by Belle Zimet
He seemed confused by her lack of affection but went along behind her into the house. Alexa was waiting with a smile plastered on her face. She ran over and gave him a warm hug which he returned in kind.
“Bryan! How are you?” She cried, taking his face in her hands and studying him.
“Fantastic.” He said, taking her in with a grin. “How beautiful you are.”
“Thank you, please come in.” She said motioning him towards the living room. “I have coffee and goodies waiting.” They all sat around the coffee table, as Bryan helped himself to muffins.
They all fell into a comforting ritual of the usual pleasantries, as Alexa peppered him with questions of what he’d been up to, where he’d gone to college and anything else she could think of to keep the conversation from lulling. As Bryan was describing his work, Troy walked in and Bryan stopped mid-sentence to stare bemusedly at him.
Alexa broke the strained silence by getting up and gesturing to Troy. “This is my husband, Troy.”
“Really.” Bryan said strangely.
“Yes, really.” Troy shot back rudely.
“And my brother,” Ella interjected, wanting desperately to save the rapidly declining situation.
“Seriously?” He said looking at her expectantly.
Ella became annoyed. “Yes, no one is lying to you.”
“Is there a problem?” Troy said, his shoulders tensing.
“No, not my problem.” Bryan responded as he sat back, seeming to roll his shock off his shoulders.
The exchange was so strange that Ella grabbed Bryan’s hand and pulled him up. “Why don’t we go into my room?” She suggested.
“Fine.” He said as he followed her. He bent down and kissed Alexa on the cheek on his way out. “It was wonderful to see you.”
He passed by Troy and just nodded curtly and Troy folded his arms over his chest like an aggressive alpha male and glared.
She quickly pulled him to her room where she closed the door and then whirled around to face him. He was staring at her expectantly.
“What was all that about?” She demanded.
“I didn’t realize he was your brother.” He said simply. “You didn’t tell me.”
“Why would I? I don’t meet people and then just announce my brother’s name in preparation of them randomly knowing him.” She said, exasperation leaking into her voice.
“It isn’t random. We went to the same school. It’s rather plausible that I would at least know of him.” He told her patiently.
“He graduated two years before you.” She pointed out.
“Well, I know him and I don’t like him.” He told her, setting his mouth in a grimace.
“Why not?”
“He was a rude jock. What’s there to like?” He said unscrupulously.
“That’s my brother you’re talking about.” She felt her face turn red. “Have a little respect for someone that I love. He’s the best man I’ve ever met.”
“Then either you don’t know him or you’re used to shady characters.” He told her directly. His tone remained even, as if he were just reciting the alphabet or something similarly mundane.
“How can you be so rude?” She said, starting to seethe at his overstep. “What if I started talking about your mother like that?”
“If it were true then I would have to accept it, Ella. I try not to delude myself.”
“Well, then let’s not delude ourselves into thinking this is going to work.” She told him icily.
“You’re just going to scrap this because I don’t like your brother?” He said incredulously.
“You have no reason to not like my brother.” She answered heatedly. “I can’t be with someone who treats my family like that right out the gate.”
“Fine,” he told her as he rose from sitting on the bed. “Would you like me to leave now?”
“I guess so.” She told him as she opened the door, and motioned him out.
He stopped at the door and grabbed her hand and stared deeply into her eyes, as she tried to look anywhere rather than meet his gaze. “I’m sorry about this. I really looked forward to seeing more of you. Please know that I have no issue with you, and you can call me anytime should you change your mind.”
“Goodbye.” She said wrenching her hand away and turning her head to break his penetrating stare for good.
She left him to show himself out and closed the door before dissolving into tears. She supposed she was silly for acting so emotionally invested in a man that she had only spent one night with, but she found herself helpless against the feelings pouring out of her.
She pulled herself together and was staring blankly at the ceiling when Troy walked in. He was holding a glass of wine that he handed to her gently.
“I’m very sorry about that.” He said genuinely. “I had every intention of being civil.”
She shrugged and took a sip. “You weren’t the one who started it. He looked at you as though you had two heads”
“Yeah, he just couldn’t seem to help himself.” He agreed.
“What is the problem between you two? I figured you only had an issue with him because you believed he may have killed Mercedes.”
Troy shook his head. “Nothing happened. I always thought he was weird and I guess he picked up on it because he always looked at me with disdain. That was it.”
“That’s very strange.” She sat up. “Well, I called it off.”
“I’m glad you’re safe, but sorry that you are hurt. I know you liked him a lot.” He offered gently.
“Thanks,” she told him as she got out of bed. “I need to get out of here.”
“Where are you going?” He inquired curiously.
“I don’t know. I just need to leave.” She said as she grabbed a hoodie to put over her tank top.
She got into her car and drove away feeling guilty. She knew exactly where she was going, but knew that Troy wouldn’t approve, and had left it out. She headed to Ocean Beach where she stopped at a scenic area to call the body shops in the area. Three down, Joel answered and she asked their hours and then hung up. At least her deception was getting incrementally better.
She found it easily and parked across the street and jumped out. Immediately she saw three men in the garage staring lasciviously at her and she was at once grateful that she had brought the hoodie, though her bare legs dismayed her as they looked her up and down.
She resented the discomfort she felt at just dressing for the weather, as they stared her up and down and lifted her shoulders with resolve, ignored their ogling and approached the closest man. “Is Joel here?”
“I’m here,” he said with a lopsided grin. “And my name is Tom.”
She faked a smile. “I’m afraid I need Joel.”
He yelled for Joel as he continued to eye her. “He’ll be out in a second.”
Joel came out and stared curiously at her. Out of the people she had seen, he was definitely worse for the wear. He’d carried a fine, muscular form in high school and still maintained impressive arms, but had an equally impressive gut to go along with it. His face was bloated and had become a ruddy scarlet. Like an overgrown, scowling tomato. His nose was webbed with broken capillaries and his hair seemed to be thinning, and his face registered his hard living with deeply etched lines, making him appear long past his paltry 30 years.
“What?” He asked abruptly. Even as he was rude he didn’t bother to hide his lustful staring as his reddened eyes traveled slowly over her body.
“I’d like to talk to you.” Ella said carefully.
“Ok, talk. Do I know you?”
“Kind of. We went to school together.” She told him.
“Oh fuck, please don’t tell me you are trying to come at me with a kid.” He barked, staring at her accusingly.
“I’m sorry--what?” She asked incredulously.
“Did we screw and now you want to tell me that I got you pregnant?” He asked unblinkingly.
“Are you serious?” She a
sked taken aback. Could he really be such an unbelievable, peaked-in-highschool cliché?
“Thank god!” He yelled. “You don’t look like you could have popped a kid out anyway. Your tits look too firm.”
She didn’t bother to thank him before moving on, disgusted. “Now that you know that I’m not here for a paternity suit, will you talk to me?”
“Fuck, sure, why not?” He turned his head over to his coworkers. “I’m leaving.”
She couldn’t believe he didn’t even further question what interest she might have in him.
“I know a great bar a couple blocks over, you got a car?”
“Yes, I’ll meet you there.” She said quickly.
“No sweetie, I don’t have a car. You need to drive me.” He told her mockingly.
“I don’t think I feel comfortable with that.” She informed him, head held high.
He stopped and looked at her. “Look, if you want to talk to me, you need to drive me. That’s the way it is, sweetheart.”
She grudgingly pointed to her car and saw Troy in her mind scowling and shaking his finger angrily at her, but this time he’d be right. He got in before her and blatantly turned in his seat to watch her body twist into the car. She again cursed him making her feel like she shouldn’t have worn shorts.
Most of the brief drive was taken by him telling her where to go and asking if she had cash for the bar, which she was loathe to answer.
The lounge was darkly lit with the requisite pool tables and old juke box and bar flies at 3pm. They all seemed to turn at once to take her in, and Joel got a few high fives on the way to the booth he picked. He gestured for her to sit and she sat at the edge of one side of the rounded booth, which was rife with rips on it’s bonded leather, duct tape holding some of it together. He slid in right next to her and sat uncomfortably close.
He made it clear that he expected her to buy the drinks. She couldn’t believe how right Mira had been and she raised her hand for the cocktail waitress to come by. He ordered a straight, double whisky and she tried one of their specialty martinis.
“So, is this a high school crush thing?” He asked directly once he had his beverage in hand, eyes boring through her..
She nearly spit out her martini. “What?”
“Did you want me in high school and now you want to act out your jock fantasy? Because let me tell you, you don’t even need to do this, I would have fucked you the second I laid eyes on you.” He told her bluntly, drinking his whisky, some dribbling down his chin onto his stained shirt.
“Are you for real?” She asked shocked.
“Look I’ve run into girls like that before. They usually don’t look like you and are kinda fat or something, but it happens.”
“And do you act it out with them?” She couldn’t help herself, and he was like a car wreck that she had to watch despite knowing she didn’t actually want to see.
“Yeah, mostly. One girl had to pay me because she was butt ugly.” He said matter of factly as he downed his drink and immediately waved down the waitress and asked for another.
“Well, I’m sorry to tell you that I do not have a jock fantasy involving you.” She said, as she actively questioned the veracity of any woman seeking him out for that. “I want to ask you about Mercedes Tavares.”
His beady eyes narrowed. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“No, I am fucking not.”
“What’s your name?” He demanded.
“Ella Dolan. I’m Alexa’s best friend.” As she introduced herself she couldn’t believe he hadn’t asked before.
“Who the fuck is Alexa?” He said, with blank eyes.
“Mercedes’ sister.” She explained.
“What a nightmare-” He started.
“I spoke with Mira-” she tried to interrupt and he interrupted right back.
“Ugh! How is that bitch?” He didn’t wait for a response before chuckling. “I bet she’s fat as fuck with a thousand screaming children.”
Ella took great joy of pulling up Mira’s website picture on her phone and showing it to him. He looked slightly disappointed.
“Yeah, well, she’ll get there. She’s young still.”
“Having met with her, I highly doubt it.” Ella said, staring down at his belly, which was barely contained in his ripped undershirt.
“Whatever, enough about her.” He said abruptly. “What do you want?”
“I wanted to know what your relationship with Mercedes was.” She told him as she nursed her fruity martini.
“What relationship? She was a bitch. I was stuck dealing with her because she and Mira were friends. I thought she was stuck up as fuck.” He sneered.
“I heard you had a er- crush on her.” She said delicately.
He looked at her steadily. “I don’t get crushes, sweetheart.”
“Well, Mira seemed to think you were pretty interested in her.” She informed him.
“I wanted her ass, and that was it.” He saw her quizzical glare and continued. “She was a complete bitch, but you saw her. She was hot and a slut and I thought I could fuck her. So what? Me and every other guy she ever met.”
“Mira said you seemed to get obsessed and that there was some incident before she died.” She tested, as she grabbed her martini and switched sides to stare at him, rather than be sidled up against any longer.
He slammed his hand down on the table and Ella cringed. She was unbelievably glad they were in public and couldn’t believe her folly at having driven him, and would not make the same mistake again when they left.
“I don’t get obsessed. Bitches get obsessed with me!” He bellowed, pointing his thumb at himself. “She fucked everything else that walked, a lot of them were much worse to look at than me and probably didn’t know what the fuck they were doing. I just let her know that I could take her experienced ass on, no problem, and fuck her in ways she never dreamed.” His voice was getting more worked up with every word and his skin seemed to get even redder. “She laughed at me, told me no and acted like she was better than me.”
“So you got violent?” Ella pushed against her better judgment.
“No!” He hollered. “I just wanted to scare her. Get that smile off her face and let her know she couldn’t treat me like that. I just knocked some stuff over and yelled.”
Ella wondered if he knew the meaning of the word violent. “And then?”
“And then nothing. I left and didn’t see her again. She was killed a few weeks later. No fucking surprise there either.” He added.
“You wanted her dead?”
“I didn’t care what happened to her. I just wanted her away from me and my girl. She was a bad influence.”
“How?” Ella asked curiously.
“She kept telling Mira to leave me. Plus I didn’t want Mira hanging around with the type of girl who sluts around like that.” He jeered.
“How did you feel when she had died?”
“I really didn’t care except to be sorry that someone that hot wasn’t around at all anymore and I was sorry I hadn’t at least fingered her.” He said somewhat mournfully.
“Who do you think killed her?” It was all she could do to not slap his ruddy face.
“I don’t know. That cat Bryan or Nick maybe.” He guessed with a shrug.
She flinched at the names. “Why?”
“Oh come on.” He said mockingly. “In Nick’s case it’s pretty obvious and he is apparently still crying over her at some dump workshop in Coronado and that freak Bryan was the one obsessed with her. She had his nuts wrapped up tightly in her hand and probably mercy fucked him just enough to make him crazy.”
“You think they had sex?” She asked surprised.
“She screwed everyone, Helen-”
“Ella.” She interrupted.
“Whatever,” he continued. “She literally screwed everyone else with a dick. You’re telling me she didn’t bang that guy?”
“So you don’t know for sure?” She hounded, unable to stop he
rself.
“I don’t need to know for sure, honey. I’m a man and I know men. She used to drink around him, get vulnerable around him. One way or another if he wasn’t one of those queens, he hit that.” He patronized shamelessly.
“So by your logic, if he was any man at all, he would have gotten her drunk and screwed her before she knew any better?”
“That’s right!” He said slapping the table again. “You aren’t as dumb as you look.”
“Well thanks, I think.” She threw some cash down on the table and got up. “You are every bit as dumb as you look, maybe even more so. Have a nice life, you pig.”
As he was slowly working through what she had said she strolled out of the bar and then picked up her pace to get in her car and take off as quickly as possible. She looked behind her and didn’t see him and she took a deep breath of relief and squealed away. What a waste of skin, she thought. And the only valuable information she had gained was that her ex husband wasn’t actually the biggest asshole in the world as she’d previously thought and that Nick was still in the San Diego area and worked at some sort of work shop. She remembered he had been very good at carpentry and was not surprised in the least that he may be doing woodworking or something similar for a living. She was extremely surprised that he had stayed in southern California where he had come to be notorious.
She drove home feeling dirty and disturbed from having even conversed with Joel. She couldn’t imagine what Mira had ever seen in him. He had been both menacing and greasy in an unbelievably losing combination, objectifying every woman he looked at and spoke about. Completely comfortable with his crass nature, and incapable of normal human interaction with women.
She drove home thanking the fact that Joel didn’t have a car and again scolded herself for being so unsafe. Certainly he presented a suspect for murder and for rape as well. Even after all these years he was clearly still angry at Mercedes laughing at him and rejecting him. To maintain that anger even after the object of it had been murdered seem like an indication of a truly disturbed person.
