Chapter 25 Lee #3
“Mason, baby,” I said, glancing at him then back to the road. “What happened?”
He didn’t reply at first and I wasn’t going to press him for answers while I was driving, but after a few minutes he sighed, part sob, part hiccup. Then a minute later he began to speak, his voice thready and weak.
“I really don’t want to talk about it tonight, Lee. It… wasn’t a rally. At least…” he sighed, “…no rally I’d ever want to go to.” He half-laughed, half-sobbed as he sniffed and struggled to pull himself together.
“It was some church thing or something,” he said, refusing to look at me. My throat tightened and I swallowed as he struggled to talk.
“It was supposed to be a community forum. At least, that’s what Lizzie was told,” he said. “She would never have sent me there if she’d known. I just… Lee, I can’t talk about it…” He said, shaking his head as his voice trailed off. The remainder of the drive was in silence.
We made it back to my house in record time. I was just glad there were no cops on Route 8. Apparently, there wasn’t that big of a need for police on a Wednesday night. Who knew?
We pulled into the driveway of my house. I put the Jeep in park, and reached for the door, but Mason started talking again, his face was white as a ghost under the garage light.
“Please, Lee,” he said, his voice breaking. “No more questions tonight. I just… I need to make some phone calls. I need a shower, and some sleep,” he said. “I’m… I’m exhausted.”
He looked it. He had dark circles under his eyes. The laughing, joyous Mason of just a few hours ago was gone, replaced by a ghost.
“Phone calls?” I asked.
“Yeah, I just…I need…need to make sure everyone’s…okay.” He said, ducking his eyes away from mine.
I thought back to Kaine’s need to make sure everyone was still there each night after a nightmare, and I figured it might be a similar need.
“Can I help?” I asked.
He paused, then nodded.
“Can you… can you call your family? Make sure they’re all okay? Tell them…please tell them to be careful tonight. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to them.”
“How about I text them all?” I asked. “We’ve got the family chat. We’ll get you inside, you get cleaned up and I’ll check in with them.”
I helped Mason out of the Jeep and took him inside. His movements were slow and stiff, and a horrible thought occurred to me.
“Mason… Did… did they… Did they hurt you? Touch you?” I asked, fury percolating in my brain at the idea. The mere thought of it made me so angry, I could barely see straight.
Mason just shook his head and some of the rage faded from me, but then he refused to look me in the eye. God, I hoped he wasn’t lying to me.
I intended to help him get cleaned up, but he grabbed his clean clothes and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind him with finality before I could even offer my help. I could appreciate his need for some privacy after tonight, but the rejection still stung.
I made the bed as I waited for him to get out of the shower, then remembered my promise to check in with my family. We had a group chat set up for when we were trying to coordinate family events, so it didn’t take long.
ME: Hey guys, can I get a roll call?
MAM D: Kyra and I are here.
BISHOP: Here.
KAINE: What?
SONNY&HICKS: Twin and I are Ah-firmative.
WEAVER: Going on duty shortly, bro. What’s up?
ME: Not sure. Mason had a run in with some religious assholes tonight, and he’s worried about everyone and wanted me to check in to make sure you were all okay.
BISHOP: Assholes!
KAINE: Fuckers.
MAMA K: Language, Kaine!
KAINE: Sorry, Mom. Goddamned Motherfucking sonsofbitches.
MAMA D: lol
WEAVER: Ooooh! “Mason” huh? Is that the hottie?
ME: You haven’t even met him. How can you know he’s a hottie?
WEAVER: Um, A) He caught YOUR attention, and B) “Someone” might have sent me some pics…/whistles innocently
ME: “Someone” huh? Maybe I’ll have to dig out some naked pictures of “Someone” playing with your Barbie's in the bathtub.
WEAVER: Liar! No such pictures exist! I never played with my Barbie's in the bathtub!
ME: Who said they were photos of you? /eyes Kaine knowingly
KAINE: Hey, leave me out of this! Ken and I were just really good friends.
SONNY&HICKS: Hah! We’re closing up shop and heading home now. Had a great week, mostly thanks to Mason!
BISHOP: $$ching ching$$
KAINE: I’m fine. Leave me alone.
WEAVER: Wow. Short much, bro?
ME: I…think he has something he’s dealing with. Be nice.
WEAVER: Do I have to? /whines
MAM K: Is everything okay, mijo?
ME: I think so, yes. Everyone, just stay safe tonight, okay?
I left them to continue their usual family banter and headed back to the bedroom.
Mason was seated on the bed, a towel wrapped around his waist, his hair slicked back and looking the straightest I’d ever seen it. He had his laptop on the bed, messaging with Lizzie and Zem. He was smiling slightly at the screen as he closed it, so it looked like they were fine.
My eyes narrowed, though, as my gaze came to rest on dark red marks on his upper arms where it looked like someone had sunk their fingers into him. His fingers were red and angry where they had dug into the glass of his smartphone.
“Shit, Mason, you said they didn’t hurt you,” I hissed, coming over to examine his arms. The marks were a dark, angry red and would probably be bruises by tomorrow.
“What? This? It’s nothing,” he said, pulling his arm gently from my grasp.
“It’s not nothing!” I exclaimed. “We need to call the police and file a report.” I said, reaching for my phone.
“No!” Mason yelled at me, his hand snapping out to grab my hand as I went to swipe my screen. “Lee, no. This is nothing, really.” He said, gesturing to his arms. “I just bruise easily. I’ve survived a lot worse.”
“So? You shouldn’t have to endure it now!” I said angrily. Just earlier today I’d vowed to make life easier on Mason, not harder. Then someone did this.
“Lee…” he sighed at me, looking thoroughly exhausted.
“Just… just let it go. Nothing we do is going to change their minds. It’s who they are.
Calling the cops will only give them a martyr complex.
Besides, I can’t… I can’t testify against them.
I don’t remember what anyone looked like…
it was a crowd, you know? I don’t even know who they were.
” He said. “It would be pointless. And I don’t think I could…
could explain to the police… Not with my history…
” His voice trailed off for a moment, then he shook himself.
He looked up at me, his anxiety clear on his face.
“Your family… is everyone okay?” He asked, fear stark on his face.
“The fam is fine,” I reassured him. “But we can find out who they were, Mason. Tobi knew some of them. You don’t deserve this treatment. Nobody does.” I insisted. “All we have to do—”
“Stop, Lee.” He said, his voice a whisper, resting a single finger over my lips, effectively halting my impassioned speech. “This is my decision. Mine. I’m not calling the police or pressing charges against anyone.”
I was angry. Angry that he wasn’t standing up for himself.
Angry he wouldn’t let me stand up for him.
The fury that pounded through me looked for an outlet, but before I could find it, his eyes caught mine and I felt it drain away.
I was angry and frustrated, but while I didn’t agree with his decision, he was right, it was his decision to make, not mine.
I sighed and wrapped my arms around him, wishing I could protect him from all the evil in the world.
His head came to rest on my chest and I felt him sigh, his body finally relaxing against me.
“You’ll stay with me tonight?” he asked, his eyes uncertain. “Can we…” he started, and I leaned back so I could hear him better. “Could we just… sleep? Tonight? I don’t think… I don’t think I could do anything… else… without hearing those voices yelling at me.”
His voice trailed off a bit, and his eyes danced around the room, not meeting mine.
“Of course, we can ‘just’ sleep,” I said, laying a gentle kiss on his head. “We can do whatever you do, or don’t, want to do.”
He sighed again and went back to laying his head against my chest. After a while, we got ready for bed with t-shirts and pajama pants.
I turned the overhead light off and crawled into bed beside him, the light from the bathroom giving me just enough illumination to make my way to the bed without falling over something, for once.
As I slid in next to him, I felt him shiver, so I pulled the sheets and blanket up and over both of us.
I was pretty sure it wasn’t really the temperature of the room that made him shiver, but I was taking no chances.
Mason was a side sleeper, so I scooted in behind him, spooning him.
I felt him tense first as I moved in, then slowly he relaxed as I wrapped my arm protectively over him and held him tightly to me, mentally cursing whoever it was who set this thing up tonight.
It was obviously an ambush of some kind.
I couldn’t believe that a church would do this kind of thing.
What happened to preaching about love, for God’s sake?
Mason’s breathing and heart rate evened out quickly as he fell into an exhausted sleep. I held him close to me for a long time afterward, trying to figure out what the hell I was doing.
Could Mason have an arrest record? Could that be why he didn’t want to go to the police? I hoped it wasn’t due to being ashamed of what had happened to him, the things he’d had to do to survive, though I figured that was probably the case.
I knew it hadn’t been his choice, but sometimes abuse messed with your thinking.
Abusers liked to twist it around so their victims felt responsible for everything that happened to them.
I’d seen it happen so many times to some of the people who came into the dojo.
It also seemed apparent that Mason still feared Dreyven or one of his people showing up.
I was still pondering the problem, trying to figure out what I could do to help him when sleep snuck up on me.
In that strange way of all dreams, I knew where I was. I was back in Afghanistan. It was dark outside, and the single house we had taken cover behind had become a maze. My team was moving through the maze with purpose, but suddenly I saw each of them disappear from behind me.
I looked around in terror, trying to find an enemy I could fight, something I could do! In the distance I heard screaming and I was sure it was my team, each of them screaming in terror only to be cut short.
I ran through the maze, my breath dragging in and out of my chest, the air sharp as razor blades.
My feet flew over concrete, broken rocks, dragged through quicksand and across gravel.
I pulled myself up and through, finally reaching each of my team in turn, only to find them, broken and dying, bleeding their life blood out onto the dark ground. Too late… I was always too late.
There was a strange dichotomy in my brain.
A part of me knew this was a dream. It wasn’t real, but still I ran, pushing myself harder than I ever pushed, trying desperately to save them, save any of them.
Sudden pain in my side made me look down, and I realized I’d taken a shot to the side, and blood was pouring from my hip.
Despite the pain, I kept going, limping, but working through the pain as I ran along, because I knew Mack was up ahead.
I knew he was alive, but in horrible danger. If I didn’t get to him in time…
I rounded a corner, the darkness flashing crazily with bright red light and lightning strikes.
I saw him up in front of me. He was turned away from me, but he was wearing his desert fatigues and held his M-16 in his hands.
I didn’t need to see his face to know who it was.
I’d recognize that man anywhere. I sighed in relief.
I’d made it in time. I’d kept him safe. Nothing would happen to him while I was there.
He’d be safe now. He turned to look at me, his hands drawn up in front of him, his body silhouetted against the lightning.
I realized with confusion that he wasn’t carrying his weapon anymore and some objective part of my brain realized that wasn’t right. Mack would never lay his weapon down in a combat situation. He turned toward me and the lightning flashed again.
“Mack, no…” I moaned in denial. The light flickered on the red, red blood pouring out from between his fingers that were clutched to his chest. I screamed and ran for him as he collapsed forward, turning him over, my hands desperately trying to stem the blood flowing from a wound I couldn’t find. I could hear his voice saying my name.
“Lee… Leee…” he whispered, his voice trailing off.
“I’m here baby! I’m here!” I said, desperately. A final breath escaped his lips, and I screamed as I looked into his face, because it wasn’t Mack anymore, it was Mason.
I sat bolt upright in the bed, gasping, sweat pouring from my body, the jangling sound of my phone ringing on the bedside table. Mason sat up next to me, one arm around me as the other cupped my face, his eyes boring into mine as he called my name over and over.
“Lee! Lee!” He repeated, his voice slightly higher as my eyes finally locked with his.
I could tell from the look on his face he’d seen me in the throes of my nightmare, and it had scared him.
The phone rang again, and I fumbled for it automatically, trying to see outside to find out what time it was.
There was just the hint of sunrise outside.
I grabbed the phone and saw it was Mama D.
My heart sank. She would never call me at this time of night unless it was an emergency.
“Mom?” I asked, my voice hoarse with fear.
“…Lee?” I heard her say my name, her voice hoarse and sounding wide awake. “Lee…it’s the twins. There was an accident…” she started crying.
“Mom… Mom! Where are you? Where are they?” I demanded.
“We’re at City Hospital,” she managed to get out. “They’re taking Sonny to surgery in just a minute. Hicks is already in with the surgeons…” she began crying in earnest now.
“Mom, we’re on our way,” I said.