Fighting to Survive (35 page)

Peggy
walked by Katie and whispered,
“
Nice
dress
”
then kept walking with the crazy man right behind her.

Finishing up her
glass of wine, she went back for another and found Bill at the bar,
drinking a beer.

“
Nice
dress, Katie,
”
he said with an appreciative smile.

“
Thanks,
Bill. I
’
m
trying to impress someone tonight.
”

“
Well,
I
’
m
impressed, if that counts.
”

She
laughed and nodded.
“
Yes,
it does. How are you doing?
”

“
Still
trying to figure out this vigilante business, but letting it go for
now. We have a lot of other stuff to worry about.
”

“
That
we do,
”
Katie admitted. She was now feeling very lightheaded and a bit tipsy
and her shoes suddenly seemed way too high to walk in, but she gave
Bill a soft smile and turned to watch Jenni and Juan tearing up the
dance floor.

Among
all the fond memories of her life, one of them was when Lydia saw her
for the first time in her wedding dress. The look of awe and love in
her lover
’
s
eyes would stay with Katie forever. It was only matched by the look
on Travis face when he finally entered the ballroom looking very
handsome in a dark blue shirt, jeans, his leather jacket with his
freshly washed hair curling slightly over his brow. She finally knew
what it looked like to see someone struck speechless.

Walking across the
room toward him, she enjoyed his look of absolute adoration and awe.
She set her wineglass down on a table and held out her hand to him
and he took it, blinking slowly. His hand was slightly trembling and
sweaty in hers.

“
Damn,
”
was all he managed.

“
You
like?
”

“
Damn,
”
he said again.

“
This
is what Nerit was helping me with earlier,
”
she went on.

“
I
’
ll
thank Nerit later,
”
Travis decided.

“
Want
to dance?
”
she asked.

Travis got the
goofiest look on his face. It made her laugh.

“
I
have other things in mind, but dancing is good for now,
”
he responded.

Taking
her hand, he guided her out onto the dance floor and drew her close.
They danced slowly to a ballad sung by Patsy Kline, slipping across
the highly-polished floor gracefully. Staring into each other
’
s
eyes, they were oblivious to all the looks of approval they were
receiving. Old Man Watson even applauded as they danced past his
table. At last, to everyone in the room, it was clear that Travis and
Katie were in love with each other.

When the song
finished, and Travis kissed Katie softly, the room erupted into
applause.

Giggling,
a little too tipsy and stoned for her own good, Katie clung to
Travis, embarrassed. Travis just looked dazed and happy and did a
little bow to those in the room. The laughter that followed was
heartfelt and warming. He turned and kissed her again. Katie was
absolutely happy.

A
few glasses of wine later, she found it harder to stand in her shoes.
Plus, she was having issues keeping her hands off Travis. She was
sure they were making a spectacle of themselves. When they sat down
to eat some dinner, she had sat on his lap.

“
Disgusting,
”
Jenni decided.
“
You
two are disgustingly happy together.
”

Old
Man Watson sat nearby, nodding, pointing at them, and smiling. Peggy
had finally ditched Calhoun onto Old Man Watson and she grinned at
Katie and Travis.

“
I
always knew those rumors about you liking women was bullshit,
”
Peggy said with a wink.

Katie
opened her mouth to correct her, but Travis lightly pinched her leg.
She thought better of it.

Finally, she knew
the wine had gotten the best of her and she excused herself to the
restroom. Walking out of the ballroom, she felt even more lightheaded
and giddy and was cursing herself for drinking too much and the hit
of pot she had taken.

The
foyer was empty when she entered it and she hesitated to fix her
shoe. The elevator doors opened. Philip and Shane came into view.

“
Fuck,
”
Philip said staring at her.

Katie
looked up, saw their expressions, and her blood turned to ice.
Ignoring them, she moved quickly to the restroom and slipped in. The
last thing she needed was a confrontation with Shane and his sidekick
when she was drunk and a little stoned.

Splashing cold water
on her face, she took a deep breath and felt a little better.
Realizing she had smudged her makeup, she picked up a hand towel and
started to dab at her eyeliner. When she looked up into the mirror,
she saw Shane staring at her.

Twisting
around, she fell back against the counter top.
“
Get
out.
”

“
It
’
s
a damn shame that a fine piece of ass like you is a carpet muncher,
”
he said in a low, dangerous voice.

“
Get
out!
”

“
Look
at those titties,
”
he said, and reached out and grabbed one of her breasts.

She
thrust his hand away and repeated in a low voice,
“
Get
out now.
”

“
And
that ass,
”
he said. His gaze was dangerous and feral.

Katie
felt horrifyingly sober at all at once. She knew this wasn
’
t
another one of the stupid confrontations they had when they threw
insults back and forth. This was damn serious. He had already touched
her and it would now be easier for him.

“
Get
out now!
”

He
moved fast and she tried to duck away. His hand gripped the straps of
her dress and he yanked hard. Her breasts fell free from her dress
and she picked up a decorative candle holder from the marble counter
top and swung it at his head.

Blood sprayed over
her as she managed to hit his nose. Enraged, he tackled her full
force, sending both of them sprawling across the long marble counter.
Gripping her hair, he shoved her hard up against the wall and pushed
himself between her legs. She beat on him with her fists, and began
to claw at him.

“
I
’
ll
teach you to cock tease me, bitch,
”
he hissed.

Fumbling
with her dress, he tried to grab hold of her panties.

It was then Katie
started to scream.

***

Travis felt too
happy for words. He now knew what it meant to be beaming with
happiness. After Katie sashayed out in that damn hot dress, many of
his friends had come to congratulate and wish him the best.

“
You
’
re
damn lucky.
”
Bill winked.

“
I
would say you have the hottest girlfriend in town, but Stacey would
kill me,
”
Eric added as he got drinks for him and his girlfriend at the bar.

Travis laughed and
flushed a little.

Jack,
Pepe, and Nerit
’
s
old dog, Tucker, scampered past him, dancing around with doggy
delight. The party was in full swing now and everyone was having
fun. Travis smiled as he saw Lenore and her best friend, Ken,
dancing away in one corner and Katarina and Peggy line dancing to one
side. Even Belinda had come out and sat at a table with Rosie and
Linda, Juan
’
s
cousin. Belinda
’
s
eyes were red from crying. Travis couldn
’
t
blame her mourning Mike
’
s
death. If Katie had died yesterday, he didn
’
t
think he would even be able to function.

He
was so grateful they were both alive and together.

A
minute or two later when Curtis approached he assumed the younger man
was coming up to him to make some comment about what a lucky man he
was. But then it became obvious that Curtis was really upset about
something.

“
Travis,
I found contraband on the kids,
”
Curtis said in a low voice.
“
They
were smoking pot out in the gazebo. I confiscated what they had, but
there may be more.
”

“
Pot,
huh?
”
Travis considered this.
“
Well,
they are kids…”

“
We
are rebuilding this society. We do not need drugs to worm their way
back into it and destroy our youth!
”

“
Well,
Curtis, look around. Half the adults in here are pretty damn drunk.
Hell, I
’
m
on my way, too. A little pot isn
’
t
going to hurt them.
”

“
Pot
is a gateway drug!
”

“
To
what? The drug war is over, Curtis. The kids found some pot. Big
deal. Once they smoke it, it's gone. It
’
s
over. I smoked it myself back in the day. And I
’
m
a fine outstanding citizen,
”
Travis said in a voice he hoped wasn
’
t
too condescending. He was really annoyed with Curtis ruining the
kids
’
party. Yeah, he wasn
’
t
fond of the idea of the kids smoking, but it wasn
’
t
going to kill them.

“
I
thought you would be a little more understanding,
”
Curtis said in a tone that was half-hurt, half-angry.
“
I
really did.
”

“
Well,
I am understanding, but I don
’
t
think it's such a big deal in the grand scheme of things.
”
Travis sighed.
“
Sorry,
Curtis, but I don
’
t.
I
’
m
going to go check on Katie. She
’
s
a little blitzed.
”

Curtis
sighed, then nodded.
“
Okay…okay.
I guess I
’
ll
drop it.
”

Travis
squeezed Curtis shoulder and walked out into the foyer. He noticed
Philip standing near the women
’
s
bathroom the second he was in the hall and he paused in his steps.
Rubbing his chin, he moved toward Philip slowly.