About Time

by Danielle Torella

  He darts right for her in the kitchen and he is on the floor before I can do or say anything. He is over the top of her and he fucking hit her! I pull him away and deck him even harder than I did back at her old place. You don’t ever hit a woman, I don’t care how fucking pissed or drunk you are. He gets away from me and hits me right in the face then he is back at Margot. He is right down at her level and I am trying to gain my wits back to do something. Once I am finally back on my feet he looks back at me and then to her and I never expected to hear the words he just threw up all over the room: “So, did you tell your new boyfriend here about getting knocked up by foster daddy?”

  I think I speak. I think I ask what, but I am not even sure it came out more than a whisper. I look from him to Margot and she looks like her heart was ripped from her chest. She doesn’t look like my Honey Bee anymore. I can’t even move. I see her shoot up and run past me and douche bag.

  “Yeah I didn’t think she would tell you any of that shit.” He tells me.

  “Excuse me?” I ask him. I have to blink a few times to make the room come back into focus. When I finally have a clear view on the added damage I did to his pretty boy face.

  He rubs his jaw and shakes his head, “Well considering you were fucking her I assumed she had some form of twisted trust and faith in you to tell you her deepest, darkest secret. Hell, then I played up that shit just to get her to spread her legs. I told her anything and everything she wanted to hear. But I didn’t expect that news either. I mean who the fuck sleeps with her foster daddy to begin with and then to be knocked up? She has some deep seeded daddy issues bro.”

  I see red. I grab him by his preppy collar and drag him back to my door, “Don’t call me bro and don’t you ever fucking go near her again or I swear to God I will fucking end you and your future.” I just about want to throw him through my door just to cause him more pain, but I open it and throw him out on my porch and push him off the steps. He falls to the gravel walk way.

  When he finally stands he makes it to his sporty overpriced small dick car, turns and tells me, “Not so sweet now is she? She was ruined before I even got my hands on her.” I start to go after him, but he moves fast into his car and drives off.

  I quickly turn back to the door and set to look for Margot. I need some answers and I need them now. I get down to my room and the door is open. I step in and don’t find her there. I turn to go to the bathroom and still no sign of her. I go back to the room and sure as fuck her bag is gone.

  I go back out to the kitchen where only a few short moments ago I had the most beautiful woman on my counter. Now? I had lost her. I look out the window only to find her car gone.

  I met a girl, a girl with stars on her umbrella.

  She ate hush puppies in her car and offered a stranger a ride.

  I met a girl who stole honey packets from restaurants when the waitress wasn’t looking.

  A girl who despises sweet tea in the south.

  I met the girl who opened my eyes to a happy future.

  I lost the girl I saw turn into a woman on the turn of a dime.

  I know I should have ran after her to make sure she was alright. I need her to tell me what is going on? Does she have a kid that she isn’t telling me about? How old was she? Did the foster father force himself on her? The thought raises my blood pressure to the point where I feel like I need to hit something to get relief. I let out a loud yell and my fist goes through the wall in my kitchen. Drywall crumbles and as much as I don’t want to admit it, so do I. My hands start to claw at my face and I pull on my hair to the point where it hurts. My back goes up against the wall and I slither down it and for the first time since my own mother died… I cry.

  I don’t know whether or not I should go after her, to find her and try to get an answer or give her some space. But one thing I do know for sure is that I am not letting her go for long. I don’t know how far she has fallen for me, but I know there is something there, I could see it in her eyes. The way she smiled at me and the way she let me touch her and kiss her gorgeous fucking mouth. She always pulled the boyfriend card whenever we would get to close before tonight, but I don’t think it was the guilt of cheating or falling for someone. No, it was the fear of her secret coming out. He was fucking blackmailing her.

  My last cry turns into a scream. My chest is heaving with anger and pain, the pain she must have been feeling for as long as only God would know. I jump to my feet and go back to my room. I ravage through my dresser and grab a pair of jeans and a shirt. I kick on my black boots and grab my keys.

  He is not going to get away with this.

  If I can’t get to her right now, then I am sure as fucking getting to him.

  In my car I have no idea where the fucker lives, but now knowing what he drives I should be able to find it in the richy district. I make a turn to go by the library to see if it’s where Margot had run off to. She said it was her safe place. Nothing. No sign of her or her car. Fancy. She must have gone to Fancy’s. I get her number up on my phone and make the call.

  “Hello?” I hear her whisper.

  “Fancy, it’s Derrek. I know it’s late and I am sorry, but will you please just tell me if Margot is there?” My try to keep my voice calm in case she doesn’t know anything about me and her or what just happened. It’s Margot’s choice on who she is going to confide in and I think she needs to talk to someone. If I am not that person, then I am glad it’s Fancy.

  “She is. Look I gotta go, don’t worry she is in good hands.”

  “I know she is and thank you.” I tell her as sincerely as I can. And I don’t do a lot of sincerity. She hangs up and even though it feels like my heart is being shredded, I know this has to work out in the long haul. I just hope not too long.

  I look in the rearview mirror and the side of my eye is starting to deepen where the asshole actually made contact, with just that reminder I step on the gas and start my man hunt.

  I drive around for a good two hours and I can’t find his car anywhere. It’s late and he is probably getting drunk somewhere, celebrating with Maddy I am sure too. Those two disgust me. Just as I am about to call it quits for the night I drive by Margot’s old place and sure as hell enough there are both of their cars.

  I turn off my lights and pull into the small lot. I don’t have a plan of what I am going to do or say, but it has to be done. Surprised I get in through the first door easily seeing as it was left unlocked. I go up the stairs and by the time I reach the top step, so does my anger. My blood boiling I just kick open the door. I go right in and I see the naked couple on the couch. He jumps up off of her and grabs his pants to slip on. She screams of course.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” They yell together.

  I throw my hands up, “Are you fucking kidding me? After what had happened tonight? You didn’t think that I would come after you?” Then the vision of him back handing her comes forward on my mind. “You fucking hit her!” I dart towards him and I have him by the neck before he can even finish putting his belt on. I lift his puny body right off the ground. He holds onto my fists so I don’t break his neck. I look over to Maddy to find her hitting something into her phone. “Go ahead call the fucking cops! Then I will tell them all about what you did in my house tonight.”

  “Put him down! You’re going to kill him!” She yells at me.

  I drop him and he starts to gasp for air. I wasn’t going to actually let him die, I am not that stupid. I want to be with Margot and that doesn’t include a set of prison bars between us. Standing over him as he is holding his head in pain I squat down slow and low. Easy Derrek… “You are going to tell me everything you know.”

  “Fuck you.”

  I slam my fist onto his mouth, “Wrong.”

  He spits out the blood that I just caused to pool in his mouth, “I’m not telling you shit. I am done with all of this fucked up shit. Get the fuck out.” He tells me.

  Just as I am about to grab him again I see police lights shine
in from the street. I shoot a look over at slut face and she gives me a cocky, shit eatin’ grin and waves her phone in front of my face. I stand straight up and I know there is no running from this. I throw my hands to my hair and growl. Fuck! I stand by the door waiting for the police officers to knock on the door and take me out of here.

  I’m in a cell with two other guys. One is in here for hot wiring a car and the other one for picking up a hooker, who is apparently in a couple cells down. I can’t call my dad to bail me out, I don’t want to disappoint him right now. I tried Stacy, but she told me that she couldn’t make it down, but she would get someone here as soon as she could. That was three hours ago. God I hope Margot doesn’t catch wind of this. I don’t need her afraid of me, she has been through enough shit to last ten peoples lifetimes. I just want to be with her and protect her. To hold her and tell her that everything would be okay from this point on. That I will always be there for her.

  “Mann,” A middle aged officer calls from the other side of the bars. “You made bail, time to go.” Oh thank God!

  I stand in front of the bared door and wait for him to tell me who is out there, “Who’s here?” I ask him.

  He slides it open and I step out, “Some guy.”

  Confused as to who Stacy would have gotten ahold of, especially a guy I wait till I round the corner to see who has my bail money. At a desk they give me my stuff back and when I go out the door I see Justin standing there with his arms folded over his chest and a smug ass look on his face. He has on sweatpants and a t-shirt. I am assuming he was at home in bed when he got the call from Stacy.

  “Never did I expect to be bailing you out of jail Cuz.”

  This time I cover my arms over my chest, “Yeah well I didn’t expect you to be the one to bail me out either. What did Stacy promise you for doing this?” There is no way he would do this out of the kindness of his heart. No fucking way.

  He mocks being hurt and clenches his heart, “Ouch D, that hurts. Why would you assume I had to be paid off to help you?” His cocky smile turning into disgust. We haven’t gotten along in a long time, so I am not surprised by this attitude. Shit I deserve it. “She promised me tickets to the next few home games.” He is talking about some basketball team he has followed since we were kids. He used to talk about them all the time and I would normally tune him out. Sports weren’t my thing, still aren’t. That’s probably why I don’t have many guy friends. I am more of a music guy, give me tickets to a rock concert if you’re going to get tickets for anything. Which reminds me of the Powerman 5000 show I was going to take Margot to…

  I nod my head at the thought and put my hands in my pockets. Looking down I take in a deep breath. My chest hurts thinking about her and what she must be going through.

  “Hey, are you ready?” He asks, drawing my attention back to the fact that I ended up in jail from losing my shit from beating the living hell out of her ex-boyfriend.

  “Uh, yeah.” I walk right by him and out of the police station doors. Outside it hits me that I don’t have my car. Not wanting to ask for another favor from him I start to walk.

  I hear fast footsteps coming up behind me, “Hey man, I have your slip for the impound place for your car, they will hold it for a day or two, but I’m sure you want it in the morning.” I stop, turn and go to take the paper from him. He is right though, I will be at that place as soon as they open.

  He pulls his hand away preventing me from grabbing the sheet. I growl and go for it again, “What’s the deal?” I yell at him.

  “You need to calm the fuck down. I didn’t need to come down here tonight for you. I could have said no to your sister, but I didn’t.”

  “Why is that? Just for the tickets?”

  “No.”

  “Then why?”

  He walks over to his truck and I am forced to follow him if I want my answers. Inside he hands me the paper and starts it up. “What happened?” He asks me.

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” I tell him.

  “Look, I know we haven’t gotten a long in a really long time and shit, but there is something going on and I don’t know what it is, but I have a bad feeling that it has to deal with Margot too. I care about her and if you did something to hurt her…”

  “Don’t you fucking dare think I could do anything to hurt her! I fucking love her!” I snap my mouth shut as soon as I hear the words leave my lips. I can’t believe I just said that.

  Justin hits the breaks making me throw my hands on the dashboard. “You what?” He asks slowly turning his head towards me. His fists are clenched around the wheel.

  I grit my teeth and crack my knuckles, “You heard me,” I snap. “Now why did you come to help me?” I try to get back on topic.

  “Because I care about her too. I figured you might have an idea what’s going on with her. We were getting close and then nothing.”

  I shoot a glance at him, “What do you mean you were getting close?” I feel jealousy all of a sudden. That isn’t something I am accustomed to feeling, especially with him.

  He starts to drive again and he doesn’t say a word until we are back at my place. Parking his truck, I reluctantly invite him inside. I offer him a beer as he takes a seat on my leather sofa. When I reach the fridge I nearly lose my shit when I look over at the counter. I place my hands on the edge of where I actually had her and drop my head. I feel a hand on my shoulder and shoot right up and turn.

  “Derrek, what’s going on?” He asks, eying the hole I had put in the wall.

  “I had her here. Out of that fucked up apartment with her fucked up friend and away from her really fucked up boyfriend.”

  He doesn’t look happy, but he doesn’t look angry either. “Look, I know I told you I was getting close to her. She put me in the friend zone right after I had made a move on her.” He had made a move on her and she turned him down. That makes me a little happy to hear. “But what happened tonight?”

  I tell him the whole thing. I need to tell someone. Maybe he can make heads of the situation. By the time I’m done he mirrors my exact emotion about it all. I think he contemplates going out to find that fucker and finish him off where I didn’t.

  “So, she has a kid?” He asks me.

  I shrug my shoulder and take a swig of my beer.

  “Where is she?”

  “With Fancy.”

  He nods knowing that, that’s a good idea also. “Fancy is a great girl.”

  “So, I’m giving her, her space right now, to give her a chance to figure things out.”

  “Is that such a great idea? Aren’t you afraid of her taking off?”

  I wasn’t until now.

  “Girl, what is wrong?” Fancy opens her door, rubbing her eyes.

  “I am so sorry to bother you, but can I crash on your couch tonight?” I could have gone to the library, but I know that’s where Derrek will be looking for me, if he comes looking for me at all. The look on his face was pure disgust, I know it. So, I need her right now.

  “Of course.”

  Once inside I rush to her and throw my arms around her body. “Thank you.” She runs her hand over my hair and tries to calm me down. I am hyperventilating and crying, trying to catch my own breath.

  “What is going on? You’re scaring me. You’re supposed to be my Killer.” Fancy asks me, while trying to make me smile. She normally can, but not tonight. Tonight my earth was shattered, just like my heart.

  Fancy tried to convince me to go to boot camp this week, but I just couldn’t. As much as I wanted to get out there and skate it off, I knew Derrek or Justin would be there. Justin would know something was off and he would ask me until I broke and told him. I don’t need that. Not right now. So, she had planned a day with a few of the girls to take on the rink to help speed me up on some things. I was grateful for this.

  It’s Fancy, Lola, Dawne, Lacey and Living Dread here tonight. Apparently Lola knows the owner and asked if they would close up early tonight to give us some time. We did laps and
they helped me learn techniques. Then at the end of it all they wanted to do a mini bout. At first they took it easy on the first run, but by the third jam, they let it all fly and I surprised myself on how well I kept up and held my own. Now if I can learn to do the same in my personal life.

  On the last run through I see someone come through the double doors and I lose my footing. Thinking or maybe secretly hoping it would be Derrek. I go down on both knees and I toss my head down and smack the floor with my wrist guards. Pissed that I let the idea of Derrek causing me to fall, I let out a sob. A. Deep. Ugly. Sob.

  All the girls stop and skate to me. Fancy and Lacey help me up on both sides and ease me off the rink. Sitting on one of the fabric covered benches, which is a colorful eye boggling pattern. Fancy sits next to me, Lacey kneels in front of me and I feel Living Dread rubbing my shoulders. Dawne takes off my helmet and I pull out my mouth guard.

  “Hey, what’s going on?” Lacey asks me in a soft tone. As tough as she looks she is so sweet. I can feel them all looking at me, waiting. I have never had so many women be genuinely concerned.

  I wipe my eyes and just when I think I have my crying under control enough to talk, I hiccup out another round of sobs.

  “Hey we will stay here all night with you, to make sure you are okay.” Living Dread tells me.

  Dawne sits down on the other side of me and puts her arm around my shoulder, “Especially while you are upset. I expect a full on fucking smile from you before I leave your side! That’s a direct order Missy.”

  How are they so nice? Why do they care so much? “Thank you,” I start to tell them, “But you really don’t need to waste your time on me. I am sure you have places to be and people to go home to.”