Voices – Page 25
For four days, Brian and Jen spent most of their time together. Occasionally Brian would excuse himself for no apparent reason, looking concerned, and not return for a few hours. Jen wanted to ask him what the problem was, but knew it was unfair to keep him in the dark about her own issues and not expect the same in return.
Jen neither saw nor heard anything from John in this time, and by the fourth day she had almost convinced herself she didn’t care. The dreams had not come back since the night she had spent with him, though whether that was his influence or the alcohol’s was impossible to say. Jen was thankful either way. She still didn’t sleep well, not like the one night at John’s anyway, but what she got was better than none at all.
Brian tolerated her mood swings, like she knew he would. Jen understood him instinctively, from the first night on. He was the quiet guy that in high school, all of the girls liked to talk to, but none wanted to fuck. He was too safe for them, not exciting, soft and gentle. She guessed under the surface he was as horny as any other guy, he just lacked the cockiness that fueled the ability to flirt.
Under normal circumstances, he would probably meet someone just like him in college, fall madly in love, and provide some really terrific sex for the girl, once the two of them gained some experience. Brian’s circumstances, whatever they might be, were not normal. He was stuck here with Jen, and Jen couldn’t stop thinking about John.
Left with few emotions she was comfortable choosing from to assign to John, she’d settled at last on anger. She supposed that wasn’t fair, but she couldn’t help it. He’d seemed to genuinely care, but it was obvious to her now that all that mattered to him was making the screaming in his head go away. Since this had been accomplished, there was no reason for him to come looking for her.
Fine, she thought. Good. Better off for all of us.
And yet she couldn’t get those green eyes out of her mind.
Brian was away now, excused on one of his mystery errands, and Jen was sitting in their normal spot, on platform H, where light filtered down from the grates overhead. Not a lot, but enough that the area wasn’t pitch black, which was better than nothing. This late in the evening, the light was mostly provided by the neon signs on the buildings above, and the whole area was bathed in a reddish-purple glow.
Jen was dangling her legs over the trestle, drinking from her bottle, smoking a cigarette. She heard a scrape behind her and turned. “Brian?”
“Nuh-uh,” said a gravelly, male voice. “Whatchoo doin’ out here all by yourself, cutie?”
Jen did not feel any immediate fear. She had dealt with this type of situation more times than she could count. She reached into her pocket, wrapped a hand around the switchblade she carried there, and said “Waiting for a friend.”
“I’m friendly,” said the man. “I could be your friend.”
“Thanks, but I have enough already. Why don’t you just keep moving?”
“What if I don’t? You gonna knife me like you did Pete?”
Jen shrugged. “If I have to.”
The figure took a step forward, and Jen could see he was big. Burly. His face was still in shadow. For the first time, Jen felt a little nervous. This was the type of guy who’d probably been threatened with a knife before.
“I can make things easy on you,” said the man.
“I sincerely doubt it.” Jen went ahead and took the knife out, pressing the button. The blade made a soft “snick” as it clicked into place. The man in the shadows chuckled.
“You should put that thing down a’fore you get hurt. I seen what knives can do to pretty faces like yours.”
Oh, Jesus, Jen thought. A tight, cold knot of fear had settled in her stomach. Not fear of what this man might do to her, no. Jen knew she would never allow him to proceed with what he had planned. She was afraid, instead, of what she might have to do to him.
“Turn around and walk away, mister, or you’re going to get hurt. I’m serious.” Jen said.
“Hard way it is, then. You shouldn’t sit with your back to door, hon. It makes this sort of shit way too easy.”
Jen felt a hand grab her right wrist, crushing and twisting, felt her hand go suddenly numb, heard the knife drop to the ground, and understood immediately that she was trapped. Instinctively she turned, squirming, and nearly broke the second man’s grip. She would have, in fact, had she not run squarely into the chest of a third man, who had come up on her left. She made a squawking noise, rebounding off his body, and stumbled backwards, landing on her rump.
The men were on her in an instant.
