Chapter Sixteen
Adam and Melody lay wrapped in each other’s arms on the sticky leather couch, eyes clinched shut, and lips moist. That night Adam did the worst thing he could do to Melody or even Sam. And she didn't even tell Adam to stop.
The next morning, Melody’s skin stinks with guilt. She sits up, holding the sheets to the bed they had moved to last night close to her chest.
“What have I done? What have I done to me… and Sam… oh Sam…” she thinks to herself as Adam moans and wakes up beside her.
He snakes his arms around her waist, kissing her bare back as Melody’s eyes begin to tear. She slides away from him, her skin squirming at his touch. “You were wrong. I hate you and me,” she says, dryly.
His lips leave a hot trail on her neck. “No you don’t. You love you and me.”
Melody becomes over whelmed with rage; the blood coursing through her veins fuels the burning fire in her stomach. “This is all you wanted from me, isn't it?”
Adam works his way around to the front of her face, his lips slowly making bitter contact with hers; she feels nothing. She stares at the pile of clothing that was thrown upon the floor last night, lifeless and empty.
Adam grabs her chin, bringing her face to face with him. “What is it?” he asks, trying to sound as sympathetic as possible.
Melody slides out from under the black sheets, tears sliding down her cheek. “You didn't answer my question so I guess this is all you wanted, right?”
He remains silent, his eyes roaming around her, making her skin tingle and crawl. Melody shoves her feet into her jeans, yanking her t-shirt over her head, refusing to make eye contact with Adam as she stomps out of the room and to the front door.
He runs after her, grabbing her wrist, yanking on her arm. “You can’t leave.”
She pulls her hand away from him, her fingers reaching out to grasp the silver door knob. “Yes, I can.”
Adam’s fingers dig into her shoulders as he pulls her back, spinning her around to face him. He raises his fist, his eyes the same cold stone color they had been that one night not so long ago, but tonight there’s a crack in the stone, something within him trying to hold him back. He shakes his head, clenching his jaw before sending his fist smashing into her jaw. Melody’s feet slip on the tiles, almost crashing to the floor before Adam grabs a fist full of hair, pulling her across floor and over to the glass case, throwing her in it.
“Feel free to watch Sam,” Adam sneers.
The door of the glass case makes a horrible screeching sound as he slams it shut. Her mind floats easily off to the subject of Sam.
……………………………………………
Sam sits over his bible in his bedroom, resting his head in his hands as his shoulders shake. Melody’s arms ach to hold him close and tell him how very sorry she is and that he should find someone else that could love him the way that he needs to be loved, with the respect he disserves.
Sam’s head jerks up as he jumps from his bed, walking to the front door.
Melody stands up in the glass case; something wrong is going to happen.
“No. Sam!” she screams, even though she knows he can’t hear her.
Adam pushes his way into Sam’s flat, wringing his hands around Sam’s neck.
“SAM!” Melody’s voice screeches as her heart picks up pace.
Adam throws Sam up against the wall, yelling something at him that she can’t hear.
Melody prays aloud, crying, “Dear God, please, please! Don’t let Adam do anything to Sam! PLEASE! I love Sam! I do. Please!”
She paces into the glass floor, her fists tremble at her side. “Adam keeps taking stuff from Sam and me. I do not love Adam. I love Sam. I just hope that he can forgive me,” She thinks to herself.
Melody stares at the glass incasing her, becoming more and more enraged with the fact someone is trying to injure Sam. Tears burn down her cheeks as she rams her side into the glass, barely scratching it. Her voice shakes as she screams and prays all in the same breath while she runs into the glass again; this time it shatters into a million broken pieces across the tiled floor. Melody’s adrenalin pumps as she lifts herself from the pile of glass, her feet and arms bleed as she bounces on her toes, reaching out for the door handles, pulling it open. A gust of wind, cold and hard, whips around her, tugging at her soul as it takes her back to Sam.
Once her feet come back into view she recognizes the warm carpeting of Sam’s living room, her muscles relax just the slightest. Someone is shouting down the hall, breaking her relaxation. She runs through his apartment, pushing each door open as she runs past them, yelling for Sam. Her feet skid to a halt in front of the bathroom door, listening to the shouting voices on the other side.
“I didn't mean to!” Adam shouts.
“Why did you take her from me? You didn't need to bring her into this! Just because you lost someone you loved doesn’t mean you have to take someone I love to even the score,” Sam cries.
“Yes I do!” *thud*
Melody counts out three thuds before pushing the bathroom door open. The two young men are throwing wild punches at each other, ignoring her presence. Adam pins Sam to the floor, his fist rising and falling as he pounds it against Sam’s jaw. Melody grabs a dark green hair brush from the counter, a few of Sam’s shaggy hairs are tangled around the teeth and fall out of the brush as she smashes it across the back of Adam’s head. His hand goes to his head, nursing the throbbing pain, as Sam pushes himself from the floor, grabbing Melody’s arm as he runs out of the apartment.
His feet pound down the cement stairs to the parking garage, pulling Melody along behind him. Sam riffles through the left pocket of his jeans for his keys as the run up to the side of his car. He jiggles the key into the lock; it makes a popping sound right before he and Melody jump in. He locks the doors as Melody slides into the seat.
Sam stares across the dashboard at the grey concrete slab in front of them, refusing to look at Melody; his knuckles go white as he squeezes the steering wheel. He refuses to look at Melody, making her wonder if Adam told him about last night. Sam takes a deep breath and turns the key in the ignition, the car makes a few coughing noises before starting. Melody stares out the passenger window, watching the street names “Times street” and “Rose road” fly by them. Sam pulls the station wagon into the parking lot of a rundown park; its swing set and jungle gym are rusting under the wet piles of red and yellow leaves.
“This is where it happened,” Sam says as he kills the engine, staring down the slope of a hill that sits in front of us.
Melody notices a few patches of grass that have managed to break free of the multicolored blanket of fall, along with a rusted bench that sits between the leafless oak trees. She rests her head against the window, cold under her cheek, moving her eyes just enough to look at him.
“Where what happened?” she asks, though she isn’t fully paying attention.
Sam runs a hand across his face, his eyes not wanting to look at Melody just yet, but she’s the only one that he can tell. “Where Jet and I stopped being friends… well I guess you call him Adam now. This is where he almost killed me,” he forces his eyes to flick over to Melody, her body curled against the window only a few feet away from him, though it feels like she is just a small speck in the distance. “I had just told him that I was there the day his mom died; I was what she ran into. I was fine, just a few scrapes and bruises. I didn't kill her, she had a bad heart and the impact killed her. I told him about it right there,” he points over at the small pergola, “and that’s when he first tried to kill me.”
Melody looks at him as if the words he is saying are in some other langue. “Sam, what are you talking about?”
He takes in a quivering breath as he pulls the neck of his white t-shirt down far enough to show the silver scars. They stretch down the side of his neck, like someone had drug needles down his skin. Melody has seen them before, but she hasn’t had the nerve to ask whe
re he got them.
Sam laughs, fixing his collar. “We were best friends. I didn't even remember the fight until a couple days ago,” he licks his lips, making strenuous eye contact with her, “That’s when I realized that he was using you to get back at me.”
Melody sits foreword, sprawling her fingers across the dashboard. “I… I don’t know what to say…”
Sam nods, looking down at his lap. “He told me about last night. I didn't know if he was just trying to piss me off or if it really did happen last night. Did it?”
Melody squeezes her eyes shut, trying to keep the tears in as she nods.
Sam looks out the window to his left, trying to let it sink in. “And you didn’t say no?” he asks, his voice shaking.
Her lips quiver as she nods again. A tear, hot and full of heartbreak, rolls down Sam’s cheek; he knows he should be furious, he knows he should be throwing in the towel and walking away with his dignity, but he can’t. He knows this isn’t like her, and that she is just as scared and confused as he is.
Melody reaches out a hand to comfort him but slowly brings it back, knowing that he doesn’t want to be touched by her ever again. Her fingers fumble for the small metal knob that shows that the door is locked, clawing at it to unlock the door. She lets out a frustrated grunt and shakes the door, crying.
Sam’s hand grabs her arm, pulling her into a trembling hug. His heart pounds rapidly against his chest as he kisses her forehead. Melody lays her head on his chest, which rises and falls rapidly under her.
“I still love you,” Sam whispers.
The words pierce through Melody like a knife, cutting her open until she is bleeding out everything that Jet has ever done to her; completely removing him from her DNA.
She sits up, cupping Sam’s face in her hands and kissing him, with pure love, not infatuation.
His cheeks become soaked with tears; Melody’s fingers shake as they brush his hair away from his forehead. “I love you, Sam. I never want to leave you again. I can’t even begin to say how sorry I am and… I love you… love you…” Melody whispers before pressing her lips against his; she can feel his smile slowly spreading across his mouth.