Part 4
The drab monotony of everyday life October 30th, 2007 – Tuesday - 9.00 am
"Shit!" I hiss realizing the time. I slept in and it's already 9 o'clock.
Sean is still asleep, as I go to the bathroom to shower.
"No school today!" I decide while the hot water is running down my face. Slowly I remember the happenings from the night before. I don´t want to meet Kyle after last night. It was too mortifying, and I feel so stupid.
I stay at Sean's the whole afternoon. About 3:00 pm we walk to the skate park and meet Ava, Brody and Billy. No kiss in greeting today. Well, I don't mind.
Soon after, Ryan arrives too. He waves with a huge bag of weed, easily visible even with the distance between us.
"Wooohooo!" the guys yell.
"Where'd you get the pot from, dude?" Billy asks.
They greet each other with their usual ritual: a handshake here, backslapping there... the typical airy manner.
"I used my connections!" Ryan answers with a grin.
Billy laughs. "Well then, let's get stoned before we go to the Election to party."
Did he just say Election? Tonight?
I remember Kyle's words: Listen, DeLuca, I have a little message for Billy: Stay away from the Election, or else we'll hurt your girlfriend.
Okay, he only said it to creep me out, but still... I'm kinda nervous. You don't have to be a genius to know that it will cause lots of trouble if the Bandits are at Election, too.
"Listen guys! Wouldn't we rather go somewhere else?" I mention but regret it at the same time. Nobody will give a shit about my opinion. Sometimes I think I speak a different language, which nobody understands.
The others look at me, puzzled.
Shit, think of something else, DeLuca.
"Maybe the Bandits will be there, too..." I start.
"Even better! Then we'll smash their faces in." Billy interjects, excited at the prospect.
They all break out in dirty laughter – except from me.
At Ryan's apartment...
We went to Ryan's an hour ago. He's got a huge apartment. I don't know exactly how he earns the money to afford it, but I have a guess: He deals drugs.
Whatever... at least we didn't have to pass the basketball court and the coming confrontation with the Bandits was delayed.
They all sit in a circle now smoking weed. I don't see any reason why I should join them. I've done it before, but it only makes me dozy and calm, so what?
Billy sits down next to me and begins to stroke my leg up and down. He always becomes officious when he smokes pot.
He pulls my legs in his lap as his hands wander under my top. He starts kissing my wildly. I feel his rough stubble on my chin, and then he bites my bottom lip rudely. Does he think this makes me hot?
"We're gonna borrow your bedroom for a minute," Billy says in Ryan's direction, winking at him as he pulls me up from the couch roughly.
I want to scream as the door shuts behind us, but I can't...
He shoves me on the bed and crawls over me. He reaches down to unzip my pants.
"Please, not now!" I whisper timidly.
But he doesn't notice my voice or the tears running down my cheek.
After two minutes it's over. Billy falls down on the bed next to me. His eyes are closed, and he's breathing heavily. I stand up and put on my clothes in no time. All I can think about is: Get out!
I open the door to the living room. The others grin at me, their expressions leering. I just head for the bathroom straight-faced to wash my face and fix my hair.
It's about 11:00 pm as we enter Election.
Billy knows the bouncer, so we don't have to pay the cover at least. Sean and Ryan disappear the moment we're in. I suppose they're going to buy drugs for the whole night.
Ava meets a friend; I've never seen him before. And in the end Billy and Brody vanish to the bar to get some drinks.
So here I am... at Election... all alone.
I look around. Looks like there's no sign of the Bandits... yet. Without thinking about it I climb up on one of the platforms and start to dance. Since I was a young girl I've dreamed about being on stage – to sing and to dance. I know it's only a fantasy, but those dreams keep me from going crazy these days.
Billy and I met here for the first time, when Sean introduced us. I can still remember that day clearly. Billy looked at me, his gaze assessing… he flirted with me the whole night - and I flirted right back. Well, he's a good looking guy, I was alone and I didn't know him at the time. I wish I had.
I dance and dance without stopping, losing myself for at least an hour. I've even forgotten my worries for a while. So much the worse because I'm shocked when I see the Bandits assembled together at the entrance.
I try to carry it off without showing any emotion. Maybe they have no desire to argue and beat us up?
I keep on dancing, but the lightness is gone now. I don't look up, but I still know: He's watching me. RATH is watching me.
I can feel his eyes on me, trailing over my body.
It gives me the willies and so I jump from the platform and push my way through to the bar, searching for the last of the money in my pockets to at least buy a water. Then I sit down on a stool, keeping an eye on the others.
Billy stands on the dance floor with a buxom blond – maybe twenty meters away from me. He's flirting with her, one of his hands on her hip. And then – in a single blow – they're kissing.
I don't feel jealous – only humiliated, because everyone knows that I'm his girlfriend and he doesn't give a shit about me and my feelings.
Tears are flooding my eyes. Why? Why's he kissing another girl in front of me? Why am I nothing to him?
I turn away from them, but instead I meet Rath's gaze. He's looking at me knowingly. I can practically hear his thoughts: Look at your loser-boyfriend. He's cheating on you.
Then Rath breaks through the crowded dance floor – in Billy's direction.
Suddenly the blinders fall from my eyes: The buxom blond ... she's Kyle's little sister Megan.
I stare at them in disbelief.
Damn it!
Does Billy even know who he's kissing out there? I know Megan from school, but Billy has no friggin' idea. I can very well imagine that Kyle instigated his sister's participation on purpose, to tease Billy. Just so the Bandits have a reason to pick a new fight.
I watch Max and Kyle rushing in Billy's direction. They show no concern as they push other patrons away to get to him. Megan steps aside with a big, ugly grin on her face, the same grin I often see on her brother's face.
Kyle lunges out and hits Billy, who's baffled by the unexpected fist in his face. Billy stumbles backwards as blood trickles down from the corner of his mouth.
"You bastard!" Kyle screams over the music. "Take your filthy hands off my sister!"
At that moment, Ryan and Sean appear, only Brody is missing. Maybe he dragged some woman off earlier.
Kyle collars Sean right off the bat and they begin to beat the living hell out of each other.
Max on the other hand grabs Ryan and throws him to the ground.
Billy finally gathers his wits. He wants to go for Max, but suddenly Rath appears out of nowhere. I don't know how he always does that.
He grabs Billy with brute force and presses him to the wall. After all, Brody arrives – he gives Rath a clip in such a way that his bottom lip starts to bleed.
Rath wipes the blood away with his hand, his expression unchanging.
Luckily, some bouncer stops the fight and Billy brings all of the members of the Hurricanes together. He knows that the five-oh will appear soon. It's not the first time that something like this has happened.
"Maria! Come on, let's take off!" Sean screams. His right eye is already swollen badly. He grips my arm and pulls me away. Puzzled I look back again...
… and meet Rath's dark gaze once more tonight.
We had luck on our side; the police didn't get a hold of us.
I'm sitting on my bed at home now, covering my body with a blanket, but I'm still so cold. I'll sleep in jeans and a hoodie tonight, on the off chance that I can sleep.
All I can see through the window is a big, ugly mural and a small, dark alley. But when I lean forward, so that my cheek almost touches the pane, I can see a small piece of the sky.
Why does Billy hurt me all the time? Why do I let him hurt me? Why did Rath observe me the whole night?
Could my life get any worse?
It could….