Hey guys! How do you like it so far? Please review, I really value your opinions! :)
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Anna POV
She stopped at a little motel called "Good Nite" and put away her suit case before she left again and headed for St. Andrews Funeral Home. It was a small brick building that looked like it must have once been a house. It was in a nice part of town, just outside the downtown. She rang the doorbell and waited.
A little old man with white hair answered the door, "Hello?"
Anna stuck out her hand, "Hi, I'm Anna Thomas. I'm here about my grandmother, Sarah Parker?"
"Oh, yes. Please, do come in." He opened the door wider, allowing her to step through.
She wrinkled her nose, it smelled strongly of formaldehyde and cigarette smoke.
"This way. We have her in the first viewing room." He pointed to a room at the end of the hall.
She went inside and saw the casket on the other side of the room. She walked over and stood at the edge of it. She almost felt like crying, her grandmother was a beautiful woman. Anna wished she had met her.
"This is Eugene Bourke." She turned around suddenly to see the elderly gentleman gesturing to a short, balding man probably in his mid-forties.
"Oh, hello." She reached out and shook his hand, it was clammy.
"Hello Ms. Thomas. I'm so terribly sorry for your loss. Were you close?"
"Um, no," she blinked a little taken a back, "No, we had never met."
He turned his head to the side, "Oh, how unfortunate."
"Yes it was."
"Well, there are somethings concerning the will and finances that I would like to talk to you about." He took an uncomfortable step closer to her.
Anna frowned, "My lawyer in New York already discussed the will with me."
"There are somethings that we do need to…smooth over," His eyes roamed her, she pulled her jacket closer around her.
"Well, I'm staying at the "Good Nite Motel." We can talk about it over at the diner there. Is that fine by you?" She asked stiffening her spine.
"Yes, that sounds perfect."
"Fine then." She turned her back to him and her attention to the old man, "When will the viewing be?"
"Tuesday night and all day Wednesday. We have the eulogy scheduled for Wednesday night and the Funeral is scheduled for Thursday. We have notified to community and there should be a fair turn out from her church and Reverend Patrick said that he would speak during the eulogy."
Anna nodded, "Thank you. I'll be back Tuesday afternoon."
"Alright Ms. Thomas. Have a nice rest of the day."
She frowned a little, "Same to you."
He showed her to the door and bid her goodbye. She noticed the sun was setting over the houses and she checked her watch, about 5:30pm. She crossed the street and began making her way back to the motel.
Many of the stores that she passed were closing for the night, it being a Sunday and all, she was surprised that some of them were even open. When she got back to her room, she took off her jacket, dress, and shoes so she could go take a shower.
The water was taking a long time to heat up so she stood on the tile in the bathroom and caught a glance of herself in the mirror. She turned and sighed. She had put on a little weight recently, something like 10lbs. Maybe it was the stress from work or the fact she had been eating really cheap TV dinners lately. She felt like she had put it all on in her face though, ugh.
She was surprised that guy Darry had even agreed to have dinner with her. A smile broke across her face. He was an incredible guy, he cared about his family, had a steady job. And those eyes, icy steel blue. But there was something hidden behind them and she was curious. The shower was finally hot enough and she hopped in. The water soothed her tired muscles, but she shivered in spite of herself. She couldn't stop thinking about him. He seemed so serious and he looked maybe 26, 27 years old, but he had to be younger than that. She sighed, responsibilities change people.
She finished her shower and changed into a tan pair of pants and a blue, paisley button down shirt. She checked her watch and noticed it was 6:30. She slipped on her shoes and grabbed her purse, she needed to meet with Mr. Bourke about some arraignments. She was about to leave when a nock sounded at her door. She frowned and looked through the peep hole, it was Eugene Bourke himself.
"Hello, Mrs. Thomas." He shook her hand with his clammy one.
"Mr. Bourke."
He looked behind her at her room, "Would you mind if I came in for a minute?"
Anna crossed her arms, "I would rather you didn't. I was just headed out to the diner. We can talk there."
"Sounds fine to me."
She grabbed her purse and locked the door behind her as she was leaving.
He followed her though the parking lot, but when they were making their way past the dumpsters towards to diner, he grabbed her with surprising force and pulled her to the ground. She hit the side of her head on the asphalt and he then threw his body weight on her.
She let out a scream as he did so.
"Get off me!" She cried.
He smirked at her and tried to kiss her forcefully. She bit down on his lip, hard, drawing blood and a shout from him.
"Why you-!" He smacked her and tried to pull at her shirt buttons.
Oh, God, I'm going to die! She thought to herself, she struggled against him pushing at his arms and kicked her legs wildly.
"Stop!" He kneed her in her side, causing her to cry out.
A light from one of the other rooms came on and a door opened, "Hey!" A man's voice shouted.
"Help me!" She screamed.
He hit her once more for good measure then jumped up and ran off into the dark.
She lay their dazed on the ground, weeping. Footsteps quickly approached and a figure knelt down beside her.
"You okay?" a man asked. He took her hand to help her sit up.
"No, *hiccup*" Anna cried. He helped her stand up on shaky feet.
A blond woman in a tight nightgown ran up, "Oh, dear, are you alright?"
Anna could only shake her head.
"Can we call anyone for you?" the man asked her.
I don't have anyone. Well, maybe… She pointed at her purse and gasped out between tears, "Please,*hiccup*, my purse, *hiccup*." The blond woman went and grabbed it, handing it to her.
Anna opened it and pulled her phone book out with shaking hands. She opened the book and pointed to a name.
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Darry's POV
He sat at the table and looked at the clock. It was 7 now and she still hadn't called. Maybe she's changed her mind. He sighed and picked at the food on the table.
Ponyboy frowned at Darry, "Are you alright? You haven't eaten anything."
He looked up, "I'm fine. Just not hungry."
Ponyboy looked down at the table and picked at the corner of it where the paint was chipping, "Dar, I'm upset about Soda being gone to you know."
He looked at his kid brother, "Yeah, I know."
Darry was about to add something else when the phone rang, maybe it's her.
"I'll get it." He hopped up and quickly grabbed the phone.
"Hello?" Please be Anna, please be Anna.
"Hey Darry, it's Two-bit." Damn it!
"What is it?"
He heard soft voices in the background, "Um, you don't happen to know anyone by the name of Anna Thomas do you?"
He nearly dropped the phone, "What? How do you know her?"
"Well, I took Kathy up to the Good Nite motel for her birthday and you we were getting ready to-."
"Please spare me the details Two-bit, how do you know Anna?"
By now Ponyboy had joined Darry by the phone and gave him a quizzical look.
"Well, I was coming out of the bathroom when I heard screaming in the parking lot. So I ran outside and she was there in the parking lot over by the dumpsters with some guy on top of her."
Darry felt his blood run cold, God no, please no. "Is she alright?"
"What happened?" Ponyboy whispered.
"Yeah, I guess. She pretty banged up though. I asked her if I could call anyone for her and she gave your number. Why'd she give me your number?"
"She's a friend. Did you call the police?"
"No, I-."
"Well why the hell not!" He shouted into the phone, Ponyboy took a step back.
"She asked me not to okay! I'm not even sure if she knew who the guy was or not!"
"Are you still at the motel?"
"Yeah, room 8A."
"I'll be there in 10 minutes." Darry slammed the phone into the receiver and grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair.
"What's going on?" Ponyboy asked.
"Something happened to Anna. Two-bit found her and she asked him to call me." Darry grabbed his boots and put them on.
"Can I come?"
"No, you have homework. I'll be home soon. Do the dishes okay?"
"Fine." He huffed, but Darry was already out the door and had tearing down the driveway.
He made it to the motel in 6 minutes. He parked, threw the keys onto the passenger seat and ran up to room number 8A and knocked on the door.
"Whooooo iiiiiis iiiiiit?" He heard someone ask in a sing song voice.
"Keith Matthews, open the door right now!"
The door swung open and Two-bit stared at him with a face of frustration, "Well, hello to you to. To be honest, I don't know why I even try?"
"Where is she?"
Two-bit stepped aside so Darry could come in. What he saw almost broke his heart. Anna lay on one of the mattresses, asleep with a blanket pulled over her frame. She had a cut across her temple and a bruise on her fair skinned cheek.
"She was awake a few minutes ago. Poor thing was so worked up." Kathy said, pulling a cigarette out of a pack before lighting it.
Darry walked over to the edge of the bed where she was and knelt next to her, "Anna? Hey Anna?" He reached out and gently moved a piece of hair from her face. She looked so peaceful and he hated to wake her.
Her deep brown eyes fluttered open and she blinked, "Darry?"
"Hey."
"Hi. What are you doing here?"
He stopped a second and looked at Two-bit who shrugged, "You told my friend here to call me."
A frown broke across her face, "I did?"
He nodded.
Suddenly, she paled and looked around the room, "Oh. Oh God!" She sat straight up in bed and grabbed her head, "Oh, God!" She began to sniffle.
"Hey, you're okay. You're safe." Darry sat on the edge of the bed and grabbed a handful of tissues.
She snatched them from him and wept softly.
Darry looked at Two-bit and Kathy desperately. Two-bit held up his hands and Kathy tried to hand Anna a cigarette.
"No thank you. I don't smoke." Came Anna's reply.
"Anna do you have anywhere to go?" Darry asked taking the wet tissues from her.
She shook her head, wiping her eyes.
"Why don't you stay with me till you get things sorted out." He offered.
She snapped up her head, "Oh, no. I couldn't put you out."
"Anna, you wouldn't put me out. Besides, maybe then you can get some rest and contact the police."
But she fervently shook her head, "No police. None. Okay?"
He put up his hands in defeat, "Alright. No police. Just stay with us for a few days until you can find somewhere else to stay."
She sat quietly for a few minutes, appearing to contemplate what he was saying before looking up at him, "Okay."
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Hmmmmmmm...What will happen next?
So, I curious, what do you the readers think that her grandmother left her in her will? And why do you guys think that Anna doesn't want the police involved?
