Kimber (16 page)

I
don’t recognize the ring tone. It’s not my phone but his. He fishes it out of
his pocket. He pays no attention to who the caller is as he ignores the call.

As
I look at the phone in his hand I recall the night we spoke. I wonder where he
went once he left me. I wonder what this moment would have been like had he not
left. Though none of it changes what he did and the fact that I can’t forgive
it. I’m better on my own. I can survive if there’s none to take me down.

His
phone rings again. He ignores it only to have the persistent caller call again.
I start to think maybe he hasn’t answered it because he doesn’t want me to hear
the conversation. Then I start to question why I’m even still sitting here. He
asked if he could walk me up to my condo and I said no. So why am I torturing
myself? I grab my purse and reach for the door handle. I’m stopped by Leo’s
hand on my forearm.

“Can
you wait a second?” I nod resting my purse on my lap.

“Hello.”
Leo says finally answering his phone. Silence. “About what time?” Silence.
“Where?” Silence. “Ok, bye.”

He
hits the end button while saying, “That was Lena. She says happy birthday.”

 “She
called you to tell me that? Why not just call me?”

“Your
phone is dead.” I open my purse and find my phone completely dead. I toss it
back in.

“You
know, about Lena?” I ask because I assume he does. Then I remember the rule
about assuming.

“Yes.
I know how gifted Lena is.”

“Did
she have a vision or something? I mean, is that why she called?”

“No
vision. She just wanted to know you made it home safely.”

I
know it’s a lie the moment he says it. No answer he gave Lena referred to my
safety or me in general. But why lie? He has to know that I could just call
Lena and ask her myself. I’m too aggravated to stay here any longer.

“Is
there a reason you asked me to wait?” I’m sure he can make out the unpleasant
tone in my voice. My hand grips the door handle waiting to pull.

“No.”
He says with a cocky smile. Like he only said it to see if I’d obey. I was
stupid enough to.

I
push the heavy door open and before I can get it closed Leo starts his loud
truck and puts it in drive. From inside the elevator I watch him pull away.

IT’S
NEARLY ONE in the afternoon by the time I wake up. I stretch slowly as I get
out of bed. I head to the shower where I’m determined to get the smell and feel
of Leo off of me. Instead all I seem to do is cry. I don’t even know I’m crying
until my eyes start to burn. I just feel hopeless. Nothing makes any sense. I
ditched my friends and now I’m sure they’ll be pissed at me. Luke and I will
never be the same. And I can’t even begin to explore the magnitude of
complications involving Leo. I long for my mother. For someone to understand
and say things that force me to a decision. My mother always told me, “Don’t
delay the future. There is never not a choice. It’s yes or no, will or won’t.”

By
three I still haven’t heard from Amber or anyone else. I guess they found my
note and saw fit to give me the silent treatment. I would rather they just
yelled at me.

With
nowhere to go and no one in town to do anything with, I find myself cleaning
the condo. I turn the stereo on and up. “Hello Cold World” by Paramore starts
to blare from my speakers. It reminds me of Leo and how he knew this is my
favorite band.

“Great!”
I say vigorously hitting the eject button until it spits the CD out. I fling
the CD across the room, regretting it immediately. Pissed off that I will
forever associate Paramore with Leo. I opt for Shania Twain. She was my
mother’s favorite and by the time my condo is sparkling I’m full of girl
empowerment. Men, who needs ‘em? 

            Lazily I
lounge around the house until finally, it’s either go to the store or I don’t
eat.

            I’m just a
few feet away from my front door when the doorbell rings. Instantly I assume
it’s Amber. That she’s back and came to ream me out in person. I take a step
closer to the door. Then from nowhere, it hits me. My intuition, a gut feeling
filled with anxiety. It warns me against moving. I hesitate with no real
explanation. The ringing of the doorbell becomes a gentle knock before turning
into pounding. My heart races. Amber wouldn’t knock like that.

Frantically
I look around the living room, my mind working against me. I don’t know why I’m
so afraid. As much as I hate it, I take the only solution I can think of. Leo.

“
Shit
!”
I whisper as I realize I don’t have Leo’s number.

The
door knob begins to rattle. The sound of it raises my anxiety to panic. I run
back to my bedroom where I lock the door and prepare to dial nine one one. How
can I be this easy of a victim? After all that’s happened why isn’t my first
instinct to fight?

            I hear the
front door open as someone storms in. “Kimber! You here?”

“Luke?”

That
was stupid! If it isn’t Luke, then I’ve just announced to the intruder that I’m
here and in the bedroom.

“Kimber?”

This
time, I’m sure it’s Luke. My heart relaxes but my hands still shake. I open my bedroom
door to see Luke flustered, visibly upset. I feel silly for getting so worked
up. I forgot I’d given him a spare key when I moved in.

         “God, I’ve
been worried sick!”

Hearing
him and seeing the worried look on his face makes me feel awful about ditching
everyone last night but  not so awful that I’ve forgotten all of the nasty and
hurtful things he said outside the night club.

“What
happened to you last night? I spent hours lookin’ for you.”

“Clearly
you can see I’m fine. Relax. I left a note.”

Then
I think of how it’s going to look. How right after our break up I left Miami
with Leo.

“There
wasn’t a note the first time I checked the boat or after the two hours I spent
lookin’ for you.”

“So,
what do you want from me? I left a note, Luke. You didn’t get it, too bad.” I
know I sound like a cold bitch but he doesn’t deserve better. Especially since
last night and the eye opening revelation of the way he sees me.

“I
looked for you so I could apologize. I was a dick.”

“You’re
a lot more than that.”

“He’s
back isn’t he?” He asks the question but it’s clear he knows. I cross my arms
over my chest. My lack of an answer is his confirmation. He nods silently. “I
asked Amber last night if she’d seen you. She said you were with Leo.”

It’s
impossible. Amber made no mention of having known Leo. No one had but Luke and
Mike D.. I didn’t write anything about Leo in the note left on the boat. But it
makes no sense that Amber would lie to me. It’s not like her. So how could she
know? 

“Has
he come back to break the rest of your heart?” Luke sneers.

“Like
you’re any better. Don’t stand here trying to be all self righteous.”

“All
he ever does is lie to you and leave you. I wanna be with you, help you move
forward.”

“I
don’t need you for that!” My  hands clench into fists.

“I
know what I did and I’m sorry. But it doesn’t compare to what he’s done. To
what he will do.”

“What
are talking about?” I yell. I can’t take it anymore. “Stop! Stop fighting with
him through me! I won’t be pushed back and forth between you both.”

“I
don’t want you to be. He’s not right Kimber. Let me protect you!”

“Get
out!” I scream. 

 Luke’s
hands form into fists. My living room suddenly feels small. “I’ll prove it to
you, then you’ll believe me. I know what he does. What he doesn’t want you to
see. Don’t underestimate me Kimber. This ain’t over yet.” Luke hisses with a
dark tone.

“Go.”
I say with less vigor.

Luke
shakes his head and sighs. “Tell Leo I can’t wait to catch up.” He says before
flinging the door open then slamming it shut.

            The ordeal
may be over but I’m still trapped in the moment. Quickly I lock the dead bolt.
This I know Luke has no key for.

            I sit nervously
on the couch. The whole conversation runs through my mind. One part sticks out
over the rest. There’s something about Leo. Lena and Luke both said it. But
what is it? I grab my phone out of my purse to call Lena. Before I can dial, my
phone starts to ring. My caller I.D reads,
unknown
.

I
answer it cautiously thinking it could be Luke from a pay phone. “Hello?”

“You
alright?” Leo asks urgently.

I
have no idea how he has my number but I breathe a sigh of relief. 

“A
little shaken but I’m fine.”

“Lena
called. Said she saw Luke at your house.”

“Um,
yeah. He just left.”

“Did
he hurt you?” Leo’s breath comes in heavy waves. When I tell him no, he calms
down. “What did he want?”

 “To
know that I was ok. But, he’s pissed.”

“Because
I’m back.”

“Yeah.”

“Some
people never change.” I’d beg to differ. I’ve seen Luke change more than I’d
like.

“He’ll
cool off. Don’t go looking for trouble.”

“I
don’t have to. He’s in your parking garage.”

“What?”

 “Stay
upstairs Kimber.”

“Leo!
Leo! Hello?” I look at my phone to see Leo has already hung up. “Damn!” I stand
and pace the room.

 There
is only one outcome if Luke and Leo are together in the same area. I know
without a doubt it won’t be words they use to work things out. It will be violence.
I have to get down there. I have to try to stop it.

I
shove my phone in my pocket, unlock my door and run past the elevator to the
stairway. I fly down five flights of stairs until I come to the parking garage.
I have trouble with the door. My body and mind are moving too fast for my hands
to follow orders. I push up against the door and twist the knob until it
finally gives.

As
soon as I’m in the parking garage I hear them arguing. I just don’t know where
the voices are coming from. I hear the echoes of their words bouncing off the
walls. I take off running not knowing which direction to go in. I focus on
Leo’s voice and follow it to where it sounds the loudest.

I’m
winded by the time I see them standing in front of Leo’s truck. They’re inches
away from one another. Their bodies are rigid with anger as they stand waiting
for the other to make the last and final move.

“Stop!”
I try to call out but my lungs fight for air. I wheeze with every breath.

In
the heat of the moment, they don’t realize that I’m standing thirty feet or so
away from them. I’m hunched over trying to catch my breath. Their argument
rages on. Never straying far from the two topics that fuel the fire. Betrayal
of their friendship and me.

“Let
it go! She’s not a concern to you anymore Luke.” Leo’s voice is cold,
threatening and sends a shiver up my spine.

“You
can’t stop it! You won’t stand in the way for long.”

“In
the way of what? Disappointment? All you had to do was watch over her. Instead
you fool yourself into thinking you could have her!”

“Bullshit!
You lied to her and now she’ll never know. I won’t let you do it again!” Luke
yells furiously.

“Stop
it!” I scream finally able to breathe.

My
voice catches Leo’s attention. He realizes what I’ve heard. Luke follows Leo’s
gaze and once he sees the distraction he uses it. He delivers the first punch.
He lands it on the bottom left corner of Leo’s chin. Leo stumbles for a second,
though he never really loses his balance.

Then
it happens. There’s a break in Leo and suddenly the energy around him changes.
This must be what Lena and Luke had mentioned.

With
one smooth, swift calculated hit Leo breaks Luke’s nose. Blood flows down his
face as he tries to regain his balance to stand. He doesn’t moan with pain and
Leo doesn’t stop. Luke swings blinded by the swelling. He steps to his left and
into the full impact of Leo charging. Luke slams against a car before they both
fall to the ground.

 I
turn away from them. I wish there was something I could do. I turn my head back
to see Leo standing over Luke, hitting him with blow after blow.

 Finally
Leo stops, allowing Luke to stand. He spits blood and laughs before the fight
continues.

It’s
unlike any fight I’ve ever seen. Luke defends himself and against anyone else
he would have already won. But Leo, he’s just stronger, faster and coordinated.
The way he moves is precise. It’s effortless violence. He barely breaks a
sweat. He exerts no more energy than he would if he were opening a box of
cereal.

Leo
hit’s Luke with an upper cut and lifelessly Luke tumbles to the ground.