The UnKnown (A Novel) (5 page)

The driver came through the bus collecting everyone’s ticket. He sat back down in his seat and pulled the bus off. We were on our way. At least it would be a short trip. It was only a five hour trip with one stop. I would be to my aunt’s soon. I took my phone out and dialed my aunt’s number. She picked up on the first ring.

“Hello,” she said out of breath.

“Hi, Aunt Silvia, I will be there at 7:30pm at the Greyhound bus stop. Can you pick me up, or I can take a cab if you give me your address.”

“Oh honey, I’ll be there. I have dinner on, so don’t worry about eating too much. I can’t wait to see you.” In all honesty, I couldn’t wait to see her either. It had been so many years and I just wanted a place to call my home.

“Ok. I can’t wait to see you either. I am trying to save minutes on my phone. I will call when I am closer.”

“Ok, sweetheart. Talk to you soon.” We hung up and I sighed in relief for the first time since I started this journey.

I watched as the trees went whizzing by me. I wondered what made him leave me. He seemed so interested in helping me. Whatever, I wouldn’t be seeing him again. All I wanted was to go to sleep and leave this misery of a life behind me. A few years ago I decided to take matters into my own hands and end the misery I was living in. I tried to commit suicide. I was so tired of being teased at school, tired of feeling alone, and was just tired in general. I felt the world would not miss me if I were gone. Lucy had caught me with the blade in my hand. I was just making the tiny incision on my wrist before she leaped over and snatched the blade out my hand. I saw the tiny drop of blood hit the floor from the small cut I was able to make. 
“Damn, I just wanted this pain to end.”

“What are you doing?” she asked, huffing.

“I can’t do this anymore. I can’t be here, Lucy. It’s just too hard.” I was on my back sobbing with the tears dripping down the sides of my face. Lucy was in the hallway calling the House Mom to my room.

“Yes you can, Misty. You are going to be ok. I am here with you and you WILL NOT leave me.” Tia, our House Mom, came storming into the room. She saw the expressions on our faces and knew exactly what was going on.

“Misty, I’m calling the counselor. We can’t have this here.” She pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number. “Wait with her, Lucy, while I talk to them.” She stepped out of the room and began to talk to whoever was on the other end. Lucy sat next to me on my ridiculously small bed and stroked my arm.

“Don’t scare me like that again. I can’t live here without you.” I nodded then we saw Tia reenter the room.

“Misty, Dr. Ashlin is on his way. You are going to go away for a few days.” Great now they were going to lock me away in an insane asylum. My heart sank at the thought of not seeing Lucy every day, but I knew it was probably for the best. I ended up in the psychiatric ward with Dr. Ashlin for nearly a month. The first two weeks I was put on suicide watch.  They held me in a white padded room with no sharp devices. The room only had a bed, a small restroom and a TV. I had daily counseling after the first week of them calming me down. It was rough, but by the end of the month I was feeling somewhat human. Dr. Ashlin told me that I had a lot of pent up aggression and I needed to find new ways to deal with it. This is when I discovered my further love of art. Since I couldn’t draw, I used pictures to display how I was feeling and it helped calm my nerves. I was a little nervous to return home. I didn’t want people looking at me like I was a lunatic. When I did finally return, everything was exactly how I left it. My bed and room were untouched and Lucy welcomed me back with open arms.

A man clearing his throat brought me back to the new hell I was in. I returned my eyes back to the trees as we zipped past them. I had nothing to do to pass the time, so I decided to try and sleep. My lids closed and I tried to dream of a happy time with my parents. I woke to the bus braking and wondered how long I had been asleep. I peeked my head into the isle and saw a pair of brown eyes staring at me. Why was he looking at me? He was seriously creeping me out. Once the bus pulled into the station, I darted off it to find a bathroom. I set my bag down before heading into the stall. When I finished my business and returned to the sink, I felt those eyes. I knew it was the man from the bus, I just knew it. I turned my head and saw him standing there looking at me, like he wanted to devour me.

“What are doing in here?” He said nothing, but instead smiled. “You better get out or I will scream.” His yellowing teeth instantly made my stomach turn. “Please don’t hurt me.” Still he said nothing. He wasn’t moving or talking. I tried to move around him, but he moved in front of me, making me smack into him.

“You not going anywhere girl.” OMG, what now? Was he going to kill me? Was he going to beat me or rape me? All these thoughts started running though my head. I started to pray to God that if I was going to leave this world that he take me quick so I wouldn’t have to suffer. He started to walk towards me and I was frozen in place. My legs were not moving to carry me away. My voice left. He grabbed me and engulfed my lips with his. My sense returned and I began to struggle. I tried to push him off and fight; punching and kicking at him, but I couldn’t make him budge. His grip on my head increased and he just kept kissing me. He tasted of five day old onions and cigarettes. He stopped kissing me and pushed me into the stall and I fell backward, hitting my head against the toilet. The pain came shooting through and I saw a spot of blood when I lifted my head.

“You are mine girl.” He yanked me up off the ground and pinned me to the side of the stall. I felt the growth of his erection as he rubbed up against me.

“You feel that girl? You will feel that inside you soon.” He smiled and licked the side of my face. I cringed at the sight of his tongue.

“We are about to have a good time girl and you gonna love every minute of it.” He held me by the throat as he began to unbuckle his pants.  This was it, it was going to happen and there was nothing that I could do to stop him. All of a sudden a hand ripped him out of the stall and threw him onto the ground.

“Don’t fucking touch her!” It was Drake. He was on top of the man beating him with his fists; one blow after another. The man wasn’t fighting back. He was going to kill him if he didn’t stop.

“Drake, Drake!” He was still hitting him. “DRAKE!” Finally he looked up at me. I was holding my hand on my head. “He isn’t fighting back.” Drake looked down at the man’s motionless body. There was blood everywhere.

“Are you ok?” I nodded and he rushed over to put his arms around me.

“Yes,” was all I could choke out. My body was numb and sore. 

“We need to call the police. Do you still have your phone?”  Drake kneeled down to check the man’s pulse. I didn’t care if he was alive or dead. I needed to get the hell out of the bathroom. I nodded and handed the phone over to him. He led me out of the bathroom and made the call.

“They’re on their way. Come here, Peaches. I should have never left you. This is my fault.” I was in his arms in an instant. I needed him; I needed him to hold me. I sobbed in his arms. I didn’t know what would have happened if he hadn’t come when he did. I heard the blaring of sirens in the distance. I could hear them getting closer and closer and I freaked out. I pushed Drake away and ran. I ran as fast as my feet could take me.

“Misty, wait!” I didn’t know if he was on my trail. All I knew was I couldn’t stop running. I felt a pair of hands reach out and grab me. I fell forward onto the grass and a heavy body fell with me. He turned me over and the tears started up again. I started to dry heave but nothing was coming up. What the hell just happened? Drake had his arms wrapped around me.

“Don’t touch me, don’t touch me!” I screamed. I sat on the grass and stared into space rubbing my arms.

“Misty, please. Talk to me,” he pleaded.

“I can’t. I feel so dirty. I can’t get the image of him out of my head, Drake. He touched me and I didn’t want him to. He took my security away. Please just take me away.”

“Let me take you back so you can talk to the police and I can get you out of here.” Drake scooped me up in his arms. I laid my head on his chest and closed my eyes and tried to pretend I was somewhere else. Any place but this hell again. This was happening all over again. When I opened my eyes I noticed his hands were scratched and stained with a red substance.

“You’re hurt,” I simply stated, looking up at him. Drake didn’t say anything. He kept walking towards the newly formed crowd. The cops and ambulance had arrived and I saw a lady pointing over at me. I couldn’t help but to look back at his hands.

 “Peaches, you’re hurt. God, I’m so sorry. This is my fault.” I lifted my head to find blood stained on his shirt. I had hit my head in the bathroom stall when HE pushed me in. The paramedics ran over to aide us. The officer joined us at the ambulance.

“I’m Officer John Tully.  The folks around here tell me there was some type of commotion in the bathroom. Can you tell me what happened young lady?”

Officer Tully was really fat and wheezed after every few words. Drake just pointed to the bathroom and the cop went over to it and opened the door.

“I saw already. I really need to know what happened.” I looked up at Drake and he nodded for me to tell him.

“I was on the bus to Florida and the guy in the bathroom kept staring at me. He followed me into there and attacked me. He was going to rape me until Drake stopped him.” My voice was shaking and I began to cry again.  Officer Tully rubbed my back in a circular motion. Drake removed his hand from me and I was grateful. I didn’t want any other man touching me.

“It’ll be ok, Miss. We have actually been looking for this guy. He has been traveling cross country raping women. You are lucky this young man was here to help you.”

“And Sir, who are you? What is your relationship to this woman?” We both looked at each other. We didn’t know how to answer that question.

“I’m her boyfriend. I was meeting her here to take her the rest of the way home. I saw him follow her in. I saw what he was doing to her and I just lost it. He hurt her sir and I had to protect her.” Drake ran his hands through his hair and then realized he still had blood on them.

“Is he dead?” Drake’s voice was shaky when he asked Officer Tully. I know he feared if he had killed him.

“No he is not, but you beat him pretty badly. Sir, would you mind stepping over here so I can take your statement?” Drake shook his head no.

“Sir, the paramedics need to check her out and make sure she is ok.”

“Go Drake. I will be fine.” He reluctantly let my hand go and followed the cop over to the entrance of the restroom. The female paramedic came over to me and looked at my head.

“I think this will be fine with some bandages. Your head will be sore for a couple of days. Let me clean it up for you.” We walked over to the ambulance and she began to bandage my wound.

“Is that your boyfriend? He’s pretty hot.” I knew she was trying to take my mind off of what was going on. But I still didn’t know how to answer that question. I didn’t want to think about it.

“No, we’re just friends.” I finally looked at the paramedic and she was strikingly beautiful. She had jet black hair and crystal blue eyes. Her body was very curvy and she had what Lucy would call a Ghetto Ass.

“Mind if I get his number?” What the hell? I didn’t know why that bothered me. Drake didn’t belong to me, but a surge of jealousy pulsed through me. I wanted to punch her in the face. Who asked a question like that after what just happened to me?

“He has a girlfriend,” I replied.

“Oh, well she is lucky.” Drake was walking back over to us.

“Officer Tully needs to take pictures of your head. He took pictures of my hands already.” Tully was standing there with a camera. I nodded and he snapped five different shots of my wounds.

“I think I have everything I need for now. I will keep in touch. Your boyfriend here gave us your phone number if we need to contact you further. Here is my card if you need anything. I’ll keep you updated on the case.” He handed me the card.

“Peaches, do you have some clothes to change into? We need to get cleaned up so we can go home. Officer Tully said he will be in touch.”

“Yeah, I do. My bag’s still in the bathroom. I can’t go back in there.”

“You don’t have to. I will have someone get it. They have closed off the men’s restroom showers for us to get cleaned up.”

Drake motioned an officer over and asked for my bag. He told us that they were taking an inventory of the crime scene and it would be a few minutes before we could get my bag. They produced it after what seemed like ten years. Drake took my hand and led me to the shower stalls.

“I am not going in. I will stand in front until you are done. I won’t leave. OKAY?” I nodded. “I need to hear you say ok.”

“Okay.” I walked in and turned the water on as hot as it would go. I scrubbed my body until I couldn’t stand it. I was crying again, but Drake didn’t enter. I rinsed and turned the shower off.

“Are you done?” Drake asked.

“Yes, but I don’t have a towel.” He threw a towel over the stall door and I reached for it. I dried off and dressed in a pair of jeans and t-shirt. I wanted to burn the clothes I was wearing. I came out of the stall.

“Throw these away, I don’t want them.” He took the items from my hands and threw them in the trash. I was sobbing again. “Why did this happen to me?”

“I won’t let anyone hurt you ever again. I promise you.” I trusted his words. I truly did.

“Can you stand here while I get cleaned up? I will be quick,” Drake said.

“Yes.”

“When I’m done I’m taking us home.” Drake took the fastest shower known to man and came out of the stall.

“Come on, let’s get you out of here.” I grabbed Drakes hand. He led us to his car. He gently helped me into the car then threw my bag into the back seat. I was going to burn the bag as soon as I got a chance.

“I am so sorry, Misty. You have no idea how sorry I am. I could have killed him for touching you. When I saw him follow you into the bathroom, I knew something was off. I am glad I got there before something happened.”