Closer

When Sean reached the car and saw what was happening inside, something inside of him snapped. In his mind's eye, he saw flashes of his mother being beaten by his father. He thought of how helpless he was then to stop it- too little, too young. But that was the past. He would be damned if he stood by and watched it happen to another again.

He reached inside of the broken window and unlocked the door. By using the chokehold, he pulled the assailant off of her. Though the guy had some five inches over him and weighed much more, it didn't make much of a difference. Sean's anger fueled adrenaline gave him extra strength.

The guy swung him around and off of his neck, causing Sean to stumble backwards. He corrected his footing and punched the guy in his solar plexus. He doubled over for a second before upper cutting Sean in the jaw. The blow to faceface caused him to reel backwards onto the hood of the car. That was when his friend David took over- sucker punching the guy in the face and then [literally] began kicking him in the ass. David and the guy were about the same height, but his friend was slightly slimmer. But David was on the football team. He could hold his own.

Sean then lost interest in the fight and became more concerned with her. He immediately saw the torn condition of her shirt and quickly removed his button down plaid shirt to give to her.

***********

The next thing she knew, Tre was lifted up and away from her. She breathed deeply as she zipped up her Capri's and then covered up her naked chest with her hands. Everything seemed hazy as she laid there. Her vision became unfocused, but then she realized that she was crying.

When she sat up to see what happened, she was greeted by comforting, blue eyes on a very much concerned face. She noticed he had a little trickle of blood in the corner of his mouth. He was extending his arm, holding out a shirt to her.

"Um, here. Are- are you okay?" He felt totally stupid for asking that, but he didn't knoat eat else to say. She looked past him and saw that a small crowd gathered around Tre fighting with some white guy. Thankfully he was losing- by a lot. Then she realized her palpable nudity and took the offered shirt.

"Oh god, I-" She couldn't finish her sentence. Shame and embarrassment conquered her speech. She couldn't stop shaking.

"Hey, it's alright now. It's over." He felt like an ass for that last sentence. He had no idea about what exactly happened. She was probably in an emotional uproar. But he was nervous and tried the best he could. Unfortunately, his best appeared pretty shitty.

She tried buttoning the shirt, but her hands were trembling too much. He slowly reached over and tentatively buttoned it for her.

"Let's get you outta here, okay?" He said in a placating tone as he gently grasped her hand.

**********

Pamela Harris always used to pride herself on being a good mother. Of course that was before she got a phone call from the police informing her that her only child was attacked by her nineteen year old boyfriend. Hell, she wasn't even aware her daughter had a boyfriend.

As soon as she arrived at the station, she could tell by the officer's condescending tone how good of a parent he thought she was. Nobody understood. She was doing the best she could. For a thirty-five year old single black parent, she thought she was doing a helluva job. They had a nice, two bedroom house in the better part of town, a 98' Cadillac Eldorado (with the center caps), and she ran her own hair salon.

She had been a single parent for damn near sixteen years with absolutely no help from the bastard who knocked her up. But that was okay. They were doing just fine, and she loved her daughter more than life itself. Anyone who thought different could go fuck themselves.

**********

He said his name was Sean. She could tellt tht the situation was quite awkward for him (though why wouldn't it be?) but he was veind ind and comforting. Sometimes, silence can be the greatest solace. It did not seem as scary with him by her side. Well, at least until her mother showed up. She knew the drive home would be a long one indeed.

**********

Sean figured it was best to keep his mouth shut. He would rather remain silent than risk saying something incredibly "brilliant" like before. He assumed that the conflicting emot in in his head must have caused a short in his communication skills. It was just, she was so sad, but still so beautiful. Even with the angry bruise on her face. He didn't want it to be the last time he saw her, but felt it inappropriate to ask for her number. Now was not the time, and especially not the place. Well, at least he was useful, for a little while. Then her mother came and took her away.

"Okay, what I want to know is what the hell were you thinking?! Were you even thinking at all?! Getting into some strange man's car and for what?"

"Mom, I knew who he was." Unfortunately, she thought.

"Yeah, well, you obviously didn't know him well enough. Besides, you lied to me. Looked me dead in my eye and lied to me! You said you were going to the movies with Jackie."

"I'm sorry, Mom."

"Oh, now you're lying to me again. I don't know if I can ever trust you again. I mean, I thought we had a special and trustworthy mother-daughter relationship and..."

Blah, blah, blah. Rosalyn loved her mother, but you woulink ink that after her traumatic experience, her mom would have cut her some slack. Besides, it's not like she could talk to her mom about guys and sex. They haven't even had "the talk" yet. Everything she knew about guys and sex she learned from friends, movies, or books.

It wasn't like she was the first teenager to ever lie to their parent. Her friends did it all the time. It's not like she did drugs or smoked- though she did have a social drink with her friefriends from time to time...

"... And look at your face. Look at it! Oh, I could just shake you until your teeth rattled. I thought I raised a responsible young lady who..."

Rosalyn remained silent in the passenger seat, appearing remorseful as her mother's tirade continued on, and on, and on. But if one looked closely enough, you could tell she really wasn't paying attention at all. For she was lost in her own troubled thoughts.

**********

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get her out of his head. Never be fore had any other female captivated his attention as completely as Rosalyn had. But his thoughts and feelings proved to be fruitless. She wwhatwhat? Probably eighteen or nineteen, and terribly gorgeous. Plus she was black. Probably wasn't even into white . Sh. She was older and beautiful. He most likely had a snowball's chance in hell. Besides, it had been an entire two weeks since the last and only time he saw her. Probably wouldn't even see her again. All the same, there she was- running through his mind day and night.

So, instead of staying in the house (and inevitably driving himself insane), he decided to meet up with his friends and hang out or something. On his way to Nic's house, he stopped by the corner store to get something to drink. Deciding on a Gatorade, he headed towards the back of the store where the freezers were.

That's where he saw her- a true vision of beauty. She had on white tennis shoes, with tan mini shorts (exposing long, slender legs and shapely thighs) and a white halter (covering full breasts). But somehow, she still possessed a look of innocence. On anyone else, he was sure the outfit would appear slutty. Didn't matter though; he became a walking hard on.

He decided to test out his communication skills, even though a fair amount of his blood decided to take a trip down South.

"So, you're a Gatorade fan too?" God, how lame was that? He thought to himself. She regarded him with a confused expression, which seemed like an eternity to him. A second or two later, her eyes went wide in suprise and recognition.

"Oh my god, it's you!" Aha! She remembers me. Oh no, what's she doing?

"It's so good to see you." She said as she embraced him in a hug. He tried to keep his lower regions apart form hers and hugged her back. He didn't exactly want her to know how good he felt about seeing her again.

"How've you been?" She asked as she released him, with a smile that could out shine the sun.

"Oh, fine, fine. And uh, how 'bout you? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. My mom pressed charges. I got grounded, but I suppose that's not the worst that could've happened."

**********

Rosalyn couldn't believe the startling difference two weeks could make. Sure her mom was over protective before, but this was just ridiculous. First, she put her on the pill. How unfucking believable was that? Her grandmother was not too pleased about that. But her mother explained how she didn't want any "little mistakes" running around her house. Even though Rosalyn vehemently insisted that she was a virgin and didn't want to have sex.

Then, her mom gave her a cell phone. Initially, it sounded like a good idea, but the reality of it was for her mom to be able to call her every five seconds whenever she went out. She was riserised her mother just didn't make things simpler by strapping her down with a lo-jack.

"Hey mom, can I go to the store for a sec?"

"Which one?" She asked disinterestedly.

"The one what's like two blocks away from our house?" She replied in an annoyed tone.

"Oh, that one. Which street will you be going down?" She asked, talking excruciatingly slow.

"Mom, come on." She asked, a bit on the whiny side.

"What are you wearing? Like you said, you're just going around the corner, right?"

"It's like a hundred degrees outside."

"Well maybe you should just stay inside with the cold air conditioner."

"Mom, can I please go? Please?"

"Are you stopping by anyone's house?" She questioned further.

"Now, why would I ever do that mommy?" She said, feigning innocence.

"Don't play games with me. Are you going to Tamra's house, since her house is on the way to the store." Tamra was one of bestbest friends since the third grade. They were usually joined at the hip.

"No, she's not a t home. I don't plan on talking to anyone on the way there or back. So, I should be back in about f fifteen to twenty minutes. Unless, I can go for a walk to the park afterwards..."

"Alone?!"

"What? It's daylight and it'll be light out until like eight o'clock. I'll have my cell phone on." She said impatiently.

"Alright. But you'd better call me when you get there and when you're on your way back."

"From the park?"

"Yeah, and you'd better leave the phone on, too!" She yelled as her only child left the safe confinements of the house.

"Whatever." She muttered under her breath as she left. Shit, and she thought she was sheltered before.

But if there was one thing that she could depend on to always be there, it was her favorite refreshing drink of Gatorade. thank god for fruit punch Gatorade. It was her vice. Well, that and Fannie Mae chocolate fudge.

She then heard someone of the male persuasion ask her a question (something about "a fatal Raid can?") ?") in an all to nice rich and deep voice. She looked up and saw some white guy, correction, some good looking white guy who looked familiar... Oh, it's that Sean gHer Her white knight in shining- Old Navy.

"Oh my god! It's you!" She said as she walked up to him to give him a hug.