Me and Mr. Write (17 page)

“Jackson, JACKSON STOP!” Rafe pulls me back and pushes me against the wall, holding me there
until my mind catches up with my body and I look him in the eyes,

“You need to take care of Rosie now!” he speaks straight to me and I realise that I haven’t even
checked on her. I push Rafe out of the way and rush to kneel in front of Rosie where she sits hugging her knees to her chest and staring at the man groaning and bleeding on the floor. Ben is on the phone to the police and I suddenly feel sick, I lost it.

“Rosie,
I’m so sorry…” I don’t know what else I’m supposed to say as she raises her head to look me in the eyes,

“Take me home please”
I stand and hold out my hands to help her get up, “Rafe, let’s go” she speaks to her brother but he doesn’t respond, “RAFAEL, now!”

Rafe has been standing over Rosie’s attacker, kicking him back down each time he tried to get up and he doesn’t look willing to leave, but he knows t
hat his sister needs him more. He looks to Ben who nods to let him know that he’s going nowhere and the three of us head back to the house.

As the light of the hallway hits Rosie’s face, I see the bruise developing on her jaw and the red marks left by a hand closing around her throat and I think I might collapse. As Rafe says only the name Jonah to Bernie, the colour drains from her cheeks and she starts to cry as she rushes to her daughter’s side.

They head into the living roo
m and I sit down on the stairs. I can hardly breathe as a panic floods me, if I hadn’t left Dad’s early or if we’d gone in a different direction when we left the pub, we might not have found her. He would have raped her for certain and what else? As the idea that he could have taken her away from me sinks in I can’t stop the tears from escaping me. I don’t realise that Matthew has joined me on the stairs until he puts a reassuring hand on my shoulder/ He doesn’t speak, and I can’t.

When the police arrive at th
e house it’s all very informal. It’s obvious that they know the family and Rosie asks to speak to them in private. Of course they want to speak to all of us, about last night and tonight, but it seems they’re not interested in the damage that I may have done and are open about their desire to see Jonah Maynard back behind bars. When they leave Rosie says good night and heads upstairs, glancing at me as an invitation for me to follow.

“Jackson, I’m sorry!” she has already changed into her pyjamas and given the clothes that she had been wearing to the police.

“Why did you do that Rosie?
Why would you put yourself in danger like that?” I am begging her for an answer, one that will explain what’s been going on, but instead she just starts to cry.

Rosie pulls her knees up to her chest and sobs, my
heart breaks at the sight of her. She looks so vulnerable and I don’t know how to make her feel better, I just sit next to her and pull her into my chest.

“Please don’t ever do that again Rosetta, I cannot lose you
.”

I stroke her
hair as I listen to the crying slowing down and the soft rhythm of her breathing lets me know that she is asleep. I carefully stand, laying her head down on the pillows and pull the covers up over her. I kiss her softly on the head and make my way downstairs.

The house is silent as I head into the kitchen and
I’m glad that everyone has gone to bed. I need to process the past two days, but how do I do that without the facts?

I step into the living room and stop when I see Joaquin at the dining table with a glass and a bottle of whiskey,

“Oh, sorry I thought everyone was in bed!” I turn to leave him in peace when he calls me back,

“Jackson sit, have a drink with me” I sit opposite Rosie’s Dad and he turns to retrieve another class from the cabinet behind him, as he pours he starts to talk,

“Nearly five months you have been with Rosie now, is that right?” He slides the
glass toward me and I nod before taking a sip, I don’t know what’s coming but feel like I’m about to get fired, “When I see you with her, when you look at each other, I see so much love. It makes me very happy Jackson. Both of my babies are happy and in love.” Joaquin glances up from his glass and I see the strain on his face,

“When Rosetta was
five years old she asked me for a bicycle, she said ‘Daddy I want a purple bike with silver stripes and I will love it forever’ she was so cute with her big green eyes I couldn’t resist her. When she saw her new bicycle her face lit up like the sun in the sky”

He starts to laugh as he remembers and I try to imagine a tiny red haired girl racing down the street on her new pride and joy, “She fell in love with that bike, she cleaned it every day for a week but do you know she wouldn’t ride it! One day I looked out of the window and Pippa was
whizzing around on her bicycle. I watched from that window as Rosie climbed onto hers, she had insisted of course on no stabilisers and as expected, as soon as she tried to ride, she fell. But she got up, brushed the dirt from the bike and tried again. Do you know I watched her fall off that bike six times before she managed to ride it to the end of the street” Joaquin smiles and I am overwhelmed with a feeling of pride in five year old Rosie,

“I cheered you know, inside the house where she
couldn’t see or hear me, I cheered for my clever, stubborn girl!”

We each take a sip and a moment to reflect,

“She is an Alvez Jackson, She is pig-headed and she has a wild spirit, you must know this” It’s not a question but an instruction, “Men have tried to tame her before and have hurt her in the process”

“Joaquin I don’t want to tame Rosie, I love everything about her” I lean forward to add conviction to my words,

“Even when she puts herself in danger?” Joaquin looks at me as though he can’t take his daughter being hurt anymore “It’s not the first time Jackson, and not the first time with that scumbag”

He takes the last sip of his whiskey and refills his glass and mine. He stares down into his
drink and continues to speak quietly,

“
When Rosetta was sixteen she came home late one Friday. There was a bang on the door and when I opened it, my little girl was crumpled on the floor covered in bruises and blood. He had beaten her and strangled her because she wouldn’t give him what he wanted. He took it from her anyway and then dragged her by her hair and dumped her on our doorstep.  Tonight, he tried to take it from her again. You saved my little girl, and I know you will always protect her. But you need to know something about Rosie, she will do anything for the people that she loves, and she loves nobody more than you. She is stubborn like her mother and if you tell her not to do something, it will make her want to do it even more.”

I shake my head
as the realisation that Rosie, my Rosie was raped, sinks in to every corner of my mind,

“I couldn’t have forgiven myself if anything had happened to her”

Joaquin looks me in the eyes “And that’s why I gave you my blessing. When you came here to ask me if you could marry her I wanted to say no after how much you had hurt her. I wanted to kill you for it, but I saw the love in your eyes when you spoke about her and I couldn’t deny you the happiness that I have enjoyed. She needs to know that you’ll never desert her Jackson. She says she knows but she is still frightened of ending up alone and that fear drives her to be irrational and to take risks like the one she took tonight”

I take the final gulp of my drink and after a few moments of silence, I say goodnight to Joaquin. I understand now why Rosie put herself in the position that she did. She needed to confront Jonah; it wasn’t just about what he did to me, but also what he did to her.

I need to be next to her and as I climb into bed next the woman that
I’m going to marry I am overcome, I love her more than I knew was possible. I never want to see her hurt again and I’ll do everything in my power to ensure I never do.

The house feels strange as I head downstairs, I wish that I could just forget that last night happened but I am bruised where Jonah hit me and my head hurts
from hitting the floor when he threw me down.

In that moment I was sixteen again, I was weak and terrified and couldn’t bear the thought of him forcing his way inside me again. Jackson wasn’t next to me when I woke up but his side of the bed was warm, so he
can’t have been gone long. I make my way downstairs and the room falls silent as I enter, and I speak,

“I’m not made of glass, I
won’t break” Mam kisses me on the cheek and tells everyone to eat up.

The wedding is tomorrow and as I try to make conversation with Rafe and Matthew about their big they just look at each other and then at me,

“We think its best if we postpone Ro, after everything that’s happened in the past few days we just think it’s not really appropriate”

I slam my knife and fork back down on the table and look my brother in the eyes,

“Don’t you dare Rafael! I am a big girl with an even bigger make up case, so we will cover these bruises and have an amazing day!” Rafe looks at Jackson who just shrugs his shoulders, “OK?” I force an answer,

“Yes, ok Rosie, ok” he smiles and I mirror his expression,

“Right then, the last two days are done. I don’t want to hear a peep of ‘are you ok?’ because I am fine, I’m great in fact. So today, we are going to have fun. Matthew what time are Steph and Fran due?” Matthew’s cousins are coming up today for the wedding,

“Erm, they’re at the hotel already
actually; they got here about half an hour ago” Matthew smiles at me,

“Great, then who’s up for Go Ape?” Rafe
’s eyes widen and a grin stretches across his face, “I’ll take that to mean you all are, I’ll go and call them then”

I leave the room to make the
phone call and Jackson follows,

“Rosie hang on”
Jackson stands in front of me and wraps his arms around my waist, holding me so close that I have to tip my head back to look at him, “Just be honest with me for a minute, are you absolutely sure that you’re ok? You were in a bad way last night!”

“I know
but really, I am. I was ashamed last night, I put myself and you in the positions we were in and it broke my heart. He isn’t clever or fit enough to beat you in a fair fight, but he is tapped enough to carry weapons. I was terrified for your safety, not my own. But really, I am great! My brother is getting married and you know my darkest secret, we can move forward now”

I pick up the phone and dial the number as
Jackson heads upstairs for a shower, I call after him,

“Jackson” h
e stops on the stairs and turns to look at me, “Once he is locked up for good, I never want to think or talk about Jonah again, ok?” he just smiles and nods and continues his way upstairs.

When we return from Go Ape we are all in good spirits. Mam and Dad have been busy with Jane and David, Matthew’s parents, getting a barbecue together and there are balloons and bunting everywhere.

“Wow, this is great Mammy
thank you” Rafe kisses Mam on the cheek and leads the way toward the back garden. Pip is back from Liverpool and runs to squeeze me as tightly as she can the second she sees me,

“You should have called!” She speaks directly into my ear,

“Why, what could you have done? Where’s Ben?” she steps backward and shrugs her shoulders,

“He thinks
it’s his fault Ro, I tried to tell him but he wouldn’t come”

“What? Why? That’s ridiculous! C
ome on, we’re going to get him!”

We arrive at Ben’s flat and he just looks down at the floor when he sees me, and the bruises on my face,

“Rosie I’m so sorry” he swallows hard and Pip steps in toward him,

“Ben, it is not your fault. I was stupid, and I put you in a shitty position. I’m sorry! Please will you come to the barbecue?” I hold out my hands to take his,

“Rosie, I knew that you
were at risk, but I was so busy. I didn’t see him follow you out, I can’t forgive myself for that” he looks at me so sincerely and Pippa looks at me, desperate for a way to convince him that he’s done no wrong,

“Benjamin, I am fine, you are not my keeper so stop this now. You are not to blame! Now come on because I want a burger!” I smile and Pip pulls at Ben’s hand to guide him out of the door.

As the three of us walk in to the garden Ben is sheepish and I feel for him, he has known us all for so long but these past few days have really pushed our friendships to the limit and he seems lost. Rafe makes a beeline for Ben and I stand up straight, Rafe is always looking for someone to blame and I am ready for him, but when he hands Ben a beer and holds out a hand to shake I feel proud of my brother, he’s come a long way.

The barbecue is great, it’s a lovely warm evening, the drinks flow nicely and the music drifting out from the house seems to enhance the conversation. I am having a great time but am starting to feel a bit sick so I head upstairs to lie down for a while. I have drunk a fair bit and the wedding is tomorrow so I decide to call it a night.