Chapter Five

CALLER: "My boyfriend got in last night and he was so fired up. Hot and heavy, he and I had some wild sex on the floor... Mmmm, I can still feel him."

"Great, please get on with it." He didn't mean to be impatient, but he was becoming uncomfortable with the content of this conversation.

CALLER: "Don't be shy, it's just sex after all... Anyway, our kid comes in-"

"You have a kid!" That was a shock. He didn't know to what extent these two were bound together. But that was another reason, probably, why she wouldn't leave him.

CALLER: "Yeah, she's the cutest thing in the world... I just love watching her play with her dolls..." It seemed like she had drifted away for a moment, then she spoke again. "So anyway, she comes in and sees us there... Daddy licking beer off of Mommy... Ahahaha she thinks that he's attacking me and she starts to beat him up."

"I can imagine that must have been hard for her to see... How old is she?"

CALLER: "Seven... Anyway, her father explained to her that he and I were just playing like grown ups play but she ended up crying... I'm worried though, my boyfriend took her back to her room and they were quiet for so long then he comes back out and says she won't bother us anymore."

Now Rocky felt sick. A naked man taking a girl some place private. It was wrong! Your child or not. "Do you think that maybe...?" He couldn't finish the sentence.

CALLER: "Maybe, yeah... who the hell knows." She laughed quietly. "Those two have been having a lot of quiet time together lately, but I don't know... maybe he beat her to sleep." She laughs again only louder. "I'm scared... I'm scared that I'm next... he doesn't look at me the same anymore." There are tears in her words now.

"Amari, I have to call the police. What you're telling me isn't right... it's not healthy." The girl seemed to be listening. "Your boyfriend is an abusive- could be child molester and you're letting it go on just as long as he doesn't touch you... Amari- if you're not going to help yourself than at least help your daughter."

CALLER: "Are you calling me a bad mother? Because I'm not, I love that little girl, she's just like me... Now I don't know about you... But I wanna get back to what I was doing last night, he's so sexy when he's all fired up."

"Amari wait!"

CALLER: "Yeah?" Her voice sounded amused now.

Rocky was growing angry with her. He had to find a way to trace these calls so that he could call the cops on both her and her boyfriend and save that poor little girl. "I... I can help you, personally, just give me your information and I'll... Hello?" There was just a dial tone. She hung up on him. Fuck! He slammed the phone down.

"Samuel?" Mr. O'Dare walks over to the enraged boy. "Samuel, what is going on, did you have a fight with one of the callers?" His hand rests on the boys shoulder.

Rocky shakes his head, then stands. "I'm sorry sir, it's just... ridiculous."

"Ridiculous?"

"Yes, this caller... She calls me, and I think she's asking for help with an abusive boyfriend but-... then she laughs as though she's just joking. Now there's a kid involved... I don't know what to do?"

The man seemed to be thinking about what he had said. "I see... well, it is highly possible that someone would be calling the line just to pick on you. Have you had any other prank calls?"

"No, just this one..." his eyes scrunched as the buzzing on his brain seemed to go away. Fading, like the tide pulling back from the land to simply pool around in a deeper area of the sea. "But all the lines are the same right?" The man nods. "Than how can she be calling only me? Shouldn't someone else have gotten at least one of them?"

"I don't believe so, unless this caller calls whenever they can- hoping to get you and they hang up if you're not there."

"Yeah but why me?"

The man shrugs. "Maybe it's someone who likes you, or someone that doesn't like you." Shrugs again. "The most I can tell you is don't take the calls."

"But that's just it," he wet his mouth. "What if this person is telling the truth, they're just so desperate they don't know what they're saying anymore."

The teacher starts leading Rocky to the door, pushing his shoulder as they walked. "Samuel, I think what you need right now is a little sleep. I'll write your teacher a note and tell them I sent you to bed."

"But I don't need any sleep."

"Then perhaps a bath..."

Rocky blinked.

"You smell a little bit like... alcohol."

Rocky blushed, he had forgotten about taking a shower. "Right, thanks."

"And son, do try to relax a bit more, mm?"

"Yes, sir."

Leaving the room, Rocky walks down the hall out of the building. Crossing the grass made him uneasy but this time he really did run. The sooner he was in doors the better. The door to his dorm room slammed shut behind him, and he locked it over. Robbie would just have to use his key to get in, if he has it.

"Relax Rock', just relax..." taking a deep breath, he sighs it out through his nose, slowly. "Relax." Taking off his shirt, he tosses it on his bed then heads to the bathroom. He hesitates a moment, but reluctantly, he pushes the door open and walks in with his eyes closed. Opening them, he smiles seeing that Robbie had been in the room and cleaned up the bathroom. I'm gonna have to do something nice for him, we've only known each other for a short time but he's starting to be like my best friend.

Stepping into the bathroom, he closes the door than unzips his jeans. Pushing them down to the floor, followed by his boxers Rocky steps out of them and over into the shower. Turning the faucets, he adjusts the water to the way he likes it and relaxes under the stream of hot water. Maybe I do need sleep- real sleep. Then I can wake up with a clear mind and remember what happened last night.

His hands coursed over his body with a soapy wash rag. When he was positive he was clean he began to rinse off... but as he watched the dirt go down the drain, he began to scrub his self again. Harder and harder until his skin was bright pink with pain, until he was absolutely sure he was cleaned from whatever had happened to him. Grabbing the bottle of shampoo in the corner of the tub, Rocky lathers his hair giving it a quick wash. He had so much gel in it, it was a wonder it didn't just decide to fall out!

Did I put all this gunk in my hair? He wonders when feeling an almost, glue like, substance squishing between his fingers.

A song started to play in the distance. Low, like it didn't want to be heard. Rocky rinsed his hair then turned the water off. As he did so, the sound of the music finally caught his ears. My phone.

Stepping out of the shower, he wraps a big white towel around his waste and hurries out of the bathroom. reaching his phone he flips it open, hoping it's Rebecca with news from that guy that might have seen him. "Hello?"

The dial tone sounded.

Rocky was sure he got there in time the ring was still going when he pressed 'talk'. Well whoever it was, I hope they call back. Taking off his towel, he wraps it around his hair and begins to dry it. Sitting down on his bed, he leans forward and fishes through his dresser for a pair of boxers. Happy with a dark blue pair, he stops drying his hair and runs the towel up his legs and waste drying them off. Once that task was done, he starts on the upper half.

Just when he begins to pull on his boxer shorts, his phone rings again. This time he was ready for it, but when he picked it up he got the same message as before- dial tone. Okay, I can take a hint, someone is obviously messing with me. But I'll fix them. Pressing 69, he waits for the person calling him to answer the phone.

The ringing stops but there is silence.

"Who is this?" He asks. "Hello?"

Dial tone. Someone was there though, Rocky was sure of it. Dialing them up again, this time the operator came on.

"We're sorry the number you have dialed is no longer connected-..."

He hung up. Could that be the girl from the club? He wondered. If so then I must have given her my number and she's trying to reach me... Or mess with my head because I did something wrong.

The phone rang again, but this time Rocky made sure to get it after the first ring. "Look! Whoever you are just-...!"

"Rocky chill out, it's me Rebecca-... remember?" The girls cool relaxed voice came into his ear.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I've just been getting prank phone calls and then you called..."

"Say no more." There was a low paper sound in the background. "I got what you wanted to know. You want me to e-mail you or we could do this over the phone, but I should tell you I'm with people."

"No I don't care, tell me now."

"Eric says he saw you last night with a girl, funny looking girl, blonde hair- short, she had a funny looking smile on her face the whole time she was with you." The paper was heard again. "Hmm, he says she was talking to you but he couldn't hear what you were saying over the music."

All the while his friend spoke; Rocky felt that buzzing in the back of his mind. God not again.

"Then the two of you got up after kissing- ooh lala, and went outside."

"Does he know where, did he see us?"

"Uh-uh, but Travis did. He says you and that weird chick went to his car and he saw someone's shirt go flying so he could only guess you were gonna have some back seat treat, only about three minutes into it you guys drove off."

That means I went somewhere with her... Maybe she brought me home? No, Robbie said he didn't see me until this morning and that was after I got up. His heart began to race. Why can't I remember, where did I go last night?

"Hey star gazer you still there?"

"Huh," he snapped himself out of it. "Yeah, I'm still here."

"That's all the info I've got for you, sorry."

"No, thank you." He gives the girl an unseen smile. "You actually helped me out a lot."

"Aaaaw, you're welcome." She laughs, "Hey, you'd better get your ass to the club again tonight. You owe me a dance Douglas."

"Hahaha, I'll try to be there."

"Alright, and don't go dancing with any weird girls again. Or I'll have to slug her for taking my could be boyfriend away."

Again Rocky laughs, says goodbye then hangs up. No sooner had he done this does it ring again. He thought about not getting it, but when he saw the I.D. flashing that it was the police, he quickly flipped the phone open and began to talk.

"Hello?" He asks. "Are you calling about the hair sample?"

"Is this Samuel Douglas?"

"Yes."

"We're gonna have to ask you to come on down to the station for a couple questions."

Rocky's eyes narrowed, that didn't sound like your usual 'cop tone' for investigative questioning. So what was up, what did they find out about the hair? Guess there's no better way of knowing than to go down to the police station and find out.

"I'll be there in an hour." Hanging up the phone, Rocky hurries to the closet and grabs something to wear. Settling for a black shirt and another, darker pair, of blue jeans. Rocky jumped into his clothes and hurried out of the building to his car.

The police station was a shorter distance away than he had thought as he got there in about twenty to thirty minutes. There were cops everywhere, some on the phone, some filing. It was nothing like when his father brought him into work on career day. Colt had to go with their mother and do real-estate.

Looking for whoever was in charge there- or at least for whom ever could point him in the right direction, Rocky walks into the room casually looking this way and that until he locks eyes with a red haired girl behind a desk. She was pretty cute, plump face, shapely body and the long red hair was a nice touch. She looked about his age maybe a year or two older, 21 or 23.

"Can I help you?"

"Um yeah, I'm here about the hair sample... I got a call just a half hour ago?" Rocky approached the desk.

"Oh," as though her cheerful mood had just been kicked out of her. "And here I thought I was about to be asked out, hahaha."

Rocky smiled politely, but shook his head.

"Commissioner Wayne is in that office over there, I'll let him know you're here." Picking up her phone she waits a moment, then speaks briefly to the man. "Yes, he's right here." Looking at Rocky she smiles and points at the door. "Right through there."

"Thanks." Turning away, he walks to a door that read: Wayne. The door creaked open and he stepped inside. "You wanted to see me sir?"

"Yes, thank you for coming." He held out his hand. "Have a seat."

Rocky walks over to a lone chair that sat in front of the desk. Sitting down, he felt a strange weight being placed on him, like this conversation was going to be one that he didn't like.

"Now when did you say you found this hair?" The man went right into his interrogation.

"I... Uh... This morning, around ten o'clock."

"Mmm hmmm." He said, writing something down as though he didn't believe him.

"And you don't know where it came from?"

"No, I think someone may have put it there... I," he swallowed, embarrassment showing on his face.

"You what?" He ran his fingers down his wispy mustache to his goti.

"Um... Am I being interrogated here, I didn't do anything wrong." Rocky shrugs. "I don't even know whose hair that is."

The mans hand then scratched through his thick black hair. "Oh you don't huh?" He moved in his seat as if to get more comfortable, then he reaches into his desk drawer and pulls out a vanilla folder, sliding it across the table to Rocky. "Take a look at that."

Confused, Rocky opens the folder to see a little girl staring up at him from a black and white picture, next to a larger one in color. She had long shiny black hair that came down a ways past her shoulder. Her bright happy face smiling like she were the luckiest, happiest, child alive. He didn't understand what this had to do with him though.

"You look uh..." he cleared his throat. "Confused. You don't recognize this girl."

Rocky shakes his head, closing the folder. "No, should I?"

"I think so, this girls gone missing about ten days ago and so far we haven't found any leads... Then one days we get this sample of hair and guess whose DNA matches it?"

Now this Rocky couldn't believe! This missing girl- this, Noelie Gonzales, was kidnapped and the cops think it was he who did it! He had never seen this girl before now. How could he have taken her!

"Sir, I don't know how that girls hair got on me... I don't even know what happened that night."

"You don't?"

"No, I don't!"

The man seemed unbelieving. He knew something was up and he figured that Rocky was the one doing it.

"Mr. Wayne listen... I went out to a club last night with some friends of mine. I met some girl and after that it gets kind of blurry."

"Blurry because-..."

Cutting the man off, Rocky stands. "No! There is no because, the only fact to this matter is that I don't remember what happened to me last night, that is the reason I'm here. Not because I kidnapped some girl I've never seen before." He was becoming angrier by the second. "I'm innocent and I won't stay here for any more insults so-... Aaaa." He brings his hand up to his head.

"What's the matter son?"

"It's my head... I have a real bad headache..." He winced in pain. It felt like his brain were about to explode. "Please... Do you have any Aspirin or Tylenol?"

"Yeah, I'll see if Latrice has any." He picks up his phone, going slower than a turtle that wandered into the street. "Uhh, Latrice, do you maybe have an Aspirin or something for a headache... yeah. Send one in will ya?"

"Thank you." He lay his head on the mans desk.

"Do these happen often?"

"Rrrrr, sometimes." Rocky couldn't believe this man was doing this to him right now, he could plainly see that he is in pain. "I think I better go."

"I think we're gonna be keeping a close eye on you, so don't leave town."

"Why would I, I live here." Shaking his head, Rocky sits back up.

The man smirks. "You look better, headache gone?"

"Like you care." Rocky stands and barges out of the room, brushing past the secretary Latrice with out so much as a sorry.

"I want you to get a cop in here." The commissioner was saying to the girl.

"Yes, sir."

"We're gonna be keeping a close eye on Mr. Douglas."

"What for? He seems harmless." She looks after him.

"Harmless yes, for a kidnapper."