The Incident

by Cami York

  And then I got it. A certified doctor had just told them that their daughter who had been dating for a year and a half was still a virgin.

  9

  “Do you want me to go get you some videos or are you cool with whatever’s on TV?” He stood next to the bed looking down at me as I played with my bear. I didn’t have to think about it.

  “I feel like laughing, but Jill has my copy of Bridesmaids.” I played with my bear, finding joy in something as simple as that.

  “I’ll get you another one.” There was something odd in his voice but when I looked at him his facial expression was blank so maybe I was just hearing things. “Oh where’s my phone?”

  “Still with the cops, who do you need to talk to? I’m here and your mom and dad are downstairs. I already told you, you’re not talking to any of those assholes until this shit gets cleared up. Now kiss me so I can go get you your girly shit to watch.”

  He caged me in with his arms and kissed me in a way that stole my breath. The new girl inside me spread herself out on the bed at his mercy.

  In reality I got lost in his kiss and refused to let go when he tried pulling back. It was the best kiss we’d ever shared and I wanted more. What exactly had happened to me when I was lost in the dark?

  “Ummm, baby, let me go I won’t be long.” He took a few last nibbles of my lips before straightening up and walking out the door. Leaving me to stare after him in wonder.

  What exactly is going on? I thought I was supposed to be the one with the out of body experience. But I can’t remember anything about my time at death’s door.

  He on the other hand is sure acting like he’d been through a metamorphosis.

  Brandon

  I want to hit something… hard. I’ve been holding this shit in for the past couple weeks but I know if something doesn’t give soon I’m going to lose my mind.

  Most of my anger is directed at myself. I should’ve listened to her when she came to me, but instead I’d let my famous temper get the better of me.

  Kristi doesn’t know this side of me and I never wanted her to. I’m the coolest guy around until you fuck with someone I love; then I pull a Hulk and turn into something else entirely.

  Those years when I was away from her I missed her like crazy, but I missed her as the friend I’d hunted frogs with. The girl I’d taught to climb trees when we were five.

  But that first night when I came back I knew things had changed. She was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. Nothing at all like the tomboy I’d envisioned in my head all those years.

  It was true that I’d come back for her. When dad had the opportunity of moving back to our hometown or somewhere else once he became VP, I’d campaigned hard for coming back here.

  Mom who’d been missing her friends and family had backed me up and the old man caved. I hadn’t given my new friends a second thought, because I knew I was going back to her.

  I’d barely made it through the door of our old home that had been leased out until two months before we came back, before I was heading across the street to her.

  It wasn’t until I rang the bell that the thought that she might’ve moved hit me. The feeling of loss was instant, but when she opened the door and I saw her for the first time in years it was as if the time had never been.

  When she threw herself into my arms my heart knew her right then and there and it was all I could do not to kiss her the way I wanted to.

  I gave her two weeks before claiming her. Not from any fear of refusal, it was for her. She was still the innocent little girl I remembered.

  Where I’d grown into my teen years, she was still very much a daddy’s girl who maybe because of our small town and the way her parents shielded her, hadn’t outgrown the stigma of small town princess.

  Life in the big city, which is where we’d moved to, had shown me a whole different way of life. You learn to shed that innocence quick unless you want to get the shit beat out of you on a daily basis.

  So although I was just a few months older than her, in reality I was years ahead of her. That only made me want to protect her, to shield her.

  I didn’t pressure her to have sex in the past year because the girl wasn’t ready, and because I knew that she was mine forever, there was no need to rush.

  Not that I didn’t want to every second of every moment spent with her, but our hot wild kisses were enough for me then.

  Now, after coming this close to losing her, I know that shit was dead. No more waiting. I’m going to claim her in every way and make sure nothing ever comes between us again.

  When I first saw the images of her lying half naked on a bed with some strange guy in the room with her, the betrayal had cut deep.

  I didn’t stop to question what I was looking at, just went with it. If she’d been standing in front of me I would’ve said some shit to her that I could never take back. That’s one of the reasons I refused to talk to her.

  Had I not been a first class asshole I would’ve known that she would never do something like this.

  But I didn’t think and my anger ruled the day for two weeks. Plus I wanted to strangle her each time I saw her so it was better to just stay away.

  I didn’t care that she was hurting; I was hurting. What the fuck did she have to be hurt about anyway? She’s the one who’d fucked up.

  I never even let myself look in her direction in those two weeks, and each time she tried talking to me and I turned my back on her I felt better, knowing that I was hurting her the way she’d hurt me.

  And then her dad called and my world went dark. My beautiful baby girl had tried to kill herself. In that moment I didn’t care what she’d done.

  The thought of being in this world without her devastated the hell out of me. And suddenly nothing else mattered but being with her.

  Seeing her in that hospital bed had filled me with such rage. Rage at her for fucking over what we had, for trying to escape by hurting herself.

  And then the cops started asking questions, questions I should’ve been asking and shit took a turn. Someone had hurt her.

  Now I’m no longer interested in being the nice guy. I’d had a talk with her dad, told him everything including how I’d turned my back on his daughter.

  I guess he’d seen how I was beating up on myself because after threatening to put my lights out if I ever did that shit again, he’d let me slide.

  It helped that while she was out of it she kept crying out for me. Though it broke my heart to hear. She’d needed me and I wasn’t there.

  I’d let someone else hurt her and all this time I’ve been a sap, walking around with my head up my ass, talking to the very people who might be responsible.

  I’ve tried really hard not to bring any of what I’d learned in that big city back here with me, especially when dealing with her, now, all bets are off.

  I’ll let the cops do their job but I’m on the hunt for whoever the fuck did this and everyone’s a suspect. I’m going to dig into their shit until I get to the bottom of this and they better hope the cops get to them before I do.

  I had to pull over when my emotions got the better of me. I’m probably a dick for thinking this way, but the fact that she hadn’t given herself to someone else is what had cleared up the last of my anger against her.

  If someone had violated her I’d have leveled the whole damn town. As it stands I’ll only break their fucking legs when I find them.

  I rested my head on the steering wheel and let the bitter tears that were still bottled up inside me go.

  My poor girl. For the rest of my life I’ll make it up to her, my just leaving her hanging out there.

  It’s something I’m going to carry with me for the rest of my life, the fact that when she needed me most I was a fucking dick. But I have the rest of our lives to make it up to her.

  I started the car and headed into town to get her what she wanted. I saw a few people we knew heading into the ice cream parlor but just drove by without acknowledging them
.

  I had the evidence rolling around in my head but each time I tried piecing shit together nothing made sense.

  I knew Jill knew more than she was saying, but I was waiting until I got my girl settled before going after her ass.

  I’ve spent the last week and a half totally focused on her and getting her better, but once I’m sure she’s out of the woods, that she wasn’t ever going to try to hurt herself again; then I can turn my attention to getting to the bottom of this.

  I’ve known for a long time that her friends were jealous of her, of us. I never told her about the come-ons and coy looks, brushing them off as nothing more than teenage crap.

  Now I’m not so sure. One of them had taken this shit to a whole new level. One of them had crossed the line. I’m going to make them pay.

  10

  He came back with four movies, popcorn from the local movie theatre, which is my favorite, and a sack of burgers and fries.

  Mom and daddy had been in and out while he was gone and I had to accept that it was going to be a while before they trusted me to be alone again.

  I kept looking toward the closet door but each time I thought of walking in there my tummy hurt and I felt sick.

  I wrapped my arms around Bear and thought of a little girl who looked like her daddy, this phantom child that he’d put in my head, and somehow that helped to ease the fear.

  He put on the movie and climbed into bed with me. It felt like heaven to be held in his arms inhaling his familiar scent.

  But now when he held me I was super aware of everything about him. Like the way the muscles in his arms and chest moved under my head and hands.

  When he wrapped his arms around me I felt tears blur my vision. This is all I’d wanted those two weeks when he was freezing me out.

  “You were a jerk.” I punched his chest as hard as my girly fist could. “I know, trust me, and when you’re feeling better I’ll let you kick my ass. Just know that I’ll never betray you like that again, ever.”

  “Brandon did something happen?”

  “What do you mean?” I sat up and looked down at him. He looked kinda the same, but he wasn’t.

  “I mean, before, you know…” I pointed to my throat. “You were this nice reserved boy who I’ve always known. Now you seem, I don’t know, like a whole new person.”

  He pulled me back down on his chest and paused the movie. “Baby, a lot changed when I moved away. Things were much different in New York and I had to adjust.”

  “When I came back here and found you again, I just thought, you know, that you might not be ready for the person I’d become. I thought a small town girl like you my sweet little angel wasn’t ready for that. Now I know I was wrong to hide my true self from you.”

  “You mean you’re not the nice boy who used to share his ice cream with me?”

  “Oh no I’m still that guy, but there’s another side to me that you’ve never seen because I didn’t think you could handle him. But, since you’re dealing with big city shit, there’s no point in me hiding anymore.”

  “I can’t imagine hiding who you are for a whole year. That must’ve been awful.”

  “It wasn’t because I did it for you; besides, there was no need to show my ass here. Now someone has crossed the line I have no more need to keep him hidden.”

  “So wait, you thought I was too innocent to handle the new you?”

  “Something like that!”

  “Hmm, it’s weird. I don’t feel like that girl anymore.”

  “I know!”

  He turned the movie on again and we settled down to watch. I guess I was more tired than I thought because my lashes started to droop and it wasn’t long before I drifted off.

  I saw myself hanging from the rafters, clutching at the strip of leather around my throat and trying to get it off.

  The more I tried the tighter it became until I was left swinging, my feet jerking in the last throes as the air left my lungs and darkness shrouded me.

  “Baby wake up, come on.” My eyes flew open just as daddy and mom came flying into the room. “She’s dreaming; it’s okay.” I felt his arms around me. Safe, loving, warm.

  Mom and daddy sat on my bed and pulled me into their arms between them, comforting me but he kept my hand held tight in his.

  On the screen the movie had been paused to the last scene I remember, which meant he’d known I’d fallen asleep but had stayed in bed holding me.

  “What were you dreaming about?” Mom gave him a look for asking but he didn’t back down. I turned my head on daddy’s shoulder to look at him. “I was dying, I…” I couldn’t bring myself to say the words as the enormity of what I’d done came rushing back.

  “That’s normal baby, you’re probably going to have nightmares for a while yet.” Mom smoothed my hair and kissed my cheek while daddy held me close.

  I was once again surrounded completely by those I loved and who I knew loved me.

  “I’m sorry, so sorry that I disappointed you, all of you.” Damn these tears. All I do anymore is cry and sleep.

  “Look at me Kristi.” Daddy took my chin in his hand and turned my face up to his. “You have never disappointed me. This thing, it was just a cry for help. You were hurting and you didn’t think you could turn to us. I’m not too happy about that, but I understand.” He stopped and kissed my forehead.

  “You are my daughter; you’re the most precious thing in me and your mother’s world. We want you to be happy and I want you to know that no matter what, you can always come to us. We know you, we love you; we trust you. There’s nothing you can do that would make us hate you. We were kids once too remember?”

  “He’s right baby, we know how hard it is to be a teenager, and you guys have it way harder than we did what with cellphones and social media. We didn’t have any of that thank heavens.” They laughed but I could still hear the strain in their voices.

  “Please don’t treat me different. I couldn’t bear it if I saw pity in your eyes.”

  “Hey, look at me.” Daddy lifted my chin so he could look into my eyes.

  “There’s no pity. What you did took guts, I’m just glad it didn’t work. I would hate to have been robbed of the next fifty years of your life. I can’t wait to see the wonderful woman I know you’re going to become.” He choked up and cleared his throat.

  “If you see anything in our eyes,” he pointed at mom, “it’s anger that someone hurt you like this, but believe me, none of that anger is aimed towards you.”

  Why are they being so understanding? Why aren’t they yelling at me, telling me how stupid I was for trying to kill myself?

  I guess the three of them had banded together and decided on how we were going to face this new thing that was between us.

  “Okay give her here, stop hogging my girl.” Say what now? Daddy grinned and passed me back to Brandon without argument and I had that feeling of vertigo again. My parents just got up and left after both kissing my head again.

  I wasn’t sure that I deserved to be treated this way, with this much understanding. Now that I was back in my own room away from the clinical aesthetics of the hospital, reality was settling in. Had I really tried to kill myself?

  If I had then I would’ve missed these last few days. I wouldn’t have met this new sexy Brandon who made me long for what comes next.

  Or feel this unfurling excitement in the pit of my gut at what life held in store for me, for us. I’m alive; those words had never held more meaning.

  Things that I had once taken for granted now took on new meaning. Like the size of my room that was roughly the size of the apartments some of my classmates lived in.

  Or the throw lying across the bottom of my bed that I had seen in a magazine that mom had ordered all the way from Sweden that very week. Hand knitted cashmere, worth thousands.

  The diamond studs in my ears that daddy had got me for my seventeenth birthday were worth more than some people’s houses, but yet I’d never seen the value in any of these
thing.

  I’d always just taken it for granted that I was the girl who would always have the best. Even the best parents. People who actually cared about me.

  It wasn’t that I carried myself as if I were better than my peers; it was just something that was known. Everyone knew it and acted accordingly, even adults.

  Had I somehow done or said something that had brought this on myself? Had I pissed someone off to the point that they wanted to destroy me? “Brandon, am I a bitch?”

  “What?” He shifted under my cheek and looked down at me.

  “Did I somehow bring this on myself? You know…”

  His face was like a thundercloud when he moved me off his chest and rested me back on the pillow so he could lean over me.

  “Don’t be an ass, of course you aren’t and you didn’t. You’re the sweetest girl I know. Just because you have more than most does not make you a bitch and you’ve never treated anyone like they were less than you because of your family’s money. What’s more, I would never waste my time on someone like that.”

  “Okay.” Had his nostrils always done that flaring thing? How hot was that? “Now whenever you start thinking like that, or worrying, I want you to tell me right away. No hiding from me Kristi, okay.”

  “Sure! Where were you a month ago when my life was falling apart and I needed my best friend to lean on?” I said it kind of as a joke, but he took me seriously.

  “I was being an asshole, ignoring my girl because I thought she’d betrayed me. Now I know better and don’t forget to give me points for believing even before the cops have gotten all the answers.”

  “Now ask yourself, had the tables been turned, and you saw me half naked on a bed with some naked chick in the background. How would that make you feel?”

  “I would’ve taken daddy’s hunting rifle and shot you in the crotch.” My face heated at my words.

  ‘That’s fair.” He kissed my nose and pulled back to look down at me.