Team Hate

by Hart, Rebel

  “It’s almost as if I have a Master’s degree and have been doing this for five years.”

  “Alright, alright. Look…” I took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. For everything. The way I’ve treated you up to this point hasn’t been fair. I guess you could say I don’t like change.”

  Jane gasped dramatically. “No!”

  I laughed. “I know I took some time to come around, but thank you for sticking it out.”

  Jane nodded. “Thank you for the apology. I promise I will throw away your voodoo doll.”

  I started to roar laughing. “Thanks. I mean, feel free to do nice things to the doll.”

  “Nice things?” Jane raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”

  I was trying to decide how naughty I was going to be when I spied Jack dancing in the crowd. His eyes went wide and a huge grin curved across his face as he started to thread his way through the people. I followed him to where he was going and when he stopped, I felt like I was going to go full Hulk. Jack was in the process of greeting my sisters, and none other than Vick.

  “John.” I looked back at Jane and she was staring at me with anticipation. “What kind of nice things?”

  “Oh, I don’t know…”

  I was trying to buy myself some time to think, but when I looked up again, Vick was already slipping her way between people with her eyes on me. Before I could make a decision about the best thing to do, Vick reached us and boldly sat down on my lap. She wrapped an arm around me and stroked her fingers into my hair.

  “Hey, Bumblebee.”

  I looked up at Vick. She looked nice in a short cut, white chiffon dress with a lace collar and sleeves. “Hey. Um.” I felt a shift next to me and looked over just in time to see Jane standing up and walking away. She disappeared into the crowd of players before I could even get her name out. “Shit.”

  Vick rubbed my head. “What’s wrong?”

  I tried to find where Jane had gotten to, but she was completely gone from sight. I turned my attention back to Vick. “Um, look. I’m sorry. I tried to tell my sisters not to bring you here tonight.”

  Vick tilted her head to one side. "Why not?"

  I slid her off my lap as gently as I could. I was frustrated. I didn’t want to do this right now, but I didn’t have any other choice. It was worse to lead her on and let her continue to think that I wanted more when my interests lied elsewhere.

  “You know I think you’re great, right?”

  Vick smiled. “Well, I should hope so.”

  “I think for a really long time, I’ve liked the idea of being with you, but I never really decided if I liked you.” The more I spoke, the more Vick’s face started to get sadder and sadder. “You’re really smart and funny and beautiful, and someday you’re gonna make some guy really happ—”

  “Are you giving me the cliche breakup message right now? What’s next? It’s not you, it’s me?”

  “To be fair, it’s not you…”

  “I don’t get it. I thought we had a great time.”

  “We did! I just don’t feel that way about—” I happened to glance to the left, and noticed Jane walking towards the door. The club was loud and there were a lot of people, so she didn’t notice that Dax was sharking through the water behind her.

  “You can’t even focus on me while you’re breaking up with me?”

  I jumped up from the couch. “I’m so sorry, I gotta go.”

  “Wait. Get back here!”

  I didn’t listen. My heart was pounding and I was already sweating. The guys all tried to stop me and ask what was wrong, but I just pushed passed them. I had to get to Jane fast.

  I rushed out of VIP and swam into the crowds of people dancing in the club. Every five or so people, someone would recognize me and try to engage. There were probably going to be a slew of tweets and posts about how rude I was in person, but I didn't care. I shoved people aside, shouted at people that wouldn't move, and jumped over anything in my way to get to Jane. I peered over the sea of heads and noticed Jane passing through the door to the outside. Moments later, Dax slipped through as well.

  I cursed myself for being as stubborn as I had been up to that point. If Jane and I were closer, I could at least call her and warn her. Trying to pass the message through anyone else was going to be too difficult. I had no choice but to keep running and hope I made it in time.

  Finally, I pressed through the throngs of people filling into the club and burst outside into the chilly, evening air. I looked to the left and right and saw no Jane or Dax in sight.

  "Fuck."

  I couldn't afford to make an incorrect guess. If I went the wrong way, I'd never get to Jane in time.

  I walked up to some of the people standing in line to get in. "Excuse me, did you see—"

  "Hey! You're John Sceptre!" The guy I was addressing pulled out a phone. "Hey, can I get an autograph?"

  "I'm sorry. I don't have time. Have you seen…"

  An ear-splitting scream pierced the night. Everyone looked around for its origin, but I could see that the people near the back of the line were all looking in one direction. I peeled off towards them, praying that I wasn't too late. I bolted past the line and down the block. I crossed an alley and glanced down as I ran. My heart stopped. At the far end of the alley, I could just barely make out the image of one body standing over another.

  "Jane?"

  I ran down the alleyway and noticed that the standing body was Jane. The zipper of her dress was down, revealing her black, lace underwear set. Bruises in the shape of fingers were already forming on her arms and inner-thighs and I feared the worst. Jane's face was feral and far away as she stared down at Dax, unconscious on the ground in front of her. She had a lead pipe gripped in her left hand, the top of which was covered in blood. On the cement in front of her, a pool of blood was growing around Dax's head.

  I reached out towards her. "Jane."

  Jane let out a scream, held the pipe above her head and turned towards me. On reflex, she swung, but I managed to just barely skate out of the way.

  I grabbed her wrist. "It's me!"

  Jane started to shake. I took the pipe from her hands and dropped it and clattered to the ground and she collapsed against me. I held her as close to my body as I could, rubbing her head, and calming her. Over her shoulder, I looked down at Dax. Trying to attack her a second time may have been the last mistake he'd ever make.

  19

  John

  My heart was breaking into ever smaller pieces as I glanced at Jane sitting in the passenger's seat to my car. The police had agreed to interview her when she was less in shock, and were just taking my statement and dealing with getting Dax… cleaned up.

  “Okay, so you happened upon them and then what?”

  I took a deep breath. I thought of the way Sebastian was already trying to spin the story with Jane and Dax and I had to imagine that he would stick to that with this new installment. Though the thought of that scared me, I knew what I had to do.

  “I saw this lead pipe on the ground in the alley. He’s a bigger guy than me, so I didn’t really know what to do. I took the pipe and I hit him with it.”

  The officer peeked up from his notepad at me. “You hit him?”

  “Yeah. He’s attacked her once already, and I was able to beat him back, but just barely. I knew that it was going to take more this second time.”

  “He’s pretty beaten up. Sure you didn’t go a little overboard?”

  I thought about what I would have actually done if it had been me with that pipe. He wouldn’t be on a stretcher, he’d be in a body bag. “I did. Just seeing a man do that to anyone makes me mad, but I know them both, and he’s done this before. I think I snapped a little.” An idea struck me suddenly. “It’s a good thing Jane grabbed the pipe from my hand.”

  The cop sighed. “So you both touched it?”

  Relief scalded over my body. “Yeah.” The cop continued to scratch away at his pad, all the while with Jane shuddering in the car. "Can
I go?" I asked the officer finally. "I'm cooperative, I promise, but she needs me."

  The officer nodded, looking over at her. "Of course." He handed me a card. "Please let me know when you think she's ready to talk."

  "Of course." I slipped the card into my pocket, shook the officer's hand, and walked over to my car.

  When I opened the door to get in, Jane jumped sky-high. She looked at me and then her eyes filled with tears. I reached across and wrapped my arms around her. I didn't know how to help her.

  "I'm so sorry," I started, pushing Jane back so I could gauge her expressions. "You don't have to talk to the police right now, but if he… You know… We should go to the hospital."

  Jane looked over at me. Her eyes were red and the emotion behind them was hollow. "He didn't."

  I let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding. "He didn't?"

  She shook her head. "He got… Close. His hands were there, but he had me pushed up against that dumpster and I found the pipe."

  She winced a little and then her expression turned even more concerned. "Is he, um… Did I?"

  "He's not dead. You got him pretty badly though." I rubbed her head. "Well done."

  She gave me a quick grin, but it faded quickly. "I didn't mean to hurt him that badly. I just wanted to hit him once to get him off of me, but then I saw him on the ground and I just lost it. All those times that he harassed me or hurt me, it all filled my brain." She dropped her head to her hands. "I can't get it out."

  I rubbed the back of her head. "You have been through something horrible, worse, you've been through it twice. The way you reacted was totally normal."

  "Will you take me home?"

  "Yeah, of course. Can you direct me from here?"

  She nodded, so I gave her head one final rub and then turned my attention to my car. I turned it on and when it roared to life, Jane jumped. I felt awful. She was going to be in pretty rough shape for a while. It was a good thing that she hadn't killed Dax, but the jury was still out on if I would or not.

  I could tell Jane was having a hard time and it killed me. She was shaking and every time it seemed like she was going to stop crying, she would take a few sniffles and start up again. I reached over, and just like before, when I moved, she jumped. I held my hand out, palm up, and waited. I didn’t want her to feel pressured to hold my hand, but I wanted her to know it was there if she needed it. She looked at my hand, looked at me, and then started to cry a little bit harder. I was going to pull my hand back, assuming that it was making her an uncomfortable because she didn’t think she could do it, but then she slid her hand into mine, lacing our fingers, and pulled my hand to her mouth. She gave the back of it a little kiss and then set them back down in between us, keeping her hand in mine.

  “Thank you.”

  I took a red light opportunity to look over at her. “I’m here for you. As much as you need me to be.”

  More tears streamed down her face. “Thank you.”

  We made it to her townhome, a cookie-cutter, white front place in line with several others. I parked the car and then just sat. I didn’t want to rush her, and whether it was a big task or a little one, however much time she felt like she needed to do it, I wanted to make sure she had it.

  She inhaled in labored breaths and her hold on my hand got a little tighter. “Um.” She looked over at me. “Can you stay with me?”

  I wasn’t expecting that. I knew it wasn’t a romantic request, but it still made my chest constrict to even think of spending the night under the same roof. “Of course.”

  She nodded and sucked in air. “Thank you.”

  “Ready?”

  She nodded again, so I climbed out of the car and walked around to her side. I opened her door and reached out my hand and she grabbed it to get out. They stayed clasped together as we walked up the walkway to her house. We got inside and Jane just stood in her entryway.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “I don’t know what to do.”

  “Okay, well—”

  She cut me off. “I have to call Jim. What’s going to happen at work on Monday? Am I going to have to work with him again? What if I get arrested?”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa.” I pulled her into a hug. “That’s a lot to think about and only one of those things affects you right now, so let’s focus on that, okay?”

  Jane nodded. “Okay.”

  “Where should we go? Living room? Kitchen?”

  “Living room.” She grabbed my hand and pulled me down the hallway and to the left into a huge, open, warm living room. I led her over to the couch and she sat down. She immediately started crying when she sat.

  I crouched in front of her. “What is it?”

  “I need something to drink.”

  “Okay, I’ll go get it. I saw the kitchen. Will you be okay?”

  She nodded. “I’ll call Jim.”

  “Okay. You call him.”

  I walked out of the room and started back towards the kitchen.

  “Hello?” Jane’s voice cracked as she started speaking to Jim.

  “Jane? What’s wrong?”

  “Um…” She sniffled. “Dax attacked me again. This time he got… much closer.”

  “Did he rape you?” I stopped mid-action getting Jane’s glass of water and listened. She was totally quiet and then I started to hear her sobbing. “Jane?”

  I rushed back into the room, set Jane’s water down, and sat on the couch next to her. I pulled her into my arm and took the phone from her hands. “Jim.”

  Jim let out a sigh of relief. “John. What’s going on?”

  “He didn’t… get to finish, but he got close.”

  Jim was quiet for a minute. “I can’t do it. I can’t go back to work if he’s going to be there. I will murder him.”

  “Well, there's good news and bad news there. The bad news is, that is something all three of us are going to have to consider when that time comes.”

  “What’s the good news?”

  “The good news is, your sister is a fucking monster. She dug a lead pipe out of a dumpster and beat him within an inch of his life.”

  “Whoa.” Jim started to chuckle. “That’s my girl.”

  I took another deep breath. “Here’s the thing though. I told the cops that I did it.”

  Jane whipped up from my grip. “What?”

  “You did what?” Jim asked.

  “Well, I couldn’t say she did it. Not after that shit, Sebastian pulled last time.” I rubbed Jane’s face. “If anyone is going down for this, I wanted it to be me. I would have done the same thing anyway. I probably would have done worse. Besides, I perpetuated all of this negative energy against you. I feel like, if anything, I emboldened Dax. Then, even after I knew his propensity for violence, I put you in a situation where he could attack you again." Even I started to feel emotions well up. "I'm so sorry."

  "It's not your fault." Jane threw herself against me, hugging me tightly. "I can't believe you would do that for me."

  "Do you need me to come home? I'm up in Fayetteville right now," Jim said; Fayetteville was about two hours away.

  Jane sat up and looked at the phone as if Jim could see her. "No." She looked up at me and some of the warmth was returning to her eyes. "I'm good."

  "John?"

  I smiled back at Jane and rubbed her cheek again. "I'm not going anywhere, coach. I've got her."

  "Alright. I'm—oh shit."

  "What?"

  "Sebastian is calling me. I gotta go."

  Jane and I exchanged nervous glances. "Okay, love you," Jane said.

  "I love you too. Thanks, John," and then the line went dead.

  Jane stared sadly at the phone in my hand. "He's gonna do it again, isn't he?"

  "Dax won't get anywhere near you again. I promise."

  Jane shook her head. "Not Dax. Sebastian. He's going to defend him, isn't he?" Her head turned back up and tears were gathering again. "I'm gonna have to quit. That's the only way I'll be free."


  "We're not going down without a fight." I took her hands into mine. "I'm with you all the way. If they want to take you down, they're gonna have to go through me."

  Jane leaned against me again, lifting her legs up and setting them on the couch. I shifted a little and her head dropped into my lap. I stroked her hair gently and watched, with relief, as her fractured breathing started to get more docile and rhythmic. We stayed that way for so long that I started to lose track of time. It wasn't until she turned to her back so that she could look up at me that anything changed.

  "Can I ask you a question?"

  Hearing her voice after so long was lovely. "Of course."

  She poked and pulled at the seam of my pant leg. "The girl that was at the club, she was the same one who brought you the picnic, is she your girlfriend?"

  The question took me by surprise. I could only imagine that she was trying to distract herself from what had happened to her earlier that evening.

  "No. We did go out on one formal date, and then there was the picnic, but I was already second-guessing it but then."

  "Second-guessing?"

  "Yeah. You know, we're really different and she's cute, but I was realizing at that time that there was someone else I was interested in."

  "Someone else?" Jane gasped. "You treat multiple women kindly?" She started to giggle and my heart warmed. I would do whatever I could to make her smile.

  "Well, my sisters, Vick, and you have recently been added to the list."

  "Aren't you forgetting one…?"

  I snapped my fingers. "Oh right! My mom."

  She rolled her eyes. "And the other woman you're interested in?"

  I shrugged. "I said it already."

  Jane looked legitimately confused; it was precious. "You did."

  "I did."

  "But you only named your mom, your sisters, Vick, and me."

  I snickered. "Right." I spun my hand through the air. "Two plus two is…?"

  Jane's eyes widened. "Me?"

  I put my hand on her head and scratched at her hairline. "Well don't look so shocked."

  "It's kind of shocking. You called me a 'bitch' to my face a couple weeks ago."