Amara looked up from her chair and laughed at the sight before her. Scott was carrying a wriggling Kendra towards the pool. With every step closer, Kendra got louder and squirmed more, which just made Scott laugh harder.
"Don't you dare! I don't wan...." She never finished. With one swift, easy movement Scott threw her out as far as he could into the pool.
"Ha, ha score!" Scott yelled.
In the pool, Kendra popped up and swam to the side, got out and stormed up behind him. Scott slapped hands with Chris before turning around to Kendra. "It was a joke, you know. Just..." Without warning, Kendra suddenly leaped at him and they both fell into the pool. From her chair Amara laughed and sat up, ready for a swim.
Behind her, Daniel crept up slowly then plopped down behind her on the chair and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his head on her shoulder. "Hey sleepy head." Amara said placing her hands over his. "When did you finally get up?"
"Mmmmmm...." He murmured into her shoulder, "about a half hour ago. You?"
"I've been up a good two hours." She said laughing as his wandering hands slid up her back to her neck and toyed with the strings. She reached up and took hold of them. "You know what Danny Boy?" she pulled him up off the chair and held his hands, walking backwards, "I think...you need to cool off!" And with that she pushed him into the pool.
Scott, all ready out and drying, heard the splash and turned around. "Hey," he yelled behind her, "don't push him! He's my friend!" He ran up to her and she turned just as he reached out to push her, though before going in she grabbed his wrists and pulled him along. After that everyone jumped in, laughing and swimming and splashing each other with the cool water. They all broke out into a fit of giggles suddenly and couldn't stop as everyone began to pounce on one another and push them under. Amara nailed Daniel, but he came back up and got her, holding her with his legs and tickling her under the water.
As Amara surfaced breathing hard, she heard her name being called. "Amara! Hey, over here!" She cleared her eyes of water and saw Lori coming through the gate, followed by Jesse. Daniel surfaced a few seconds later and Amara felt him come up beside her. He found her hand under the water and squeezed it once reassuringly. She wasn't alone in this, he was saying. She knew that and thanked him by squeezing back before letting go and swimming to the side. She got out and quickly dried off while gathering her things then walked out with her friends gazing after her.
It was humid in the apartment even though all the lights had been turned off. Amara, in her bedroom, stared up at the ceiling watching the fan go around in circles.
She was alone, but she didn't mind. Being around people didn't interest her right now. The silence in the apartment was comforting, made her feel at peace. She could feel herself start to relax as she stretched out her arms and breathed in. Then the knock came.
"Amara?"
She came out of her trance and sat up slightly annoyed. A wave of dizziness came as she got up off the floor but quickly passed as she walked down the hall to the door. When she opened it Scott stood outside.
"Hey you. Lemme in."
She stepped aside quietly and he walked into the middle of the living room and stood there. After closing the door, Amara turned around and walked over the the couch. "What do you want?" she asked, ploppin into it.
Scott sat down gently also, getting comfortable before speaking. "Jesse asked me to come up. He's out back, by his car. Now, I know what happened the other night, but he's really insistent on you coming down." She opened her mouth to protest but he cut her off. "Just...just to talk. That's all he wants to do."
"What if I don't want to "talk" to him?"
Scott sgrugged and stood up. He walked across the room and got as far as the door before turning around. "I have never seen two people so violent as you and Jesse were the other night. What happened with you two?"
Amara shrugged her shoulders and leaned back against the couch, staring out the window.
"Fine. Keep it hidden and protected. But hear this Amara. It will only eat you up inside and tear away at you and hurt you more than it would to tell someone. I haven't known you long Amara, but I know enough to realize that you hold it inside and that's not good. So damn it! Do something about it!" The door slammed as he walked out.
On the couch a tear slid down Amara's face.
It had gotten warmer since the morning. Amara could feel little beads of sweat develop in her as she walked out to the back of the apartment. She could still hear shouts of laughter coming form the pool, but they faded as she got farther away. She came around the car and saw Jesse immediately. There were few cars so it wasnt hard. He stood at the back of his car checking something in the trunk. She stopped about four feet away from him.
"Hey, how's it going?"
She ignored his greeting. "What do you want?"
He chuckled softly. "All right, I see. I just wanted to talk to you for a while. Is that a problem?"
"No."
"Good." He came around to the side of the car and leaned against it, crossing his arms. "I wanted to...apologize for the other night. I was way out of line and shouldn't have said or done what I did. I don't know what got into me. I embarassed myself and hurt you, and I'm sorry for that."
Amara stared at him, shocked, but showing no sign of it on her face. She crossed her arms also and sighed. "Yeah, well it's too late for apologizing. You should have done that a long, and I mean A LONG time ago."
"I know, but I figured you didn't want to talk to me so I stayed away for a few days..."
"I'm not just talking about that!" She yelled interrupting him and uncrossed her arms. He stared at her blankly. "You raped me a year ago and you expect me to forget about it?! Or have you forgotten about it? For so long I have lived in fear of men because all I could think about when I was alone with them was whether or not I could make it to the door if they tried to hurt me. You did that to me! You took away my sense of security, the feeling of being safe with someone." Her eyes were filling but she didn't dare to cry. "But I'm tired of it! I'm tired of pretending to be your friend in front of people when all I want to do is rip your head off! You're done! I've already told Daniel and I'm going to tell the others. Chris and Natalie, Scott, Kendra, Lori, all of them. By tonight you won't have a friend here."
There was silence between them for a moment, then something snapped. Like a string being pulled forcefully apart. Jesse came up to her suddenly, grabbing her arm roughly. With one quick movement he twsted it around her back and pushed her up against the side of the car. She tasted blood in her mouth and her vision blurred and for a second she saw stars. Her arm was pinned to her back by Jesse while the other struggled to push her body away from the car. Jesse leaned against her and grabbed it, slamming it down to the car's hood. "So you got a protector now, eh? You screw him yet? Huh? Was it good, better than me? Well?!" He pulled her arm tighter behind her and she bit her lip so as not to cry out in pain. "You are not telling anyone, you hear me? No one!"
"Go to hell." Amara whispered.
He laughed sadistically. "Ooohh. You think I'm scard of that shit Daniel? Well you can both kiss my ass. But hear this," he spun her around to face him, holding her arms out against the the windows of the car, "if you tell anyone, ANYONE, what happened a year ago will seem petty. I'll make you beg and plead. Got that?"
She spit in his face and he slapped her. Hard. Her head rolled to the side as her nose began to bleed and she felt her knees give out. Only by Jesse's firm grip on her was she able to stay standing up.
Suddenly the sun was blocked out.
"You sick son of a..."
Amara felt Jesse release his grip oin her and she slid down the side of the car to the pavement. Momentarily dazed, she looked up to see Daniel pinning Jesse to the hood of a nearby car, puncing him over and over again, swinging with such anger and force Amara was afraid to call out. Around the corner of the building Scott, Kendra and Lori appeared, stopping short at Jesse and Daniel fighting. Scott ran towards them and Amara waved over Kendra and Lori.
"Oh my god Amara," Kendra gasped dropping down to the ground, "what happened?"
"Jesse," she murmured quickly, "hey I thought Lori was with you?"
"She was. But she went to go call the..." She didn't need to finish. They both heard the sirens at the same time as the cars careened around the corner of the building. Grabbing onto Kendra's arm Amara hoisted herself up. A crowd had gathered now, and three men ran out quickly to help break up the fighting pair. One helped Scot hold Daniel while the other two pinned Jesse down to the car. The two cops quickly ran over and cuffed Daniel and Jesse, reading them their rights as they lead them to the car.
"Daniel!" Amara yelled and started towards him but Kendra held her back.
"No. They'll probably take them to the station." Daniel looked over the cops shoulder with worry written across his face. He smiled a little when he saw Amara. "We'll get him later," Kendra began to guide her away, "come on. Let's get you cleaned up."
"No. I wan...want to stay..." Amara trailed off as her eyes fluttered and she suddenly went limp in Kendra's arms.
"...be alright?"
"Yes.....mild concussion, swollen nose...today is possible..."
Bits and pieces of the conversation drifted towards Amara as she struggled to wake up. She was dreaming she was in a room with all the lights shut off. She heard the sound of a switch beign flipped and soon blood began to pour into the room, washing over her feet and covering the floor. She was suddenly outside her body, watching herself stand there, perfectly still, as the blood rose higher and higher...
"Wait, I think she's waking up. Amara, honey can you hear me?"
Slowly Amara opened her eyes, wincing some at the glare of the hospital lights, then focusing her eyes onn Kendra. She stood beside the bed looking down at her with a doctor behind her. Amara licked her lips and smiled. "Hey."
Kendra smiled back. "Hey you. How do you feel?"
With a grunt she pushed herself up and leaned back, bringing a hand to her head. "Like I just got hit by a truck."
Kendra and the doctor both laughed. "Well that would be due to the fact that you had a pretty good fall there." The doctor said coming around the bed. "Hello, I'm Dr. Simpson. It's good to finally talk to you." He said extending his hand.
"Likewise." Amara shook it. "So, what is and what is not broken with me doc?"
"Well, surprisingly very little. You have a swollen nose, black eye and a very mild concussion..."
"Wait, wait, wait. Mild concussion? From what?"
"From your fall. Apparently, from what I was told by your friend here, you fell so fast that no one could get there in time to reach you."
Amara looked over at Kendra. "Thanks a lot Kendra!"
"Well hey," she cried out defensively, "you did go down pretty fast!"
Amara smiled at her as she laughed then turned back to Dr. Simpson. "So, is that it? I mean, is it too serious that I can't go home?"
"No, not at all. If you would just let me do a quick look over here and get you your release forms you're free to go." He replied with a broad smile.
"Good," Amara said rubbing her stomach as it emitted a growl, "because I'm starving!"
At home that afternoon Amara sat on the couch while Kendra called the rest of the group to tell them she was okay. The conversations were short and Kendra returned to the living room quickly, sitting down on the chair across from Amara.
"They all want to come over. I told them that was fine." She looked more closely for a mintue. "You okay?"
Amara smiled weakly. "Yeah, just tired and drained. Fainting takes alot out of you." Kendra chuckled.
"Yeah well how about some sleep, eh?" She got up and came over to Amara, pulling her up out of the chair. "Otherwise, when everyone gets here..."
"No, don't make me get up. I just got down!" Amara interrupted protesting.
"Nope, get your ass up. Otherwise when everyone gets here, you'll look horrible. You'll be a mess. And we wouldn't want to look horrible in front of Danny boy now would we?"
"Daniel will be here?"
"Yup. Scott found Lori after we left for the hospital. They came over to see you but you weren't up, so I sent them to get Daniel. They'll be here too."
"And Jesse?"
Kendra looked over with a face that said, "What a stupid question.' Amara nodded and sighed with relief. "Now," Kendra ordered with a gentle push, "nap time."
Amara smiled. "Love you too, MOM!"
"Is she up?"
"No, and shhhhhh. You're loud! She's only been out for about a half an hour. Let her sleep."
"Damn!" Silence. Then quietr. "Damn. This is unbelieveable! How coud Jesse do....how the fuc..."
The conversation stopped as Amaa rounded the corner. Seated in her living room were Kendra, Natalie and Chris. Kendra and Chris had been the ones talking buts topped and now looked up at her along with Natalie.
"Hey guys."
Chris got up and came over to her, hugging her. She just stood there and smiled some. HE leaned back and looked her in the face. "Are you okay kiddo?"
"Yeah." She smiled and laughed at his concern. "I'm alright. I just got smacked around a bit. That's all." She walked around him and over too the couch, sitting beside Natalie. Chris turned turned around and stared at her, eyes wide.
"Just smacked around a bit? Are you...do...what the hell are you talking about? That bastard gave you a black eye and a swollen nose! I wouldn't exactly consider that something small!"
Amara ignored him and turned to Kendra. "Where's Lori and Scott?"
"They haven't gotten here yet. They called earlier right after you fell asleep. Things were slow so it might be a while."
"Oh." She was disappointed but also relieved somehow. The thought of seeing Daniel after what happened put butterflies in her stomach and made her palms sweaty. Having Daniel see her like that made her feel weird inside.
A car outside made her jump and everyone looked out towarsd the lot in front. "No Daniel," Natalie reported, "just a bunch of guys," Below them the bass sound of a system began to play. Natalie pointed down and smiled. "Probably for that party down there."
For the next half hour they all sat and waited. More cars came and went, each one making Amara more anxious. By 4:30 Amara stood up.
"I'm gonna go to my room and...and read or something." Kendra smiled at her as she walked out down the hall. Halfway there she heard Natalie call out to her. "Amara! They're here!"
She froze suddenly and darted into the bathroom at the right, cracking the door a little to hear what went on. She heard a knock a saw Kendra go open the door, then muffled talking. The door closed and the voices were clearer now.
"Hey." Daniel.
"Hey. Lori, how you doing?" Kendra.
"Fine."
Everything got quiet. Opening the door she slipped out and closed it behind her. She now stood in the hall waiting for someone to say something. Going out and talking in front of the rest of them was not how she wanted to talk to Daniel. They needed to be alone.
Chris was the next person to speak. "She's in her room, man."
That made Amara move. She ran down to the end of the hall and into her room. She left the door open slightly, then hopped onto her bed and laid down, trying to calm her racing heart.
She heard the knock at her door and breathed in, holding it. Her heart started racing again, but she scolded herself. "This is ridiculous" She swung her legs over and went over opening the door.
Daniel looked up at her face and drew in his breath in a low whistle. "Agh. Damn that mother....," he stopped when he saw the look in her eyes and put his hand gently against her cheek, "how are you?"
She shook her head as her eyes welled up and her lip trembled. "I am...uh, I'm fine."
Daniel smiled and shook his head from side to side and opened his arms. Amara stepped in and felt him embrace her in a hug. She put her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, trying to keep the tears inside. God, she was tired....
