Tattooed Soul (3 page)

I often swore that if Caleb could make
love to one of his cars, he wouldn’t need me at all. Not that we were sexually
active. That was another problem in our relationship. He was always pressuring
me to “just do it.” He liked to make fun of my abstinence by saying that I was
waiting for “marriage or some shit.” I never denied his accusations, but that
was not why I stayed a virgin. I secretly knew that once he claimed me, he
would leave. I had nothing to offer him but my virginity, so I was holding out
for as long as I could to prolong our relationship. I could hear him bragging
about “being the first with the pastor’s daughter.”  I would hold a high
place of honor on the notches on his bedpost, but there was no doubt he would
leave me for his next conquest. 

I knew this was not healthy. I knew my
relationship with Caleb was based on lies, but at least it was something. I
didn’t want to go back to nothing. Not having a boyfriend meant that others
would notice me.  It would open me up to new people and questions. 
Staying with Caleb was safe.  He didn’t care enough to ask the tough
questions, and as long as I showed him attention when he needed it, he was
happy. 

So, I was driving home alone instead of
spending time with my boyfriend.

I abruptly stopped my car at the end of
the street because I saw my dad’s truck sitting in the driveway. It didn’t
appear to have moved all day. This was not good. I simply could not go home
with him there. Obviously he had stayed home all day and was more than likely
extremely intoxicated. Drunk Dad was a mean Dad, but intoxicated Richard, who
took a day off to drink himself into a stupor, was terrifying.

I pulled a quick U-turn and headed back
into town. Not really knowing where to go, I realized that I was driving toward
the auto shop. I guessed it wouldn’t hurt if I just hung out in the back while
the guys talked. If I wasted enough time, maybe Richard would be completely
passed out by the time I got home. They probably wouldn’t even know I was
there. If I was lucky, Julie might even be there.

Julie was a beautiful girl by anyone’s
standards, but she was a complete grease monkey. She loved cars and everything
about them. She could rebuild an engine faster than most of the men in the
garage. Caleb had given her a hard time when she came in asking for a job, but
apparently her father paid Mr. Smith a large ‘reverse retainer’ to help with
the hiring process. She had been working right alongside the boys for about four
months now.

At first, Caleb would tease and make rude
remarks about how Julie broke a nail, or Julie couldn’t fit her large chest
under a car, but eventually the comments all stopped. Once the boys just accepted
the fact that she kicked their asses at all things mechanical, they left her
alone. Much to Julie's credit, she never let them get to her, or at least she
never let it show that they had gotten to her.

The few times that I went down to Caleb’s
work, she had always been nice to me. She was intimidating to most people, but
she seemed to like me. She was friendly and would always come over and talk.
She probably needed some girl time after spending so much time with all that
testosterone.

I pulled into the parking lot and saw all
the familiar cars. I parked next to Julie’s new creation. She told me it was a
1955 Porsche Spyder, and then went on and on about how there had only been 90
made. She found this one in the back of a wrecking yard in Barstow, California.
I was only half listening, but it was a very cool car. She did some fantastic
body work on it, and she planned to sell it at auction to help pay for college.

As soon as the roar of my engine stopped,
I heard loud rock music coming from the garage. That was odd. Mr. Smith never
allowed the boys to play anything but Hank Williams, Jr. or Johnny Cash on the
CD player, but I clearly heard
Closer
by Nine Inch Nails, coming from
the garage. I closed my door and locked it with my keys.

I was a little nervous as I rounded the
corner and made my way over to the garage area. I felt like I was interrupting
or intruding. Expecting to see all the guys working on a motor or something, I
was shocked when I noticed that the whole work area of the garage was empty. No
one was there. The only noise was that song blaring in my ears. I had heard it
a thousand times before, but this time it gave me shivers up my spine.
Something wasn't right. I continued to walk further to the back where the
offices were. Mr. Smith’s office had a huge picture window in the front so he
could sit at his desk and watch the activity in the garage. That was where I
saw a mind-numbing sight. It took me a while to process what I was witnessing.

Three of the boys in the corner of the
office were smoking something and drinking beers. Another boy leaned against
the back wall, stroking his dick, which was hanging out of his boxers. He was
watching something on Mr. Smith’s desk. That was when I thought I was going
blind. I started to have tunnel vision. All I could focus on was Julie and
Caleb having sex on top of his father’s desk. Julie was lying on her stomach on
the desk with her feet firmly planted on the floor. Caleb was standing behind
her, in between her legs, moving his hips back and forth in wild jerky motions.

Pure adrenaline pulled me closer to the
window. It was as if my mind was sure that my eyes had made a mistake. There
had to be a reason why this was happening. As I got closer, I heard their
voices.

“God damn, baby. You feel so good. I could
fuck you like this all day.” Caleb was thrusting with the tempo of the song,
and he began to sing.

Julie looked so uncomfortable on the desk
that I began to think that she was being violated, but those fears were soon
proven false as she rolled over in mid thrust and wrapped her long legs around
Caleb's back. “Fuck me harder, damn it. Stop singing that damn song and fuck me
already.” Her rantings were cut short as Caleb attacked her mouth. She let out
a moan and continued to move up and down on his cock.

“Julie, I'm gonna come. I can’t hold it,”
Caleb panted, and he let out a guttural moan that sounded almost like a wild
animal.

Julie did not look pleased. “Well, fuck
off. Where's mine, you jackass bastard? You could have given me a little
warning to work up to something, you premature ejaculating prick!”

Caleb, however, had moved off of her and
was taking off his condom. He headed over to the three boys who were smoking
and took a long drag of the cigarette that they passed him. He held it in his
lungs for about five seconds and then let it out.

The boy who was stroking his dick came
over and began to give Julie what she wanted. She was all too happy about
getting it, whoever it was giving it to her.

I had seen enough; my mind was reeling,
but I couldn't get my feet to move. I knew I had to get out of there. I was
going to be sick. I turned around as quickly as I could and stumbled into a
large hydraulic jack lying on the ground. I dropped my keys, and the handle of
the jack fell on a stack of oil cans. They came crashing to the floor just as
the music stopped. Dammit! I knew that everyone in the office was now aware
that there was someone in the garage. I heard some shuffling and cuss words,
and then Caleb came bursting through the door wearing only his boxers.

“Becky? What the fuck are you doing
here?” His eyes looked wild and glazed over. He was angry, that much I could
tell. I had to get out of here, right now!

“I asked you a question. I told you that
me and the guys were going to hang out this afternoon. Why did you decide to
check up on me? You know I don’t like that.” He started walking toward me with
a murderous look on his face. I had never seen this side of Caleb before. He
was wild and scary, not the carefree spirit who laughed with me and walked me
to class.

“I wasn't trying to check up on you,
Caleb. I just wanted to come down here and see what type of car you were
working on now.” I started to back up toward the door, but I ran into a large
red tool box.

“Now, Becky, where do you think you are
going? I know you saw our little ‘meeting’ in the office. You wouldn’t be
planning on running home to tell Daddy, now would you?” He reached out and ran
his hand down my arm. I shivered. Every hair was standing up on my arm. I
closed my eyes. I was afraid of what was about to happen, but I had spent too
many nights with a drunken Richard Hunter. I knew from experience when it was
better to fight and when it was better to stay still.

“You know, you could always join us.
Julie has always had a thing for you,” Caleb said in a twisted voice. I had to
think.
Damn it brain, work already!
I peeked through my lashes and saw a
large pipe lying next to me. This was my chance.

I grabbed it and swung it as hard as I
could right at Caleb’s head. I heard a loud thump and Caleb staggered
backwards. I hit him two more times just because I was pissed off, and then
threw the pipe at him. I saw him slump to the floor, and I took off. I ran out
of the garage and to my car. I reached for the door, but forgot that I had
locked it. I searched for my keys, but then remembered dropping them when the
jack fell. I heard Caleb starting to get up. I had to get away.

I took off into the forest on the
opposite side of the highway. My only thought was to get as far away from here
as I could. I don’t know how far or how long I ran. I didn’t have any idea
where I was going. I was suddenly aware that everything looked exactly the same
no matter where I went. I was lost, and to add to my troubles, it started to
rain, hard. Just as I turned to round a tree and go in the opposite direction,
I slipped. The last thing I remember was a loud crack and then the world went
black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marcus

My heart was thumping so hard in my chest
I could feel it in my toes. I swear I was having an anxiety attack. I was
racing through the woods as fast as my feet would take me. This was so wrong. I
knew that Becky was in trouble; I could feel it just as if it were happening to
me. My chest was tight, and my mind was going a thousand miles an hour, but I
continued to push forward. I had to find her. She would need someone now, even
if it were just me.

I replayed the events of the afternoon
over and over in my head to see if I could have done anything differently.

After school, I left my last class and
immediately headed to Becky’s house. I always followed her home. This was a bit
tricky for me, since I don’t have a car. But luckily, Becky doesn't live far
from school, and I know some short cuts through the woods. I am usually there
before she even gets home.

She loved her car.  She takes such
pride in that broken down piece of shit. She doesn’t see the rust, the dents,
and the scratches in it; she sees something she loves. She saved to get it, and
now that it was hers she took good care of it.  That was one of the
reasons I have hope for us. Maybe someday she can see past my rust, my dents,
and my scratches. For the first time in forever, I dream that someone will at
least try to see the real me.

Today, I watched as she stopped her car
at the end of the street and placed her head on the steering wheel. I glanced
back at her house and noticed her father’s truck. I had been watching her long
enough to know that her father was an abusive alcoholic. Several episodes at
different foster homes helped me decipher the clues to their relationship. He
was verbally abusive, but I had never seen him hit her. The idea of that was
often more than I could bear. I thought about what I would do if I witnessed
him hurting her. My thoughts were not pretty.

I knew she wouldn’t want to stay at the
house, and I also knew the only other place she would go. I watched Caleb tell
her about “hanging with the boys” this afternoon. I hated that fucker. He was a
lying piece of shit. Becky had no clue that he was one of the biggest players
at school, hell, in the whole damn town, for that matter.

He was a disgusting dog, and on more than
one occasion I had heard him brag that he was going to “pop the pastor’s
daughter’s cherry.” The only thing that kept me from ripping his fucking head
off was the fact that he said he was 'going to,' meaning that he had not done
it yet. My Becky was too smart for that shit. She might not want to face the
facts about her stupid-ass lying boyfriend, but she knew better than to give
him that gift.

I raced through the trees to the Smith's
Auto Shop. I had an eerie feeling that something was not right. I slid to a
stop at the top of the tree-lined hill that overlooked the garage. I saw Becky
locking her car door. The two-door sedan looked totally out of place next to
the array of hot rods. I could hear loud music coming from the garage area. I
had to get closer to see what Becky was walking into.

I made it to the door of the work area
just as Becky saw Caleb and his cronies putting on quite the pornographic show
in the large picture window. She began to inch further in to get a better view.
I hid behind a large red tool box. I wanted to yell for her to stop. I wanted
to keep her from being hurt, but I wasn’t ready to expose myself yet. I was too
scared that she would run from me.

I saw her run into the jack. Caleb came
busting out of the door with a look that I am sure scared Becky to death. My
anger was rising. I grabbed a four-foot metal pipe lying on the ground and was
ready to pounce on his fucking head with it. I had to stop short when I saw him
back her up to the front of the tool box I was hiding behind. I had a choice to
make. I wanted with all my heart to jump up and smash this fucker's head in,
but I knew that would terrify the girl I was trying to get to know. It would
ruin everything.