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Each movement was in slow motion. Mariah was shaking and nearly fainted when she heard the dull click of the gun, it was out of bullets. Robbie must have known this. At the moment of Robbie pulling the trigger, the male police officer fired his weapon.
The bullet hit the left side of Robbie, she released her hold on both Mariah and the gun. Both girls fell to the floor for different reasons. One officer ran to Mariah’s side and the other one to Robbie’s.
“We need an ambulance for both girls.” The male that was standing at Robbie’s feet said. He reached for the bed room phone and dialed 911. “Yes, we need an ambulance at 1329 Prescott Street.” Hanging up, he reached down to examine Robbie’s wound.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Present~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~“So what is all this stuff?” Erica pushed aside the items in the box.
“Just a bunch of a junk that I kept from my high school years. I guess it was like little reminders that I survived everything, even Robbie.”
Caitlin shivered at the name of Mariah’s ex. “Couldn’t you have just gotten a t-shirt that said ‘I survived my chaotic high school years and my psychotic ex-girlfriend and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.’?”
“Yeah but all the stores that I went to said that they were sold out of those. They must of had a demand for those shirts that year.” She grinned. “Besides, not all of it is the bad things. Some of it is good things. Things that I want to keep forever.”
Mariah leaned down into the box and pulled out the coconut bra and grass skirt that she had worn at the party that she first met Robbie at. “Take this for instance, it could be both a good memory and a bad memory. The good part being that I got to dance with you that night. And the bad part being that I met Robbie that night.”
“I’ll take the part that has to do with me.” Caitlin picked up a letter that had been in an envelop. It was addressed to Mariah from Robbie. “When did you get this?”
“A couple of days before Robbie’s trial. She kept sending me flowers and letters. And I ended up keeping them.”
“Pack rat.” Caitlin opened up the letter and began to read it to herself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Trial~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mariah sat next to her lawyer in fear. It had been over four months since she had seen or had to deal with Robbie. Annie sat behind her friend, ready to be there for the girl if she needed it. She laid her hand on Mariah’s shoulder to show her support.
“I don’t think that I can do this.” Mariah turned to see her friend better.
Annie grabbed Mariah’s hand. “Yes you can. After this you won’t ever have to think about her again. I’m hear for you. If you need me, I’m right behind you.”
Robbie came in, being pulled by the bailiffs. Her hands were handcuffed behind her back and she was wearing the traditional orange jumpsuit that you always see on TV. The bailiff un-cuffed her hands. She grinned evilly over to Mariah and blew her a kiss.
“Ignore her. I’m here for you.”
Mariah looked back to Annie, “I love you.”
“I love you too.” Annie said comforting.
“No, I love you. This isn’t the best time to be telling you this, I know. But I’m sorry for go for Robbie. I should have went for you because I’ve always loved you. I never meant to hurt you.”
Annie shocked, this had to be the worst timing ever. “We’ll talk later. Just concentrate on getting through this day.” Annie smiled at her friend.
Most of the trial went smoothly until Mariah had to get on the stand. Every question came firing rapidly and made her relive the past in painful ways. Robbie’s lawyer tried to make it look like Mariah had been the one abusing her and that in the end the reason why Robbie pulled the gun was because she had a psychotic break down.
“We’ll adjourn again tomorrow at 9 AM for closing arguments and the verdict.” The judge slammed down his gavel.
Mariah waited until bailiffs escorted Robbie back out of the courtroom to get up. She felt like a the worst part of her life was over with. Through most of the trial, Mariah watched the jury’s reactions. She sensed that they were believing her more than Robbie, but there was always that chance.
“Let’s go home.” Annie helped her friend out of her seat.
“No, I can’t go home, I don’t want to be alone tonight.” She was calm though she felt upset.
“Then you’re coming to my house.” Annie intertwined her fingers with Mariah’s, and it felt good too. She was happy that she was finally able to do that to the girl she loved.
That night, after stopping by to get some clothes, Mariah and Annie got ready for bed. They were dressed in their pajamas and sitting on the bed.
“You sure you don’t mind sharing the bed? I mean, I could go sleep on the couch.” Annie offered.
“No, this is your house. And besides, I don’t want to be alone tonight.” Annie pulled down the covers, with Mariah watching her every move. “Are we going to talk about what I said in the courthouse today?”
“If you want to.” Both girls climbed underneath the covers. “But what’s to talk about? I mean you love me and I love you.” Annie switched off the lights, making the room dark expect for the moonlight that was coming through the window.
Mariah curled up into Annie’s arms, wrapping her arms around Annie’s waist. She laid her head on Annie’s chest and sighed with contempt. “So what’s left? Do we become girlfriends now?”
“You’re usually the one who knows everything.” Annie said with a chuckle. “I’ve seen you wine and dine more females that I care to remember and you’re asking me for directions?”
“With you its different.” She paused. “All those other girls have just been about sex, I never wanted to date them. Well expect for Denise, the head cheerleader. I would have dated her.”
“You’re straying from the point.”
“Yes, as I was saying...With you its not as much about sex as its about just having a relationship with you. I want to be with you and love you and be loved in ways that I haven’t been in a long time.”
“Then there’s your answer.” Annie replied, placing a kiss on Mariah’s head. Mariah looked up at Annie with a smile. She slid up and placed her lips on Annie’s for their first kiss.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Present~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“That was when you and Annie started dating right?” Caitlin asked to clear up the fuzzy memory she had of the past. She never did like Annie too well, nor did Annie like her. What Mariah never knew was that night at the party, Annie came up to her and questioned her about what went on upstairs.
To everybody else around, they had all thought that Mariah had just lucky with another girl. But they didn’t know what really happened....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Back To The Party~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mariah flung herself on the beg as Caitlin shut the door. “Be my therapist for awhile Caitlin. I need your advice.” Mariah voice’s was muffled by the bed a little but Caitlin still heard her.
“Okay then, what do you need advice over.”
“Everybody is telling me that Annie has a crush on me. But she won’t admit it or ask me out.”
“And do you want her to ask you out?”
“Yes I do, I want really badly. Well, not really badly. Just bad enough. I really want you but...” Mariah chuckled a little.
“Yes well I’ve told you. If you want to date me then you’ve got to give up this wild style life.”
Mariah shrugged. “Your loss then.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Trial-Day2~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Both lawyers had finished their closing arguments leaving it in the jury’s hands now. Mariah was shaking as she waited. It took them about an hour before they came back. She was feeling nervous and worried that things might not go her way.
“What’s your verdict?” The judge asked.
A female juror stood up and read from her paper. “We find Robbie Keller, guilty for attempted murder and abuse.”
Annie breathed a sigh of relief. Things were going to be over now. Mariah started crying in happiness. Robbie was sent to prison for quite a long time. But that was only part of Mariah’s relief.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A Couple Of Months After The Trial~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Even though she was in prison, Robbie found ways to still harass Mariah. She sent letters, roses and made phone calls from time to time. Each time it made Mariah a little bit stronger.
Against better judgment, Mariah went to go see Robbie. She had to see Robbie one last time, just to close this chapter in her life. Slipping out in the morning hours, Mariah left before Annie got up. She kissed Annie on the forehead and left quietly.
She sat there in the room, alone, waiting for Robbie to be brought in. Strangely she wasn’t nervous or scared or anything. All she wanted was to look into Robbie’s eyes and see if there was any sorrow or regret in them. Hearing the door open, she turned her head to see Robbie entering the room.
“Well, this is a shock. I guess you couldn’t stay away from me. I knew that you loved me.” Robbie sat down across from her.
“Don’t get your hopes up. I’m just here to end this all once and for good.”
“Really? And how are you going to do that?”
“Do regret what you did, at all? Is there one ounce of sorrow in your body for making me feel like shit?”
“You deserved it. If I hadn’t have had a strong hold on you, you would have ran off with that slut Annie. She’s no good for you and you know it. All she’s doing is playing you for a good fuck or two then she’ll leave you standing there by yourself.” Her voice sounded a little angry but calm at the same time.
“I’m with Annie now. And I love her just as much as she loves me.”
Mariah could see the hatred flash in her eyes. “Really now? She’s just in it for the sex.”
“I’ve been dating her for a month now and I’ve only slept with her once. We have a better relationship than that. Our relationship is built on love and trust, not sex. The sex comes later on in life.”
“I’ve got something for you.” Robbie pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Mariah. It was a picture of a rose.
“What is your deal with roses?” Mariah asked the question that had been plaguing her for a while.
“Roses are a beautiful plant. They can hold the color of love and death, red. They can hurt you, like death, or they make you feel good, like love.”
“You’re psychotic.” Mariah slid the paper back.
Robbie simply laughed. She reached into her pocket to pull out a few rose petals. “Take these and use them to remember me forever. Because I will get out of here and I’ll come back for you.” Robbie stood up to leave. She knocked on the door to indicate to the guard that she was ready to leave. He opened the door and took her out. Mariah sat there looking at these rose petals. Robbie left the picture there too. Grabbing them both, Mariah left to get back with Annie in hopes that the girl wasn’t up yet. She didn’t want to deal with Annie being mad her for going to see Robbie.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Present~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Caitlin came into the living room where Mariah was sitting looking through the rest of the box. She was dressed in a pair of shorts and a shirt while Caitlin was just wearing a long t-shirt that came down mid-thigh.
“When are you going to give it up? You’ve been at that thing all day long. Haven’t you reached the bottom yet?” Caitlin took a seat next to her girlfriend.
“Smart ass. I was just getting to the bottom.”
“What’s this?” Annie reached down into the box and pulled out a pair of pants. “Why do you have an old pair of pants in here?” She was examining them when she saw some red spots on them. “And what is this on them?”
“Blood, that was the pair of pants that I was wearing the day that I went to see Robbie in prison.”
“Oh.” Caitlin remembered what had happened on that day and it hurt her to her soul.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Back At Home~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mariah pulled up in the driveway wondering if Annie was awake yet. She laid her hand on her thigh where rose petals were inside her pocket. Was she going to tell Annie where she went? Not if she could help it. Walking up the driveway, Mariah leaned down and picked a flower from the small little garden that Annie had. She entered the house quietly hoping that Annie was asleep.
“I woke up cold this morning because you left.” Annie’s voice came from behind her. Spinning around, Mariah smiled in hopes that she wouldn’t give away her cover. “Where did you go?”
“I had to get some fresh air. Here, I got you this.” Mariah handed the flower to Annie.
The girl took the flower, smelling of it. “You went to see her didn’t you?” Her voice was even.
“Shit.” Mariah whispered to herself. “How did you know?”
“Goddamn it Mariah!” Annie threw the flower at her. “I’ve known you long enough to know when you’ve done something that would piss me off. And this definitely pisses me off! How could you go and see her? Isn’t it bad enough that she ruined your life now you’re trying to prolong the hurt?”
“Annie, its not like that. I had to go to get closure. I needed to end that part of my life so that I could begin a new and better life with you.”
“Why did you tell me then?” Her voice lowered when she said, “Do you still love her?”
“God no Annie. I don’t love her, I never did. She was just someone for me to get laid by.”
“What does she have that I don’t?”
Mariah was confused. “What do you mean?”
“You weren’t even dating her when you two started sleeping together, but with me...Am I so ugly that you can’t bare the thought of making love to me?” Tears rolled down her face. Obviously this was something that had been bothering her for a long time.
“No baby, that’s nowhere even close. I wanted to wait with you. I didn’t want our relationship to just be sex and nothing else. I had to be sure that I could be mature for once in my life. For once, I didn’t want to rush into bed because I actually love you.”
Annie stood in front of the kitchen sink looking out the window while she kept on crying. Mariah came up beside her. She hooked her finger underneath Annie’s chin to make the girl look at her.
“I love you more than life itself. You know that I would do anything for you.”
“Anything?” Mariah nodded. “Then leave.”
“What?” She was taken aback.
“Get out of here for a few days. I need time to think, to sort this all out. There’s so much that I don’t know about you, so much that you won’t tell me. And that makes me feel like you don’t care enough about me to share your past and your pain. But just leave, I’ll call you if I want you back.”
She didn’t use the word “when,” she used, “if.” “If” I want you back. So there was a chance that this was over with? Mariah sighed, “Okay. If that’s what you want then I’ll leave.” She turned for the door when she heard Annie call her name. “I love you too.” Mariah left.
Mariah was walking down the road from her house when the rain started to fall. It was just a perfect ending to a perfect day. The rain was light and cool covering the streets in a fine mist. Why had she gone to see Robbie if she knew the effect it would have had on Annie? As much as she hated to admit it, Robbie was still an important part of her life. It was hard to forget about the girl that, even though she abused her, she loved.
When she wasn’t beating Mariah, Robbie was the sweetest and kindest person that anybody had ever met. But the things that no one saw were the things that had destroyed her. Mariah could have probably died in Robbie’s hands. If it hadn’t have been for Annie Mariah would probably be lying six feet under the ground.
Now she’s screwed things up with Annie. All because she felt that she had to see Robbie one last time before really moving on with her life. She wanted to prove to Robbie that she had survived and moved on with her life. Mariah kicked a stone that was in her path out of the way. This is how life was for her, stand around until somebody wanted her. But she always had a low self esteem.
She turned to sex as her way of over comfort. The girls never had a name, just another Jane Doe to her. They never had a face, just blank expressions. She never looked at them because she didn’t want their image in her mind. It was like she was a prostitute who’s sole job was to satisfy somebody else. And that’s all she did, while getting some satisfaction for herself along the way.
Mariah had made it home but she didn’t want to go in. It was still raining and picking up its pace.. So she had no choice when she walked in the door. Her parents were, as usual, to busy being wrapped up in their own lives to notice her walk in. Treading slowly up to her room, Mariah could feel the tears building up behind her eyes. By the time she made it to her door, she was crying profusely. She took a seat on her bed with the feeling that Annie hated her now.
She still couldn’t believe that she had done something so stupid as going to see Robbie. “All I do cause hurt and trouble to everyone.” Mariah said out loud. Standing up, she walked over to her desk and pulled out a pocketknife that she kept there for security. The blade was sharp and would get the job she wanted done.
Mariah’s mother opened the door just in time to see her daughter fall to the floor. Blood was flowing everywhere and she saw the source, her wrist. Mariah had slit her wrist. She quickly grabbed the phone and called 911 while holding a towel to her daughter’s wrist to stop the flowing blood.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Present~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mariah traced the line on her right wrist. Even though it had been years later she should still see the red line that held all the history in the world.
“That’s when I knew that I loved you. I was so worried about you dying and that I would lose you.” Caitlin whispered, her voice starting to crack a little.
“Yeah, you came into my room the next day while I was sleeping and pummeled me with a pillow.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~At the Hospital~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Caitlin opened the door to find that Mariah was sleeping. It had been a rough night for her and Mariah’s parents. Everyone was so worried about the girl. But the doctors did an excellent job and she made it through. Now it was time to wonder why she did it in the first place. Caitlin explained some of it to Mariah’s parents.
She stood over Mariah watching her sleep. A pillow lay discarded at Mariah’s feet. Caitlin picked it up and fluffed it for a moment before lifting it up and hitting Mariah with it over and over again. Mariah woke up startled and looked at her attacker the best she could between the hitting.
“I can’t believe that you did that to me!” Caitlin yelled as she continued to hit Mariah.
“W-what the hell are you doing?” Mariah managed to grab the pillow and hold it in place. Caitlin broke down into tears and fiercely hugged her friend.
“Don’t ever do that to me again!” She cried into her shoulder.
“Yeah well had I known that I was going to be attacked in my sleep I might not have.” Mariah countered.
“Don’t make jokes at times like this.” Caitlin pulled back, wiping her eyes with her hands.
“What, while I’m in the hospital?”
“You scared me to death. I was so worried about you that I didn’t sleep. Why did you do that?”
Mariah shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about why I did it. The important thing is that I’m alive.”
“True. Mariah I have to tell you something.” Mariah braced herself for the worst. Caitlin sat down in a chair that was placed beside Mariah’s bed. She took the girl’s hand into hers as she spoke. “I love you. I know that I said that I would never date you unless you gave up that wild lifestyle of yours, but after these past couple of days I realized something...my life is nothing without you. I know that you have, or had, Annie but I love you Mariah.”
The girl stared in disbelief at her. Was what she was saying true? “Caitlin, the only reason why I was with Robbie, and Annie, was I was trying to make you jealous. I loved Annie, as a friend, but I knew before we started dating that it would never be anything more than just trying to make you jealous.”
“Really?” Caitlin laughed a little bit. Well it had worked, that was for sure.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Present~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Caitlin laid down in the bed and flipped off the lights. “I’m glad that I went to the hospital that day.”
“Yeah me too.” Mariah pulled her girlfriend into her arms.
“I love you so much, I hope you know that. And I’m thankful that you made it out of that damn town alive.”
“I’m thankful that we both made it out of that town alive, together. You’re my world and soul Caitlin. No matter what is said and done, I’ve always loved you and I always will.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~After The Hospital Incident~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was after Mariah got out of the hospital that she and Caitlin become more than just friends. Annie had broken it off with Mariah while she was still in the hospital. It wasn’t like Mariah cared, she got what she wanted. It nearly killed her, but even though she risked her life in the name of love, it worked out in her favor.
Caitlin was hers. In the battle of good versus evil, good had won. Mariah may have been stained by a rose that was given to her by Robbie on their first date, but she overcame it all and survived the worst.
