Behind the Tears (Behind the Lives) (10 page)

She stopped hitting Corey’s face and thumped down on his stomach. Corey let out a howl. She jumped off him, shocked at what she’d done. He doubled over, clutching his gut, his whimpering making her feel even worse. But she had a right to be angry!

“You’re a bastard!” she yelled, trying to force all sympathy aside. He’d caused this, not her. Her hands loosened, her worries now fighting with her anger—and winning. She reached out and touched his shoulder, concerned that she’d hurt him badly. He curled up into a tighter ball, covering both his stomach and face. He was only small; she shouldn’t have hit him that hard—or at all, and especially not in the stomach when he was feeling so sick. “I’m sorry,” she sobbed, moving back onto the mattress. She tried to shift his arm out of the way to see what damage she’d caused, but instead he yelled out and rolled onto his front, probably thinking she was going to hit him again.

The door crashed open. Rough hands grabbed her from behind before she could react, pulling her away from Corey and out of the room. Sledge slammed her into the passage wall. Knowing what was coming, Juliet covered her face, but Sledge yanked her arms down and slapped her hard, then shoved her over. She cried out as her hip connected with the wooden floor, then scrambled backwards, desperate to get away from Sledge. He usually slapped her if she pissed him off, but today she had a feeling she was in for something different, like the time with the sledge-hammer when they were seven. He’d crushed two of her fingers and gained a nickname that day—
Sledge
replacing
Tyson
permanently.

“Sledge, no!” Corey’s brother shot out of his bedroom, and grabbed Sledge’s arm.

Sledge wrenched it free and turned on him. “She wuz beating up Corey!”

Naf’s shocked gaze moved to Juliet. He resembled Corey, just an older and fatter version, the towel around his waist doing a miserable job of hiding his beer gut. Sobbing, Juliet pulled her knees to her chest, absolutely humiliated he was seeing her naked.

Naf’s girlfriend entered the passage and wrapped a blanket around Juliet. “You guys go check on Corey. I’ll take care of Juliet.”

“The bitch doesn’t deserve to be taken care of,” Sledge spat. He took off into Corey’s room.

Naf followed, but got shoved out and the door slammed in his face. He thumped it and yelled, “He’s my brother, you bastard!” Something thudded on the other side, causing him to jump backwards. He swore up a storm, then spun around, quickly zeroing in on Juliet. “You can piss off! I don’t want cha living here anymore.”

His girlfriend placed a hand on his chest. “Calm down, honey,” Aroha said. “There must be a good reason she hit him. Juliet likes Corey; she wouldn’t have done it for nuthin’.”

“He’s got cancer!” Naf hollered so loud his face turned red. “There’s no excuse.”

Aroha bobbed down and coaxed Juliet to stand. “Let’s go to your room and you can tell me what happened.”

“Leave her there,” Naf said.

Ignoring him, Aroha helped Juliet through the doorway. Naf followed them inside, insisting that Aroha come out. Aroha started scolding him like a mother would a child, causing Naf to go silent. He quickly left the room, closing the door behind him.

Shaking her head, Aroha sat down on the bed next to Juliet. “He’s worse than a bloody kid sometimes, but don’t worry, I’ll make sure he lets you stay. All I needa do is withhold sex and he rolls over and does whatever I want.”

Juliet glanced at the Māori woman. Aroha was dressed in one of Naf’s XL shirts, which swamped her body, making her brown legs look painfully thin. Although Naf’s girlfriend was nuttier than the Crazy Cat Lady from
The Simpsons
, the woman’s hair just as wild, Juliet thought she was nice. Yeah, Aroha was
way
too old for Naf, but Juliet liked having another female around, especially one who always sided with her.

“What happened, love?” Aroha asked. “Why’d ja hit Corey for?”

Juliet wiped her eyes. “He used me.”

“How?”

“He called out Sledge’s name while we were having sex.”

Aroha’s mouth dropped open. After what seemed like ages, she finally spoke, her raspy voice sounding shocked. “I thought he wuz answering Sledge.”

“No, that’s why I hit him. First Tama rejects me cos I look like Sledge, and now Corey fucks me cos of it. I can’t win.”

“Jeez, I never thought Corey wuz gay. He doesn’t look or act it.”

“Well, what else could he be? He follows Sledge round like a puppy dog, and when Sledge isn’t here, all he talks about is,
Sledge said this, Sledge said that.
But, it didn’t hit me until he called out Sledge’s name when he came.”

“Does Sledge know Corey has a thing for him?”

“Doubt it. Sledge is a clueless dumbarse and I can’t see Corey telling him. Sledge is almost as bad as Tama when it comes to being homophobic.”

“Are you gonna tell Sledge?”

Juliet screwed up her face. “Are you nuts? He won’t believe me, and I’ll pro’bly get slapped around again. Sledge hates anyone saying bad things about Corey. He even punched Tama for calling Corey a fag when Corey dyed his hair blond a few months back.” She straightened, wondering whether Aroha could get her out of this mess. “Can
you
tell Naf why I hit Corey?”

“It should really come from Corey, but I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thanks.” Juliet pulled the blanket further around her and hugged Aroha with one arm, then leaned her head against the woman’s shoulder and started crying again. “I really liked him.”

Aroha ran a hand over her hair. “I know. Just let it all out.”

Juliet continued to cry, thinking about all the guys she’d ever liked and how every one of them had done something mean to her. She’d had a huge crush on Nike Daniels in primary, but all he did was call her names and push her over when she’d tried to kiss him, then she’d fallen for Tama... She started crying louder, the memory of what he’d said still humiliating her:
‘You look so much like your bro it would be like fuckin’ Sledge, and I’m no homo.’
And now Corey had proven his point.

By the time she finally stopped crying, the front of Aroha’s shirt was damp. Embarrassed, Juliet sat up and wiped her eyes.

Aroha patted her knee. “Feeling better?”

Juliet shook her head. “It’s not fair. Why couldn’t I look like Ash and Dante instead of bloody Sledge?”

“Well, darling, you are his twin.”

“It’s not that, I mean, me and Sledge don’t look anything like either of our parents. I’ve seen pics of my mum and she wuz gorgeous, but instead I look like this.” She waved a hand in front of her face. “Why do I hafta be so ugly?”

Aroha frowned. “You’re not ugly, and Sledge isn’t either.”

“That’s cos it’s alright for a guy to look rough, but not a girl. Once, my grandmother cut my hair short and people thought I wuz Sledge’s li’l brother.” She grabbed her small breasts. “And I’ve got hardly anything up here, which makes me look even more like a boy. What guy would want me?”

“You’ll find someone.”

“When? Cos I’m sick of waiting. I’m eighteen and I haven’t even been on a date. And having sex with Corey doesn’t count, cos that’s all we did. I want to be asked out to a movie or a restaurant, for a guy to want to spend time with me and not my brother. God, I never thought I’d be jealous of Sledge, but even he gets more guys wanting him than I do. It’s not fair!”

“Then maybe you should lower your expectations, like I have. The unattractive guys are really appreciative of any attention.”

“Naf’s not unattractive, he’s just a little overweight.”

Aroha shrugged. “He’s not really my type, but he treats me right, much better than the hot guys ever did. Find someone like that.”

“I can’t even get ugly guys. I knew it wuz too good to be true with Corey, cos he’s so cute, but I really thought I’d finally found someone, like the time with Tama.”

Aroha sat up straight. “What happened with Tama?”

“He used to hang around me a lot, but later I found out it wuz only cos he thought he could get money offa me. But I had no idea, and just assumed he liked me, so when he stayed over at our place one night I went into Sledge’s room to ask if he wanted to go to the movies, but I found him lying on the bed rubbing himself, so I thought he might like it if I blew him—”

Aroha practically squealed, “You blew Tama?”

“Yeah, he told me to keep doin’ it, but he wuz pushing my head down too much and making me gag, so I asked if he wanted sex. He said yes, then when I mentioned using a condom he opened his eyes and went nuts at me. He pushed me away, saying he thought he wuz dreaming. He wuz really,
really
mean.”

“Is he big?”

“Eh? What do ya mean?”

Aroha moved her head forward. “You know, is he well-hung?”

Juliet screwed up her face, shocked by the question. “You can’t be serious? I’ve just poured my heart out to you and all you’re concerned ’bout is how big Tama’s cock is?”

“You don’t needa get offended, it’s a simple enough question.”

Juliet stared at the woman.

“C’mon,
please
tell me,” Aroha said. “My friend reckons he’s ten inches. So, is he?”

“I didn’t have a measuring tape, so how would I know.”

“Don’t be a spoilsport. If
you
wanted to know, I’d tell you.”

“I wouldn’t ask sumpthin’ like that, it’s rude.”

Aroha scowled. “Sheesh, I stuck up for you against my own boyfriend, so you could at least tell me.”

 Juliet’s shoulders slumped forward. “Yeah, sorry. I haven’t seen many cocks so I wouldn’t know what
big
is, but Corey’s one wuz loads smaller than Tama’s, which kinda surprised me cos I just assumed guys were all the same size.”

Aroha punched a fist in the air. “I knew he wuz hung, I bloody knew it.”

Juliet shook her head. “You really are weird.”

“Nah, I just have a thing for Tama. That boy is sizzling hot and I’d die to have some of his sausage. And how could you not know that guys have different sized wangs? Sheesh, you have three brothers, girl.”

Juliet’s face dropped. “That’s wrong in so many ways. And I never looked at theirs. Gross, gross, gross! And you shouldn’t be talking ’bout Tama like that, cos you’re with Naf.”

“Not like I’m married to him, and I’m never gonna be stupid enough to do that.” A smile crept across Aroha’s face. “Hey, do ya think you could get me a visit with Tama?”

“But, that would be cheating on Naf.”

“No it wouldn’t, it would just be a visit, and we can go together. Anyway, Tama isn’t interested in me, he turned down my proposal, but I still like looking at him.”

Juliet’s eyes widened. “You proposed to him?”

“It wuz just before I started dating Naf. I sent him a letter cos I thought he might say yes to get conjugal rights. When he didn’t reply, I asked his cousin what Tama thought of my proposal letter. The li’l shit said New Zealand doesn’t have conjugal rights, and that if it did Tama still wouldn’t marry me. He wuz really rude too, and called me a paedophile.” Aroha pursed her lips. “Tama is over the legal age.”

“What’s conjugal rights?”

“It’s when married couples get time to have sex if one of them is locked up. I visited my ex in prison when I lived in Australia, and just assumed they allowed it here too.” Aroha frowned. “The bastard divorced me when he got out, saying he enjoyed shagging his inmates more than me. Still, I love the sod.”

Juliet covered her mouth to stop from laughing. It didn’t matter whether she was in a foul mood, Aroha could always crack her up, although the woman never did it intentionally.

“Maybe I could visit my ex and Tama at the same time, cos they’re in the same prison.” Aroha hesitated. “Um... actually, that’s pro’bly a bad idea; I’ll just see them on different days. So, will ya get me a visit? I’ll go tell Naf straight away ’bout what Corey did if you promise me.”

“I s’pose I can check if it’s alright to visit him.” Juliet wondered whether Tama would see her after she got him in trouble with Ash. She wasn’t exactly his favourite person, although he did owe her for all the money she gave him.

“Choice, lemme know when you hear. I’ll go talk to Naf now.” Aroha got up and headed for the door.

Juliet watched Aroha close the door behind her, feeling bad for Naf. Yeah, he’d yelled at her, but he was usually nice, and she didn’t like the thought of Aroha going behind his back to see Tama, regardless of whether Tama was interested or not. She would never do that to someone, because, no matter what Aroha said, it
was
cheating. Maybe she should tell Naf, but then again, she was already in his bad books.

Sighing, she headed for her drawers and grabbed some clothes. She wished she’d told Aroha no, because she didn’t want the woman’s help now. She couldn’t stand dishonest people, especially when it affected someone nice like Naf.

She tugged on her green skirt and matching top, wanting to get as far away from this crazy place as possible. Maybe she could visit Ash and get him to sort out this mess for her instead. He always came to her defence, unlike Dante who usually laughed and said it was her own fault. Or maybe she could ask Ash if she could move back in. Yeah, that wasn’t a bad idea at all. She grabbed her keys off the colourful cabinet her grandfather had made and headed for the door.