Natalie
five
J ulian saved me. He came for me. After the way I treated him this morning, after everything I said. He came for me . I grab at his shirt, holding him as close as I possibly can without climbing on him.
“You’re safe now.” He assures me again and again, his voice husky as he cries his own tears. His shirt is soon soaked through with my tears and snot, yet he keeps me near.
“He won’t ever be able to touch you again. I promise treasure. He won’t touch anyone again.” He says once we’ve both settled down, he pulls my legs over his, holding my waist with one hand while stroking my back with the other. My head still lies in the crook of his shoulder.
“What do you mean?” I whimper. “Did you kill him, Julian? Did you kill my boss?”
“No, I’m leaving that to you.” I move back to look at his face, he’s deadly serious. “I want you to take that bastard's life after what he did to you.”
“But…”
“No buts, Natalie. Whether it takes you a mere matter of minutes, or weeks. You will be the one to exterminate him.”
“ Exterminate? I’m not a fucking dalek , Julian.” I huff out a laugh, even though this is no laughing matter. “I can’t take someone's life. I just can’t.”
“He tried to kill you, he raped you.” He grits his teeth.
“You have to stop being so… I don’t know.
Every time someone hurts you, you seem to just get on with life.
Well it has to stop. You have to get angry, Natalie.
It’s time for you to get revenge on those who’ve hurt you .
” His hands caress my face, “I know you have anger inside you. Let it out.”
I keep my gaze on his. Can I really find the strength to kill someone? Do I have the mental fortitude to carry that burden with me for the rest of my life?
Would you? What would you do in this situation?
A high pitched creaking makes me jump while Julian sighs and looks behind me to where I assume someone is walking in, and by the sounds of their footsteps, they’re in a hurry.
“Julian.” Peacock's voice rings out, I haven’t known her for long, but her strong Spanish accent will forever be burned in my brain.
“Bull went back to the bank to clean up and found Natalie's bag, he asked me to…” she walks into the room and notices me, my purse hangs from her little finger as she holds it up. “Oh hi, I thought you would still be sleeping.” She gives me a wide smile. “How are you feeling now ?” I try to turn my head to look directly at her, but Julian's hands keep me in place. “Seriously, Julian. Let her go. In fact, I’m parched, how about you make us all a drink. I’m going to borrow your girl for a bit.” She holds my hand.
Julian hesitates a little, but eventually lets me go.
He stands and walks over to the kitchen area.
“Come with me, let’s get you cleaned up.
” She tugs lightly on my hand. My body screams at me when I get to my feet, pain hits me hard in my chest, most likely from some broken ribs.
Agonising pain shoots up my anus whenever I move.
“Bull is on the way, I told him what I believed happened. He’s a doctor so can help you.
” She whispers once we are out of earshot.
A doctor? A doctor that goes around robbing banks and holding machetes up to people's throats. I don’t think I believe her, but what other choice do I have ?
She leads me to another room and opens the door. Inside is a large washroom area, it has a shower and a bath, a separate toilet and…
“I’ve never seen a bed in a bathroom before.” I say.
“This isn’t a normal bathroom. It’s our medical room. As you can imagine, as bank robbers we get quite a few injuries. And it’s not like we can go to a hospital .”
Bank robbers, she said that before. But they didn’t hesitate to knock out Howard and throw him into the back of the van, the van filled with medical equipment and weapons.
Plus she said Bull was cleaning up. Cleaning what?
The bank? After a robbery the thieves don’t go back to clean up the scene.
Something strange is going on here. I don’t think Peacock is being fully honest with me about what they do for work.
Or why they were even there in the first place, especially after what Dante said.
“Where’s the money?” I question as she switches on the shower.
“What?” She chuckles.
“You said you were robbing the bank, Dante told me none of this would have happened if I would have answered my phone. Howard has been kidnapped and I don’t see any bags of money anywhere. So please don’t lie to me. What do you guys do?” I’m so fucking confused, this can’t be real right?
“Nothing for you to concern yourself with.” Julian says from behind me. “And Dante shouldn’t have told you that.” He mumbles.
“Out.” Peacock starts to close the door on him, “and when Bull arrives, send him in, she needs to be checked over properly.” Then the door clicks closed.
“Unfortunately the boss” she points her thumb to where she just closed the door on Julian, “has spoken and I can’t tell you what our jobs are.
However, just know you are safe here. No-one here will hurt you.
” Her voice is sincere, sincere enough to not doubt her in any way.
Steam starts filling the room from the heated shower.
She slowly starts walking me towards the stream.
“You don’t have to get undressed if you don’t wish to.
I can also leave the room if you want. But as you are still quite weak, I would like to keep an eye on you if I may. ”
I nod, unable to trust myself on my own and start to unbutton my work shirt, leaving me in just my underwear.
She removes her jacket and steps into the steam while still holding me against her.
Her shirt starts to stick against her skin and her jeans must be getting uncomfortable as they start to soak through, but still she keeps smiling.
Telling me about how Julian is so easy to tease, how she likes to play pranks on him and now I’m here it will be even better because we can team up against him now.
“He will never suspect his girlfriend will ever torment him, so can you imagine his face!” She cackles.
“We’ll have to start you off small, just something like putting salt in his drink instead of sugar.
Then once you’ve mastered that I will teach you the big stuff .
” I give her a small smile. I know she is just trying to keep me from thinking about Howard, and honestly it does work at times.
But I still find myself drifting to the darkness.
“Okay, I’m going to clean your legs now.
Can you hold on to the bar there?” She guides me to the bar attached to the wall and I lean against it.
She kneels and using the loofah she has just washed my arms, back and chest with, she starts to gently clean the blood from my legs.
“What’s your name?” I ask.
“Peacock.” She smiles up at me.
“Your real name?” I question .
“Honestly, I prefer to go by Peacock. It has been my code name for years, but since you truly want to know, my birth name is Carmen. The others don’t know that though.” she winks.
“Thank you. I like to know the names of my friends. And I will keep it from them. They don’t need to know.”
“Cheers darlin’. As Bull would say.” She mimics his deep voice and accent then gives me a mischievous smile.
“But please, please for my entertainment, when he comes to check you over, call him Mateo.” She stands, puts the loofah back on the small shelf opposite the bar and picks up the shampoo bottle.
“This may sting a little. You’ve had some hair ripped from your scalp.
” She sighs and flips the cap on the bottle.
“Let me know if this hurts.” I close my eyes and wait for the pain as I hear her squirt some of the shampoo on her hand.
The scent of coconut fills the air . Her fingers gently massage the soap into my scalp, surprisingly the stinging isn’t as bad as I was expecting.
And I can’t stop myself from relaxing a little into her touch.
“I love your hair.” She tells me. “What made you grow it so long?”
I tense, “umm, well I always kept it kind of short. But after the accident,” I point to my scars.
“I grew it out to hide these. I was ordered to.” I drop my gaze to the floor.
I always found my short hair easier to deal with, especially when we weren't allowed to have showers for days, even weeks at a time back at Ma’s and Pa’s.
I always used some rusty kitchen scissors to keep mine and the others hair short, but not too short though.
Pa didn’t want us looking like little boys, so shoulder length it was.
I guess I got used to it that way, that is until Howard told me I had to cover my scars if I wanted to keep my job, so then I had to grow it long.
“I bet it looks even better short. Want me to cut it for you?” Peacock asks.
Do I? I’m not sure. I have gotten used to hiding myself behind my hair, always hiding.
But since I’m not going back to work for Howard, do I have to hide from now on?
He always made me feel ashamed of my scars, always made me feel ugly.
They all did. But Peacock's words bring a little confidence back, the confidence I was slowly getting before the accident.
A thought crosses my mind, does Julian hide behind his mask like I do my hair?
His scars show just how much he survived.
How much he endured. He doesn’t need to hide, because even with his scars he is still gorgeous.
His emerald colored eyes shone bright against his pale skin.
His nose perfectly straight in the middle of his face, his full lips pulling into a small smile.
His scars are the only imperfection, and even then, they suit him well .
They say every scar tells a story, and Julian must have many stories to tell.
“I don’t have to hide any more right?” I relish in the massage she is giving me.