Sweetness (4 page)

I shudder at the memory
and take a deep breath before
opening my eyes to come back to the here and now. As I
do I almost faint at the sight of Glen Maser leaning with
his hip on the bench and his left ankle crossed over the
right, a few feet away from me. Standing there like he
can read my mind. Watching me with a menacing smile I
know all too well.

“Glen.” I reply as casually as I can. I side step, to
get as much space between us as possible so I can return
to the main house. “If you’ll excuse me.”

“Where are you going? You don’t want to stay
and catch up. Not even a hug for your big brother.” Glen
stretches out his arms knowing full well I would never
embrace him.

My stomach is churning. I feel as though I am
going to be sick. All the blood drains from my face and I
feel as vulnerable and helpless as I did when I was 16
years old. From behind Glen I see Max watching me;
scrutinizing me in the distance. The frightened look on
my face must have allowed Max to figure out who is
standing alone with me. Over Glens shoulder I see Max
walking double time toward us. Glen is smiling and
starts to walk closer to me.

Fully knowing that Max won’t let Glen touch me I
get a bit of courage and spit out, “No, big brother. I’m
sorry. I don’t want to stay here and exchange
pleasantries with my rapist, but you feel free to stay here
all by yourself.” Glen’s face hardens and I can see that as
always he is shocked by my outburst.

“Careful, Princess.” He growls back while glaring
at me.
“Or what?” Max whispers in Glen’s ear from
behind him. Max is standing inches behind Glen, his fists
clenched at his sides ready to throw down. Max stands
taller than Glen and he is of a slightly bigger build. As
Glen turns around to see who is standing behind him, he
gazes up at Max and I see them both trying to size each
other up. Glens face is impassive but I know he’s baffled.
He doesn’t know who Max is or why he would be
interjecting on my behalf.
“Why should she have to be careful, exactly?”
Max is now smiling with his don’t-fuck-with-me face on.
Glen looks at me and points to Max with a who-the-hellis-this-guy look on his face, then shrugs while shaking
his head. “My apologies, I am Maxwell Reed. And you
are?” He says as he extends his hands to Glen.
“Glen Maser.” He shakes Max’s hand. They both
stare at each other for a few seconds before finally
releasing their grip on each other. “How do you know
my sister, Mr. Reed?”
Standing behind Max, I watch the pissing contest
unfold before me, and I am not impressed. I grab Max’s
hand and pull him to walk with me back to the house but
he doesn’t budge.
“I am your
step-sisters
best friend and-“
“Emma!” We all turn to see Mark jogging toward
us. “Emma. Hey. What are you guys all doing way over
here? Is the party that boring?” Mark says humorously
with a confused look on his face as he glances around to
each of our faces. The tension in the air is thick but no
one says a word.
“Mark,” I say as I give him a big hug, “are you
almost ready to go? We have a long drive back and I
want to get out of here.”
“Yea. I just saw Wanda. She is looking for you
two.” He points at Max and me. “I told her you were
probably out here having sex somewhere.” A sarcastic
noise comes from Glen. Max tenses, shooting Glen a
warning with his eyes. “Uhhhh. Well you guys are all
being weird so I’ll go grab my stuff and put it in the car.
Give me 15 minutes.” Mark turns and runs back toward
the house leaving the three of us alone again.
“Lets go Max. I want to say good-bye to my
mother and Paul before we leave.”
“One minute, Emm, you go on ahead.” Max gives
my hand a reassuring squeeze before he releases it and
turns back to Glen. I am not sure what to do so I concede
and make my way back to the house. I am very nervous
about what they will be talking about but I have to get as
far away from Glen as possible. The sight of him breaks
me down and I have come too far to let him see me sweat
now.
The whole way toward the house I keep looking
over my shoulder to make sure they aren’t going to
physically fight. Even though Max is bigger and stronger,
Glen is a brawler and has been in more than his fair share
of fights. Before I reach the patio I see Wanda looking at
me, trying to figure out what is happening. I shake my
head in the negative and give her a slight shrug to
express my exasperation. When I get closer I stand next
to her so we can both watch the drama being played out
in the distance.
“Who’s Max talking to?” Wanda asks curiously.
“Glen.”
“GLEN?!”
“Yup!”
“What about?”
“Don’t know. Max asked me for a minute alone
with him and they have been standing there talking ever
since. I don’t know what they could possibly be talking
about.” What were they talking about? Max keeps
looking back at me, his face was not giving anything
away.
“Want me to go find out? I would love a minute
with that fucker alone.” Wanda’s protective big sister
tone of voice gives me the warm and fuzzies.
“No. Lets go find my mother and Paul to say
good-bye. Mark is getting the rest of his stuff together
and then we can leave. “
“Ok. Are you ok?”
“I’m fine. I just want to go. We have a long drive
back and after a day in the twilight zone I’m exhausted.”

We find
Paul and my mother
in the kitchen in an
affectionate embrace, kissing tenderly. It makes me
happy that they have finally found peace in their
relationship. As I walk toward them I see Holly stepping
into the room. Seriously. Just when I thought my day
couldn’t get any worse, Holly shows up.

Despite her shitty personality Holly is a very
attractive girl, or so I am told. She is about 2 years older
then me and has always been very jealous of the fact that
my daddy’s black AMEX can afford designer while she
tries to keep up with the latest knockoffs. Designer tags
never really impressed me until I found out that it
bothered Holly I could afford it and she couldn’t.

When we were younger I would offer her
anything I was no longer going to use before donating it
to goodwill. She would never accept my offer
because…well, because she is a bitch and wouldn’t give
me the satisfaction…but I took great pleasure in
throwing designer clothes in the trash and pouring food
on them so she couldn’t change her mind and pull them
out later. If she wanted that stuff she would have to ask.
She tortured me on a daily basis with her shit and any
way I could make her feel like shit in return, I would take
it. I am not usually a vindictive person but when it comes
to Paul’s devil spawns, it’s game on.

Holly stands about five foot five inches tall, long,
thin jet black hair with dark red highlights. Her dark
brown eyes are the color of bourbon, with no soul behind
them. I can see that time has not been kind to her and
even though she is still very young she looks much older
due to her addiction to tanning beds and her party girl
lifestyle. She is neatly dressed in a pair of tight jeans that
hug her hips, black halter top shirt that hangs a little too
loosely off her chest that never did manage to get much
bigger than exaggerated A cup, and a pair of knockoff
designer heals. She always wears too much make-up and
I could usually tell where she is in the room because of
her cheap perfume stench. Yup, she is a loser magnet
who screams ‘I’m easy’.

“Holly. So glad to see you,” I say as sweetly as I
can muster.
“Emma. Nice to see you, too. It’s been a long
time,” she replies as we embrace it the world’s most
awkward hug. The tension between us is still there and
we both feel it, even after all these years.
The patio door opens and Max comes meandering
in. His eyes meet Holly’s and I can see hers alight with
lust. So predictable! There is a handsome, unknown man
in her presence and this is her opportunity to try and
sink her teeth in him. I debate screwing with her by
planting a huge kiss right on his perfectly sculpted
mouth, but I figure Holly can screw this up all by herself.
Max stands uncomfortably behind Wanda and me as
Holly undresses him with her eyes.
“Wanda. Max. This is Holly Maser, Paul’s
daughter. Holly, these are my friends Wanda and Max.”
Holly extends her hand to Max, completely
ignoring Wanda. I snort under my breath not at all
surprised by her response. Max stands there for a second
longer than what is polite, waiting to see what Wanda is
going to do since Holly completely ignored her. Right on
queue Wanda grabs Holly’s hand and shakes it
introducing herself.
“Holly, I am Wanda Lopez. It’s very nice to meet
you. I have heard a lot about you.”
Wanda defensively moves herself in front of Max,
as to protect him from the she-devil that stands before
her. She releases Holly’s limp hand and turns to Max,
who is frozen in his place. “Max, baby can you go pull up
the car for us.”
Wanda is playing this up for my amusement. She
runs her finger down the side of Max’s face and plants a
soft kiss on his cheek. I am laughing inside because the
look on Holly’s face is priceless. Max caught onto the
game and quickly plays along. Ever the gentleman Max
thanks mother and Paul for or having him before he
excuses himself. After Max is out of eyeshot, Holly gives
us a smile and leaves in the same direction as Max.
“Nice to see you again, Holly.” I yell down the
hall. Wanda is visibly annoyed. Rightfully so. Even
though her and Max were just friends, Holly didn’t know
that and she just followed him out of the house after
Wanda clearly marked her territory. Despite Wanda’s
efforts to claim him right in front of Holly she didn’t care.
I knew this was typical Holly behavior but Wanda is
dumbfounded to silence. I am sure she is contemplating
taking Max on the hood of my car right in front of Holly
just to prove a point.
“Mom, Paul. Thank you for a lovely day. I
appreciate you doing this for me. Paul you look terrific
and I hope that you and mom can come out to visit Mark
and I more often in the city.” Other than the two devil
spawns recent appearance, all in all it was a swell day. I
don’t see why we can’t have more of them if everyone is
at their best.
“Thank you, Emma. We hope you come around
more often, as well,” said Paul with a warm smile and a
slight hug.
“Oh, Emma, please do visit more often. I love
when the whole family can be together. Perhaps we can
have a family dinner soon?” My mother fusses with a
tear in her eye. She looks happy. I have not seen my
mother this happy in, well forever. She was relaxed and
calm which is something I don’t ever remember. It was
touching that after all this time she could truly have the
life she wanted.

While in the driveway
, I thanked everyone again for a
lovely day. Mrs. Cross sends us home with plenty of
leftovers and tells us all to come back soon for lunch. I
hug them all and we climb into my car and head back to
the city. On the way home I can see Max is deep in
thought but I can’t question him with Mark in the car.
We make eye contact a few times through the rearview
mirror and he gives me a slight smile that doesn’t reach
his eyes.

When we arrive back home I ask Max to come
back to the car with me for a second to help me with the
leftovers Mrs. Cross gave us. The atmosphere between
us is weird. I can tell something is bothering him.

“What did you and Glen discuss when I was
gone?” I asked him casually while leaning against the car
trunk.

“Nothing really. I told him I knew what a sick
fuck he is and if he goes anywhere near you he will have
to answer to me.

“You told him you knew? Jesus, Max. What did he
say?”
“He told me to mind my own business…and, he
said there is stuff that you left out.”
“What kind of stuff?” I look at him through
narrow eyes. “How could he possibly defend rape?”
“Emm, don’t worry about it. It’s…nothing.”
Max looked down and kicked the curb with his
shoe while shifting nervously. What the fuck did Glen
say to him? What is he not saying to me?
“Max, he said something to you that bothered
you. I can tell.”
“Emma it’s nothing really. He was just spewing
some nonsense.”
“What kind of nonsense?” I see that Max is
hesitant to tell me. I am not sure what Glen could have
possibly said to him to make him act so weird.
“Emm…” He pauses; I can see he is worried to tell
me.
“Max, spit it out. I have dealt with his crap for
years. I doubt there is anything that can shock me now.”
“He said that it was you who pursued him. He
said that you came to the playground looking for him
that night when he was drunk. He said that once you
turned 16 you were a wild teenager and you would seek
him out. He said that you begged him to have sex with
you the first time and you would put yourself in harms
way on purpose to get his attention because you liked it
and couldn’t get enough of him.” Well shock me he did.
Mission accomplished. What the fuck is he kidding me?
“He. Said. What?” My eyes wide with anger
brewing behind them, my hands clenched in tight fists, I
want to hit something. I wanted to scream. Glen Maser is
one sick son-of-a-bitch but delusional is a whole different
ball game.
“He also said that you are a very troubled girl
looking for attention and that’s why you are making up
lies. He said that you always felt as though you were
better then him and his sister and you would do and say
anything to get attention from Paul and your mom.” I am
seething mad. That piece of garbage tormented me and
destroyed me for almost two years and now he is making
it seem like I am not only a liar but a willing participant.
No way. No more. He is going to get what is coming to
him come hell or high water.
“And what do you think?” It is very important I
know where he stands. If Glen can convince Max this
was my doing then anyone else would be easy. Max
knows me and he knows I am not lying. Hopefully.
“I know you wouldn’t lie about something like
that. I know when you told me and Wanda what
happened to you that night, you were telling us the
truth.” Max looked down at the ground. There is more he
is not saying.
“Do you? It looks as though you have something
else you want to say to me.” He believes him; I can see it
in his face.
“No, Emma…I don’t believe him. I just think that
maybe there are two sides to every story. Maybe he
thought you were playing hard to get or something.” Did
he just say that to me? Playing hard to get. Running away
in fear is as hard to get, as I know.
“Seriously. Max. Playing hard to get and holding
someone down so they can’t move as you rape them, on
more then one occasion, are not the same thing. Whose
side are you on anyway? Is there some guy code that
makes sense to other guys when they are trying to
rationalize raping young girls.”
“I am on your side. Always your side. I didn’t say
I believe him I just…look, it was the same story you told
only his version was more of the flirty stuff you and I do.
You know I try to bed you and you run away from me
and tell me there is no way in hell. Stuff like that.”
“Us messing around isn’t anything like what that
sick bastard did to me. If you believe him or any version
of his sick and twisted justifications then you can just go
to hell. I don’t need friends like you when I have good ol’
Glen to pal around with.” I storm off toward my
apartment and Max catches my wrist to pull me back.
Tears flood my eyes but I won’t let him see me cry. No
one sees me cry.
How could he believe him? He is my best friend.
He saw the way I reacted the night at the club when
some random guy was trying to push me against the wall
and grope me. I freaked out and damn near fainted
before Max and Wanda found me. It was that night I
knew I had to tell them what happened to me. It felt so
good to tell someone else other then my rape counselor.
Having friends support me and understand me is far
better than a random stranger.
“Emma, stop, wait. Don’t be like that. Look, I am
sorry.” I don’t turn around or say a word. I shake him off
then flip him the middle finger as I ascend the front
steps. My anger and frustration are getting the better of
me and my eyes are welling up with tears. Wanda is in
the kitchen and she sees that I am clearly upset and Max
is not with me.
“Emma, what’s wrong?”
“Where is Mark?” I ask her, ignoring her question.
“He’s in your shower. What’s the matter?”
Knowing I am not going to get out of this without an
explanation as to why I am upset, I tell Wanda what Glen
told Max and the argument that I just had with him.
“So Max believes Glen? I’ll kill that little pendejo.
What is he thinking? He knows better than that.” Wanda
is mad, but this is my fight. I don’t want to come between
them. My feelings are hurt but this has to be between
Max and me.
“Look I get you are trying to protect me but I have
to deal with Glen and Max on my own. Glen is my cross
to bear. I just don’t want my brother involved in this
mess.” I give Wanda a big hug and Mark enters the room
wearing a white, fluffy towel.
“Oh God, are you two lesbians? I am not judging,
I just need to know so I know what I am going to walk in
on.”
Wanda and I laugh and pull apart. Mark is a
standing in the kitchen in nothing but a towel. His hair is
still dripping wet and Wanda’s eyes are following the
water droplets drip from his hair down his torso. Mark is
a good looking kid, I guess. He has never had issues with
girls and Wanda is always telling me how handsome he
is. I couldn’t say. He is my brother and the thought of
him…ewww.
“Honey, I am all woman. And, I like men. If you
ever want me to prove it, I could teach you a thing or
two. On second thought, I don’t think you can handle all
this.” Wanda scoffs as she runs her hands down the sides
of her body around to her behind and slaps it.
Mark holds onto his towel a bit tighter and I don’t
even want to think about why. He swallows hard and
watches Wanda’s exaggerated swing of her hips as she
walks past him and out of the kitchen.
“Oh, man. Wanda come help me get the leftovers
out of the car before you seduce my little brother into
being your sex slave.” I laugh and Mark looks at Wanda
in disbelief. He has only ever seen her on her best
behavior. He has never seen the Wanda I know and love.