Chapter 19:
Meet The Littrells
OK… So… Let’s recap shall we? I’m
Cinderella. No, that’s not a fucking joke, that’s really my name. I’m a white
trash hick tomboy, who up until what sounds like about two weeks ago, had 2 and
only 2 friends and the most exciting thing that had ever happened to me was
occasionally winning 20 bucks when I beat said friends at Who Wants To Be A
Millionaire. I woke up yesterday to find out that I’d been beaten senseless and
raped by a greasy tow-truck man who I’ve always known as Pete the Pervert. I
survived his attack only to then be shot by my own goddamned father who was
then killed by my drunk-ass bitch of a mother.
That’s not even the crazy part. The
part that blows my mind is the part where somewhere in the last two weeks
(which I conveniently can’t remember) I managed to disown my best friend, quit
my job and fall in fucking love with some fucking city boy that happens to
“have” the best lawyers in existence, whatever the hell that means… What kind
of person “has” a fucking lawyer? Oh, and
apparently I’m friends with fucking Barbie too. Even thought the evidence seems
to support it, there’s no way in hell all of that shit happened in the last two
weeks. It’s just not fucking possible…
Or at least that’s what I thought as I
lay in my hospital bed the next morning. I’d waken up several times throughout
the night to vivid nightmares and nurses poking me and stuff so I’d given up on
the idea that it was all just a nasty dream. It was for fucking real and even
as I woke up in the morning I heard some unfamiliar voices talking. I dreaded
having to confront who ever it was so I just laid there with my eyes closed
hoping they wouldn’t realize I was no longer asleep. I’ve never really been
religious but I fucking said a silent prayer that they would leave.
There were two voices, a man and a
woman. Ok, so the female voice was Barbie, but which one of those guys was she
talking to? Whoever he was, he must have been from around here. I couldn’t
place the accent a hundred percent, but it resembled that same country twang
that the rest of us Kentucky natives have. From the pieces of the conversation
I’d heard, the two were together. All the “Honey’s” and “Sweetie’s” were enough
to make me fucking gag. On the bright side though, that meant that the man in my
room was not the one John claimed I was in love with. I thought about opening
my eyes. I had to face them all eventually. Maybe these people would be able to
fill me in a little before I had to confront the man who’s eyes had been in my
dreams that night. After thinking it over again though, I decided pretend sleep
was the best was to go.
Of all the times to have a major
coughing fit, I swear! I’d had several of them since waking up. I guess that
happens when a fucking bullet leaves a hole in your lung. I started coughing so
hard it wouldn’t have surprised me if I’d literally coughed up that lung. I bet
that’s where that phrase comes from. It hurt like a son of a bitch but I was
more upset that I could no longer feign sleeping. Both of the strangers were by
my side in an instant. The man sat me up and rubbed his hand slowly across my
back. (It was the short sandy blonde one, incase you were wondering, killer
blue eyes.) I flinched when he first touched me but he didn’t back away and the
more he rubbed my back the more soothing it became. Fuck, I could get used to
that. The woman brought me a glass of water. I tried to take a sip but it
didn’t do me any fucking good. “Leigh honey, why don’t you go get the nurse?”
“No.” I choked between coughs. “I’ll
be ok.” I was sick of fucking nurses already. No way did I want to invite one
in if I didn’t absolutely have to.
The woman stopped and then rejoined me
on the opposite side of the bed as the guy and grabbed my hand. After a minute
the coughing stopped but the damage had been done. My cover was blown and I was
staring at two very curious strangers. “You sure you don’t want a nurse?” the
woman asked.
I nodded my head and then the guy
helped me lie back against the bed, but not before fluffing my pillow for me.
What a fucking gentleman. He then pressed the button that moved the bed until I
was comfortably sitting more upright. “Thanks.” I said. Not very original but
lord knows I didn’t know what else to say.
I’m not sure if it was the next two
seconds or two minutes, but it was the most uncomfortable silence I’ve ever
fucking experienced in my life. My eyes naturally shifted back and forth
between the two strangers but they both stared at me with these big fucking
innocent eyes. The silence was enough to kill us all and I wanted nothing more
than to break it, but what the hell do you say in a situation like that? Thank
God I didn’t have to speak first. I don’t know what kind of look was on my face
at the moment, but whatever it was it couldn’t have been good. The woman’s face
dropped and the gorgeous smile that man was wearing turned to a frown. “Would
you like us to go?” he asked.
He seemed sincere, like he really
would have left if I’d asked him to, but I know he was praying I wouldn’t. “I
admit, y’all are making me nervous as hell, but honestly? I don’t know if I
like the idea of being left alone just yet.”
What the hell was that? I just blurted
it out. Wasn’t I the one wishing they were gone like two seconds ago? And since
when the fuck was I scared of being alone? God I felt like such an ass. I
wonder how these two got stuck babysitting me anyway? “Where’s Danny and John?”
“They took your mom home.” The guy
offered.
The woman chimed in right after
saying, “They said they’d be back as soon as Hal go there. He’s gonna stay with
her so that she isn’t alone.”
It was weird to here these people
talking so casually about Danny and John, but when Barbie started talking about
Hal, it kinda freaked me out. “You guys really do know me, don’t you?”
They both smiled sweetly and yet
sighed heavily at the same time. It was time to talk. We couldn’t avoid the
whole ‘I don’t remember them’ thing any longer. “Surprisingly well for only
having met two weeks ago.” The man said and extended a hand. “I’m Brian. We
actually met on your birthday.”
I looked at his hand and I knew I was
going to have to shake it so I swallowed the rising anxiety and slowly took it.
His grip was firm and yet he was gentle. And his hands were fucking soft! After
shaking my hand the woman joined him and he slid an arm around her waist. “This
is my wife Leighanne.”
I waited for her to offer her hand as
well, but she didn’t. She smiled, but as she stared at me she was unable to
stop the flow of tears. I watched curiously as her body began to shake. Brian
took her into his arms and held her tightly as she buried her face in his
chest. Can you believe my first thought was, “How cute is that?” I mean
normally shit like that makes me want to puke but watching that man comfort his
wife, literally seeing how much he loved her, almost made me wish I were
standing in her place. Shit, this whole ordeal has made me fucking emotional.
Barbie, uh, I mean Leighanne, was
crying uncontrollably now. Brian looked at me and said, “You’ll have to forgive
Leigh, she’s had a rough time with all of this.”
I felt bad for the woman, I really
did, but I also couldn’t help thinking that she was way too dramatic. Just like
a fucking woman. Chicks are so much drama, all the time. That’s one of the main
reasons I’ve never been friends with a girl before.
I sat there wondering how the fuck I
could possibly be friends with this woman when suddenly she flew at me and
threw her arms around my neck. The woman was fucking hugging me! What the fuck?
I didn’t know what to do. I’m not one to give fucking hugs, but I didn’t have
the strength to pull her off of me and based on how tight her grip was I think
she really needed it, so I put my arms around her. I couldn’t really squeeze
because pretty much every move I made hurt like fucking hell, but when I rested
my arms on the distraught woman’s back she squeezed me even tighter. “Oh God
Cindy!” she cried, “This is all my fault! I’m so sorry! God I’m so sorry!”
Her fault? How could she think any of
this was her fault? I sent a puzzled glance to the man standing closely behind
her but he was busy staring at his wife with tears in his eyes. “Shit Honey!” I
laughed.
Maybe I shouldn’t have laughed, but we
all know I’m not the most sensitive person in the world. “It couldn’t have been
your fault. Hank’s been a bastard all his life. I always knew he would do
something like this eventually.”
Leighanne shut her eyes tightly to
push the memories from her mind. “There was so much blood. I. I. I thought you
were dead.”
“You were there?” I practically
gasped.
“I should have been.” Leighanne cried
pulling herself away in order to look at me. She shuddered at a memory and then
spoke meekly through her sobs. “But I went the wrong way. When we saw the door
broken in I was so scared. After what that man said to us at the store I
thought your mother was going to be dead.”
Leighanne cried again for a minute
before she was able to continue her confession. I didn’t know what man she was
talking about or what he said but from the sounds of it, it wasn’t pleasant and
I bet a pretty little woman like her has never been threatened before. I kinda
felt bad for dragging her into the middle of my shit and I couldn’t for the
life of me figure out what we were doing hanging out together. “We got lost and
it had been almost a half an hour before I finally got the cops to your house.
Half an hour! Jesus when we got there you were… and that awful man, he… he… if
only I’d gotten there sooner! God Cindy can you ever forgive me?” Her voice
trailed again.
“Sweetie it’s not your fault.” Brian
whispered and I nodded.
It was sort of a pointless effort
really. The woman seemed hell bent on blaming herself, but she couldn’t help
it. Hank had a special talent for placing the blame of his actions on the
people around him. Even I have blamed myself for countless arguments and
beatings. When I wasn’t busy blaming my mother that is. Most of the time I
blamed her. But I never felt as bad for my mom as I felt for the woman in front
of me now. Maybe its because she seemed sincerely sorry. “You shouldn’t blame
yourself.” I said, “That’s what Hank would want. Don’t you dare give that cold
dead bastard the satisfaction.”
Leighanne looked up at me with wide
eyes and Brian made the sign of the cross as if he were saying a prayer to the
heavens. I guess they’re religious. Was I not supposed to talk bad about Hank
cause he’s dead? Shit, I’m sure as hell certain there ain’t no fucking angels
where he went so I figured it didn’t matter. “Look.” I said wanting to move on
with the conversation, “The way I see it, you’re the one who got help. If you
hadn’t brought the cops when you did, I’d be rotting in hell with daddy right
now. The only thing I can blame you for is saving my life and I guess I should
probably thank you for that.”
Leighanne offered me a weak smile and
then wiped at her wet eyes. She started to calm down and that big beautiful
smile was back on Brian’s face. These people were strange to say the least, but
there was something about ‘em that I just couldn’t figure out. I was suddenly
curious as hell and since the awkward silence was broken, I wasn’t nearly as
scared of them as I had been. I don’t know exactly how to explain it, but even
though they didn’t look familiar or sound familiar, they felt familiar.
Somewhere in my heart I just knew that I was safe with them. These people were
my friends. I let go a sigh and figured I’d just get it over with. “So, what’s
up with that Howie guy?” I asked forcing a nervous laugh. “John doesn’t make
shit up like Danny and he said something awful crazy yesterday.”
I saw a twinkle in Leighanne’s eye and
knew I’d started something. “Maybe we should start from the beginning.” She
said with a fucking giggle. Oh God what did I just get myself into?
Leighanne wasn’t kidding. She started
telling me the craziest story I’ve ever heard. It started off like any other,
Cindy meets city boy, city boy grabs Cindy’s ass, Cindy pummels the shit out of
city boy… How that turned into Cindy dressed up like the fucking prom queen for
a fucking ball, I don’t know. I mean she told me how, she even showed me my new
hair color, I just couldn’t fucking believe it. The more she talked though, the
more I started to feel better. It was nice knowing a little more about who
these people were and how I supposedly knew them. I was even starting to like
them. They were a little different from anyone I’ve ever known before, but they
were kind of funny and strangely easy to talk to.
Unfortunately for me though, neither
of them had been present for the few key moments in this epic tale. Like for
instance, Brian was there on my birthday when Danny gave me a fucking
Cinderella piñata (which I still need to kick his ass for, don’t let me
forget.) but he left shortly after that so he doesn’t know what happened that
made Howie come over the next day and announce that he’d met the one he was
waiting for and then beg for advice because I guess I’d turned him down.
Then, both Brian and Leighanne had
been there to witness that God-awful conversation where I told my best friend
to get out of my life and quit my job. Between you and me I’m probably better
off not remembering that, so for now let’s just pretend it didn’t happen ok?
What was my point? Oh yeah, Howie. He’d witnessed my fight too and Brian said
he chased after me when I’d stormed off. Fucking brave move on his part, I’ll
tell you that much for him. It’s never a good idea to bug me when I’m super
pissed. Especially when I’ve already turned you down once.
I don’t know what happened, but
whatever it was, apparently it took hours because he didn’t come back until
nearly dark and when he did, Leighanne said he was on cloud fucking nine. I’d
really like to know what happened there because Leighanne told me that Howie said
he was falling in love, and Brian said in all the years he’d known him, he’d
never heard Howie say that about a girl.
The whole situation was just weird,
like it was love at first site or some shit. I don’t know about that, but he
did seem pretty concerned for me yesterday. Part of me was dreading having to
meet this guy and the other part of me was fucking curious as hell. I mean
shit, Leighanne said I was fucking dancing with the man. I’ve never danced a
fucking dance in my life so if I really was dancing with him then there had to
have been something about him I liked. I’m not always a cold-hearted bitch you
know. I’d love to find a good man as much as the next girl, I just don’t know
that I could find him in a matter of two weeks in form of some short,
apparently somewhat girly, city boy.
I didn’t know what to think. I hoped
that everyone wouldn’t just expect me to run into this mans arms now that I was
awake. He was after all still a fucking stranger. I know that Brian and
Leighanne told me that I’d changed a lot over the last couple of weeks, but if
I can’t remember those weeks, have I still changed? Or am I just the same old
me I’ve always known that would rather fuck the brains out of that rock star
looking guy and then still be home in time to get wasted and watch Millionaire?
Would I even be able to give this guy a shot? Hell I doubt it matters, knowing
my luck, this guy won’t even like me now. With a yawn I rubbed my eyes. “Fuck!”
I screamed realizing that one of them was stitched up.
Brian and Leighanne both leapt from
their seats and were by my side in an instant.
“What is it? What’s wrong? Are you ok?” they chimed in unison. Talk
about two people who spend too much fucking time together.
I couldn’t help the smirk on my face
as I assured them I was fine. “It’s just my damn eye.” I said, “I’ll be fine,
but I think I need a nap. Y’all have worn me out.”
“Yeah well, we can take a hint.” Brian
laughed, “We should get going anyway. The guys took Baylee with them to the
mall and I can only imagine what kind of things they’ve been teaching him.”
I chuckled and waved as they headed
for the door. “Get some rest.” Brian ordered.
“And get better soon so we can go play
again!” Leighanne added.
I nodded a silent promise and waved as
they left. Once they were out of sight I laughed a little to myself. Those two
were something else. I hope they’re friends were just as nice, although I have
my doubts about whichever one I punched. I closed my eyes and my thought’s
unexpectedly drifted to a dark pair of eyes and a sweet smile. I couldn’t
believe it, but when I pictured the man Leighanne confirmed to be Howie, there
was a smile on my face. Ok, so he wasn’t exactly my type, he was still kind of
cute in his own way.
I tried my hardest to remember
something about him, anything at all. The doctor told me that my memory might
start to come back in bits and pieces and would most likely start in my dreams.
I heard somewhere that a lot of times you dream about the last thing you were
thinking of when you fell asleep, so as I drifted off to sleep I tried my
hardest to keep myself focused on the man Leighanne referred to as my prince
charming. It wasn’t too hard though because I was curious as hell about him.
But more than that, I think I was hopeful. I wouldn’t dare say that out loud,
but I kind of hoped that he was my prince charming. After all this shit I was
going to need a break from my shitty life and God knows I could use a good man.
***