The Loverboy (29 page)

already left for work and Kim told her about her adventure
staking out her mom‟s apartment. It was so weird and she had
never expected this but then again she hadn‟t expected anything
that had happened in the last few years. It had been a crazy few
years. She had gone from a gray mouse in high school to meeting
what she thought was the man of her dreams and before she knew
it she was an escaped international fugitive. Not exactly what
she had planned with her life. Then again she never had really
planned for her life. She didn‟t even know what she wanted to go
to college for.
Annie looked at her and said with a worried face “What if
he picks her up and they leave?”
Kim froze and panic flushed across her face. She had never
anticipated that. Not everything would go exactly how it went
with her. If she knew anything about how these „Loverboys‟
operated it was that they took advantage of anything and
everything.
“What am I going to do then?” she asked in a panicked
voice.
“You need a car, and you can‟t sit out in the open. I am
sure if you do this a few more nights people will start getting
suspicious and maybe even call the police on you” Annie
responded.
Kim nodded in agreement. People that had walked past had
been giving her a suspicious look. What was this hooded stranger
doing sitting there for hours at night? And what was she going
to do when it rained? That would be even more suspicious.
“I can take the afternoon off and go look for some cars
with you” Annie offered.
“I can‟t drive” said Kim a little worried.
“I‟ll teach you” Annie offered.
Annie left for work and Kim headed for the grocery store
and picked up groceries for Annie‟s place. It was the least she
could do after all that Annie had done for her.
At the grocery store Kim thought back to how annoying she
had thought it was that she often had to do the grocery shopping
when she still lived with her mom and Ally and how fortunate she
felt now about how she was free to do this. It is funny how
events in your life make you view simple things so differently
she thought. She only had a few items on her list but she took
over an hour in the store savoring every minute of the chore. At
the register she paid cash and picked up some newspapers. Then
she walked back to Annie‟s place. The bags where heavier than
anticipated but she didn‟t mind. About halfway there she sat
down on a bench and just watched city traffic cruise by for a
minute or two.
When she got back she put all the groceries away and read
the paper. She moved to the classified section and began
browsing through the used cars. There were a lot of nice cars
there and she had enough cash to buy any of them now. But a nice
Mustang or Camaro would only attract attention and that was the
last thing she wanted. She looked over the cars that were being
sold by private parties as a dealership would require paperwork
transferring the car into her name. If she bought from a private
party she could just take the car and promise to transfer it but
never actually do so. She called on a few cars, plain cheap ones
that would not be noticed in her old neighborhood but most of
the time they had already been sold.
Her eye fell on an ad for a ten year old black Honda Civic.
It was an automatic and had a whole bunch of upgrades that
indicated it have been owned by some kid that was a wannabe
street racer. However amongst all the upgrades that she thought
were ridiculous, like decals, a special exhaust and under car
neon lights, was a very useful option; dark tinted windows. This
would keep her unnoticed even though it risked drawing attention
from the police but she would have to risk that. She called the
number and was informed that they were having someone come to
look at it at one pm but if they didn‟t buy it then she could
come look at it. She left her cell number and waited. Annie came
home at one and Kim told her about her car hunting. She
explained she was waiting for a call back on a Honda Civic.
“Have you considered a Hybrid?” Annie asked.
“No, I have never seen any of those on our street. If you
can afford one of those you probably live somewhere else” Kim
explained.
The girls laughed and then the cell phone rang. Kim
answered and the man on the other end of the line informed her
that the car was still available and if she wanted they could
come take a look at it. Kim told him they would be right over.
She took six thousand, which had been the asking price, from the
lining of the backpack and they headed out. The car was located
in a suburb, New Berlin, and it took them twenty minutes to find
the place. The Honda was in the driveway and clearly had seen
better days. It was black with quite a bit of rust and red flame
decals on the side. They walked around it and almost immediately
a man walked out of the house and approached them.
The man was in his late forties and clearly not happy about
having to get rid of the car. It couldn‟t be because he was
attached to the thing. At one time it might have been a nice
little car. Then the man‟s son got his hands on it with great
intentions to make it the hottest custom in the area. He had
clearly failed miserably. Now the son was in college and needed
money so he asked his dad to sell the car for six thousand. The
man clearly did not think the car was worth it and had listed it
in the paper and had showed it to several people whom were not
interested. Most wouldn‟t have wanted it for free. Annie took
Kim aside and told her they should go look for something
different.
Kim shook her head. “This is perfect” she said to Annie who
gave her a look of bewilderment.
The girls walked back toward the man and the car and the
man was already apologizing about the condition of the car and
he felt bad about making them come all this way for nothing.
“I‟m going to tell my son he needs to sell it himself or
take it to the junkyard” he vowed.
“I‟ll take it” Kim said.
The man‟s jaw just about hit the floor.
“Are you serious?” he asked in disbelief. Kim nodded and
pulled the six thousand dollars from her pocket and handed it to
the man. He still looked in shock.
“H…H…Here is the title” he stammered handing her a piece of
paper.
“Thank you” she said with a smile, “Do you mind if we leave
the other car here for a little bit?”
The man shook his head looking at the money in his hand
still dazed from the shock. They left in the Honda with Annie
driving and headed for an abandoned parking lot. There Annie
showed Kim how to drive. It was a good thing she bought an
automatic Kim thought. They practiced the whole afternoon and by
dusk Kim was getting pretty good. The first hour they had stayed
in the parking lot, then they had gone on the road. At one point
they passed a police car and both of them stopped breathing for
a minute and started laughing when they noticed the police car
wasn‟t coming after them.
They picked Annie‟s car up and drove to Kim‟s old apartment
and parked the Honda there. Then they went back to Annie‟s and
had dinner. After dinner Kim put on her hooded sweatshirt and
put the gun in its pocket. Then she left. Annie told her to be
careful and said that maybe Matt should go with. Kim declined.
This was her fight and she didn‟t want anyone else getting hurt.
She went to the Honda and got inside. The windows were not
tinted that darkly but with the darkness of the night it was
impossible to see inside the car.
She sat there for an hour when a white BMW pulled up and
parked around the corner. A minute later Ally‟s boyfriend came
from around the corner and entered the apartment. He was there
for almost two hours, then he left. Luckily he was alone Kim
thought. Fifteen minutes later her mom came home and Kim just
stared at her. How she wished she could hug her but that had to
wait. Nobody could know she was there if she wanted to save
Ally. She sat in the car for another twenty minutes crying. Then
she parked the car a little further away thinking that moving it
would keep it from being noticed. She went back to Annie‟s and
went straight to sleep.
The next few days were uneventful. Every day she staked out
the apartment and every day she moved the car. Some days Ally‟s
boyfriend came over when her mom was gone and sometimes they
went out. Kim would follow at a safe distance praying she
wouldn‟t be pulled over. Friday was pretty similar with the
exception that the white BMW was already there when Kim arrived
at six pm. It was quiet and nothing happened for another two and
half hours. Finally the door opened and Ally came out wearing a
short skirt and tank top. Kim stopped breathing for a moment and
waited for Ally‟s boyfriend to follow her, he didn‟t.
Kim got out of the car and pulled the hood over her head.
She followed Ally more than a block away. Ally was heading for
the grocery store just like Kim had been and Kim felt her
emotions take over with the strange sense of all the memories
coming back. She fought it off, “not now” she thought. Half way
to the store some men hollered at Ally and Kim clenched the
handle of the gun in the pouch of her sweater. The men that had
been hollering at Ally backed off and let Ally pass. Kim had
expected this; everything was going just like it had with her
but she was still nervous that things would happen differently
and she wouldn‟t be ready.
Kim hid behind a van and considered calling the police for
a minute. She could call about a crime in progress and they
would come out but it had to be precise. Too early and they
would be gone before things went down. Too late and…she couldn‟t
think about that. She looked out from behind the van and noticed
that the guys had positioned themselves by the alley after Ally
passed by. They were waiting there and hiding in the alley. Kim
quickly ran around the block and entered the alley from the
other side. Now all the guys were hiding behind containers in
the alley except for the main guy. She recognized some of them
as having taken part in her rape and she shivered. It was hard
to keep her emotions in check especially here in this alley with
these men.
Ten minutes later one of the guys stepped out of the alley
and she noticed that he had stepped right in front of Ally. Ally
stepped around him and tried to ignore him but not two seconds
later the second man stepped behind Ally and grabbed her and the
rest joined them and dragged Ally into the alley. Ally fought
hard but they surrounded and overpowered her. There were too
many and Kim leapt up and ran toward them. They were so focused
on Ally that they didn‟t notice her.
She pointed the gun at them and yelled “Stop, give me your
wallets!!!!”
As soon as she had said it she realized how lame it
sounded. She wanted to make it look like a robbery. She didn‟t
want anyone to know it was her and why she was doing it so a
robbery was the next best thing. The men looked at her in
surprise and paused for a moment.
“Wallets!!! Hurry up!!!” she yelled again.
Most of then let go of Ally while the others loosened their
grip on her as they focused their attention on the hooded
robber. Ally immediately used the opportunity and ripped herself
free and ran off.
Two of the men moved to chase her but Kim yelled “Let her
go!!!” and the men froze in their tracks.
Clearly the men were trying to size her up. She was smaller
than them and they were probably wondering if she could back up
any threat. Before anyone could reach for their wallets the main
guy stepped forward.
He challenged her and said “I don‟t think you will shoot”
as he stepped forward.
She aimed the gun for his head and he stopped for a second.
Then he moved in again and she was torn about what to do. She
could try and run but they would surely catch her. She figured
she didn‟t have a choice and squeezed the trigger and noticed
herself saying a little prayer while firing. The gun went off
and to Kim‟s relief it didn‟t backfire. A loud bang was followed
by a scream and the main guy went down. He was clutching his
knee which was bleeding heavily. He swore and Kim lifted the gun
and aimed at the next guy.
“Wallets!!!” she yelled again and the men produced their
wallets and threw them on the ground in front of her.
She picked them up not taking her eyes from the men and
keeping the gun aimed in their direction. After she picked them
up she said a quick thank you and ran out the alley. The men
were thinking of pursuing but thought better of it after looking
at their friend squirming in pain on the ground.
Chapter 35:
Kim returned to the apartment and after ten minutes Ally‟s
boyfriend came out, alone to her relief. He left and it was
clear that he was not in a good mood. Kim considered going in
and being there for her sister but she knew she couldn‟t help
the situation. Ally needed her mom and not the return of a long
lost sister stealing her mom‟s attention. Instead she followed
the white BMW to see where it was going.
His driving was erratic and clearly the driving of someone
who was upset. Kim had a hard time keeping up and was terrified
she would hit someone or something. She didn‟t and to her relief
the white BMW stopped at a house not too far from the apartment.
In front of the house was a silver Porsche convertible and it
reminded her of Jake‟s old car, but this one was newer. Then
again it had been over three years so he could have gotten a new
one. As soon as Ally‟s boyfriend pulled up to the house, the
door opened and out came a man. It was no surprise that it was
Jake. She hadn‟t seen him since Mexico and he still looked the
same, just a little older. She guessed he looked too old now to
recruit girls so he had Ally‟s boyfriend do that for him. Jake
jogged over to the white BMW and got in and the BMW peeled out
of there. She waited a few minutes and then drove back to the
apartment and parked the Honda. From there she walked back to
Annie‟s.
It was still early and Annie and Matt were still up. Kim
told the whole story and Annie and Matt were excited that she
had been successful in preventing the rape but Kim was not.
“What‟s wrong?” Annie asked.