by K. Webster
“Here. She wanted you to have these,” I spat and stood, ready to square off with his advancing fury. Manny stood and grabbed ahold of June’s elbows, whispering assurances to her. Did he want to fuck her too?
Donnie fisted my shirt and brought me to his face. “You have fucking lost your mind, Bobby. Cool your shit!” he boomed, spittle showering my face.
When I saw Manny and June walk off into the darkness of the yard, I went ballistic.
“Manny, don’t touch her, you motherfucker! That’s my girl! I will fucking kill you if you touch her!” I screamed, struggling to get away from Donnie so that I could tear off after Manny. He was having a hard time holding me still, and I broke free, running into the yard after him.
Chaz and Donnie were shouting after me as I ran toward them. I grabbed Manny’s shoulders and spun him around, swinging a fist hard into his face. He crumpled to the ground without a peep.
“What is wrong with you?” June screeched and started to run from me. Fuck that. Chasing after her, I struggled to keep up with her. She ran easily off ahead of me. I was too fucked up to catch her. Just as she disappeared from my line of vision, someone tackled me from behind, knocking us to the ground.
Donnie straddled me and began punching the shit out of me until I blacked out.
By the time I made it to my porch, I was sobbing hysterically. What the hell had just happened? Bobby was messed up again on pills and alcohol. That, coupled with his distressed state because of his dad, made him uncontrollable. When he tore my panties from me, I had been incredibly embarrassed but mostly worried about what he’d become since his dad died. He was suffering mentally, and my heart ached for him.
Manny had only tried to help me and ended up getting punched for no reason.
I finally made it home and changed into some yoga pants. I was just pulling a tank on when I heard a knock on the door. My heart beat wildly as I worried about Bobby being on the other side, still pissed.
I peeked through the window on the door and sighed in relief to see Donnie standing there. Unlocking the door, I let him inside. His chest was heaving, and he was furious.
“June, I’m so sorry. Things escalated out of control, and I can’t help but feel responsible for starting it. I’ve always egged Bobby on. He’s like my brother. I crossed the line tonight and now it’s hurt you. I’m sorry.” He handed over the scraps of my panties.
Taking them from him, I walked to the trash can and deposited them. “It’s okay. I knew you were playing around. Bobby is just in a highly emotional state. He’s obviously been taking something because he’s only treated me like that once before and it was after getting messed up on pills.”
Donnie nodded and sat down in the recliner, rubbing his cheeks before placing his elbows on his knees and looking up at me.
“Are you going to be okay? Bobby will come back around. This is a side of him that we are unfamiliar with. I can tell he loves you or he wouldn’t be such a psychotic douchebag.”
I giggled at his words but then grew serious again. Suddenly, I felt the urge to tell him about the pregnancy. I didn’t buffer it or lead up to it or anything. Just threw it out there. I needed to tell someone.
“Donnie, I’m pregnant.”
“Shit, June. Wow. I’m surprised. Bobby always wears a raincoat.”
“Yeah, well, I was under the assumption that I couldn’t conceive because of some incorrect medical results. Now, here I am, pregnant with Bobby’s baby. Thing is, I’m incredibly happy about it. I feel that if he was in his regular state of mind, he too would be happy. But because of his dad, I feel like if I tell him, he won’t take it well. Does it make me a bad person to want to wait until he’s in a better frame of mind before I tell him?”
“Nah, I get it. Now would definitely not be the time to tell him. Maybe in a week or two when things are better you could tell him then.”
I nodded my head in agreement. “Thanks, Donnie, for talking to me. You’re a good friend, and I know he cares a great deal about you guys. Just hang in there while he gets through this tough time.”
He grinned at me as he stood to leave. “June, I’ll say the same for you. Hang in there. He’ll get through it.” Donnie gave me one of his bear hugs and left.
Crumbling back to the couch, I sobbed, missing my sweet Bobby.
My head was pounding when I woke up the next morning in my dad’s bed. Chaz was sprawled out next to me, snoring loudly. I got up from bed and went into the kitchen, searching for a bottle of water and some ibuprofen. Manny was sleeping on the couch, and I felt horribly guilty as the events from last night replayed in my mind.
What had I done? The guys were going to be pissed at me when they woke up, but they would eventually get over it. But June… She was a whole different story. I had humiliated her in front of my friends. She was better off without me.
Stalking into my bedroom to get a shower, I nearly snapped when I found a naked Donnie in my bed. It made me sick to know that his stupid dick was touching the sheets where my beautiful June had been not long before. Using all of my strength not to pull him from the bed and choke him, I slipped into the bathroom. Spying my reflection in the mirror, I noted that I looked like absolute hell. Dried blood clung to my lip and one of my eyes was pretty swollen. Shaking my head, I took a quick shower.
Thankfully, when I emerged, Donnie had already made up the bed and left the bedroom. I dressed quickly and made my way back to the kitchen. Smells of bacon hit once I entered the living room, making my heart beat wildly as I stupidly hoped it was June cooking in the kitchen.
Reaching the kitchen, I frowned to see Mom at the stove. All three guys were sitting at the table, waiting patiently with their coffee. Not meeting their stares, I went to the coffee maker and poured a cup.
“Morning, Mom,” I greeted gruffly and kissed her cheek before sitting down at the table.
She didn’t reply. She just handed me a plate full of eggs and bacon. After serving me, she brought plates to all three guys.
“Bobby, I think you have some explaining to do,” she said coolly, pulling up a chair beside me.
I looked up to see Chaz and Manny look away guiltily and Donnie glaring at me, arms crossed.
“I lost my shit last night, okay? I’m sorry, Manny, for hitting you. I got so focused on her that I couldn’t see anything else. You were just an obstacle.”
Manny nodded at my apology. “It’s okay, man.”
I smiled at how easy that was. “I don’t deserve her,” I muttered.
Chaz shook his head in disagreement and Mom spoke up. “Bobby, sweetie, you do deserve her. You love her.”
I grunted, and Donnie slammed his fork down on the plate and stood up, storming off into the back of the house. What the fuck was his problem? He was never so sensitive or caring about anyone. The thought of him wanting June made my blood boil.
When someone knocked at the door, Chaz jumped up, eager to leave the tense kitchen, and answered the door. I inhaled the rest of the food as I waited to see who had come to visit. June walked into the kitchen looking very depressed. Her hair was a mess, and she didn’t have on any makeup. She was wearing a tight white tank top that showed the curves of her perky breasts and short cut-off jean shorts. My dick hardened when I saw the bruises on her inner thighs, knowing that I had put them there. Those bruises weren’t from pain; they were from our passion only a couple of nights ago. A time when things were easier. Happier.
“Can we talk, Bobby?” she asked nervously.
I stood from the table and nodded at her. We quietly went out to the porch and sat side by side on the swing. After a few minutes, I couldn’t take the silence anymore.
“June, I’m so sorry. I don’t fucking deserve you.”
Her hand slid over into my lap and squeezed my thigh. “Bobby, I love you. When you love someone, you work through all the crap to get to the good stuff. Even when you’re upset, I know you still love me.”
I placed my hand over hers and threaded our
fingers together. She sighed in relief, which made me feel like a huge dick for the way I’d been treating her.
“I love you too, June.” I leaned over and placed a kiss on her lips. She pulled away and smiled so brightly at me that I thought I would burn. My heart thrummed to life. We could do this. Fix things and be together forever.
“I need to tell you something,” she said tentatively, standing from the swing and coming between my knees. I placed my hands on her hips, waiting for what she had to say. “I’m pregnant.”
Two words. For a moment, my heart swelled at the miracle of it. At how she’d told me that it was something she’d always wanted. Something I had been able to give her. My hand gingerly made its way to her belly and stroked it. She smiled hopefully at me. Suddenly, reality slammed back into me and I was furious.
“Wait. That means you lied to me?” I growled, standing so quickly that I nearly knocked her over. Grasping her upper arms, I got close to her face, trying to understand. “You told me you couldn’t get pregnant. June, I can’t do this! Why would you put this on me now? I can’t stay here in this town!”
Tears began rolling down her face as she struggled to break free of my grasp. “Bobby, let go of me. Please.” My grip only tightened as I came to terms with her words. She was pregnant.
“Are you trying to trap me into staying in this shitty-ass town? Haven’t you learned that I fucking hate it here? This will ruin my career! I can’t do this,” I spat out at her, shaking my head. I was completely pissed, confused, and terribly overwhelmed.
After the initial shock of my awful words had hit her, she glared back at me, resolve in her voice. “Don’t you worry, Bobby. You won’t have anything to do with ‘this.’ Now get away from me!” Her voice was shrill, and I could tell she was beyond angry.
My emotions confused me because now I wanted to kiss her again. Crashing my lips forcefully to hers, hard enough to knick her lip with my teeth, I kissed her with rage and passion all mixed into one. She began to melt for a second but then struggled to get away from me.
“Help!” she screamed as she broke momentarily from our kiss. Seconds later, I was pulled from her, but this time it was Chaz. He was holding me with my arms behind my back, Manny helping, when I saw Donnie come out of the house. He was shooting looks of hate in my direction as he put an arm around June and led her off the property.
Defeated, I howled in agony over losing my girl because of my own stupidity.
It was over. Bobby had crossed the line this time, and there wasn’t any turning back. I would raise my baby alone without his help. Donnie and I were silent on the walk back to my house. He was already a good friend to me. In this town, I’d never made any friends, so it was refreshing to have one now when I needed it most.
When we reached my front porch, we both sat down on the step. I drew my knees to my chest and buried my face into them. With the emotions from Mr. Acer dying, Bobby hating me, and now a pregnancy, I was teetering on the edge.
“I’ll make sure he sends you money every month,” Donnie said softly beside me.
I turned my head, still resting it on my knees, but now I could see him. “I don’t want his money, Donnie. He knows I have never cared about that. If anything, I want him to be happy and successful, but I could care less about how much money he made. He of all people knows how hard it is to live without a father in your life. This will be his cross to bear.”
Donnie reached over and patted my back. “June, you’re one tough bitch. Bobby has screwed himself royally when it comes to you. We’ll still look after you because, whether or not he feels like being the father, Chaz, Manny, and I have no problems being uncles. You need anything and we’ll take care of you.”
I smiled at his genuine desire to look after me and the baby. “Thank you, Donnie. That means so much to me. Do you think it will be weird for me to come to the funeral tomorrow? I loved Mr. Acer like he was my dad. I can’t imagine not going.” Tears filled my eyes and my chin quivered as I thought about how unhappy Mr. Acer would have been at Bobby’s behavior toward me.
“June, of course not. The guys and I will run interference. You just stay to the side and I’ll make sure he doesn’t bother you. Come here,” he smiled, pulling me in for a hug.
“Thanks for being such a good friend to me. I don’t have any friends except Bobby, and now not even that.”
“You remind me a little of my sister so it comes naturally. Now, I need to get back over to the house and make sure I don’t need to kick his ass again. I’m really feeling the need,” he chuckled, and I laughed with him.
Jumping up, he jogged away, waving over his shoulder. Standing up, I went to my room and collapsed on the bed. Between the stress and the pregnancy, I was completely exhausted.
When I woke several hours later, I found a note from Momma asking me to go to the grocery store to pick up some food for us to make a dish for the reception after the funeral. After brushing my teeth and making sure I looked presentable, I stepped into my boots and went out to my truck. Driving past Mr. Acer’s house, I tried not to look in that direction but failed miserably. I could see people on the front porch, and I kept on driving.
The grocery store was uneventful, and I managed to find everything Momma had asked for. Afterwards, I was loading the truck and returning the cart when I heard someone approaching me from behind. Spinning around quickly, I came face to face with Markwayne and groaned.
“What are you doing sneaking up on me like that, Markwayne?” I demanded angrily. Ignoring my question, he reached up and pushed the hair from my eyes.
“You look beautiful today, June. I heard about Mr. Acer. I’m sorry about that.” His genuine tone made me drop my guard some.
“Thanks. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got milk that needs refrigerating. I’ll see you around.”
When he grabbed my wrist roughly, I lost control.
“Let go of me, asshole,” I hissed, jerking my hand from his grasp.
“Dammit, June. Why are you always so damn difficult?”
“Me? You’re the one who lied to me about the fertility results.”
His eyes widened, realizing that I had somehow figured it out. A grin spread across his face, and so help me, I wanted to smack it off of him.
“Ju Ju, did you go and get yourself knocked up? Oh my God, this is fuckin’ hilarious!”
Storming away from him, I hopped in the truck and flipped him off as I peeled out of the parking lot. That asshole was impossible. I was tired of assholes altogether. After I had this baby, I seriously considered moving to some town and starting fresh.
After my meltdown with June earlier, I locked myself away in my room. I’d completely lost her. As if my heart could take any more damage, I had gone and pushed away the woman I loved and our baby. Our baby. My chest ached to think about it.
When the sun started to go down, someone knocked on my door. Sighing, I got up and unlocked it to find Chaz on the other side. His gaze swept over my appearance before he spoke.
“Okay, it’s time to figure out this song that you wanted to play at the funeral tomorrow. I imagine you want to play the guitar and have me sing?”
I nodded and motioned him into the room, shutting the door again. Walking over to my guitar case, I pulled it out and sat on the bed. Reaching over to the bedside table, I brought out a notebook from the drawer and tossed it to him. He flipped through it until he got to the last song.
“This one?” he asked, holding it up for me to see.
I nodded and began strumming a few chords.
Once he’d had time to look at it, I started playing it the way I’d imagined it would sound best. During the first run-through, he just listened and scribbled some notes on the page. This was our process—how we made the magic happen. Without it, we would never have grown to the success we have today.
“Okay, I’m ready.”
We practiced and practiced, really fine-tuning the song, and I tried not to focus on the words themselves. This s
ong meant the world to me in more ways than one. It was about two people. Two of the most important people in my life. After a few hours of practicing, we finally decided to call it a night since both of our stomachs kept growling.
I put my guitar away and followed Chaz out into the living room. There was tension in the air between us, and I felt horrible about putting it there. Addressing all three of them, I decided to apologize.
“Guys, I’m really sorry about the way I’ve been acting. This whole situation with my dad and then June really has my head in a weird place. I’m hoping to get past this funeral and back into the studio so I can finally clear my head. You guys are like my brothers, and I don’t ever want you to feel like this again. Please just bear with me one more day. I’ll catch the next flight out of here just as soon as the funeral is over.”
Donnie was the first to speak, and I braced myself for what he had to say. “Man, you know we’ll always forgive you, but why did you have to ruin it with June? That woman adored you. Why would you throw that away?”
He wasn’t being his usual flippant, jackass self, which meant that if Donnie could see what a dick I’d been, then I was being a huge dick.
“I don’t know, man. I just lost it. She deserves someone who won’t hurt her. That ass that she was married to hurt her all the time. I saw the empty look in her eyes when we reunited after all of these years. There’s no way I can ever be responsible for her feeling that way again.”
Donnie smirked. “Don’t be such a pussy, dude. Can you really imagine her with someone else? Some other guy making her moan every night? Another man raising your baby?”
I instantly went furious again and kicked over the coffee table. Chaz gave Donnie a “go to hell” look before standing up to try to calm me down.
“He’s just trying to get you riled up, but he has a point. You’re insanely pissed off about the idea of another man with her yet you don’t want to be that man. Figure your shit out, man, before you make the worst mistake of your life. Now come on. I’m fucking starved. Where do you eat in this Podunk town?”
