Things were moving quicker than Norma had ever expected them to. John was home from college but Norma still hadn't heard from Alex about whether or not he would run away with her. Graduation had just ended but Norma couldn't seem to find Alex anywhere.
"Have you seen Alex?" Norma asks Bob Paris.
"Not since he got his diploma." Bob tells her.
"Have you seen Alex?" she asks, moving on to Rebecca.
"Fuck off, Norma. You've been after my boyfriend all year. Give it a rest." Rebecca spits back, glaring at her. Norma feels the urge to fight back but the need to find Alex overpowers that urge.
"Maggie, have you seen Alex?" Norma asks, finding Keith Summers' little sister wandering about the school.
"He didn't tell you?" Maggie asks with surprise.
"Tell me what?"
Alex had just finished locking his front door when he hears Norma's car pull up to his house. He glances back to see her yank her door open and step out of her car before slamming the door shut. She looked pissed.
"What the hell, Alex? When were you going to tell me?" she asks angrily.
"I wasn't." he tells her honestly, grabbing his last bag and walking it to his car.
"You didn't think you owed me at least that much?" she asks.
He shoves the bag into his trunk before closing it and turning to her.
"I'm trying to move on-"
"By joining the Marines?" she asks. He sighs and looks away from her, staring at the house in front of him. His dad had just been arrested by the DEA and his mother had killed herself. The place that he once saw as his home now stood as an empty reminder of all the bad things that had happened to Alex.
"What are you running away from?" Norma asks.
"I don't know who I am anymore, Norma." he tells her, looking back into her wet, blue eyes.
"I need to find my purpose. That's what I am running to." he says, leaning against his car. He looks down at his dirty shoes, feeling as though he might cry.
"I just...I thought she would always be here. To see me graduate...see me get married. But now..." he trails off, glancing back up at the house.
"I've got to get going." he tells Norma.
"What about me?" she whispers, drawing his attention back to her.
"What about me, Alex? I could've made you happy. You know I could've. We could have started a family and I could've helped you find a purpose. But you're leaving me! You're leaving me here with these people and...and i'm alone." she cries, feeling betrayed by the man she trusted most.
Alex felt bad for doing what he had done but there was nothing either of them could do now.
"It's done, Norma. I can't change it. I can't take it back. I'm sorry." he tells her. She wipes her tears away, the broken look on her face gone and replaced by the poker face that had always made Alex feel uneasy.
"I will never forgive you for this." she tells him before turning on her heel.
"You're not going to say goodbye?" he asks, wishing he could hug her one last time. She doesn't say anything, doesn't even glance back at him. It was like he hadn't said anything at all. She gets into her car and disappears down the road just as quickly as she had come.
She drove straight to John's house to tell him of the baby. He proposed to her on the spot and she accepted without hesitance.
The next three years went by in a blur.
John was a nice enough guy at first, working hard to bring home enough money to support her and baby Dylan. But eventually, he became irritated. It started with insults casually thrown at Norma. Eventually, John became an avid drinker. It was routine for Norma to have a beer open and waiting for him when he got home as well as a hot meal. He would sit in front of the tv while Norma fed their child. One small mishap and he would become physical with her.
He would grab her wrist and squeeze it until she fell to her knees in pain. He would slap her across her cheek, spit in her face, pull her hair, nothing too serious. But eventually, the beatings became worse.
"Where've you been?" John asks as soon as Norma quietly steps inside the house. She looks up with surprise, seeing him in his usual chair, glaring at her. It was almost one in the morning and Norma had snuck out of the house to meet a man she had just met named Sam.
She met Sam at the grocery store when her shopping cart ran into his. He was charming and sweet, offering to pay for her groceries to which she refused. So instead, he offered to take her out. She quickly fell in love with him, being whisked off her feet by his genuine kindness. The affair had been going on for almost two months.
"I-I...there was..." Norma stutters, caught off guard by the sudden interrogation. John slowly stands up, walking over to Norma. He grabs her by her arm and smacks her across her cheek, making her cry out.
He then drops her to the floor and kicks her in her side, making the air rush out of her lungs. He hits almost every place on her body with his hands, leaving marks and bruises that will surely show tomorrow.
"John, please-"
"You lying slut. You think you can go behind my back? Who is it? Is it Romero?" he asks, holding her down by wrapping his hand around her neck, cutting off airflow. Her eyes widen as she realizes that this is how she might die. Her nails claw at his hands and face, anywhere that might make him let go of her. She finally manages to kick him off of her and flee up the stairs to grab Dylan and the car keys.
"Don't think you're getting away that easy." he shouts, trying to stand up in his drunken state.
"Fine, go! Go run off and call your boyfriend, Alex." he shouts, leaning against the doorway while Norma buckles her three year old in the back seat. She races off to a motel, paying for a room.
She felt strange after hearing Alex's name. He had always been on her mind, sometimes she pretended like Dylan was Alex's son. It made dealing with the young boy a bit easier. But hearing his name for the first time in three years had made something click.
Before she knew what she was doing, she was dialing his familiar number. She paced the motel room, taking large sips of the bottle of vodka she had bought in the office of the motel. Dylan was sleeping in the bed, his cheeks pink while his hands were tucked under his face.
"Romero." his voice says into her ear. Whatever air she had in her lungs had rushed out of her, leaving her struggling to answer.
"Hello?" he asks again.
"Alex?" she asks, her voice sounding hoarse because of her neck injury.
Alex walked up the stairs, his palms feeling sweaty with nervousness. She had sounded different on the phone. He didn't know why she had called him or why she was staying in a motel. All she told him was that she needed to see him.
It seemed to be fate. Alex was only in town until tomorrow before he was going to be shipped back out with the Marines.
The door that led to her motel room was left slightly ajar and Alex could hear the music coming from the room. It was old music, the type of music that was played at the school dances.
Alex stepped into the room, finding Norma facing away from him, swaying to the music, her bare feet planted in the carpet.
She was obviously intoxicated, the bottle of liquor hanging loosely from her fingers. As if hearing him walk in, she turned around, her striking blue eyes finding his brown ones. Alex's breath hitched in his throat as soon as he saw her familiar eyes. He had forgotten how much he missed her.
But what shocked him most were the marks on her porcelain skin. He saw purple marks along her arms and a large red mark on her cheek. Her throat was a dark purple, almost blue color. Alex knew she probably had more marks underneath her floral dress that hung from her too thin body.
"You're in uniform." she says, looking him up and down.
"Yes." he says slowly, his voice deeper than when they last spoke.
"You look good in uniform, Alex." she tells him. He smiles slightly, still hesitating at the door. She pauses for a little longer, just looking at him. He had cut his hair, the marine look. His once skinny body was now fully built, making him look more like a man. Norma was surprised by how much she was attracted to him.
"Am I going to hell?" she asks.
The question caught Alex off guard. Why would she think such a thing?
"No." he says simply.
"Am I a bad person?" she asks.
"No."
"But I called you. Just like he said I would." she tells him.
He doesn't say anything, doesn't know what he should say. She looks down at her marked arms and at the bottle dangling from her fingers. She looks up at him again, her eyes glazed over as the affect of alcohol takes over even more.
"Am I a bad person?" she asks again.
"No." he tells her again.
"Are you a bad person?" she asks. He pauses for a moment, the cold outside air hitting his neck and arms.
"Yes." he tells her. She shakes her head, swaying to the music for a moment before stopping.
"I don't believe that." she tells him.
"I know you don't." he tells her.
"I want to dance with you." she says softly, turning away from him.
He steps inside and closes the door behind him, walking toward her without a word. He takes the bottle from her hands and sets it aside on the table. He turns back to her, taking her hands in his, pulling her close.
She wraps her arms around his neck while he places his hands on her lower back, swaying back and forth with her. She smelled the same as she did three years ago. This comforted Alex.
"When do you go back?" she asks.
It took him a minute to realize she was talking about his time in the Marines.
"Tomorrow." he tells her.
"What brought you back here?" she asks.
He hesitates, his hand suddenly feeling heavy.
"I got married." he tells her.
She stiffens, thinking of how he turned her down and then was so quick to marry some other girl.
"Me too." she tells him, looking at the ring on her finger.
She slips the ring off and lets it fall to the ground with a clink.
"Not anymore." she says with a giggle.
He sighs and closes his eyes, pulling her closer to him.
"We can't be together." she tells him, her fingers playing with the ends of his dark hair.
"No." he tells her.
"I still haven't forgiven you for leaving me." she tells him.
He smiles and nods, knowing what he did was wrong and unfair to her.
"That's good. You shouldn't forgive me so easily. I don't deserve it." he tells her.
She pulls away and stumbles toward the bed, carefully sitting next to Dylan. Alex follows, his eyes scanning the young, beautiful boy.
"He looks like you." Alex tells her, pushing Dylan's hair away from his forehead.
"No. He looks too much like him." she says with disgust.
"Sometimes it's hard to look at him. Because all I see when I look at Dylan is..." she trails off, looking away from Dylan.
"I don't regret leaving." he tells her honestly. He didn't know why he felt he had to say it. As soon as the words left his lips, he wanted to take them back.
"Did you miss me at all? While you were out there looking for yourself?" she asks, staring at Dylan.
"Of course." he whispers.
"Did you find what you were looking for?" she asks.
He pauses, watching her brush the hair of her small child. He thinks of how he could've started a life with her, how they could be happy together and this little boy would call him dad and Norma wouldn't have marks on her skin.
"Alex I want you to leave." she whispers, glancing up at him.
He was hurt but he would do whatever she asked of him. So he slowly began to stand up.
"Not now." she says, grabbing his arm.
She lays down beside Dylan, cuddling him. She pulls Alex's arm closer to her, forcing him to lay behind her.
"I want you to leave but not until morning. Just stay a while. Okay?" she asks.
He smiles and melts into her, draping his arm over her side and burying his nose into her hair.
"Okay." he tells her.
She closes her eyes, her arms wrapped around Dylan while Alex's arms were wrapped around her.
It was just where Alex wanted to be. He had never felt more at home. The last time he felt this happy was when his mother was alive. He wishes his mom could be around to see him like this. She had always told Alex that she knew he would end up with Norma. She had always known that he loved Norma.