Tomahawk (2 page)

“I have food at my house.  Where are my clothes?”

“They’re in a bag downstairs.  Tony, you can’t put them back on. They’re ripped up.”  I went to my drawer and pulled out some jeans and a Knicks shirt that she left behind.  I couldn’t bring myself to throw it out after all this time.  I put it on the bed at her feet.  “Do you need help putting them on?”

She shook her head no.  “I’ll be right outside the door if you need help.”  I forced a smile that she didn’t return.  I stepped out into the hallway and waited. It felt like an eternity when the door behind me opened.  Tonya looked like a teenage runaway that had an extremely hard night. 

In the last five plus years, she had lost some weight.  The tee shirt, which belonged to her seem to fall off her shoulder. The jeans were baggy when she bought them, and now she had to hold them up at the waist.  She side-stepped me and walked downstairs and stood by the door, as if waiting for me.  Barefoot, she rubbed her feet together at my front door.  I couldn’t help but stare at her. She was treating my house like she had never been here.  Uncomfortable with my stare she put the broken arm in front of her chest and looked at the floor.  I wanted to touch her skin to see if it still held that warmth, like it once did.  I wanted to tell her that she was soft, and that she was safe here.  Only thing I could say was, “I’ll get my coat.”

She stood in the garage while I pulled the car out.  I parked and she made her way to the car, arms covering herself.  “Tony.”  I got out the car.  “Tony, you don’t have any shoes on. Let me carry you to the car.”  She wiggled away from my reach and walked the few yards to the car.  I exhaled.  I knew what happened; the nurse filled me in while she was asleep.  I wanted to hear it from her mouth; I wanted to understand what she was going through.

“I live at the same place.  Do you remember how to get there?” 

She had to be kidding me.  I remember her place just like it was my own. 

Her head fell back on the seat and she stared out the window. 

“So you still at the school?” I asked.

“Yes.”  Still looking out the window. 

I couldn’t describe the way that I was feeling right now.  I had so much to say to her but didn’t know how to say it.  I turned the heat on full blast; I knew her feet were cold. “Tony, I’m sorry that this--”

“You didn’t do it.”

“I know that I didn’t do this to you, but I’m still sorry that it happened.”  I had to keep reminding myself that she was frustrated and hurt.  Confused and full of shame at what happened to her.  Any woman would be.  She was taking it out on me and I would let her.  “Are your feet still cold?  I think I have some socks in the back in my gym bag if you want them.”

“I’m fine.”  The falling snow was illumining the car.  I was able to get a better look at her.  I was in awe of her. She looked better. She was prettier than I remembered.  She was no longer a little twenty-something but a woman.

“Stop staring at me,” she deadpanned. 

“I wasn’t…I just want to make sure that you are all right.”

“Not your problem anymore.  I’ll be okay.”  She looked through her little bag of contents that was sent over to her by the police.  She grabbed her purse and keys as we drove through her complex to her apartment.

“Is there someone you want me to call?” She shook her head no.  “A friend from work, boyfriend?”  It was the first time she looked over at me. She rolled her eyes. 

“No boyfriend. He and I broke up a few weeks ago.”  She didn’t sound too torn up about it.

“Do you think--”

“It wasn’t him.  He didn’t do this to me.”

“Was it a bad break up? Maybe he was upset that he lost you.  You never know, Tony.”

“I know it wasn’t him.”

“It was dark. It may have been.”

She exhaled slowly.  “Several reasons I know that it wasn’t him.  One, he was the one that broke it off with me. And two, I think I would know.”

I was totally confused.  “What does that mean?  You think you would know?”

“Vic, I’ve been with him.  Intimately.  I know him.”  It looked like she was holding back from throwing up.  Today, I wasn’t fully aware that I was an asshole until right now.

We pulled up to her apartment; she unlocked the door and limped up the stairs.  “Tony, could you wait a second please?” 

I literally had to chase her up the stairs; she had her keys in her hand ready to unlock the door.  I put my hand over hers.

“Please could you wait?”  She looked up at me, that black eye begging for an ice pack. 

I took the key from her hands and barely touched the lock when the front door creaked open.  Pure dread washed over her face. 

“Go to the car and lock it.”  I had to repeat myself a couple of times to her.  This girl was scared.

I looked back to make sure she was safe in the car; I removed my .22 from my ankle holster and entered her place.  It was just like I remembered it, but it was covered with shit.  I made the sharp left to her bedroom. It looked like every stitch of clothing was put in the middle of the bed with a strong smell of bleach coming from it.  Towels and makeup were either on the floor or drowning in the toilet in her bathroom. 

Her flat screen television was ripped from the wall and lay on the floor with a large foot hole in it.  Everything was destroyed: sofa and love seat looked like they were torn to shreds.  Curtains and blinds were ripped from windows. Photos were ripped from the wall. I couldn’t help but feel the crunch under my feet.  Dishes, glasses, and utensils were broken and scattered on the kitchen floor.  This was overkill. What was Tony into?

“Dear God.”  I spun around and landed the barrel of my gun to her forehead.  She barely noticed, looking at her home.

“You need to get out of here; you’ll cut your feet up.”  She didn’t move and just turned her head to access the damage.  She was already cried out. All she could was cover her mouth with her hand and shake her head.  I slipped by her and went to her room.  I found a pair of shoes that weren’t damaged, a pair of old Nike running shoes.  “Come here.”  She was in shock.  “Tony, I am going to put these shoes on you. Okay?”  She nodded.  I led her back to the front door.

Reaching in my back pocket.  I dialed the number that was given to me earlier.  “Hey, yeah.  Detective Stone this is Victor Moore.  Tonya’s friend. I think you need to come down to her place.”

Her discomfort was heavy in car; I wanted to roll down the window to breath.  “Could you please drop me off at a hotel or something?”

I had to think first. I had to pull myself together before I answered her.  “Tony, why can’t you just stay at my house?  I will stay out of your way. I swear.  I would feel a ton better if you would just come back there.”  After I said it I knew that I was talking to her as if she were a child.

“Vic, I just want to be by myself if it’s all right with you,” she said.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea right now.  This…This…These things that happened to you, it’s personal.  These aren’t random acts, Tony.  Staying with me is your only option right now.”

“I’m not in control.  In control of my feelings, in control of this situation, and damn sure not in control of my body.  Just give me one thing. Just one.  Let me be by myself.  I don’t want to be around you, please.” Her voice cracked.  She mumbled something under her breath. 

“Pardon me?”

“I said, I thought I changed all my contact information. I wish I had.”  She looked out the window.

She was angry. No doubt about it.  It was shocking to see. She never got angry.  She was the most even tempered woman I had ever met.  She didn’t get all hysterical when crap didn’t turn out her way.  Tony did cry at movies, but she was a girl I understood that.  But she was never mad or said things to be cruel.  That’s what I did.  “I’m sorry.”  It was all I could say.

“Look, I know that this day wasn’t what you probably had in mind either.  I have no right to talk to you like that. I’m sorry.  I’m sure you didn’t want to spend your Friday night with me.”  Tonya smirked through busted lips.  “Since I really don’t have any place to go ‘til Monday morning, I guess it will be okay if I stayed with you until I speak to my landlord and get my place fixed.” 

“You make it sound as if I don’t want to be around you or I hate you or something.”  I gripped the steering wheel, pissed off at myself.  I was opening a door that could have waited to be open. 

“Yeah.”  She sounded unimpressed.

“I know that things between us didn’t work out, but I’m still your friend.  I really want you to know that.”  She didn’t reply. Tonya walked through the garage not knowing what to do with herself. 

“Come on, let’s eat.”  I pulled out left over Chinese takeout from the fridge and put it in the microwave.  She stood by the kitchen table. The one that she picked out.  “Go ahead and sit down.  Dinner will be served.”  It was more like breakfast at 3am.  She pulled the chair out and sat down.  Eyes trained on the table in front of her.  What was she thinking about?  I went through the laundry room and pulled out the only matching socks that I could find.  I walked over to her and got on my knees.  “Here let me see your foot.” 

She looked down at me and put her hand out.  “I can do it myself.”

“I know that you can do it yourself.  But since I’m already down here, I’ll just put them on for you.”

She still had her hand out.  “I got it.  Thank you.”  I put the socks in her hand and pulled two plates out for the both of us.  I tried to comment on the food, but she just chewed. 

Taking her plate to the sink she turned, “Where do you want me to sleep?”

Grabbing my plate and following suit.  “I guess you can sleep in my bed and I can sleep on the couch.”

She leaned back on the counter and shook her head.  “You never did get that spare room taken care of, did you?”

I smirked, she remembered.  I had been planning to gut out that room for ages now.  That room was filled with everything from my military and college days.  It looked like a frat house had kicked it all weekend.  Everything was in there, but a bed.  “Never got around to it.”

“This is a bad idea. I’ll take the couch.”

“Tony, please don’t be a goof.  I sleep on the couch more than my bed anyway.”  Yeah, ever since I don’t have anyone to sleep with in it.  “I insist, please.  Get some rest.”

“Sure.”  She walked around me and started to make her way up the stairs.  I caught her arm to tell her goodnight and she snatched away from me.  “Don’t.”

I threw both my hands up in surrender.  “Tony, I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to.”

“And stop calling me that.  Stop calling me Tony. My name is Tonya.  I’ve always hated it.”

“Again, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you didn’t like it.  I thought...”  I didn’t have anything to say to her.  I was being my regular pushy self.

Tonya didn’t even wait for me to reply. She was already making her way up the stairs.  I was almost relieved.  All that time pushing her away from me, it worked.  I hated myself for it.  All I could do was watch her limp up the stairs.

I looked over at the microwave clock it was 3:48 am.  No better time than the present. I reached into my cell phone.  “Hey, lady.  What you doing?”

The woman on the other end of the line answered,  “Trying to sleep. What you want?”

“I need you. And I need you in the worst way.”

I could hear her curse under her breath.  “I’ll be there in a second. Bye, Vic.”

“And don’t forget our toys.”

I ended the call and walked upstairs. I decided to take a shower before my girl came over.  I pushed the door open and caught a glance of Tonya getting into the shower.  I’d rather get hit by a car.  Just from the one leg that I saw, which was black and blue.  Balancing on one foot she dragged the other one into the tub which was caked with mud.

Once upon a time, she and I would take showers together before we’d go to work.  That was our meeting room.  She would tell me about her day. I would let her know mine.  If she would say she had to go to her place, I would make up something so she would come straight home here to me.

Tonya had the habit of humming in the shower.  I told her that that was her mating call for me to come in with her.  She would laugh, but now I just heard sobs coming from the shower.  Even with the shower going full blast, I heard her little mouse cries she made that made my lip jump.  Whoever did this to her,  the man that broke her, will wish he'd never laid eyes on her.  There was no doubt in my mind that I was going to kill someone in the near future.  It wasn't the first time that some unlucky bastard had crossed me and paid with his ass for it.  I would kill thousands for her.

The doorbell rang and I turned the knob to close the bathroom door without alarming Tonya.  Standing in my doorway was Melissa carrying two large briefcases.  "Baby, you need a better security system than the one you got."

Melissa was ex-military, just like me.  There was nothing in this world that she couldn't get into or out of.  Her skills of expertise consisted of high level Intel breaches.  Surveillance was her most important weapon.  "I knew that you were coming so I unlocked the door," I said giving her a hug.

"No, you didn't.  Where's everybody?  Is it just you and me tonight?"  She playfully ran her long fingers up my chest.  I grimaced.  "What's wrong?  And what's so important that you get me out of bed while the dew was still on the roses."