Good Riddance

“Come on Scar!” Kiera called from her car, “He said he’d meet us down there!”

“I’m gonna go in my own car” I said, “I’ll follow you down”

Today was Saturday and Billie was due home at some point today. We were going down to the bridge to wait for him, he said he’d meet us all down there. I was so glad he was coming home, it had been such a long time (yeah I know two weeks isn’t that long but it is to me).

My parents were out of the house today, they had gone to Los Angeles for the weekend. I was rather jealous but when it came to a choice of accompanying my parents to L.A. or waiting in Oakland to see Billie Joe, there really wasn’t much competition involved.

I watched Kiera drive away with Mike, Tre and Jess in her car, before getting into my mini and putting the top down. The sun was beating down today and it gave me a tiny inclination of what sort of summer it was going to be like. Hot, I was guessing.

I backed out of my drive and down the road through the automatic electric gates, when Kiera went through someone had to hop out and put in the code, but with me they opened automatically. I drove slowly down to the bridge, with my radio on quiet. I wasn’t really aware of what I was listening to, I just registered that it was pop of some sort. The gravel crunched under the car wheels as I pulled up next to the arches.

Nobody was in the arches today, everyone was lying on the grassy banks of the low river. A few brave people were even swimming in the river, it was clear today and as long as they made sure not to swallow any, they were alright. You wouldn’t catch me going anywhere near water; I couldn’t swim. I know, I was the representative for the USA in two fields of dance and yet I couldn’t swim? I simply hadn’t ever been taught and my mom had never thought it important for me to work. And yes I did use the word ‘mom’ there, my mother’s long lasting battle to try and retain my English accent had failed and even she now was slipping occasionally.

I spotted the guys over to the left, the furthest away from the bridge. They were just making themselves comfortable on the grass as I walked over. I lay down in the middle of the two couples and felt the sun begin to soak into my skin. I was wearing a blue belly crop t-shirt that showed off my navel and a pair of white shorts. If people didn’t know me they would have mistaken me for a prep, the only thing that made me look odd was the thick black kohl outlining my eyes, I could only wear it like this when my parents weren’t at home so I made the most of it.

“You should put some sun cream on Scar” said Jess absently from next to me. She was resting her head on Tre’s chest and her eyes were closed in relaxation. I made a noise of laziness and can’t-be-botheredness and she didn’t pursue it any further.

I don’t know how long we lay there but I knew that Kiera and Mike were making-out next to me but seeing as I had my eyes shut, I didn’t care. It was one of those rare weekends when Kiera was actually around to be with him, so they made the most of it. Jess and Tre were simply content to be in each other’s company.

A shadow fell across my body.

I opened my eyes to glare at the person blocking my sun but then I squealed in delight and got up off the ground to hug Billie tightly, before landing a kiss.

“How did you get sneak up so quietly?” I asked him as my arms remained around his neck.

“It’s my stealth” he said as his arms moved from back to my ass, “I’m amazing at it. I'm secretly a ninja”

By this time the others had gotten to their feet as well.

“Hey Billie” said Tre in a bored voice, his arm around Jess’ waist, “How was Oklahoma?”

“Hot” said Billie, “and rather dull because the phone connection was broken”

“I noticed” said Kiera. Billie made a quizzical face at her and she said, “Scarlett has been complaining about it for the past two weeks”

“Fuck off!” I said, “I so have not”

Yes I did just say ‘fuck’. I know – my standards are slipping. I guess my company was having an influence on me; it’s just a shame I didn’t see it as a bad one.

“Missed you too baby” said Billie slipping his hand around my waist from where I had pulled away to swear at Kiera and he pulled me close again.

“Wanna walk?” he asked. I nodded and we excused ourselves from the others to walk back up the hill up to the actual top of the bridge.

“Did you really miss me that much?” Billie asked.

“Of course I missed you!” I said as we walked along the top of the bridge, “My days are not the same without the perpetual lies I have to tell to my parents”

“What have you been doing this past two weeks, it seems like such a long time” he mused.

“We went down to Gilman last week to see this band, they were good.” I said, “Went to a party on Friday night but other than that, not much. School where we have started athletics in games. Tre almost punched James the other day.”

“Why?” asked Billie looking at me.

“He tried to hit on Jess again” I said, “James doesn’t seem to think that what Tre and Jess have is ‘serious’ because they have the occasional break”

“Not serious?” asked Billie with a tone of incredulity, “Not serious enough to have lasted for six years”

“That’s what I yelled at him as he spat at me when I broke it up” I said.

“He spat at you?!” Billie asked angrily, “Next time I see that little fucker –'

“Billie!” I said with a grin, “Nice you’re being protective but I don’t think James is gonna come anywhere near us for a while, unless he wants a black eye and a knuckle sandwich from Tre”

“I notice breaking up fights isn’t all you’ve been doing” he said. Billie had stopped and his hands were on my waist, he moved his hands over my skin until he reached my belly piercing.

“You like it?” I asked him.

“I do” he said, “I take your parents don’t know about it”

“erm, no” I said with a giggle, “I think my mom might physically rip it out if she saw”

Billie winced at my comment but didn’t say anything because he knew it was true.

“How was your grandma?” I asked him as I took his hand again and we carried on walking until we reached the middle of the bridge and sat on the wall. I didn’t look down as my legs hung over the edge, we were almost sixty feet up and I wasn’t good with heights at the best of times.

“She’s as tenacious as ever” said Billie with a grin, “Kept trying to get me drunk, particularly in the evening when we sit on the decking for most of the night. Holly got wankered on a few occasions”

“Did Daniel go with you?” I asked cautiously knowing that Billie’s step dad was a touchy subject.

“Yeah” said Billie frowning, “My gran hates him though”

“She sounds like a cool lady” I said.

“Oh she is” said Billie, the smile returning to his face, “So where are Mr and Mrs Strict today then?”

I knew he was referring to my parents.

“They are in Los Angeles for the weekend, they’re going to something to do with dad’s work but while they are there they are going to check out TAP properly for me” I said with a smile.

“Awesome” said Billie, “Have they done anymore than a provisional yet?”

“No, I have to win the Championships and it will become a solid offer” I said, “But if I win the Champs then I’ll have offers from other companies as well”

“Out of Cali?” he asked looking a little forlorn.

“Probably, but we’ll see. I need to win the Champs first”

“Yeah” he said, “Anyway, you said your parents weren’t home?”

“That’s right” I said with a grin, “So the house is all empty...”

“Let’s go” he said holding out his hand. I gladly took it, jumped off the wall and we briskly started walking back to my car.

***

Billie Joe apparently thought it was too mundane to actually ride in the passenger seat on the mini. Instead he chose to sit on the top of the back seat where the hood went down into the body of the car. I told him looked like a loser sat up there on his own but obviously he didn’t care. I had my previous radio station playing for approximately thirty seconds before Billie (while the car was moving) leapt for the stereo and changed it to a frequency that I had never heard of.

“Much better” he commented before resuming his position on the back of the car. I giggled as he posed.

“You’ll fall off!” I warned him as we turned left and onto the road towards my gates. He didn’t even wobble from his perch as I sped up and went through the gates. I wonder what the curtain twitcher from number two would think. Not that I cared anymore. We pulled up into my drive way and before I’d even turned the engine off Billie was beside me on the driveway.

“That was fast” I said to him as I got out.

“You’re just slow” he said with a smile as he put his hands either side of me on the open car side, so I was trapped in between his arms. I had time for a short smile before his lips softly touched mine, I responded immediately and delighted in the feeling, I had missed this feeling; even in the two weeks he had been away. I broke away a moment later and my head moved to the right to look out into the street to see whether anybody was around to see us, his lips trailed up my neck and along my jaw as I looked and I giggled.

“Billie!” I said to him, “We could be seen out here”

“Let them see” he said dismissively, his head moving from my skin for a few moments to speak, “I missed you”

I half attempted to push him away but failed miserably and gave up in the end simply ducking my head to capture his lips again. My car edge was digging into my back and I stopped kissing him a moment to open the back door of the car. He grinned as I sat on the back seat and waited for him. His legs came either side of my thighs moments later and he pushed me backwards so I was lay full length on the back seat and his lips swiftly found mine again. He tasted so good after the absence, the adage that ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’ is true; although I don’t know how long I would be able to stand it. He didn’t taste like cigarettes which surprised me and somehow I managed to notice it and feel some sense of loss, it didn’t taste quiet Billie-ish.

It was when his hands were snaking up my top that I caught his wrists and stopped him. He pouted down at me.

“Not here” I said, “I am not having sex with you in the car”

“Scccccaaaarrrr!” he whined at me. I folded my arms over my chest and tried to resist the adorable eyes he was directing in my direction. Luckily his attempt failed and I wriggled so he fell off my thighs and into the well behind the passenger seat. I was now above him and used it to poke my tongue out at him as I clamboured out of the car. I walked to the door sashaying my hips as I went just to make him follow me a little bit faster and let myself in the house kicking my shoes off as I went.

It was cool in the house and it was nice and quiet as well which made a nice change, my mum’s friends from church were usually over and it was nice to actually have some peace and quiet. Billie followed me in and took his shoes off as well, I don’t know why I insisted on that but I did. Walking into the kitchen I was presented with this morning’s breakfast dishes which I hastily cleared away and put into the dishwasher with a blush creeping on my cheeks.

“You have chocolate milk?” asked Billie from somewhere behind me. I turned around to see that he had his head in the fridge and was pulling out a bottle of chocolate milkshake.

“Yes?” I asked him.

“I didn’t think your mom was the sort of person to let chocolate milk in the house” Billie said.

“She’s not” I said, “I bought it last night after they left”

“You rebel” said Billie with a grin as I took the milk off him and took a drink of it straight out of the bottle.

“I’m very bad these days” I said in a low voice as I put the milk down on the breakfast bar, “You know my parents aren’t here....”

“Yes?” Billie asked his eyes fixed on my face as to what I was about to say next.

“Wanna screw in their room?”

His eyes nearly fell out of his head. I got the impression from his facial expression that he was not expecting me to say that but he looked delighted at any rate. I giggled as I took the look on his face for a yes and running out of the kitchen, I went upstairs, all the while his hands were on my waist.

The door to my parents bedroom was shut and I was quickly spun around and my back pushed against the door as he kissed me. I felt for the door handle with my free hand (the one that wasn’t tangled in his hair) and we practically fell into the room when I finally did get the door open.

My parents room was huge and decorated in a turquoise colour scheme. I didn’t really have time to appreciate this because my back hit the bed faster than I could register. His lips and hands and my lips and hands were everywhere.

Having sex on my parents bed made everything so much more heightened because it was so forbidden. It was so taboo. It was only when we lay gasping on the coverlet afterwards with our clothes scattered around the room that the delicious feeling of the naughtiness of it all. I rolled up onto my elbow and looked at Billie lying next to me where he had just rolled to. I caught him in a kiss before sliding off the bed and collecting my clothes.

We had sex twice more that afternoon; once lovingly in my room whilst watching a movie (the movie got ignored) and then again in the shower when we were supposed to be getting clean. I walked out of the shower completely naked and into my bedroom, my bedroom door was open and I was drying my hair with my towel. Billie walked after me with a towel slung about his hips. It was dark outside now and glancing at my clock told me it was ten o clock.

It was then I heard the noise in the house. Hushed voices coming from downstairs.

“Billie!” I whispered and quickly threw a shirt at him. He was alert immediately and pulled it on along with a pair of boxers. I found a shirt and pulled it on and a pair of pants, I did up one of the buttons on the shirt and crept out onto the landing. I couldn’t see anyone but I could definitely hear people in the lounge.

My parents weren’t due back until tomorrow so it couldn’t be them. Could it?

I motioned for Billie to stay at the top of the stairs but he shook his head vehemently and followed me down the stairs. I widened my eyes at him; if it was my parents, we were fucked.

Who else could it be?

The bottom hallway was in total darkness and I jumped when Billie’s hand took mine. The lounge door was shut and I swear it had been open earlier. I could definitely hear people on the other side of the door and I couldn’t distinguish their voices; it could be the guys coming to play a joke or something. How did they get in?

My hand was on the door handle and I pushed the door open quickly.

It was then I saw them and my hand stifled my scream. Billie’s hand went rigid on my waist and his breathing rate increased as he pulled my back towards him as a knee jerk reaction to keep me closer to him.

There were four men in my lounge, each of them taller than six foot. They were dressed in black and were wearing balaclavas. This couldn’t be happening; this only happened in my worst nightmares and in movies. They spun around as they heard the door opening and their eyes seemed as shocked as mine but then they moved into action. My eyes were fixed on the guy who’s hand flew to his pocket and drew out a pistol.

Then I really did scream but one of the guys was already near us. He had a knife but it looked more like a knife for cutting through things than a weapon – I didn’t care though, it was still a knife. His hand clapped over my mouth and I bit it. He bellowed in pain and with the other hand hit me across the face. I fell spinning to the floor seeing blackness and stars behind my eyes. I think Billie managed to punch the guy before he was thrown to the floor; I saw him kick upwards but then the gun was shoved in his face and he froze.

I squeezed my eyes tight shut and hot tears leapt from eyes; I couldn’t believe this was happening.

“Get up”

Someone prodded me with their shoe and I moved out of the foetal position I was lying in to move onto my knees.

“Who are you?” asked the man looking at my scantily clad body. I hadn’t bothered to put any trousers on because I had simply wanted to find out who was downstairs. I felt sick from the blow I had been dealt to the head.

“Scarlett Robertson” I whispered.

“You told us they were all away!” one guy whispered to another.

“I thought they were!” he said, “I saw them leave yesterday”

I looked sideways and saw Billie was in a similar position to me, on his knees. The pistol was still pointing at his face and I could see how close he was to flipping out and trying to grab it. He was within touching distance and I tried to reach out to him without them noticing but I was stopped by an angry noise.

“Now who are you?” asked a guy of Billie.

“Billie” he said and nothing more. I saw his lips had become a thin line of anger and hate.

“What are you doing here?” he was asked. He didn’t reply and there was a moment of silence as the men in my living room tried to figure what to do.

“It’s obvious what he’s doing here” said one of them, “Unless this girl normally gets freaky with her friends, then this obviously her boyfriend. Look at them; they’ve both just fallen out of the shower”

“Is that true?”

Still no answer from Billie. The guy with the knife was stood next to me and he put it to my arm, the blunt side of the blade digging into me. I saw Billie’s eyes widen as he looked me and I saw any fight leave him as he realised that this men were not amateurs.

“Yes” he said.

“Right” said one of the guys, “You, get up”

I knew he was talking to me so I slowly got to my feet. My hands were by my sides and they seemed to register that I was still very capable of running or screaming for help.

“You’re a Robertson?”

I nodded numbly.

“Okay,” said the guy, he was evidently the leader, “You’re going to tell us exactly where all the valuables in this house are. If you try to lie, or scream, or do anything we don’t tell you to, I swear to you – I will kill him”

My heart rate couldn’t be any faster and my palms were sweating. A guy shined a torch on my face and I winced in the glare of the light.

“Okay” I said, “The safe is behind the third portrait on the right wall in the hallway. The pass code is 9-5-6-3-0-0-1.”

More tears fell from my eyes as I saw them drag Billie to his feet and the guy with the pistol put it under his chin. I could see his pupils were dilated with fear and there was a gash on his head where he had been floored before. I swayed a little on the spot as I went lightheaded from the impact of the punch I had received.

Two guys had left the room to go to the safe and they came back moments later with a bag full of money that my parents kept in there for emergencies. This was a different type of emergency and for once I found myself wishing that my parents could come home; I didn’t care about the fact me and Billie were here. Together. I just wanted to be safe.

The guy with the knife moved closer to me and tucked my wet hair behind my ear as one of the guys went upstairs to find my mom’s jewellery. I flinched and tried to move away from him but his hand held me in place as he placed a hand on my stomach and held my waist. I was crying still and I desperately tried to move away.

“Get your filthy hand off her” I heard Billie say in a deadly quiet voice and I whimpered in fear as the guy pushed the barrel of the gun closer into his neck.

“Or what pretty boy?” asked the guy, “You’ve got a gun to your head, I’ve got your pretty little girlfriend at knife point, what’s to stop me taking her right here on the floor, right in front of your eyes and you having to watch? I'd probably have her moaning like a little slut faster than you ever could”

I cried out and tried to moved but his hand caught my hip and pulled me flush against him.

“The fact that when you leave here I will hunt you down and find you. I will destroy you if you touch her again” said Billie and because of the panicked but strong desperation in his voice there was a flicker of hope building in me.

The guy who was holding me stopped for a moment and glared at Billie. I don’t quite know what happened but I think he decided Billie was deadly serious and his hand moved off his hip. The man dealt with the insult by turning the blade the right way around and moving it across the crook in my elbow. I yelled in pain as blood welled up from the two inch long gash. The guy smiled as Billie struggled against his captor’s grip. I gripped my arm with my other hand in an attempt to stop the blood, it had dripped down my wrist and was fast covering my hand. It didn’t hurt much but the shock made me sway on the spot as the guy’s who had gone to get the jewellery returned.

“Is that everything?” they asked me. I nodded desperately, my eyes flickering around the room.

“She’s lying” said the man. My original captor with the knife came up to me and pressing the knife into my ribs he growled in my ear.

“Why are you lying?!” he said and made another gash in my arm.

“Number Three!” growled the man who was the leader, “We didn’t come here to commit bodily harm, now you’re going to get us so done!”

“We’re not going to get caught!”

Almost as if it was a taboo word, I heard sirens in the distance. The guys in the living room froze.

“Who called the cops?!”

“Someone must have seen us” said the guy, “These two haven’t left our sight”

I looked at Billie as saw that he was losing consciousness from the grip that the man had on his neck.
There was pool of blood next to my bare feet where it was still flowing freely from my arm.

“We have two hostages here!” said my guy, “Use them to barter our freedom!”

“No” said the leader, “We are not taking hostages. Smash the back window and get out that way, get to the main road. J said he’d be there”

“What about these two?”

“Well he’s about to go,” said the leader as the sirens came closer, “And she’s bleeding out. Put them out and let’s go”

I took an involuntary step backward as he said that but that man’s grip on my uninjured arm stopped my going anywhere and I watched in sick horror as another guy drew back his arm and punched Billie in the stomach, winding him and then square on the side of the face as he bent over clutching his stomach. He flopped obscenely to the floor and I barely had time to register that the same guy had come over to me before I received a blow to the head that my head snap sideways and the floor to come up to meet me. I saw the guy who had cut me kick Billie hard in the ribs and heard a sickening crack.

In the last of my consciousness before the splitting in my skull and the dizzying sickness took over I was aware of running footsteps towards the back, flashing blue lights outside the front window and Billie’s hand limp in mine as I reached for it.