Almost Gone

I couldn’t believe it. Emma cussed. And she remembered Chase and Mac. But I was ticked. I was ticked at Mac for calling Emma a whore. And she just took it. Like as if it was an everyday thing. Which made me even madder. I balled my fists at my sides, watching as their conversation continues.

“Why don’t you frickin’ talk, slut!”, Mac yells after Emma. I felt like strangling him, but tried to keep it together. At least until Emma left the room.

Because I can’t.

“I’ve read your files.”, Mac growls. What does that have to do with anything?! She’s frickin’ mute!! I think angrily, but her response was shocking.

Then you know why. And Emma ran. She just ran. I was just about to run after her, before I remembered something. I walk over to Mac, punching him right in the face.

“Dude!!!”, Mac growls.

“Don’t ever call Emma a whore.”, I growl, glowering.

I go running after her, realizing she could be anywhere. I try thinking of somewhere that would be where Emma would go. Outside … I think, sighing. I go walking out the back door. Immediately hearing the sounds of crying. I look around, seeing Emma curled in a ball at the corner of the deck, her head buried in her knees. I walk over to her quietly, but she obviously heard me, looking up. She stood up quickly, looking ready to run.

“Easy, I don’t wanna hurt yah.”, I say, holding up my hands defensively.

She mouths, “Go away.”

“I came to see if you’re okay.”

What does it look like?

“You, umm, wanna talk about it?”

No.

“Look, I don’t know what Mac meant, but can you talk?”

She looked at me, her pale blue eyes wide with tears. I instantly regretted asking, watching as she fell down, crying and sobbing. I sat down uncomfortably next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. She shrugs out of my grip, quickly scooting away.

Don’t touch me.

“Just tell me what’s wrong.”

Fine! I could talk. I used to all the time. But I stopped. I don’t know if I can anymore. And she started sobbing again.

“Look, I don’t usually listen to all that crap doctors say, but they say that it feels good to tell people stuff.”

You don’t have the patience to listen.

“Wanna bet?”

I don’t want your fake money.

“I punched Mac for you, and you’re not even telling me anything!”

She stares at me disbelievingly, shaking her head. Alright. I’ll tell you.

And she sighs, her pen shaking as she began writing. I scooted next to her, because I had a feeling this was going to be a long story.

My dad always told me how I had a beautiful voice. He’d ask me to just talk so he could hear my voice. I talked and talked and talked. Eventually I started singing. My dad loved that even more. We were so close. He promised he would always be there. But then one day …

Her pen fell, and she started sobbing. I wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer to me. She sobbed on me, and I felt my shirt soaking. She grabs the pen again, and I read:

He got involved with the wrong people. He got shot. I screamed. They made me watch the entire thing. And then they — I grabbed the pen. I didn’t want her to keep going. I held her tighter, kissing her forehead. They raped me. I was four. As the cops came, they cut my throat. she wrote, more tears streaming down her face. I wanted to hurt them. I wanted to murder them. They hurt Emma. Hurt her when she was so young.

“Do you know who did that to you?”, I ask, moving strands of her hair out of her face. She shakes her head, looking away from me. “Emma, tell me.”, she shook her head, trying to pull away, but I held her tight. “Emma, I wanna help you.”

It happened in the past. There’s nothing you could do to change that!!

“Damn it, Emma!! Tell me who frickin’ hurt you!!”

Mac and Chase were there. Mac’s dad was the leader. she wrote quickly. I held her closer, feeling her tears fall out of her eyes.

“I’m gonna make them sorry.”, I growl quietly, hoping she wouldn’t hear.

* * *

I hadn’t told anyone what I knew. Mac and Chase were staying the night from what Sam said. I didn’t like that. I didn’t want them anywhere near Emma. They could finish what their dads started any minute. I didn’t leave Emma alone, and I could tell she was getting annoyed. I didn’t want her knowing that they were staying the night.

Okay, I give, Carl! Why haven’t you heard of personal space?! Emma writes, making me chuckle. This wasn’t gonna make me stop, or get me to tell her.

“Just wanna make sure you’re okay.”

She rolls her eyes at me, standing up on her tiptoes to kiss my cheek. “Thank you,” she mouths, smiling at me. I smile down at her, grabbing her chin and kissing her. She didn’t feel like she was going to pull away and run. She felt like she was enjoying it.

Someone clears their throat and we pull apart. Emma’s face turns bright red, as she soon glares at whoever had interupted us. I look over to see Mac, and I could feel the glare on my face.

“Always knew you were a whore.”

“Jackass,” Emma mouths.

“What do you want, Mac?”, I say through my teeth.

“Came to get something to eat. Didn’t expect to see a whore seducing you.”, Mac says sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

I don’t see Lauren anywhere. Emma writes, smirking.

“Watch it, whore. I can always send you back to that orphenage.”, Mac growls. “They’ve wondered where their slut is. She’s been gone for an hour.”

Emma slapped him. I could see that she threw all she could into that, as she held her hand, grunting. I grabbed her, pulling her behind me. I didn’t want her near Mac when he lost it. He was worse than me.

“Move outta the way, Carl!!”

“No.”

“Move.”

“No.”

“Damn it, Carl!! I thought you of all people would’ve stayed sane!!!”, and he punched me. Emma screamed.

Wait — Emma screamed?! I think, shocked. I thought she couldn’t talk at all! I think, standing up to punch Mac.

“Go,” I growl over my shoulder, punching Mac again.

“No,” she mouths.

“Damn it, Emma!! Go!!!”, I growl. Mac punched me. Emma went at him, clawing and throwing punches. He grabs her hair, yanking. She screams, continuing to claw and kick and punch. “Let her go!!!”, I growl, punching him as hard as I could. Mac lets go, and I grab Emma, already starting to run. She stumbles a little, clutching onto that pen and notebook. I pull her around another corner, soon hearing the sounds of her writing.

What’s wrong?

“Mac.”

Oh, Jackass. I chuckle at that, making her smile at me.