Page 29 of Norah

This gut feeling isn’t one I’ve had often, only a few times in my life, actually. But the other times I sensed the person wasoff, I was 100% right. I don’twantto be right, because Abby seems so happy. But she’s my sister, and keeping her safe is more important than being happy.

Norah’s listening to a story Abby’s telling about meeting Tom in London, and I can see that she’s trying to figure out how to weave her question into the conversation. Her usually vibrant blue-gray eyes are flat with resignation.

“So, Tom,” Norah jumps into a pause in my sister’s story. “It sounds like you and Abby have had a lot of exciting adventures since you met. You must be excited to settle in the same city together. But I have to ask, because she’s Ethan’s sister,are you going to treat Abby well?”

Abby looks startled, her forehead wrinkling in confusion. My eyes move to Tom, waiting to see his response. He blinks at her question, and his features tighten in irritation, but quickly smooth into a small smile. “Well, I appreciate you asking that, because I know you have thebestintentions for Ethan’s sister.” His hand tugs Abby’s onto his leg and holds it there, in an assertion of control. “To answer your question, I willmost definitelytreat Abby well.”

I pin my eyes on Norah, waiting to see her response. I’m expecting maybe a tiny smile or frown, depending on what she sees on Tom’s face. But sheflinchesand shifts on the couch, pressing closer to me. I feel slight tremors running through her, and her hand clasps mine tightly.Is she scared of what she saw?

Abby’s clearly trying to figure out what’s going on, and Tom is staring stonily at Norah. The tension in the room has thickened to split pea soup level. I’m trying to figure out how to pull Norah aside again when she opens her mouth to speak. Her spine straightens, and I feel an electrical buzz that seems like it’s coming from her.What the heck?

Norah leans forward, jaw set, focused on Tom. The odd buzzing feeling increases. “Tom. I have another question for you.” I glance a look at the man and he gestures towards Norah;go on, ask what you like. Abby’s eyebrows are up by her hairline, completely confused.

Norah’s voice drops to a lower tenor. “Tom.Tell me the truth. What are your plans for Abby?”

Abby gasps, and I’m struck silent in surprise. But Tom has no such problems. He goes flat, expressionless, and speaks as if in a trance. “My plans for Abigail, thetruth? Whenever I want, I willuseher. Ienjoyhurting women, and I can’t wait to beat Abigail, to see her bruises. I’ll make Abigail service me and my colleagues and convince her she likes it. And when I tire of her, I’ll leave her.”

What the fuck? What just happened?My head is swiveling like I’m watching a tennis match, trying to take in everything. Abby claps her hand over her mouth with a cry and jumps up from the couch.

Tom still sits passively, but with a dawning expression of horror. And Norah lets out an agonized cry before rushing from the room. I hear the bedroom door slam shut and try to figure out how to handle the chaos.

First, I shove Tom out of the apartment and tell him never to contact Abby again, making insinuations to military buddies who won’t hesitate to help keep him in line. Then I calm Abby down, insisting that Tom needs to be avoided atall times. I offer to have her stay in the guest room, but she insists on staying with a college friend in Queens. I can’t say I blame her for wanting to leave.

By the time I open the bedroom door, I’m sick with worry over how Norah is feeling. After she ran in there, I wanted to follow, but I knew I had to deal with Tom and my sister before I could give all my attention to Norah. But leaving her here alone, even for that short time, makes me feel like the worst kind of boyfriend.

She’s sitting on the bed, arms wrapped around her knees, forehead propped on her arms. At the sound of my entrance, she looks over at me, eyes filled with sorrow. Her voice is soft when she asks, “Is Abby OK?”

“She will be. It was a shock, but she’s strong; she’ll be OK.” I sit down next to Norah and rest a hand on her back. She’s stiff, but relaxes a little into my touch. “Baby… I’m sorry that I asked you to do that. I never wanted to hurt you. I just had to know. She’s my sister.”

“I know. I understand why you asked. If it was my sister, I’d want to know too.”

I inspect her face, her eyes, trying to get a feel of what’s going on inside. The best description for her appearance is shell-shocked. “Can you tell me what happened?”

NORAH

I’m still not sure what happened.

I mean, I was there, and remember everything. But the pieces still feel mixed up and fuzzy. I’m still trying to figure it all out. I need to understand, so I can explain to Ethan how I outed his sister’s boyfriend as an abusive monster.

I take a few deep breaths as I collect my thoughts. “When I asked him the first question, if he would treat her well, his face went sheer black. I’ve never seen a response like that before. Usually I see the person’s features behind the shadows, a hint of nose, mouth, eyes. But with Tom, I couldn’t see anything other than a thick black mask hiding everything behind it. He looked like a monster.”

Ethan’s arm tightens around me, reacting to my description. “You seemed scared when you looked at him. Were you?”

“Yes. I was. Even though rationally I knew he wouldn’t do anything to me, I felt his evil reaching out for me. It was like my whole body was screaming at me to run.”

“But you didn’t.” He pauses, contemplating. “I think if I had seen what you did, I would have wanted to run too.”

“I knew I couldn’t, but I was so stunned by what I saw.”This is where it gets really confusing.“Two questions popped into my head after Tom lied to me.First, what’s the truth behind his lie?And then,what if we can’t convince Abby to stop seeing him?I was so upset, and angry, and worried about your sister. I wanted to scream at him; tell me the truth!”

“But hetoldyou the truth, didn’t he?” His voice is low and full of restrained anger.

“He did.” I shift so I’m closer to him, needing his nearness to help me talk about this confusing part. “It’s hard to explain, but while my brain was screaming for Tom to tell the truth, my body felt tingly. Like there was power flowing through me, and I knew I could use it to force him to do what I wanted. To make him tell me the truth aboutanything. All I had to do was ask…”

“And then what?”

“I decided what I wanted to know. Then I forced all that energy and power into the question. It was… incredible, but also terrifying to wield that power against someone. But I did, and I made Tom tell the truth about his intentions towards Abby. It scared the crap out of me, but I’d do it again.”

Ethan’s hand rubs circles across my back, releasing some of the tension built by the stress of the evening. “You saved Abby, you know that, right? We don’t know if we could have convinced her that Tom was bad news. She’d be trapped in a relationship with that monster. But now she’s going to be free of him, because she heard him speak the truth about his intentions. That’s thanks toyou.”

---