Silencing Joy (4 page)

“I was hoping for some closure,” I said, and
Jen’s hands start moving all over again.

“Closure? What closure? You didn’t do
anything wrong! You were just at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Closure is something you need when someone dies or a boyfriend
dumps you, not when you’re the victim of being in the wrong
place.”

I nodded, mulling over what she said. Jen was
right, but I couldn’t let it go. I gazed at the TV as our show
ended and the news came on, talking about a minor at a local high
school that was attacked and abducted. No more details were
released by police. Authorities believed the attack and abduction
were related to several recent human trafficking cases. Many
homeless teenagers had been reported as missing. These cases were
still pending investigation.

Jen got up to rinse out her dish. I was still
thinking about what to do when I heard a headline that caught my
attention.

Convicted drug dealer, William Harrison,
died this morning at his home in Providence of injuries suffered
from a brutal beating believed to have taken place Saturday night
at a neighboring high school. Officials confirm that Harrison was
on probation from a drug dealing conviction in 2010, but are not
releasing the name of the high school until the investigation
concludes. Here are what some outraged citizens have to say...

Will’s face flashed on the screen during the
news release. My bowl of ice cream crashed to the floor and
shattered as I stared at the TV screen. Jen rushed over to me.

“What’s the matter?” She shook me because I
was stone-faced and stunned.

“That’s him. He’s dead... Oh hell, he’s dead,
Jen.” Jen and I wore the same astonished face.

“I shouldn’t have listened to him. I should
have taken him to the hospital.” I started getting hysterical.
Guilt flooded through me, and my hands shook like they never had
before. Tears stung my eyes. “It’s my fault. I should have done
something. I should have gone inside with him. I should have told
the police like you said.”

My phone rang. We both jumped a mile. I got
up automatically to pick it up off the counter, but was all thumbs
and dropped it. With trembling fingers, I finally managed to get
the phone to my ear.

“Hello?”

“I’m coming to get you. Get rid of your
friend,” a man’s voice said from the other end of the line.

“Who’s this?” I stammer.

“I said, I am coming to get you. Pack your
things.” It was a weird, dreamlike sensation. Terror struck me
through the heart with a vice grip on my breath.

Jen leaned over the back of the couch,
watching me.

“Who is it, Joy?”

Fear for Jen paralyzed me. This situation was
spiraling out of control. My protective instincts for Jen kicked
in.
I can’t let anything happen to her!
I hit the end button
on the phone.

“Wrong number.”

“Thank goodness, you went even paler than you
already were,” Jen declared, sounding relieved. She looked at me
with a comforting expression. “Now, there was nothing you could do
about Will. He told you not to take him to the hospital. You didn’t
know him. You did the best you could by taking him home. It’s not
your fault. You can’t blame yourself.”

“Yeah, um...I know...” My stomach knotted up.
Nausea set in. “I think a shower might make me feel better,” I
lied.

“Good idea. I am going to make us some
supper, and I’ll come back in about an hour. Try to get some rest.
How does chicken sound?” Just the mention of chicken made me want
to hurl where I stood.

“That would be great. A nice hot shower and
dinner is just what I need.” I tried to force a resigned smile. I
wasn’t sure if Jen was going to fall for it, but, when she starts
towards the door, I knew I had won.

“See you in an hour.” She closed the door
behind her.

As soon as the door clicked shut, I raced to
the bathroom to expel everything that was in my stomach. I retched
and retched; my nerves would allow me to eat next to nothing in the
past few days since the beating and my attack. Today, all I had had
was the ice cream that was splattered all over the floor by my
couch, and now my toilet bowl.

I took a shower and cleaned myself up. I put
my wet hair in a ponytail and pulled on some sweats. Without doing
much thinking, I dampened a dishrag and began cleaning up the
broken bowl and ice cream.

Panic had made me hit the end button on my
phone, but I knew whoever was coming for me would find me no matter
where I went. I was in this deeper than I thought, even though I
didn’t know what
this
was.

I called Jen to tell her I was going to take
a nap instead of eating dinner. I asked her to wake me at eight. If
the call was a crank, I would sleep, then get up and eat a late
dinner with her. If it was real, then I would have to face it head
on. I didn’t want to involve Jen. I cared about her like the sister
I never had. Her friendship had been constant and unwavering for
years. She was important to me.

Thirty minutes after the phone call, I sat on
my bed with my baseball bat across my legs. I positioned myself
against the wall to wait. My eyes grew heavy, and I lay down.

I must have dozed off. I blinked my bleary
eyes until I shook off the sleep. A glance at my digital clock
showed it was seven-thirty. The bat had rolled off me and lay by my
side.

Clink, clink. Rattle.

The sound came closer. I twisted my head
towards the noise emanating from the fire escape. My heart thudded.
The streetlight shone in through the window as I stared blindly at
it, waiting for something to happen.

A second later, the light was blocked by a
form filling the window. I freaked, picturing my demise like in an
old Hitchcock movie. When the face came close to the window, I saw
it was Derek. My heart slowed down minimally. The glass between us
muffled his words, but I could make them out.

“Let me in,” vaguely adding the word,
“please.”

My mind grappled with what to do. He’s a
criminal, he beat up Will...no wait...he killed Will. He broke in
to my apartment. He grabbed me. But...he tried to save me from
Tommy, he brought back my cell phone, he seized me because I was
ready to run away screaming.

Something was off. Something didn’t add up. I
was back to that word again – closure. I needed to know why. Derek
was the only one with the answers.

I reached for the window lock and twisted it
open. Derek lifted it and put one leg in. I snatched my baseball
bat and held it in front of me, ready to strike if necessary.

“Still in fight mode I see,” Derek laughed
lightly. He came in the rest of the way. His blue eyes sparkled
with amusement.
Was he laughing at me?
He stood in front of
me with his hands up, like I had a gun and not a bat.

“Why are you here?” I asked with a voice full
of authority. Derek’s demeanor changed, and he became brutally
serious.

“You have to come with me. You’re in danger.
Tommy and the guys know where you live. One of them remembered you
from a couple of years ago and Googled you. Good thing it didn’t
dawn on John that night, or I don’t know what I could have done to
stop them.”

“Googled me? Are you serious? I bet you told
them, and this is a trap for me to come with you.”

“No. Joy, I swear. This is me trying to get
you out of here. As soon as Tommy heard that Will died...well, he
went ape-shit. He now has homicide to add to his list of
transgressions.
You’re an eyewitness. He’s gonna come after
you...no question.” He walked over to my dresser and starts
grabbing clothes, throwing them on the bed. “Do you have a
bag?”

“I’m not going anywhere with you!” I heard my
own stubbornness in my wavering voice. “You and your friends are
murderers!”

He reached out to me and stopped when I
flinched. Derek ran his hands through his hair.

“Joy...you...have...to...trust...me.
Everything is not what it appears. I have to get you out of
here.”

I turned my back to him. Thinking this was
probably a stupid move, I swung back around with purpose, putting
my non-baseball bat carrying hand on my hip.

“Okay, let’s say I believe you. Where are you
taking me? What about my family...my friend, Jen, upstairs? Who, by
the way, is going to be here in about ten minutes.”

“It would be best if we got out of here
before she comes. Leave her a note. Tell her the stress is too
much, and you went to stay with some aunt somewhere. Tell her
you’ll call her soon. Now, please get a bag.”

Derek pleaded with me, and something in his
eyes told me he wasn’t lying. This was the first time I had been in
his company with a mildly clear head. I remember thinking when I
saw him through the lens of my camera that he didn’t fit with the
others. He seemed different. I pondered and rehashed everything he
said.

I walked to the closet. I picked up a duffle
bag and my camera case.

“This goes with me,” I said forcefully. I
went to the bathroom to get my make-up bag and toiletries.

Derek called from the bedroom for me to write
a note to Jen. He also told me to leave my front door unlocked. We
left through the window, like in a Mission Impossible movie.

I reached for my coat as Derek zipped up the
duffle and tossed it over his shoulder.

“Is my camera in there?” I asked.

“Yup, it’s in there.”

He took my hand and led me to the window. He
peered out scanning. Looking for trouble I guess. When Derek felt
the coast was clear, we made our way onto the fire escape. He shut
the window, and we walked down until the last part. We had to scale
down a small metal ladder. Derek let go and jumped, as though he
did it all the time. His feet thudded onto the cement.

“Okay, I’ve got you. Let go.”

I gazed below me at the enormous space
between the metal ladder and the ground. Derek had his hands
raised, as if to catch me. Up until this point in my life, I do not
think I had ever fallen from this height, nor had I ever needed
someone to catch me. If I’d had to do this a couple of weeks ago, I
would have chickened out. But instead, I was numb. I let go. The
cool fall night air rushed around me. In the blink of an eye, I was
in Derek’s arms. He caught me. I was surprised. I really didn’t
think he could do it. He set me down on my feet. My hand was once
again in his as he led me along the alleyway.

Derek and I moved swiftly through the
streets. We dodged around some corners and hid in a couple of door
alcoves. My heart danced nervously in my chest. Derek seized my
hand, and we were off, headed straight for a car.

The alarm in my head rang – danger – as we
headed to a black sedan with tinted windows. I tried to jerk back
my hand, but Derek had a good hold on me.

“It’ll be okay,” he said, attempting to
reassure me.

I lightened my tug and let him continue to
pull me to the vehicle. The automatic door opener clicked. Derek
opened the driver door and threw my bag in the backseat. We
simultaneously got in the car and fastened our seat belts.

The car was definitely nicer than my little
Ford. This car had a shiny black leather interior with all sorts of
gadgets and knobs.

Derek eased the car away from the curb. Then
he let out a visible sigh of relief.

“How are you doing, Joy?”

“I’m a tiny bit spellbound. That was like a
secret agent getaway,” I told him. Only the lights of the dashboard
illuminated his face and he snorted.

“Yeah, well, this is how I operate.”

“Where are we going?” I asked as we pulled
out onto the main road.

“Far away from here,” he said
cryptically.

I was just about to open my mouth to ask
Derek what he meant by that when he pushed down on the accelerator
and stole an anxious glance in the rearview mirror. I noticed the
deep growl of motorcycles. The sound ricocheted around the interior
of the car. I swiveled in my seat to look through the back window
and saw them...two headlights, one coming up quickly on the right
and the other on the left. They dispersed like fireworks and rode
along each side of our car.

“Down!” Derek yelled. “They are trying to see
in!”

I shrank down in the seat as low as I could
go. The fear and panic, what had been a dull throbbing in the pit
of my stomach since that horrible Saturday night, resurfaced in all
of its strength. Being crunched down in the seat left me blind. My
head snapped and whipped around with the jolt of the vehicle as
Derek swung the car right, then a quick left.

I peered up at him from my awkward position.
In his face, I perceived intensity. The thrum of the motorcycles
shifted from screeching to slowing over and over again. Derek
whipped the wheel back and forth as if he was auditioning for
NASCAR.

“Hold on!” Derek barked as he spun the
steering wheel in a complete one-eighty.

The car suddenly jerked like we went over a
speed bump. From my crouched position, I looked up and saw overhead
lights whipping by, then more darkness. Without warning, Derek
stopped the car and turned it off. He laid his body over the middle
console, partially on top of me.

Derek whispered, “I think we lost them, but
let’s stay right here for a while. You okay?”

“Who was that?” I asked, my chin resting on
my chest.

“That was Tommy’s guys,” he murmured and a
cell phone rings. His face was just inches from mine as he yanked
the cell from his pocket.

“Yeah. (pause) We need a new car. They must
have tailed me to her place. (pause) I know it’s going to shit, but
we can still fix it! I’m at the downtown mall garage in the closed
section. (pause) Just come get us.” He tapped the end button in a
huff. “I think they’re gone. It should be safe to sit up now, but
we need to wait for a new car.”

Slowly, I unfolded myself and stretched. I
was cramped down in the seat way too long. Derek had an aggravated
expression. From the sound of the conversation he’d just had,
neither person was too happy.