K. Robinson: Twisted Ties

“Stay the fuck away from Emma or else.”

“Fuck you. I want to talk to her.”

“Have it your way,” Andy said just before he pulled back and punched me in the face.

I stumbled back as Emma cried out. I pinched my nose to stop the bleeding as I stared at Andy in shock. He was no longer in the doorway. Instead, he was holding Emma as she cried.

What the hell is going on here?

When I’d left California, Andy and Emma had barely known each other. Now, he was holding her and comforting her as she cried. It almost looked like they were together.

I froze as I watched him kiss her forehead. Rage filled me. They’re together. They have to be. Absolutely nothing made sense right now.

“I thought I told you to leave. Don’t make me hit you again because I will,” Andy said as he let go of Emma.

Then, he slammed the door in my face. I stared at it for a minute before I finally turned and left. I walked back to my car in a total state of confusion.

I didn’t even remember driving back to the house that Ally and I were renting. One minute, I was walking to my car, and the next, I was walking through my front door.

“Hey! Where’s the food?” Ally asked cheerfully. She took one look at me and stopped dead. “What happened? Why are you bleeding?”

I sat down in the chair closest to me as I tried to process the last half hour of my life.

“Jesse! Talk to me! What happened?”

“Did you know?” I asked as I looked up at her.

“Did I know, what?”

“That Andy and Emma are here?”

“They’re here? I had no idea!”

I would have believed her if I hadn’t known her for so long. I knew her well enough to know when she was lying to me.

“I call bullshit. Start talking, Ally.”

She bit her lip as she stared down at me. “Okay, yes, I knew. I just didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to upset you.”

“My best friend and my girlfriend are in town, and you decided that I didn’t need to know that little tidbit of information?” I asked incredulously.

“Ex.”

“What?”

“You called Emma your girlfriend. I’m your girlfriend now. She’s your ex.”

“Whatever. How long have you known?”

“A few days. I guess Andy figured out where I was, and he came after me. Emma came with him.”

“Why would she do that? They barely know each other.”

“Oh, Jesse, I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t know how.”

“Tell me, what?”

“Andy and Emma are together now. They have been since right after you left. I came home one night and found them.”

My stomach clenched. “Found them doing what?”

“I was mad at Andy for being mean to you, so when I heard him in his room with a girl, I stormed in to ruin his fun. I never expected it to be Emma.”

“What were they doing?” I asked again through clenched teeth. I knew the answer, but I needed to hear it from her.

“They were naked. I’m sure you can figure out what they were up to. I never told you because I didn’t want to hurt you. Besides, it’s been two years since you were with her. I didn’t think you’d care.”

“You saw my best friend and my girlfriend together and didn’t think that I needed to know? Even after all this time, it still would have been nice to know.”

Tears filled her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Jesse. I’ve just been so preoccupied with the baby that it honestly slipped my mind.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I couldn’t process all of this. After two years of nothing, the three people I came here to escape decided to bust into my life and fuck it all up. First, Ally had shown up and begged me to help hide her, and now, Emma and Andy were in town. Nothing in my life was ever simple.

“Please don’t be mad at me. I’m so sorry,” Ally whimpered.

“I’m not mad. I just wish that you would have told me.” That was a lie. I was mad. I just wasn’t sure who I was mad at right now. I thought it was a tie between all three of them.

“I should have. I was just so focused on leaving before anyone found out that I was pregnant.”

“I get it. I do. This whole situation just sucks.”

“It does.”

“How did you know they were here?” I asked.

“They hunted me down and cornered me outside of work the other night. Emma can’t stand me, but Andy wanted me to come back to California with him.”

“What did you tell him?”

“I stuck to the story that we’d agreed on. I told them that I was pregnant, and it was your baby. I said that I wouldn’t leave because you loved me.”

I buried my head in my hands. This was all so fucking complicated. When Ally had shown up on my doorstep a few months ago, alone and scared, I hadn’t thought twice about helping her. I just hadn’t expected her to ask so much. She’d stayed quiet for a few days before the truth finally came out.

“Jesse, I need to talk to you,” Ally said as she stood in the doorway of my bedroom.

I’d been listening to my iPod, but I’d paused it and set it aside. Ally hadn’t said much of anything since she’d shown up on my doorstep a few days ago. I knew something serious was going on, and hopefully, she was about to tell me what.

“What’s up?” I asked.

She walked into my room and sat down on the bed beside me. “I don’t even know where to start.”

“Just start wherever you want.”

“You know that I’m hiding from everyone back home.”

I nodded.

“I’m doing it to protect them…and myself.”

“From, what?”

“I went to a party on the beach. It wasn’t with our usual crowd. Some guy invited me, and I decided that I would check it out. If I didn’t like it, I could go home. I didn’t know anyone, but everyone was nice to me, and I was having a lot of fun. I was drinking too much, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to party. I was about to graduate, and I just wanted to have a little fun before I had to go out into the big bad world.” She laughed humorlessly.

“A few of the guys there were older, like in their late twenties. They were part of one of the biker gangs that comes through town from time to time. I knew I should stay away, but there was one who seemed really nice. He went out of his way to talk to me. We hit it off really well, and I ended up staying most of the night. By the time the party started to end, I was trashed. He was sober, so he offered me a ride home. I’d never been on the back of a bike, so I told him yes. We told everyone good night, and he helped me onto his bike.”

I had a sick feeling in my stomach. I almost told her to stop, but I knew she had to tell someone.

“Instead of taking me home, he took me to that old motel next to the interstate. I told him I wanted to go home, but he said he was tired. I finally agreed to spend the night with him, and then he could take me home in the morning. Everything was fine at first. He wasn’t pushy or anything. He helped me into bed, and I fell asleep. The next thing I knew, he was on top of me, and my jeans were gone.”

She was sobbing at this point, so I sat up and pulled her into my arms. Ally was like my sister, and I couldn’t stand for her to be in so much pain.

“You don’t have to tell me what happened. I can figure it out.” I could barely get the words out. I wanted to rip this guy’s dick off for what he had done to her.

“He threatened to kill me if I ever told. I swore that I wouldn’t, and he let me go. I walked the entire way home. I tried to act like nothing had happened, but it was eating me up inside. A month later, I missed my period. I bought a bunch of tests, used all of them, and they all came back the same. I’m pregnant, Jesse. His baby is growing in me, and I want to throw up every time I think about it. I had to leave before anyone figured out the truth. If Andy found out, I knew he wouldn’t stop bugging me until I told him who the dad was. Andy would have gone after the guy, and he would have died. Those gangs don’t mess around. I couldn’t let my brother die just because I was stupid.”