Cowboy Town (16 page)

“Stupid woman,” they both mutter.

“So, Ava, have you worked here long?” I ask hoping to change the subject.

“Yeah, my mum and dad own the place.  We’ve also got a station, which my dad runs, but as my sister and I grew up, mum wanted something to do with her time, so she bought this place.  I moved back home about five years ago and I split my time between helping mum out here and helping dad on the farm,” Ava answers.  “So what about you Jules, what do you do?”

“I’m a legal secretary for a firm in Sydney.  I don’t think I’ll be there much longer though-,”

“Why?  What happened?” I ask, cutting her off.

“Well, because I fucked the boss and when that happens, shit just gets awkward,” she shrugs.

“Oh my god, Jules.  You
slept
with your
boss?
  How did
that
happen? Wait, don’t answer that.  I don’t want to know.”

“Argh, I don’t know.  It just happened and now things are just
awkward
– there’s no other word for it.”

Before we know it, it’s time for Jules to leave, so after saying goodbye to Ava, I drive Jules to Darwin to catch her flight.

“I can’t believe you slept with your boss, Jules.  That’s crazy.”

“Yep, you had your brain fart with Matt and now I’ve had mine with my boss.”

I can’t help but burst into laughter.  “Well, if you ever need a place to stay, you’re always welcome here.”

After waving Jules goodbye and watching her plane until I couldn’t see it anymore, I make my way out to my car. 

“Eden,” I hear my name fall from the one person’s lips that I could have gone the rest of my life without hearing again. 

“Fuck,”
I whisper.  Turning around, I narrow my eyes at the person standing in front of me, “What do you want, Matt?”

“So it really is you, I can’t believe it. I didn’t know what had happened to you.  Oh god, Eden, I was so worried,” he gushes as he tries to pull me into his arms.  I push his chest and he goes back a foot.

“You were worried?  Really, Matt?  Because I haven’t had any texts, emails or calls from you since I left
over three months ago
.”

“I thought you needed time.  I was giving you space.”

“Bullshit.”

“Eden, I want you back.  I came here to bring you home,” he tries.

“I don’t think so,” I feel my lip curl in disgust.

He doesn’t miss the look of revulsion on my face, “Don’t tell me you actually want to stay here with your hillbilly friends and that hideous redneck bumpkin that calls himself a man?”  My eyes widen with shock.  “Yeah, don’t fool yourself, Eden; I’ve been watching you – working at that bar, laughing and joking with the patrons, parading yourself about like a whore with that man.”

“You need to leave, Matt.  I left you because I caught you cheating on me, but then I came to find out that it was
me
who was the other woman.  I don’t want you back and I don’t want anything to do with you.  Oh, and that
redneck bumpkin that calls himself a man
is more of a man than you’ll ever be,” I hiss.

“You won’t last long with him, Eden.  Once he finds out what a lazy lay you are, he won’t hang around for long.  Then, you’ll come crawling back to me.”

I laugh.  I actually laugh right in his face.  “I was a lazy lay with you, Matt, because you never lasted long enough for me to do anything.”

“You fucking slut,” he spits right before his fist connects with my face.

I’m stunned for about a second and then I react, slapping him hard across the face.  “
You cock-goblin fucknozzle
,
” I shriek, along with a slew of other profanities.  He looks at me, momentarily shocked that I fought back, and I notice for the first time how cold his eyes look.  Then he punches me so hard in the jaw, I feel my teeth rattle.  He hits me in the same place twice and,
shit,
it hurts.  I stumble backwards as he strides toward me. 

I need to do something to get him away from me.  But I don’t know what.  He hits me again, this time in the nose, causing my blood to spurt out over his shirt and face.  I scream bloody murder and from the corner of my eye, I notice some men running towards us.  It gives me the courage I need.  I lift my knee and jerk it upwards with as much force as I can.  I know I’ve connected hard with the target, when he howls like a wolf on a full moon’s night and falls down on the ground clutching his balls and moaning.  I allow a little smile and then everything goes black.

“Miss, can you hear me?  Miss?”  I open my eyes and the first thing I see is blue. 
Sky
blue.  That’s because for some reason I’m lying on my back.  The pain in my face brings my memory crashing back. 

Fucking Matt, the bastard.
I can’t believe he hit me.  He’s never hit me. Ever.  Never even looked like getting abusive in the three years we were together.

“Matt.  He did this to-,”

“We’re aware of that, Miss.  He’s been taken to the police station.  No I need you to answer some questions for me and then I’d like you to come to the hospital to be checked over by a doctor.”

“Okay.”

I answer correctly as the ambulance officer asks me what my name is, what town I’m in, what day it is, and so on.  He tells me I fainted and hit my head pretty hard when I landed on the tar. I was being taken to Darwin Hospital to be checked by a doctor for a possible broken nose and for scans; apparently I have a large contusion on the back of my head as a result of the fainting.  He also thinks I will need stitches in my lip.  I lie still as the ambulance officers transfer me to a stretcher, then slides me into the back of the ambulance and drives off to the hospital.  The entire time I replay the incident with Matt.  I just cannot believe he hit me.  And not once, but
numerous
times.

At the hospital, Dr. Rashad comes to see me and determines that my nose isn’t broken, but it is badly bruised and I’ll need some glue in my lip.  I’m taken off for scans and then given a room to wait for a nurse to clean my wounds.  My nurse, Lettie, is absolutely lovely and very gentle as she bathes my wounds and cleans the dried blood off my face.  Dr. Rashad comes in, glues my lip and then explains that there is no apparent damage to my brain or skull showing in the scans. However, he would like to keep me overnight because the fall could have caused a concussion.  After Dr. Rashad and nurse Lettie leave, I have a visit from two police officers who introduce themselves as Detective Carmichael and Senior Constable Brown. 

“Okay Eden, we’re just going to ask you some questions in relation to the incident at Darwin Airport this afternoon.  Is that okay with you?”

I nod my agreement and they begin take my statement.

“Can you tell us what happened today at Darwin Airport?”  Brown asks.

“I was taking my friend Jules to catch her flight.”  I go on to tell them everything that happened and everything that was said.  Besides the throbbing pain on my face and the dull ache from the contusion on my head, I feel numb when I’m talking about it.  Almost as if I’m removed from the situation. 

“Can you tell us about your relationship with Matthew Fields?”

“Matt and I dated for three years until just recently, when I caught him cheating on me with another woman.  After I found them, I went home, packed my stuff and left first thing the next morning.  I never said anything to him, I just went.  I travelled around for about six weeks until I arrived in Pine Creek around three months ago.  I hadn’t heard from him or seen him until today.  I recently learned that the other woman who I caught him with was actually his girlfriend who he’d been dating before me.  So it was me who was
the other woman
.  He’s such an asshole.”

“And during your relationship with Mr. Fields, was he ever abusive – physically, emotionally?”

“No, he wasn’t.  Ever.  When we were together, I was a different person; I was very …
agreeable.
  If he wanted to go to Chinese for dinner and I felt like Indian, I never spoke up.  I just did what he wanted to do, when he wanted to do it, mostly because I just didn’t care and I couldn’t be bothered to tell him what I thought.  Then, I left and I came here, I started to find myself again – the real me, the one who existed before I lost my parents and before I started dating Matt.  When I spoke back to him, he got this look in his eye that was cold and harsh.  That’s when he hit me.  Maybe if I had been opinionated during our relationship, he may have been abusive then, but because I wasn’t, he wasn’t.  Does that make sense?”  I ask, unsure.

“Perfect sense, Miss. It sounds like Mr. Fields likes to be obeyed,” Detective Carmichael grimaces.

“Well, I think we have enough here, Miss Cross.  We’ll be in touch if we need anything,” Senior Constable Brown tells me.

“I hope I’ve been of some help.”

“Absolutely,” Carmichael states.

“Uh, about Matt, where is he?  Can he get to me here?”

“No, Eden, he can’t.  Mr. Fields has been charged in relation to the incident today and he’s being held in the cells at the Police Station until tomorrow, when he’ll face court. He will most likely be denied bail because he is a flight risk.  You can rest easy,” Carmichael says.

“Okay,” I reply softly.

When they leave, a nurse brings in a tray with chicken soup broth, a piece of bread, some juice and cup of hot water and sachets of butter, coffee and sugar.

I want to ring Jackson, but I know he’s busy and I don’t want to worry him. After all, the doctor did say I would fine.  If I ring him, he will probably stop the important work on the machinery and race in here to me.  There’s nothing he can do here anyways and leaving the farm will only delay things while they’re trying to harvest.

But if it was Jackson sitting in this hospital bed, I would want to know.  If I don’t tell him, he’ll likely be pissed off.  And I’m supposed to be staying at his house tonight.  Actually, I should already be there.

I decide to ring him, tell him what happened and
insist
that he doesn’t come here; I will just see him tomorrow. 

He picks up after the second ring.  “Hey, Ace,” he greets.

“Hi,” I say softly.

“Where are you, baby?  Did Jules get off okay?”

“Yeah, her flight left on time.  I, uh, I have to tell you something,” I hesitate.

“What’s wrong, Ace?” He asks, concern clear in his voice.

“There was an incident as I was leaving the airport-,”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.  I just wanted to let you know.  I’m fine but I have to stay in the hospital overnight.”

“What happened? Did you have an accident in the car?  Why do you have to stay in the hospital?”

“Are you saying I’m a shit driver?” I try to joke.

“No, baby, I’m not. Listen, I’m on my way.  I’ll be there soon-,”

“NO!  No, Jackson, I know how busy you are and I don’t want you coming all the way in here.  The doctor said I’m fine, he just wants to keep me overnight because I may have been concussed.  I’m totally fine.”

“You listen to me, Edie,” the growling intensity in his voice startles me (and he called me ‘Edie’.  I don’t think he’s ever called me anything other than
Ace, Darlin’
or
Babe
.  He must be serious). “I don’t care how fucking busy I am.  Nothing, and I mean
nothing
is more important to me than you.  I’ll be there in an hour.”  His voice softens and he adds, “Now, what happened?”

I think about telling him what happened for about half a second.  Then I decide to wait until he gets here and tell him to his face.  I don’t want him angry or upset while he’s driving.

“I’ll explain everything when you get here.”

“Okay, Ace.  See you soon.”

While I wait for Jackson, I try to sip my soup broth, but I give up when it keeps stinging my lip.  I lay back and play Bubble Safari on my phone until Jackson arrives.

“Fuck, baby,” he says rushing to my side.  “What happened?  Fuck!”

“I’m fine, I promise-,”

“Excuse me, Edie, I just have some Panadol here for your headache.”  Nurse Lettie says, handing me a little container with two white pills inside and a cup of water.