Scarred (Damaged Souls) (5 page)

“Thanks, Sloan.”

They walked to her car in silence. Once there, Sloan picked up the bike with ease, put it in her trunk and finding a bungee cord inside, tied down the top of the trunk for her.

“Thank you so much, Sloan.
I would’ve had a hard time getting that in there by myself. I don’t know how to repay you for constantly being so nice to me.” Lexi said honestly.

“How about breakfast in the park again tomorrow before your other appointments?” Sloan suggested.

“Sure, I’d really like that.” Lexi said, getting into the car. “See ya tomorrow.” Lexi waved as she pulled away from the curb and drove off.

“Till tomorrow.” Sloan said quietly to the retreating car.

Chapter 5

“Safe & Sound
”

The next morning,
Lexi pondered her strange new relationship with the homeless man and his dog, while she got ready for the day’s appointments. It was an unusual friendship to say the least. But somehow she felt comfortable with Sloan, well until he started asking personal questions that could lead to some very uncomfortable conversations about her past. Other than that though, she enjoyed spending time with him, even when they weren’t talking.

She found herself getting dressed more for Sloan than the meetings she had scheduled. She chose a white off the shoulder Spanish style peasant dress that came to her knees in the front and flowed down longer in the
back, with a ruffle around the shoulders and one at the bottom. She paired it with a big brown belt and more fun colorful jewelry and strappy sandals.
What is wrong with me? I’m dressing up for a homeless man…really?!

Shaking her head,
Lexi left the house early to meet her new friend for breakfast, this time taking her new bike. On her way into town she was able to take in the full beauty of her surroundings, the beautiful historical homes leaving her in awe. The foliage greener and bigger and lusher than anything she could’ve seen in Iowa. She understood why her mother loved this place so much and couldn’t be happier that she had chosen to live there.

Once she got into town she locked her bike on one of the bike-racks on the sidewalk and
went into the same café as yesterday, ordered two orange juices and three bagels with cream cheese and lox, hoping that Sloan and Tank liked the cured salmon. And clutching the bag full of bagels and the two drinks, she headed towards the park.

As soon as they came into view, sitting at a park bench her heart lifted at seeing her new friends.
They both stood at the same time, Tank wagging his tail with excitement.

“Well aren’t you a
sight for sore eyes.” Sloan said bring the customary blush to Lexi’s cheeks.

Pulling his arm from behind his back, Sloan presented her with a giant white magnolia blossom.

“Wow, it’s beautiful.” Lexi said taking the flower and bringing it to her nose and breathed in deeply. “And it smells amazing.”

“I saw it and thought of you. It’s the least I could do, since you brought breakfast.” Sloan said with a shrug.

“Well, it’s lovely and very thoughtful.” Lexi said, carefully sticking the stem in her hair to the side of her Afro puff. “So I got more bagels. I hope you like lox.” Lexi said, handing Sloan the bag.

“Hey, there are three in here.” Sloan said looking in the bag.

“One is for Tank. I didn’t want you to have to give up half of yours, so I figured I’d get him one of his own.” Lexi said shrugging.

“You didn’t have to do that Alexis. I already feel bad enough that you’re spending your money on us.”
Sloan scolded, embarrassed by her generosity.

“It’s fine Sloan. I don’t mind. Just eat, okay?”
Lexi waved off his complaint.

“Here, you first.” Sloan said, not wanting to hand her a bagel with his grimy hands.

Lexi took her bagel and sat next to him. She handed him his cup of juice and he gave the third bagel to Tank. They all ate in silence for a while. Sloan wanted to barrage her with questions about herself, but knew it was a bad idea. So he picked the subject she had responded to without hesitation yesterday.

“So I didn’t ask you yesterday h
ow the other meetings went.” Sloan said.

“Not much better than the first. But I’m hopeful, one of the three I talk to today will be the right fit.”
Lexi said thoughtfully.

“I’m sure everything will work out fine.
” Sloan reassured her.

“Yeah.”

They both sat in silence for a while longer. Both wanting to ask the other questions but not brave enough to ask them. Lexi constantly wondered what brought him to his current circumstances, but since she was unwilling to divulge her past, she felt it was rude to ask about his. And Sloan wanted to ask her more questions but figured she’d bite his head off if he did. He knew that in time if they continued this unusual friendship, that she’d come around.

“Well, it’s about time that I head to my first appointment. Maybe I’ll see you sometime soon?”
Lexi asked, unsure of when she’d be back into town and if he’d be there when she came.

“One would hope.” Sloan said, disappointed that their time together was over for the unforeseeable future.

Tank whined beside him, like the dog knew it would be a while till he saw Lexi again. They both looked sadly at the dog. Lexi felt the inexplicable need to cry, so before she made a fool of herself, she waved goodbye to them and turned and walked away.

Sloan wasn’t one for praying, especially after all he had seen during the war, but he prayed right then
and there for God to find a way to bring them together.

~~~

Lexi left the last contractor frustrated at the world. Today’s meetings had turned out just as bad as yesterday’s. Filled with men with dollar signs in their eyes when they heard her budget, pompous assholes that felt it wasn’t enough or those that wanted to railroad her into thinking their designs were what was best for her.

Can’t I find a happy fucking medium?! I’m going to have to find someone from another city over or out of state in a minute.
What’s so hard about ‘I pay you and you do the work that I ask you to do’, nothing more…nothing less? In the end if it looks shitty then tell the whole damn town that it was all my choice, end of story!

Lexi
ranted in her head as she walked down the street. Her phone started ringing in her purse and she quickly stuck her hand in searching blindly for the phone. When she pulled it out she saw a number she didn’t recognize. Normally she’d let an unknown call go straight to voicemail, but she was so distracted in her anger that she answered it anyway.

“Hello?” She said briskly.

“Lexi, it’s so good to hear your voice after all this time.” The voice on the other end of the line stopped her dead in her tracks, made her blood run cold and sent a frightening chill down her spine.

“Eric.” Lexi said in a frightened whisper.

“Oh so you haven’t forgotten me?” Eric said as if it was just a normal conversation.

“How did you get this number?” Lexi asked as she looked around paranoid that he had somehow found her.

“I have my ways. Just like I’ll find my way back to you. Don’t think I won’t find you.” Eric said, his voice turning sinister.

“Stay the fuck away from me!” Lexi said finally finding her voice.

She quickly pressed the end button on her phone with trembling fingers and clumsily put the phone back in her purse. Feeling a panic attack coming on and tears welling up in her eyes, Lexi quickly rushed around the corner of one of the buildings into a dark alleyway, where the late afternoon sun didn’t touch. Escaping the bright sunlight and people who would see her meltdown, on the busy sidewalk.

Leaning against the wall, her head back and eyes closed, Lexi took in deep harsh breaths, trying to calm her erratic heartbeat.
Trying hard not to lose it, tears still slipped from the corners of her eyes, tracking down her cheeks.

“Ooo…look what we have here. A nice little piece of ass, if I ever saw one.” Lexi heard a masculine voice say near her ear.

Wrapped in a bubble of panic and fear, Lexi hadn’t noticed anyone coming up to her. Her eyes popped open and she saw a young brown haired white guy with rotting teeth, bad skin and grubby clothes standing next to her. His equally disheveled black friend walked up, curious to see what was going on. Their pupils were dilated and their bad skin and teeth signaled to Lexi that they were more than likely high on some form of powerful drug.

“Damn, Seth! Where in the hell did you find her?! Fuck, you lucky asshole!” His friend leered at her.

“She just came around the corner. Hey, man I don’t mind sharing. There is plenty of ass to go around.” Seth said as he reached around and grabbed a handful of Lexi’s ass cheek.

From the moment she had heard their voices, Lexi had been paralyzed with fear. Unable to move o
r speak. But the touch of his hand on her propelled her into action. She swung her hand around to try to hit Seth, but a powerful hand grasped her wrist painfully. Seth’s friend slammed her hand back against the brick wall, pinning her arm to it, trapping her.

“Get your fucking hands off me!” Lexi yelled, hoping someone would hear.

One of their hands started to slide up her thigh and under her dress. Lexi bucked wildly trying to get the hand off of her.
Dear God, this cannot be happening,
Lexi thought to herself before she felt the air stir around her and she heard a yelp from one of the guys as he disappeared in front of her eyes.

Sloan stood in his place like an avenging dark angel.

~~~

Sloan
hung around the park for quite a few hours hoping to get another chance to talk to Lexi or at least catch a glimpse of her, if for only for a moment. While waiting he played fetch with Tank with a giant stick he found on the ground and walked around the perimeter of the park a couple times, hoping that if he didn’t sit too long in one spot no one would call the cops on him for loitering.

After taking another stroll around the par
k, Sloan walked back to his regular spot that had a clear view of Lexi’s bike across the street, and he saw Lexi on her phone with a pain-stricken look on her face a few feet from her bike. He couldn’t tell what she was saying to the person on the other end of the line, but her facial expressions spoke volumes.

Sloan watched with concern as she abruptly ended the call and disappeared around the side of a building
, her face distraught. Sloan gave it a few minutes and when she didn’t reappear, he started to jog towards where she had bolted to, wanting to make sure that she was alright. Tank followed close behind. As he approached the alley her he heard her say, “Get your fucking hands off me!” That was the only queue he needed to hear to spur him into action. He signaled to Tank to stay put.

Rage burning through his veins, Sloan crept up on the unsuspecting addict
that had his hands up Lexi’s dress and ripped him off of her. Seth turned to see Sloan and he grabbed Lexi from behind, holding her in front of him like a shield, like the coward that he was. And as Sloan faced him, trying to figure out the best way to advance without hurting Lexi, who looked at him with wide fearful green eyes, something hard hit the back of his head.

Barely flinching,
Sloan turned to see the black kid with a plywood board in his hands. Sloan quickly dropped down and swept his leg around, kicking the druggie’s feet out from under him. The kid fell to the ground and Sloan was on him before he even realized what had happened.

Sloan’s fist slammed into his face several times before finally knocking him out. Sloan stood up and turned to face Lexi and Seth
once more. Seth hadn’t moved a muscle, crippled with fear of the obviously skilled homeless man. And Sloan slowly walked forward, completely focused on him.

Scared shitless, Seth threw Lexi down
hard to the ground and started running away. Sloan’s rapid fire instincts kicked into high gear and he swiftly grabbed a brick that had fallen from the crumbling wall and threw it with all his might. The brick hit the kid so hard in the back of the head that he was knocked unconscious before he even hit the ground.

Not caring if the kid was dead or alive, Sloan quickly went to Lexi to make sure that she was okay.
Crouching over her as she laid in the spot where Seth had threw her, Sloan quickly smoothed his hands over her face and body checking to make sure nothing was broken as she looked up at him with tears spilling down her temples.

“Alexis! Are you okay? Tell me you’re okay!” Sloan said in a panic.

All she could do was nod. Tears clogged her throat making it impossible to speak. Sloan slowly got up, ignoring the growing knot on the back of his head or his bruised knuckles, only concerned with Lexi’s well-being.

Tank came up and nudged them with his head and whined, wanting to make sure that they were okay.

“Can you walk?” Sloan asked Lexi.

“I…I think so.
I think I just scrapped my elbow and knee.” Lexi said, finally finding her voice.

Sloan held out a hand to her and she took it, hesitant to make physical contact. He pulled her to her feet gently and together they walked slowly out into the sunlight on the sidewalk and he
walked Lexi to her bike. After several attempts to unlock the bike lock with trembling hands, Sloan shooed her away and asked for her combination. She gave it freely and he unchained the bike.

“I don’t feel comfortable with you riding this home in the state you’re in. Let me walk you home.” Sloan suggested and she just nodded in response.