Authors: vkdemon and karomeled
Warnings for this part: sexism, graphic violence, attempted non-con, discussion of rape culture
Dave shoved the keys into his pocket and said goodbye to Kyle. His roommate was blessed with a lot of homework so he was going to skip the party. He got to the point where he actually envied writing effing essays and presentations. Anything he could use as an excuse to stay put.
After everything that happened with Kurt the last thing he wanted was to go out. He wasn't in the mood to pretend to have fun with his mates on normal days but after Kurt and he broke things off... He couldn't imagine enjoying himself ever again.
He took the first day for himself, ditching his classes and spending the day face down in bed being miserable. He swung between anger and self-loathing enough times to make himself sick. On the second day he had a test that he probably failed. He'd spent the day wondering if Kurt had used the gun on some unsuspecting client who tried to get more than he payed for. He spent the night wondering why Kurt didn't use it on him. On the third day he showered at the insistence of his roommate. On the fifth he answered Azimio's sixth voice message asking where he was. Another two days of avoiding Azimio's party plans and he was caught.
So Saturday evening Dave found himself entering a dorm of a guy he barely knew to celebrate his birthday. He stiffed a sigh and slipped the mask on.
The party was already started, the beer flowing freely. Azimio saw Dave as he came in and pressed a flat tire into his hand. "Big D. Almost thought you were going to try to dodge this. Again."
"Nah, I would never", Dave stretched his lips in a smile. "What's up, man? I see the party's on."
"There's a big surprise comin' soon. I almost thought you were going to miss it. Greg only turns 21 once and I got some special treats hooked up for him."
"Cool", Dave took a gulp of a beer to cut the conversation. Shit, how little he exactly had to talk with his best friend recently? No matter how much he tried, all his thoughts were tracing back to Kurt-related topics, and that obviously could not be discussed.
Azimio flopped back on one of the ratty frat house couched, tugging Dave down beside. "So that bitch Cheryl didn't work out." Azimio told Dave everything, about every girl, about classes, about home. He never noticed most of his friendship was him talking and Dave listening.
"Dude, admit you just scared her off with your ugly mug." Dave sat beside him, smiling and happy to get on with the mutual insult. Some resemblance of their former acquaintance at least.
"I am beauuuutiful and you know it. Nah, she was all up on me for not wanting to be exclusive. I was all 'bitch, I ain't showed you to my momma. Why you think we exclusive after a few bangs and Denny's once?' Seriously, man."
Dave pretended to choke on his beer. "You mean there was another girl desperate enough to let you bang her?" It earned him a shoulder punch with a grin. Dave shoved him back, but then got serious. "You know, you should talk it through first, not cheat on her."
"Never said we were exclusive. Not my fault she assumed."
"I'm just saying, man. Not that I want to preach to you or whatever. But not everyone has a chance to be in a relationship when they want to. It's kind of a big deal, dontcha think?"
"Yeah, maybe." Azimio's sighed, his voice deeper as he turned to honestly consider it. "I know one day some chick is going to wrap me around her finger and boom, that's life. Hen-pecked forever... Just like my daddy."
"Can't wait to see it." Dave grinned. "Maybe if I'm happy, you'll get one determined enough that she'll put you in a cute little apron so I'll have to snatch a ton of photos for facebook."
"I hate you, man."
Dave cackled loudly and took a sip of his beer. He looked around the room and the gathering of people in the middle caught his attention. "Hey, what's up with that? Someone's giving out free ipods or what?"
"Shit, it's show time. Come on, man." He whistled and tugged on Dave to get in the crowd. A large box with a huge bow on the top was labeled for the birthday boy. The frat brother was grinning and holding the side ready to pull it. as soon as the top fell two thin heavily make-uped girls bounced up. One was in a cleavage version of the school's cheer team. The other was in cut off jean shorts and a low slung top.
Dave was slightly taken aback by the surprise. He heard of it, of course. Everyone who watched at least one college comedy must have. The men around him started whistling and whooping and it send him an unpleasant flashback of a dim, cheap club with a blue-eyed passing-for-female stripper. "That's the gift you talked about?"
"Yep. He's been talking about wanting to have a lap dance, but he was too young for the club. And well the second one is to dance for the rest of us."
Dave cleared his throat. "Is this really necessary?"
"Course man. Look how happy he is." He motioned to where Greg's hand was coming down playfully on the stripper's rear end.
"Dude! He shouldn't just grope her like that." Dave grimaced. "Didn't they send any bouncers with those girls?"
"Tell me you don't want to tap that fine piece of ass." Azimio looked away from the show to give a Look. "Nah? Hell should I know man."
Dave gritted his teeth. "She's not just a piece of ass for you to tap." He drank from the bottle. He wanted to intervene, punch the guy for getting handsy and send those girls off. But, fuck, he was a guest here and his friend was right beside, eyeing him suspiciously. Dave watched the performance in silence, integrity compromised for a beer. He was just one of the guys. Being one of the guys meant you weren't supposed to mention when girls got called whores and treated like lesser beings. One of the guys would never call out a friend on throwing gay slurs around like party favors. He'd done it for years, just blended in for the sake of reputation. For the right to sit here and watch girls get used while to had a drink with Azimio. He threw the empty bottle under the table, making sure to bump shoulder into his friend.
Azimio let Dave sit in peace for a few minutes as the girls showed their attention to the birthday boy. They rubbed against him, writhing to the pulsing beat of the music. To Dave's horror Azimio's meaty hand was crooking a finger at the daisy-duke themed woman. She trotted over, tits first, right into Azimio's grinning face.
"Nah, nah, sexy. My boy Dave here is a little down." He handed over a five that she deftly slipped into her bra before sliding toward Dave.
"Don't be sad, big boy." She purred, unknowingly mimicking the nickname Kurt had used for him.
Dave's eyes swept over jutted hips and curvy breast. "Take a break, Beautiful. 'm not interested," he said leaning back on the couch.
She shrugged and moved on to the next grouping of guys. Azimio stared at the Dave and then at the hot ass swishing away and then back at Dave. "Dude, why don't you just jump right out of the closet and throw a fucking pride parade with a rainbow boa while you're at it. Fuck, dude!"
"What!" Dave growled turning to him. "I never asked you to get her. You're going to decide now who I mess around with?"
"Hot chick. Willing to get on you. I don't get your problem. You know I'm starting to think you're hiding something big and probably rainbow-striped from me. Seriously how can you not want to touch that ass?"
"She's a prostitute," Dave lowered his voice so it was barely audible in the room filled with music. "That not enough of a reason for you?"
"Hot chick. It's just like live porn, alright? If you want to get some girl to be take home to momma material then I can tell her to play up the innocence." Azimio tried to help...
"Fuck, why are you such a jerkhole tonight." Dave crossed his arms. "I'm not gonna just use some random to get off."
"The fuck is your problem, dude?" Azimio took a swig of his beer. "She's getting paid for it. Ain't like she's being forced."
"Oh, right!" Dave spat. "Because obviously money makes it okay and not grosser. And what the fuck do you know about her? Maybe she can't do different!"
"Woah! Dave, chill!" Azimio hissed and tried to get Dave to lower his voice. "I don't know the girl from Eve. All I know is she gives sex for money."
"That's what I'm talking about!" Dave huffed and and tugged a new bottle from pack, tearing the bag in the process. "You're writing into this whole business based on handing people around."
"Dude... What happened man? I didn't see you caring when you got the same."
Dave's lips thinned. He shook his head. Azimio shouldn't see him like this. He shouldn't have exploded because of a nameless hooker he would never see again.
"I didn't care then but I do now. Whatever." He said dismissing the topic.
"Okay..." Azimio let it drop but he watched Dave out of the corner of his eye the rest of the night.
Two days later a plate from Panda Express with Mongolian Beef and a Coke was slid in-front of him and Azimio sat down with his own food on the other side of the booth.
"So, what's her name?"
Dave tensed immediately, scrambling to remember what chick he was supposed to be banging recently. "What...? I..." He reached out for the food just to have something to do with his hands. "Who's name?"
"The hooker you're sweet on."
Dave froze, casted an glance at Azimio and quickly adverted his eyes when he met Azimio's. He chuckled before sinking teeth into a piece of meat. "You're one hilarious fucker. What brought this on?" He asked wiping lips with top of his hand.
"It might have been your femi-nazi rant in the middle of a kegger. Look Dave you want to jump into women's rights and rape culture go ahead but the last fucking place you do it is a frat party. That's a great way to get bashed." Azimio calmly bit into his rice as if he hadn't just used an anti-feminism slut and proper feminist terminology all in the same breath.
Dave gaped at him, not sure how to take this. "Do I need to have hots for a whore to be grossed out with the whole deal?" He said finally.
"No. But you gotta have some reason for the sudden turn around. People don't change so fast. Takes time."
Dave sat silent for a moment. "I don't think I changed for the better."
"No? How'd you change then? Other than losing your sense of timing. Seriously there's a place to talk about that crap and it ain't at a party. If you had a problem like that I wouldn't have got you to come. I was trying to save your rep."
Dave snorted and pushed the plate away. "That's it? You're just being a good Christian boy and looking out for your friends like your momma told you too?"
"Something like that. Learned early on you don't fit in, you dead meat. Plenty can go wrong in Lima if you're black and not one of the guys." It was rare for Azimio to get serious. He was usually all jokes and shit eating grins. "It's about survival. You know this by now."
Dave cleared his throat, suddenly feeling like an idiot. Of course Azimio was just trying to have his back. In his own, fucked up way, but still. He wiped the sweat off palms of his hands on his jeans, feeling the food he just consumed settling heavy on his stomach.
"Elizabeth."
Azimio's eyes went wide and his typical grin showed right back up. "That's the girl I bought you? She that good?"
Dave dragged a hand over his face. He could feel his cheeks burning. "Yeah. S...she's good."
"Good enough you went back... plenty. You want to talk about it?"
He scoffed. "Talk about what? Thanks, I don't need to have a freaking therapist in you. I'm just saying, have some fucking respect for girls like those."
"No, I mean it man. You're upset. Tell your bro. We've always told eachother everything."
Dave took a deep breath. He searched for safe bits of information he could divulge. There was so little to work with. "She's working in that club and doesn't have any chance to change that. Nothing much to say, really."
"So what? She's poor. She could just work a day job if she didn't like the pole. Or is she crying the blues trying to get extra money out of you?"
Dave's face scrunched in a grimace. Kurt needed to be talked into getting effing bagels, he was no gold-digger. Way too proud for his own good. Dave felt like slapping the doubtful look off Azimio's face.
"It's not that simple, okay?" He said. "Not many places will take someone without even a High School diploma."
"Oh." Now Azimio never considered someone not making it through High School. Just seemed basic. "That's not smart. Why the hell didn't she get it? It's not that hard."
Dave rolled his eyes over the man's ignorance. "Well she just didn't, okay? She run away from home and that's it. Not everyone has parents who spoiled the shit out of them as yours."
"Jesus, don't bite my head off. I'm tryin' here."
"Shit. I'm sorry," Dave mumbled. "See, this is fucking exhausting. I don't mean to snap at you every two minutes, man."
"Devil's advocate always gets the shit. We good." Azimio gave him that grin that said Dave was not catching on to the game fast enough. "So she ran away, and what, just thought stripping was a good option? Why didn't they do a missing persons? Or fostercare."
"They did. They looked for her, just didn't find her in time."
"You sound like you know them. So why didn't she go back? Her papa alcoholic? Or he hit her? You know I can get the police up on this if you're trying to track her relatives down."
Dave shrugged and swept his hand though the air as if waving the ideas away. "Drop it, man. She didn't and that's all you have to know."
"Nope. Who is she?"
"A stripper and a prostitute," Dave said it harsher than he meant to. He felt the perspiration damping his skin. Fuck. Fuckfuckfuck. He shouldn't have said a word. He shouldn't have fucking waded so far into this. But not being able to share with anyone, not even his friend, was getting to him more than he previously realized. Damn it.
"I didn't know her before that night at club. You want to be any help? Stop making me feel like I'm in a fucking interrogation."
"Dave." Azimio's voice was soft. "Just level with me. She underage or something?"
"She's not," Dave sighed. "It doesn't make her any less unavailable for me."
"Wait... You got turned down by a whore?" Azimio was trying really hard not to laugh.
Dave sent him a hard look, his hand still itching to do that punch Az had coming. "So what if I did?"
"Must have been one tough gal." He smirked.
"Whatever. I worry about her, but there's nothing I can do. Not really. So, there. You wanted an update on my life."
"So she's poor, has it hard and you're following her around like a puppy because she was your first? Damn, man, she must be annoyed with you all the time."
"She wasn't my first! I had plenty of chicks before her!" Dave snarled. Yeah, he should just out himself, so the lovely dinner could really go down into history. "And I'm try not to follow. Too much," he added as an afterthought.
"Bullshit. You ain't had no one. If you did I woulda been the first to know. "
"Like I never told you about them. Come on. I trust you with this fucking thing that doesn't let me sleep at nights you get all caught up on how many pussies I've seen?"
"You don't sleep over this? Damn, man." Azimio wasn't budging. "Why do you care so much?"
Dave look down on his hands, folded on the table, and wondered if he'll ever forget the feel of Kurt's skin under his fingertips. He hoped not. "I think I love her," he said quietly.
"Well shit..." Azimio rubbed a hand over his eyes. His best friend in the world was in love with just about the worst option for his white bread upper middle class family to accept. At least it was a girl. Azimio nodded and started trying to form a plan."Well... shit. So you try to help her out yet?"
"She doesn't want it. She thinks it's charity. Not much I can do, really." He decided to skip the part about a gun because... well. He didn't trust Azimio enough.
"Fuck that, man. If you really love her you gotta get her out. Isn't there a woman's shelter or something off campus?" Azimio had abandoned his food and tugged out of his backpack a separate binder from the rest of his classes with the innocuous words 'School Shit' written on the front. "I think she gave us a pamphlet," he said distractedly.
Dave looked surprised, at the colorful folders and stacks of notes. "Did you steal it from some freshman? I know you take hazing seriously, but it's better to give it back by the end of the day."
"No, man, I'm taking this class. If you tell anyone I will tell them all you wet the bed until you were 11." He let out a victory cry. "Finally! Okay here. This is about women's shelters and their services... Why are you looking at me like my head just spun round and I started puking pea soup?"
Dave let out a breathy laugh. "You might as well. What kind of class even is this?" He grinned. "Dude, no one will believe you when I'm done talking about how Big Z plays a volunteer in homeless centers."
"Dude, I do not volunteer... at homeless shelters. It's part of the class. I go to schools and help out with the afterschool program. Shut up. It's a requirement of the class."
Dave cackled. "So you're just boring kids to death in schools. Sure, that's way better."
"No, I'm mentoring kids on how not to be rapists and racists." Azimio flipped Dave off. "It's a good class so can you shut it while I try to educate your fat, love struck ass?"
Dave's grin slipped from his face. "Yeah. Teach me."
"Okay, so there are free shelters specifically for women. They can stay there while they are looking for jobs. They prioritize beds for mothers so if she's got kids that helps her there. You know if she's a legal resident? There's a few placed that help with citizenship applications and this one..." Azimio produced a long green flyer. "Is assistance to pay for a GED program so she can get her diploma. And I know there's more but this is what the teacher talked about. I can ask for more."
"Oh." Dave looked at the papers in astonishment. "So people can just go there and live? For free?" He took one of the flyers in his hand. "I may check it out, thanks. Doubtful she'll agree for that though."
"I think so. I don't know enough about how it functions to tell you. But I can get you in contact with Mia. She's all up on this."
"That's your teacher?" Dave compared the rules listed on the flyer with other one.
"Look, my girl... or.. future girl... or girl who is way out of my league right now, whatever. She's a women's studies major. She was always yacking about shelters and volunteering. I'll ask her if she knows what to do."
Dave smiled. "So I'm not the only love-struck fatass in here." He teased. "Sure. You do that. And... thank you. Really."
"Bros protectin' their hos."
Kurt's life had shifted.
The weight was the worst part. It was heavy, pulling on his shoulder as if the hunk of metal held all of the fears dragged Kurt along the ground. Kurt could divide up his fears before, sprinkle them across his skin so each bit of him only had to carry a fraction of their weight. The fear of being jumped on the street used to settle on his bobbing throat, the fear of being beat on his fingers clenching around his bag strap, the too light wallet to cover all utilities pressed on the back of his tired eyelids. The fear of being once again forced to take a man into him with a fake smile pressed into his brain to jump back out with shaking hands at the worse time.
The gun in his bag took all of those fears and made them one living terror.
Kurt slid his hand into the bag, pale fingers running over the hard steel, remind himself of its existence as he crossed the street at the light.
He didn't notice a silhouette standing up from a bench he passed. The man inhaled the cigarette and a spark on the end of it glittered briefly in the dark evening. The filterless Bond was thrown on the pavement and stepped on when the man followed after Kurt. The moment later, someone else joined the person, straightening from leaning on the wall of a grocery shop. He followed Kurt until the crossword of 65th and 67th streets, until they were couple blocks and one pathway through a park from his building. In the deserted obscurity of the groove more people waited.
"Hello there, again," Eddie walked on the path before him.
Kurt's hand curled around the steel, pulse jumping. Eddie, leader of the gang that ruled these blocks stopped his forward motion. Jack, with the smirk that Kurt remembered all too well, hovered behind him as he turned his head to find an escape. He found his path back to the main streets blocked. Shit. Kurt turned back to face Eddie, his spine straight.
"Out of jail again, Eddie? I thought they wanted to keep you for good."
"No, you see, I was such a good boy they decided to let me go earlier." The man smirked as he came closer. "They were just so touched by my successful rehabilitation."
"I'm sure you're putting the transformation to good use, volunteering at an animal shelter perhaps?" Kurt couldn't back up without finding himself against Jack so he held his ground.
"Actually, no. I'm more interested in keeping the streets safe for good taxes paying citizens, and free from the scum." He swept his eyes over Kurt's body. "Speaking of, how are you doing? You still that rich boy's bitch to avoid playing with me? Hurts my feelings." He accented the last word and the boys started snickering.
Kurt' skin pricked hearing the voices. It wasn't just Jack then... Two more voices maybe three. That made five men all together. He'd never been forced to deal with that many at once. The steel pulsed in his hand as the memory of the words they'd used over and over circled his mind. He was nothing to them, a fuckdoll, a bitch, a whore, a freak, a toy. And now he'd pissed them off. It wouldn't be the first time one of the girls went missing and turned up days later, if anyone even bothered to look for her body. The grip slid into his palm and he pulled back the hammer as quietly as he could manage while it was still in his bag.
Eddie narrowed his eyes, and looked up at the man behind Kurt. "Go back up the street while I take care of the princess here," he said and his cronies walked couple steps away.
Eddie backed Kurt against a tree. His hand jolted to Kurt's face and grabbed him by the chin. "You're too good to answer me?" His grip tightened painfully.
Kurt smiled bitterly. "I always was and always will be. You remember what you told me the first time? That it was my duty to take you me because I was a bitch-whore? Do you remember how I shook?"
"Not sure, bitches like you are a dime a dozen. One hole is just like another." Eddie's free hand started to grope at Kurt's hip. Kurt closed his eyes and force himself to keep going. He dug the muzzle of the gun into Eddie's chest. Kurt pulled the trigger.
"I think you need to understand what feeling something ripping through you feels like. Feels like hell doesn't it, Eddie?"
The man's eyes widened comically, he looked down and pressed a palm of his hand to his heart. Then came the pained groan, and Eddie slumped to the ground before Kurt. The bang of a shot ricocheted between the trees and frozen in astonishment people. Their eyes locked on Kurt and the gun in his hand.
"She fucking killed him," one of the gang members mumbled, breaking the silence.
Blood from the wound had smeared on the tip of the gun muzzle. Kurt's adrenaline was spiked but somehow the world seemed to be moving in slow motion. He turned, both hands on the hilt of the gun. A single eyebrow raised as he pointed the gun to Jack.
"Who else wants to put me in my place?"
"Whoa, easy," a man on the left, Frank, raised both arms. Others started shuffling in as well, faces twisted with rage. "It's okay, girl, no need to do things you're going to regret," Frank said coming up closer, hands still up.
Kurt knew they'd try to get the gun from him and he'd never make it out alive. "Too late."
Another shot rang through the air, lodging itself into Frank's shoulder. Kurt found more than a small satisfaction with the sound he let out. Two down, three left.
Frank fell to his knees and clenched hand over the wound trying to tame the bleeding. "You fucking whore," he spat furiously. "Why the fuck are you waiting, get her!" He yelled at the other men. They stared between each other and Kurt and the gun and then at Frank and each other again.
"Fuck it," one of them said before running away.
Jack used that moment and launched himself at Kurt, rough hands clenching on Kurt's thin wrists, and steering them up above his head.
Kurt fired again, but it missed by a mile when Jack grabbed him. He arched up, his sharp knee coming up to connect with Jack's nuts. Kurt's body thrashed, the long muscles strong from dancing. He managed to get a hand free to claw into Jack's eye.
The man scowled in pain and loosened the grip on Kurt's wrists, letting them slip away, but managed to sent an elbow into Kurt's ribs. The other man jumped into to the fight, trying to catch the gun out of Kurt's hand.
Kurt held tight to it, refusing to let his only protection go. The elbow was enough to knock wind from him. He thrashed as best he could, lines of red from his nails scratched bright lines on Jack's cheek. Thankfully someone had decided to call the cops. Or maybe there was a completely unrelated call, either way the sirens resounded in the night.
Jack jumped at the sound of upcoming police. The nameless one dropped his attempts at ambushing Kurt first, and run away cursing. Jack wasn't set on that just yet, but the blue red lights sobered him up. He swung a fist to Kurt's face in the last try.
Kurt couldn't stop the blow. He heard his own voice shouted in pain. The lights came closer and by the time Kurt regained his mind to open his eyes, the man was gone, as was the weight on his chest. Slowly, he sat up. The body of Eddie lay behind him limp. There was a trail of blood from where Frank ran away. The police lights moved away from him, having come to respond to a different call.
They weren't coming for him. Kurt stared at the blood under his nails. They should be coming for him. Eddie's body lay in a heap and Kurt's eyes narrowed.
They will be coming for him.
Kurt had killed, murdered. He already had a record for a few counts of prostitution he'd barely wiggled out of. He'd never survive jail.
Kurt ran.
