I jump awake on the floor of my room, (where I fell
asleep watching a movie) when a frantic nock started
to sound on my door. I shake my head to clear it and
groggily stumble toward the door. Looking out the
peephole I see TJ and she doesn't look like she's in
the best of conditions, her hairs a mess, her face is
downcast to the floor and her arms are wrapped around
her waist like she's freezing cold.
I open the door and she lifts her eyes from the floor
and for the first time I see the small droplet of
dried blood on the corner of her lip and the makeup
smeared over her face. My heart stops, what was wrong
with her?
"Can I come in Luis?" She whispers hoarsely.
"Yeah, yeah, of course you can." I usher her over to
the bed, and force her to sit down. "What's going on?"
"Nothing." She says finally, standing up and taking a
hard breath that comes more like snort as he tries to
calm herself. "I don't even know why I here."
"You're here because something isn't right and you
need to talk to somebody." I reach out for her,
catching her by the shoulder to keep her from leaving.
"Where are you going? Wait a minute!"
"Don't touch me! Get your god damn hands off me! Don't
ever touch me!" She yells trying to struggle free from
me grasp, before all her muscles give way and she
tumbles to her knees.
I lower myself onto the floor beside her and tuck a
tress of her dark hair behind her ear.
"TJ, what's wrong? You can tell me, you can tell me
anything."
Tricia-Jean bites her lip just as it begins to quiver
and her entire body starts to shake. Tears set off
down her cheeks, in a race to fall off her chin. I'm
at a loss all I can think of to do is hold her until
she can tell me what happened.
"I said no, he didn't listen. I saidno." TJ mutters
almost incoherently, but still understandably enough
for me to decipher it.
"Who did you say no to Tricia? Who hurt you, what
happened?"
"Mark." we went for a drive." I told him no and he
wouldn't listen." The girl ultimately reveals.
Now I have to make perfectly sure I get all the
information right, before I head off to kill him.
"Mark, Mark Cross?Did he rape you?"
The beauty shakes her head and closes her clear eyes
tightly. "No... He made me- he forced me to- God Luis, I
can't even say it!"
"TJ we have to go to the police." I tell her, stroking
her long dark hair as she sobs against my chest.
"I can't!"
"You have too."
"I can't." She repeats.
"You can't not. TJ, if you don't, he's going to get
away with this."
"I can't go to the police, okay, I can't even tell you
what happened, how will I tell them?" Her words begin
to get faster as if she were on the verge of a panic
attack.
"Shhh, alright, breath." I command as the
hyperventilating commences, "Listen, look at me
Tricia-Jean, breath."
"Please don't make me talk to them Luis, please,
please don't make me." She wails, again I don't know
what to do.
"Okay, not tonight alright? Tomorrow morning we'll go.
I'll drive you. Promise me, tomorrow we'll go."
make her swear.
The girl nods and I sigh slightly. At least it's a
start. After a long minute of silence, she lifts her
head from my shoulder and wipes her tears away on the
sleeve of my sweatshirt.
"I don't wanna be alone tonight, Luis. Can I stay in
here, please? I'll be quiet, I won't get you into any
trouble, I'll even sleep on the floor."
I admit that there have been a few times that I've
thought about having Tricia spend the night in my
room, however in my fantasies the circumstances were
always different. Then there's the fact that if we get
caught with a girl in our room after curfew, both
Dwayne and I face two week suspension, still I can't
turn her away. Not now, not this night.
After giving her a tee-shirt and a pair of sweats to
change into, I tuck her into bed. Considering what's
going on, sleeping on the floor is the smallest thing
I can do. As I pull the blanket up around her
shoulders, I can't fight the urge to kiss her
forehead. So I do it and though I'm positive she's
already out like a light, I hear her voice.
"I love you Luis."
I would be smiling at that, if the conditions of this
night weren't like this.
"I love you too." I murmur back, then go outside to
sit in the hallway to wait for Dwayne. I've got to
tell him what's happening before he walks in and finds
a gorgeous girl sleeping in our room. After I've done
that, there's one more thing left on my mind: I am
going to kill Mark.
asleep watching a movie) when a frantic nock started
to sound on my door. I shake my head to clear it and
groggily stumble toward the door. Looking out the
peephole I see TJ and she doesn't look like she's in
the best of conditions, her hairs a mess, her face is
downcast to the floor and her arms are wrapped around
her waist like she's freezing cold.
I open the door and she lifts her eyes from the floor
and for the first time I see the small droplet of
dried blood on the corner of her lip and the makeup
smeared over her face. My heart stops, what was wrong
with her?
"Can I come in Luis?" She whispers hoarsely.
"Yeah, yeah, of course you can." I usher her over to
the bed, and force her to sit down. "What's going on?"
"Nothing." She says finally, standing up and taking a
hard breath that comes more like snort as he tries to
calm herself. "I don't even know why I here."
"You're here because something isn't right and you
need to talk to somebody." I reach out for her,
catching her by the shoulder to keep her from leaving.
"Where are you going? Wait a minute!"
"Don't touch me! Get your god damn hands off me! Don't
ever touch me!" She yells trying to struggle free from
me grasp, before all her muscles give way and she
tumbles to her knees.
I lower myself onto the floor beside her and tuck a
tress of her dark hair behind her ear.
"TJ, what's wrong? You can tell me, you can tell me
anything."
Tricia-Jean bites her lip just as it begins to quiver
and her entire body starts to shake. Tears set off
down her cheeks, in a race to fall off her chin. I'm
at a loss all I can think of to do is hold her until
she can tell me what happened.
"I said no, he didn't listen. I saidno." TJ mutters
almost incoherently, but still understandably enough
for me to decipher it.
"Who did you say no to Tricia? Who hurt you, what
happened?"
"Mark." we went for a drive." I told him no and he
wouldn't listen." The girl ultimately reveals.
Now I have to make perfectly sure I get all the
information right, before I head off to kill him.
"Mark, Mark Cross?Did he rape you?"
The beauty shakes her head and closes her clear eyes
tightly. "No... He made me- he forced me to- God Luis, I
can't even say it!"
"TJ we have to go to the police." I tell her, stroking
her long dark hair as she sobs against my chest.
"I can't!"
"You have too."
"I can't." She repeats.
"You can't not. TJ, if you don't, he's going to get
away with this."
"I can't go to the police, okay, I can't even tell you
what happened, how will I tell them?" Her words begin
to get faster as if she were on the verge of a panic
attack.
"Shhh, alright, breath." I command as the
hyperventilating commences, "Listen, look at me
Tricia-Jean, breath."
"Please don't make me talk to them Luis, please,
please don't make me." She wails, again I don't know
what to do.
"Okay, not tonight alright? Tomorrow morning we'll go.
I'll drive you. Promise me, tomorrow we'll go."
make her swear.
The girl nods and I sigh slightly. At least it's a
start. After a long minute of silence, she lifts her
head from my shoulder and wipes her tears away on the
sleeve of my sweatshirt.
"I don't wanna be alone tonight, Luis. Can I stay in
here, please? I'll be quiet, I won't get you into any
trouble, I'll even sleep on the floor."
I admit that there have been a few times that I've
thought about having Tricia spend the night in my
room, however in my fantasies the circumstances were
always different. Then there's the fact that if we get
caught with a girl in our room after curfew, both
Dwayne and I face two week suspension, still I can't
turn her away. Not now, not this night.
After giving her a tee-shirt and a pair of sweats to
change into, I tuck her into bed. Considering what's
going on, sleeping on the floor is the smallest thing
I can do. As I pull the blanket up around her
shoulders, I can't fight the urge to kiss her
forehead. So I do it and though I'm positive she's
already out like a light, I hear her voice.
"I love you Luis."
I would be smiling at that, if the conditions of this
night weren't like this.
"I love you too." I murmur back, then go outside to
sit in the hallway to wait for Dwayne. I've got to
tell him what's happening before he walks in and finds
a gorgeous girl sleeping in our room. After I've done
that, there's one more thing left on my mind: I am
going to kill Mark.