Part 27
I run up the stairs to Michael´s apartment; it's already after 6 pm now. Maybe he´s already worried about where I am, 'cause I told him I would be there at 4 o'clock. I wanted to call him right after I left Billy's, but the damn battery on the cell phone is dead. Breathless I try to find the key in my bag after I reach his front door.
Some voices from inside cause me to hesitate. "She's with the Hurricanes, Michael. I saw one of them picking her up at school." It's Kyle's voice. Damn.
"Maybe she was forced to go there," Michael answers, and I can tell that he´s pissed.
"Or maybe, she´s just a traitor and you fell for her!" That was Max and he doesn't sound very pleasant either. Great, so now they think I betrayed them.
"Bullshit, Max. We have to go and find her."
"Max, tell him that he´s insane," Kyle complains. "We can´t just go to the Hurricanes. Maybe it's a trap and they're all waiting for you to show up there."
"Michael, Kyle is right. Traitor or not, she´s on her own there. We can´t do anything."
"My girlfriend is possibly at Billy's place, her cell is turned off, and you tellin' me I should just sit here and wait..."
Suddenly my hand wraps around the cold metal of the key in my bag. I pull it out and in less than a second and I open the door wildly. "Stop yelling at each other. I'm here now."
For a few moments they all look in my direction, puzzled. "She has a key to your apartment? I don't have one!" Kyle hisses angrily.
"Maria," Michael takes several long steps towards me, "why didn't you use your damn cell? Where have you been?" He´s more than pissed.
"I was at Billy´s place, I couldn´t call you and then the battery on this thing went dead."
"You promised me you wouldn't go to him. So what the fuck did you do there?"
"Stop yelling at me!" I grumble, also a little pissed now.
"We're leaving!" Max says. "She's back, she´s alive. This whole racket was for no reason." Max and Kyle make their way to the front door.
"Yeah, thanks for your help," Michael mutters in a sacastic tone.
"You´d better stay," I reply, calmer now as I look in Max' direction. "They kidnapped Liz."
"What?" he screams and grabs my arm in one quick movement.
"Let her go, Max," Michael orders.
"They have Liz. BILLY has Liz." I repeat and stare into Max' angry eyes.
"Bullshit! You're lying. Liz is at work"
"Fine, if you think so, then go on and believe whatever you want," I snap back.
Without another word, Max storms out of the apartment and Michael motions for Kyle to follow him before he kicks the door shut with one of his feet.
"I´m not lying, Michael. Liz is there. I saw her and I talked to her." My voice quivers from lack of control over my feelings.
"I know," he answers and I´m glad that he sounds normal again. His strong arms pull me into a hug, and it feels so good to be with him again.
"I just went with Sean after school 'cause he told me that they had Liz. I had to see if she's okay," I mutter against his chest.
He guides me to the sofa and sits down on it, pulling me into his lap. His hands grasp my face softly, so that I have to look straight into his eyes. "Did he hurt you?"
"No." Tears are running down my cheeks and he brushes them away with his thumbs. "But he hurt Liz. We have to get her out of there."
Suddenly the front door is thrown open again. "Tell me every detail!" Max orders, totally flustered as he sits down next to us on the armchair. Kyle follows him and shuts the door behind him, leaning back then with his arms crossed.
"What makes you finally believe her?" Michael asks his best friend, his expression confused. I scramble out of his lap to sit down next to him.
"I called Liz at work, but the other woman told me that she never made it there today." He sounds desperate to me. "Why didn´t you do something to get her out of there?"
"'Cause the whole gang is there right now. How was I supposed to get her out without the others noticing?"
"Then you should have stayed with her, if you're saying you're not a Hurricane anymore. She's all alone now with those bastards."
"That's enough!" Michael leans forward, so that Max can´t look at me anymore and has to focus on him instead. "Are you really asking her why she got out of there?"
"Michael," I lay one hand on his shoulder, "it´s okay." His muscles relax then and he leans back again. I know that Max is just acting so weird, 'cause he´s scared about his girlfriend.
I focus on him again and speak to him with a calm tone: "Liz told me to go. I didn´t want to, but she demanded it. She said I should go to you and tell you."
"Where does that sonofabitch live?" he wants to know. "I`m getting her out there now and I will kill him if it´s necessary."
"I also promised Liz that I wouldn't let you go to get her now. Billy has a gun and he'll use it if any of you tried to get in there."
A sudden knock on the door interrupts us. "Who´s that?" Michael asks Kyle, who´s looking through the spyhole.
"Lonnie and Alex. Max called them after he found out that Liz wasn´t at work."
Great, now the Bandits will be complete.
Kyle opens the door to let the rest of them in. "I hope it´s important!" Lonnie says the second she walks in. When she comes face to face with me, she rolls her eyes and looks at Michael. "You kidnapped the bitch again? The last time wasn´t very successful; Billy didn't give a damn 'bout her. So why is she here? It's hard enough to put up with her at school."
"We didn't kidnap anybody this time." Max stands up and walks around the room. "She's one of us now, I guess."
I look up at the dark haired man in surprise as the room goes dead silent for a few seconds.
"That´s a joke, right?" Lonnie hisses back at him.
"She's with Michael and she just told us that Billy kidnapped Liz." Max answers.
"Oh, come on. That's a trap. Are you blind or something? What makes you think we can trust her?"
Max gazes at me and speaks to Lonnie. "Michael trusts her and so do I. And that´s that! We have to find a way to get Liz out."
"Well, do the Hurricanes know that she changed fronts?"
"No, not yet," Michael says.
"So, then it's easy. She will get Liz out."
"She's not going there again," Michael replies more to Max than to Lonnie.
Max nods. "Right. She can´t go there again. How would she get her out unnoticed? Billy would kill both of them."
"Maybe I should go back there," I whisper but everyone, especially Michael had heard it.
"What?" He looks at me in horror.
"I can distract Billy so that he won´t hurt her at least."
"That's bullshit, Maria. So you prevent Liz from getting hurt and instead you get hurt. No way! I'm not gonna let that happen."
"Maybe we should call the police?" Alex intervenes now.
"Oh come on, then we would have to testify in court and the Hurricanes would come clean about us, too. And we would all go to jail as well," Lonnie tells him.
"There might be a way to get her out tomorrow afternoon," I suggest.
"What do you mean?" Max asks and sits down again to hear what I have to say.
"There is a skater event in Manhatten tormorrow. They're all goin' there and I asked Billy what they'll do with Liz during the event. He told me that they might lock her in the truck of his car then."
"That could work," Michael muses.
****
Michael opens the front door and enters his own apartment. A quick glance on the watch tells me that it´s already 10pm now. The others left a few hours ago and Michael went down again to check and make sure that Max was alright.
"How is he feeling?" I lift my head from the sofa to look at him questioningly.
He comes over to me and sits down at the end of the couch, so that I´m able to crawl up a little bit to place my head on his thigh. "He's upset, 'cause he knows that he can´t do anything to help Liz right now and he has to wait until tomorrow."
"Yeah, I know exactly how this feels."
"Hey," he lays his hand on my cheek and turns my face until I can look up at him, "don´t feel guilty or anything, okay? They all know that you couldn't do anything."
"I'm trying."
"Wanna go to bed? I´m kind of tired and I want this crappy day to end really soon."
"Yeah, good idea."
Five minutes later we are lying in bed together. Michael wraps his arms around me and pulls me close to his body. "Are you okay?" he whispers and looks down at me while one of his hands caress my hair. I can see just the profile of his face, which is illuminated from the soft light of the moon.
"I can´t stop thinking about Liz," I answer honestly.
He bends down to press his warm lips against mine. "I know. Try to sleep a few hours and tomorrow we will her get out."
I'm still lying awake in Michael's bed. I can´t forget what Billy had told me before I left.
"I definitely want to get laid today. So it´s you or her."
How can I lie here and know that Billy will rape Liz? I have to get back. Carefully I lift myself up and rest on my left ellbow to watch Michael, who´s been asleep for a while now. My fingers brush lightly through his hair. "I´m sorry, Michael, but I have to go." I whisper and press a soft kiss against his right temple before I get out of the bed without waking him up.
I get dressed again in the dark and take my cell phone with the fully-charged battery. I know that there is a little notepad and a pencil at the waredrope next to the front door, so I decide to leave Michael a little message.
Hey,
I´m sorry, but I have to go back to Billy's. There is something I didn´t tell you. Billy said some things to me and I think he will rape Liz if I don't go back. I can´t live and be aware of the fact that I could have saved her from that.
Maria
I glance back at him on the bed one last time and wonder if I will ever have the chance to kiss him again.
****