Chapter 19: Meet The Littrells
OK… So… Let’s recap shall we? I’m Cinderella. No, that’s not a fucking joke, that’s really my name. I’m a white trash hick tomboy, who up until what sounds like about two weeks ago, had 2 and only 2 friends and the most exciting thing that had ever happened to me was occasionally winning 20 bucks when I beat said friends at Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. I woke up yesterday to find out that I’d been beaten senseless and raped by a greasy tow-truck man who I’ve always known as Pete the Pervert. I survived his attack only to then be shot by my own goddamned father who was then killed by my drunk-ass bitch of a mother.
That’s not even the crazy part. The part that blows my mind is the part where somewhere in the last two weeks (which I conveniently can’t remember) I managed to disown my best friend, quit my job and fall in fucking love with some fucking city boy that happens to “have” the best lawyers in existence, whatever the hell that means… What kind of person “has” a fucking lawyer? Oh, and apparently I’m friends with fucking Barbie too. Even thought the evidence seems to support it, there’s no way in hell all of that shit happened in the last two weeks. It’s just not fucking possible…
Or at least that’s what I thought as I lay in my hospital bed the next morning. I’d waken up several times throughout the night to vivid nightmares and nurses poking me and stuff so I’d given up on the idea that it was all just a nasty dream. It was for fucking real and even as I woke up in the morning I heard some unfamiliar voices talking. I dreaded having to confront who ever it was so I just laid there with my eyes closed hoping they wouldn’t realize I was no longer asleep. I’ve never really been religious but I fucking said a silent prayer that they would leave.
There were two voices, a man and a woman. Ok, so the female voice was Barbie, but which one of those guys was she talking to? Whoever he was, he must have been from around here. I couldn’t place the accent a hundred percent, but it resembled that same country twang that the rest of us Kentucky natives have. From the pieces of the conversation I’d heard, the two were together. All the “Honey’s” and “Sweetie’s” were enough to make me fucking gag. On the bright side though, that meant that the man in my room was not the one John claimed I was in love with. I thought about opening my eyes. I had to face them all eventually. Maybe these people would be able to fill me in a little before I had to confront the man who’s eyes had been in my dreams that night. After thinking it over again though, I decided pretend sleep was the best was to go.
Of all the times to have a major coughing fit, I swear! I’d had several of them since waking up. I guess that happens when a fucking bullet leaves a hole in your lung. I started coughing so hard it wouldn’t have surprised me if I’d literally coughed up that lung. I bet that’s where that phrase comes from. It hurt like a son of a bitch but I was more upset that I could no longer feign sleeping. Both of the strangers were by my side in an instant. The man sat me up and rubbed his hand slowly across my back. (It was the short sandy blonde one, incase you were wondering, killer blue eyes.) I flinched when he first touched me but he didn’t back away and the more he rubbed my back the more soothing it became. Fuck, I could get used to that. The woman brought me a glass of water. I tried to take a sip but it didn’t do me any fucking good. “Leigh honey, why don’t you go get the nurse?”
“No.” I choked between coughs. “I’ll be ok.” I was sick of fucking nurses already. No way did I want to invite one in if I didn’t absolutely have to.
The woman stopped and then rejoined me on the opposite side of the bed as the guy and grabbed my hand. After a minute the coughing stopped but the damage had been done. My cover was blown and I was staring at two very curious strangers. “You sure you don’t want a nurse?” the woman asked.
I nodded my head and then the guy helped me lie back against the bed, but not before fluffing my pillow for me. What a fucking gentleman. He then pressed the button that moved the bed until I was comfortably sitting more upright. “Thanks.” I said. Not very original but lord knows I didn’t know what else to say.
I’m not sure if it was the next two seconds or two minutes, but it was the most uncomfortable silence I’ve ever fucking experienced in my life. My eyes naturally shifted back and forth between the two strangers but they both stared at me with these big fucking innocent eyes. The silence was enough to kill us all and I wanted nothing more than to break it, but what the hell do you say in a situation like that? Thank God I didn’t have to speak first. I don’t know what kind of look was on my face at the moment, but whatever it was it couldn’t have been good. The woman’s face dropped and the gorgeous smile that man was wearing turned to a frown. “Would you like us to go?” he asked.
He seemed sincere, like he really would have left if I’d asked him to, but I know he was praying I wouldn’t. “I admit, y’all are making me nervous as hell, but honestly? I don’t know if I like the idea of being left alone just yet.”
What the hell was that? I just blurted it out. Wasn’t I the one wishing they were gone like two seconds ago? And since when the fuck was I scared of being alone? God I felt like such an ass. I wonder how these two got stuck babysitting me anyway? “Where’s Danny and John?”
“They took your mom home.” The guy offered.
The woman chimed in right after saying, “They said they’d be back as soon as Hal go there. He’s gonna stay with her so that she isn’t alone.”
It was weird to here these people talking so casually about Danny and John, but when Barbie started talking about Hal, it kinda freaked me out. “You guys really do know me, don’t you?”
They both smiled sweetly and yet sighed heavily at the same time. It was time to talk. We couldn’t avoid the whole ‘I don’t remember them’ thing any longer. “Surprisingly well for only having met two weeks ago.” The man said and extended a hand. “I’m Brian. We actually met on your birthday.”
I looked at his hand and I knew I was going to have to shake it so I swallowed the rising anxiety and slowly took it. His grip was firm and yet he was gentle. And his hands were fucking soft! After shaking my hand the woman joined him and he slid an arm around her waist. “This is my wife Leighanne.”
I waited for her to offer her hand as well, but she didn’t. She smiled, but as she stared at me she was unable to stop the flow of tears. I watched curiously as her body began to shake. Brian took her into his arms and held her tightly as she buried her face in his chest. Can you believe my first thought was, “How cute is that?” I mean normally shit like that makes me want to puke but watching that man comfort his wife, literally seeing how much he loved her, almost made me wish I were standing in her place. Shit, this whole ordeal has made me fucking emotional.
Barbie, uh, I mean Leighanne, was crying uncontrollably now. Brian looked at me and said, “You’ll have to forgive Leigh, she’s had a rough time with all of this.”
I felt bad for the woman, I really did, but I also couldn’t help thinking that she was way too dramatic. Just like a fucking woman. Chicks are so much drama, all the time. That’s one of the main reasons I’ve never been friends with a girl before.
I sat there wondering how the fuck I could possibly be friends with this woman when suddenly she flew at me and threw her arms around my neck. The woman was fucking hugging me! What the fuck? I didn’t know what to do. I’m not one to give fucking hugs, but I didn’t have the strength to pull her off of me and based on how tight her grip was I think she really needed it, so I put my arms around her. I couldn’t really squeeze because pretty much every move I made hurt like fucking hell, but when I rested my arms on the distraught woman’s back she squeezed me even tighter. “Oh God Cindy!” she cried, “This is all my fault! I’m so sorry! God I’m so sorry!”
Her fault? How could she think any of this was her fault? I sent a puzzled glance to the man standing closely behind her but he was busy staring at his wife with tears in his eyes. “Shit Honey!” I laughed.
Maybe I shouldn’t have laughed, but we all know I’m not the most sensitive person in the world. “It couldn’t have been your fault. Hank’s been a bastard all his life. I always knew he would do something like this eventually.”
Leighanne shut her eyes tightly to push the memories from her mind. “There was so much blood. I. I. I thought you were dead.”
“You were there?” I practically gasped.
“I should have been.” Leighanne cried pulling herself away in order to look at me. She shuddered at a memory and then spoke meekly through her sobs. “But I went the wrong way. When we saw the door broken in I was so scared. After what that man said to us at the store I thought your mother was going to be dead.”
Leighanne cried again for a minute before she was able to continue her confession. I didn’t know what man she was talking about or what he said but from the sounds of it, it wasn’t pleasant and I bet a pretty little woman like her has never been threatened before. I kinda felt bad for dragging her into the middle of my shit and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what we were doing hanging out together. “We got lost and it had been almost a half an hour before I finally got the cops to your house. Half an hour! Jesus when we got there you were… and that awful man, he… he… if only I’d gotten there sooner! God Cindy can you ever forgive me?” Her voice trailed again.
“Sweetie it’s not your fault.” Brian whispered and I nodded.
It was sort of a pointless effort really. The woman seemed hell bent on blaming herself, but she couldn’t help it. Hank had a special talent for placing the blame of his actions on the people around him. Even I have blamed myself for countless arguments and beatings. When I wasn’t busy blaming my mother that is. Most of the time I blamed her. But I never felt as bad for my mom as I felt for the woman in front of me now. Maybe its because she seemed sincerely sorry. “You shouldn’t blame yourself.” I said, “That’s what Hank would want. Don’t you dare give that cold dead bastard the satisfaction.”
Leighanne looked up at me with wide eyes and Brian made the sign of the cross as if he were saying a prayer to the heavens. I guess they’re religious. Was I not supposed to talk bad about Hank cause he’s dead? Shit, I’m sure as hell certain there ain’t no fucking angels where he went so I figured it didn’t matter. “Look.” I said wanting to move on with the conversation, “The way I see it, you’re the one who got help. If you hadn’t brought the cops when you did, I’d be rotting in hell with daddy right now. The only thing I can blame you for is saving my life and I guess I should probably thank you for that.”
Leighanne offered me a weak smile and then wiped at her wet eyes. She started to calm down and that big beautiful smile was back on Brian’s face. These people were strange to say the least, but there was something about ‘em that I just couldn’t figure out. I was suddenly curious as hell and since the awkward silence was broken, I wasn’t nearly as scared of them as I had been. I don’t know exactly how to explain it, but even though they didn’t look familiar or sound familiar, they felt familiar. Somewhere in my heart I just knew that I was safe with them. These people were my friends. I let go a sigh and figured I’d just get it over with. “So, what’s up with that Howie guy?” I asked forcing a nervous laugh. “John doesn’t make shit up like Danny and he said something awful crazy yesterday.”
I saw a twinkle in Leighanne’s eye and knew I’d started something. “Maybe we should start from the beginning.” She said with a fucking giggle. Oh God what did I just get myself into?
Leighanne wasn’t kidding. She started telling me the craziest story I’ve ever heard. It started off like any other, Cindy meets city boy, city boy grabs Cindy’s ass, Cindy pummels the shit out of city boy… How that turned into Cindy dressed up like the fucking prom queen for a fucking ball, I don’t know. I mean she told me how, she even showed me my new hair color, I just couldn’t fucking believe it. The more she talked though, the more I started to feel better. It was nice knowing a little more about who these people were and how I supposedly knew them. I was even starting to like them. They were a little different from anyone I’ve ever known before, but they were kind of funny and strangely easy to talk to.
Unfortunately for me though, neither of them had been present for the few key moments in this epic tale. Like for instance, Brian was there on my birthday when Danny gave me a fucking Cinderella piņata (which I still need to kick his ass for, don’t let me forget.) but he left shortly after that so he doesn’t know what happened that made Howie come over the next day and announce that he’d met the one he was waiting for and then beg for advice because I guess I’d turned him down.
Then, both Brian and Leighanne had been there to witness that God-awful conversation where I told my best friend to get out of my life and quit my job. Between you and me I’m probably better off not remembering that, so for now let’s just pretend it didn’t happen ok? What was my point? Oh yeah, Howie. He’d witnessed my fight too and Brian said he chased after me when I’d stormed off. Fucking brave move on his part, I’ll tell you that much for him. It’s never a good idea to bug me when I’m super pissed. Especially when I’ve already turned you down once.
I don’t know what happened, but whatever it was, apparently it took hours because he didn’t come back until nearly dark and when he did, Leighanne said he was on cloud fucking nine. I’d really like to know what happened there because Leighanne told me that Howie said he was falling in love, and Brian said in all the years he’d known him, he’d never heard Howie say that about a girl.
The whole situation was just weird, like it was love at first site or some shit. I don’t know about that, but he did seem pretty concerned for me yesterday. Part of me was dreading having to meet this guy and the other part of me was fucking curious as hell. I mean shit, Leighanne said I was fucking dancing with the man. I’ve never danced a fucking dance in my life so if I really was dancing with him then there had to have been something about him I liked. I’m not always a cold-hearted bitch you know. I’d love to find a good man as much as the next girl, I just don’t know that I could find him in a matter of two weeks in form of some short, apparently somewhat girly, city boy.
I didn’t know what to think. I hoped that everyone wouldn’t just expect me to run into this mans arms now that I was awake. He was after all still a fucking stranger. I know that Brian and Leighanne told me that I’d changed a lot over the last couple of weeks, but if I can’t remember those weeks, have I still changed? Or am I just the same old me I’ve always known that would rather fuck the brains out of that rock star looking guy and then still be home in time to get wasted and watch Millionaire? Would I even be able to give this guy a shot? Hell I doubt it matters, knowing my luck, this guy won’t even like me now. With a yawn I rubbed my eyes. “Fuck!” I screamed realizing that one of them was stitched up.
Brian and Leighanne both leapt from their seats and were by my side in an instant. “What is it? What’s wrong? Are you ok?” they chimed in unison. Talk about two people who spend too much fucking time together.
I couldn’t help the smirk on my face as I assured them I was fine. “It’s just my damn eye.” I said, “I’ll be fine, but I think I need a nap. Y’all have worn me out.”
“Yeah well, we can take a hint.” Brian laughed, “We should get going anyway. The guys took Baylee with them to the mall and I can only imagine what kind of things they’ve been teaching him.”
I chuckled and waved as they headed for the door. “Get some rest.” Brian ordered.
“And get better soon so we can go play again!” Leighanne added.
I nodded a silent promise and waved as they left. Once they were out of sight I laughed a little to myself. Those two were something else. I hope they’re friends were just as nice, although I have my doubts about whichever one I punched. I closed my eyes and my thought’s unexpectedly drifted to a dark pair of eyes and a sweet smile. I couldn’t believe it, but when I pictured the man Leighanne confirmed to be Howie, there was a smile on my face. Ok, so he wasn’t exactly my type, he was still kind of cute in his own way.
I tried my hardest to remember something about him, anything at all. The doctor told me that my memory might start to come back in bits and pieces and would most likely start in my dreams. I heard somewhere that a lot of times you dream about the last thing you were thinking of when you fell asleep, so as I drifted off to sleep I tried my hardest to keep myself focused on the man Leighanne referred to as my prince charming. It wasn’t too hard though because I was curious as hell about him. But more than that, I think I was hopeful. I wouldn’t dare say that out loud, but I kind of hoped that he was my prince charming. After all this shit I was going to need a break from my shitty life and God knows I could use a good man.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Hey guys! Thanks for being patient, but I had a crazy weekend and then a nice birthday. 26... Geez I feel like I'm getting old. Then again, I am writing Backstreet Boys fanfiction... haha. Anyway, I was wrong and this didn't end up being the last chapter. There is one more :) and I've already started working on it so hopefully this week I will be able to chalk up another completed story! Oh and I just want to say thanks again for all of your reviews! I've had some wonderful support through this one and it really really means a lot!!! So thank you so much! Enjoy this chapter and get excited for the next cause it's gonna be GREAT! (I hope!) :)
