The Summer Scene

I was too comfortable for my own good. This is not my room, I can feel it. I would have looked around to try and figure out where I was, but my eyelids were still too heavy. I could only use my ears to help me.

“John! I’m so sorry.” A female voice whined. John? I’m at his house? Gomez or O’Callaghan? Where the guys from The Summer Set even there last night? It has to be Johno, Stephen would have noticed me and brought me home to Aunt Ilene and Jess. But what happened last night? “I didn’t mean to. I didn’t think she was going to react that way. I’m really, really sorry.” The girl begged for his forgiveness.

“It’s fine. She’s alright now.” John unemotionally replied.

“That’s good.” I could tell she thought that everything was fine between them. Who was she?

“Yeah,” I heard John start to say, but I started to drift back to sleep. He has a very comfortable bed.

-----

The light was starting to pour into the room and disturbing my slumber. I found it difficult to keep myself in the slumbering state.

“Morning.” John greeted from my right, brushing some hair out of my face.

“Ughhh.” I groaned, pulling the covers over my head. John was sitting on top of the comforter, while I was tucked beneath it.

“First hangover’s. Got to love them.” He joked.

“Ugh what happened last night?” I groggily asked, pulling the covers back to look at him. He was a little fuzzy; my eyes haven’t adjusted to the light yet.

“You were given a little too much to drink. Threw up at Max’s, fell asleep, Rach and I brought you back here, and you slept over.” He informed me, smiling widely at the last part.

“Where did you sleep?” I asked with a hint of worry.

He pointed over to the arm chair in the corner.

“No you didn’t!” I would have yelled if my throat was so dry and hoarse.

“I did.” He replied with one small head nod.

“Oh my god, I feel so bad. Here,” I started taking off the covers and climbing out of his bed. “I’ll take the chair, and you go back to sleep.” He grabbed my arm to stop me.

“No. You have your first hangover and need the rest.” He stared me down with an added smile, and I unthinkingly started climbing back into my place. I think he has an inkling as to what his eyes and perfect smile do to me.

“Fine. Then we’ll share the bed.” I mumbled.

“Fine by me.” He smilingly agreed, sifting through the covers to get situated.

“So, who were you talking to?” I asked nonchalantly.

“Melissa came by to apologize.” Again with the no-emotion response.

“Well that was big of her.” I replied, getting comfortable.

“It was.” he agreed blandly.

“I’m surprised she didn’t take you away.” I whispered loud enough for him to barely hear.

“I broke up with her.” My head whipped around to look at him, my eyes wide. “What she did last night was over the edge,” he was looking straight ahead at the blank white wall across from the bed. “and if she can’t accept you in my life, then I can’t accept her in mine.” He confessed.

I couldn’t respond. The fact that he thought of me as a fixture in his life took my breath away, though I know it really shouldn’t.

“Go to sleep kid, you’re tired.” He finally looked at me and started to get himself comfortable.

I listened to his observative request and rested my head on my small stack of fluffy pillows, and passed out for the second time this morning.

-----

I woke up with a feeling that I was completely alone. John was gone from my side, and the room looked like my old room back when I was a kid. This defiantly was not where I fell asleep. Where am I?

Suddenly an all too familiar face appeared out of the darkness, inching towards me faster and faster, closer and closer.

“No! Get away from me!” I started screaming. This can’t be happening. He cannot be here. But he promised…

“Come on Natalie, you always gave in. Why put up a fight now?” he taunted, still inching closer, but I couldn’t fully see his face.

“Go away!” I shrieked, but he still kept coming closer. He reached the bed I was still tucked into, unable to break free. I started kicking from under the covers and flailing my arms, “Go away! Get away from me! I’ll call the cops! Get away from me!!!!”

“Natalie, Natalie wake up.” Someone was yelling and shaking me now.

My eyes flew open immediately once I registered the smooth voice. “What happened?” I asked, dazed and confused from what previously happened.

“I think you were having a bad dream.” He pushed some of my now matted and stringy hair out of my flustered face.

“It was just a dream.” I sighed in relief. I could still feel the tears starting to build up in my tear ducts.

“Hey, are you okay?” John asked in utter concern.

I nodded, moving into a sitting position against the wall, wiping the escaping water away.

“You want to talk about it.” He asked mimicking my position.

“I don’t think you want to know.” I choked out.

“What’s it about?” he was trying to coax it out of me.

“My childhood.” I quietly replied picking at a loose string on the blanket.

“Tell me, you know you can trust me, right?” he enveloped my hands between his. I looked up into his eyes. He really and truly wanted to understand.

I nodded. I explained my whole story to him, and all he did was listen and hold me when it became too much to bear.

“My mom got pregnant with me when she was eighteen, and my biological dad left way before I was born. My grandparents kicked my mom out because they were ashamed of her, leaving her to defend for the both of us. She was able to use her graduation money to buy us a small apartment in Brooklyn. Not too long after I was born she met Kearl, spelt K-E-A-R-L, pronounced like C-A-R-L. Anyone with that weird of a name shouldn’t be trusted, in my opinion. Kearl was the only father-figure I’ve ever known. While my mom was constantly at school and work, he’d watch me.

"When I was around five, my mom was never home much because she was getting her lawyers degree, leaving me in the hands of Kearl. He would bathe me and get me dressed, but as he did this, he would touch me. This went on for a few more months, until I couldn’t take it anymore and started flipping out whenever he tried to come near me. He would chase me around the house trying to get his hands on me. One day he got so pissed off, that he took a rope, tied it around my wrists and ankles, put a towel in my mouth and tied the ends around the back of my head, and stuck me in the old coat closet for the whole day. I guess he would have let me die in there if my mom didn’t come home and find me. She would have flipped a shit on Kearl, if she didn’t know better. She called the cops and set me free without him knowing. Minutes later the police were at my doorstep and arresting Kearl for child abuse, molestation, and attempted homicide. His last words were, ‘You good-for-nothing whores are going to regret this. I will find you.’ I spent the rest of the week tied to my mother’s hip; we searched for a new house and also changed our names from Tiffany and Natalie D’Antaglio, to Tiffany and Natalie Classon, after the name of the block we lived on in Brooklyn.

"We moved out to Long Island and started over, I was six at the time and Mom was just starting her career. She was very successful very fast, she made a partnership with Geyer Chandler, and they were a success. They solved some huge cases on the Island, and some in the city. We were able to upgrade our small, rundown bungalow to a bigger home in Centre Island. But, Mom still was never home much for the rest of my childhood. She was either at work, at work functions, or on dates. She started spending the night at her dates house when I was around twelve, and able to fend for myself.

"At fifteen, she was with this one guy, Manny, but I didn’t trust him; I didn’t feel safe around him. Aunt Ilene, actually called out of the blue one day to ask how we were, she’s my mom’s older sister, by five or six years, I spoke to her and she offered for me to come and stay with her and Jess for the summer, to get away from home for a change. I agreed, and here I am, one year later.”

“Wow.” Was all John could say. His arm was now draped over my shoulders, holding me, while I was curled up tightly next to him. I didn’t want to talk anymore. My tears were all dried out, and there was nothing else to do but sleep, again.