Silence Can Seem So Loud

“You have to be kidding me.”

Eleana looks up and raises an eyebrow. “What’s wrong?”

Mark walks into his girlfriend’s bedroom and draws a hand back. Before Eleana could blink or try to secure her face, his hand collides sharply with her face. “You were supposed to meet me for lunch. Remember? But instead of doing what I asked you to do, you are here being a fucking loser working on school shit and watching a goddamn Disney movie.” She can see his body starting to shake with the power of his anger.

Looking over to her clock, Eleana gasps. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry. I was just so wrapped up with my project for my movie class that I just forgot.”

“Great. You spend a weekend ignoring me to spend time with the faggot you call your best friend and now you just so happen to forget about the one chance I’d have this week to have lunch with you.” Mark reaches up to scratch his nails over the beard that has started to grow on his face.

“We can have dinner tonight. I’ll come to your place and cook for you if you’d like. To make up for me missing our lunch date.” Eleana offers as she slowly starts to clean up the project in front of her. “I really didn’t mean to upset you, Mark.” She tried to defuse the situation before it got even uglier.

“I can’t. Dinner meeting.” Mark walks over to shut the movie off and push Eleana’s school books onto the floor. “You’re going to make it up to me in a different way before I have to go back to work.” With that, he knocks all of the supplies and the project onto the floor. “And I mean now.”

He pushes her back down on the bed, tossing her laptop to the floor and Eleana cringes as it collides but relaxes a little as she remembers how she tossed her pillows and blankets there in order to keep an even space for the project. “Mark, I have to go to work later.” She tries to get out of whatever Mark has planned for her.

“Well, you’re just going to have to wear clothes that will cover your skin.” With that, his hands rip the shirt from Eleana’s body and he starts in with biting her pale skin.

- - - - -

As she gently cleanses the foundation over the bruise that has formed below her right eye, Eleana takes a deep breath. Letting out the breath in what sounded like a frustrated sigh, she finishes her make-up job and walks back into her room.

After he was sated, Mark decided to take out a little frustration with his girlfriend out on her face. Leaving just a bruise on the apple of her cheekbone and a gash on left side of her ribcage. This was after he marked her skin with bites, slaps, and deep scratches during the fifteen minutes he tortured her body before taking what he wanted from her.

“I really wish you hadn’t forgotten about our lunch date, Eleana.” Mark says as he rolls off the bed to pull his jeans back on. “I don’t like it when I have to hurt you.”

While she laid there, facing away from him, on her side, Eleana swallowed back tears and her response knowing it would just make it worse for herself.

“I’ve got to get back to work, so I will call you when I get a chance next.” Those were the last things he said to his girlfriend before walking out of the bedroom.

It wasn’t until Eleana heard Mark’s truck pull away from the house that she moved from the bed. No tears were shed, her hard shell was resurrected, and she went about the task of cleaning up her project before she had to get ready for work.

Now back home, the young woman slides between the freshly bought sheets - after she spotted blood covering the sheets from the damage Mark had done on her body Eleana purchased some sheets at work and changed then once she got home - and wraps the heavy comforter around her. It made her feel safer whenever Darren wasn’t there. As if he knew she was thinking about him, the ringtone that let Eleana know he was calling her phone - Wish You Were Here by Incubus - started playing. Reaching over to the nightstand where the phone was charging, Eleana accepts the call.

“Hello?”

“Why, hello there.” Darren says and she can hear the smile in his voice.

“Hey, Darren.”

“What’s wrong?” His tone goes from pleasant to serious in the blink of an eye.

“Nothing. Just tired from the visit Mark decided to pay me and then going to work. I just got home and into bed.”

“Why did Mark show up?”

“Besides the fact that he is my boyfriend and is allowed to come into my house when uninvited?”

“Okay, I can see that I called you at a bad time.”

Eleana sighs as she feels her hard composure melting away. “Darren, I’m sorry. I just-”

“No, I understand. That is your relationship and I have no place digging into it like that.”

“You’re my best friend. You’re allowed to dig like that.” Eleana says as she sits up and looks out the window, her bed it situated under, to the moon. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too.”

Turning her eyes to the alarm clock sitting on the nightstand, Eleana sees that the time is just past ten o’clock. “Can I come visit you?” She asks after a couple minutes of silence.

“Now?” Darren was unable to hide the surprise in his voice.

“Yeah. I’ll drive tonight so I-I can get to your house by the morning. I-I don’t feel like being here right now and really n-need my best friend...” By the end of the sentence, Eleana’s voice has broken and silent tears started falling from her eyes.

“Eleana, of course you’re welcome to come by anytime you want. But please, fly or wait until you’ve calmed down enough to make the drive. I’d hate myself if I let you drive in this emotional state and something happened to you.” Darren said and Eleana could feel the helplessness her best friend felt from the other end of the phone.

After pulling herself together, Eleana wiped her eyes and spoke. “I don’t like to fly, Darren. I’ll calm down as I pack for the rest of the week and get some coffee and a couple snacks for me to eat during the drive. I’ll also have to get a hold of my neighbor to see if I can get her to watch over and take care of my dad while I’m away.”

“All right, sweetheart. Just please be careful.”

“I will, Darren. Thank you so much for this.”

“I’ll text you my address so you can put it into your GPS.”

“No need.” Eleana pushes the covers off of her beaten and bruised body to wiggle off of the bed. “I have it saved already.” A small smile comes to her lips as she pulls a suitcase from under the bed.

“Okay then. Call me when you get on the road and then whenever you stop.”

“I will call you every hour, when I stop, and when I am five minutes away, okay?”

“Deal.”

“Now, go to bed. I will be there in a few hours and I know you need the sleep for shooting tomorrow.”

“I love you, Eleana.” Darren says honestly, a smile coming to his lips as the feeling behind those words hits him.

“I know you do, Darren. And I love you too. I’ll call you in a bit.”

“After you tell me you’re on your way, I will go to bed.”

“Okay. I’m going to pack now and try to get a hold of my neighbor.”

“Good luck and I await your call.”

Eleana giggles softly at Darren’s choice of words. “Bye, Darren.”

“Bye, Eleana.”

WIth that, she pulls the phone away from her ear and ends the call. Going over to her closet, Eleana pulls out five pairs of jeans and shirts, a couple dresses, and other items to go with what she already has tossed into the suitcase. After loading everything she wants onto her bed, Eleana boots her laptop up so she can email her professors to alert them of her situation. Folding and making room in the suitcase, Eleana calls her neighbor.

“Hello?”

“Amanda, it’s Eleana.”

“Oh, hello sweetheart. Is everything okay?”

“Well, nothing is wrong with my dad, but I have a favor to ask of you.”

“What can I do?”

“Will you keep an eye on him for the rest of the week. Something came up and I have to go to LA. I can pay you.”

“I don’t need your money, silly girl. But of course I will watch your father. I think he’s starting to like me and open up some. Maybe this time will help.”

“Thank you so much! You are truly an angel.”

“Anything to help you out, baby girl. Now, when are you planning to leave? The kids and I just stuck some cookies in the oven and they should be done soon. I will put some in a bag for you to take with you.”

“I can’t ask that of you.”

“You are like me. Cookies help rest your mind.”

“You’re the best.”

“I’ve heard that once or twice in my lifetime.”

“I can stop by after I get my car loaded and leave my dad a note. Thank you again.”

“Honey, don’t worry about it. Your father and I will be chatting like old women reliving their glory days by the time you return.”

A giggles leaves Eleana as she zips up her fully loaded suitcase and sets it by the door where her backpack and purse are always stationed. “Well, I’m glad. I’ve got a couple more things to do before I leave, so I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

“Okay, baby girl. Everything will work out, so don’t worry.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Eleana ends the call and walks out of her room, suitcase, backpack, and purse in hand. She emailed her professors and assume that they will just tell her to keep an eye on her email for assignments and to follow the syllabus to stay on track with the rest of the class. Getting her bags into the car, suitcase and backpack in the back while her purse is on the passenger seat, Eleana locks the car and heads back inside to jot a quick note to her father saying exactly what she had told Amanda. She then grabs an iced coffee from the fridge, a bottle of water, a diet Mountain Dew, and her bag of white cheddar popcorn before walking out of the house, locking the door behind her.

She drops the food and drinks into her car before cutting across the yard and knocking softly on Amanda’s back door. Waiting a couple of seconds, the young woman pulls the door opens and freezes as the light washes over Eleana’s face.

“Oh. My. God.” She gasps and pulls Eleana into the house. “What happened?”

“Oh, I was carrying my project up to my room to finish it and I tripped.”

“And your cheek caught your fall?” Amanda gently cups her bruised face in her hands to survey the damage more. “Now, when are you going to tell me the truth.”

“I did tell you the truth.” Eleana insists as she follows her neighbor into the kitchen.

“Was it your father?”

“No.”

“Was it the big scary guy in the the truck?”

“Who, Mark?”

“If that’s the guy in the truck then, yes. Him.”

“Nope. I just fell. Nothing more.”

“Okay, baby. I won’t push it anymore.” Amanda says as she picks up a bag full of cookies. “Here you go. They are fresh so you might want to wait a little bit longer before you eat them.”

“Thank you so much more everything.”

“Honestly, I don’t mind it at all.” Amanda smiles as she places a gentle kiss to Eleana’s temple. “You get a move on before it gets to be too late.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Eleana hugs Amanda and takes the bag of cookies before walking out the door.

As she walks to her car, Eleana pulls her phone from her pocket and dials Darren’s number. Just as she slides behind the wheel of her car and starts it up, he answers.

“Sorry! I was in the shower and trying to clean a little before you got here.”

“Darren, don’t worry about it. Besides, you should be getting ready for bed. Not getting yourself all worked up. I’ll get your place around five in the morning and you better be asleep when I get there.” Eleana starts her car and buckles in before backing her car down the driveway.

“I will be. Just changing the sheets, picking up my dirty underwear off the floor, and cleaning the shower out. The usual stuff I do before you come to visit.”

“I’m sorry that this was so last minute.” Eleana guides her car through town to the interstate, following the directions her GSP is giving.

“Don’t apologize. You are always welcome whenever you want.”

“Thank you for being the best person on the face on the planet.”

“You’re welcome. I hear that you're on the interstate now so I will talk to you later.”

“Can I save my hourly calls for the one five minutes before? You need to sleep. I can hear how tired you are in your voice.”

“That’s fine, baby. If I don’t answer when you call, I’m asleep so just come on in.”

“Will do. Love you.”

“I love you too, Eleana.”

“Sleep well and I’ll see you soon.”

“Bye, baby girl.” Darren says before disconnecting the call.

Eleana puts her phone down and turns on her iPod, putting it on shuffle, and begins the six and a half hour drive to Los Angeles, California.