Parker's Island (43 page)

Suddenly I knew
the answer to my own question.  H
e was going to go after him
, a
nd I knew I had to stop him.
  No one was home
at my house
.  I didn’t drive and I certainly couldn’t call Molly this time.  I ran into the kitchen and grabbed the spare set of keys to my Mom’s car
off the hook and ran outside.  I got in the car and started it
.
“So far so good
,
” I thought and then put it in to reverse.  The car shook and jerked as I tried to back it out of the driveway, but I was finally able to do it.  I was able to get it into drive and go forward and then it hit me
…
I had no idea where Chad lived.  I did know where Hailey lived though
, and it was very close
, so I headed to her house.

I pulled up to Hailey’s house, barely missing their mailbox.  I left the car running and ran to the door.

Hailey answered the door and I quickly asked her where Chad lived.

“Why do you want to know?”
Hailey
asked, looking at me funny.

“Because Brian Walters is on the way to his house to beat him up and I need to stop him.”

“Why would Brian want to beat him up?”

“Please
Hailey
,
I don’t have time to explain.  Just tell me where he lives.”

“I’ll take you there.”

“No.  Just tell me
,
”
I
pleaded
, not wanting to get her involved in my mess.

“If you want to know, then take me with you.  I wouldn’t mind seeing that son of a bitch get beat up!”

“
Fine
,
” I said, knowing it was the only way
I would be able to stop Brian
.

“Have you ever driven before?” s
he asked, holding on for dear life.

“No
,
” I said, trying to concentrate on the road.

“Pull over then and let me drive.  You’re scaring the
h
ell out of me.  I certainly don’t want to die and miss the fun.”

“Wow, he must have really hurt you
,
too!” I said, feeling sorry for Hailey.

“Hurt me
,
too
?”
s
he asked, looking at me strangely.

“You can drive
,
” I said and stopped almost at the side of the road.

We traded places
and then she asked, “What do you mean, ‘hurt me too’?”

“Nothing, it doesn’t matter.”

She looked over at me, then scanned her eyes down my body and rested them on my belly.  She took a deep breath and I realized she knew.
  “You’re the one…
the one at the Grad party. 
I didn’t want to believe it.  I tried to ignore his friend
s
.
I didn’t want to b
elieve
that
Chad would…”

“I’m sorry
,
Hailey.”

“Why?  It wasn’t your fault.”

“I’m still sorry.  You don’t deserve this
.  Ne
ither of us do.”

“Well, let’s go stop Brian before he kills
Chad…
but
not too soon
,
”
s
he said,
with
obvious ang
e
r.

She pulled up to Chad’s house and we both got ou
t of the car.  We headed to the door and then I heard a loud crash coming from the back of the house.   “Sounds like Brian’s here
,
al
right,”
Hailey said.

“He’s here
.  H
is car’s over there.  Come on, let’s go
,
” I said in a panic.

I followed the sounds out behind the house and I saw Brian standing over Chad with a look I had never
seen.  He was going to kill him.
I could see it in his face.  He was determined to beat the life out of him and I was terrified that I wouldn’t be able to stop him.

Chad was leaning up against an outbuilding
.  H
e was bleeding from his mouth or nose
, or both
.
I couldn’t tell
,
as
it all had blended together.  Brian was standing over him, his hands clenched into white fists.  Chad looked over at me then, and stared at my belly.  “Hey
,
Delaney
.  I
t’s been a long time
.  W
hat six or seven
months
now
,
right?”
h
e leered at me.  I realized he must have had a death wish to say that to me in front of the man who was completely out of his mind with rage.

Brian was on him then.  I grabbed his arm, but he shook it off.  “BRIAN please don’t!
PLEASE!”
I yelled.

“Go home
,
Delaney!”
h
e yelled, never taking his eyes off of his prey.

“Please
,
Brian
.  Y
ou’re better than this.  You’re not him!
” I was crying now, convinced that the man I still cared for so deeply was going to kill my attacker before my very eyes.  “I can’t watch you do this!  I can’t!” I yelled, crying now.

“Then you’d better leave!” h
e
roared
, and reached down to pick Chad up so he could beat him down again.

“Brian, this isn’t you!  You’re not like him.
  Please!” I begged, sobbing.

“You need to go home
,
Delaney.”

“Stop it
,
right now!  You did it
,
okay
?  Y
ou beat the
h
ell out of him.  Do you really feel any better
,
now?”

“I
’m
getting there!”
h
e said
,
breathing hard
, and started to get that look in his eyes again.

“
Brian, please don’t do this.  Please, for me?  Please
,
” I pleaded.

“You better listen to your girlfriend
.  O
h yeah, she left you
for
Logan
.  You got any other boyfriends I need to watch out for, or is two your limit?” Chad spat at me.

“Are you really that stupid or do you just have a death wish?” I asked Chad.

“I liked you better when you couldn’t talk
,
”
h
e grinned
,
a bloody smile.

That was it
.  T
hat was all it took.  Brian reached out and slammed his head into the pavement.  I wasn’t sure Chad was even breathing, but
he
was stronger than I thought and I heard him moan and roll over. 

“Brian please, I love you, don’t do this
,”
I begged.

“He’s going to pay.”

“He has.  He’s trying to push your buttons.  He wants you to do this for some reason, don’t you see it?”

“I don’t care!”

“Yes
,
you do.  You care about me and you care about Molly.  If you do this, then you’re no better than him.  Please, for me and Molly?
  For your parents
,
for
all of us
?
”

“Brian, you’ll end up in jail
.  Ho
w will you prote
ct Delaney if you’re in jail?”
Hailey asked, obviously having seen enough damage done
to the young man she used to care
so much
about
,
who was also
the father of the baby she was carrying
.

“You two need to leave
.
”

H
e didn’t stop, he didn’t see me.  I
n fact
,
he looked straight through me.  I didn’t know what to do.  He was pulling Chad up by his arm and
Chad
was obviously unable to fight back
any longer
,
as he could barely stand from the beating he had already taken.  Brian pulled his arm back to hit him again, and I did the only thing I could think of to stop him; I stepped in front of him, pushed Chad back and I kissed Brian.  I could feel the anger in him, but I could sense the confusion from my kiss.  He was breathing hard
and fast
, partly from anger and partly from the
e
xertion of the fight.  He pulled back and looked at me, “Delaney
?
” he said and pulled me back to him
and
kiss
ed
me hard.  I let him kiss me until the anger was gone, and then finally, I felt the Brian I knew come back to the surface. 

He pulled back finally and asked me, “Why did you do that?”

“You wouldn’t listen to me.  I didn’t know any other way to stop you
,
” I said
,
my mouth still numb from his rough kiss.

“I didn’t protect you
,
”
h
e said with such agony in his eyes.

“You didn’t know.  No one knew.  You were there for me Brian, later
,
when I needed you.  Don’t you know that I would have just given up if it hadn’t been for you?
  You saved me, you did.
  Now please, just take me home
,
”
I begged,
crying,
afraid he’d go after Chad again.

He looked over at the lifeless lump on the ground and then over at Hailey
.
“I’m sorry
,
Hailey
.”

“I’m not.  He deserved it.  He hurt us both.  Delaney, I don’t think you should drive. 
Actually, I don’t think you
can
drive. 
Do you want me to take your mom’s car home for you and you can go with Brian?”

“Yes, thank you.  I’ll meet you both out front in a few minutes
,
okay?”

“Why in a few minutes?” Brian asked.

“I hav
e a few things I need to say to…
him
.”  Brian shook his head no
. 
“
I don’t think he’s in any condition to
hurt me
.  Please Brian, I’ll be right there.
  You’re the one that told me I had to face this before I could begin to heal.  I need to do this.
”

“I don’t want to leave you with him
,
” Brian said.

“What can he do
,
Brian?  He can barely lift his head.”

He looked down at Chad and realized I was right
. 
“Call me if you need me
.
I won’t be far.”

“I know,
”
I said.

I turned back to Chad and said, “Why?”

“What do you mean
,
why
?  W
hy what
?
”
h
e asked while spitting out blood.

“Why did you do that to me?”

“You were the hottest girl in school
.  Y
ou should have gone to the party with
me
!
”

“You raped me because I wouldn’t go out with you?”

“I didn’t rape you.  T
rust me, you may
not
remember it, but you enjoyed it
,
”
he grinned
that awful
bloody smile.

I wanted to slap him, strangle him, do something, but the vision of Brian hitting him reminded me that it wouldn’t
change anything
.  “I never gave myself to you.  You took what you wanted. 
If that makes you feel like a man, then I’m sorry for you
,
” I said and turned to walk away.

“That’s my baby
,
isn’t it?”
h
e
asked smugly.