Part 23

Save me! Again. December 2nd, 2007 – Sunday – 5:30 pm

I'm kind of nervous. Michael will be here at my flat soon. Yesterday on the phone we agreed that he'll pick up my stuff today, 'cause we won´t have enough time on Monday. I wonder what he thinks about me. Are we friends? Or lovers? Or what? He's never mentioned the kiss between us again. Maybe he doesn´t want us to be anything, because it´s all so difficult. Maybe he just has a guilty conscience about Kyle and the abduction and all the things they did to me. Maybe he just helps me to quiet the voice in his head that tells him that he´s a bad person.

I don´t know. He means so much to me right now, and I hope that we can at least be friends. I'm too scared to inquire about his real intent.

Suddenly there's a knock on the door and my heart jumps with a combination of anticipation and tension. The smile on my lips disappears when I see George on the other side of the door.

George… not Michael.

"What do you want?" I snap.

"So, you're still alive," he mutters.

"Sorry to disappoint you."

"Whatever! I just wanna get some stuff for your mother." He rushes through the door. "What´s that?" He motions to my packed stuff.

"Cartons," I answer dryly.

"Don´t shit me," he almost screams and comes towards me in a hurry.

"I´m moving out of this shithole," I yell back.

"Where to?"

I huff scornfully. "Like I would tell you!"

"You´re an impertinent little slut," he hisses and slaps me in the face.

My head jerks to one side; suddenly I feel kind of dizzy and I struggle to stay upright.

Just as George moves to push me against the wall, a deep male voice stops him. "Don´t touch her."

I'm so glad to see Michael standing in the doorway.

"Who are you? The mack for this little whore here?" He buries his left hand in my hair and drags me along with him.

I wince in pain, but try to hide my weakness as much as I can.

Michael takes a few lage steps forward until he reaches us. "I said, don´t touch her." Then he grabs George's arm, which is holding onto me, and makes him to let me go.

He yelps at Michael's rough handling and tries to shake him off.

"Leave!" Michael tells him angrily.

"You're not in charge here, you son of a bitch!" George tosses back and clenches his fist.

Fortunately, Michael ducks before the punch can hit him. He looks like nothing could agitate him: his expression is cold, his body taut as he stands in the middle of the room like a stonewall.

In the twinkling of an eye, he punches my mother's bimbo in the face and slams him against the wall right next to the door. George almost loses his consciousness for a second and Michael takes the opportunity to throw him out of the flat. "Fuck off, jerk," he tells him and slams the door.

I still stand in the same place where George let go of me a few moments before and I stare at Michael in shock.

"You're okay?" He comes closer.

I nod, still a little shaken. "Yeah!"

He takes my face in his hands and checks my cheek where George hit me. "Does it hurt?"

"Just a little," I lie. Actually, my head feels like it's going to explode with every breath.

"I guess he was you mother´s miserable wretch?"

I nod. "Right… and thank you. You saved me… again."

Michael left after we carried all my stuff out to his car. I don´t have too many things that I'll be taking with me to my new home.

I lie in my bed now and it´s fuckin' cold again. I don´t have any blankets to wrap around me or anything. They're all already in Michael´s car. So now I'm sitting on my empty bed and staring out through the window into a dark and dirty alley. I can´t wait to get away from here. Tomorrow I´ll be in a warm room. I don´t have a bed at Angel´s apartment yet, but I´ll manage it. Maybe I could ask her if I can sleep in the living room until I can afford my own new bed.

"I´ll pick you up from work tomorrow evening and then we´ll take your stuff to your new place," Michael had said before he left.

I´m so glad, that I have him. What would I do without him?

I can´t wait to see him again.

Moving-Day December 3rd, 2007 – Monday – 6:15 pm

"You ready?" Michael asks me.

I put the last few plates in the sink and strip off the apron I wear at work. "Yeah, I think so. God, I'm so excited about my new place," I grin at him widely.

He chuckles. "Yes, I can see that. Come on, then."

30 minutes later…

We're standing in front of Angel´s apartment, loaded with boxes. I almost drop one when I knock on the door.

Angel opens it and smiles kindly. "Hey, Maria, can I help you with this?" She takes one of the boxes from me.

"Hey. I hope you don´t mind that I brought someone with me. This is Michael, and Michael, this is Angel."

"Oh, no, it´s totally okay. Most of the time it´s so boring and quiet in the apartment. Nice to meet you, Michael."

"Hey," he answers simply, but politely.

The next few minutes are spent carrying all of my stuff into my new little room. "Okay, I'll leave you two alone," Angel says after we finish and she takes her leave.

Michael looks around my new room. "I know, it´s kind of small. But I think it´s enough."

"Anything is better than your old place. The room here is fine, but you don´t have a bed or any furniture. Just this little shelf."

"I know, I´ll ask Angel, if I can sleep on the couch until I can afford a bed. But it's warm in here, isn't it? That's cool." I grin.

He smiles down at me. "Yeah, it is."

"Thank you for helping me. I owe you,"

"No, you don't," he denies.

"Oh, I soooo do," I counter.

He shrugs. "Okay, I may take you up on it some time." He grins. "I've gotta go now. Max wants to meet me at a new pub."

I nod. "Okay, I'll see you to the door."

We walk past the living room in silence. "Later, Angel," he calls over his shoulder, then he lowers his gaze. "Bye, Maria. Have fun with your new roommate and your new place. I'll see you." He presses his lips against my temple for a second – and then he´s gone.

I sit down next to Angel on the sofa with a soft smile on my lips.

"Sooo, that was Michael, huh?" She asks, her tone amused as she lifts her eyebrows in question.

"Yes, that was Michael." I try to sound calm.

"He´s hot. Your boyfriend?"

I try to find a way to describe Michael, but I can´t think of anything. "No."

"You're not interested in him?" she asks doubtfully.

I look at her, a little abashed. "I think I am."

"I knew it. It's kind of obvious, you know?"

"Really? That´s bad."

"Bad? Why? You should go for it, before some else does. He's the kinda guy that's in demand, I guess."

"I wish it was so easy."

"It is."

"No." I shake my head, "Believe me, it´s not. You don´t know the whole looooong story about us."

"Wanna tell me? I've nothing going on tonight." She smiles at me.

I think about it for a minute. Maybe I would feel a little better if someone knew my whole story. "Okay. So I think I should start with the fact that I'm a member of a gang. And Michael... he´s a member of another gang..."

I´m lying on the couch now; Angel went to bed a while ago.

I told her the whole Michael-Maria story and she listened in silence. I left out some details, especially the worst fight between Michael and Billy. I don´t want to scare her. After that she had told me that I should trust my gut feelings – and whatever they say... I should go for it.

Well, my gut feeling says that on the one hand it's dangerous to be with Michael, but on the other hand it's dangerous to not to be with him, too.

So tell me, what should I do?