Danny was setting a cup of tea in front of where I sat on the couch when someone knocked on the door. My hand flew to my can of pepper spray that was next to me. Danny nonchalantly strolled up to the door and opened it without hesitating.
"What the hell?" I demanded, before I saw who walked in. Then I really scowled. "Danny, what the fuck? You called him?"
Alex looked genuinely hurt, for which I was sorry. But I was still mad. I only wanted it to be Danny and I for the What Do We Do Now talk, but she had invited my boyfriend without asking me? My best friend ignored me, tossing her gold hair out of her eyes.
"Come on in, Alec. Thanks for coming."
"Yeah," he muttered as he took a seat in the patched recliner in the corner, "no problem."
Danny waved off his pain. "Don't listen to Alex, she's just touchy."
"Touchy?" I cried. "My rapist shows up and then you invite my boyfriend over without asking—ugh. I'm sorry. I don't mean to be 'touchy'. Why did you invite him? Not that I'm unhappy to see you, Alec."
Danny sat next to me and pointed at my tea until I picked it up and sipped obediently. "I called him over because this is a shit neighborhood and if you've got a stalker problem, it might be a good idea to have a guy here to protect us."
"I don't need-."
Alec leaned forward, his face had a hard edge on it that I had never seen on him before. "No one is saying you need protection. We're saying that we care, and we're here to help. If you don't want my help, then sorry, you shouldn't be dating someone that gives a damn."
I stared at him open mouthed. Even Danny seemed taken aback. A moment later he looked apologetic and he relaxed.
"We're all tense and unhappy right now. Let's just... Talk things over."
"What's to talk about?" I asked.
"Bring me up to speed. Completely." He said.
I exchanged looks with Danny. She considered for a long, heavy moment. Finally she nodded. "You'd have to give him the whole story eventually. You should now, if he's going to help us."
"Okay." I rubbed a hand down my face and looked into my tea. My distorted face stared back at me, the anger fading and giving way to fear. "Like... start with the day one story?"
"Start with day one." He agreed.
I let out my breath shakily and settled deeper into the grey couch. I stroked the soft arm rest slowly while I looked around at my familiar surroundings, trying to calm myself. Pictures of Danny and I above the crappy CRT TV, the used Wii beside it, the tiny kitchen with the bar separating it from the living room. Lastly I looked at the glass coffee table that Danny and I found outside of some rich guy's house with a "Free!" sign. It was pretty when we got it, now covered in stains from coffee, soda, and probably jizz from Danny's dates.
"I met him when I worked at the country club," I began. "He was one of the guys there every weekend, flashing his designer clothes and platinum cards. I thought he was either gay with how well he dressed or just using Daddy's money to impress the girls. I was just the waitress there, basically. I didn't make very good money, but it was decent.
"He was relentless from the first time he saw me. Compliments, big tips, making an effort to talk to me. I don't know. I felt bad when I knew him better—or thought I did—I thought I had misjudged him and he was really alright. After a month or so he asked me out on a date with him. I agreed, and he picked me up here. He owns a flat somewhere in the middle of the city, but we went to his parents' summer house. They live on the East Coast I guess..."
I paused then and took three deep breaths, trying to think of calming things. Soft kittens, chicken noodle soup, all that crap. Danny's hands were tight fists on her lap, knowing what was coming next. Alec's face was guarded, but in his eyes there was a deep sadness. And anger.
He pulled his hair back into a ponytail before asking, "So you went to the summer house and...?"
"What can I say?" I barked a twisted laugh. "He went for the kiss not an hour in, I panicked and pulled back. He tried to grab me and kiss me anyway, so I slapped him."
I put my tea down and hugged myself tightly, trying to squeeze my panic out. "He said something like 'I always get what I want, frigid bitch. I've been trying to have you for weeks now, and you're not going to stop me.' Then I opened my mouth to scream, and he just laughed. I realized there was no one to hear me... no one to help. I... I was too scared. I couldn't fight back. He was taller, and stronger, and... Yeah."
Danny let out a long breath. She had every little detail when I finally unlocked and opened up to her afterwards. She knew it had happened from the moment I was dropped off, she just took one look at me and knew. I suppose with the bruises on my wrists and the tears on my face, anyone would know.
"Did you call the police?" Alec asked.
Danny and I both laughed. She responded then. "You think they'd ever believe that a rich boy well known in the community would rape someone? Alex and I are nobody. Two young women living in a bad neighborhood—they'd think we were out for his money!"
He scowled. "Not all cops are bad."
"No one is saying they're bad," I interjected. "We're saying that no one would believe me even if I did come forward. My only option was to ignore it and try to keep moving on with my life. I quit that job the next day and picked up the waitressing job I have now."
"Why didn't you move?" He asked curiously.
Danny rolled her eyes and I answered before she could. "We just don't make enough. Danny goes to school and has a job, so she can't get a second job. I can't get a second job either..."
"Why not?"
I winced. "I'm... disabled. Not enough to get a check from the government, and even if I could it'd be less than I make now. I'm just too disabled to work two jobs."
"I've never seen you act disabled."
"My spine is curved wrong. When I get off of work at one job it's actually agony. You never see me like that because I always make sure we have a date on my day off. I've cancelled on you a couple times because getting out of bed without crying wasn't going to happen."
"Why didn't you tell me? I would have come here."
I looked down at my hands. The truth was that I was ashamed, and scared. I was ashamed of being disabled even a little bit, and I was scared that if Alec knew that I was messed up mentally and physically, he wouldn't want to see me anymore. I just shrugged and muttered under my breath.
We were all silent then for a little while, mulling things over.
"So he's obviously not going to just politely leave you alone. And you won't go to the police." Alec began. "What's the plan?"
"Hope he forgets where I live?" I suggested.
Both of them glared at me.
"You could buy a gun." He said.