Keiffer went to reach for her, but she ducked under his arm. She turned to run when the fist hit her in the cheekbone. She fell to the ground. “Fuck. I knew she would put up a fight. We’re gonna need the rope,” Keiffer yelled as he reached for her sweater to drag her back up. He was a monster as he pulled her straight up toward him with one hand. She threw the right hook and clobbered his nose.
“Fuck!” he yelled, dropping her back down to the ground. She scurried to escape only for Garret to grab her wrist so tight she knew that it would be bruised.
“Let go of me.”
“Help!” She screamed as she kicked her boots at Garret, making contact with his shins.
“Stop fighting, bitch.” He backhanded her across the mouth making her lips split. She cried out in pain and then they heard the male voices.
“Hey! What the fuck are you doing to that girl?” She turned as she saw Garret looked scared.
“Fuck this. You ain’t worth it, bitch.” Garret kicked her thigh and then her ribs with his cowboy boot and headed to his truck. Keiffer followed as he held his nose.
“Hey, sweetheart. Oh hell, they roughed you up good,” an older man stated as he knelt down alongside her. His friend, a younger guy, pulled out his cell phone. “I’m calling the sheriff. I got the license plate on their trucks.”
“No. No police. It was just a bad mistake,” she stated as she felt the blood ooze from her lip. Her cheek throbbed so badly and her lip was killing her. She was such a fool. God, this was so embarrassing. She just wanted to be cared for and paid attention to. She was so sick and tired of being lonely. If her friends found out about this or anyone else, God! If the police got involved then BJ and Susanna would find out and then they would all be yelling at her and telling her how stupid she had been. She felt like an idiot. She obviously wasn’t that grown, mature woman she told her sister she was. Oh no, what will Alexa do when she finds out? I made a mess of things. I’m destined to be alone forever.
* * * *
The farther Sally drove toward home the more her body ached. Her lips were swollen, and her cheek looked bad. There was no way she could hide this from Alexa or the others. She didn’t want any trouble, and she sure didn’t want anyone to know how stupid she had been. She really should have listened to her instincts. Sally banged her hand down on the steering wheel.
“Damn it. How could I have been so dumb?”
When she arrived home, she headed straight to her room and was grateful that no one was awake. She would deal with the mess she’d made in the morning.
* * * *
“Oh my God, Sally. What the hell happened?” Alexa asked as Sally came out of her bathroom after showering and getting dressed. She had hoped that she could avoid this a little further, especially now, after looking at her cheek in the bathroom mirror. It was quite obvious she had been in a fight. She figured there was no reason to even mention Garret and Keiffer. She would beg Alexa to not tell anyone.
“It’s a long story and it was a bad night.”
“A bad night? Jesus, Sally, did that son of a bitch hit you? Did he try to do something to you? Oh God, Sally, did Garret?”
“No! Stop it right now. I handled the situation.”
Sally walked over to her bed and sat down on the edge. Everything was throbbing.
She heard Alexa close the door then walk over toward her. Her sister was in front of her as she reached out and touched Sally’s chin, tilting it up so she could get a better look at the damage.
Tears were in her sister’s eyes.
“Tell me, please.”
Tears rolled down Sally’s cheeks and she swallowed hard. She felt her nose clog up and her voice shake. She knew she wouldn’t be able to lie to her sister or hide her emotions. She felt like shit.
“Please don’t tell anyone. Please, Alexa, you have to promise me.”
“How can I promise something like that, unless I know all the details? We promised to protect one another always.”
Sally took a deep breath, although shaky, and she knew that she needed to get this off her chest and confide in Alexa.
Sally played with the fringe on the pillow that she now held on her lap.
“It started off kind of nice, and the place we went to was really cool and very crowded. It’s crazy, but the moment Garret kissed me, I felt nothing.” She chuckled slightly as she rubbed her bruised, red wrist. Another injury that would take some time to heal.
“So you tried to leave?”
Sally shook her head. “I didn’t want to be rude, but then the kiss grew deeper and he held my head tightly as he tried to maneuver his hand between my thighs.”