Page 7 of Save Us
“Back the fuck off!” he growls at Leo through the black fabric of his balaclava. When neither one of us move, through sheer shock alone, he shouts out through a muffled breath. He then removes the safety with an obvious click from the mechanism on his gun. “I said, back.The.Fuck.Off!”
Slowly, Leo pulls back with his hands help up in submission. His mouth is still open in shock, looking as though he is trying to rationalize what is happening. After all, this terrifying change of events comes only moments after he had had to pull me back from the top of the bridge. Meanwhile, a cluster of emotions barrage into me all at once - fear, relief, dread, anger, shock, and sadness - all of which render me motionless.
Another man, who is dressed in clothes that are obviously designed to keep his identity as anonymous as I am, comes hurtling out from the back of the car. He is quick to pull out his own gun which he aims directly at me. On instinct, I throw up my hands like Leo. If I had been thinking more clearly, I might have seen this as another opportunity to escape the hell I’m living in, however, the unexpectedness of the situation has caused my brain to fall prey to its more primitive sense of self-preservation. Before I can make sense of that thought process, the new man marches forward, then hauls me to my feet and presses the barrel of the gun firmly against my temple.
“This is her; this is Angela Lawrence! Look, that’s the bodyguard, it has to be her. Fuck, is K going to be happy with us! Come on, Cruz, get in the fucking car!”
I’m roughly pushed into the car with the gun digging into my skin, all the while Leo shouts for me. I can’t speak, can’t even utter a single sound, especially when moments later, I see the first guy hit Leo over the head with his gun. With that one blow, it knocks him out cold and he drops to the floor with what looks like a heavy thud.
“Cruz! Come on, motherfucker!” the driver practically screams when the sound of police sirens comes blaring out from behind us. It’s enough to have Cruz leaping into the car without another look back at Leo, who is still lying motionless on the sidewalk. Cruz bangs on the dashboard with urgency as we fly off into the flowing traffic.
“Sit quiet, bitch! My boss has been waiting to get a hold of you for some time!” the guy with the gun to my head says to me in muffled words through his face covering. His eyes alone are enough to tell me he’s enjoying my fear and my submission. He shouldn’t feel so proud, it’s how I am for ninety-nine percent of the day.
“W-why?” I eventually stutter with breath I don’t feel like I have. The force of trying to speak makes me feel dizzy and disorientated, but I keep my eyes fixed on his angry ones.
“Leverage!” he replies.
The air grows heavy as all four of the men in this stifling little car laugh manically. I say nothing; there’s nothing to say to such an ominous response.
Xander
A rare moment of happiness floods through me when I hear Rosie laughing. She’s splashing around in the surf as the sun sets in front of us. She’s playing with Annie’s new puppy, an Alsatian named Hetty, and can’t seem to get enough of the little fuzzball. She’s a cute little thing with massive ears, big paws, lanky limbs, and fluffy fur covering every inch of her perpetually happy little body. Rosie’s completely smitten and would probably be quite happy to live with Bodhi and Annie on the beach, just so she could live with Hetty too. Every time Hetty jumps at her, she screams and giggles with a laugh that sounds just like her mother.
“Daddy, she keeps licking me!” she screams from the shore, then laughs again.
“Come away from her then,” I yell back with a wide grin, knowing full well she has no intention of leaving that dog alone.
“No!” she screams again and begins to run around for Hetty to chase her.
“You, my friend, are going to have trouble with that one,” Bodhi declares as he points the tip of his beer bottle Rosie’s way. “You’re gonna have them lining up around the block to take her out when she’s older.”
“That’s where I come in and teach her how to knock ‘em all back,” Casey chimes in from her beach chair, sitting back before the bonfire. “A good-looking girl has to have plenty of sass to make it through high school.”
“Because that’s how you ended up with a catch like Kyle, yeah?” I tease her. She sticks out her tongue just before mouthing ‘asshole’ back at me. What else are brothers for if not to mock and tease their sister?
Bodhi laughs at our bickering before putting down his bottle and running toward the birthday girl and Hetty to play monster chase. He holds out his arms and makes stupid growling noises while chasing Rosie around like an idiot. It’s not long before the dog is hot on his heels, yapping at him as though she’s the most intimidating thing around. Rosie’s long blonde ringlets fly around as she runs as fast as she can through the crashing Pacific, taking her mother’s place as Bodhi’s water baby.
After watching and reveling in the beauty that is my daughter running around happy, and I mean really happy, I eventually sink into the chair next to Casey and open a new beer. Casey and I share many drinks together and it’s fair to say she is my rock. So, too, is Uncle Stephen, my parents, and Bodhi and Annie. I’d be lost without them.
Twice a year, my little water baby and me, go to see Beth’s family when they routinely make the journey back to California to visit their granddaughter. Riley is now sixteen and miserable, unless he’s with his niece or Casey. Though, I think he has a major crush on my sister, much to her horror. Beth’s parents are pretty much the same as they always were, but look so much older than they should, especially Beth’s mother. Jen has lost some of the light she once had, and I’m not the only one to have noticed it.
“Where were you last night? Or should I say, this morning?” Casey asks without taking her eyes away from Bodhi and Rosie, who are now trying to entice Hetty to go further into the water. They’re failing miserably. “You know she was up before you got home!”
“Yeah, don’t talk to me like you’re Miss High and Mighty, Case,” I reply tightly, “I think I’ve more than made up for the fact I wasn’t there when she first woke up. And I haven’t even finished spoiling her yet.”
I slurp back my beer with a bitter expression that should warn her to give up on her line of questioning. She and Stephen are the only people brave enough to say what they’re thinking when it comes to me. I imagine my parents open up to her in the hopes that she’ll dare to feed it back to me, even though I knock her down just as much as I would with them. My sister has always had a big mouth and the confidence to match. As for Stephen, well, the poor bastard has learned to say whatever he feels through sheer heartbreak and a bitter outlook on life.
“Ever thought about actually having a relationship with someone, instead of just fucking them and leaving them?”
“Have you?” I argue with an incredulous expression.
“Touché, but then I’m not still mourning the loss of someone who died five years ago!” she counters, but with a look of pity and concern.
“Drop it, Case, please.” I look at her this time, begging her to stop trying to badger me into dating again; it’s the very last thing I want to do. In fact, I can’t see myself ever dating. Just talking about it has me grabbing hold of the dog tag Beth had given me before she died. It makes it feel all the heavier around my neck. “I don’t want to date anyone else; I don’t want anyone else!”
“Ok,” she concedes with a heavy sigh. “Just don’t end up an old spinster. You’re too cute to become sad and pathetic like Stephen.”
“You’ll be the first to know if I ever feel the need to shack up with someone.”