Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 

      When I came to my senses, I was standing in the middle of the road. I looked around in confusion. I don’t remember stopping here. My Ford was parked crookedly on the shoulder. Both drivers-side doors were thrown wide open. Jackie was leaning against the side of the car between the two doors, sobbing uncontrollably into her hands. Bobby stood a couple feet in front of her. I’d never seen him look so angry in his life. His face was void all color, his hands were balled into tight fists, there were large, purple, ugly bruises on his neck, and I could see he was shaking. What threw me off, though, was the intense look of hatred, fear and (what looked like betrayal) he was giving me. Me, I thought, confusion stabbing at my brain, making my head ache, Why me? What did I do?  “What’s wrong?” I frowned. “Why’s Jackie crying? Is she okay?”

      Bobby’s expression grew ferocious. “You son-of-a-b***h!” he growled. “Don’t play stupid with me, Andrews. I saw what you were doing to her! I saw it all! What, did you think you could just use the child locks to trap me like some animal?  You f*****g psycho! You-you’re sick!”

      I tried to ponder what he was accusing me of, but when I tried to find the memories, I felt this sharp pain in my temples, painful enough to make me visibly wince. Eventually, I just gave up, because there was nothing there. “What? I didn’t do anything, Bobby, I swear…” I began, holding my hands up in surrender, but was cut off by my own cry of pain when a powerful blow from Bobby’s fist made contact with my right cheek. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. “Ow! Bobby, what the hell was that-?”

      “Don’t try to lie to me, you psychopathic little b*****d!” Bobby glowered, grabbing the front of my shirt. He jerked my body toward him and got right in my face. His breath smelled of Red Bull and Coke. He looked me in the eye and said in a dangerously low voice. “I saw it, Joe! So don’t even try that crap with me!”

      I pushed him away. “You’re crazy!” I sneered, pushing him away, shaking my head in disbelief. I swallowed hard, nearly gagging on the taste of blood in my mouth. “I don’t know what the hell your problem is, but I swear I didn’t do anything.”

      Bobby simply gave me a look of disgust before turning around and heading over to Jackie. “You okay?” he asked delicately. I was surprised when she threw her arms around him. Jackie hugging Bobby? Did hell freeze over? He held her tightly as she cried, whispering soft words of comfort, every so often, shooting a glare in my direction. Eventually, I started toward them to get a better look at what was going on. I didn’t get far, though, because Bobby reacted immediately, stepping in front of Jackie protectively. “No, you stay right there,” Bobby snarled “I swear, Joe, if you even think about coming any closer, I’ll hurt you, I promise. Do I make myself clear?”

      “What the hell, man? I didn’t do anything,” I protested angrily. Bobby ignored me and went back to comforting Jackie.

      A few minutes later, she finally pulled away. Bobby took her hand and guided her over to the passenger’s side door. After she got in, Bobby whispered something to her and closed the door. Scowling, he turned his attention to me. “I’ll deal with you later,” he growled, giving me a look of pure disgust. Without another word, he climbed into the driver’s seat, slammed the door, and drove away.

     

2 Hours Later…

 

      We were sitting on the hood of my car outside Bobby’s place. He’d been interrogating me for the last half hour about what I supposedly did to Jackie.

      “So, hold on, let me get this straight. You’re trying to tell me you don’t remember anything,” Bobby asked calmly.

      “Yeah, pretty much,” I said. The last thing I remember was stopping the car. Everything from then until you hit me is a blank.

      Bobby looked doubtful. “I’m sorry, dude. That just seems a little too convenient to me,” he said, glaring daggers at me. “Why don’t you just admit you got carried away so I can punch you one more time before the party? I’m gonna do it anyway. What you did was…well, I thought you were gonna…I’ve never seen you like that before. You were vicious, Joe. You’re lucky I got her to agree not to tell anyone.”

      “Bobby, I swear to God, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said. “Look, why don’t you tell me what happened. Maybe it’ll jog my memory or something.”

      “I would…if I didn’t think you were full of crap.”

      I sighed. “You don’t believe me? Fine, I see how it is. Why don’t you do yourself a favor and go jump off a bridge,” I growled, bumping his shoulder aggressively as I stormed to the driver’s side door.

      “Where’re you going?” he asked, following me. “I’m not done with you!”

      “F**k you, Bobby!” I sneered. “F**k you and your stupid party! I’m going home. See you on Monday.”

      “Okay, okay, I’ll tell you what happened,” he said, shaking his head. “Just relax.”

      “Now, was that so difficult?” I asked, scowling. “Just get in and start talking.”

      Silently, Bobby complied. “Where’re we going?” he asked as I heard the click of his seat belt.

      “Doesn’t matter. Now, tell me what happened, or get out of my car.”

      “Okay, well…” he began

 

      Earlier…

      “Alright, Joe, we should get going, man.” Bobby Harris said calmly, trying to regain his composure. “I don’t want to be stuck in a car with this b***h any…Joe?”

      Joe didn’t respond. He just continued staring through the windshield, a blank look on his face.

      “Hey, man, what’re you waiting for?” he asked, shaking his best friend, but again, Joe said nothing. “C’mon, man. This is a really bad time for you to have a mental breakdown.”

      “What’s the holdup, up there? C’mon, boyfriend, I have places to go, people to see,” Jackie said impatiently.

      Bobby rolled his eyes as he turned around in his seat, momentarily forgetting about Joe. “First of all, he’s not your boyfriend anymore, secondly, holy f**k, Jackie, not everything’s about you! How about you get off your high horse for a minute and come help me up here.”

      “Why would I help you?” she asked disgustedly. “We hate each other, remember?”

      “Yes, I know that, but…” Bobby sighed. He needed to try a new tactic. “Do you want to go home any time today?”

      “What does that have to-?” she began.

      “Something’s wrong with Joe, Jackie.”

      “What’s wrong with-?”

      “Holy Jesus…Just get your a*s up here, Jackie!”

      She glared at him as she got out of the car, but, surprisingly, no clever retort or argument came from her. Bobby watched as she made her way around the car to the front driver’s side door. Silently, he followed her lead. By the time he got to her, she’d already opened Joe’s door and was leaning over him. “What’re you doing?” Bobby asked, raising an eyebrow as she started running her hand up and down Joe’s chest.

      Jackie turned around.  “Shut up for a second, will you?” she snapped, before going back to what she was doing. Slowly, sensually, she planted a kiss on Joe’s parted lips. Bobby jumped back when Joe snapped out of his trance-like state and pushed Jackie, violently, away. “What the hell, Joe!”

      Joe wiped his mouth disgustedly as he got out of the car. “You know for as many guys as you’ve been with, Jackie, you really should be a better kisser,” he taunted. He put his arms around her waist. “You like kissing me, don’t you, Jackie?”

      “No, Joe! Leave me alone!” she objected, attempting to pry his hands from her. “Ow! Joe, stop! Cut it out!”

      When Joe didn’t let go, Jackie raised her hand and swung it at his face, but he was too fast and effortlessly caught her wrist. “Nice try, Jackie, but it looks like I have the upper hand,” he derided, smirking victoriously, before forcing her into an aggressive-looking kiss. Jackie’s eyes widened, and from what Bobby could tell, she seemed to be struggling against her ex-boyfriend’s grip on her wrists. Her cries of protest were muffled by Joe’s lips.

      Bobby was frozen to the spot. He was absolutely horrified at what he was seeing, but for some reason, he couldn’t move. He willed for his friend to pull away and apologize to Jackie for acting like a pig, but Joe just kept on aggressively making out with a reluctant Jackie.

      After what seemed like hours to Bobby, Joe pulled away. “See, now that’s a kiss, Jackie,” he smirked.

      Finally able to move again, Bobby stepped in front of the two. “Okay, Joe, you’ve had your fun. You’ve messed with her enough. Now, let her go,” he tried to reason.

      Joe turned to look at Bobby as if just noticing he was there. The expression was one Bobby had only had the misfortune of seeing once before. Before he could help himself, the haunting image flashed in his head of a tall man dressed in black, carrying a powerful AK-47 rifle, pointing the barrel directly at his head. The inhuman fury carved into face, the fire burning behind his blue eyes, the absence of humanity in the way he aimed his shot. His finger tightened on the trigger. Everything slowed down. A shot, her throwing herself in front of him, an ensemble of screams, a spray of blood, her body falling to the ground. Before the image could take hold, Joe’s voice filled Bobby’s ears, bringing him back to the present. “Hold on, Jackie, we’ll continue this in a minute,” he told Jackie, before throwing her aside like a useless rag-doll. “Oh, and don’t even think about running, honey. I’ll snap your neck before you take your second step.”

      He turned his attention back to Bobby, wearing that look again. “You look nervous, Bobby. Something wrong?” he asked with a nasty smirk.

      “What’s wrong with you, Joey? Look, I know she hurt you, but this…you’re taking it way too far. Stop now, before you do something you’re gonna regret,” he said calmly.

      His smirk morphed into a deep scowl. “Regrets? I have no regrets. I regret nothing, feel no remorse, and have no conscience either. Don’t you realize that? I could viciously rip both your heads from your necks without thinking twice about it,” he sneered. “Don’t try to reason with me, Bobby, because it won’t work. And don’t attempt to appeal to my better nature, because I don’t have one.”

      “I get it, Joe, you’re getting back at me for the prank,” Bobby said with a very convincing chuckle. “Okay, I’ll admit it, you got me good. Let me guess, Jackie was in on it too? Ha-ha, very funny. Now, c’mon, we’re gonna be late to the party.”      

      He gaped at me, as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “Your role in the big scheme of things is replaceable, so it wouldn’t be that much of a loss to anyone if you were to suddenly disappear, which I can make happen, so shut your mouth while you’re ahead.”

      Bobby tried not to let on how confused he was with the entire situation. “First of all, I have no idea what you mean by my role, so I’ll just assume that doesn’t mean anything and ignore it. Second of all, I don’t know what the hell’s gotten into you, but I know you, man, and you’re not like this,” he swallowed the lump forming in his throat. “And…this…whatever it is you’re doing…it needs to stop. Whatever’s bothering you, you can tell me. I won’t judge, I promise.”

      Joe’s expression softened, and slowly, he walked over to Bobby, and with tears filling his glowing blue-eyes, he threw his arms around him. “I’m so sorry…I don’t know what happened. I was just so mad…and…” he sobbed.

      “It’s okay, Joey, I’ve got ya,” Bobby comforted, holding his Joe’s shaking body tightly in his arms.

      “Hey, Bobby,” Joe said after he calmed down.

      “What’s up, man?”

      “Didn’t you ever learn never to let your guard down?” Joe asked, adopting a condescending tone.

      “What do you-?” Bobby began.

      His question was answered when, before he could react, Joe pulled away and in a swift motion, closed his hands tightly around Bobby’s neck. He struggled to pry Joe’s hands from his neck, while gasping for the air his friend’s unyielding grip denied him, but it was no use, Joe was too strong. Bobby’s eyes darted around the road, looking for something that would get him out of the situation he was in, but there was nothing in arms-reach. Black spots danced in his vision. He was going to die, murdered by his best-friend no less. He couldn’t believe this was how it was going to end. Resigning himself to his fate, Bobby merely found Joe’s gaze, looking for any sign of the Joe he knew, but there was nothing familiar about those cold blue eyes. It was like looking into dark pits. Bobby couldn’t look away, but he wanted to. The less rational part of him felt they would swallow him whole if he didn’t look away. Especially those pupils; they were like black holes, taking in light and devouring it before it could escape.

      “You don’t know the first thing about anything, Bobby, let alone me,” he snarled, eyes flashing murderously. “I could kill you so easily, you realize that, right? All I have to do is squeeze a little harder and that wind-pipe of yours is history.”

      Bobby didn’t (couldn’t) respond to this. Somewhere, in the small part of his brain that wasn’t panicking, he really didn’t care what Joe had to say. He’d already accepted that the person strangling the life from him wasn’t the same friend that took care of him after his mom’s death. This guy was nothing more than a stranger.

      “As easy and fun as that would be, it’s as equally impractical. No, Harris, as much as I would love to watch you die, you’re still needed,” he sighed, as if he were disappointed. “I know how much you love…” Bobby could feel the consciousness leaving him, and just before the darkness engulfed him, he heard, faintly, the sound of a car door opening. Before he was even aware of what was happening, the pressure around his throat was gone. He felt two hands shove him with enough force to knock him off his feet. Bobby fell forward and was surprised when felt himself land on the soft, familiar surface of Joe’s back seat. The last thing he heard before blacking out was the loud slam of a car door.

      As the precious air rushed back into his lungs, Bobby broke into a violent fit of coughing that seemed to last hours. It took him a while to calm down, but when he was able to breathe normally again, he just laid there for a while, taking deep breaths, doing all he could to stop the world from spinning. When he was sure he wasn’t going to vomit all over himself, Bobby forced his eyes open and sat up. The black interior of Joe’s car swam into view.

      His eyes immediately fell upon the intertwined bodies of Joseph and Jackie. The sight was sickening to say the least. Joe had both her wrists pinned to the window. Tears rolled down her face as she struggled against him, doing everything in her power to escape his grip, but like before, he was too strong. Ignoring her pleas, Joe buried his face between her breasts and nibbled at the exposed skin. Her scream could be heard from inside the car.

      Deciding that he’d had enough, Bobby threw himself at the back passenger’s-side door, and furiously pulled at the handle. Nothing happened. He then pulled the lock up manually and tried the handle a second time. Once again, the door wouldn’t budge. “Son of a b***h!” he cursed, before remembering the trick his therapist taught him. Remember, Bobby, the worst thing you can do in a bad situation is panic. If you panic, you wind up making things worse for yourself. So, if ever you get stuck between a rock and a hard place, remember to stop and think. Do that and you’ll find a way out you could easily miss if you panic.

      “Stop…” he muttered to himself. “Now, think…what could explain…oh…”  Bobby shook his head at his stupidity. Of course! It made perfect sense…the door wouldn’t open because Joseph turned on the child locks. And the child locks only worked on the rear doors. At that point, he knew what to do.

      After checking that Joe was still occupied with Jackie’s breasts, Bobby silently climbed into the front seat and threw the passenger-door open.

      After thanking whatever higher power there was, Bobby sprinted over to the other side of the car and pushed an unsuspecting Joseph away from Jackie. He stumbled back with his fists clenched, his eyes radiating murder. Then all of a sudden, Joe clamped his eyes shut and winced, as if he had a migraine and rapidly shook his head. A few seconds later, he opened his eyes. The murderous look was gone, the glowing had receded, and the bad feeling Bobby felt in his chest when looking at him was gone. This was Joe, the Joe he’d grown up with. He wasn’t sure what’d happened, but he knew this wasn’t the same person who tried to kill him. But that didn’t matter at that moment. A great fury filled Bobby’s chest as he watched his friend look around in confusion. And when he looked into his eyes, a surge of hatred overtook Bobby’s rational mind…he would make that son of a b***h pay.