You need to see this mess to believe it. The tub is still completely intact, but it took out the central island as it came down. There's dust, splintered wood and broken glass everywhere. It'll take weeks to clean this shit up.
Of course Manda knows that's it for her. Her dad's put up with a lot of shit from her over the years, but even she knows this is the last straw. He's been away for ten days working on the merger of two European banks or something, but he's due home Tuesday. The way Manda sees it she might as well have one final blowout before the curtain falls on her legendary house parties.
If anything tonight's even more rowdy than last weekend. Everyone knows this will probably be the last chance to have a legendary night at the Sloane residence, and everyone seems a little more keyed up than usual, like it's the last night before the world ends. We arrived late so we're still sober, but there are a few people here who arrived in the afternoon and started drinking like there's no tomorrow.
I kinda feel bad for Manda, actually. As I walk through the house with Penny I can see that the place is a wreck. Obviously it hasn't been cleaned since last week's rager, but this is something else. I can see people pissing out the windows (thank God they're not pissing in), and the carpets are sticky and wet from what I really hope are spilled drinks. Not for the first time I wonder why Manda feels she has to put up with this. I mean, I don't think she even knows half the people who come to her parties. Why's she so eager for their approval that she'd let strangers destroy her house?
"OK, Pen, can we get the hell out of here?" I watch as some idiot guy puts out a cigarette on a polished wooden desktop. "This party's starting to freak me out now."
Penny swings her head around with a hunted expression. "I hear you, Maddy. I feel like I'm gonna get hit with a chair any minute now. Let's go to the yard."
We weave our way towards the back of the house, grabbing a bottle of red wine from a table as we go. When we pass the kitchen we see Manda yelling at a bunch of guys sitting naked in the tub in the middle of the wreckage. She looks to be on the verge of tears for some reason, and I'm relieved when I see one of her friends (or at least some girl willing to pretend for the night) arrive to take care of her. I feel sorry for Manda, but I don't want to actually talk to her.
We eventually manage to escape the madness into the yard, and it's only after we get a breath of the cool night air that we realize it stank inside the house, like a mixture of stale puke, liquor and feet.
"Jesus," I say, sucking in fresh air, "let's make a pact, Penny. We'll never again set foot in that disgusting house."
Penny nods in agreement. "Manda's dad should just tear it down and start over. That's just rank. God, I can still smell it. Let's get further away."
We walk through the garden until we reach a koi pond, way at the back beside the outbuilding. The water is silver in the moonlight, but every few seconds the mouth of a fish breaks the surface to snatch a floating insect.
From here I can see through the windows to the gym, and for a moment my mind flashes up an unwanted image of Rafe reclining on the weight bench, Lin's head in his lap as she noisily sucks him off. I shake it off and take a swig of the wine.
"So how's your little panty burner today? Still rinsing the beer out of his t-shirt?"
I look at Penny. "Huh? Who are we talking about?"
"Rafe, of course! What, you didn't see that girl lay into him at the last party?"
I shake my head.
"God, Maddy, you missed all the fun, didn't you? I don't know what the hell was going on, but some drunk Asian chick was screaming at him for like twenty minutes while he just sat there playing the piano. Totally blanked her. Eventually some of the girls had to take her out after she threw her drink at him. Man, it was funny! She was just stamping her little feet and yelling. "Why won't you look at me?! Everyone wants to fuck me!" It was insane!"
I stifle a laugh. I don't like to be mean, but I'm kinda glad Lin ended up making a fool of herself. It couldn't have happened to a nicer person.
"Damn," I say, "I guess I should have stuck around longer. Crazy Asian girls, collapsing bathtubs... looks like that party had something for everyone."
"Speaking of which, where did you vanish off to? I lost you about the time we found Rafe, then you were gone. Did you get lucky or something?"
I know Penny's just teasing me. She knows the chances of me hooking up with some random guy at a party are slim to none. "Too much tequila," I lie. "I spent about an hour wrapped around the toilet, then I dragged my ass home."
Penny's my best – well, pretty much my only – friend, but there are some secrets you have to keep even from the people closest to you. I watched my stepbrother get half a blowjob, and I liked it qualified as one of those secrets.
The sound of acoustic guitar drifts across the garden from the outbuilding, just loud enough to carry over the distant bass thump of the techno crap they're playing in the house. After a week of listening to it through my walls I instantly recognize the song: Rock 'n' Roll Suicide by David Bowie. I'm not a fan. It gets a bit too shouty towards the end for my tastes, but whoever's singing this cover version is playing it a little toned down, like Seu Jorge's Portuguese covers. It's actually pretty nice and melodic, and...
Oh, you have to be kidding me.
Penny's noticed too. "Is that Rafe singing?"
It definitely is. After the last time his voice is burned into my memory, just like his eyes and... another body part.
Penny's already on her feet and picking up the bottle of wine. "Come on, let's go listen."
"Do we have to?" I ask. "Can't we just sit and listen from here?" I really don't want to have to face Rafe after what happened earlier today.
"Come oooon, Maddy, I want to look at some eye candy! Get up." She reaches down and hauls me from the lawn by my wrists, and I reluctantly stand.
"Five minutes, OK, then I want to get out of here. This party's already weird enough without having to watch the Rafe show."
We make our way back to the outbuilding, and again pick our way past the treacherous hot tub and into the music room. Apart from a few candles someone brought in it looks exactly the same as it did last weekend. About a dozen people lounge on the sofas and lay on the floor, but this time Rafe sits on the piano stool cradling a guitar, finishing up his song as we walk in.
"Ah, her majesty has arrived!" he cries out as he spots me. He turns to his rapt audience. "You should ask to see Madison's special panties, guys. They're racy."
I picture myself setting Rafe on fire as everyone turns to me and laughs. I'm guessing they have no idea what he's talking about, but by now Rafe has them all eating out of the palm of his hand. They'll laugh at anything that kinda sounds like it's supposed to be a joke.
I step through the lounging bodies until I reach the little stage area, and as I lean against the piano I can see Rafe is drunk. He's tilting back and forth on the stool as if he's on a boat.
"What are you doing here again? Who invited you?" I ask, probably a little more angrily than he deserves.
"Invite? I don't need an invite, I'm the entertainment. Besides, your friend Mandy --"
"Manda."
"Right, that's what I said. Mandy said I was welcome anytime. And she gave me her number and tried to kiss me, so I think she meant it." He shifts in his seat and plucks the strings of the guitar. "Now gimme some space, Princess, I'm doing another song." As I turn he reaches out and spanks me on the ass.
"Hey!" I yell, hopping forward.
"Nice ass, hot pants," he says, watching me walk away.
Fuck, I'm glad it's dark. I know it's stupid, but I couldn't help but let a grin appear before I caught myself.
I find a space on the floor between the sofas as Rafe starts to play another Bowie song, Queen Bitch. His singing is a little rougher than it was last time, and he vamps over a couple of lines her can't remember, but he's still doing pretty well for someone who's clearly had too much to drink.
As Rafe continues to si
ng a crash comes from the back of the room, and I turn to see a couple of guys framed in the doorway, silhouetted against the moonlight, stumbling drunkenly into the room.
"Hey Mike, it's the fag room!" yells one of the guys, his voice carrying over Rafe's singing.
"Fuck this queer shit. Gimme some Sabbath! Wooo!" comes the answering voice.
Rafe plays on, ignoring the guys, while a couple of the girls try to shush them.
In the darkness the guys stumble towards the piano, tripping their way through the audience. A girl lets out a yelp of pain as one of the guys stands on her leg.
As the first guy reaches Rafe and moves into the light I see it's Mike Bowen, one of the guys on my old high school football team. Mike's built like a wall and he was kind of a local hero in high school, but he's also one of those meatheads who hasn't yet realized that his life has already peaked before his 18th birthday.
My school has a truly shitty football team, and while Mike may have been one of the better players he'd had no hope of winning a scholarship on the strength of his talents. In the weeks since graduation he's begun to realize that a job in his dad's auto shop is looking more likely than a career in the NFL, and he hasn't been taking the fall from grace all that well.
"Quit it with the faggy music, Nancy," he says, pushing past Rafe to reach the piano. "It's time for something cool."
Mike starts to bash the keys with his bunched fists, producing a God-awful racket that drowns out the music. Rafe keeps playing, but when it becomes clear Mike isn't going to stop making noise he kicks back his stool, leans in towards Mike and mutters something in his ear.
"Fuck your music, dude," Mike replies to whatever Rafe said, laughing. "I wanna play!"
Rafe shakes his head sadly, grabs Mike by his collar, hooks a foot behind his legs and tugs him backwards, sending him tumbling on his ass. All 250 pounds of the linebacker shakes the floorboards, but seconds later the drunk idiot is back on his feet and swinging.
Rafe, weaving a little and unsteady on his feet, uses the guitar as a shield, absorbing a poorly timed punch, then delivers a quick jab to Mike's face that flattens his nose across his cheek. The guy goes down hard, blinded by the tears in his eyes, and this time he stays down.
"Dude, what the fuck?!" yells Mike's friend, storming towards Rafe. "You're fucking dead!"
I step into his path, trying to block his way between the sofas. "Hey, settle down!" I yell.
"Fuck you, bitch. Get out of my way." The guy slows, opens his palm and gives me an almighty slap that sends me sprawling to the ground. I can barely see a thing in the dim light, but I feel a blow as the back of my head cracks against the corner of the sofa. The moment I hit the ground I feel a foot connect with my stomach, hard, and gasp as the wind is knocked out of me.
Colored spots flash before my eyes and a ringing fills my ears as I watch what happens next. Rafe's expression, just moments ago placid and at peace, contorts with rage, and with catlike speed he drops the guitar and launches himself at the guy standing over me. The guy looks like he outweighs Rafe by at least 40 pounds, but before I know what's going on he's on his back beside me, his nose streaming with blood.
In moments Rafe is on top of him, pinning him to the floor as he delivers quick, solid jabs to the guy's face. "You. Don't. Hit. Women." he growls, emphasizing each word with another blow.
By now the guy on the floor has stopped resisting. He tries to curl up into a ball, bringing his arms up to protect his face from the constant punches. Someone – a guy from the audience, I think – tries to pull Rafe back, but he's no match for him. Rafe shrugs him off as if he's nothing but a minor nuisance.
I struggle to raise myself from the ground, my head still spinning from the blow to the head, and yell "Rafe! Stop!"
It's only my voice that seems to cut through the red mist. Almost the moment I yell Rafe leans back, panting, and looks down at the blood covering his fists. He seems to notice the guy beneath him for the first time, as if he's just woken from a terrible nightmare, and springs to his feet.
I try to stand but I'm not quick enough. Rafe looks around the room at the two dozen people staring silently back at him, shocked at the violent outburst, and before I can stand he bolts between the sofas and vanishes into the darkness, appearing as a fleeing form in the moonlight for just a moment as he passes through the door.
"Honey, are you OK?" asks Penny, appearing by my side. I nod, gasping for air, my eyes fixed on the doorway Rafe passed through.
Penny looks down to the guy on the floor, his face glistening with blood and already beginning to swell from the blows. "Maddy, your stepbrother is a fucking freak. You gotta stay away from that guy."
I nod again, barely paying attention to Penny. "Yeah, he's a fucking psycho," I agree.
Even as I speak, though, I know I don't believe it.
My dreams are full of monsters. I run, but at every turn find a new beast confronting me, each larger than the last. They surround me, draw closer, tighten their circle until there's no room to breathe, and nothing but darkness above, below and around. Their growls drive an icy dagger of terror into my heart, and I know in moments they'll strike.
And then brightness. White, blinding light. A man stands beside me, twice as tall again as the largest beast. From his body shines a light that surrounds me, envelops me and drives back the monsters. The darkness recedes, and soon all that remains is him, standing by my side like a sentinel, ever ready to fight off any monsters that dare attack.
From the blinding white light another figure emerges: small and quick, waving its arms and yelling angrily. It's... it's a woman. Blurred and hazy, but her enraged voice is unmistakable
My eyes snap open as the yelling rouses me from my sleep. A breeze troubles my curtains, and a bright shaft of sunlight breaks through the shifting fabric to shine in my eyes.
"God damn it, Karl!" mom yells, her voice muffled but more than loud enough to reach from the floor below. "He couldn't last more than one damned week without bringing the cops to my door!"
I'm out of bed and at my bedroom door before mom has finished her sentence. By the time the yelling resumes I'm wide awake, clinging to the door frame and straining to hear what's going on downstairs.
"I want him out of my house, Karl. I want him out today! Rafe!"
I hear the much softer, quieter voice of dad trying to calm mom down. He's too quiet for his words to reach upstairs, but I can tell he's on the losing end of the argument.
"No, I will not settle down, Karl! You promised me this wouldn't happen. I told you he'd be trouble, and you promised me. Raaaaaafe!"
Rafe's bedroom door opens and he steps out into the hallway in a pair of boxers and a ragged Greenday t-shirt, carrying his jeans and a pair of sneakers. He pauses for a moment to lean against the wall and pull his pants up his legs.
"Get your ass down here right now, Rafe!"
I can almost feel mom's anger filling every inch of the house, and I just thank God it isn't directed at me. Mom's moods are legendary.
Rafe gives me a wink as he walks by. "Sexy panties today, Princess. Send me a pair when I'm in jail?"
I look down and blush as I realize I'm still in my underwear. I'm about to back away to hide myself behind the door frame, but stop when I see that Rafe has stopped walking, and his eyes linger on my body. Butterflies began to flutter in my belly.
"Quit looking at me like that," I say, still making no move to back away. Rafe is just a couple of feet away, within arm's reach. "You're making me uncomfortable."
Stepbrother Fallen Page 6
