22 The Test #3
“Will, did you forget which one was your girlfriend?” Sue asked.
I turned around and tried to get back out, but Will backed into the door and held it shut. “Let me go, Will!” I shouted. “I’m serious.”
“Ross told me to keep you here. Now call the police. Your phone’s over there on the bar. You left it in the car.” I did as he said, fingers shaking. The woman who answered told me they’d be there in no time. That made me feel a little better. But only a little.
“They’re on their way,” I said. “But that doesn’t make up for you leaving my boyfriend with Monty. What if he gets hurt while you and I are just standing around up here?”
“Trust me,” Will said, “Ross doesn’t need our help. Now stop trying to get past me. I’m not moving, and I’m not letting you go downstairs. Whatever’s happening right now, Ross doesn’t want you to see it.”
I tried once more, but it was obvious I could never get through him.
So I sat on the edge of the sofa, running my hand through my hair.
An eternity seemed to pass, and I felt like I was going crazy.
I’d seen what Monty could do before. I remembered a time a guy had hit on me and Monty had broken his nose.
Just the thought of him doing that to Jack made me want to cry.
A knock came at the door, and I jumped up. Jack was there, looking utterly calm, without a scratch on him. There was a police officer with him. The way Will and Jack looked at each other, I could tell they were communicating something, and I was angry that I couldn’t understand what.
“Miss Brown?” the policeman said. “We need you to come with us down to the station.”
I nodded as if in a trance, almost feeling as if it were another person acting for me.
Jack and Will accompanied me, and I told them everything that had happened.
I didn’t see Monty, thankfully, but I did hear him screaming from a nearby cell.
The police said if I chose to file charges, he could be looking at prison time, most likely six months to a year.
“If the prosecutor goes along with it,” the policeman said, “I would encourage you to testify. You’re not guilty of anything.
He knew what he was doing, and he knew the consequences.
Jack here told us he’s been calling and messaging you constantly, in violation of the restraining order.
Most likely he’s been watching you at school and at home.
We’ve seen these cases before. Lots of times, unfortunately.
And if the law doesn’t intervene, they usually won’t stop. ”
I told the officer how grateful I was, and that I was there if he needed a statement or any other information, and I walked out of the police station with Will and Jack, in a state of shock. I didn’t utter a word the whole way back. I couldn’t find the words.
When we got home, Mike was pacing anxiously and Sue was sitting there with her arms crossed and worrying. “Are you OK?” she asked as soon as I walked in. “What happened? Please tell me you’re all right.”
I was so shaken that Will told me and Jack to go relax in our bedroom. “I’ll explain the situation,” he said.
I don’t know if I’d ever felt so grateful to someone.
I thanked him for being such a good friend, and he said it was the least he could do.
Jack walked to our room ahead of me and sat on the bed.
I wasn’t sure what to say to him. I approached him with caution, and we both asked each other at the same time, “Are you all right?”
An uncomfortable silence followed. Then I warned him, “Jack Ross, I want you to promise me right now this is the first and last time you try to take on an idiot like Monty on your own.”
“It wasn’t such a big deal, Jen,” he said.
“Wasn’t such a big deal? Jack, he’s dangerous! I’ve seen him when he’s angry! I don’t care if you can fight, I don’t care whether or not you’re scared. I’m telling you, I don’t want you to ever do a thing like that again.”
“Jen, it’s over. I’m fine.”
I guess that was true. I looked him over, and there wasn’t a mark on him.
“Forget him,” Jack continued. “I don’t think he’s going to bother you anymore.”
“I’m not worried about me, Jack, I’m worried about you!”
“And I was worried about you, Jen. Don’t you get it? I don’t care if something bad happens to me, I don’t care if someone hurts me. In that moment, all I knew was I had to get you out of danger.”
Hearing him say that, I couldn’t feel angry any longer. It almost irritated me how easy it was for him to make my anxieties disappear. He was so gentle… I adored him, and I tried to forget how scared and upset I was, touching his cheek and hoping I wouldn’t cry.
“You’re right,” I said. “You defended me. Even if you had to act like a dumb meathead and show how tough you were. For your information, though, I was handling it. I was just about to give him a kick so hard between the legs that we wouldn’t have to worry about him reproducing.”
“Wow,” Jack responded. “Lucky for him I got there in time.”
I smiled, and we curled up closer to each other, with him letting me rest my head on his shoulders.
“I’m sorry you have to deal with all my stupid problems, Jack.”
“The truth is, it keeps me entertained,” he said.
“Entertained?” I asked. “You sure have a weird idea about what entertainment is.”