Broken (10 page)

We grabbed some drinks and headed
to the dance floor, because that was where you picked up girls. I grinded up
against a particularly foxy blonde, and she melted into me like butter, and it
was just that easy. We swayed together with the music, but I still couldn't
help but glance a few times at the bar to see if Natalie might be missing me.
She had her back to me though, and seemed to be in a pretty deep conversation
with Julie.

The blonde, whose name escaped me
at that point, turned to face me, and wrapped her arms around my neck. She
pushed herself very close against me, and I felt some movement in my pants. Her
lips found mine, and the next thing you know, we were making out on the dance
floor. It looked like my night was shaping up pretty good. Her tongue lost
itself in my mouth, and things were getting pretty heated between us. She
tasted sweet, but there was no spark there. Nothing like what had ignited
between Natalie and me, but that's okay; this was just for one night. I would
never see this girl again after that. We continued to make out, and it suddenly
struck me that Natalie could be watching us. I stopped kissing the blonde
immediately, and glanced at the bar. Natalie and Julie were gone; they had
completely left the bar. Had she seen me making out and stormed off? Had I been
too insensitive by moving on right in front of her even though we were never a
thing?

I looked down at the blonde, who
had a confused look on her face. I smiled; she was really pretty, and I decided
that I wanted to see more of her.

“Do you want to come home with
me?”

She nodded eagerly. I grabbed her
hand, and I whisked her off the dance floor, heading down the stairs of the
club. This was going to be the girl who would help me forget all about Natalie,
and make me feel really good. I didn't bother to say goodbye to my friends.
They knew where to find me; they all had phones. No one worried much about each
other, as the game was to find someone to take home, not to end up going home
with your buddies. That was typically classified as a bad night out. No one
wanted to go home alone, especially if you were the only one.

We left the bar, and I felt the
cool night breeze hit me as soon as we got out the door. It was refreshing
after being inside the hot, stuffy club. I put my arm around the blonde, and
held her tight as we headed down the street. I heard a scream as we got further
down the street, and I thought I saw a few people further down as we got
closer. Then I realized that it was Natalie and Julie. To my horror, I saw the
guy who was clutching on Natalie, trying to rip the purse from her arm. He
swung and hit Natalie across the face, loosening the purse from her grip.

“Hey!” I shouted.

The guy took off running, but I
wasn't about to let him get away. I let the blonde go, and took off after him.
I tore past Julie and Natalie, and kept a steady pace. He wasn't in very good
shape, because it wasn't long before I caught up to him. I leapt at him,
tackling him to the ground. I felt the air whoosh out of him.

“Get the fuck off of me, man.”

“Oh I'm
gonna
get off, alright.”

I turned him over and punched him
square in the face. Blood spurted from his nose, and sprayed on my shirt. I
punched him a few more times before I stood up. Once I did, I kicked him in the
ribs until I heard a crack. The guy howled in pain.

“I suggest you get the hell out
of my face. If I were you, I would think twice before touching another female.”

The guy rose slowly from the
ground, and I watched him carefully to make sure he wasn't going to make
another move. He hobbled down the street and I almost regretted not beating him
to death. I picked the two purses off the ground, along with anything that had
scattered from them. I carried them back to the girls, and realized awkwardly
that my little blonde friend was talking to Natalie.

Natalie looked up at me. She
looked so sad that it almost broke my heart. I noticed that blood was seeping
from her lip. When he had hit her, he must have split her lip. I should have
killed him after all. I looked back down the street to see if I could still see
him but he was long gone.

“Are you okay, Natalie?”

She nodded, tears welling up in
her eyes, and then falling down her cheeks. “Thank you for getting my things.”

I looked over at Julie who seemed
a little calmer. “Are you okay, Julie?”

“Yes, he came out of nowhere. It
all just happened so fast.”

“That's so terrible.” We all
looked over at the blonde as she spoke, and I realized once again how terrible
it was that she was there with me.

“Can I take you two
home
?”

“
Ummm
,
I thought we were going back to your place,” the blonde said to me. I wished to
God I had not decided to take her home with me. I noticed Natalie roll her
eyes, with a stellar look of disgust written all over her face.

“Look, sweetheart.
It's
not
gonna
happen after all. I
need to make sure I take care of my friends here. So why don't you either go
back in the club or catch a cab home. But either way, you're not coming home
with me.”

The girl's mouth hung open. She
was pissed, and I couldn't really blame her. She spun around and marched
herself back to the club. I watched her until I saw her go inside; I didn't
need to deal with another mugging.

“Nice.” I spun around when I
heard Natalie's voice. She was watching me carefully, not in the least bit
impressed.

“How about you guys come back and
stay to my place for the night? That way at least I know you made it somewhere
safe.”

Natalie snorted despite her
condition, but she held back whatever it was that she wanted to say to me.

“We have lots of room.”

“I think you should go, Natalie,
you seem pretty freaked out. I'm going to go back to our place though. I would
feel more comfortable doing that,” Julie said.

I looked at Natalie, and she just
nodded. She must have been freaked out, because I was shocked that she would
agree to go with me alone back to my place. Every time I saw the blood on her
face, though, anger surged through me all over again.

“Okay, let me get you a cab then,
Julie. I'm not leaving you here alone.”

“Thanks.”

I turned toward the street to
hail a cab. It wasn't long before one came down the street. The later it got,
the more cabs arrived to bring all the drunks home. A cab pulled up to the
sidewalk and I tugged the side door open for Julie. I handed the driver a bunch
of bills and gave him Julie's address.

“Thanks, Jet, I appreciate your
help.”

“No problem. Take care of
yourself.”

“I'll see you tomorrow, Natalie!”
she yelled from the cab. Natalie only waved. I watched the cab pull away and I
looked to flag down another. I glanced over my shoulder to make sure Natalie
was still there, and I smiled at her, hoping it eased her stress.

Another cab drove up, and I
opened the side door once again. I motioned for her to come to me, and I let
her get in the cab first. I followed in after her, and we sat side by side on
the middle seat of the van. I gave the driver my address, and the cab pulled
away from the sidewalk. I wrapped my arm around her. I was surprised when her
body shook with sobs that she must have been holding in until that moment.

I held her as tightly as I could,
and watched the city pass by through the window of the cab. I kissed her on the
top of the head before realizing what I was doing. She didn't pull away.
Instead, she snuggled deeper into my chest.

Chapter Thirteen

Natalie

We walked into Jet's place; it
was quiet for the time being, since his roommate was still at the club trying
to find a girl. He had a really nice place, a lot nicer than my cramped
apartment that I shared with Julie.
 
The
decorations were a little tacky, but what could you expect from an apartment
full of guys? I walked into the living room, and sat on the couch. When I
looked up I was surprised to see my drawing hanging on the wall. It brought a
smile to my face. I really had thought that he had thrown it out―that he
only paid for it to get in my pants. I didn't expect that he had hung it up
already, but it hung proudly on the wall, and the fact that it was there
touched me deeply.

“I told you I kept it.” He came
over and sat with me on the couch. He smiled at me and I remembered what a nice
smile he had.

“It looks nice up there.”

“Yeah, I thought it was time to
get rid of all the hockey posters. Maybe I will get a few more pieces from
you.”

I just nodded.

He got up and went into the
kitchen. He poured us a drink, whiskey and Coke, just the way he knew I liked
it. He brought over the glasses, and gave me one. “It will help calm you down.”

“Thank you.” I drank half the
glass before I set it down, causing him to chuckle.

He got up again, and went into
the bathroom. I heard the tap running, and it wasn't long before he came back
out. He was holding a wet cloth. He sat back down, and leaned into me. He
grabbed my chin in his hand, and turned my face to him. His gentleness
surprised me, and tears sprang up in my eyes once again. He took the cloth and
dabbed at my lip, cleaning the blood away from the cut.

“It's not deep, so you don't need
stitches.”

I smiled. “That's good.”

He continued to clean me up, and
then he allowed me to drink the rest of the whiskey out of my glass.

“I love whiskey, it's delicious.”

He laughed, “I noticed and I
would have to agree.” I looked into his eyes and I couldn't help but start
crying again. The mugger had terrified me. I had never experienced anything
like that in my life. He was so rough that I wasn't sure if I was going to be
raped or killed. I couldn't have been more grateful to see Jet show up, and get
a hold of the guy.
Even if he did bring the blonde tramp with
him.

“Thank you for being there.
For catching the guy, for saving me.”

“God, Natalie, of course. I saw
red as soon as I realized you had been hurt. Guys like that need to be wiped
off the face of the planet. He'll think twice about hurting another girl. I
broke a few of his ribs.”

“Did you?”

“Yeah, and he's lucky that's all
I did to him.” He brushed the hair out of my eyes and touched my cheek softly.

“How about you go take a shower
and freshen up? I’ll get you something to wear to bed. You should probably get
some rest.”

“That sounds nice, thank you.”

I followed him to the bathroom.
He showed me where the towels were, and turned on the shower for me.

“Adjust the temperature the way
you like it. I’ll be right back.”

I went to the shower and felt the
temperature. It was a little hot, so I turned the temperature down before I
went into the closet, and pulled out a towel. I put it close to the shower so
it would be right there when I got out.

Jet came back into the bathroom
and handed me some clothes. “Here's a pair of boxers and a t-shirt of mine.
Hopefully they will do for the night.”

“They’re fine. Thanks.”

He left the bathroom, closing the
door behind him. I undressed quickly and hopped into the shower. I just wanted
to rinse off a bit, and get the feeling of the guy’s hands off of me. I hated
feeling his touch on my body; it gave me the creeps. I just stood under the
showerhead, allowing the water to cascade down my body. The heat felt wonderful
against my skin, and I began to feel normal once again.

I turned the water off, and
pulled open the curtains. I stepped out of the shower and grabbed the towel.
Water droplets disappeared as I dried off with the towel and then I looked at
myself in his bathroom mirror. I surveyed the damage to my lip, and willed
myself not to cry again.

I looked around for a brush, and
only found a comb in a drawer but it would do. I quickly brushed my hair and
dried off the remaining droplets. I dressed in the clothes Jet had brought me,
and hung up the towel on the shower rod. I left the bathroom and went to look
for Jet. I found him on the couch drinking another glass of whiskey.

“Do you want to have another
drink?”

I shook my head and then said,
“No, I think I'm ready for bed, if you don't mind.”

“Of course not.”

“Should I sleep on the couch?”

“No, you can sleep with me.”

“What? No, I don't think so.”

“Don't be silly. I will keep my
distance. I just don't want you out of my sight right now.”

I nodded. I watched as he downed
his drink and then I followed him down the hall and into his bedroom. He pulled
back the covers of the bed and put a few pillows down the middle.

“See, there is something in
between us. You don't have to worry about me putting the moves on you.”