Break Me

I ascend the stairs then unlock and open the door from the finished basement to the upstairs. My body tenses, but I know I am fine.

I push the door open and walk out, closing it, then locking it behind me. I walk through the house, ready to face the day.

After I warm up breakfast, I go about putting laundry in the washer and decide to dust and vacuum. I know it’s a good day when I want to vacuum. The noise from the machine forces the cats to hide in a different room. The vacuum’s roar fills the silent home, a home in which you could normally hear a pin drop.

On a good day, I can get through the entire downstairs without fear that something or someone will come from behind and grab me.

When the vacuum is put away and I feel as though I have accomplished something, I decide to open the curtains and let the light in. The cats love lying in the window seats in my parents’ room and the living room, allowing the sun to warm them and revitalize them. I used to as well.

Chapter Six

Brock pulls up, thanks to my quick text to him. The step up into his Ford F250 truck is hard, but I breathe through the pain. I need to keep pushing no matter how bad it gets.

My head spins and my vision blurs, making me wonder how bad my injuries are. Then again, I can’t go back inside, so it doesn’t really matter. Mentally, I have to stay aware of what is going on, and if I get worse, I can always look on the Internet for home remedies. Either way, staying in the hospital is not an option. No one can know it was Jason Stanley lying in that hospital bed. No one can know about the fights, especially the one last night.

We pull out of the hospital parking lot, and I can’t help smiling when I see we are behind the angel Lorraine’s car. I have to know more about her, like why she seemed so jumpy when I approached. What is her story?

“Follow that car. I wanna see where she goes.”

Brock smirks. “Damn, Cobra, don’t you think you should get rid of Missy first? She’s liable to claw your eyes out if she finds out you’re on the scout.”

I close my eyes. He is right about that. Only, I don’t think she would claw my eyes out as much as she would put my balls in a vise, yet still try to ride my dick while I slowly lose circulation in my favorite man parts.

“I ended it,” I say on a sigh.

“You ended it, and she didn’t stab you or cut your balls off? When did that happen?”

“Today,” I mutter, taking in Lorraine’s Ford Focus.

It’s not what I would expect for someone in their early twenties like me, and there is no way she is much older than I am. Of course, she has to be obviously college educated in order to be a nurse. She must make a solid income since she drives a newer car.

Brock is rambling on about Missy and what a mess the two of us are. I watch her pull into a decent neighborhood. It’s not a gated community, but it certainly isn’t the ghetto. The houses are cookie-cutter, American dream homes. She pulls into a two-story colonial’s driveway.

Brock starts to follow.

“No,” I say, clipped. “Keep driving.”

Mentally, I take down her address: 415 Hollow Terrace.

“You wanna tell me what’s going on?” Brock asks as he drives loops around the cul-de-sac.

I don’t want to tell him, because I really don’t know. Regardless, he isn’t going to let me off the hook that easily; it’s just not how we are.

“Ever meet someone and feel like you need to know more about them instantly?”

“That’s some of that movie bullshit women believe in.” He laughs at me, which only agitates me further. He looks over at me then; his eyes meet mine and he sees I’m serious. “You got the shit beat out of you. It’s fucking with your head.” He tries to excuse my mindset.

“Yeah, speaking of, you wanna tell me what the hell happened to me?”

He sighs. “Man, I’m sorry. They held me back. I couldn’t get to you.” I see the marks on his neck and the black eye I hadn’t noticed in my haste to leave the hospital. “By the time I did, you were knocked out, swelling and shit. I got you to the hospital, but given what happened, I couldn’t stay and answer questions.”

I understand. If the shoe had been on the other foot, I would have done the same thing. With the league we are in, no way could he explain my injuries. The best thing he could do for me was drop me off and run.