ET Chapter 21: Dead-Numbing, Stress-Relieving
"I cannot believe you!" Anita huffed, her thick accent laced with anger. "How could you do that? ¿Cómo puedes golpear a tu propia hermana? ¿Por qué? ¿Por qué harías algo así?"
"Anita," Javier drawled her name in a long, exhausted sigh. "You know I didn't mean it. It-it was an accident."
"Oh right," she snorted. Even in her room, buried underneath her blankets and covers, Gabriella could hear the sharp sarcasm rolling off her tongue. Then again a person would have to be deaf to miss it. "You just happened to have lifted your hand up. Your hand then started to have a mind of its own and decided to slap Gabriella. Or wait," she corrected herself. "You didn't slap her. You smacked her. ¡Maldita la golpeó en la cara!"
"Did you not hear all the shit she was saying about us? About Paco? About the baby? And what she thinks I'm going to do to you after the baby's born?"
Anita didn't immediately answer, and the moments of silence twisted Gabriella's gut painfully as if it were grabbed by a strong hand. She felt so guilty, and she hated it so much. Gabriella rarely felt guilty because feeling guilty meant regretting, and she didn't have time for regretting. But curled on in her bed, hearing them fighting, listening to silence that followed after Javier's question guilt was clawing its way through her stomach.
"I did," she admitted after what felt like an hour later. Her stomach twisted more as Gabriella heard the sad tone in Anita's voice. "And it broke my heart," Well, now that her stomach was twisted up like a pretzel, guilt was moving up to her scattered heart. Anita sounded almost choked up. "But what hurt even more was realizing that she wasn't completely wrong. For thinking that way, at least."
"Anita, por el amor de Dios," Javier said. "Come on-"
"You come on!" she snapped.
The two had been at it for almost three hours now, yelling in a mix of angry Spanish and English, attempting but failing to keep their voices down.
"Javier, déjame preguntarte esto. ¿Puedes honestamente culpar por pensar de esa manera? Pues bien, ¿verdad?" Anita said. "Can you really blame Gabriella for believing that? You may not want to face the facts, but they are there. You left her. You left her and made no attempt to explain yourself."
Her brother made no comment. Anyone left would have flustered angrily and tossed aside the accusations. But Anita wasn't making accusations. She was telling the truth. The cold, hard truth Javier couldn't deny.
"Why?" Anita asked. Actually she wasn't asking; she was demanding. "Why did you leave her there? Did you not love her-"
"Por supuesto amaba!" Javier defensively jumped in, his tone angry and hard. "I did love her, Anita. She was one the few things-correction one of the only things I actually gave a damn about." He sighed slowly, as if he were trying to release all the anger from his body. "All I wanted to was to get my baby sister out of that hell."
As much as she'd love to ignore it, Gabriella couldn't help noticing how remarkably softer his voice became after that sigh. It sounded as if, though, he was talking to himself than Anita. And she couldn't help but notice how he sounded so sad, as if he was speaking of his regret.
Anita must have had noticed the change, too, because she started to speak softly. "If that's case, if she really did mean a lot to you, then why did you leave her?"
Gabriella was ready to drown the conversation out with music till the question that had been on her mind for the last eight years was spoken out loud. With her heart heart pounding loudly, her body still as a statue, her ears waited to hear the well-deserved answer.
"It's complicated." Her brother said.
"Then uncomplicated it," Anita fired back. "Why did you leave her, Javier?"
"Because I-" Javier cut himself off, sighing. Gabriella could picture him running a hand through his face, thinking of a way to solve the puzzle he was in. "Because I honestly thought it was the best thing for her."
The answer received two very different reactions.
From Anita, it caused her temper, her dangerously-explosive temper that nearly rivaled Gabriella's, to boil over. Her dangerous temper that was scorning mad and unleashing a string of fiery Spanish words from her mouth.
From Gabriella, there was no anger pouring out. No anger, no fury, not even sadness. Instead, all there was inside her was complete numbness. A numbness that was the final dagger, burning with ice-cold flames, that stabbed and burnt what was else of her cold, dead, shattered heart.
So that was why Javier left her. Because he thought it was the best thing for her.
All these years Gabriella came up with millions of possibilities to explain her brother's disappearance. When she was younger with bits of naïve innocence still in her, she thought he was simply giving her time to get her absolute must-haves together. That he was trying to find the right place for them to live in, a place that would finally be home. As she got older, the list of possibilities narrowed down into more realistic scenarios. He finally decided to put that Einstein brain to work and went to college. He joined the army. He was dealing with a girl who was knocked up by his bad seed.
Then a thought came to Gabriella's head when she was fifteen, curled up in her bed, her bruised body trying to recover from Maria's late-night beatings, the throbbing pain reminding her that she was still alive and in hell.
He was dead.
It had to be it, right. She hadn't seen or heard a word from her brother in years. And it was all because he wasn't around anymore. It had to the answer. It just had to be.
Because there was no way Javier would actually leave her and not come back.
But now, finally hearing his real reason for bailing on her, Gabriella wished that the bastard was dead.
Throughout the rest of the day into the late night, Anita and the bastard tried to get to come out from her room. They tried with apologizes, most coming from bastard. They tried with pleading, then food. They were so desperate; they used the baby as a last resort.
"Gabi?" Paco banged against the door softly with his little hands. "Gabi?"
Hearing his sweet, little voice brought tears to her eyes that burned like acid as they rolled down her cheeks. Paco was sweet, so innocent, just like she and Javier were before it was beaten out of them. She sometimes wondered how long his innocence would last. She often prayed that it would last long.
She wanted to come out. She wanted to devour the delicious Chalupas Anita cooking in the kitchen. Most of all, she wanted to hug her precious one long and tight. But her numb body was glued to the bed, stiff as a corpse.
Around twelve thirty, her brother stopped by her door before he headed off to bed. She knew it was him by the long silence that followed after the soft knock.
"El-I mean Gabriella," He let out a long, big sigh, the kind that came from deep within that made the body limp and tired when it was released. "I'm sorry. About everything. I know it's not enough to…." He sighed again. "I screwed up. I know that. I really did screw up. But I love you, Ella. I love you. Never doubt that or forget it."
Around one, the apartment was quiet. It was the perfect time to move.
Quickly Gabriella got out of bed, untangling herself from the blanket cocoon. Feeling the chilled air slipping through her cracked window, she thought it was best to change. She exchanged the outfit she wore to school for a simple black sweatshirt and her boot-legged faded jeans. After grabbing her keys and deliberately leaving her phone behind, she left the apartment and ran over to the apartment building across the street.
She thanked her lucky stars someone else-a late-night party-girl-was leaving the exact moment she was coming over, sparing her of using the buzzer.
She made her way up to the fourth floor, room 447, and knocked on the door firmly till she heard movement inside.
"I'm coming, I'm coming. Damn." In exactly ten seconds, the door flung open and her best friend emerged, dressed in a white wife-beater and dark gray boxers.
"Every heard of a sleeping, buddy? Because that was what I was doing before-" It took several blinks and three eye-rubs for his vision to focus. He seemed surprised to see Gabriella at his door so late. "Gabs? What are you doing-"
Gabriella grabbed Rob by his shirt and pulled him into a hot, hungry kiss that consumed his words. For a moment Rob was frozen, caught off guard by sudden display of affection, until Gabriella opened her mouth a bit more. Then he was all game, getting into the kiss, his tongue tangoing with hers.
Soon the temperature in the place escalated to high, the kisses hotter and rougher, their tongue battle fiercer and wetter, the sexual tension was close to explosive.
Gabriella kissed Rob like she's never kissed another: desperately, urgently, and deeply. As if he was food and she was starving. As if he was oxygen and her lungs needed air. As if he was light and she needed a way out of the darkness.
But she needed more. She needed a way out of the darkness. She needed a way to shake the sick numbness, the memories, and the demons.
Thankfully Rob took action. Without breaking the lock of their lips, he lifted Gabriella. After she wrapped her legs around his torso and her arms around his neck, he carried her inside, closing the door with his foot.
They spent a few minutes making out against the door, their hands stripping each other of their shirts, their lips and tongue bruising and demanding. When her lungs were dying from lack of oxygen, Gabriella pulled away for a bit, needing to catch her breath. Rob took her lack of lips as an opportunity to pay attention to her neck. As he kissed her neck, Gabriella pushed down his boxers and pulled out the condom from her pants' pocket.
"Bed?" Rob suggested. His breath was hot against her neck.
Gabriella shook her head and ripped the condom open with her teeth. She moaned as Rob kissed her sweet spot, making her toes curl up as his tongue brushed against her skin. "Here's fine."
Rob grabbed the condom and brought his lips back to hers. They no longer seemed to be kissing. They were devouring each other, tongues locked in a brutal battle of dominance, lips and teeth clashing.
She was so lost in the hurricane barricade of lustful kisses; it took her awhile to realize her back was pressed against the door. It took her even longer to realize that she was fully nude, her breasts freed her from her bra and hanging, her panties dropped to the ground. She could hear Rob placing on the condom while they were kissing. But before she could take in another breath, he charged in at full speed, deeply entering into her.
"Fuck!" she gasped, instantly in love with the roughness. She tightened her grip around him, needing more.
"Jesus." He grunted. He lifted Gabriella up, pulling her closer to him. She wrapped her legs around him, giving him better access, which he wasted no time pursuing, thrusting fast and deep.
"Harder!" she demanded, moaning loudly as her demands were met. "Harder!"
In and out, in and out he went, attacking her at thrust. Gabriella held onto him tight as she returned his thrusts with hard ones of her own.
"You like that?" Rob teased. He could feel Gabriella's body trembling from the orgasms that were awakening inside of her.
She kissed him hungrily, biting his bottom lip hard. "I-" she moaned as a wave of pleasure washed over her. Another orgasm tantalizing her body. "Fucking love it."
Every thrust, every kiss, every touch was like a lever that plucked her from the demon's pit, lifting her toward the clear, safe surface. Pulling her higher and higher.
"Harder!" she practically screamed. He was in so fucking deep; she could feel his dick tearing up her vagina.
"So-fucking-tight!" Rob growled in between each groan. He grunted loudly as he felt Gabriella's walls tightening up around him. His body was shaking giddily in anticipation. "Fuck! I'm gonna cum!"
"Then catch up with me," Gabriella challenged. "Because I'm about to burst."
They pounded against each other, sweat dripping from their bodies, slick-damp skin slapping against slick-damp skin, nails clawing at skin until their peaks were reached and their climaxes exploded into what felt like a dozen, exhilarating sequences.
Gabriella bit hard on Rob's shoulder, trying to take on the greatly masses of pleasure that rocked her body in an endless cycle. The pleasure was so much, so good, she couldn't hold in it. She threw her head back and screamed out loud, feeling like a star shooting through the star.
She never felt so free. So safe.
Later on, Gabriella rolled off a panting Rob and onto the left side of the bed, panting heavily herself. She felt as if she just completed two marathons and a Madame Gorksi's body-killing rehearsal.
"That was wow." Rob said with a grin on his face.
Gabriella turned her head over to him, a smirk hanging on the right corner of her mouth. "I know."
A night with Rob, four rounds of great sex, along with some nice make-out sessions, bottles of Heineken, and fresh pot Rob picked up from Tim's dorm was just what Gabriella needed. It as if the sex, kisses, liquor, and weed, created a safe, warm cocoon around her. One that protected her as well as her walls, closing off the demons that tried to make their way through.
She couldn't remember the last time she felt so detached from her problems. The last time she felt so warm. But then again, her detached warmness could be pointed to the beer and weed.
Speaking of which…
"Pass me the bong." Gabriella held out her hand.
Rob rolled his eyes, grumbling about being treated like a servant in his own house, but nevertheless handed her the bong and his lighter.
Taking in a deep breath, Gabriella closed her eyes, leaned into the mouthpiece, and deeply inhaled.
In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…
A beautiful, soft sensation unfolded in her brain, spreading throughout her head, then traveling down her body until everything was in a complete, dream-like haze. Sighing in pleasure, Gabriella leaned back on the pillow, feeling as content as a cat after a long nap.
She smiled at Rob, purring "God bless pot."
"Ahem to that." Rob agreed, taking some for himself. "Good Lord, bless the sweetness that is marijuana. And great sex."
Snaking his around Gabriella's shoulders, he gave her a charming smile. "And if you're ever in any physical need or need a sex charge, please don't hesitate to call Dr. Sex. I'm always available for my patients."
Dr. Sex? What a fucking nut. Gabriella laughed at her friend, shaking him away. Unfazed, Rob swung out his leg, sat up, and stretched. He then walked over to his small kitchen, not even bothering to throw some clothes on his nude body.
"That's funny," Gabriella commented. "Because when I came over here for a house visit, Dr. Sex seemed more like Dr. Crabby."
With his head buried in the fridge, body hunched over, awarding Gabriella a full view of his butt, Rob waved a dismissive hand. "Even Dr. Sex needs beauty sleep," He turned over to give Gabriella a bright smile that would beat a beauty's queen, running his finger over his face. "How else do think I maintain such a beautiful face?"
Wow. Someone definitely was in love with himself. Gabriella took another hit from the bang, titling her head back to release a cloud of thick smoke. She cocked her head, studying Rob. "Hate to break it to you, Robbie, but," She shrugged her shoulders. "Seeing that your face rivals that of Dorian Gray's portrait, I think you could use some more beauty sleep. Like a good, thousand-year worth."
Rob gave her such a nasty scowl, it was comical. Gabriella did little to contain her chuckles, lying back in the bed as she laughed loudly. Calling her a smartass under his breath, Rob rolled his eyes before going back to the fridge. "Want a beer?"
"Please." Three bottles of Heineken and three shots of Jack, she still wasn't drunk yet. Very tipsy? Yes. Drunk? No. And she wanted to be drunk, so drunk that she couldn't remember today. So damn drunk till she couldn't remember the awful meeting that went down today with her social worker. So damn drunk till she couldn't recall the surprisingly, incredible softness that was Pup's lips.
Dear Jesus, the fact she actually still remembered that proved that she wasn't drunk.
Gabriella took in a deep breath of the bong, feeling her troubling thoughts getting pushed to side by the smoke. While she was inhaling, Rob was still looking through his fridge. "Want food to go with that? I got a full box of Papa Gino's pizza, two bacon and egg sandwiches from Mario's, and half a sweet onion chicken teriyaki from Subway."
Gabriella's stomach answered for her, practically screaming tortured wails.
"Okay," Rob drawled after a long moment. "I'll take that city earthquake as a yes to all three."
"Fuck you."
"Maybe after our late night snack."
Rolling her eyes, Gabriella took another hit of the bong. Rob heated the pizza in the microwave, ripping the slices apart from the large pie and setting them all on a plate. While they were heating up, he brought over the sandwiches and a six pack of Budweiser.
"Hope these suits to your liking, Madame." he teased.
"Why, actually it does." she repiled. She grinned at the sight of the food. The last thing she had to eat for today was a ham sandwich she got from the school's cafeteria, and that was at noon. She brought the sweet onion-chicken sub to her face and inhaled half of it.
"Damn." Rob remarked on her monstrous bite.
"Yes, Rob, girls can be just as ravenous as guys. Alert the media." Gabriella socked him on the shoulder. She finished off the sandwich in three bites.
Like the wise-ass he was, Rob smirked. Thankfully, the timer going off from the microwave silenced the wise-ass comment she knew he was ready to make. A good thing, too, otherwise she would have socked him again, but at a different area. When he came back with the pizza, he set the hot plate between them and picked up his beer, twisting off the cap and raising it high. "Cheers."
Gabriella cocked a questioning eyebrow. "To what?"
"To hungry stomachs, junk food, strong pot, cold beer, and great sex."
Though it was a ridiculous proposal, Gabriella tapped her bottle against Rob's. "Cheers."
"Bottoms up." In union, the two titled back their heads and swallowed down more than half the bottle.
Rob had little of the food, which Gabriella took as an invitation to help herself of the snack buffet. And helping herself, she did, chomping down both the breakfast sandwiches and eating half the pizza.
"Not that I'm complaining or anything," he said. "But is there a particular reason for this visit?"
A crack chipped at the side of her warm cocoon, allowing the cold darkness to seep through it. Gabriella shoved a whole slice of pepperoni pizza in her mouth, chewing slowly to delay time. Issue was Rob had the patience of a saint, so she knew her trick was unsuccessful.
Rolling her eyes in annoyance, she shrugged "Maybe I needed a fill."
Rob didn't seem to buy that one, but, hell, it was his problem. She helped herself to another slice, washing down with another beer.
Rob studied Gabriella closely. There was something off with her. He could feel it. It was the way she stubbornly kept her eyes straight ahead as she ate. The way her body stiffen for a moment before she forced herself to relax. There was also the defiant drop-it tone she had in her voice that was a dead giveaway.
He thought back for a moment about whether or not he should ask questions. Ordinarily, he wasn't one for pushing, especially when it came to the feisty Gabriella who had no problems pushing back when pushed. But something was wrong. The look she had in her eyes that she tried to push away with the feline smile on her lips set an uneasy feeling in his stomach. It was almost the exact same look she had in her eyes when she came over to his apartment in November, troubled by the business going on from across the street. She was upset then as she was now. And he knew he wouldn't be a good friend if he didn't ask.
"Are you sure that's all?"
"Just all that matters." Her eyes snapped back to his. The drop-it-or-things-will-get-real-ugly tone hanging heavily in her voice. "Okay?"
"Okay?" he shrugged.
"Good." she smirked.
She rewarded his obedience with a kiss. It was a kiss that was a meant to be brief, but Rob grabbed her before she could pull back. Entangling his hand in her black hair, he played with her bottom lip, licking and nibbling it playfully, signaling a need for entrance. Giving in with a giggle, Gabriella responded to his kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Isn't this better than asking stupid questions?" Gabriella bit his bottom lip hard.
Rob moaned, pulling Gabriella's body over his. Neither of them paid attention to the food that was knocked to the floor.
"I ask because I care." Rob commented against her lips.
Gabriella pulled back, a feline smile spreading across her face. Rob was propped up in second, protests on the tip of his tongue, ready to fire. Then he was brought back down in a second by the soft touch of Gabriella's hand brushing against his excited friend. He closed his eyes and cried out.
Gabriella looked down at Rob's dick that was practically growing before her eyes, then looked up at him. His eyes were shut tight. His mouth agape, releasing tormented groan after tormented groan. She stroked his dick back and forth in slow motion, raising the volume of his moans that went from soft to loud cries. She smirked, amused. Still stroking, she said "I can think of more, interesting ways to show me how much you care."
Rob looked up, a predatory gleam in his eye. Gabriella's smirk widened to a full, alluring smile. Before long, she found herself lying underneath Rob, eyes shut tight and a pleased smile splashed across her lips as he entered her and started his lap.
"That's more like it." she moaned.
And there you have it, my readers. Chapter 21 of ET. Hope it was to your liking. Now we all know the reason for Javier's abandoment and see once again how Gabriella handles dealing with problems.
Thanks again for the reviewing, favoriting, alerting, and, of course, the reading. You guys are always on my mind when I write and I try to make each chapter as good as it can be. Once again if you have any ideas for what should happen next, tell me. I'm always up for ideas. Also, is there a reader who happens to be really good in Spanish?