Chapter Two...
Hovering over her, ceramic vase in hand, was Jeff.
" OH MY GOD, JEFF! WHAT ARE...?" but before she could get her sentence out, he took a swing at her with that heavy vase that less than twenty four hours ago held her white roses he got her.
"JESUS CHRIST!" she screamed as she ducked to get out of the path of the vase. "WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" she screamed!
"Think you're just going to kill me and get away with it? I loved you Alice!" he said as he swung at her again with the vase. "I have loved you since we were KIDS!" swinging again & missing.
(he must still be drunk)
"OH MY GOD JEFF, STOP TRYING TO HIT ME WITH THAT DAMNED THING! CAN'T YOU JUST SIT DOWN SO WE CAN TALK ABOUT THIS?"
Jeff tripped over his untied shoe laces & fell to the floor, as he landed face down, Alice could see the back of his head open, a gaping wound still fresh from where she'd hit him.
"Wait a minute..." she thought out loud, "How the hell can you even be walking if you've got that hole in the back of your head?!"
Jeff stood up & when he turned around to face her, it was Jess looking her dead in the face; "Why did you have to do it Alice? Why did you hit him like that? You killed him you know... he's dead."
*gasping for breath* Alice leaped out of bed only to find she'd been having a terrible nightmare.
"HOLY SHIT!" she thought, shaking like a leaf.
She ran to the bathroom to check her face in the mirror, yep... still broken.
"Shit, last night wasn't a dream then, it really did happen."
Running to the living room she put on her TV to the news:
'And now this breaking news story, a 28 year old man was found dead in his apartment early this morning by friends who said he hadn't shown up for band practice. Jeff Hathaway of Collins Cove was found with a 4inch abrasion to the back of his skull, on his kitchen floor and apparently died of massive blood loss. We'll have more to come on this story as it becomes available...'
Holding her hand up to her mouth, she knew she wasn't dreaming any longer.
Jeff had died, that blow to the head had killed him for real.
"Oh My GOD, what have I DONE?!" she screamed.
She looked around her apartment, Jess was nowhere to be found.
Just then, as if reading her mind, the phone rang...
"Hello," Alice answered, her whole body shaking.
"OH MY GOD ALICE, ARE YOU WATCHING THE NEWS?!!"
Jess was sobbing into the phone.
"JESUS CHRIST ALICE, DID YOU SEE?! IT'S JEFF! IT'S JEFF, HE'S DEAD!"
Alice, dumbfounded & speechless just stood there frozen.
She nodded her head as if Jess could see her agreeing that yes, she had seen.
"Wait a minute, Jess, what are you doing home? I thought you were going to spend the night here last night?" Alice questioned.
"ALICE! OH MY GOD, MY BROTHER! WHAT DO YOU THINK HAPPENED?!" she screams into the phone. "I left once you were sound asleep, figured I'd give you your space & came back home but MY GOD ALICE! MY BROTHER IS DEAD!"
Alice musters up the courage to try to console her friend; "Jess, of course you left, makes perfect sense, and yes, I saw it & I'm so sorry! I don't know what to say! Makes my stupid broken nose seem like a non issue now huh?"
Jess continues to merely sob into the phone,
clearly unable to be consoled at the news of her brother's murder.
"Jess, you want me to come over?" Alice asks.
"No, I can't stay here, I'm coming there, ok? I should've never left in the first place!" Jess answers.
"Of course you can come back, I want you here Jess..."
*click*
Jess hangs up without saying another word.
Alice's head is now racing.
Oh My God, do they have any evidence? Were there any fingerprints to be found? The night happened so fast she can't even remember it now.
She tries to replay the nights events in her head before Jess comes over so that, should she have to confess, she'll have everything straight in her mind.
"Ok, Ok Alice, get your wits about you... try & remember, Ok so this is how it happened..." she thought out loud to herself, talking herself through it step by step.
"The phone rang at around 8pm, I was just about getting ready to shower & hit the hay when Jeff called to say he needed me, that he'd had a rough practice with the guys & had something special he wanted to give me." She thought out loud. "Yes, that's right, so I threw on my jeans & sweater, pulled my socks & boots on, grabbed my coat, hat, scarf & gloves & headed out the door, car keys in hand." She thinks harder, trying to delve deeper into the events of last night.
" I got over to his place around 8:25 and he was already half in the bag draped over his couch like a slug. His eyes at half mast his speech slurred.
"I knocked on the door & he responded with a loud "COME ON IN!" from the comfort of his warm spot on the couch. The TV was blaring, something on VH1 or MTV Alice figured.
"Jeff, can we turn this down a bit? It's kinda loud."
Alice reached for the remote when Jeff quickly reached out & grabbed her hand tight & looked her dead in the eyes; "Don't!" he firmly said, putting pressure around her wrist as he held her arm tight.
She was scared, she HATED when he drank.
He let go of her arm with a jerk & laughed. "Aw Alice, you know I'm just kidding, c'mere!"
He reached up for her, grabbed her & pulled her down on top of him, his arms groping her, his face worn, his breath awful & sour smelling. "
(He probably had already vomited once if not twice already.)
"Jeff, you're hurting me..." Alice said with a touch of fear in her voice.
Fear that she was certain he could smell from miles away like a dog.
He shot her a disapproving look, an angry one... "Well Fuck it Alice, never mind. I was just trying to give you a HUG for Christ's sake!"
Jeff pulled away from her & got up off the couch. His pants were undone, the button open & the fly only half zipped.
His boots were undone but not off, his face unshaven.
He looked bad.
He turned to her & said "Hey, you want a drink?" with a smile across his face.
Alice looked & tried to smile & said "Thanks Jeff but honestly, I'm good." hoping that if he saw that she was good, that maybe he'd be as well?
Not so much... Jeff says " well in that case, I'll have TWO! One for me and one for YOU! Heh, heh, I'm a poet & didn't know it! ha ha!"
Sadly, even drunk his jokes weren't funny.
Jeff, don't you think you've had enough for one night? Come on, come in here & let's talk, you called me over to give me something special you said... so what is it? I'm just so excited & curious as to what it could be?!"
Trying to redirect his attention from the alcohol to her foolish gift he'd said he had for her, Alice did her best to act excited when really inside she was terrified.
At that moment she'd rather be anywhere but in his house with him.
From the doorway to the kitchen, Jeff turned & looked at her & said, "it's in here, come see!"
"Well hold on a second," Alice said, " I haven't even taken off my coat or hat or gloves or anything yet!"
"No, No, No, fuck that stuff, keep it on, just get in here, that shit can come off later! Come see what I have baby!" Jeff replies excitedly, "HURRY! YOU'RE GONNA LOVE IT!"
Alice walks into the kitchen still fully dressed from the cold air outside, and finds on the counter a large ceramic vase filled with a dozen white roses, with a little card that read;
-To my favorite girl. Love you forever, Me.-
She smiled as she looked at the sweet gesture. "They're beautiful, Jeff."
"Well, aren't you going to SAY anything?" he said, annoyed.
"Ah, I just said they're beautiful..." she replied.
"It's called T-H-A-N-K Y-O-U! You might want to try it sometime!"
Frowning her eyebrows, she shot him a look & said "Jeff, I just said they're beautiful, what did you think that MEANT? It means, that the flowers are beautiful, I love them so much, THANK YOU!" frustrated she knew she was losing her cool with him, she had to think smarter or she knew what the rest of the night would hold for her.
"Well Jesus Christ Alice, I'm not a fucking mind reader! If you mean that shit, then you should SAY that shit, OK?!"
Jeff, took the flowers roughly pushing them in her direction.
Hesitantly, she took the vase & tried to feign a smile.
"I'll take them home with me tonight & put them on my kitchen table, they'll look lovely."
"The flowers stay here, because YOU'RE staying here. Don't you remember I told you I NEED you tonight, Alice."
Alice was scared now, she didn't want to spend the night with him, she didn't even want to be spending five minutes with him when he's like this.
"Jeff, I'm here right now but I can't stay tonight, I have a very busy day tomorrow and need a good night's sleep."
"YOU DON'T SLEEP GOOD WHEN YOU'RE WITH ME? IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE FUCKING SAYING?"
"No, Jeff, that's not what I'm saying, I love being with you, you know that. But, we don't usually get a lot of 'SLEEPING done, if you know what I mean. Tonight is just one of those nights that I really need a full 8 hours, ok? But I'm here now, so why don't we go curl up on the couch & talk."
"TALK, TALK, TALK, THAT'S ALL YOU WOMEN WANT TO DO IS TALK, WELL FUCK THAT! I WANT YOU HERE, IN MY BED, WITH ME, AND DAMN IT YOU'RE GOING TO STAY!"
Scared and angry now, Alice turned to him & stood her ground, although all the while knowing what a mistake it was going to be to do so.
"Jeff, I am going home. If you don't want to talk & you're just going to shout at me I'm leaving. I'll call you in the morning." Alice turned to head for the door when she felt a strong whack across her shoulder blades & a firm hand, like a vice, on her shoulder whipping her around.
"I SAID YOU'LL BE STAYING HERE!"
"And I said I am GOING HOME JEFF!"
She tried to get away from him, but he whipped his other arm around & punched her in the nose, breaking it.
"THERE, NOW SEE WHAT YOU MADE ME DO! DAMN BITCH!"
Alice reached up to touch her nose, it felt warm & wet. He'd broken it...
"DON'T YOU EVER HIT ME AGAIN JEFF, DO YOU HEAR ME!"
As she's saying these words, Jeff reached behind him for what Alice could only assume was one of the knives from the butcher block.
Afraid for her life, Alice picked up the vase & lunged at him full force, smashing him on the back of the head, shattering the vase & knocking him unconscious.
His drunken form fell to the floor and lay motionless.
"OH MY GOD, JEFF?! JEFF?!" she reached over to shake his shoulders a bit, perhaps he'd come to... but nothing. No response.
Terrified & scared for her life, Alice scrambled to rescue the roses from the floor, remembering to grab the card as well & ran to get her keys & head to the car.
On the drive home, she tossed each rose out the window one at a time and then shredded the card into confetti & tossing that out as well.
Then she got home, shaken & alive with fear, & then Jess called & we're back to right now.
"Oh My God, RIGHT NOW, Jess is coming over! SHIT!" Alice remembered the whole reason for her frightening trip down memory lane, to be sure she had the facts straight before Jess got there.
Oh My God, what was she going to say to her? How could she POSSIBLY lie to her about THIS? She couldn't, she wouldn't... but Oh My God she just HAD to!
Alice pulled on her slippers & tightened her robe.
What would Jess ask her? Does she suspect anything?
"Holy shit how am I ever going to get out of THIS one?" she thought.
Just then, a knock at the door; Jess.
"OH MY GOD ALICE!" Jess throws her arms around Alice & holds her tight as she's sobbing into he robe. Alice tried to seem saddened by the whole thing as well, and truly deep down she knows she probably was, but the shock of it all hadn't worn off yet so it was hard to produce any tears to speak of.
"Jess, I can't even BELIEVE it!" Alice said as she hugged her friend tighter.
"ALICE, OH MY GOD, AND TO THINK I WAS JUST TRASHING HIM LAST NIGHT QUESTIONING HIS WHEREABOUTS WHEN YOU WERE BEING MUGGED!"
Alice nervous as to what Jess might say next, held her breath for the moment...
"I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT WHILE YOU WERE BEING ATTACKED, SOMEONE WAS ATTACKING MY BROTHER!"
There, she said it... hearing those words come from her lips stung a little.
Jeff was her brother. Jeffery & Jessica Hathaway, those two new neighbors in the little yellow house across the street, those many years ago.
One became my best friend, the other... my boyfriend.
Alice just stood there holding Jess tight, afraid to let go. Afraid that once she did that, she'd have to look her in the eyes. Look at her best friend knowing that it was at her hands that her brother suffered such a fate. But if she only knew the events leading up to that moment in time.
All the abuse, the yelling, the screaming, the fighting, the hitting, the punching, the drinking, the humiliation, etc...
No, it didn't matter, it wouldn't matter... Jess was his Sister, he was her BROTHER! How do you forgive someone for murdering your own flesh & blood, REGARDLESS of the circumstances?
You don't... you just don't.
"Alice, I'm so sorry he's gone, I know you loved him too..." Jess squeaked into Alice's shoulder.
Alice, squeezing Jess a little tighter, whispered back, "I did, I loved him very much..."
and just at that moment, one big fat tear escaped the corner of her eye & traveled down her swollen, bruised cheek.
" OH MY GOD, JEFF! WHAT ARE...?" but before she could get her sentence out, he took a swing at her with that heavy vase that less than twenty four hours ago held her white roses he got her.
"JESUS CHRIST!" she screamed as she ducked to get out of the path of the vase. "WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" she screamed!
"Think you're just going to kill me and get away with it? I loved you Alice!" he said as he swung at her again with the vase. "I have loved you since we were KIDS!" swinging again & missing.
(he must still be drunk)
"OH MY GOD JEFF, STOP TRYING TO HIT ME WITH THAT DAMNED THING! CAN'T YOU JUST SIT DOWN SO WE CAN TALK ABOUT THIS?"
Jeff tripped over his untied shoe laces & fell to the floor, as he landed face down, Alice could see the back of his head open, a gaping wound still fresh from where she'd hit him.
"Wait a minute..." she thought out loud, "How the hell can you even be walking if you've got that hole in the back of your head?!"
Jeff stood up & when he turned around to face her, it was Jess looking her dead in the face; "Why did you have to do it Alice? Why did you hit him like that? You killed him you know... he's dead."
*gasping for breath* Alice leaped out of bed only to find she'd been having a terrible nightmare.
"HOLY SHIT!" she thought, shaking like a leaf.
She ran to the bathroom to check her face in the mirror, yep... still broken.
"Shit, last night wasn't a dream then, it really did happen."
Running to the living room she put on her TV to the news:
'And now this breaking news story, a 28 year old man was found dead in his apartment early this morning by friends who said he hadn't shown up for band practice. Jeff Hathaway of Collins Cove was found with a 4inch abrasion to the back of his skull, on his kitchen floor and apparently died of massive blood loss. We'll have more to come on this story as it becomes available...'
Holding her hand up to her mouth, she knew she wasn't dreaming any longer.
Jeff had died, that blow to the head had killed him for real.
"Oh My GOD, what have I DONE?!" she screamed.
She looked around her apartment, Jess was nowhere to be found.
Just then, as if reading her mind, the phone rang...
"Hello," Alice answered, her whole body shaking.
"OH MY GOD ALICE, ARE YOU WATCHING THE NEWS?!!"
Jess was sobbing into the phone.
"JESUS CHRIST ALICE, DID YOU SEE?! IT'S JEFF! IT'S JEFF, HE'S DEAD!"
Alice, dumbfounded & speechless just stood there frozen.
She nodded her head as if Jess could see her agreeing that yes, she had seen.
"Wait a minute, Jess, what are you doing home? I thought you were going to spend the night here last night?" Alice questioned.
"ALICE! OH MY GOD, MY BROTHER! WHAT DO YOU THINK HAPPENED?!" she screams into the phone. "I left once you were sound asleep, figured I'd give you your space & came back home but MY GOD ALICE! MY BROTHER IS DEAD!"
Alice musters up the courage to try to console her friend; "Jess, of course you left, makes perfect sense, and yes, I saw it & I'm so sorry! I don't know what to say! Makes my stupid broken nose seem like a non issue now huh?"
Jess continues to merely sob into the phone,
clearly unable to be consoled at the news of her brother's murder.
"Jess, you want me to come over?" Alice asks.
"No, I can't stay here, I'm coming there, ok? I should've never left in the first place!" Jess answers.
"Of course you can come back, I want you here Jess..."
*click*
Jess hangs up without saying another word.
Alice's head is now racing.
Oh My God, do they have any evidence? Were there any fingerprints to be found? The night happened so fast she can't even remember it now.
She tries to replay the nights events in her head before Jess comes over so that, should she have to confess, she'll have everything straight in her mind.
"Ok, Ok Alice, get your wits about you... try & remember, Ok so this is how it happened..." she thought out loud to herself, talking herself through it step by step.
"The phone rang at around 8pm, I was just about getting ready to shower & hit the hay when Jeff called to say he needed me, that he'd had a rough practice with the guys & had something special he wanted to give me." She thought out loud. "Yes, that's right, so I threw on my jeans & sweater, pulled my socks & boots on, grabbed my coat, hat, scarf & gloves & headed out the door, car keys in hand." She thinks harder, trying to delve deeper into the events of last night.
" I got over to his place around 8:25 and he was already half in the bag draped over his couch like a slug. His eyes at half mast his speech slurred.
"I knocked on the door & he responded with a loud "COME ON IN!" from the comfort of his warm spot on the couch. The TV was blaring, something on VH1 or MTV Alice figured.
"Jeff, can we turn this down a bit? It's kinda loud."
Alice reached for the remote when Jeff quickly reached out & grabbed her hand tight & looked her dead in the eyes; "Don't!" he firmly said, putting pressure around her wrist as he held her arm tight.
She was scared, she HATED when he drank.
He let go of her arm with a jerk & laughed. "Aw Alice, you know I'm just kidding, c'mere!"
He reached up for her, grabbed her & pulled her down on top of him, his arms groping her, his face worn, his breath awful & sour smelling. "
(He probably had already vomited once if not twice already.)
"Jeff, you're hurting me..." Alice said with a touch of fear in her voice.
Fear that she was certain he could smell from miles away like a dog.
He shot her a disapproving look, an angry one... "Well Fuck it Alice, never mind. I was just trying to give you a HUG for Christ's sake!"
Jeff pulled away from her & got up off the couch. His pants were undone, the button open & the fly only half zipped.
His boots were undone but not off, his face unshaven.
He looked bad.
He turned to her & said "Hey, you want a drink?" with a smile across his face.
Alice looked & tried to smile & said "Thanks Jeff but honestly, I'm good." hoping that if he saw that she was good, that maybe he'd be as well?
Not so much... Jeff says " well in that case, I'll have TWO! One for me and one for YOU! Heh, heh, I'm a poet & didn't know it! ha ha!"
Sadly, even drunk his jokes weren't funny.
Jeff, don't you think you've had enough for one night? Come on, come in here & let's talk, you called me over to give me something special you said... so what is it? I'm just so excited & curious as to what it could be?!"
Trying to redirect his attention from the alcohol to her foolish gift he'd said he had for her, Alice did her best to act excited when really inside she was terrified.
At that moment she'd rather be anywhere but in his house with him.
From the doorway to the kitchen, Jeff turned & looked at her & said, "it's in here, come see!"
"Well hold on a second," Alice said, " I haven't even taken off my coat or hat or gloves or anything yet!"
"No, No, No, fuck that stuff, keep it on, just get in here, that shit can come off later! Come see what I have baby!" Jeff replies excitedly, "HURRY! YOU'RE GONNA LOVE IT!"
Alice walks into the kitchen still fully dressed from the cold air outside, and finds on the counter a large ceramic vase filled with a dozen white roses, with a little card that read;
-To my favorite girl. Love you forever, Me.-
She smiled as she looked at the sweet gesture. "They're beautiful, Jeff."
"Well, aren't you going to SAY anything?" he said, annoyed.
"Ah, I just said they're beautiful..." she replied.
"It's called T-H-A-N-K Y-O-U! You might want to try it sometime!"
Frowning her eyebrows, she shot him a look & said "Jeff, I just said they're beautiful, what did you think that MEANT? It means, that the flowers are beautiful, I love them so much, THANK YOU!" frustrated she knew she was losing her cool with him, she had to think smarter or she knew what the rest of the night would hold for her.
"Well Jesus Christ Alice, I'm not a fucking mind reader! If you mean that shit, then you should SAY that shit, OK?!"
Jeff, took the flowers roughly pushing them in her direction.
Hesitantly, she took the vase & tried to feign a smile.
"I'll take them home with me tonight & put them on my kitchen table, they'll look lovely."
"The flowers stay here, because YOU'RE staying here. Don't you remember I told you I NEED you tonight, Alice."
Alice was scared now, she didn't want to spend the night with him, she didn't even want to be spending five minutes with him when he's like this.
"Jeff, I'm here right now but I can't stay tonight, I have a very busy day tomorrow and need a good night's sleep."
"YOU DON'T SLEEP GOOD WHEN YOU'RE WITH ME? IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE FUCKING SAYING?"
"No, Jeff, that's not what I'm saying, I love being with you, you know that. But, we don't usually get a lot of 'SLEEPING done, if you know what I mean. Tonight is just one of those nights that I really need a full 8 hours, ok? But I'm here now, so why don't we go curl up on the couch & talk."
"TALK, TALK, TALK, THAT'S ALL YOU WOMEN WANT TO DO IS TALK, WELL FUCK THAT! I WANT YOU HERE, IN MY BED, WITH ME, AND DAMN IT YOU'RE GOING TO STAY!"
Scared and angry now, Alice turned to him & stood her ground, although all the while knowing what a mistake it was going to be to do so.
"Jeff, I am going home. If you don't want to talk & you're just going to shout at me I'm leaving. I'll call you in the morning." Alice turned to head for the door when she felt a strong whack across her shoulder blades & a firm hand, like a vice, on her shoulder whipping her around.
"I SAID YOU'LL BE STAYING HERE!"
"And I said I am GOING HOME JEFF!"
She tried to get away from him, but he whipped his other arm around & punched her in the nose, breaking it.
"THERE, NOW SEE WHAT YOU MADE ME DO! DAMN BITCH!"
Alice reached up to touch her nose, it felt warm & wet. He'd broken it...
"DON'T YOU EVER HIT ME AGAIN JEFF, DO YOU HEAR ME!"
As she's saying these words, Jeff reached behind him for what Alice could only assume was one of the knives from the butcher block.
Afraid for her life, Alice picked up the vase & lunged at him full force, smashing him on the back of the head, shattering the vase & knocking him unconscious.
His drunken form fell to the floor and lay motionless.
"OH MY GOD, JEFF?! JEFF?!" she reached over to shake his shoulders a bit, perhaps he'd come to... but nothing. No response.
Terrified & scared for her life, Alice scrambled to rescue the roses from the floor, remembering to grab the card as well & ran to get her keys & head to the car.
On the drive home, she tossed each rose out the window one at a time and then shredded the card into confetti & tossing that out as well.
Then she got home, shaken & alive with fear, & then Jess called & we're back to right now.
"Oh My God, RIGHT NOW, Jess is coming over! SHIT!" Alice remembered the whole reason for her frightening trip down memory lane, to be sure she had the facts straight before Jess got there.
Oh My God, what was she going to say to her? How could she POSSIBLY lie to her about THIS? She couldn't, she wouldn't... but Oh My God she just HAD to!
Alice pulled on her slippers & tightened her robe.
What would Jess ask her? Does she suspect anything?
"Holy shit how am I ever going to get out of THIS one?" she thought.
Just then, a knock at the door; Jess.
"OH MY GOD ALICE!" Jess throws her arms around Alice & holds her tight as she's sobbing into he robe. Alice tried to seem saddened by the whole thing as well, and truly deep down she knows she probably was, but the shock of it all hadn't worn off yet so it was hard to produce any tears to speak of.
"Jess, I can't even BELIEVE it!" Alice said as she hugged her friend tighter.
"ALICE, OH MY GOD, AND TO THINK I WAS JUST TRASHING HIM LAST NIGHT QUESTIONING HIS WHEREABOUTS WHEN YOU WERE BEING MUGGED!"
Alice nervous as to what Jess might say next, held her breath for the moment...
"I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT WHILE YOU WERE BEING ATTACKED, SOMEONE WAS ATTACKING MY BROTHER!"
There, she said it... hearing those words come from her lips stung a little.
Jeff was her brother. Jeffery & Jessica Hathaway, those two new neighbors in the little yellow house across the street, those many years ago.
One became my best friend, the other... my boyfriend.
Alice just stood there holding Jess tight, afraid to let go. Afraid that once she did that, she'd have to look her in the eyes. Look at her best friend knowing that it was at her hands that her brother suffered such a fate. But if she only knew the events leading up to that moment in time.
All the abuse, the yelling, the screaming, the fighting, the hitting, the punching, the drinking, the humiliation, etc...
No, it didn't matter, it wouldn't matter... Jess was his Sister, he was her BROTHER! How do you forgive someone for murdering your own flesh & blood, REGARDLESS of the circumstances?
You don't... you just don't.
"Alice, I'm so sorry he's gone, I know you loved him too..." Jess squeaked into Alice's shoulder.
Alice, squeezing Jess a little tighter, whispered back, "I did, I loved him very much..."
and just at that moment, one big fat tear escaped the corner of her eye & traveled down her swollen, bruised cheek.
No comments:
Post a Comment