“Yes, I do and I don’t want you hurt.”
“Booty calls don’t hurt! There fun and–”
A partial truth from Iya. Dae hated those. “I’ve seen how you look at him; I can see that if you two hooked up he would be the one to take a piece of your heart whether you mean for it or not–”
Iya just barely squelched her laugh as her eyes glimmered in shock, and then amusement. “Oh my God in heaven… You. Like. Marcus. I can’t believe I didn’t see it before…”
Dae looked around the apartment. “Oh Gods, Iya when did you become blind? We need to get you to a doctor. Fast. Paired with your delusions I think you might be having some kind of brain stroke.”
“I can’t believe I didn’t see it before. It’s been right there, in front of my face the whole time. You don’t give any other guys the time of day but when he comes around … ho ho ho! Your just rise to the occasion to start ripping into him constantly!”
“I rip into him because he keeps coming around for you. Ewww, seriously, there’s vomit in my mouth now.” It wasn’t there yet but Dae had a feeling more of this conversation would make her hurl. And since she hadn’t ever before, she was not looking forward to it.
“You like him, you guys are so much alike. I can’t believe I didn’t notice it before!”
How could she think that! Her and Marcus! Similar? That was like saying a snake and a tiger were identical twins.
“Again I say vomit! How the fuck do you figure I’m anything like him?!”
“He does what he wants like you do, is his own person, like you are. Doesn’t conform to what anyone wants him to be, like you don’t–”
“You’re fucking out of your mind! He is nothing like me; he is the leader of the sheep, and a fucking bastard too! How could you compare me to HIM?” This alternate universe Dae stepped into sucked ass and she wanted to go back to her own. Either that or the alien pod people replaced everyone except her like that movie Dae saw on cable once.
Damn alien pod people universes.
“So you don’t like him? Not even a little bit?” Iya prodded calmly.
“I like Marcus like I like diarrhea! Those ridiculous puffy coat vests people like to wear in the frigid Michigan winter! Bestiality! Necrophilia–”
“Me thinks the lady doth protest too much.” Iya said with a grin.
“Ebola! Spiders and bees! Vomit!”
Iya started laughing and didn’t stop. This left Dae staring at Iya in horror as the girl hugged her stomach tightly. Apparently, when you laugh so hard it’s silent; your stomach might fall out through your belly button. Dae really wouldn’t have minded if that happened to Iya at that very moment. Then Iya fell on the floor, still laughing but no longer silent, as the tears ran down her cheeks.
Dae didn’t think it was so funny. In fact, her blood was boiling. She felt the heat spread through her body like an infection until it got to her mouth and she yelled, “Bitch!!!!”
It was all Dae could say. Her extensive vocabulary deserted her and was replaced incoherent growling in her head.
Dae stormed out of the apartment. She needed some air. She needed some space. And there’s just no space in her apartment to avoid Iya. Five paces and she’d run right into Iya again, laughing. Dae needed not to beat her best friend senseless. Things like that might just ruin friendships. Since Iya was her friend and family, she figured it was probably a bad idea.
Iya thinks she’s so fucking funny…
Underneath the anger, there was a little part of Dae that was proud. Iya was growing up and she played Dae like a violin. Iya was just fucking with her. But why?
Iya got up off the floor and crawled to the apartment door. She was still laugh-crying at how angry Dae got. Dae’s pupils swallowed her irises. Dae started making this odd rumbling noise as her lip curled in disgust. Iya knew she shouldn’t push her like that but, really, Dae had made it too easy. Dae was used to pushing everyone else’s buttons but she forgot Iya lived with her for months. Iya knew that her roomy was really only worried about her getting hurt. But Iya also knew Dae would flip her lid if Iya doubted her sincerity. Dae was a good bull-crapper, but she wasn’t a liar. Dae said it took to much effort to lie, but a good bull-crapper–Dae liked to use that other word for crap– could make someone believe what they wanted without ever saying that they even believed it. A ‘play on words’ was what Dae called it.
Could Dae really believe that all Greeks are douche bags? No. Um… Maybe? Iya snorted. Most likely. Could she be a lesbian? Not with the way she was panting over Gerard Butler’s latest movie. Oh. That’s it. Maybe Dae likes older guys? That has to be it. Dae likes men, so the guys on campus are childish and immature to her. Whatever, it didn’t really matter why Dae liked what she liked.
Dae needed to relieved her tension. Get her frustration out with a bed buddy. Since Iya met Dae, the girl hadn’t even entertained the idea of communication with the ‘non-important’ people as Dae liked to call mostly everybody. Iya knew an 8 month drought could make some people crazy… Most times Dae didn’t have sanity to spare. When she had it. Which wasn’t often.
And Iya knew Dae wasn’t one of those girls who wanted a relationship for sex but Iya also knew Dae was one of those girls who needed to get laid. Or else there would be casualties. Like Marcus.
Iya grabbed her mini purse as she ran out of the apartment past the table where Dae’s cell phone sat to find Dae and get Dae a man!
Maybe, Dae thought, just maybe I do act like I like Marcus.
The tripping, the punching, the insults, if Dae were in grade school, she would act exactly that way towards a boy she liked. But Dae wasn’t in grade school and there no way in hell that she liked Marcus. She didn’t even hate Marcus. Hate’s a strong emotion. Dae just couldn’t understand why in all the galaxies in all the worlds, did that slimy bastard have to be here? He was like a human leech that was sucking the life out of others to survive. Or in his case, for shits and giggles.
Leech is the word of the day. Say it with me kiddies, lllleeeeecchhh.
Slimy bastard… Dae wished she could kick his ass. And not be in trouble with Iya after.
A car horn snapped her out of her thoughts. She scrambled to figure out where she was. She needed a street sign. How long had she been walking? The sky was dark; a crescent moon hung high in the sky.
What the hell time was it? She sifted through the pockets of her shorts to grab her spanking new cell phone but it wasn’t there. Great. Dae finally gets a cell phone and then she loses it.
Un-fucking-believable!
Who the hell would Dae call right now anyway? It just went to show her that cell phones were not the answer to whoever asked the fucking question! Gods dammit! Misplaced anger aside, Dae knew she had to focus.
Ok, so just figure out where you are so you can figure out how to get back.
Simple. A few feet ahead, she saw a street sign. Dae’s was on … what did that say? And why do they have to make street signs with unreadable script anyway? It’s not that pretty when you don’t know where the fuck you are. It’s damn annoying. Dae heard the beat of reggae music once she focused on her surroundings. And singing. And laughing. She walked toward the sign to get closer look. She practically had to jump right on top of it to figure what the hell it said and Dae had perfect eyesight.
Plymouth street and Vernon avenue… but wasn’t that where… Sonofabitchfuckingbastard!
“Hey beautiful, wanna come party with us?” a slurred, definitely male, husky voice shouted from across the street. Not that he had to shout, Dae could have heard him just fine if he whispered. Dae’s head snapped up to see who the hell called to her on reflex. That was her first mistake. The loser was standing on a huge front porch with a bunch of other drunken Greek boys, holding red cups of who-the-hell-knows.
And he was fucking huge! He looked like that guy from the Bowflex infomercial. Shit! The porch he was standing on was the Delta Phi frat house. Dae had walked all the way across town to the party she
said she wasn’t going to!
“Come on, sugar, don’t hurt my feeeeeeeelings!”
Dae did an about face and went in the direction she came from. No need to respond, just ignore the assbag and get home. Iya was probably worried about her, probably feeling guilty about what happened. She should, what kind of friend pushes and teases the other till it makes them crazy with rage? Oh yeah, Dae does. Well, at least she knew she was finally rubbing off on Iya. That, Iya’s increasing temper and instant of violence earlier this morning were good signs her sweet angel-like roommate was breaking out of that‘kill them with kindness’ routine–
“Hey I don’t think she heard you bro. Gotta get clossssser! Then she’ll come part-ay with usss!” Ass bag number two slurred. Dae distinctly heard agreements from the other dumb asses on the porch and some high fives. What a bunch of dicks.
“Come on pretty lady, come part-ay with us. We don’t bite, less your liking that kinda thang.” Husky voice said sounding a lot closer then across the street. He sounded like he was about 15 feet behind her. Following her. Dae’s breathing quickened. Well, damn. If this wasn’t the definition of a cluster fuck, she didn’t know what was.
“No can do, got somewhere to be. But if you’re lonely, I’m sure there’s some 976 numbers you can call.” Dae shouted over her shoulder without breaking her stride as she tried to make her voice sound less panicked and more angry. Unfortunately, she squeaked a bit on the end. Mistake number two.
That was all a predator needed to chase his prey. Fear. It made a person make big mistakes. She knew that too, dammit! Dae figured the more she let some of her naturally bitchy personality out, husky voice would have to get a clue and leave her alone. Sometimes predators give up on prey they know will fight like hell. She needed him to know she wasn’t going to be easy prey. Then he would leave her alone. And she needed that as much as she needed her next breath to live because Dae left her home unprepared. She had nothing on her to even out the advantage his bulk gave him. Nothing to make him bleed with. Godsdammit!!
“Ouch, now that wasn’t nice girly. I think you should come apologize. I know lotttsssoo ways you can makeituppp to me.” Shit. Shit. Shit. This guy wasn’t going to give up. She tripped over her feet but caught her balance fast. He was getting closer. And she was fearful.
“So sorry to offend you, are they all 1-800 numbers now?” As she said the words, her shrill voice of panic ran through her mind screaming: Shut up! What’s wrong with you!
Dae beat that voice down with a stick. Dae finally understood why Iya always smacked herself in the forehead when they argued. It was because Dae was a fucking idiot.
“You’re a funny one, but that’s not my kinda funny. I can show you my kinda funny.”
“Yeah, like that’s going to happen. Why don’t you go wait for me at the party? I’ll be there in 10 minutes to never.”
“Hunny, a part-ay ain’t a part-ay without tha pretty ladiesssss. Don’t you wanna be my lady?” He sounded much closer. Too close.
“Like I want syphilis. And gonorrhea. Bet you got both, but I have never been a bargain shopper. That kind of two-for-one deal makes me a whole lot of apprehensive.” What could she do? He was huge. Like the Arnold huge. Like–
For the love of the Gods, why can’t she just shut up! It was like there were two parts to her brain: the part that knew she couldn’t fight him off that wanted to cry; the same part that kept pointing out his size compared to hers. The other part wanted to turn around and make him taste his balls, gouge out his eyes with her thumbs and rip his throat out. Both parts were so busy fighting each other Dae said everything that popped into her mind.
Fucking shit, she had to think. Should she run? Husky voice looked big and burly from across the street but she bet she could out run him. She was fast. And he was so drunk he’d get tired and give up after a few blocks. Alcohol isn’t the new Gatorade, after all, and all that muscle would have to slow him–
She got yanked around by a massive hand on her left forearm. On autopilot, she leaned her weight on her right leg and pushed as much power into her right fist as she could muster as she brought it forward to connect with his face. The impact practically tipped her over, jarring her arm like a tuning fork, and husky voice fell on his butt. Her hand screamed OUCH so she was sure his face concurred.
She’d like to say it was her fabulously well aimed punch, but it was more than likely he was so drunk a feather could have done the job. Trailing her and husky voice a block down was another guy. Probably ass bag number two coming to help. She regained her balance and tried to make a run for it, but it was too late. She hesitated after she made contact. Mistake number twenty it seemed.
The smart thing to do then, if Dae had an ounce of sense, would have been to run, not to decide whether she could get away with hinting that you knocked out the Incredible Hulk. In an instant husky voice was up on his feet, face contorted in rage. He grabbed for her with one hand as she made her attempt at a get-away and tackled her with his whole body. They hit the pavement, with him on top of her. She tried to squirm away, but there’s nothing like 200+ pounds of Lou Ferrigno muscle to make that impossible.
Breathing seemed impossible for more reasons than one.
She started to feel nauseous as her mind reeled. The part of her that was scared was in a full panic that froze her thought processes. The other part of her wanted his blood.
Lou said, “That wasn’t nicccce pretty lady.” as he twisted her, so they were face to face in as much time as it took her to inhale. He had her arms pinned at her sides with his massive hands and leaned his body weight into her legs. His thighs clenched around hers as she tried to kick his man jigglies to get away. She could smell the alcohol on his breath, his face a few inches from hers. “That really wasn’t nice. Seemsss lika gotta teach you sommme mannerrrs.” he slurred at her, spittle flying on her cheek. He smelled like glue and motor oil. And lies; probably having told so many the scent clung to him even though knew his words were the absolute truth.
Scream! Scream! The scared part screeched but when she opened her mouth, he yanked her arms above her head pinning them with one massive hand and shoved his other hand over her mouth in a death grip, locking her jaws shut. She could barley breath much less scream. She wanted to snarl.
“Uh-uh, I wouldn’t do dat if I werrre you. We could have some real fun, me and you.” At that second she knew exactly what he meant when he said ‘teach her some manners’ and ‘real fun’. He did not mean a beating.
Oh Gods why couldn’t it have been a fucking beating!
His hardness pushed against her thigh, bare because she had on her favorite pair of khaki shorts and white tank top. Well, she didn’t think this would happening today. Or ever. She wasn’t some damn victim. She couldn’t be!
He rubbed himself on her some, grinning ear-to-ear, his face now an inch from her. This couldn’t be happening!! The nausea got worse and she hoped he would remove his hand so she could vomit in his face. If that sort of thing were even possible. Dae didn’t really know but she hoped.
It’s not before, its now; it’s now and there is no before, now it’s different, before is gone. Dae chanted the words in her head.
Just as panicky part of her threatened to seize her body, she saw assbag number two getting closer. He must have been running.
Dae’s head turned into screams of panic.
Another one! Did she hit the scumbag lottery? No, no, no ,no ,no, NO, NO, NO, NO! Why did she have to be right about the Delta Phi’s? Better question: Why did she have to talk shit to this guy? She could have just run when she realized he was coming across the street. There were fucking two of them now! Like one wasn’t enough. Where the fuck is a nosy neighbor when she needed one!!!!
I won’t be a victim. I won’t be helpless!
She promised herself that long ago. FUCK HIM!
She started screaming into his hand. The sound muffled even though she was sucking back all the air she could. It just wasn’t enough.
NO, NO, NO, NO! NO! NOOOOOOOO!
“We are gonna have a good time you and me–” husky voiced rapist said right before his head suddenly slammed towards her face. She tried to move and even though the hand that griped her mouth had become lax, it was still dead weight. Then all those lovely stars and gold swirlies replaced her vision.
Three
Something cold was pushing down on Dae’s head. Shitmotherfuckinwhoreinhell that hurt! Wait a minute… Dae couldn’t for the life of her remember where she was. It didn’t smell like home. Home smelled like her, Iya, and the industrial cleaning products they used to clean. This place smelled of wild, winter snow, and some other things she couldn’t describe, but whatever it was it smelled great. She felt like she could curl up and smell that scent forever. Or at least until she had to go to the bathroom or something.
The last thing Dae could remember was… being pinned underneath pounds of rapist muscle! Her brain shifted to autopilot again as she jolted her arms forward –probably flailing them around because she couldn’t see a thing– making contact with someone hard with muscles. Dae faintly heard an “Ow!” on impact and attacked in that direction. Her vision was still swirly; the pounding in her head wasn’t helping her fight back the nausea. She’d heard horror stories about how vomiting incapacitated a person and this was not the time to be incapacitated–
“Mother Fucker!”
She screamed while trying to clear her vision but all she got was black and gold swirls and shadows. She swung at nothing and hit something or someone. She didn’t care that her eyes weren’t working, as long as she hurt the bastard. The thumping on thumping on banging didn’t stop as she kept up with her blind assault. Whatever the hell it was, it made her head feel like it was being demolished.
“Stop–” right fist forward “tha–” left elbow, kick “Damn–” stomp, right fist “I’m not going to hurt you!” The male voice didn’t sound like husky voiced rapist, but what the hell did that matter? Waking up on her back after she remembered being thrown down while she couldn’t see anything but swirlies, couldn’t hear anything over that loud thudding… What’s a girl to do? She hit a someone and kept it coming. Her vision cleared a fraction and she could see more solid outlines of shadows and depth that told her where her target was.
Lost & Found (A Lost Ones Novel Book 1) Page 4
