Page 100 of All That Remains
"Did you take my fucking keys?!" I snapped, unable to hold back the second I heard his voice.
"Rafe?!Fuck, babe, what the fuck are you doin’ here?! You can't be here right now! She's here, and I—" his voice broke away beneath the interference of the shitty intercom.
Dead silence followed. I waited for him to pick up again, to no avail. Becoming hysterical, I sprang into action, running headlong up his driveway and hopping the gate with the assistance of a hedge. I scraped up my arms and banged my shin, but there was no time to fuss over it now. On the other side, I jumped down onto the pavement with a thud, finding his car and a stranger's car parked outside the house.
With images of her hitting him over the head flitting through my mind, I sprinted to the side door and knocked as hard as I could without shattering the glass. They had five seconds to answer, or Iintended to do just that. Anything to gain entry. Fortunate for her, he appeared before the five seconds was up, probably already heading to meet me anyway.
"Rafe, babe,go.Go!" he urged, shoving his way outside and shutting the door.
"Fuck that! What's going on?! Are you ok?! Why’d you take my keys?!"
"Because, babe, I didn't want you to follow me—”
The back door flung open, screeching backwards on its hinges. An enraged shriek preceded her. She came storming out like a maniac, blonde hair flailing. Shouting unintelligibly.‘Fuck you!’was hollered on repeat at the top of her lungs. And how dare I show my disgusting fucking face while she was there.
Her screams were shrill, pealing through the night like an unhinged banshee. Loud enough to wake the entire block. There’d be gossip about this tomorrow. Probably a domestic disturbance call to the local PD. It might even make the news. Her hysteria was so unnerving I began to freak out as well.
“For fuck’s sake!” I roared, losing all composure. “Shut the fuck up, you psychotic bitch!”
“Hey!” Rome shoved me several feet. “Not cool, bro, what the fuck?!”
“You gonna let him talk to me like that!” She pushed him from behind.
“Keep your fucking hands off him!” I charged at her and Rome shoved me back again.
“Fuckbothof you!” she hollered, slamming a hand onto the glass door.
“Go fuck yourself—”
“Rafe, ENOUGH!” He shoved me away again, so forcibly I stumbled. When she lunged at me, he intercepted, and I fell back against the car in shock.
"GoRafe!" was all I heard over her cries. “NOW!”
Coming to my senses, I blinked at him in defeat, then strode down the driveway and hopped back over the gate. I could still hear her tirade from the opposite side of the wall, and the sound of her voice was so grating it made me sick to the stomach. Like nails on a chalkboard.
I took off running to put distance between me and whatever the fuck that even was. I had no idea what I was thinking, being so hostile and confrontational. That wasn’t my style. But something primal awakened whenever I saw them together. It was dreadful. Fuck how I loathed the sight of it. For the love of God, she was still screaming. I kept running in search of silence, to undo everything I'd heard. All I saw was herinhumanrage. Her contorted face. Her jabbing finger. The revulsion.
There was nothing to say really. There had been no valid defense. I was totally and completely in the wrong, and that's what enraged me the most. The guilt.I had been the architect of her psychotic break, in my own heartless, self-serving pursuit ofhim. Yet stupidly, I stood her down like I had a right to be there. Like I was ready to duke it out. With a woman no less. I was a total sicko. Completely fucked in the head. There’s no way this wouldn’t make headlines.
A block away I slowed, exhausted and overcome with anxiety. Despite my best efforts, I began to cry. I asked myself why she hated me so much. No one had ever treated me that way before. I wasRalph Fucking Rawlings.Everyoneadored me. Even those who didn't know me would struggle to find anything truly objectionable to say. Had I fallen so low?Had I become irredeemable?
I sat down on a boulder at the end of a driveway until I stopped sobbing. I put the collar of my t-shirt over my nose and took a few stabilizing breaths. Blinded with tears and disoriented. Where the hell even was I? My cheeks were raw after I wiped them with the hem of my shirt.
Staring down the foreign street, I sat and fumed, wondering how I'd get home. I couldn't bear to face another Uber driver at the moment, yet they were my only hope of making a clean break. I wished I could get my last driver back again. He felt like my only friend in the world just now. I wish I'd told him to wait for me.
***
Moments later, before finishing up my request in the app, I got a call. It was Rome. I thought about ignoring it, but couldn't shake my concern over her hurting him. She was hysterical enough to brain him without compunction. She would onlycome to her senses long after he was concussed, or worse,dead. I answered, but didn't say anything.
"Rafe?! Babe?! Where are you?! Did you drive here? I've been lookin’ for you! I can't find you!" he panicked, out of breath.
He had come after me on foot. My heart swelled. I told him the name of the street I was sitting on, and within minutes he was sprinting up behind me. I ran to him in the darkness and we collided. I clung to his bony frame and laughed in a weird relief. My hysteria rang throughout the neighborhood like a nightmarish omen. Rome grabbed me close, squeezing me as we stumbled back to his house together.
Now things were quiet. Too quiet.Neighbors had turned their porch lights on, and I spotted a few silhouettes standing inquisitively at the ends of their driveways. The police might arrive any minute now, or at the very least, the neighborhood watch. We kept our heads bowed and slipped back up his driveway in hopes we wouldn't be recognized. Once behind the safety of his gate, he put me in his car and told me he'd be back in a moment.
Upon returning, he was flustered. Instead of turning the car around, he reversed abruptly,skrrtingdown the long driveway onto the street. Finally we peeled away, leaving his house and the many faceless neighbors in the dark.
Outside of my place, he shut the engine off and we sat in stone silence like we had the entire ride. We sat so long the battery timed out and all the lights on the dash vanished. Only the motion sensor lights were aglow above us, bleeding into the car. Illuminating the whites of our nails and the silver of the keys.
