Chapter 42 [Ana]

“Reeve… I like you a lot. That’s why I want to take things a little slower. It’s already been five days, and I can’t stay here forever. I’m going to stay at my sisters for a while.” I tell Reeve, holding his hands.

            “Yeah… Yeah I guess that makes sense. I support you. Bye, beautiful.” Reeve kisses and hugs me, and I’m off.

My sister picks me up and takes the half hour drive to her house.

“Hey Alice, thanks for doing this!” I tell her. She smiles and tells me I can stay with her as long as I want.

Alice looks a lot like my mother. They’re both lighter than me. They’re both kind of pale. My skin is olive, a little lighter than my Columbian dad. But my mom is white. She has blonde hair, and Alice has light brown. Her eyes are grey. She’s tall like I am. Probably around 5’8. She’s 30 years old. We don’t talk very much anymore. Sam and her hated each other. He drove Alice and I apart.

I tell her about all my recent troubles, but I don’t mention Kris.

“Well I think you should apologize to Celia, and Drew. Stay with Reeve, he’s the best for you. Don’t be a b***h to Celia when she’s trying to help you.” Alice explains.

How am I not surprised she judges me? She f*****g always does.

I just want to have someone to listen to me.

And not judge.

Not even give advice.

Just listen!

I’m quiet because I’m pissed off at Alice now. But then I remember that she’s taking me in her home and being a good sister. Great, now I feel guilty for being mad. We drive up to a small apartment building.

Her apartment is very small. Her son, and my nephew Marcus live here. I don’t know how I’m going to fit.

Marcus looks like me, if I were a boy. He’s 14 years old.

“Hey auntie!” He says, hugging me. He’s already as tall as me!

“You’re so big!” I tell him. He laughs. Alice puts her arm around him.

“He sure is, isn’t he?” She kisses him on the head. Marcus blushes a little.

I look behind him and see a picture. It’s of Marcus, Kris, and I. We’re at a park. Marcus is like 7.

            It’s a candid shot. I’m laughing, while Kris throws Marcus up in the air. We look so damn happy. My phone vibrates and I take it out of my pocket.

            “I’m sorry bout what I said. I need u home.” From Celia. I close it, rolling my eyes.

            “So I figure you can take the couch.” Alice says. I thank her for everything.

            “Hey mom, can Scarlett come over?” Marcus asks.

            Alice turns to me smiling. “That’s his girlfriend. Sure baby, she can come over.”

            “She’s just a friend.” Marcus says.

            Alice explains that she has to go grocery shopping, so she leaves Marcus and me at the apartment to talk.

            “Listen, Auntie, I’m really sorry about… you know…” He says, awkwardly.

            Wow, this was probably hard for him. Kris was probably his hero. I didn’t even think of Marcus before… at all. Kris dying affected him too.

            “Thanks hun.” I say, a soft smile appearing on my face. “He would be proud of you. You look like you’re turning into quite the young man.”

            He chuckles. “I’m nothing special, just thanks. I kind of feel guilty, you know? For not being in contact with you guys that much…”

            Marcus is so much like me, it’s scary.

            “You’re just a child hun! It’s not your responsibility to do stuff like that.” I reassure him.

            “I don’t wanna be ‘just a child.’” He says, frowning.

            “You aren’t Marcus. Honestly I would probably feel the same way if I were you. We both beat ourselves with guilt. We feel guilty about stuff out of our control.” I tell him, sounding like an annoying counselor or something. I hate it when I go all therapist on people.

            “You’re pretty smart, Ana.” He says, starting to smile again.

            I remember when I was his age; I thought it was super cool when people swore. “F**k yes, I am, Marcus.”

            He laughs and I can tell he feels a little more comfortable now.

            “So… I look like a young man, huh?” He asks.

            “Totally!” I tell him.

            “Well I don’t think so… I’m still a scrawny little s**t. I wish I could gain weight.”

            I hear a door open and a girl enters the room.

            “You know, some people would be grateful to not be able to gain weight.” She says. Marcus laughs and walks over to hug her. It must be Scarlett.

            “This is Scarlett.” He tells me. Ha, I was right.

            “Hi Scarlett, I’m Ana.” I say, smiling.

            “Nice to meet you, Ana. I’ve heard good things.” She says. She’s wearing bright red lipstick. She’s very petite. Her skin is very pale and shines, as do her bright blue eyes. Her hair is brown with fringe bangs like me. She’s wearing fishnet leggings and a very short, high waisted skirt. Her shirt has a picture of some black guy on it.

            “So are you also 14?” I ask. She says yes and asks how old I am.

            “I’ll be 26 next month.” I say.

            “Wow, you’re old.” Says Marcus.

            “Wow, you’re young.” Says Scarlett.

            I laugh at both of them.

            “What’s it like being a legal adult?” Scarlett asks. “Can you buy us beer?”

            “You’re lucky I’m cool, hunnie. Or else I would tell on you. No I won’t buy you beer.” I say, laughing.           

            “Well, we’re both already fucked up anyway.” Marcus says, walking to the fridge and grabbing two beers, handing one to Scarlett, and sitting down on a chair. Scarlett sits under him, between his legs.

            “True story.” She says.            

            “You guys should be playing with toys and watching cartoons, not drinking!” I tell them, surprised.

            “I love doing that stuff… when I’m stoned.” Scarlett says. Marcus laughs, and so do I. It is kind of true. Still, I miss the innocent, stress free days. My phone rings. It’s Celia.

            “What do you want?” I say answering it in a mean voice.

            “I need you to come home please. It’s really important.” She says. She kind of sounds like she’s been crying. Maybe I should go back. I do feel kind of bad.

            “I’ll be over soon.” I say, hanging up.

            “You have to go?” Marcus asks, curious.

            “Yeah. I do.” I say, getting up. I kiss him on the head.

            “Love you. Don’t get too fucked up, kids. We don’t all meet the love of our lives when we’re drunk at the park at night.” I tell them. I walk outside and see Alice just pulling up. Good, because I didn’t have a ride there.

            “I need a ride home.” I say to her, as she rolls down her car window. She doesn’t ask any questions.

            “Get in.” Is all she says.

            As we drive home, I’m nervous. Just because I know I was partly wrong and I feel bad. I’m not really in the mood for something super important to happen right now. I kinda want to just lie down in bed and watch TV. We get to the house and I can hear Napoleon barking his head off. Haha, of course. I thank Alice and then walk up to the white door. I open it up and step inside.

“Ana, get the f**k out of here!” Celia yells at me. She’s tied to a chair and a guy is holding a gun to head.

I try to back away but when I do, someone tackles me to the ground. When I look up I see a sickly skinny girl pinning me with her knees, sitting on my chest. She punches me in the head. I start to cry. It’s like… everything’s a blur. I can sense Celia is crying and yelling but I can’t really hear her. I look around crying. Napoleon is tied up too. This must have had something to do with the drugs I flushed of hers a long time ago. F**k… No one’s going to save me. They are for sure going to kill me. I can just sense it. I’m going to end up with Kris, and I don’t mean that in a happy way. I can’t save myself, and I can’t save Celia. The skinny, familiar looking girl spits in my face as I scream.

But wait… this girl is small. I can totally take her! There is no reason not to try!  No reason at all! I can die trying to save my life or I could die being weak.

“What’s the matter hun? Is someone a little scared? Poor baby.” Says the girl. My legs are hooked around her arms and I’m glad I decided to wear jeans, or else my lady business would be like, on display.

I have to fight. Kris fought for me. Kris always fought for me. Reeve fights for me, and so does Drew. No one is wishing that I don’t recover from all this. Except maybe the b***h on top of me. It has to be my turn. I have to fight. If not for myself, for the woman who brought me into her home and took care of me. Comforted me. Fought for me.

“We’re going to kill you and your little friend Celia.” The guy who is holding Celia says. “That’s what you get for being a careless little s**t.”

“I can pay you back! I can get you money! Just don’t kill us!” Celia screams. He punches her and puts a gag in her mouth.

My shoulders start to tense up. Anger travels down my frail, shaking arms. My hands turn into fists. My whole body is tense. I only have one shot at this. I can’t do this with no one getting hurt.

I try to find strength in my legs. Flexing them, I push down the woman on top of me’s arms down. She is taken off guard and is flipped backward. She hits her head on the hard ground. As fast as I can, I jump up. She does the same. Well s**t, what do I do now? I run into the kitchen and she follows.

“You’re going to f*****g die, b***h!” She yells at me. I try to stay calm. I try to look like I’m not about to literally fall down and pee because I’m so frightened. I run around the island in the kitchen and she does the same. She tries to catch me and we both circle the island many times.

“What’s your name? I’m Ana, it’s nice to meet you.” I tell her. She looks angry and confused.

“Oh, you’re probably too fucked up to understand me. I can sense that your life is going in a good direction.” I tell her.

“My name is Liz, you stupid b***h!” She yells. “And I’m going to kill you!”

I laugh at her. I don’t know where this courage is coming from, but it’s all happening! I’m kind of proud. I grab two knives from a rack. She has a knife with her. Now we’re even. Hm, that sounds badass. I think I’ll say it out loud.

“Now we’re even.” I tell her, laughing some more. She growls and I dart back into the living room to see Celia with the man, both of them watching Liz and me. I run right past Celia and give her put one of the knives that I grabbed in her hands. I try to zoom past them but the man catches my arm. I elbow him in the face and he falls. I look at Celia’s hands and see her using the knife to cut her hands free, like I had intended her to do. I smirk a little. I bend down and try to grab his gun but he pushes me. We wrestle for a second, both of us trying to get it. He gets the gun and throws it. Liz catches it and points it right at me. I slowly stand up, putting my hands on my head. That just seems like it would be what she wanted me to do… Well, I tried. And failed. Is this all my life amounts to? Failing?

She looks at the man, and then to me, and back at the man. I see her fingers tighten around the trigger, as she shoots.  The noise is loud and it rings in my ears. I feel a warm liquid spurt into my hair and cake onto my face. I turn to see the man next to me falling, a bullet through his head. My eyes grow wide. I wipe some of the blood off my face; looking at my hand, crimson goo dripping off it.

“This money is all mine now. After I kill you guys, I’m going to rob you.” Says Liz, and laughs. So maybe the taunting her wasn’t actually a good idea…

“You first, b***h.” She says, pointing the gun at me. I yelp a little.

“I’m sorry, Celia.” I say, crying.

            “No, I’m sorry.” Celia tells me. “This sounds crazy… but the only reason I let you stay here was Kris came to me in a dream. But I really care about you Ana. Maybe I’m going to die, but at least you’re here. I love you, hunnie.”

            Celia still sits in the chair behind me, still looking like she’s tied up. I’m kind of confused. And what did she mean Kris came to her in a dream? Was it like when he came to me in my dream? Was it our imagination? Or is Kris actually trying to contact us?

            “I love you too!”

            “Shut the f**k up, you dramatic w****s. Nobody cares.” Liz yells at us.

            “Seriously? We’re about to die, you c**t. Can’t you give us a second?” I yell back at her. She glares at me.

            ‘That’s it!” She says. I see her finger tighten as she pulls the trigger to the gun. I’m about to scream but Celia hops out of the chair, and shoves me hard. I fall to the ground, hitting my head hard. I look up at Celia and see a bullet go through her chest. I gasp loudly. Quickly I get up and run to Liz. Before she can shoot me I punch her in the face. She drops the gun and I quickly grab it. I can hear Celia wincing and crying out in pain. Liz jumps at me trying to grab back the gun. Her eyes look absolutely mad. I panic, and then shoot her right in the gut. She falls to the ground and starts to cough up blood. I look down at her. Our eyes meet. She still looks insane. I don’t even see a spec of life left in her eyes. The glazed over pupils are just crazy with the years of drug abuse. My eyes scream back at her own. I drop the gun. For a second I just stand there, frozen, staring at her.

            Then I hear Celia. “Ana…” She says, her voice weak.

            I run to her and sit by her side. I can’t find any words. I don’t know what to do. I brush some of her golden hair out of her face and whisper soothing things into her ear. I put pressure on her wound with my hands. That seems right. She screams in pain.

            “It’s going to be okay! You’re going to be okay!” I say, crying. I wish I could find something else to say to her. Something I thought was positive to be true. But I needed to say something. With one hand I apply pressure and with the other I cup her face in my hand, trying to soothe her. I hear someone burst into the door. It’s the police.

            “Step away from the girl!” One of them says to me. Paramedics put Celia on a stretcher and take her away.

            “I’ll see you soon!” I shout to her.

            “What’s your name?” One of the cops asks me.

            “Ana Johnson…” I tell them, my whole body shaking.

            “Ana Johnson, you’re under arrest.”