The Girl Next Door

So far the day was shaping up nicely. Family and friends had began coming to the house around 3pm and by 4:30 the party had started. Jason was moving from room to room in his mother’s house, entertaining the quest and receiving happy birthday wishes. At 6pm everyone was gathered around the dining room table slicing the cake after singing happy birthday.

When they were done, Jason excused himself to the kitchen to get a drink. As he entered the kitchen he laughed off his mother’s warning about drinking too much. He was genuinely having a good time, though a small part of him did feel empty. Something was defiantly missing. He walked into the kitchen and spotted Alex taking a beer out of the refrigerator.

“Hey, grab me one too.” Jason called to Alex and leaned on the counter. Alex obliged and came over to Jason with two beers in hand, giving one to his brother. They stood in silence for a moment, sipping their drinks.

“Happy Birthday.” Alex finally said.
“Thanks” was all Jason could think to say.

He was in awe of the fact that he and his brother were in the same room and had not ripped each other to shreds. They were both enjoying the temporary quiet when one of their uncles entered the kitchen, also looking for a beer.

“Hey Jason, I forgot to ask about your little girlfriend.” his uncle said in a curious but mild mannered tone. “Whatever happened with you two?”
“Well Unc.” Jason started.
“She lied to him.” Alex cut him off. Their uncle stood there, frowning slightly at Jason, who was nodding in agreement.

“What could she have possibly lied about to cause her not being here?” he asked. Once again Alex cut in but this time he didn’t think before he spoke.
“She lied to him about being pregnant, then lost the damned thing.”

“What?” Jason and their uncle both said in unison, but Alex only heard the uncle. Forgetting completely about Jason’s presence, and feeling the 5 previous beers he had that day, he spilled his guts.

“She had been pregnant for a while and didn’t tell him. Mom said something about her being scared of what he would think. Then the girl went and fell down some stairs trying to run away from me. Me, Unc! Can you believe that? Like I would ever do something to her.”

Alex was now standing right in front of his uncle, leaving Jason to fume behind him. It had all been lies. How could he have been so stupid. This was Alex who had told him the “truth”. His fiancé had been right all along. Not to mention his mother and Mrs. Mitchell. Jason’s mind had somehow completely shut down and his vision was tainted with red as Alex continued talking. If he had known any better he would have moved out of the way, but that probably wouldn’t have helped him much.

“You lying son-of-a-bitch.” Jason growled. Alex stopped his rambling and turned to face Jason. Their uncle took this as a sign to exit the kitchen. “You fucking piece of shit.” Jason continued. Alex was left in shock, knowing there was no way to defend his actions but he tried nonetheless.

“It was for your own good bro. I did it for you . . . us.”
“Fuck that!” Jason exploded. “Nothing you’ve ever done has been for me. It has always been about you! Now tell me how this benefitted you. Did you think you were going to get Veronica back by splitting us up? Or did you just want to hurt me?” Jason stopped abruptly and his eyes widened as the realization hit him.

“Hurt. You hurt her. You’re the reason she lost the baby! You’re the one who made her fall down the stairs!” Alex opened his mouth to speak but never got the chance as Jason pounced on him, knocking them both back against the wall.

Jason’s fist collided with Alex’s jaw, sending him to the ground. Next came Jason’s foot as it kicked Alex in the stomach. One . . . Two . . . Three times before Alex could get hold of the foot and pull down hard, sending Jason to the ground as well. Alex scurried to his feet and faced the doorway, holding his hands up for the crowd of guest that had gathered.

“It’s cool, everyone. We’re just...”
“AAAAAAHHHHHHRRRRRRR” a primal scream was heard as Jason picked himself off the tile and charged for Alex from behind.

People gasped and screamed as they moved from the doorway just in time. Alex and Jason went sailing into the dining room, and tumbled onto the table. Alex’s stomach had been slammed into the table and he was gasping for breath as Jason applied body shots to his mid section from behind.

Alex managed to push himself back enough to bend over a little, bringing Jason off the floor. He spun around as quickly as he could and jerked backwards, throwing Jason onto the table and the cake. Their mother was screaming at them to stop but the pleas fell on deaf ears. Alex turned and was able to get three of four good face shots before Jason used both his feet to kick Alex off of him. He charged at him and the two were at it, no clear winner in the brawl as it moved from the dining room to the living room.

No one dared to even get close to the fight and try to stop it. Everyone knew about how fierce and aggressive a fighter Alex was and they were fully aware of Jason’s military combat training. A turning point came when Jason was able to get down and scoop Alex up, pile driving him into the coffee table. Their mother screamed when she saw the table shatter under their weight. Jason was now straddling Alex and going to work on his face. Mrs. Hampton was sobbing now and Marcus decided it was time to step in. Fighting was one thing, and Marcus was enjoying the sight of Alex getting his ass whopped, but breaking stuff was another.

He dove in and grabbed hold of Jason’s shoulder, trying to stop him. Jason was still able to use both hands to assault Alex and wasn’t slowed be Marcus’ efforts. Other men began joining in to help Marcus extract Jason from his brother and were eventually successful. A few guys, including Marcus, dragged Jason up to his old room while some stayed downstairs with Alex.

Once in his room, Jason finally calmed and everyone left except his friend. For a while the two were quiet. All Jason could think about was Veronica and how much of an ass he had been.

“I should have killed him.” Jason finally muttered, more to himself than to Marcus. “I should have fucking killed him.” That was the only coherent thought running through his mind at the moment. That and the thought of the pain Veronica must have went through.

“Maybe you should try talking to Ronnie before you do any killing.” Marcus said.
“But if I kill him now, I can talk to Veronica later without having to worry about him.” Jason tried to reason.
“How about.” Marcus offered “If you wait too long you might never get another chance to talk to Veronica.” Jason frowned and looked at the man next to him for the first time since getting to the room. Feeling his silent question Marcus informed him.

“She’s taken this big job in Chicago. Some fashion place.”
“When is she leaving?” Jason asked, figuring he would have time to arrange something special so that he could apologize.
Marcus looked at his watch. “In about 12 hours.”
“What!?” Jason screamed, jumping to his feet. “I need to go talk to her. I’ve got to see her now. I...I...”
“Calm down man.” Marcus said in an easy voice. “We need to get you cleaned up first. You’ve got cake all over you, glass and wood in your hands, and your face doesn’t look at bad as Alex’s but it don’t look like no roses.”

Jason nodded, knowing the other young man was right. He looked a mess. He looked down at his hands and saw blood mixed with glass and wood bits. He looked even further down to his shirt and pants and saw even more blood and pieces of cake he never got a chance to eat. “Come on” Marcus said as he stood. He put his arm around Jason’s shoulder and led him out of the bedroom and into the bathroom.