Chapter 8

Kicked Right in the Gut

June 2004

Bonus Chapter because y'all are so wonderful! Thank you. I'll have posted the entire story by the end of August if the great response keeps up! Thank you.

The next morning, early that next morning, Eric and I made the long drive back to Bon Temps. Pam, Amelia and I had plans to go shopping and out for lunch today. Eric wanted to blow them off so that we could spend the day together and I was more than ready to do that but that plan fell through. His father called him this morning and said that he needed to see him. I can only guess why he needed to see him. He told him that it's of the utmost importance that he gets home as soon as possible. I'm sure that I'm the reason why he needs to see Eric so urgently.

When he'd pulled into the driveway of Pam's home, he said, "Just call me when you, Pam, and Amelia get back and we can do something then."

"That'll be great but tell me something. Did your dad sound upset?" I asked. "I can go with you if he did. I don't mind. You don't have to go and see him alone. We can talk with him together if that'll make things easier. I'm with you if you want me there."

My thoughts went straight to Victor. I know that he and his two flunkies went back and reported what they'd learned to the elder Northman. He had to have been pissed to think that Eric wasn't going to follow in his footsteps.

The feel of Eric squeezing my hand, interrupted my thoughts. "I know that you are. You always have been with me but don't worry. It's probably nothing," he said as he shook his head. "He may need to discuss the job with me before I start for this summer. There's nothing more to it, Sookie. It shouldn't take long."

I didn't believe him but I played along. "Are you going to be okay?" I asked him. "I never meant to cause you any trouble."

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Plus, Father's always liked you. More than likely he's going to congratulate me."

Again, I didn't believe that for a second and from the look on his face, neither did Eric.

He got out of the car and walked around to the passenger's side and helped me from the car. As he pressed my body against the car and his to mine, he said, "I enjoyed this weekend. It was the best weekend of my life."

"It was wonderful," I said as I reached up and hugged him. "You don't know how happy you've made me."

"Regardless of what anyone thinks or what they say, I want to be with you. You are my future, Sookie. Don't let Victor's nonsense get to you. He's nothing. He doesn't matter. I'm not going anywhere. I'll always be with you." We lovingly kissed in the warm sunlight.

"Always?" I asked as I broke the kiss.

"Always," he answered.

I placed my hand to my chest and said, "Yours."

He placed his hand to his and said, "Yours."

"Please," we heard from behind us.

We both rolled our eyes at the sound of the most irritating yet pleasant sounding voice in the world. Our lovely Pam. Being as sweet and supportive as she usually is.

"Do you think my neighbors want to see two horny teenagers making out in my parkway? I don't believe so," she said.

I looked at the ten feet tall trees that hid Pam's house from anyone's view that wasn't standing in the 'parkway'. "How are they going to see us, Pam?"

She looked at the trees and said, "Doesn't matter. Take it to the pool house or to that love shack you two were holed up in all weekend long." Pam then ran from the porch and took a running start in order to jump onto Eric's back. With her arms around his neck, she said, "What the fuck, people? Neither of you answered my calls this weekend and I called several times, I might add. Were you fucking the entire time?" She kissed his cheek and winked at me.

"Why are you so vulgar?" I asked as I rolled my eyes.

She jumped down from Eric's back and said, "I get it from my mum. I missed you guys. Did you think of me?"

"Not once," Eric and I said at the same time.

"Did you at least bring me anything back?" she asked.

"Us," I answered.

Fanning me off, she said, "So, you brought me nothing back?"

Eric laughed as he walked around to the back of the car and got my bags. He placed them on the ground at our feet. "Come to think of it," he said. "I'd forgotten that you'd even existed."

"Fuck you and fuck you double," she said to me and Eric respectively.

Eric leaned down to kiss me good-bye but Pam had other plans. She began to pull me to towards the house. "I'll keep her safe, E. I won't let any other guys hit on your girl except for maybe Bill. We all know how much he wants her." She winked at him and blew him a kiss.

"He can't have me," I said as I stared at Eric.

"Never," he said.

I waved good-bye to him as he walked backwards to his car.

Once inside, we ran upstairs and Amelia was already up there waiting. She was sprawled out across Pam's bed with her hands propping up her head. She said, "Spill, Sookie. I want to know where it happened, how it happened, and how often it happened. Oh, and don't worry about calling Gran. I told her that we were going to stay another night with Pam."

"What about Jason?" I asked.

Amelia waved my question off. "He's on a road trip. He had to drive to Vegas. He'll be back in a couple of days. And don't worry about what Jason's doing either. We want to hear about your weekend. Spill it."

Pam was soon on the bed with Amelia. Both of them were waiting for the report. Before Eric and I left, I told them that I wasn't giving them any details. That special time belonged to me and Eric and it's not meant to be shared with everyone. They both looked at me; jittery with eagerness. Well, maybe I'll tell just a little; they are my best friends. They won't say anything. What's the point in doing it and you don't share it with your best girlfriends?

I told them everything. I'd never seen two girls almost as happy as I was. While they argued over who was right about what Eric and I'd done during our special time, my phone began to vibrate. I took my phone from my pocket and it was Eric.

"I love you"

"Gran?"

"Very funny"

"Oh ... Bill?"

"ROFLMAO … not"

"I love you more"

"It's not possible"

"Call me if you need me"

"I will."

When our texting was over, Pam and Amelia were watching me. "What else happened, Sookie?" Amelia asked. She sat up on the bed and looked at me. "You're not as sad as you were a couple of weeks ago." She looked closer at my face; staring deeply into my eyes. "Yeah, there's something different about you."

Pam studied my face while she tapped her chin with her finger. "You're right, Amelia. First let's figure out what she didn't do. She sucked his cock but she didn't swallow. She's not wearing an engagement ring so we know that didn't happen either. She's still wearing that oversized class ring; which I believe is quite hideous." Pam got down from the bed and walked circles around me. She stopped behind me and said to Amelia, "I don't believe her to be pregnant. I don't think that he came on her tits. She would've been disgusted by that." Shaking her head, said, "I can't figure it out. What happened this weekend?"

"Are you going to tell us or do we have to keep guessing?" Amelia asked. "I can't sit here all day. I'm hungry."

"You two really are nosy." I decided to lie on my stomach and start going through my cell phone.

Pam sat on the floor beside me and started playing with my hair. "Come on, Sookie." She began sectioning my hair off in parts and started braiding it. "You know that you want to tell us. I know what you don't want. You don't want me to ask Eric do you?" She kissed my head as she started on the second braid. "I'll tell him that you said things that you didn't say."

"Don't you dare threaten me, Pamela Ravenscroft. But since you've been so nice about it, I'll tell you. He's going to attend Brown with me."

They both screamed at the top of their lungs. If Pam didn't live in a mansion, we would've have disturbed her aunt and uncle.

Grinning from ear to ear, I told them, "He's changed schools to be with me."

We all screamed together.

"That is so cool," Amelia said once we'd calmed down. "The only thing Jason did for me was put a mini license plate in the passenger side window of his truck with my name on it. And hell," she continued. "He didn't even pay for it. He got it for free for sending in 13 UPC labels off of the boxes of Sugar Smacks. And to make matters worse, he didn't even by the cereal. Gran bought them."

Pam and I filled the room with laughter.

After an hour of comparing the sweet things that guys have done for us, Pam said that we needed to get ready to go. "We've been lying here for almost two hours. We're never gonna leave."

Amelia and I agreed with her. "Yeah," Amelia said. "We need to get a move on. And I'm hungry. It's almost lunchtime."

"We can't waste this day," Pam replied.

She never moved. Neither of us did. Pam talked about going to Texas A&M. Amelia talked about her dad sending her allowance check and it being short a couple hundred dollars and she didn't know why. I thought about Eric. He hadn't called as he said he would. I could only imagine what he and his father were discussing. I also wondered if Victor told Appius about my and Eric's life plan. I wondered if Victor was there with them. Those thoughts began to drag me down so I decided to let it go. Anyway, who gives a rat's ass what they think? Nothing is going to tear me and Eric apart. We're going to be just fine.

"Hey," I said. "We need to get ready to go. It's almost dinnertime and I'm sooo hungry."

And once again, we never moved. We never had dinner. We spent too much time laying around and talking so we ate snacks. Tons and tons of snacks. We didn't plan out our day very well when it came to eating. Pam suggested dancing so that we could burn off the calories of the cookies and chips. I wanted to stay at her house and go to sleep but they wouldn't hear of it. I just had to go with them. I hesitantly agreed.

Since I still hadn't heard from Eric, I decided to tag along. We showered and changed into our 'Free Drink Getting' clothes; bodycon dresses and stilettos.

While driving to Monroe, Eric called and let me know that he was still with his dad and that he may not get to see me tonight. He said he'd call me before going to bed. I understood. Eric's dad is forceful and commanding. I've seen him when he's not being very rational but I've never seen him like that with his son. All in all, I knew that Eric had no choice. He had to be at home. When it comes to his dad and those businesses, he never has much of a choice. It wasn't really his decision to work with his dad this summer.

"I love you," he said. His voice sounded off and far away. He's usually edgy when dealing with his dad but it was a different sound this time. The feeling was different. He didn't sound right.

"Are you sure that you're okay?" I asked. I tried not to sound afraid but I couldn't help it.

"Yes, Sookie, I'm fine. You have fun and don't worry about me."

"Don't worry about you? That's not going to be possible. How am I not to worry about you when you sound like that? I want to be there for you. Let me be there for you, Eric," I begged. "I can have Pam drop me off before they go to the club."

He paused before speaking. I'd almost believed that he'd say okay but I was wrong. "I can handle this," he said. "You have fun with Pam and Amelia."

I didn't want to have fun with them. I wanted to be with him but I didn't say any more about it. I knew that it would be futile. I sighed and said, "Call me if you need me. I love you." I heard his daddy yelling for him in the background.

"I love you, too. Goodnight, Sookie."

When we'd ended our call, Pam pulled into the parking lot of the bar; 3:00 AM. They actually close their doors at two; go figure. "We are not taking our purses inside. We're going to put them in the boot of the car along with our cell phones. So get out whatever money you need and let's hit the bricks, bitches."

Before Amelia asked where the boot is, I pointed to the trunk. She gave me the A-OK signal.

As I've said, Pam and I grew up together and have always been best friends but she isn't from Louisiana. She's a Ravenscroft and she's from a British hoity toity family. I don't know what hoity toity family she's supposed to be a part of but that's what we've always been told. We've asked Pam dozens of times but she's never really said. She's only ever said that it doesn't matter.

Anyway, her parents wanted her have a normal childhood but they also wanted her to understand who she is and the extraordinary stock that is her family name. There were things that she needed to learn that she couldn't get from the public schools so for a long time, Pam had tutors after school. They couldn't have her running around talking like 'That Stackhouse child'. That's what Ms. Ravenscroft calls me; 'That Stackhouse child'.

Nonetheless, there was no way that her Pam was going to speak with a country twang as I do. She grew up with relatives (aunt and uncle), maids and butlers from the UK so naturally she picked up their accent and their little idioms. She took speech classes to disguise her accent and she knows a dozen different languages. Don't get me wrong. She has never been ashamed of who she is. But she's only ever wanted to fit in. Children were cruel in Bon Temps. They didn't like anyone that was different than they were. They've never cared about anyone else's feelings. That's just the way they are. It's how they are raised. They're cruel for no reason.

As time went on, so was Pam. They made her that way. Any differences that another kid had, those bullies would rag on you about them. Anyway, she took every defensive fighting class she could think of and her daddy was more than happy to pay for them. All I can say is that they never bothered her again. They never called her another unflattering name to her face or behind her back. And if they did, they needed to hope and pray that it never got back to her.

Once everything was 'booted' and locked up, we sauntered up to the doors and we didn't have to wait. We were admitted right into the bar. Because Pam was cool with the bouncers, we didn't even have to flash our fake IDs or pay for admission.

Ten minutes after walking into the bar, we were bombarded by guys wanting to buy us drinks. After about an hour, Pam and Amelia were three sheets to the wind. When I heard them giggling instead of talking, I knew that I was the designated driver. I usually am. I had my usual one drink; a cranberry juice. I watched them as they danced on their barstools.

Amelia was the first to have the groove hit her. Her beautiful smile and pale green eyes lit up as she danced around Pam. Every man in the bar was watching her. She ignored them all. "Come on, Pam. Let's dance!"

Pam slid from her seat and guzzled down the last of her drink. Her blue eyes were glazed after she'd taken her fourth shot. "Let's do it, bitch!"

Amelia and Pam disappeared into the crowd of dancers. The most that I could see of them was their arms as they flailed back and forth in the air. I heard Pam laugh out loud a couple of times. Amelia's laughter soon followed.

"Hello, Miss Stackhouse." His voice echoed loudly in my ear.

I didn't bother to turn around to look at him. That smarmy voice told me everything that I needed to know. "Hi, Mr. Madden," I said.

He leaned onto the bar and said, "Please, dear girl, call me Victor. I'll bet that my name rolls off of your tongue beautifully."

"You're disgusting."

"I'm available."

"You're old enough to be father," I said. My stomach turned at the thought.

"But I'm not," he replied. "But you could call me daddy."

"Pervert."

He laughed. Only a pervert would laugh about being called a pervert.

"You're not upset with me, are you?" he asked.

Still with my back to him, I said, "Nope. I wouldn't waste the time or energy that it takes to be upset on the likes of you. Why are you here? Are you following me now?"

"Not at all, my dear; I am here with a friend and saw you sitting over here all alone. I just thought that I would keep you company while your friends danced the night away." After a moment of silence, he said, "I just left a meeting with Eric and his father. Congratulations are in order."

What was he talking about, congratulations?

I still didn't face him. "Why would you congratulate me on anything? You don't like me."

"Eric's new path in life," he said. "And you're wrong, beautiful. I'm crazy about you."

"Whatever," I answered. I could tell that he wanted to get a rise out of me. I decided to play along. I looked as cool as ever but my insides were in knots … really tight knots. "If it's what Eric wants to do then, I'm happy for him. I will stand by his decisions. I love him. Whatever happens, we'll get through it."

Standing closer to me, he said, "You are a jewel." He nuzzled my hair as he inhaled. He lifted my hair from my shoulder and let it fall through his fingers. "And as I said before, you are quite beautiful; stunning actually. If you'd like, we could leave here and talk things over." He let his finger trace over my shoulder.

"Don't touch me," I said as I glowered at him.

"Are you okay, Sookie?" Dave the bartender asked. He glared angrily at Victor.

I smiled at Dave and nodded. "I'm okay."

Dave didn't believe me. "Leave her the fuck alone, man. Don't touch her again or I'll kick your ass."

"I apologize, Ms. Stackhouse. All's well, Dave." He removed his finger and proceeded to fondle his drink instead.

Dave pointed to the other end of the bar. "I'll be right over there, Sook. If you need me, holler. I'll come running."

"Thanks," I said. And I knew that he would. Dave is hell with a Louisville Slugger. I've seen him use it a couple of times. Victor's smarmy voice stung my ears once again.

"You don't mind him going to Sweden? That leaves Brown out in the cold. And you," Victor added.

"It's okay. I understand that Eric has obligations," I said. Still avoiding Victor's face, I signaled to Dave in order to get his attention. "I'm not worried about it at all."

Sweden? That's why he sounded off. That's why he didn't sound like my Eric. He was leaving me.

Dave was frowning when he returned to my end of the bar. He reached under the bar as he asked, "Is he bothering you again?"

I shook my head no. "I just want a drink."

"What will it be, doll face?" Dave asked as he stared Victor down.

"Another cranberry juice, please." The two minutes that it took for him to pour the drink felt like forever.

Dave winked at me as he slid my drink to me. "Here ya go, sweetie."

"Thanks."

"No prob, Sook." He looked at Victor and said, "I'm watching you, man." He pointed from his eyes to Victor's as he walked to service the other patrons.

Victor laughed. "I'm flattered."

I rested my elbows upon the bar and decided to finally face Eric's and my enemy. "Did you come here because you thought that I didn't know? Did you expect me to fall to pieces? Is that what you wanted to see? Well, Mr. Madden that is not what you'll get. I am much stronger than you believe me to be."

Smiling at me, he said, "I can see that, Ms. Stackhouse. And once again, you have surprised me."

"No tears," I whispered. "Disappointed?"

A woman approached us and told Victor that she was ready. He swallowed the last of his drink before he took her hand. "Not in the least. You could never do that, Miss. Stackhouse; disappoint me, I mean. I just wanted to wish you and Mr. Northman the best." He leaned down and whispered in my ear, "If you ever need anything, call me." He laid his business card on the bar in front of me.

"Good-bye, Mr. Madden."

As soon as I was sure he was gone, I asked Dave to pass me the phone. Once I had it, I began dialing Eric's number. It was hard to do with shaky fingers but I succeeded.

"This is Eric. Leave a message."

Dang it!

"Hey, baby. Call me, please. I'm at 3:00 am. Call the bar and ask for Dave. Tell him that you're calling for me. He'll make sure that I get the message."

He nodded at me and winked as I sat and watched the phone.

I remember when I'd first put in my application for a job at the local McDonald's and I sat by the phone for days waiting for them to call me. Gran said that I needed to give it a rest. "A watched phone never rings."

Just as always, my gran was right. It didn't ring then and it wasn't ringing now.

This was not a good sign. I needed to see Eric so instead of waiting any longer for him to call me, I called a cab. I walked to the end of the bar where Dave was standing. "I'm done with the phone. Tell Pam and Amelia that I'm going and that I've called a cab. When they get ready to leave, call a cab for them too. They can't drive. Have a goodnight."

"Will do, Sook," Dave replied.

I slapped the bar and said, "Thanks for the help with that jerk. Have a good night, Dave."

"Anything for you, Sookie." He winked at me before going back to the brunette at the other end of the bar.

Just as I was walking away, Pam ran up to me and grabbed me from behind. "Where are you going?"

"Home," I said. "I'm tired."

"All that fucking you did this weekend?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said. I could feel my voice beginning to quiver.

She stood upright and looked at me. "Sookie, what's …?"

I hurriedly kissed her and said good night.

She grabbed my arm and spun me around. "I'm coming with you." My formerly tipsy friend had sobered up quickly.

I fanned off her concern. "Oh, Pam, I'm fine. You go on and have fun. I didn't get much sleep this weekend. I'm just tired." I kissed her. "Really, I'm okay."

"Are you going to my house?" she asked.

I shook my head. "I think I'm going to go home." I hugged her and said, "Tell Amelia goodnight for me. I love you. And I'll be fine." As I walked away, I said, "You and Amelia are going to be fine with a ride. I've told Dave to call you guys a cab when you're ready to leave. I still have your keys." I jangled them at her as I left.

Her laughter almost kept my heart from breaking.

Normally, a smiling and happy Pam cheers me right up. It didn't work this time. Her joy didn't help at all. I felt that I had been kicked right in the gut just as my heart had been ripped from my chest.

As far as I'm concerned, life as I knew it, was over.