Baby,
Sorry I couldn’t be there when you woke up. Nick called about the car crash and I had to go over there.
P.S. The Tylenol is on the nightstand.
Love, AJ
Well, at least she knew where she was now. Debelah smiled at the sweet message and then frowned, confused. Car crash? Oh, shit. She’d crashed the rental car into a wall last night. She laid her head back on the pillow and closed her eyes and she began to remember last night. She’d drove around for hours with loud music and drinking vodka- she was lucky she hadn’t gotten pulled over- and the car started going to the right as she drank and suddenly there was a small wall…or something right in front of the car and she hit it. So she went back to Nick’s house, yelled at Nick outside (Deb cringed as she remembered that) and gone up to her room to see AJ.
AJ…Debelah smiled, her headache forgotten for the moment. He’d been so sweet and loving and he’d apologized... and something about her head. Debelah raised her hand gingerly to her head and winced as she touched a bandage on her forehead. What the…oh, the accident. She took some Tylenol (as much as she safely could) with the water AJ had thoughtfully left for her before SLOWLY getting out of bed and into the bathroom to use the mirror. Oh, God, I look like shit. Her hair was a mess, her makeup was smeared and there was a stark white bandage on her forehead. Carefully, she peeled it off to reveal a bump with a bruise and an angry cut on it.
She groaned again. It looked horrible. She decided to take a shower before AJ got back to clean up so she went and got the essentials from her bag before starting the water. Halfway through her shower, she heard a knock at the door. “Who’s there?” she called out apprehensively, thinking of Bruce sneaking into the bathroom while she was in a shower…
“It’s me, babe,” AJ called out. “Are you doing OK?”
“Yeah,” she called back, “I’ll be out in a couple minutes.”
She finished washing her hair carefully so as not to rub the bump or cut and then dried out her hair with the hairdryer, feeling a little dizzy from the mixture of the hot water and hot air blowing on her head. She gripped the sink counter as she dressed in a simple pair of shorts and tank top and walked out of the bathroom to find AJ. She found him in the kitchen and leaned against the door frame watching him pour Fruity Pebbles into a bowl before he noticed her. He put the down the cereal, an immediate grin on his face at the sight of seeing her. Without saying a word, she went straight into his arms. AJ let out a sigh of relief- he’d been afraid she’d have a change of heart when she woke up- and closed his eyes, holding her body tightly to his.
When they finally broke apart, Debelah tilted her head back to look up at him and smiled gently, “Hi.”
“Hey, babe. How’s your head doing?” He brushed her hair back, careful not to hit the bump as he looked at it.
“Ugly forehead but the Tylonel helped a lot. Thank you for that.” She saw his eyes as he still stared at her forehead, “What?”
“I just keep thinking that you wouldn’t have gotten in the car crash and hurt if we hadn’t-“
“Don’t say that,” Debelah interrupted firmly. “No one made me drink and drive but myself. I could’ve stayed in my room at Nick’s but I didn’t. Yes, I was upset about our fight and…him, but you didn’t make me crash the car.” She was quiet for a few moments, hoping he’d absorb this and not blame himself.
AJ changed the subject. “I called Fatima this morning about Bruce,” he said, watching her carefully. Debelah dropped the box of cereal she’d been lifting to pour her own bowl and gripped the counter edge as she stared at him with wide eyes, her face paling, “I don’t want to talk about him.”
AJ didn’t want to make her feel like this, but he had to tell her, “It’s important.”
She just shook her head, “I can’t. I can’t even think about him right now.”
He rushed on, “She fired him but he’s threatening to go to the press and twist the story against you.
There was a long stretch of silence as she stared at him and then she jumped forwards, knocking the stool down. “WHAT?”
AJ started, startled by her outburst. But she continued. “Where does he live?!” she screamed furious, ready to go find this guy.
“What?” he was dumbfounded.
“”Where does he live? I’m gonna go over there right now and MURDER this shithead. If he thinks he can put me through all this shit, he’s WRONG!!”
“Deb, baby, please calm down,” he pleaded, walking over to her. “I really don’t think that’s the best way to handle this, as much as I really want to kick this guy’s ass. I think we should get more people involved in this.”
Debelah snatched up the phone. “I’m calling my law-I don’t have a lawyer. Alex, do you have a lawyer?”
Relieved she wasn’t going to go tearing out of the house to find Bruce- he didn’t want Bruce anywhere near her-, he said, “Yeah, a damn good one. Why don’t you have breakfast and I’ll call, okay?”
“Okay. Thanks, sweetie,” Deb said with a smile, looking a little drained from her outburst, and kissed him before resuming breakfast at the kitchen table. AJ went into the other room to talk. Ten minutes later, he hung up the phone and went back to the table and sat opposite her with his own bowl of cereal. Deb looked at him expectantly.
“He said that he could get Bruce for defamation of character, but that’s after he would lie to the press. If you want to get him nailed before, you need to press charges against him for what he did.”
“Story of my life,” Debelah murmered. “Seems I go to the cops a lot. Will you go with me?”
AJ reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “Of course.”
“Ok, then I’ll go get changed. I want to get all this over with.” Debelah stood and went back to the room.
* * *
Two hours later, AJ was trying not to break the arms off the wooden chair he was in. His muscles flexed as he listened to Debelah describe what happened with Bruce. He tried to unclench his jaw.
“…I screamed for him to let me go but he just rolled his eyes, told me stop being so difficult, and wrapped an arm around my waist and picked me up to carry me back to the couch. I yelled and kicked and then I leaned over and bit his arm and he screamed and threw me against the back of the couch…”
This was the second time she’d told the story. The two cops in the room with Debelah and AJ, Officers Davis and Hawkins, kept asking different questions, trying to get her to change her story to prove it false but Debelah was consistent. It was AJ that felt like he might lose it. How DARE this bastard touch her?
“He held my hands over my head and sat on my stomach. I was screaming and squirming, trying to throw him off me. He had his hand under my shirt but he stopped when I yelled and told me to be quiet or someone would hear. He STILL thought I wanted this. So I yelled for him to get off and then I realized I couldn’t get him off me.” She took a deep breath, “But then two hands reached out and grabbed him and pulled him off me. It was Kevin.”
AJ tried to relax for her and rubbed her back in encouragement. Half an hour later, the cops finished their questioning, convinced she was telling the truth, and took pictures of the bruises and scratched. Debelah told them how AJ had called Fatima and Bruce had told Fatima that was going to the press and turn this against her. “Do you think that will be a problem?” she asked, worried.
The cops shook their heads. “No, definitely now,” Officer Davis said. “Once we get him in here and talking, there’s no way he’ll be allowed to do that.” Debelah nodded, relieved.
“And when do you think you’ll be able to get him in here?” AJ asked.
Officer Hawkins nodded towards the door, “We had him sent for right when you came in to file a complaint. The officer brought him in about half an hour ago.” Debelah paled. I have to see him?
The officers shook Debelah’s and AJ’s hand and they stood to leave after they gave them their card and promised to call Debelah and AJ to update them. They left, AJ’s arm around her and her leaning against his side, feeling drained from the conversation with the cops. He walked leaning somewhat over her as though to protect her and kissed the top of her head and they walked down the hallway. Suddenly, Debelah stiffened when she saw Bruce being led back to the room they’d just left. AJ’s eyes burned into him with anger, his arm tighter around Debelah and his face stony. Bruce gave AJ a quick look of disgust but them stared at Debelah with a mixture of want and anger. “Debelah, you don’t know what you’re doing! I love you! We can be together, why don’t you-“
“Don’t you talk to me,” Debelah hissed angrily, eyes narrowed, feeling violent.
The cop pushed Bruce forward, “Quiet and keep walking.”
Debelah relaxed once they were outside. “I’m so glad that’s over,” she sighed. AJ responded by pulling her into his arms for a long minute, breathing in her scent.
“Let’s go home.”