Chapter Seven

Stella's blitzed.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

“You should have been there. Mark focused on a good verse from First Peter.” Dewayne fiddled with David’s car radio. After a minute he just turned it off. “What was it? Be sober vigilant, the devil walk like roaring lion...”

“…seeking whom he may devour,” David finished curtly he pulled off the freeway to look for a gas station. Thankfully, Dewayne didn’t notice the sarcasm. Still, David grinned and nodded as Dewayne continued talking about what he learned at Mark's accountability group last week. “I needed to hear that man, especially with times I'm tempted go further with Lisa.”

“Most definitely,” David nodded vigorously. He and Dewayne had gone to San Francisco to a LaCrae concert, and now it was close to one in the morning. Dewayne reached for the radio again and David tried to rap some lyrics from one of LaCrae’s songs.

“That’s not how you do it!” bellowed Dewayne.

“And you can do better?”

“Heck ya, I can do better!” He started rapping as David pulled into a Shell station.

“What you want?” David asked, getting out of the car.

Dewayne sifted through his wallet and handed David some bills through the passenger window. “Donuts and a coke. The small package.”

David headed toward the convenient store. He couldn’t rap, but he could hum the tune, which he did with a skip in his step. Okay, it wasn’t Skillet, but it was good. He could get used to music like that.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a figure sitting against the side of the gas station’s mini-mart. A homeless person? Perhaps. He couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman, but he decided to buy something extra to eat, just in case. He bought the donuts and coke along with a Gatorade and beef jerky for himself, and a chicken sandwich and coke for the homeless person. He went to the side of the building to give it to them.

It wasn’t a homeless person there, but a girl.

And she wasn’t sitting, but slumped against the wall.

She wore a skimpy black and brown cocktail dress, exposing her bare legs, with her purse at her side. A bottle of vodka sat next to her. The young woman’s head rested on her chest, her hair covering her eyes and her head somewhat hidden by a dark shadow.

His pulse quickened and fear gripped him �" had she been raped? He immediately bent down and shook her.

She groaned.

“Dewayne!' David calleed out. “Call 911!”

Dewayne got out of the car and began running over just as David heard another groan from the woman. She rubbed her head and sat up, turning squarely in David’s direction and leaning into the light.

Stella!

David’s mouth fell open. Stella recognized him, too, because she looked momentarily embarrassed before she jumped quickly to her feet. What was she doing here? The vodka bottle next to her toppled over and rolled against the wall. David noticed how short her cocktail dress really was, and how curvy her legs were.

Stop!

He focused on her face. “Stella? What happened? Are you okay?”

Dewayne appeared beside him. “Dewayne. Call 911. I think she’s hurt �" “

“ “Ain’t nunnin ’ happened!” she snapped loudly, her voice slurred.

“I'zz fine.” She looked at him sternly. “You can go.”

“But you were just lying there, Stella. You weren’t attacked?”

She peered at him. “No! Get outta here!” She pushed both of them back, stumbling in the process. Dewayne, who had just dialed “9” and “1”, never completed the call.

“Girl, what’s your problem?“ he began.

“Lemme alone. I’mma fine.”

“You know her?” Dewayne asked.

“I met her once at her parents’ house.” David pointed to her.

Stella shot him a glance. “I can’t belieze I ran into you.” She swayed slightly and laughed.

Then she shoved past the men, stomping away from the mini-mart and gas station, heading toward the street.

“She got issues,” Dewayne observed.

“She survived a serious shooting. Can you hold on a second?”

“Oh, I didn't know that...Yeah man, cool.”

David ran to catch up with her and he tapped her on the shoulder.

“What were you doing over there?”

“Whyzzit your business?” She turned to him, walking backward, lost her footing. David tried to reached for her, but she regained it quickly faced him. “Why are youse so worried about me?”

“Because you looked like you may have been raped!” he hollered.

“I wazzn’t raped, idiot,” she hissed loudly.

“You know, you should be grateful someone was concerned about you. You’ve been drinking.”

“Where’s Donnie?”

“Donnie? Who’s Donnie?”

“He told me to wait outside the mini-mart while he got some snackz and I waz tired and sat down…”She turned around and laughed somewhat. “Great. He left cuz I wazzn’t givin him any…”

“You know, I can still call your mom and dad. Tell them what’s going on.”

“In case you hazzn't heard, I’m almost 22!” She pointed a finger at him and wiggled it lazily.

“Oh, so you want to lay up on that wall at a convenient store like some drunk and get attacked?!” David shouted. “You want to do that? Be my guest!”

She glared at him, but remained silent. Dewayne, who joined them, kept his head down.

“Where’s your car?” David turned to her.

Stella rolled her eyes and shook her head.

“How did you get there?” Dewayne piped up from behind David.

“I came with Donnie. Why are youze guys asking so many questions?”

“Did he try to hurt you�"“

“NO!” she hollered. She cursed and walked away.

Dewayne stared after her. . “Is she OK?”

David sighed and shook his head. “NO. Look, let’s just go,”

They turned to the car, when something told David to go after her. He grumbled to himself and turned around.

“Hold on,“ David told Dewayne and he began to run.

He found Stella walking down the sidewalk watching the cars pass. “Do you need a ride?”

“Why would I wanna ride from you?”

“I’m trying to do something nice for you!”

“Can we get some Lemon schnapps?”

“No!”

“Then get out of here!” she hissed and continued down the road.

David ran up, grabbed her hand and whirled her around.

“Hey!” she began.

“Knock it off, Ni -- Stella!” he shouted at her ignoring the fact he almost called her by his brother’s name. “Stop acting like a stupid two-year-old and take some grown up responsibility for a change!!”

You’re being irresponsible, Robert had told him that day.

David shook the flashback from his mind and then pointed a finger at her. “You wanna have an attitude? Fine, but no one’s gonna help you, or be around you, if you keep acting like this!” He walked away.

Oh boy. I totally lost my cool. W hy did I curse like that? He ran his fingers through his hair as he walked.

“Wait�"“ Stella called out behind him. “Hey, hold up!”

He turned to her. She was fifty feet from him and now she walked up.

“I need a ride homes,” she admitted. “I donno my way around here.”

He nodded and sighed, exasperated. “OK.”

She walked back with them, and joined Dewayne. They dropped him off first, and then David took Stella home. They didn’t say anything for much of the way, and he had to keep his eyes on the road and not look at her legs. Come on, bounce your eyes, he told himself. He hated this. He wanted to look more. He wished he could look at that beautiful redheaded woman he observed on the Web site. Why was he thinking this way? What did Jesus think of him?

Once in front of her house, he looked at her and at the road, wondering what he should say.

“Well, thank you,” she said, opening the door.

“Stella �"“

“What?” she turned to him sharply.

He sighed. “I wanted to know if we can talk.”

“Now?” she whined.

“No �" later.” He stressed with annoyance. “You didn’t show up that day, and I’ve been trying to get a hold of you.”

”You want some fun,” she said, inching up to him. “Is that what you mean by 'talk'? I know you want to...” she reached for his chest.

David grabbed her hand quickly. “Knock it off!” he yelled, eyes flashing on her.

She jerked back, stunned. He exhaled and sat back. “This is not you. Stop acting like this.”

“No. This is me,” she said, with a slight twinge of pain in her voice. She looked down.

“No it’s not. You’re a Christian, just like m---“

“Not anymore!” Her voice cracked when she said this. She looked ahead and David could tell her eyes were misty. She bit her lip to keep from crying and David continued. “Stella, I know you feel that way because of what happened �"“

“Stop reminding me about what happened!” she screamed with clinched fists. “People are constantly getting me to talk about what happened, and I don’t want to talk about it, okay?! I don’t want to! Let me move on with my life!” her voice quivered. She sighed and jumped out of the car.

David jumped out of the car too.

“If you’re moving on with your life, why are you destroying yourself? Huh?”

She stopped and turned slowly. “What?”

“You heard me,” David declared firmly. “You’re destroying yourself.”

She didn’t say anything for a minute or so. Then she lowered her head walked over to the car.

“You just want to talk, right?”

“Yeah, just talk.” David said.

She nodded. “OK…can we do it later, not right now?”

David thought about it and nodded.

She nodded slowly. “What about Wednesday?”

“Okay, Wednesday, how about around 7:30?”

“Okay.” She nodded.

She turned and left. But those words remained in his mind.

You’re destroying yourself. You’re no different than Nick.

Nick, you’re destroying yourself.

Author's Note

what do you think of this?