A Heart for Rebel (16 page)

“Annie, it’s not
the end of the world you know. Ty isn’t the only guy out there. Out there
somewhere is a guy waiting for you and someday he will find you,” I said.

“Yeah, I suppose,”
she said.

“Chin up, Annie,
you’re beautiful inside and out. Now go wash you face, your make-up is
running,” I said.

“Thanks, Wyatt,”
she said.

“Anytime, Annie,” I
replied. The rest of the day Annie and I took care of any walk-ins and
appointments we had. Ty’s clients weren’t happy that he ditched them, but they understood
he was having a real bad day. A few had me an Annie do their tattoo’s, while
the rest rescheduled. Those were his loyal clients and they refused to have
anyone but him work on them. At five o’clock I headed out to the bar after
telling Annie to lock up. When I got to the bar Ty, was there with Lindsay. She
was sitting on his lap and grinding down on him. Ty was laughing and fondling
her boobs. I cautiously made my way towards them. I really should leave, but
Ty’s my best friend and I promised to meet him.

“Wyatt, my man,
grab a seat,” Ty said.

“Hello, Wyatt,”
Lindsay slurred. Great they were both on their way to being two sheets to the
fucking wind.

“Lindsay, what are
you doing here?” I asked.

“Ty, here called me
and made me an offer I couldn’t refuse,” she said.

“Yeah, I bet. Ty
what the hell are you thinking?” I said.

“I’m thinking of
fucking Marissa out of my dick. I called Lindsay. She’s always on board for a
good fucking time. Isn’t that right baby,” he said while pinching her nipples.
She turned her face to him and kissed him. She broke the kiss, wiped her mouth
and looked at me, “Jealous, Wyatt?”

“That would be a
great big fucking hell to the no!” I said. I motioned for the bartender to bring
me a beer and asked Ty, “You know this isn’t the way to fix your problem, bro.”

“True, but what the
fuck would you have me do Wyatt? She wants nothing to do with me. She won’t
take my calls or answer her door. Shit man, she sent her brother after me,” he
said.

“You know, Wyatt,
you should mind your own damn business and stay out of ours,” Lindsay said.

“Listen you twit,
this has nothing to do to you. You need to leave,” I said. I was getting ready
to give a rebuttal to Ty’s statement when Lindsay leaned over and kissed me. I
didn’t have time to react. She caught me completely off guard. I sat motionless
as she tried to stick her tongue in my mouth when she was suddenly pulled off
me. The next thing I know Rebel punched her on the nose and blood splattered
everywhere.

“What the fuck,
bitch!” Lindsay cried and tried to smack Rebel across the face, but Rebel
blocked her.

“Stay the fuck away
from Wyatt!” Rebel snarled. Lindsay grabbed Rebel by the hair and yanked hard
on it while growling, “Why? You jealous skank?” Rebel freed her hair from
Lindsay’s grasp and grunted, “You know you stupid dirty whore, people say
everything happens for a reason. So when I punch you again in the face bitch,
remember I have a reason.” Lindsay staggered backwards while trying to avoid
being punched in the face again and landed sprawled on her ass.

I grabbed my girl
by the waist and said, “Baby, calm down. It’s not what you’re thinking.” She
wouldn’t let me explain. She turned around and smacked me across the face. It
stung. She gave me a look that if it could I would have been dead on the spot.

“Save it, Wyatt. I
know you didn’t provoke her. I saw the whole thing. I’m too angry right now to
speak with you. I need time to cool off or I’m seriously going to hurt a bitch
today.” Ty helped Lindsay up from the floor and she huffed at Rebel and stated,
“Is this who you want, Wyatt? Some low life trash?”

“Listen, you
conniving scheming hoe-bag. You do not want to fuck with me. This is the one
and only time I’m going to say this to you. Stay. The. Fuck. Away. From.
Wyatt,” Rebel said enunciating every word. Lindsay gulped and nodded her head
that she understood the message loud and clear. Lindsay walked away with her
tail between her legs. She knew she lost the battle. I hope she got the message
and stayed the fuck away from me and my girl. Rebel turned to leave and I
grabbed her wrist to prevent her from leaving. She yanked her arm out of my
grasp and looked me dead in the eyes. She took a deep calming breath and said,
“I need some time alone, Wyatt. I’ve never ever had to confront anyone over a
guy. I’ve never been pro-violence and that incident with Lindsay left a bad
taste in my mouth. I’ll talk to you later.”

I rubbed my face in
frustration and answered with, “Baby, I understand what you just said, but I
need for you to tell me, are we good?”

“I don’t know,” she
whispered. I let her walk away after that. I didn’t know how to make this
right. Fuck! I was going to run after her, but Ty pulled me back, “Let her calm
down, dude.”

“I gotta do
something, Ty. I can’t lose her.”

“Stop being a
pussy. Give her time to cool off. Come on let’s go get a drink. Against my
better judgement I let her go and headed back to our table. We ordered a couple
of beers.

“I just can’t sit
here and drink my troubles away, Ty. I need to fix this with my girl.”

“If you ask me,
women are confusing and not worth the trouble. Their good for fucking only,” Ty
said angrily.

“I know you don’t
mean that. I’ve seen the way you look at Marissa.”

“Dude, she kicked
me to the curb. She sent her bother after me. She won’t give me a reason other
than we are not a good fit. Whatever the fuck that means.”

“You know, Ty it’s
amazing how many different emotions one person can make you feel. One day
you’re on top of the world. You feel unstoppable. You have a huge cool aid
smile on your face and a warmth in your heart. Every palpitation in your heart
is a huge astronomical feeling of love. You honestly believe that greater
things are on the horizon and then life craps on you, like a bird flying
overhead. You’re left with a mess which only one person can clean up. The one
who created the mess in the first place. It’s chaotic. Crazy. Wild, but you
still want it. Crave it in fact. I’m going to throw your own words back in your
face. It takes a strong man to handle a broken woman. I don’t know anything at
all about Marissa’s life, but what I do know or rather sense is that that girl
is broken and seeking for something. Are you man enough to handle her? If you
are, then man the fuck up and go get your girl back. Cause I’m sick and tired
of watching you wallow in self-pity, excessive drinking and sleeping with
random sluts to forget her.”

“Damn, bro you
don’t mince words do you. Can you be a little more honest? Jeez, I get it. I
was going to try to talk to her tomorrow whether she likes it or not.” The rest
of the night I hung out with Ty shooting the breeze talking about old times and
downing drinks. Rebel was still heavily on my mind and I needed to fix things
between us quick because there was no way in hell I was letting her walk, run
or push away from me.

T
ICK.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

My alarm clock
ticked on boundless, ceaseless, and heartless as I lay here on my bed. I was a
mass of empty jumbled nerves and infinite tears. I gave love a chance. I opened
my heart and soul for him. I gave him all of me and what did I get in returned?
I got burned as my heart shattered in tiny pieces of nothing. After I ran from
the gallery all I wanted was to be in his arms where everything felt right. His
arms gave me shelter. It made me feel safe. It made me feel loved. No other
place in the world ever made me feel like Wyatt did...
complete...perfect...whole. I went directly to his shop, but he wasn't there. Annie
said he took Ty to the bar around the corner for a drink. She said something
about Ty being on a tear over some girl, Marissa, I bet. Every guy always falls
for her. I get to the bar and head inside. I survey the area and spot them, but
what I see stops my heart and squeezes the breath out of me. Lindsay was with
them. She and Wyatt appeared to be having a heated discussion. I slowly started
to make my way towards them when she looked up and caught my eyes. She gave me
the evil eye and leaned into him and kissed him. I froze feeling hundreds, thousands
of emotions course through my body. Disbelief, incredulity, dejected and
rejected. I saw red. I saw blue. I saw green. I saw every color imaginable
until I saw black. I marched my little ass towards them and yanked that skanks
hair until her lips were off my man. I balled my hand into a fist, pulled back
and decked her whoring ass. I heard her nose crunch. I might have broken her
nose, but I didn't give a fuck. Shit, I think I broke my hand again, it hurt
and it throbbed.

Now here I am
wallowing in pity of myself worth, which means nothing to me. I have no self-worth.
I. Am. Nothing. I had absolutely no right to pursue things with Wyatt thinking
a girl like me, a girl from the wrong side of town, a girl with an addict for a
mother, a girl without a father, a bastard child deserved a guy like him. Just
when I was beginning to believe I deserved a happily ever after like fucks me
in the ass and kicked me to the curb.

I turned my phone
on to call Linda and tell her I wouldn't be going into work today feigning
sick. My heart ceased and clenched when it beeped. I had fifty-six missed calls
and thirty texts from Wyatt. I erased every single voice message without
listening to them. I deleted every text unopened and unread.

"Hi Linda, its
Rebel. I'm not feeling well. I'm sorry but I won't be in today," I said.

"I'm sorry to
hear you're not feeling well, but I have good news for you," she said.

"Share the
good news. I could use some good news right about now," I whispered trying
to choke down my emotions that were in the brink of bursting.

"I sold your
painting, Rebel. I have a great big check here for you," she exclaimed
excited.

"What? Oh my
God. I can't believe it. My painting sold," I said.

"Yes it did. I
could stop by and drop it off. I'm sure you want to see the amount it sold
for," she said.

"Why can't you
just tell me over the phone?" I asked.

"Because I
want to see your face when you see the exaggerated amount your painting sold
for," she said.

“Alright, I guess I
will see you later,” I replied.

“Actually, Rebel
I’m not too far from your place. Can I drop by now?” she asked.

“Sure, why not,” I
replied. I hung up the phone and went to the bathroom to wash my face. I
brushed my teeth and finger combed my hair when I heard a knock on my door. I
made my way towards the entrance and cautiously opened the door to Linda’s
happy face. I stepped aside and let her in.

“God, you look
awful. What happened?” she asked.

“If you don’t mind,
I rather not talk about it,” I replied.

“Of course, I
understand,” she said and handed me the check. I took it in my hands and looked
at it. The figure on the check had me do a double take. I must be dreaming.
There is no way my painting sold for five thousand dollars.

“Is this for real?”
I asked.

“Oh, it’s real,
alright,” Linda squealed.

“How did this
happen? I mean, my painting wasn’t on the showroom floor,” I said.

“We held a secret
silent auction. I didn’t tell you in case your painting didn’t sell. I didn’t
want to get your hopes up,” she said.

“Oh my god, who
bought it?” I asked calmly when in reality I wasn’t calm at all. Even though my
heart was breaking I wanted to do a happy dance and jump for joy. I’ve never
seen a check for this amount of money, let alone made out to me.

“I really don’t
know. It was a private buyer. The check is from W.V enterprises. I’ve never
heard of them in the art world, but they could be regular art aficionados,” she
said with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Thank for dropping
this by Linda. You don’t know how much I needed this,” I cried. Linda took one
look at my teary face and hugged me.

“Whatever it is,
Rebel it’s going to be alright. Things tend to work itself out in the end. Why
don’t you take a couple of weeks off from work and pull yourself together,” she
said.

“Thank you, Linda.
I appreciate it,” I cried. She gave me one more pat in the back and walked out
the door. I dragged my sorry, crying ass back to bed where I curled up into a
ball and really let the tears flow.

The incessant
ringing of my phone woke me up. I reached over for it and looked at the caller
id. It was Wyatt again.

“What do you want,
Wyatt?” I asked.

“Rebel, please
don’t hang up on me. Just hear me out,” he said.

“You have five
minutes before I disconnect the call,” I replied.

“Baby, I love you. Please
meet me today. Meet me at the Gapstow bridge in Central Park.”

“I don’t know,” I
said.

“I didn’t kiss her
back, baby. I love you and only you. I only want you, Rebel. Please meet me.
One o’clock,” he said, his voice laced with desperation.

“I don’t know if
that’s a good idea Wyatt. I need some time to think,” I cried and disconnected
the call. I slumped back in bed and cried some more. Who knew a person had this
many tears in their body. I just continued to lie on my bed. I didn’t even get
up when my stomach growled for food. Maybe if I just stayed here I could waste
away until the pain went away. Eventually hunger won and I got up and made my
way to the fridge to kill my hunger. I took out eggs and peppers, thinking I
could make myself an omelet. I beat the eggs and cut the peppers into tiny pieces.
I put the frying pan to heat up with oil, but the minute the eggs hit the pan a
wave of nausea hit me. I placed a hand over my mouth, turned off the pan and threw
up in my kitchen sink. Then I ran to the bathroom where I hugged the bowl for
dear life as I spilled the remaining contents of my stomach. I dry heaved the
whole time since I really didn’t have anything in my stomach. I don’t know how
long I sat on the floor hugging the bowl, but that is where Marissa found me.

“Jesus, Reby,
what’s wrong?” she said startling the hell out of me. I clutched my chest and
looked at her, “What the hell, you almost gave me a heart attack, Marissa.”

“I’m sorry,” she
laughed.

“How did you get
in?” I asked.

“Victor gave me a
spare key, when you didn’t answer,” she said.

“Why would he do
that?” I asked.

“Cause he’s worried
about you. You haven’t left your apartment for three days,” she said.

“Three days? It’s
only been a day,” I said.

“No, Reby, it has
been three days. Did you spend the whole time in bed sleeping?” she asked.

“Oh my god, I slept
for three days. I hurt Mari. My heart hurts so much. I miss him like crazy,” I
said.

“I know, Reby,
that’s why I’m here,” she said. She helped me off the floor. She turned the
shower on and said, “Go take a shower, while I clean your kitchen. It smells
like nasty farts.” She left and I took off my clothes and got in the shower. I
let the hot water soothe my aching heart and body. I washed my hair and brushed
my teeth. I stepped out and dried off. I went to my room and put on sweatpants
and a t-shirt. I made my way to the living room where Marissa was sitting on
the couch holding the check Linda dropped off.

“What’s this?” she
asked.

“Linda sold one of
my paintings in a silent auction,” I said.

“Holy shit, you’re
rich bitch,” she said excitedly. I smiled at her enthusiasm. I knew she was
doing it just to see me smile and I loved her for it.

“Five thousand
dollars does not make me rich,” I said.

“True, but it’s
five thousand more than you had before.”

“Mari, what am I
going to do about Wyatt?”

“Why are you so
afraid to believe in yourself? You both love each other very much.”

“What if it doesn’t
last? What if I’m not enough?” I groaned.

“Rebel, chances are
if you can’t get him out of your heart and mind, it’s because he’s meant to be
there. Stop fighting your own feelings. Stop being afraid and just be in love.
Everything else will fall into place on its own.”

“Ugh, I screwed
this up royally, didn’t I?” I said while dragging my hand through my hair.

“Rebel, your human.
It’s okay to have a meltdown. Just don’t unpack and live there. Cry if you have
to, but then refocus on where you are heading and with whom you want to head
there with,”

“He asked me to
meet him today at Central Park and I said no. I’m such an idiot. What am I
going to do?”

“You are going to
get dressed and go meet him.”

“What if he’s
doesn’t show up?”

“Then call him, but
something tells me he will be there.”

I grabbed Mari and
hugged her, “You are the bestest friend ever.”

“I’ll always be
here for you. You’re my best friend. I can’t promise to solve all your
problems, but I can promise you will never have to face anything alone.”