Static. Part 2

"Something like that."

She nodded, as if she knew it all along. "I'm sure whatever he's done, honey, he didn't mean it. Boys just don't think the same as girls." She chuckled. "We all know that their brains are in their pants, don't we?"

I smiled at her.

"You don't worry about it. He'll be back. If he wants you bad enough he won't ever let you go."

The bus pulled up and I watched as the little old lady got on. As it drove off, I s.h.i.+vered thinking about what she'd just said to me. He'll be back. For some reason I felt an ominous shroud cover me. As if something even worse was going to happen. Although I couldn't possibly imagine what. The possibilities of what had happened to me were already pretty bad.

Pulling my legs tighter to my chest, I started to shake, with teeth chattering, and I didn't stop until Chloe's car pulled up to the curb.

Chapter 4.

"Were you, you know..."

I glanced at Chloe as she drove. It had only taken her twenty minutes to drive downtown to pick me up. By her appearance I a.s.sumed I'd woken her when I called. She still had on her PJ bottoms-h.e.l.lo Kitty smiled at me. "What?"

She pointed to her crotch.

My cheeks flushed. "I don't know."

"Well, how do you feel? Are you hurting there?"

For a few seconds I gauged my body, detecting the different places where I was sore and achy. I shook my head. "My legs are sore. My back and neck hurt. My stomach feels hollowed out. But that could be just because I'm hungry."

"If you had s.e.x, you'd definitely be feeling it. I was sore for three days after doing it with Nick."

I looked out the side window as we drove. "TMI."

"Do you want to go to a doctor just to make sure?"

I shook my head. All I wanted was to go home, have a long hot shower and sleep for about thirty-six hours.

"Are you sure? If you were raped-,"

"The doctor will call the police. I don't want that kind of problem." I tugged at my bangs again. "It's too d.a.m.n embarra.s.sing. I don't even know if anything happened."

"They won't, if we just go to the free clinic and you tell them you want to be tested for an STD."

I eyed her incredulously. "And that's not embarra.s.sing?"

She shrugged. "At least you'd know."

I looked out the window again and chewed on my thumb nail. The truth was I wasn't sure I really wanted to know what happened. Maybe I was better off not knowing. I could keep my fantasy and my sanity.

"I just want to go home and shower and sleep. Oh and eat. I'm starving."

"Okay, but I've got your back if you need me."

I smiled at her. She was my best friend and had been since eighth grade. There wasn't anything we hadn't shared. "I know. Thanks."

We drove in silence, well, except for the Sum 41 CD playing, for the last six minutes it took to get to my place. Chloe pulled to the curb on the treed lined street.

She squeezed my hand before I got out. "Call me later, 'kay?"

"I will." I opened the car door, slid out and trudged up the neatly cut front lawn to the light blue bungalow. When I reached the door, I put my hand on the k.n.o.b but hesitated. My mom was going to be on me within seconds of entering. I had to prepare and get my game face on.

Taking a deep breath, I turned the k.n.o.b, opened the door and went in. After I pulled off my boots, I tossed them in the front closet then padded into the living room. Our cat, d.u.c.h.ess, a seal point Siamese, slunk across the hardwood floor toward me. She squeaked at me as she jumped onto the arm of the sofa so I could pet her. I ran my hand over her silky fur.

"Where's mom, kitty?" I murmured to her.

The cat just purred.

Then I heard footsteps coming down the hall from the kitchen. "Salem?"

"I'm in here."

She came around the corner, her fierce green eyes flas.h.i.+ng in her little pixie face. "Where the h.e.l.l have you been? I called you like five times on your cell?"

"I lost my cell."

She stomped toward me, her bare feet smacking on the floor. "Where did you spend the night? I was worried to death. I just about called the cops."

I could feel tears starting to well again, so instead of looking at my mom I continued to pet d.u.c.h.ess. She arched her back and rubbed against my hand, purring happily.

"Salem, are you going to answer me?"

Mom was just a foot away from me, but I didn't dare look up at her. I knew the tears would come then and I wasn't certain I would be able to stop them. But my mom had an emo radar. She knew when I was feeling down or angry or anything. It was probably because we were a lot alike. And she'd also been a rebellious teenage. So she knew all the tricks of the trade. By some of her stories, I believed she invented some of those tricks.

She put her hand on my bent head. "Are you all right, baby?"

I shook my head, and moved into the safety and sanct.i.ty of her arms. She was little like me, no more than five feet three, but I always felt safe when she hugged me. I buried my face into her neck, inhaling her familiar mango scent-it was her shampoo-and then let the tears fall.

She rubbed a hand up and down my back which always soothed me. "What happened, love? Did you and Chloe have a fight?"

Too choked up with tears, I couldn't speak. I just shook my head.

"Did someone hurt you? You can tell me." I could hear the quiver in her voice. "Don't be afraid to tell me, whatever it is. I'm won't get mad, I promise."

My mom was fierce that way.

When I'd been in fourth grade, two older boys had been picking on me, calling me names, shoving me around at recess. At first I didn't tell my mom, thinking I could handle it or thinking it would only get worse if I did. After three months of it, I had to tell her, I couldn't keep it in any longer. She'd known something was up since I would often be in my room crying after school or I'd fake being ill so I didn't have to go to school.

When I told her, she got this look on her face, the kind of look that told me she'd rip someone a new a.s.s if she could. She marched down to the school, talked to the princ.i.p.al, and demanded the phone numbers of the two boys. At first they wouldn't give them to her, but she was persistent and maybe a bit aggressive. I remember one teacher referring to her as a pitbull.

When she got the numbers she called the boys' parents and proceeded to rip them a new a.s.s too. Needless to say it didn't take long for that s.h.i.+t to roll down hill and the boys stopped bugging me. I think everyone at school, especially the princ.i.p.al and the teachers, were scared of my mom after that. Or at least they looked at her with a mix of respect and fear.

Because of that, I was hesitant to tell her what happened. I knew what she'd do. She wouldn't let this just go away. She wouldn't let me brush it under the bed to be forgotten. No, she'd go after Thane and Malice with a vengeance. Not only because they hurt me, or at least I think they did, but because she'd been in a band, she toured with other rockers and she despised those who preyed on the obsessions and fantasies of groupies.

After one final hiccup, I lifted my head intent on telling her everything, or at least the parts I was certain of, when something inside me broke.

Pain I'd never experienced before ripped through me. As if something, something large was trying to punch and kick its way out of my stomach. Gasping, I doubled over unable to stay upright.

"Salem!" My mom grabbed my arm trying to keep me from falling on my face.

I couldn't get my breath to tell her I was in pain, that something was wrong. Opening and closing my mouth like a guppy, I dug my fingers into her arms holding on for dear life. The abyss was coming for me. And it was dark and scary and full of agony and torture. I didn't want to fall down into it. I knew I'd lose my mind if I did.

Another wave of searing pain ripped through me. I screamed. My body thrashed and writhed under the grip of the dark agony. Spots formed in my vision and the room was spinning making me dizzy. I was going to vomit. Maybe I could purge the violent lashes of pain out of me. There had to be a way to make it stop.

"Mom," I groaned. "I'm dying."

Murmuring to me, she helped me to lie on the sofa putting a pillow behind my head. Tears streaming down my cheeks, I pulled my knees up to my chest to try and cus.h.i.+on the tearing pain. It didn't help, and I could feel my gorge rising. Leaning over the side of the sofa I retched.

"Oh G.o.d." I heard my mom say as she raced out of the room.

I couldn't think past the pain. I couldn't see anything in front of me except dots of black and white. Everything was spinning out of control. And I couldn't hold on, there was nothing to grab. I was going to fly off.

Mom came back with a bucket and a wet washcloth. She set the cool towel on my forehead. It gave me no reprieve. My head seemed like it was going to explode. I was hot and sweaty and every part of my body flashed harshly with pain.

"Jesus, you're burning up."

I wanted to hold my mom's hand. I wanted her to hold me, to make it better, to chase the pain away. Delirious, I reached for her. "Mom," I moaned. "Make it stop."

I don't know if she held me or not. I stopped feeling anything outside my own body and dark agony. I couldn't see anything as well, except for a ball of black light spinning and spinning around in front of me making me sick. How can black light burn?

It seemed like I was being sucked backwards into a long black tunnel. My stomach flipped over as if I was dropping fast, like riding a roller coaster. That light-headed feeling enveloped me. And I smiled. The pain had subsided and I felt as light as a feather, slowly floating down, down to the bottom.

"Salem!"

I heard her voice, but it seemed far off, as if she was calling me from somewhere high above. I wanted to tell her it was okay. That I was fine now, she didn't need to worry. I felt so good; I heard music in my head.

"Breathe, baby! Oh G.o.d, please breathe!"

Spinning, spinning, turning out of control. Sounds of whirring in my ears.

"Don't leave me, baby!"

Floating, floating, on a sea of air. A tinkling of crystal tears.

"Don't die, Salem! G.o.d d.a.m.n you, don't die!"

I'm filled with nothing but static...

Chapter 5.

Someone was humming. It was light and melodic-a song I should've recognized but didn't. Cool pressure on my forehead forced my eyes open.

My mom smiled down at me, her hand stroking my face. "Hey sweetie."

Blinking, I looked at her then beyond her to the room. White blinds were pulled up allowing bright suns.h.i.+ne to beam through an open window. I could hear birds chirping outside. The walls were white, as were the ceiling tiles. And the curtain separating my bed from the rest of the room was sunny yellow. I supposed it should've all been cheerful, but the fact that I was laying in a hospital room didn't make me feel all that cheerful. How the h.e.l.l did I get here? All I remembered was crying in my mom's arms. Then after that it was pretty much a black hole.

"Hey," I croaked. My mouth and throat were really dry as if all the moisture had been sucked out of my flesh.

"Are you thirsty?"

I nodded.

She grabbed a plastic cup of water from the movable bedside table. It had a straw in it, and she bent it so I could sip from it without lifting my head. The cool liquid was like heaven as it went down my parched throat. I took one more sip before she took it away and set it back onto the table.

"Why...why am I here?"

"You got sick, baby."

I tried to sit up. My arms, back and neck were sore. They ached more than when I first woke up in the dumpster. Mom helped me edge up; she tucked a pillow behind my back.

"How long have I been here?"

She stopped fidgeting with my pillow, and really looked at me. It was then I noticed how red her eyes were and the dark smudges under them. It looked like she hadn't slept in a week.

"About thirty-six hours."

"What?!" I bolted forward, but my mom pushed me back, keeping me from jumping out of bed.

"It's okay. You're going to be fine."

"But-but...that's over a day? How is that possible?"

She sat on the edge of my bed, her hand still on my arm. It was as if she couldn't stop touching me maybe to see if I was real. What had happened to give her that haunted look on her face?

"The day you came home late? Something happened, and I had to call 911."

I gripped her hand hard pleading her to tell me what was really going on. "What happened?"