Page 36 of Through My Window
Safe.
That’s all my brain can think of when the man lends me his phone. With trembling fingers, I dial the only number I know: my mother’s. But she doesn’t answer, and my heart sinks in my chest. Tears blur my vision.
“Do you want me to call the police?
No, I don’t want cops, I don’t want questions. I just want to go home where I’m safe and where no one can hurt me. But I don’t have the courage to walk alone, not again, and I don’t want to ask this stranger to walk with me. And then I remember that my mother’s phone number was the only one I knew until recently. Until Ares started texting me.
At this point I don’t care what he and I have agreed, I just need someone to take me home. This call is my only salvation, and if Ares doesn’t answer, I don’t know what I’ll do.
On the third ring, I hear his voice.
“Hello?”
The lump in my throat makes it almost impossible for me to say anything. “Hello, Ares.”
“Who is it?”
“It’s . . . Raquel.” My voice breaks. I have tears falling from my eyes. “I . . .”
“Raquel? Are you okay? Are you crying?”
“No, well, yes . . . I . . .”
“For God’s sake, Raquel, tell me what’s wrong.”
I can’t talk, I can only cry. For some strange reason hearing his voice has made me burst into tears. The guy takes the phone from me.
“Hi, I’m the phone’s owner. The girl was attacked under a bridge.” There’s a pause. “We’re at the park on Fourth Avenue, in front of the construction building. Okay, all right.” He hangs up.
I’m just a sea of tears. The man touches my shoulder.
“He’ll be here in a few minutes. Calm down, breathe.”
The minutes fly by. Like I said, my neighborhood isn’t far, but I didn’t expect to see Ares running toward us. He’s wearing gray pajama pants and a T-shirt of the same color, and his hair is a mess. His beautiful eyes meet mine, and the concern on his face disarms me. I stand up to walk toward him. Ares doesn’t say anything but quickly embraces me, smelling of soap, and in this moment of safety, of reassurance, I am safe. He leans back and holds my face.
“Are you okay?” I nod faintly and his finger brushes against my busted lip. “What the hell happened?”
“I don’t want to talk. I just want to go home.”
Ares doesn’t push me to say more. He looks at the man to one side of us. “I’ll take care of it; you can go. Thank you very much.”
“You’re welcome. Take care of yourselves.”
We’re left alone, and Ares lets go of me, turns around, and leans forward to offer me his back.
I look at him strangely. “What are you doing?”
He gives me a smile over his shoulder. “Taking you home.”
Carefully, I climb onto his back and he carries me easily, as if I weighed nothing. I rest my head on one of his shoulders. My face is still throbbing with pain, and tears flood my eyes as I think about what just happened, but I feel safe.
In the arms of the idiot who broke my heart, I feel safe.
The silence between us isn’t uncomfortable, it’s just silence. The sky is clear, the streets are quieter now, and the orange streetlights are still there as if nothing has happened.
We arrive at my house, and Ares puts me down. My mom is at work, so he comes in with me. I go up to my room while he looks for ice in the kitchen. Rocky greets me enthusiastically, and I manage to rub his head a little before sending him to sit in the corner of the room. I take off my backpack and sit on my bed.
Ares appears with a plastic bag full of ice and sits down next to me. “This will help.” He presses the bag against my face, and I let out a groan of pain.
