The Night He Saved Me

by Sarah Stevens

  Bren urges me to keep going, “Kat, you need to start at the beginning, you need to tell my mom what happened, even if I get into deep shit with it too.”

  I take a deep breath and continue.

  “Bren took me to a party about eleven weeks ago at an apartment downtown. We smoked some pot, drank some alcohol, and did some coke. “

  With a very audible gasp, she asks, “You did what?”

  “Mom, yell at me later, Kat is what is important here. I haven’t done it again, and that was my first time too. This is my fault, I left her alone.” I see the regret in her eyes and reassure her that it isn’t, but I can tell she doesn’t believe me.

  “Go on, Kat.”

  “Okay, so I was very messed up, I could barely feel myself. I was sitting on one of the couches in the corner away from everyone when Trent sat down next to me. I never get attention from the boys, and I liked it at first. He started kissing me, making me feel wanted. Then before I knew what was going on, he was on top of me. I had no strength, no voice, I was too messed up. He raped me.”

  And that makes two people that know what had happened to me. I sit there with tears streaming down my face when she comes over to me and wraps her arms around me. I bury my face into her and sob harder. Bren is next to come over and wrap her arms around us. We stay like that for a few minutes. Sandy backs away slowly and looks me in the eyes.

  “Kat, we have to go to the police. We have to report both incidences. We have to do it today.”

  I yell, “No, we can’t, I can’t do that. He can’t know. Bren, he can’t know.”

  Sandy looks at us with a look of confusion on her face. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  Bren takes this one and tells her mom, “Kat is eleven weeks pregnant, Mom. She doesn’t want him to know. I actually suspect he has an idea that she is pregnant since he kicked her in the stomach last night. He has been stalking her and last night he found her in an alley. He threatened her and Kat is very scared, Mom. I’m scared for her.”

  Bren comes back to me and wraps her arms around me, once again giving me comfort. I look over to her mom who is now shedding tears.

  “Mom, can Kat just stay here for this week? Let her figure things out? We can keep her safe here and the ER doctor said she needs to stay off her feet for a few days anyway after she was there last night for severe pains. She and the baby are fine, but he wants her to rest.”

  “I will leave this alone for the time being. Yes, you can stay here, but you can’t live in fear of this guy forever. He will figure out you have his baby. He will make your life a living hell, but with all that said, I will be here for you. I don’t understand why your mom would kick you out over being raped and getting pregnant. Unless, she doesn’t know the part about you being raped, does she?”

  I hang my head in shame. “No, she doesn’t. You and Bren are the only ones that I have told. Mom and James know I am pregnant but they don’t know that part. I can’t tell James, I just can’t. My mom wasn’t ready to hear me out. I didn’t want to tell her. Heck, until this morning I didn’t want to tell anyone what had happened. I guess I will have to tell my mom now, but no way will I be living with her and her new husband. I would rather live in a studio apartment in the Old Port and work my ass off then live with them.”

  With a smirk on her face, Bren replies to my outburst, “There is always James. He offered you a place to live.”

  “No, just no. I can’t do that to him, I can’t let him in, and I can’t let him let me in. I can’t tell him this; I’d rather he think I was a slut than tell him I was raped and that is how I got pregnant.”

  “Well, isn’t that mature of you.” Bren looks at me pointedly

  At this point, I am drained, so I ignore her comment and tell them I need to go rest. Bren comes with me and we get comfy on her couch in front of the TV.

  “You both need to eat something. We have plenty of leftovers; I’ll make you a plate.” Sandy yells in from the kitchen.

  We turn on Netflix and find the latest release of a rom-com. A few minutes later, Sandy brings in some plates of food and we relax the rest of the day watching movies. I still have the look James gave me as we drove off in my head, and I feel bad about leaving like that. Tomorrow, I will talk to him. Tomorrow is a new day, and tomorrow I will conquer my life. Well, one step at a time, but tomorrow is still a new day. I block out James from my head and eat some food and watch movies with my best friend.

  James

  It has now been three days since I have heard from her, and it is driving me crazy. I wish I had Bren’s number so that I could check on Kat. I almost went to her house, though, since I know where it is from the night of the party. I drive by, just don’t stop. Bren’s car is parked in the driveway, and I just hope that Kat is with her. I head back to my apartment and park in the back alley. When I exit my car, I am flanked by two guys in suits.

  “You need to come with us; your father wants to see you,” the guy on the right says.

  I know it is pointless to try and evade them so I go with them. Why does he want to see me now? I think to myself. Nothing has changed: I want to continue to live this life I have made for myself. I sure as hell don’t need them knowing about Kat.

  They shove me in the back of a black sedan and drive away. I have no idea where we are going, but he must be close because we aren’t heading to the highway toward Boston. They park in front of the Majesty Hotel and one guy gets out, comes to my door, and pulls me out of the car while the other drives off. He leads me into the hotel—I don’t even have a chance to look around the lobby; we go straight to the elevators. He swipes a card over the panel that allows us to go to the penthouse. No one speaks on the ride up, and the silence is deafening. When the door opens, we are greeted by two more guys in black suits at the entrance of the penthouse. I get led inside and told to sit in the chair I am shoved into and wait. He goes to another room and comes back out with the man that calls himself my dad. He is no father to me, he is just the guy that manipulated my mother and got her pregnant.

  “So, I hear you have a girl in your life. Katarina, is it?”

  How does he know anything about her, and what does he want with her?

  “I’m sorry, I don’t know what you are talking about.”

  “Don’t you lie to me, I have eyes and ears on you at all times.”

  “What do you want?”

  “I want you in Boston with me, and if I have to use her to get it, I will. In fact, I already have.”

  “What are you talking about? Why is it so important that I be by your side? I have nothing to offer you besides my blood I share with you.”

  “You have plenty to offer me. I need you to take over the business. You are next in line, my son,” he grinds out.

  “Don’t sound so happy about that?” I question. “I’m sure you can find someone else to take over. Another hidden child, maybe?”

  He hesitates a second, almost unrecognizable to anyone else, but I catch it. I am almost certain there is someone else.

  “You are it, and you it will be. You would be set for life: money, girls, luxury. Anything you want it can be yours if you just come to Boston with me.”

  “I don’t need any of that. Why are you stepping down? Are you sick and dying?” I laugh.

  “Actually, I am. I found out about three months ago that I was going to die. I have cancer. You are all that I have left, and I need you to take over.”

  “Yeah, I’m sorry you’re sick and all, but I am not your replacement. I am nothing like you. I don’t want to be like you. I like my life the way it is. Find someone different. “

  “You don’t understand. There can be no one else. I can’t just hand this over to anyone. It has to be you. This is a family business, and I can’t have anyone else looking after it. Like I said, I have already started to mess with your world through that girl.”

  I grind out, “What have you done to her?”

  “Does Trent ring a bell?”

 
“You sent him after her. How do you know Trent?”

  “He works for me, well, his father works for me, and now he does too because I needed him.”

  “I will not work for you; I will not become you. Find someone else, and stay away from Kat.”

  “Sorry, son, that isn’t going to happen, I need you. If you want your girl to stay in one piece, you better think twice about saying no to me. I will be back in two weeks to get you and bring you to Boston. Find someone to manage your business full-time and get your shit packed. Two weeks, son.”

  Now would be the perfect time to find out I have a brother somewhere in the world, someone who is just like him. I leave the penthouse on my own. It isn’t too far from my shop and I walk straight into the office. I need to find this person he is hiding. I will not leave here and go to Boston to become the head of a Mob family. It isn’t who I am, and I won’t let it happen.

  I get on the computer and look for a private investigator. I need to find who he is hiding like yesterday. After making a few calls, I have a meeting set up for tonight at six. This has to end now. This has to end before Kat is hurt even more by the man who calls himself my father.

  At 5:30, I grab my things and walk out the door of my shop to go meet with the investigator. I knock on his door when I arrive and am greeted immediately.

  “Hey, you must be James.”

  I shake his hand as he introduces himself to me and we sit and start talking.

  “What can I do for you?”

  “Well, I was visited this afternoon by my biological father. He has been threatening the ones close to me, and I need it to stop. I need to find out if I have any other living blood relatives.”

  “Why is that?”

  “My biological father is dying and the head of the Milano family in Boston. He wants me to take over, and I don’t want that title. I have made a good life away from them for myself. I need to find out if I have a biological brother who can take the head so I don’t have to.”

  “What information can you give me?”

  “My mother was a waitress at a strip club, The Lucky Lady, in Boston. She had an affair with Al Milano. My mother and father moved here to Maine, and when they died, I got my life together as Al started to invade mine. Trying to bring me in. He lives in a brownstone on Beacon Hill and has always been in the Boston area. I have avoided him up until now. He is causing some major trouble for me and wants me to be in Boston in two weeks to take over.”

  “So we have to work fast. I know a little bit about the Milano Family. I can probably find what you are looking for. I assume you want a rush on this with the time restriction?”

  “Yes, I will do whatever I have to to get out of this mess. Can you help me?”

  “I believe I can. I will start immediately. If I remember correctly, the Milano Family owns The Lucky Lady in Boston so it shouldn’t be too hard to find something out soon.”

  “Thank you, I will wait to hear from you.”

  I leave the meeting as he starts working on finding out if I have a sibling or not. I have so much going on in my head right now I decide to not go back to the shop right away and take a walk instead. It seems like I have been walking for only a short time but I have been walking long enough to go from the east end of Portland to the west end. I don’t live in a huge city, but the fact that I am so distracted I walked from one end to the other says a lot.

  I make my way back to the shop to close up for the night, and Jayce is there starting to wipe down the counters and clean the machines since we close in forty-five minutes.

  “Hey, how was the night?”

  “It was actually slow tonight. I already have this machine cleaned for the night.” He says as he makes one last wipe with his rag.

  “It will probably pick up tomorrow with the weekend coming. I’m going to go start in on the paperwork just come get me when the door is locked.”

  “You got it.”

  I leave Jayce to his closing duties and walk back to the office to start in on my paperwork for the day. At closing time, Jayce comes back to the office to let me know that the door is locked and I walk out front for the cash drawer.

  We blast some music as we both finish up what we need to do in silence and I loose myself in the music. I need to figure out how to get myself out of this position with the man who calls me son, and I need to get my girl back and keep her safe. Jayce pokes his head in the office door, “I got everything done and shiny for you. I am going to head out now.”

  I get up and lock the door behind him after saying bye and then go and finish the work I need to get done. It has been about four hours since I had my meeting with the investigator and my phone rings.

  “Hello?”

  “James, I think I found something. Looks like you may have a brother three years older than you in New York. From what I found out, he doesn’t seem to be a nice guy. It looks like he may be affiliated with a family there. The Castillo family. His mom was a waitress at The Lucky Lady. It looks like your dad likes to hone in on those girls for his enjoyment.”

  “What do you mean he is affiliated with the Castillo family?”

  “His uncle is in the ranks with them. Low on the totem pole, but still a part of them. Do you know anything about this family? Where do they sit with the Milano family?”

  “Honestly, I haven’t paid any attention. I want nothing to do with either family. How do I find him?”

  “You go to New York. I haven’t pinpointed a location, but his name is Jackson Dewitt, his mother is Jamie Dewitt. The uncle is Jacob Cantinilo. That is all I have found out for you”

  “Thanks, man, call if you find out anything else. I will be heading to New York tomorrow.”

  I hang up with the investigator and open up a browser on my computer and book a ticket for tomorrow afternoon, one-way. I finish the books and deposit, stick them in the safe, and head out the door and to my apartment. Once I get a bag packed, I open my laptop and search the Castillo Family to find out more about them. I need to refine my area to look in New York—it’s a big city, after all.

  I don’t find much on the family so I search The Castillo family and Milano family to see if there is any connection. I get a hit; they apparently are connected way down the ranks. Jacob Cantinilo is married to my aunt—my dad’s sister. This is exactly what I need to know, and I hope to work it in my favor.

  After a restless night’s sleep, I get up and open the shop. Once things get going for the day and I have my morning workers in, I head to my office and call Jayce. He is my second-in-command, as much as I hate it, and I need him.

  “Jayce, sorry to wake you, but I need you to do me a favor this next week.”

  “What is it, boss?”

  “I have to go out of town, so I need you to step up and manage the shop while I am gone. I need you to open and close. We need to work the schedule so you can do that. Can you come in in like an hour?”

  “Yeah, boss, let me get showered and dressed, and I will be there.”

  “See you then.”

  An hour later, Jayce shows up and first thing goes and makes himself a coffee. Not a problem, I probably would do the same thing if I was rudely woken up. Once he has his coffee, he comes back to the office where I am already working on the schedule.

  “Hey, boss.”

  “Hey, Jayce. Thanks for coming in. I appreciate you helping me out this next week. I think I have the schedule worked out for you, looks like there may be a couple times for closing you may be alone. I think you can handle it, though.”

  “I got it, boss. What is so important that you are rushing out of here so fast?”

  “I just have some things I need to take care of, I should be back in a week. I’ll call you and check in every day. Oh, and here is where I am weird about this. I don’t allow anyone to do the books or handle the deposit. If you can take all the paperwork from the register, the money, and put it into the safe, that would be great. I just need you to leave two hundred in the register each night a
nd the rest in the safe. You can make change if you need to, but I will work the books for the week when I get back.”

  “Got it, boss. Don’t worry about a thing, I got you covered.”

  “Thanks, Jayce. Now, I have got to go make the deposit and head to the airport. Call me if you need anything. I will see you in about a week.”

  Katarina

  I haven’t left the house in three days; I don’t want to face the world, but I have to do something. I have to figure out everything else in my life, the things that I can control, so I grab my laptop from my bag and start to look for apartments. Nothing big, and nothing too expensive. After an hour of looking, I find a cute little loft apartment and it is actually in the Old Port district right up the street from James. I get excited and make the call. $650 a month with no deposit all utilities included. Perfect. I get the landlord on the line and set up an appointment for the following day to take a look at it. Bren walks in the room and sees the look of excitement on my face.

  “Why so excited?”

  “I have an appointment in the morning to look at a loft apartment in the Old Port it’s $650 a month all utilities included and no deposit.”

  “Well, that sounds like a good deal, what time are we taking a look?”

  “Ten tomorrow morning.”

  “That is doable, and we can stop in and get a coffee, maybe?” she asks cautiously.

  “I don’t know about that. I don’t know if I can look at him right now. I don’t know if I can go into that shop.”

  “Sweetie, you are going to have to eventually see him. Especially if you are going to live in his neighborhood. You need to talk to him. Maybe after the appointment we can go to the shop and you can talk to him. Tell him. He won’t hate you. Tell him everything.”

  “I know you are right, Bren, I just don’t know if it is something I can do yet. I will try. Okay? We can go get a coffee tomorrow, and if he is there, I can try and talk to him. Don’t be surprised if you see me running out the door, though.”