Too Perfect
After
about fifteen minutes Paul left leaving us alone with Rick and Jeff. I
held onto Brian tightly unable to stop my trembling. Eventually Jeff and
Rick sat down at the kitchen table positioning their chairs facing us.
They watched our every move. Rick kept staring at me. He’d gaze at
me his eyes running up and down my body and it made me extremely
uncomfortable. At one point we made eye contact and he smiled. I
shuddered in absolute disgust. Headlines of rape from the newspaper flew
through my mind. I could tell that Brian had noticed too. He held
me closer and tighter. The disgust and fear were clear on his face as
well. After awhile we all got comfortable enough with each other to talk
in hushed voices.
“I
swear to God if he touches you in any way,” Brian looked to be almost on the
verge of tears.
For
a moment I was touched.
“You’ll
do what?” A.J. asked. “There would be absolutely nothing you could do,
now would there?”
In
that moment Anita looked more saddened then any time I could remember in our
years of friendship. And I could totally understand. I felt like I
didn’t know A.J. anymore either. The caring spontaneous guy we knew
seemed to have turned into a pessimistic asshole. I couldn’t understand
it.
“Alex,
what’s going on with you?” Anita asked so softly.
Water
fell from her eyes. Why was A.J. doing this to her? Didn’t he care
for her at all? This may be the last chance he’d ever get to show her
that he loved her. The last chance he had to hold her.
“Please,
if you could just help me to understand.”
“You’d
never be able to,” he muttered turning away.
“But
A.J!” Anita raised her voice.
She
looked so hurt. How could A.J. just ignore her?
“Now
what do we have here?” Rick said walking over to them gun in hand.
Everyone
was immediately silent.
“Now,
now,” he continued. “Rick doesn’t like secrets.”
He
walked up behind me. He placed his hands on the couch, he rested his head
right by mine.
“Do
you have any secrets you’d like to share with me?” he whispered huskily into my
ear.
With
his free hand he stroked my neck and put his hand on my shoulder. I
started shivering. He then gently kissed my neck.
“Oh
holy God, someone make him stop,” was all I could think.
Hot
tears slipped down my face. I felt nauseatingly sick.
“Please
stop,” I said, my words were barely audible.
He
ignored my pleas and continued his rain of kisses up and down my neck. It
was the most revolting, unpleasant feeling I had ever experienced in my
life. It was beyond words. He climbed over the back of the
couch. Everyone looked on feeling totally helpless. He grabbed my hand
and jerked me up. Rick pressed the back of my body against his.
“I
think you and I should go upstairs,” he said as he began pulling me towards the
stairs.
I
broke down into uncontrollable tears.
“NO!”
Brian screamed.
He
got up and bolted towards us. I will never ever forget the look of pure
hatred that consumed his face. The gunshot rang out. I watched as
Brian fell face first into the wooden floor. His body lay there unmoving.
“Brian!”
I cried. “Oh my God, Brian!”
At
that moment the pain in my heart was unimaginable. It devoured my entire
body. Ache and pain was everywhere in my body and soul. I wrenched myself
from Rick’s grasp and fell to my knees beside my love. The floor
surrounding us was quickly filling with the sticky red liquid. I sobbed
not knowing what to do or what to say. He rolled over. His beautiful blue
eyes looked up into mine.
“I
couldn’t let him hurt you like that.”
His
voice was so quiet, so calm.
“Brian
I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t
be, Lisa. You’re worth it, I love you,” his voice faded away and his body
slumped in my arms.
I
moaned.
“Don’t
leave me Bri, Oh God don’t leave me alone.”
“He’s
not dead,” Anita said from behind me.
“Yet,”
she added.
I
looked for the first time noticing the gunshot wound had been to his leg.
“Enough!”
Rick shouted. “Everyone back away from him!”
He
waved the gun wildly at us. We complied, sitting back on the
couches. It made me sick to look at Brian’s dying body. There was
so much blood. What if he didn’t make it?
“Let
me help him,” Anita pleaded.
She
was a med. student and the only one who could save Brian now.
“Please! If you don’t he’ll bleed to death.”
“Damn
it!” Rick shouted. “Why didn’t you just kill him?”
He
glared at Jeff.
“Paul
didn’t want them dead yet. He won’t be happy,” Jeff pointed out.
“Fine,”
he growled.
“Help
him,” he said motioning to Anita.
She
tore a nearby blanket into strips and tied them around the wound. Every
layer she added was almost immediately soaked with blood.
“Lisa,
help me,” she shouted.
She
seemed so in control just like an ER doctor. While I felt on the brink of
insanity, I pressed down on the cloth. Brian’s blood covered my hands.
“It’s
not helping,” I cried desperately.
The
blood still soaked through, dripping onto the floor. I couldn’t lose him.
God couldn’t take him away from me like this. Not now, not ever.
***
