Player

by DeLuca, Laura

  “Make sure you drive Kevin and Elena home,” Bryan told Jim.

  “Don’t worry,” Jim agreed. “Kevin can be a maniac driver when he’s sober. I don’t even want to think about him driving drunk.”

  Jim shot him a smile, but Josh wasn’t feeling charitable. He ignored Jim, and after giving Rosa a quick peck on the lips, he stood from his seat. “I’m going to go check on Nadine.”

  Nadine was still unconscious in the corner. No one was bothering her and she didn’t seem to be in any distress. In fact, she looked pretty peaceful, but Josh didn’t like having people passed out in his living room. His parents had told him one too many stories about alcohol poisoning. He knelt down by her side, but she didn’t stir. So he took hold of her arm, and gave it a gentle shake.

  “Nadine? Nadine, wake up.”

  Her gray eyes fluttered open, and she looked around in confusion. “Hmmm? Who’s that?”

  “It’s me. Josh.”

  “Oh, hi, Josh.” She covered her mouth and yawned. “I fell asleep.”

  “I noticed.”

  Nadine sat up, and looked like she was going to get to her feet. She turned a little green and suddenly clutched her stomach. “I don’t feel so good,” she moaned. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

  “I’ll help you into the bathroom,” Josh offered.

  It was already too late. Nadine promptly bent over and vomited all over Josh’s sneakers. Even over the loud music, Josh could hear the people around them snickering. Josh was far from amused. He didn’t have the strongest stomach. He cringed and came very close to getting sick himself. At least she had been sitting on the hardwood floors instead of his mother’s brand new carpets.

  Nadine looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “Oh God, Josh, I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s okay.” He helped her to her feet and led her to the bathroom. “Clean yourself up. I’m sure I can find someone to drive you home.”

  “My date will drive me,” Nadine told him. “I’m really sorry, Josh. I promise I’ll clean up before I go.”

  Apparently just the thought sent her gagging again. Before Josh could reply, she ran into the bathroom with her hand over her mouth. Josh left her to her business and went back to his friends. They were all gathered around the couch, with the exception of Bryan who had disappeared into the crowd. When Josh sat down, the whole gang glanced down at his soiled sneakers and burst into simultaneous laughter.

  “Nice shoes,” Jim teased. “Can any of your exes hold their liquor?”

  “Very funny.” Josh wanted to stay angry with Jim, but he was beginning to smile.

  “First Elena makes a complete idiot of herself.” Andrea had tears in her eyes she was laughing so hard. “And now Nadine tosses her cookies on your shoes! Really, Josh, you know how to pick ‘em!”

  Josh put his arm around Rosa. “I think my taste is definitely improving.”

  She crinkled her nose in distaste. “You smell like puke,” she complained, but even she was smiling.

  “Do you want to play footsies?” He dangled his dirtied shoes dangerously close to her boots.

  “Ewww! Would you please go change your shoes?”

  “Oh, all right, party pooper.” He kissed her again, this time letting his lips linger just a little bit longer. She welcomed his touch and parted her lips. He hated to pull away, but she was right. He did smell like puke. “I’ll be right back.”

  Josh headed to his bedroom where he had plenty of extra sneakers. Along the way, he looked for Bryan. He wondered where he had disappeared to. Josh was certain he wouldn’t have left without telling him. Come to think of it, Kevin and Elena were missing too. Bryan had probably followed them. In any event, Josh wasn’t left in suspense for long. He had hardly made it to the steps when Bryan flew out of the kitchen, looking frantic and disheveled.

  “They’re gone!” He shouted, his hazel eyes wide. “I can’t find them anywhere. If anything happens to Elena, I’ll never forgive myself. We’ve got to find them, Josh!”

  “Just calm down,” Josh told him, though he was hardly calm himself. In fact, his heart was in his throat. What if something had happened to Elena? “Is Kevin’s car still outside?”

  Bryan peaked out the window. “Yeah, it’s out front.”

  “Then they couldn’t have gone far. Don’t worry. We’ll find them.”

  They walked up the stairs together, and Bryan berated himself the whole way. “I can’t believe I lost them. I only turned my back for a second, just one damn second. I just wanted to get a soda. When I left, they were making out. When I came back they were gone. Where could they be?”

  “Did you check the bedrooms?”

  Bryan seemed honestly bewildered. “What would they be doing in there?”

  “Cleaning out the closets.” Josh shook his head. “What do you think they’d be doing in a bedroom?”

  “Oh, right.” Bryan turned a little pale. “Do you really think Elena would do that? On the first date?”

  “No, I don’t think she would.” In fact, he knew she wouldn’t. She wouldn’t even after six weeks of dates. “But Kevin would,” Josh added. “And he can be very persuasive when he wants to be. We should check.”

  “But if they are doing something,” Bryan began reluctantly, “we can’t just barge in and interrupt them.”

  “We won’t have to. If we hear any moaning or groaning, we’ll know what’s going on.” He saw Bryan flinch. “Sorry, buddy, but that’s the way it is.”

  They moved swiftly up the stairs and down the long hallway. There were five bedrooms on the second floor, although one had been converted into an exercise room and another into a home office. They started peeking into each of them. Even from upstairs, the music was still blaring. It was difficult to hear anything over the constant thumping of the bass. His parent’s room was the first he approached. The door was closed. He listened and heard nothing. He opened the door and found nothing. He went through the same routine with all the other rooms until he reached his own bedroom door.

  At first when Josh put his ear against the wood, he heard only silence. He was just about to turn away when thought he heard a small whimper and then the unmistakable crack of a hand striking skin. Even before he tried to push open the door he heard Elena’s voice cry out in desperation.

  “No, please don’t!”

  Chapter 26

  Josh tried to push open the door, but it wouldn’t budge. Kevin had locked it and there was no key to open it from the outside. Josh punched the wood and cursed under his breath. He wasn’t sure what to do. He knew they had to get to Elena quickly, before it was too late. Inside the room, she was still crying, but her voice was muffled. It was obvious that Kevin was trying to silence her.

  “Open the door,” Bryan shouted frantically. “What are you waiting for?”

  “I’m trying! It’s locked!”

  “Then we’ll just have to break it down!”

  Bryan didn’t waste a second. He threw all his weight against the door, slamming his shoulder into the hard wood. It took Josh a minute to come to his senses and help him. Again and again they rammed the door. Each time it creaked a little louder, but it didn’t give way.

  “What the hell is going on out there?” They heard Kevin shout. “Get away from here!”

  “Help me! Someone help m—!” Elena’s scream was silenced by a loud crack.

  “Josh? What’s going on?” Andrea said. She was standing on the stairway with Jim and Rosa. “We can hear you banging all the way downstairs, even over the music.”

  “Kevin’s got Elena in there!”

  Josh threw himself at the door for what must have been the twentieth time. He didn’t need to say anymore. While the girls stood wide-eyed, Jim launched into action and helped the other boys. With his added strength, the wood finally began to shudder on its hinges. A few more hits and it finally gave way. It cracked at the frame, and separated from the wall just enough for them to squeeze through one at a time. Bryan barged through
the opening before Josh could blink, but he and Jim weren’t far behind.

  “Get your hands off her!” Bryan screamed.

  Kevin was lying on Josh’s bed with Elena pinned underneath him. His lifted his mouth away from hers at the unexpected intrusion. Elena whimpered as she tried desperately to squirm out from beneath him. Josh could see her blouse had been torn open, revealing delicate lace beneath. Kevin was attempting to do the same thing with her low-rise jeans. Luckily for Elena, they were extremely tight and Kevin was clumsily drunk, so he couldn’t maneuver them very well. He certainly wasn’t going to get the chance to finish what he started. Before he had a second to react, Josh and Bryan were on top of him, pulling him to the ground.

  “I guess you think you’re a real tough guy!” Bryan gave Kevin a hard left hook. He staggered but somehow remained standing. “Let’s see how tough you are now!”

  Josh followed through with another hit, and blood gushed from Kevin’s nose all over the bed. “What did you think you were going to do to her Kevin? Huh? Were you going to try to kill her like Lily and Jazz?”

  Josh kicked him in the stomach and Kevin doubled over, gasping for breath. He couldn’t answer or maybe he just didn’t want to. He looked toward Jim for support. He was watching from the corner, but Jim refused to defend his friend or take part in his beating. He stood neutral on the sidelines. Andrea and Rosa were also lurking in the doorway, looking nervous and worried. Kevin started to look scared when he realized he had no backup.

  Bryan was practically seething as he stood over him. Josh wondered if he would kill Kevin. He wondered if he would let Bryan kill him. If Kevin had murdered Lily and attacked Jazz, did he deserve any less? Luckily, Josh didn’t have to make the choice, because after one last swift kick to Kevin’s ribs, Bryan forgot all about him and walked over to Elena. She was still on the bed, shaking and cowering. Her blonde hair was a tangled mess and her lip was bloodied. An ugly bruise was already beginning to spread under one her eyes—eyes that were surprisingly dry of tears. Josh realized she was probably still in shock.

  “Are you all right?” Bryan asked her gently.

  “He was going to rape me.” With the words came the tears. She desperately tried to hold the pieces of her ruined shirt together.

  “Don’t listen to her!” Kevin cried from the floor. “She’s nothing but a whore! She wanted it just as much as I did.” Elena shook her head adamantly, but Kevin continued his verbal assault. “Do you hear me? She wanted it! She’s a slut. She wanted me to do her! She asked for it. She practically begged for it!”

  “I didn’t!” Elena screamed. Her tone was almost childlike in its desperation, so unlike the queen of the school Josh had always known. “I didn’t!”

  “It’s all right,” Bryan soothed. He put his arm around her shoulders. She seemed startled at first, but then she relaxed against him. “You’re safe now. We know you didn’t want this.”

  “She did want it! She nothing but a . . . owwww.”

  Josh silenced him with one quick kick in the ribs. He could barely breathe, let alone speak when Josh was through with him. “Shut up! Just shut up! We can tell just by looking at her that this wasn’t consensual. Look at her, Kevin!” Josh grabbed the corner of his chin, and forced him to turn and look at Elena, bruised and quivering. “Look at what you did to her!”

  Kevin’s only response was to spit in Josh’s face. Josh threw him to the ground and wiped away the blood and saliva with his sleeve.

  “Kevin, what’s happened to you?” Andrea whispered from the corner. “When did you turn into this monster?”

  “It wasn’t my fault!” Kevin insisted. “She gets me to the point where I’m ready to explode, and then she tells me she’s sorry but we have to stop. I’m moving too fast for her? You can’t stop once it gets that far!”

  “Sometimes you have to stop,” Jim said firmly. He sounded angry, but also disappointed. Yet, there wasn’t a hint of surprise in his voice. Josh wondered if Jim had seen Kevin behave this way before. “It’s called will power! If a girl tells you to stop, you stop.”

  Kevin only glared at him with as much hatred as he did every other person in the room. He didn’t seem at all remorseful. Bryan returned his wicked stare with an intensity that was almost frightening. He pulled away from Elena. She clung to the security of his embrace until Rosa took his place. She wrapped her arms around the trembling girl, and Elena seemed to calm down a little.

  Josh came to his senses as things settled down, but he was afraid that Bryan hadn’t. His grief over his sister’s death might send him over the edge. What if he really did try to kill Kevin? Josh couldn’t let him ruin his life for revenge. He was about to intercede, but in the end, Bryan was the calmest of them all. Though his eyes were still angry, his voice was controlled when he finally spoke.

  “I have a few questions for you,” he said calmly. “Did you poison Josh? Did you slash his tires?”

  Kevin actually smirked, a brave feat considering the company he was in. “As a matter of fact, I did slash his tires,” he admitted. “I came out of the showers first that day. There was no one else around, so I took out my switchblade and just did it. I was so pissed when Coach made him captain. I deserved it more. At least I show up for practice once in a while! I knew he would think it was you since you’d been fighting.”

  “And the rat poison?” Andrea asked. “Please tell me you didn’t do that!”

  “I had nothing to do with that, but believe me I’d like to shake the hand of whoever did. It’s just a shame they didn’t finish the job!”

  Josh shook his head. He was too numb to be hurt. “Why do you hate me so much? What did I ever do to you?”

  Kevin laughed bitterly. “What do you care? I’m nothing but a rapist, right? Why does my opinion matter?”

  “This is all about jealousy, isn’t it?” Bryan asked. “You were so jealous of Josh you were willing to do anything to bring him down.”

  “Maybe! And why shouldn’t I want to bring him down! No matter what I do, he always comes out on top.” He turned to Josh. “You get the girl, the fancy car, and the good grades. You even got to be captain of the wrestling team. It’s just not fair that you get everything. There’s no room for anyone else because you’re so goddamn perfect.”

  Josh turned away in disgust. “And you’re pathetic.”

  Kevin took advantage of the reprieve and tried to slink toward the door while he thought no one was looking, but Bryan blocked his path. “I’m not done with you yet. Did you kill my sister? Did you attack Jasmine?”

  “What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Kevin cowered as the larger boy loomed over him. “I swear. I didn’t touch those other girls. I don’t even know them!”

  “Would you please make him leave?” Elena begged. “Just get him out of here! I can’t stand to look at him anymore.”

  Bryan was torn for a minute. It was understandable that he wanted to continue his questioning while he had Kevin at such an obvious disadvantage, but one look at Elena’s tear-streaked face and he relented.

  “You heard the lady. Get your ass out of here.”

  Kevin didn’t need to be told twice. He scampered to his feet and headed toward the exit like the coward that he was. Bryan grabbed hold of his popped collar just before he could slither out the door.

  “Before you go, I have something to say to you. Not just to you, but to everyone in this room.” His eyes made one quick sweep, staring down each person in turn. “I’m going to figure out who killed my sister, and when I do, they’re going to be sorry. You can all take that as a warning.”

  Everyone was silent after that announcement. For a minute, no one even dared to breathe. Finally, Bryan let go of Kevin’s polo shirt and he darted away. When he was in the safety of the doorway, he paused. His back was to them. He didn’t have the nerve to look any of them in the eye as he spoke.

  “Are you going to call the cops? I’m eighteen already. If you report this, my life will be over.”r />
  Josh snorted and pushed him the rest of the way through the door. “I guess you’re just going to have to wait and see.”

  Kevin was gone before he could blink and the room was silent except for the sound of Elena’s sniffles. The music downstairs had died down along with the party. There were only a few stranglers left. Josh couldn’t wait to throw them out.

  “I can’t believe this!” Andrea said, breaking the silence. She sat down on the edge of the bed beside the other girls. “I just can’t believe Kevin could do something like this. Do you guys think he’s the killer?”

  “We can’t be sure,” Bryan said after a thoughtful moment. “As far as I can tell, he didn’t even know Lily or Jasmine. He’s a pig for sure, but he seems all about self-gratification, and killing Lily and Jazz wouldn’t serve any purpose. Not to mention the fact that he’s a total moron who would have no chance of outsmarting the cops.”

  “Could someone please tell me what the hell is going on?” Jim asked, clearly confused. “Who was murdered? And Josh, you were poisoned? On purpose?”

  Josh realized that Jim was the only person in the room who was still in the dark about everything that had happened the past few weeks. Once they filled him in, he looked even more baffled.

  “Wow,” he said. “I feel kind of guilty. I knew Kevin trashed your car. He told me a few days ago. He thought it was a big joke. I’ve been trying to decide whether or not to tell you ever since. I just didn’t want to cause any problems between you, you know. But I would have told you right away if I had any idea all this other crap was going on. I never thought Kevin might be dangerous.”

  He cast a sheepish glance in Elena’s direction. Andrea looked about ready erupt with a stream of nasty comments, but she settled with just punching her boyfriend’s arm. Rosa wasn’t as inclined to remain silent.

  “Idiot,” she muttered.

  “You’re right. God, Elena, I’m so sorry,” Jim whispered. “I might have been able to stop this.”