliot!” she cried grabbing him to her in a hug. She needed to feel him, to know he was tangible and that she was okay. Except her heart crashed against her chest with every movement she made, causing pain to flare up, especially between her legs. Tears began to pour from her eyes unyielding, as she realized it hadn’t all just been a horrible dream. Those men had really done those things. “Why? Why me?”

  He didn’t know what to do. He had no answer, and no words to soothe with. All he could do was hold her as she sobbed heartbreakingly into his dress shirt. “I don’t know, Gemma. But we’ll get through this. Okay? You and me, we’ll get through this.”

  Mary, who had been in the kitchen preparing tea, walked back into the room, and looked at Elliot’s helpless expression. “Gemma, sweetie, drink some of this tea. It’ll help warm you up and calm your nerves.” She handed the steaming cup to her nephew who then helped Gemma sip. The young girl only managed to choke on most of it.

  “I want to go home,” Gemma cried though that wasn’t really the truth. She knew she’d have to explain her injuries to her parents, and her father, the lawyer, would not miss something like this on his daughter. But she wasn’t ready for that yet. Still, she wanted to be in her bed, away from the prying eyes of Elliot’s aunt. For as nice as she was, Gemma knew what she wanted from her, and she couldn’t give it.
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br />   “Gemma, I know you do, and I know you don’t want to hear this, but you need to see someone.” Elliot almost fumbled over the words he’d been rehearsing from the moment Gemma passed out, but he got them out. “We need to make sure you’re not…really hurt, you know, and if there’s evidence, we need to make sure the cops get it so that they can find these… these guys and put them away.”

  Gemma tensed instantly, her mind telling her to run, her body trying to curl in on its self. He didn’t know what he was asking of her, he couldn’t possibly understand what he wanted from her. “I can’t. You know I can’t.”

  He tried to hold back his frustration because it wasn’t directed at her. And he knew there was a way he may be able to convince her. “Gemma, if you don’t report them, they could do this to someone else! They could hurt another young girl just like they hurt you. Please, if you won’t do it for you, please do it for some other girl. Please do it for… for me.” When she still wouldn’t even look at him, he knew where he needed to take this. “Think about your dad, “Legal Eagle” Grady is gonna wonder where the black eyes and split lip came from. And you have bruising on your arms too. What are you going to say when he asks what happened? That you fell? No one will believe that. Everyone knows you’re not that clumsy.” It was a low blow, he knew, but he needed her to act, no matter what his aunt told him.

  “Elliot,” Mary whispered, harshly. He was treading on rough water and he knew it, but Gemma needed to do something and not let these assholes get away with what they did to her.

  “I know what you’re saying, Mary, and I get it. But Gemma, I saw these guys, I saw them! I can help get them off the street. You can help get them off the street!”

  Silence permeated the room for several long minutes. Gemma glanced between Elliot and his aunt, watching the unspoken battle raging between them. She didn’t want them fighting over her. “Let me just think about it,” she finally said even though she wasn’t sure if she would help or run and hide. He was right though, about her father. The lawyer in him would wonder what happened to her and if she lied and said she fell, he definitely wouldn’t buy it. She could be clumsy, like anyone, but she wasn’t inept, like her injuries suggested. Maybe she could say she was mugged, and had filed a report so he’d leave her alone? But what if he tried to check it out? Oh, God, what was she supposed to do? What if Elliot was right and they did go after someone else? “I’ll think about it. I promise to think about it.”