Break Away: A Midwest Small Town Romance

by Vanessa Sheets

  He grabs my wrists and peels my hands from my face, pinning them down to the ground above my head.

  “You broke him, you bitch. He was fine before he met you. Everything was the way it should be and then you fucking broke him. You took Noah from me... you took Mona from me, and now I am going to make you pay.” His spit flies at me, mixing with the blood and tears that cover my face. Darkness slowly starts to cloud my thoughts.

  This is it. This is the end. I can’t fight him; he is bigger and stronger. I can’t break away from him.

  I do the only thing that I know how to do. Fight or flight. I choose the latter and begin zoning out. I claw through the painful pounding in my head and find something to focus on. Just a few feet from me is Lorenzo’s dinosaur backpack, leaning up against the chair leg.

  Lorenzo Thomas.

  I see his smile. I hear his giggles. I feel his tiny arms wrapping me up in a hug. Flashes of him standing alone with tears streaming down his soft cheeks pulls me back from the safe place that I am trying to drown myself in. The vision rocks me to my very core.

  No. No. Crew is not going to rip me away from him. It will shatter his world.

  I reach for his bag. I graze the tips of my fingers on the tweed strap and stretch my arm out until I have just enough in my grasp to tug on it. It falls over and I hold my breath as I glance at Crew to see if he heard it. Thank God he is too busy messing with the buckle on his belt to notice.

  It takes all of my strength to pull it across the floor towards me. I am irritated and grateful at the same time that it is packed full of Enzo’s belongings from Mrs. Carlson's house. It is heavy and it will work. It has to work.

  Quickly and swiftly I reach over my body and grab it off the floor, lifting it up into the air and slamming it across his face. He falls back and I scramble out from under him. I begin clawing at the floor for leverage and run to the front door. I frantically fumble with the lock, but it doesn’t budge.

  Fucking lock. Unlock... unlock.

  His hands are on the back of my arms, throwing me across the living room. I land on the coffee table, rolling off it and slamming to the ground on my back, taking the lamp down with me. His hand wraps around one of my ankles before I have time to try and get away.

  His yelling is muffled and distant. “You think you can get away, bitch. I am going to fucking kill you!” With my elbow, I push off the ground and grasp the lamp that is lying beside me.

  Not today, Satan. Not today.

  The satisfaction that I get from watching his crazy eyes turn scared as I crack the lamp across his face, makes adrenaline surge throughout my body. I leave him screaming out in pain as I run back to the kitchen to escape out the back door. I am not quick enough and only make it through the doorway before he slams me up against the wall.

  He has me by my neck again and I feel my feet being lifted off the floor, the counter digging into my hip.

  I am fighting for my life, to survive and I am losing. But I will not have his bloody face be the last thing that I see before I die. I twist my head to the left, away from his breath that reeks of stale beer and that is when I see it. Sitting within arm’s reach is the only chance that I have to stop this from becoming an episode on the ID Channel.

  I grab onto the handle of a knife, knocking the wooden holder over as I rip it out. Knives slide across the counter and clatter to the floor. With a death grip I stab at his side, but it doesn’t penetrate him. He looks down as he stumbles backwards and cackles.

  “Oh, I was going to give you a good time before I killed you. Now, I'm just gonna kill you and have my fun with you after you're dead.” He comes at me and I know that it is now or never.

  I raise the knife into the air and holler out as I bury the knife into his chest.

  I feel it as it slides into his flesh.

  I hear it as it tears through his insides.

  And I pull it back out as he crumbles to the ground.

  Oh my God... Oh my God.

  I stand over his body staring down at him. His shirt, almost as if in slow motion, saturates in blood. I fall back against the wall and slide down, just feet from his mangled body. He is clutching his chest with one hand and the other is reaching toward me as if he wants to grab at my legs. I draw them up to my chest and rest my sticky hands-on top of my head as I scream bloody murder.

  His eyes are wide and frantic, and he is saying something that I don't hear over the crying that is pouring out of me in waves of pure terror. All I can see are his lips moving and so much blood.

  I fucking stabbed him.

  I slowly drop my hands down and look at the shiny metal blade that is covered in another human being's blood.

  BANG... BANG... BANG

  My body jerks at the sound of my front door being kicked in.

  It’s the police. I’m going to prison.

  I bury my head in my lap and don’t even bother to try and calm myself down. I let the darkness own me and keep repeating the same words over and over.

  “He was going to kill me. He was going to kill me. He was going to kill—”

  “Sofia. Sofia, what the—” I snap my head up just as soon as I hear his voice.

  Noah?

  His smell replaces the metallic scent that fills the room and with a crazed look, his eyes madly dart between Crew and me. I throw my arms around his neck and we embrace as if the world is ending around us.

  “It’s okay, baby. It’s okay. I'm here now. God, what did he do to you?” He grabs onto my arms and gently pulls me away so that he can see my face. The way he winces makes me cry harder, from the pain throbbing in my face and the whole reality of the situation.

  “Noah, what am I going to do? You have to help me. Please.” I search his face for a sign that he is going to do what he always has promised. He is going to protect me. But I don’t feel any reassurance in the way that he is looking at me right now. I actually see and feel the complete opposite.

  He reaches over and checks Crew’s pulse and shakes his head slowly as he pulls my head to his chest. I can hear his heart pounding in his chest as he strokes my hair.

  “Sofia. He’s dead. You can’t run from this. You can’t make the same mistake that I made. I won’t let you.” I push him away and start panicking, confused by his words.

  “What are you talking about? They're going to arrest me... take me away from Lorenzo. I can’t let that happen. I won’t let that happen.” I cling onto the countertop and pull myself off the ground. When I try and charge past him, he grabs onto me.

  “Sofia. Calm down!”

  “Calm down? Calm down? I just killed Crew. He’s fucking dead!” I shake my finger at him as he is lying on my kitchen floor. Dead. Noah slides his hand around my waist and starts walking me to the living room. With every step I feel piercing pain in my ribs.

  “I would pick you up, but I don’t want to do any more damage. Come on, let's get you to the couch.” I moan out in pain as he guides me gently down and takes a seat next to me. I pull away when he touches my swollen eye, and he takes my hands in his. “Sofia. We have to call the police. It's the only way. I need to tell you something.” Tears begin falling down his cheeks, I pull out of his grasp and give him a puzzled look.

  “Noah, what is it?” He sucks in a deep breath and blows out. Whatever he is about to reveal to me is heavy and deep. I become nervous and start tapping my foot on the floor.

  “Cami was my sister. My twin sister.” I had no idea that my heart could possibly beat faster than it already was. But it is.

  “Was? What do you mean, was?”

  “She used to date Crew and he got her addicted to pills. When I left home, I left her in the hands of Crew and my stepdad and... she...she killed herself.” He locks his eyes shut and drops his head to his chest. I take his face in my hands and bring his eyes back up to meet mine.

  “Oh... oh my God, Noah. I am so sorry. Why didn’t you just tell me that. Why didn’t you tell me that before?” I have no idea what would make him thin
k to hide such a thing. To end us over something like this. It makes no sense. I don’t try and hide the dumbfounded look that takes over my face. “Why would you walk away from Enzo and I over that?”

  Silence. He turns away from me. His gaze locked on the kitchen.

  “I found out after she died that my stepdad had been molesting her. I lost my temper and... killed him. I killed him.” I scoot away from him, shocked at the confession that is spilling out of his mouth. He doesn’t stop there. “Crew walked in after it happened and told me that he wouldn’t tell anyone if I took him with me. We burned the trailer down and never went back.”

  Shit fuck.

  I feel dizzy and feel bile making its way up my throat. I don’t know if it’s from the trauma that I just experienced or what he told me.

  He tenderly brings his hand around the back of my neck and I pull back.

  “Brown Eyes, I'm sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  “You didn’t hurt me, Noah; that piece of shit did.” I rub my forehead with my fingers, trying to subdue the lightheadedness.

  “You need to lie down and I need to call the police. You have to go to the hospital, Sofia.” I lie back and watch him stand up and slide his cell out of his back pocket. I nod my head just enough so that he knows that I agree with him, but not enough to add to the excruciating pain that has taken over my entire body.

  Noah hangs up with 911 and kneels down beside me. My eyes meet his and I reach up to stroke the stubble on his face.

  “I missed you so much, Noah.” I try to smile but it hurts too much. He brushes my hair out of my eyes and nuzzles his nose to mine.

  “Shhh, they're coming. Everything is going to be okay. Promise.” I close my eyes and brush my lips to his. I hope to God above he is right. Because I have never been more scared in my life.

  Beep. Beep. Beep.

  My eyes fly open, and I immediately try to sit up, but the pain in my ribs makes it impossible.

  “Sofia, you're awake.” Noah is standing beside me, taking my hand in his, bringing it to his soft lips and showering it with kisses.

  “Noah, what are you doing here. Why am I in the hospital—”

  Crew. My kitchen. The knife.

  My eyes frantically dart around the room and I start shaking uncontrollably as flashbacks take place in my mind.

  “Calm down, baby. Take a deep breath.” He strokes my arm tenderly and I try to do as he says but it does nothing to stop the visions of what happened to me tonight. Last night? Hell, I don’t even know what day it is.

  “How long have I been sleeping?”

  “Five or six hours. They gave you something for the pain. How are you feeling?”

  “Like I almost died and killed a man.” I turn away from him and stare out the window.

  I can’t believe those words just came out of my mouth.

  “Your ribs are broken, and you have some bruises and cuts but you're alive. He almost fucking killed you. I would never have forgiven myself.” He slides a chair over to the bed and sits down. Cupping his hands around mine, he rests his chin on top and gives me a longing look. Our gaze is the only thing breaking through the silence in the room, besides the beeping coming from the machine beside me.

  “But he didn’t. I might look like an MMA fighter, but I'm here.” I try to raise my eyebrows at him, but the motion pulls at my swollen eye and I wince from the pain.

  “I talked with the police. They still need to talk to you, but with it being self-defense, it doesn’t look like charges are going to be filed.” I breathe out a puff of air and slide my hand up his wrist, tenderly squeezing his muscular arm.

  “Noah, I don’t know why you're here or how you knew Crew was at my house. But thank you.” He flashes me a devilish smile and I melt into my hospital bed at the mere sight of his

  dimples. “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t shown up. How did you know he was at my house? Why are you even in Illinois?”

  “There was a storm a few weeks ago, so I'm here for work and—”

  “You've been here for a few weeks?” My stomach drops and I let go of his arm. I’m not mad at him, more so disappointed that he can’t be a part of my life. And I want him to be, more than ever. I have never stopped wanting that.

  “Sofia, I wanted to come see you and Lorenzo, I did. But with everything going on in your life, I didn’t want to complicate things for you. And then Crew freaked out when I told him about your mom, so I kept checking his location on my Iphone. I hightailed it to your house as soon as I saw that he was in Durand.” I don’t match the smile that he flashes at me.

  His confession.

  I whisper, just loud enough for him to hear me. “You killed your stepdad? That is what Crew has held over you all of these years?” He doesn’t answer out loud. Just nods his head and looks down at the bed.

  “Yes. And I have regretted it since day one. Because in the end, my stepdad won. He had me shackled to the truth, a truth that would put me away for the rest of my life. When Crew blackmailed me, I selfishly agreed. Everything was finally going well for me. I would have lost everything had he gone to the authorities. I had no idea that by agreeing, I would lose something that you can’t put a price on. I lost myself and everything I stood for.” He begins wiping at his tears and rubs them on his jeans. He growls out and the chair legs scuff against the floor as he stands up. He scratches at the stubble on his face nervously. “And then you came into my life. Completely unexpected, by the way, full of sass and spunk. Damn, Sofia. You tore open a wound that I thought I had recovered from.” He clasps both his hands behind his neck, blowing a puff of air at the ceiling. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to look at me differently and I had this gut feeling that I needed to get Crew as far away from you and Lorenzo as possible. And now... now... look what he did to you. He almost took you away from me, just like Cami.” I watch this man, the definition of strong and controlled, become so open and vulnerable before my very eyes.

  There is a knock on the door and it slowly opens. Two police officers step into my room.

  “Miss Lombardi, may we have a moment with you?” I carefully push up on my elbows and nod my head. Noah comes to my bedside and tenderly caresses my shoulder.

  “You got this. Just tell them the truth.” I smile at him as he makes his way past the officers and out the door. With a racing pulse and a thrashing heart, I start telling them in great detail the events that led up to me stabbing a man and taking his life.

  “I woke up around three a.m. to a noise outside my bedroom…”

  NOAH PUSHES ME THROUGH the hospital doors, and I am pleasantly surprised that the sun is shining. Forty-five degrees in November and we are firing up the grill in Illinois. I grip my hospital bag on my lap that has my release papers, water bottle, and a few white towels that I ganked from the bathroom. In my hand is the business card to a counselor that a nurse gave me. She told me that I should give the lady a call. I don’t know if I will. I am still going through the motions of the past forty-eight hours.

  Jessica, Ezra’s mom, pulls up as Noah locks the wheels on my wheelchair. Ezra is in the front passenger seat waving at me like I am some sort of celebrity. Noah called her while I was sleeping that first night and she drove straight up. She insisted that I come stay with them while I healed. I was grateful that she offered because the doctor said that it would take me up to six weeks to recover physically. Mentally would be much longer.

  Ezra is out of the van before her mom comes to a complete stop. She leans down to give me a kiss on the cheek and greets Noah as she takes my bag from me.

  “You ready? Lorenzo is at my house with Mrs. Carlson. He is bouncing off the walls waiting for you to get there. That may be my doing. I might have stocked the fridge with every ice cream flavor on the planet. You know, for our movie marathons while you heal.” I roll my eyes at her, knowing damn well that boy has eaten more than his quota of ice cream for the day. And it’s only ten o’clock in the morning. />
  “Wonderful. That sugar high will take a while to come down from.” I start to stand with Noah and her at my side.

  “I can do it, you guys. You don’t have to help.” Neither one of them backs off and I sigh, letting the realization set in. It is going to be a long six weeks. I like to do things on my own; it is drilled into my core.

  As we slowly walk towards the van, it isn't the pain that makes my eyes start to tear up, it is the reminder with every step of what happened to me.

  Jessica opens the slider and smiles. “We have your room all ready and I borrowed a twin bed from my sister for Lorenzo. We are so excited that you are staying with us again.” I try to quiet the moans that I am making as I climb up and situate myself in the back seat.

  “Thank you so much, Jessica. You don’t know how much everything that you are doing for Enzo and me means.”

  “Always. That is what family is for.” Ezra and her mom get in the van and I buckle my seatbelt. Noah grabs onto the roof and smiles down at me.

  “You sure you don’t want me to come over, help you get settled?” I shake my head and smile back at him.

  “I'll be fine. I promise. I have Ezra and her mom, who will not leave me be, I'm sure of that. And with Lorenzo being there, I really don’t want him to see you. He has been through so much in the past few weeks. I just need to be with him.” He drops his head and taps his hand on top of the van.

  “I know. I get it. Well, I will be texting you every five minutes to make sure you are all good. And there ain't a damn thing you can do about that.” He gives me that sexy look, where his forehead crinkles and my belly begins to flutter.

  “Well, I wouldn’t expect anything less from you, Noah.” He pushes the button to close the slider and steps back. I watch him standing there, his hands in his pockets, until we pull away.

  Ezra turns around in her seat and gives me a disapproving look.

  “What?” I challenge her disapproving look, knowing exactly where this is going.

  “Bitch, that man is begging for you to let him in. He told you whatever it is that he was hiding. Still mad at you for not letting me in on that little secret and now you are scott-free to mad crazy fall in love and live happily ever after. And you turn him down? Uhh, I could only dream of that happening to me.” Her mom slaps her playfully in the arm.