aterovis_bm_reapthewhirlwind.p65

aterovis_bm_reapthewhirlwind.p65 Page 13

by Arlene Chance

  “It’s kinda my fault Joey has become like this. I drove him to it. I—I told him I loved him.”

  “And?”

  “And what?”

  “You told him you loved him and—”

  “And he freaked out.”

  “Look, Will, you’re an incredibly sweet, incredibly 143

  JOSH ATEROVIS

  naive kid. I’ve never met anyone like you in my entire life. I hope you find happiness and the man of your dreams. But this isn’t your fault and you don’t owe me anything. It’s not your fault that Joey reacted like he did. There was no way you could have known and nothing you could have done differently. Thank you for your offer, but this is my problem and I’ll deal with it. I was the one who was stupid enough to fall for his load of shit. I was the one who didn’t insist he use a condom.

  Me. So that makes me responsible for this ” she gestured helplessly at her still-flat stomach. “Me and Joey.

  And I don’t think I can count on him for anything.”

  “But you can count on me. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. Joey was like a brother to me. So that makes me this baby’s uncle, sort of, right?”

  “I guess ”

  “Then let Uncle Will help.”

  She laughed, this time a real laugh. It was a nice laugh.

  “I’ll give you this, Uncle Will, you’re persistent.”

  I grinned. “Yup.”

  “Will you stop bugging me if I promise to at least think about it?”

  “If you promise you’ll really think about it.”

  “I promise. It’s all I can think about anyway.”

  “Great! Let me give you my phone number and stuff.”

  “I’m not promising to do anything but think about it,” she warned.

  “I know.”

  “And I still think you’re crazy.”

  “I know.”

  I crawled out from under the tree and scribbled my name and phone number on a scrap of paper I found in 144

  REAP THE WHIRLWIND

  my pocket.

  “I still think you’re out of your mind,” she said as I handed it to her and I was preparing to leave, “but you’ve given me something to think about. I’m still not promising you anything, though. I don’t owe you anything.”

  “No, but maybe you do owe something to that baby you’re carrying.”

  She gave me an odd look that was a mix of exasperation and thoughtfulness. I started down the street as a bloodcurdling scream ripped through the night. Another quickly followed it. They sounded like they were coming from the back yard. I turned back.

  “Sounds like Joey struck again,” Caitlin said sadly.

  “Maybe I should check it out,” I said uncertainly.

  “Are you going to follow behind him cleaning up his messes for the rest of your life? Go home, Clark Kent, you’ve done enough good for one night.”

  I turned to go again but a sense of dread had filled me and I couldn’t leave. It was as if something was physically holding me back. I was trying to force myself to walk away when someone vaulted over the high fence that separated the back yard from the front. He almost barreled into Caitlin in his haste.

  “Holy shit,” he panted as he pushed his sweaty dark hair out of his eyes.

  “What’s going on?” I asked as the feeling of dread grew.

  “It’s that guy—uh—Joe something ”

  “Taylor?” I offered even though I already knew what his answer would be.

  “Yeah, that’s him.”

  145

  JOSH ATEROVIS

  “What’s he done now?” Caitlin sighed.

  “What’s he done?” The guy let out a slightly hysterical giggle. “He died, that’s what he did.”

  146

  REAP THE WHIRLWIND

  CHAPTER TEN

  My mind stalled. Caitlin and I both stared dumbly at this bearer of bad news. Maybe I had heard wrong.

  “What did you say?” I finally stammered.

  “He’s dead. This chick just found him in the pool, floating face down. I think somebody called the cops.

  This party’s busted.” As he said this last part, he was steadily backing away. With his last words, he spun around and joined the steady stream of guests who were exiting the premises as quickly as they could.

  I looked at Caitlin. “Do you think he’s serious?” I asked her.

  “Listen,” she said. I did and could hear sirens in the distance. I guess that answered my question. “Come on, let’s go!” she said grabbing my arm.

  “What? We can’t just leave!” I protested but she was already dragging me into the street.

  “Yes, we can and yes, we are. I don’t want to be here when the cops arrive. We were out here under the tree the whole time, so it’s not like we have anything to tell them. I’ve been through this before and trust me, it’s not fun and it takes forever.”

  “You’ve been through this before?” I asked in alarm.

  “Well not this exact thing, but I was at a party where 147

  JOSH ATEROVIS

  this guy turned up dead in the river.”

  “Does someone always end up dead in the water at parties you attend?”

  “No, just these two times. Where’s your car?”

  “Around the corner, why?”

  “You’re taking me home,” she said. We ran to the car and pulled away just as two patrol cars pulled up lights flashing with an ambulance not far behind. My mind hadn’t caught up with recent events but now suddenly the full impact of what I had just heard hit me. He had said Joey was dead. But that was impossible—I’d just seen him—he couldn’t be dead. Maybe it was some sort of sick joke or maybe he was wrong and it was really someone else. Or maybe he wasn’t dead, just really drunk. There was an ambulance so that had to be a good sign, right? Do they send ambulances for dead people?

  “Where are you going?” Caitlin asked, startling me out of my thoughts. I had forgotten she was even in the car.“Huh?”

  “Where are you going? You don’t even know where I live. We’re going the wrong way.”

  “Oh—I .” I gave up trying to form a coherent sentence and turned the car around. I followed her direc-tions to a small slightly run-down apartment complex near the college.

  “Thanks, Will,” she said when I’d pulled to a stop in front of her building. “You’re a sweet guy. Stop blaming yourself for the loser that Joey turned out to be. If it is him then he deserved whatever happened. I’ll be in touch.” She leaned over and kissed me quickly on the cheek and then she was gone.

  I drove slowly home in a sort of numb trance. Twice 148

  REAP THE WHIRLWIND

  I missed a turn and had to back up. When I finally got home, Aidan was sitting up waiting. “Where were you?

  I was worried,” he said accusingly as he jumped to his feet.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, my mind not really on Aidan or his concern.

  “Your note said you were going to take pictures; it’s been dark for hours.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said again as I sank heavily into a chair.

  “I didn’t know where you were, if you were okay—if you were even alive ”

  Something snapped inside me. “I said I’m sorry!” I yelled. “What more do you want from me?”

  Aidan looked as if I had delivered him a physical blow. “Well excuse me for giving a damn. I guess I should know better by now.” He spun around and started for his room.

  “Aidan, wait!” I called wearily. This wasn’t what I wanted or needed right now. He stopped but kept his back to me. “I went to talk to Joey. It—it didn’t go well.”

  He turned around.

  “He—he wanted me to ” I stopped and tried to swallow the bile that kept rising in the back of my throat.

  “He wanted me—to—do stuff—to him. Then he—I think he was going to rape me.” I started crying but kept going; it was as if the words wouldn’t stop coming. “He pinned me against the wall and tried to force himself on me. He hurt me, my arm—my lip—”

  All the color had drained from Aidan’s face. “Oh my God,” he whispered.

  “I hit him, pushed him away—then I
ran.”

  Aidan crossed the room and knelt down in front of me. “Are you okay?” he asked gently tipping my face 149

  JOSH ATEROVIS

  up so he could check for damage.

  “I think he’s dead,” I choked.

  Aidan’s eyes flew open wide. “You killed him?”

  “No, at least I don’t think so. He was alive when I left him. I was talking to someone when he died. Someone said they found him in the pool. I don’t even know what happened. We left before the police got there.”

  “Who is this ‘we,’ Will?”

  “Me and Caitlin.”

  “Who’s Caitlin?”

  “I met her tonight. She was one of Joey’s conquests.

  He—hurt her.” I don’t know why I didn’t tell him about Caitlin’s pregnancy; I just didn’t feel it was the right time.

  “Where is she now?”

  “I took her home.”

  “Why did you leave before the police got there?”

  “Caitlin wanted to. She said we didn’t want to be around because it was an awful process that took a long time, and we didn’t have anything to add anyway because we were in the front yard under the tree for the whole time.”

  “Under the ? Never mind. How does she know it’s an awful process?”

  “She was at party last year when they found a body in the river. Someone had killed him and dumped him in the water. Do you think that’s what happened to Joey?”

  “I don’t know what happened to Joey, or even if anything did at this point. For all we know it could have been some kind of sick prank. And that party where the body was found in the river must have been the one that Killian and Asher were at.” He looked down at his 150

  REAP THE WHIRLWIND

  watch and jumped up to turn on the TV. The late news was just coming on.

  “Details are few at this time,” the female news anchor was saying, “but we have received confirmation that a student from Pemberton University died tonight at a party held off campus. No word yet on the cause of death or whether it was accidental or foul play was involved. We’ll keep you posted on developments in this sad case as events unfold.”

  She moved on to her next story, something about hog futures. Joey’s death was just another story unrolling on the Teleprompter in front of her. I sat stunned for a moment as Aidan snapped off the TV.

  “Have you ever wondered what they mean by hog futures?” I said finally. “What kind of future does a hog have really? Ham or bacon? Sausage or scrapple?”

  “Will, are you okay?” Aidan asked, quickly coming back to my side.

  “We don’t know for sure it was Joey—she didn’t say his name,” I said halfheartedly, like a child who believes that as long as you don’t say it, it isn’t true. But I knew in my gut that it was true, that Joey was gone. It was almost as if a part of me was suddenly missing, leaving a gaping hole in its place.

  “No, we don’t know for sure,” Aidan said softly. “You should go to bed. It’s late and you need to rest.”

  I nodded, too far gone to argue. As I stood up, I realized my arm was still throbbing from my tussle with Joey. I took a few Tylenol PM that Aidan produced from somewhere then went into my room. I didn’t turn any lights on; I just stood in the darkness for a few minutes.

  Suddenly a feeling of loneliness so powerful I almost cried out overwhelmed me. I turned and crossed the 151

  JOSH ATEROVIS

  hall to Aidan’s door, where I knocked lightly.

  “Yeah?” he called warily.

  I opened the door. “Can I can I sleep with you tonight?” I felt like I sounded, like a small child at his parent’s door after a nightmare.

  “What do you mean?” Aidan said cautiously.

  “Just I’m afraid to be alone,” I said shakily.

  He thought for a moment, then nodded slowly.

  “Okay.”

  I closed the door behind me and undressed in the darkness. I crawled into Aidan’s bed, being careful to stay on my side. We lay in silence with our backs to each other. I waited until I thought he had fallen asleep before letting go. The tears came hot but silent at first and slowly built into muffled sobs as I tried not to wake Aidan. I was surprised but very grateful when I felt his strong arms circle around me. Once again, I found myself crying myself to sleep in his arms.

  ***

  I got up early the next morning after a fitful night’s sleep. I wanted to watch the early news to see if there was any mention of Joey. The Tragic Death of a College Student, as they were now calling it—you could almost hear the capital letters—was the lead story. “As reported last night, a local student from Pemberton University died while attending an off-campus party. Police have now released the name; Joseph Taylor was an 18-year-old freshman. His friends describe him as a fun-loving young man full of life. According to police reports, Taylor was found by another student in a swimming pool owned by the family of college senior, David Kemp. Kemp was hosting the party. Police say it’s still too early to say conclusively 152

  REAP THE WHIRLWIND

  how Taylor died but they do believe alcohol was a factor.“Are off-campus parties a significant risk to your children? We go now to our—” I turned off the TV, cutting the anchorperson off in mid-sentence. Well, at least now I knew for sure.

  “I’m sorry, Will,” Aidan said softly from behind me.

  I hadn’t even noticed him there.

  The empty feeling from the night before was still there but now it had eased into a dull ache. I didn’t cry; I had done my mourning the night before.

  “I should call his mom or something,” I said.

  “Not now, there’ll be too much going on. Later, after things have settled down.”

  I nodded.

  The phone rang and Aidan answered it, then handed me the phone.

  It was Caitlin.

  “Did you see the news?” she asked before I could say more than hello.

  “Yes—are you okay?”

  “I guess. It’s not like I’m his chief mourner or anything. To me he was just some bastard that knocked me up then dumped me. I was calling to check on you. You were his friend.”

  “I’m—okay. Well—no I’m not okay, but I’ll survive.”

  “Do you have someone with you?”

  “Yes, my roommate ” I paused, then revised myself, “my best friend Aidan is here with me.”

  Aidan looked up with a strange expression in his eyes, a mix of surprise and some other emotion that I couldn’t name. He looked back down quickly.

  “Good, I’m glad. I didn’t want you to be alone.”

  153

  JOSH ATEROVIS

  “Did you think about my offer?” I asked.

  Aidan looked up again, this time with curiosity flashing in his eyes.

  “Yes,” Caitlin said, “but I’m still thinking. Don’t rush me on this, Will. It’s an important decision; one that could affect the rest of my life.”

  “It’s not just your life at stake here,” I responded quietly.

  “God! How do you keep doing that?” she said with exasperation. I didn’t say anything as she went on,

  “Look, I’ll call you next week. I’ve got plenty of time to decide. You can safely abort any time in the first tri-mester and it’s no big deal. I’m only about a month along as I figure it.”

  “No big deal for you maybe.”

  “Stop that!”

  “I’m just trying to make sure you see both sides. I’m trying to speak for the one who has no voice.”

  “You’re just making this harder!” she sounded close to tears.

  “Good. A life and death decision shouldn’t be easy.”

  She sighed. “Good-bye, Will.”

  “Bye, Caitlin. I’ll talk to you next week.”

  As soon as I hung up Aidan was all over me. “What was that all about?” he demanded.

  “You shouldn’t have been eavesdropping,” I said defensively.

  “You saw me sitting right there. Besides, you just said I’m your best friend. Best friends tell each other everything.”

  I sighed. “Caitlin is pregnant, and she’s thinking about
getting an abortion.”

  “And that concerns you how?”

  154

  REAP THE WHIRLWIND

  “The baby is Joey’s.”

  Aidan blinked in surprise then quickly recovered. “I repeat, and that concerns you how?”

  “I feel responsible somehow. I know it’s ridiculous,”

  I rushed on to drown out the protest that was already forming on Aidan’s lips, “but I can’t help it. Besides, I really like Caitlin. She seems like a good person. I want to help her.” I paused for a moment, then said the next part super fast, “I told her I’d help her raise the baby if she wouldn’t have an abortion.”

  “YOU WHAT?”

  “Shh!” I hushed him.

  “Don’t you shush me! Have you lost your fucking mind? You don’t know anything about babies! You don’t even know her; you just met her last night for God’s sake! You have no obligation to this person; you cannot get yourself involved.”

  “I’m already involved. Look, Joey would have never gone on this—this—whatever it was. This alcohol-in-duced sex-binge if it hadn’t been for me. Don’t you see that? Now there’s a little helpless life that is a part of Joey. That baby didn’t ask to be created. Why should it have to pay for my mistake?”

  “Will, you’ve got to talk to Dr. Wohler again. You are not responsible for someone else’s actions. I had to realize that when you tried to kill yourself. At first, I blamed myself, but I had to realize that I didn’t make you jump off that fire escape—just like you didn’t make Joey become a drunken asshole. That was his choice.

  You didn’t make Joey have unprotected sex with Caitlin—that was their decision. You are not responsible for any of this.”

  “I’ve already given my word to Caitlin and I’m not 155

  JOSH ATEROVIS

  breaking my promise.”

  “You didn’t have any problem breaking your word to me when you took a flying leap off the balcony!”

  I froze.

  “Will, I’m sorry—”

  “You said you forgave me for that.”

  He sighed. “Forgiven but not forgotten—remember?”

  “Then let’s just say I learned my lesson. I’m not breaking it anymore.”

 

‹ Prev Next ›