That little sentimental moment was interrupted by a loud banging at the door. I spilled the water that I didn’t remember picking back up. I didn’t speak, but I scooted my parents along. My mom didn’t move, and if she wasn’t moving, my dad wasn’t either. It was his sick way of trying to be there for us now, because he spent so many years doing the opposite. The banging resurfaced, but more violent this time.
“Katarina, open the door.” Chris yelled. He lowered his voice and soon began to beg me to open the door. If I didn’t open the door and let him in, he’d just kick the door down. Plus, if my parents are here, I doubt he’d try anything stupid.
I inch towards the door, reaching toward the knob. I look back at my parents and mouth ‘go’ before I unlocked and opened the door. He smiled as he leaned in the arch way. He looked past me, and at my mom. “Khalia, it’s been a while.” He said, pushing past me, stopping a few inches in front of my mom. “I hope it’s okay that your daughter and I . . . just got engaged.” He looked over at my dad. My dad looks completely confused, and angry. He looked as if Chris said another word, he would hit him.
Technically, I never said yes, but I stood wordlessly by the door. “Bastard,” Mama mumbled.
“Are we leaving, or what?” I asked him, trying to butt in. I didn’t want one of them to say something unwise and set Chris off. His hand lingered by his back pocket, I noticed he also had a gun.
His eyebrows knitted, while staring at my mom. He looked back at me, and then back at my mom. I walked closer to him, grabbed his arm, and tugged him back toward the door. One wrong word, and Chris would want to use the gun he had. I didn’t even know if my mom knew how to use a gun, but if it came to that, either her or my dad better try and grab the one they had.
“Yeah, okay.” He said, slowly walking backwards. When we were halfway out the door, I hear a click. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it wasn’t from my mom’s gun. We both turn around to my mom yielding a gun and pointing it at Chris. His reflexes were quick. He grabbed me to where my entire body was blocking his torso, choking me with one arm, and getting his gun out of his pocket with the other arm. When he does, he points it at my head, instead of at my parents.
I struggle to swallow, as I try and loosen Chris’s grip. I know I had zero chances at removing his arm from my neck entirely. “Khalia, what happened to the friendship we shared? That meant a lot to me,” He said, taking the safety off the gun.
“You mean the one we shared before you ruined my life?” She asked.
“Don’t be selfish, his life was also ruined,” He tilts his head toward my dad. “Plus, judging by the way Katarina treats me, her life was put a bit off track as well,” He added. He said he didn’t mean to kill my sister, yet he brought a gun to my parents’ house. It is either he knew my mother kept her gun after that night at the nursing home, or every word that comes out of his mouth is a lie.
“You let us go, and she’ll never be hurt by my hand. You know I love her . . . right, Khalia?” She didn’t answer. “We are going to walk out of here, and you are going to let us go before you’re fresh out of children.” He threatened. My dad touched my mom’s shoulder, and they exchanged looks. She lowered the gun and released a sob into my dad’s shoulder.
Chris took his chance, and drug me out of the house by my neck. On the way to the car, I struggled, wanting him to slow down or at least to stop pulling me so hard. He was practically carrying me. Almost on cue, as soon as Chris opened the door to put me in, I heard a gunshot from inside my parents’ house.
At this point I didn’t care what Chris would do to me. I pushed him off me with all my might, and sprinted back inside on my raw ankle. Chris followed behind me, but I don’t think he was trying to catch me; he was trying to see who sounded the gun. No wonder it was so easy for me to get away from him.
Chapter 27
When we get back inside my dad is kneeling on the floor next to my mom, making it obvious that she was shot. I run to her side and pull her entire body onto my lap. The tears that I cry now carried rage, and all the sorrow that I’ve ever felt. All of it, crashing down on top of me at once, and completely tearing me apart from the inside, out.
“Why would you do this?” I asked, holding her head up, trying to keep her awake. My dad was crying as well, as I imagined what scale of pain, he might be in right now. I put pressure on the wound on her chest, taking off my shirt to put it over the wound.
“Go call the police, dad,” I screamed. My dad scrambled around, looking for the house phone that I had a few moments ago. It was no use because I felt her body go limp in mine. Her eyes were still fixated on me, widened in shock.
Chris tugged on me, when I looked back at him, I noticed he was crying.
“Let’s go, the police are coming,” He whimpered. He had to pull me a few more times before I budged to get up.
“Mama!” I screamed to the neighborhood, as Chris literally carried me out of the front door. I watched her lay on the floor, motionlessly as my dad returned to the room, talking to the police. I stared at that scene, until I couldn’t see it anymore. I was heated, and so heartbreakingly sad that I couldn’t hold myself together. I started to swat and hit at Chris, as he tried to stuff me in the car. I didn’t mean to, but I managed to slap him in the face. We stopped struggling, stared at each other, and then he went to get in the car himself. My breath rose and fell unevenly, fast, and heavily. I brought my knees up to my chest, burying my face into them.
We didn’t pull off yet. Chris stared angrily at the house. He beat on the steering wheel so loud and hard that he sounded the horn. The noise made me cry louder, and as for Chris, he tried to suppress his emotions. He jerked the car out of the driveway and took a sharp turn. I forgot my blood-soaked shirt. I thought. When I look up and reposition myself, I lean against the window and watch all the houses we passed. I watched the rain drip down the window seal, and I listened to the sound of the thunder. I even timed the gap between each thunder sound. One minute and fifteen seconds between every sound of thunder.
Chris made another sharp turn, making me hit my head on the window. It hurt, but I didn’t voice it. I don’t know how I could do anything right now. And as for my dad, I am so angrily sorry for my dad. I wish I was there.
Chris pulled up into an apartment complex that wasn’t mine at all. He let me out the car. As I step out, I don’t remember what I was fighting him for. Though, I was a bit uncomfortable considering I was half naked, I followed him as he greeted the receptionist, and we went into the elevator. He pushed level two, and we were up into god knows where.
When we get out, he used one of his keys to get into one of the apartments. Going in, was easy, it was who I saw next that made it harder. Bridget Goulding herself. She approached me with anything but a smile on her face, “You again,” she spoke.
I don’t know where the urge came from, but out of nowhere I slapped her, leaving my hand imprint behind on her cheek. She tried to charge at me, but Chris quickly grabbed her, diffusing the situation. I just couldn’t stop thinking about how she could be the other piece of the story. The other girl that helped Chris all this time I keep hearing about. She used my sister’s death as an excuse to keep tabs on me . . . it was twisted, just like her cousin.
“She needs to shower,” He told her, moving her further away from me. “We have some things to take care of tomorrow.” He continued. Bridget looked at her cousin, for the first time since we got here.
“Have you been crying?” She asked. His face was as red as a tomato, and his eyes could match. He shook his head. Chris led me to the bathroom, pointed out the towels for me and told me to go ahead. He respectfully excused himself from the bathroom, and I closed and locked the door behind him. I stared into the mirror before I did anything. I took off my bra, still looking at myself in the mirror, and then my pants and underwear. I hadn’t even realized how much weight I lost. My figure was completely bent out of shame. I didn’t even look like myself anymore, as I observed my fa
cial features. They were sharper than before, and my hair was curly all over my head.
I slowly turn on the shower water, and make it as warm as possible, a little more towards the steamy side. Instead of standing in the shower, I sat. The water directly hit the top of my head, relaxing my hair to stick to my cheeks. I watch as all the dirt and grime wash off me, and down the drain. I didn’t stand up until the water ran clear. I put my face into the spray of water, praying to god that my dad was alright, even though I wasn’t quite religious. I scrubbed at my hair and body with the soap that I found in the shower. Finally, in the longest time, I felt relatively clean; too bad I had to be so miserable in a moment that felt so good.
When I get out, I wrap myself in the towel that Chris showed me. I leave the bathroom, hoping that Bridget wasn’t out there, and she wasn’t.
I step up to Chris, who was standing in the dining space. He held a bag in his hand, that he eventually gave to me. Before I could even see what was in the bag, he was staring at the exposed parts of my body. I go back into the bathroom to avoid his gaze and open the bag in there. There was a new hairbrush, perfume, lotion, underwear, a sports bra, a pair of jeans, a sweatshirt, gauze, and a hair straightener in here.
Bridget had to help him get these things, because he would have never thought to get stuff like this on his own. I put on the lotion, and then I slide on the clothes I bet he took from my apartment. I brushed the tangles out of my hair and plugged in the straightener. I straightened my hair and threw it up in a ponytail. As far as the perfume goes, that isn’t me; I’d rather leave that here for Bridget.
After about forty minutes of getting back to myself, I stuff my old clothes back in the bag with everything else. When I rejoin Chris, he was still alone; I had no idea where Bridget had gone.
“I need something,” I confessed to Chris.
“Anything,”
“I don’t know how to put on the gauzes,” I went into the bag, grabbed the gauze and handed it to Chris. I sat down, and let Chris wrap up my ankle. He caressed my leg and ankle with care. I felt the hairs on my legs start to stick up like static.
“Can we please leave before she gets back?” I asked. Interrupting whatever my body started to feel. I had no idea where we’d go. I didn’t want to go back to that warehouse, but now I wasn’t the one in charge.
He took me back downstairs, and back into the van. I used the bag to protect my hair from the rain because I just straightened it. This time we both got in the back section of the van. The natural blue-gray sunlight was shining in from outside, then when the doors shut us in, darkness surrounded us once more. He got a flashlight, turned it on, and then gave me one. When I turned mine on, I just had it facing away from me, radiating onto the floor.
I sat back against the wall and closed my eyes, though, I’m far from tired. My mind was exhausted though, but I was afraid of sleeping. After what just happened, my nightmares could get severely worse from here on out.
I didn’t want to look at Chris; I didn’t want to stare at the lightning or the thunder outside. I just wanted to see darkness.
“I still have that surprise for you that I mentioned; you’ll see it tomorrow, if not, in a few days.” He spoke. I didn’t answer him, I just let him talk. Flashes of mom, and Marie took turns making their graphic debut in my mind. The ones who didn’t deserve what happened to them.
“Katarina,” Chris interrupted my episode of self-pity and sorrow.
“What?” I asked. I opened my eyes; I could see his face because he had the light shining on him. He seemed genuinely sorry, but I didn’t care. I wanted to be left alone. “Why wouldn’t you just kill me? Both times, with Marie and with my mom. Why threaten to kill me? Doing it would have been much more effective.” I say to him. I had no emotion in my tone; I sounded much like a robot.
“You’ll think differently tomorrow,” He said. If I cared, I would have asked what he was talking about. He reached in between the front seats and got two blankets. They were folded up to make them look smaller. We had to move awkwardly around the back of the van for him to lay one blanket down beneath us, in a way that it also covered the entire surface area of the back-trunk floor. The second blanket would cover us up at night, when it got cold.
“I actually want to go to sleep right now,” I say, taking the blanket from him. I lie down, cover myself up, and listen to the thunder, enjoying the silence emitting from Chris.
……………………………………………………………………………….
When I wake up, the rain has stopped. The flashlights are still on, but there wasn’t anyone holding them. When I look over beside me, Chris was sleeping soundly. Instead of waking him up, I sat up, cracked open one of the doors to the trunk, and stared out at the night, at the sky being illuminated by the moon and stars. It has been a crazy long time since I’ve been able to stare out at the night.
Before I knew it, the sun was rising, and I was still watching the whole thing unfold. It was poetic, the entire thing. I didn’t exactly know the science behind it, but right now, I was so grateful for the warmth coming from the sun, and being able to wake up, and have the privilege to do the things I took for granted.
After a while, the sun shined in and landed right on Chris’ face. He tossed and turned, and eventually woke up. We didn’t speak; instead, he turned off the flashlights, opened the other door to the back, and got out. I followed suit.
“I have some papers to show you,” He yawned. He went into the front of the van, into the glove department, and out came a folder carrying said papers. He handed them to me, and when I opened them, I almost rip every single paper up.
“A marriage license?” I exclaimed. I went through the papers and my side of the information part was filled out and Bridget was our witness. All there was left to do was for me to sign. Chris brought out a pen from his pocket.
“What would doing this help?” I asked.
“We’d be bound eternally, and we wouldn’t be sleeping in the back of a truck for the rest of our lives. After the ceremony, I have a surprise.” He said.
I took the pen from him, and it almost slipped from my sweaty palms. I had a way out of this one; I just needed to figure out a way to execute it. I started slowly at first, but completely signed my shaky signature.
“We have an appointment for today, at nine, so let’s get going,” He spoke.
“As in two hours from now, at nine?” I asked. He nodded. “I’m not wearing a dress,” I said. He didn’t care if I did or didn’t.
“We don’t need two hours for you to get dressed; we need two hours so we can go out to breakfast.” The mention of actual food made my tongue hang out of my mouth.
We got back in the van and drove off. All I could think about was my mom. “Chris, can I ask you something important?” I asked him. I told him my conditions for today, he was reluctant, but he agreed.
Chapter 28
We arrived around the corner from my parents’ house. I had to walk the rest of the way because Chris may be wanted, depending on what story my dad gave. I got out of the van and turned to look at the man who trusted me way too much, but then not at all.
“I’ll be back in this spot around eight-thirty.” He warned. I nodded and ran toward my dad’s house. I can’t believe that I was so upset last night and didn’t fight hard enough to be brought back.
When I arrived, there was only one cop car outside; I expected it to be more. Before I go in, I look through one of the front windows. I noticed David from the back and my dad was facing me. I couldn’t let David see me because he’d want to take me to the station. If Chris thinks I doubled crossed him, he’d go after Chelsea or my
dad, the only two people I had left.
My dad noticed me; I put my finger to my mouth in sign for him not to say anything. I ran to the back of the house and waited for David to leave. When he did, I met my dad in the house.
“How are you?” I asked him. He shrugged. I looked at the kitchen counter and there was a bottle of alcohol on the counter.
“You’ve been drinking?” I asked, biting my lip. He shook his head; I didn’t know if I believed him. “I want to take you to breakfast.” I continued. He seemed afraid of me, considering he still didn’t know the entire story of what was happening. Yesterday must have been so scary for him, scarier than it was for me. I must say, I’m scared for life, but I’m realizing now what kind of guilt he might be carrying around with him.
“Do I still have my sweatshirt with the hood here?” I asked. He nodded. I ran upstairs, got my sweatshirt from my room, and met my dad in the car. I didn’t need it since I was wearing one, but I needed something from that house that I could keep.
I hadn’t seen a TV since I’d been gone, so I don’t know what kind of media David put out there about finding me. I put on my hood, and let my dad drive us to whatever breakfast place he wanted.
We arrived at a place I had never heard of, and I’ve lived in the area my entire life. When we went in and got a table, it was weird. We are used to my mom’s home cooked breakfast, him more than me. I ordered French toast, because it reminded me of my mom, in a way, this breakfast was dedicated to my parents, because I know I’ve been distant lately. It’s too late to take my mom to Trinidad, but it isn’t too late to sit down and hear my dad out.