Chapter 1

John walked toward his apartment late the night it all started. He had been working late at the computer lab again It seemed sometimes that he lived in the lab and only visited his apartment. He sighed as he thought about his senior project. It was almost complete. A few more tests and it would be ready to submit. The one remaining obstacle to his graduation was, in effect, done. He smiled as he thought about the job offers he had already received. All of the hard work had paid off.

Sometimes John regretted that he had been so much of a nerd. The past three years had included zero time for a social life. He had been driven to get through school and to work as fast as possible. And he had done it in three years, a five year program done in three. He smiled as he reflected and was more than a little proud of what he had done. Now there were so many things he wanted to accomplish.

His thoughts were shattered as this car sped past him. When it was in the middle of the block it stopped abruptly and one guy got out of the passenger side and pulled this female out behind him She was screaming, “You bunch of mother fuckers ... you rotten bunch of cock suckers ... I don’t ever want to see any of you again. I’m not a whore ... I’m not ... I’m not...” And she sort of slowly dropped to her knees in the middle of the dark street. As John approached he could hear her crying ... racking sobs that touched him.

The guy got back in the car then John heard several loud drunken voices from the car, “Thanks for the great fuck baby.” “We all enjoyed your cunt ... and your mouth and your asshole baby”. “See ya around cunt!” and the car sped off in a screech or tires. A second later they stopped the car and threw a suitcase out the window as they burned rubber again.

John watched the car lights disappear before he looked back at the girl. She sat in a heap, like dirty laundry, in the middle of the dark empty street. He heard no sounds now but he could see her body shaking convulsively.

Now everyone will tell you, John was a good guy, kind to people and animals. He quietly walked over to her and said softly, “Excuse me ... you OK?” Considering what he had just observed it wasn’t one of John’s best questions.

She turned abruptly and the look she gave John was a mixture of rage and fear. If looks could have killed, John would have been gone, wasted. Yet John also saw the fear and he said gently, “I’m not one of them ... I won’t hurt you. How can I help you Miss.” She continued to look at him but slowly the anger disappeared and was replaced by fatigue. Physical and emotional fatigue. Then she just shrunk back into her dirty laundry pile, her head on the pavement, and cried softly.

John sat down in the middle of the street beside her. He just sat there for ten or fifteen minutes while she continued to cry. Eventually her sobs began to fade slowly. She raised her head and looked at John again saying. “Who are you? What do you want?”

He smiled at her shyly and said, “I am John Minor and I don’t want anything ... I thought maybe I could help...”

“Why?” she blurted out, “you just want to fuck me too, just like those four assholes?”

“No.” John said, so softly she barely heard him.

She looked into his eyes and saw that John had tears welled up in them. She was shocked, “What the hell did he care?” she thought to herself. But she said, “What do you want from me? Why do you want to help me?” Her sarcasm was thick.

“I don’t want anything from you Miss. And you do look like you could use a little help ... from a friend.”

She looked at him with disbelief and then she started crying again, sobbing, “I don’t have any friends.”

John surprised them both then when he said, “Well you do now. And I think we need to get out of the street before a truck comes by and makes road kill out of both of us.” The anger seemed to fade just a little, replaced with a brief smile as she appreciated his attempt at humor. John stood up and held out his hand to her. Slowly, tentatively she relaxed and her small hand moved to meet his.

When she was on her feet still hanging on to his hand he said, “You know you are a mess. You could use a shower and a change of clothes. Can I help you get home?” They both looked her over ... her torn blouse, her skirt, her hair and even her face had a dried white substance almost everywhere. John thought, “Man those bastards shot off all over her.”

“I am a mess.” she replied looking sad again. “But I can’t go home ... my Stepdad just kicked me out. He caught me in my bedroom after school with Billy, again, you can guess what we were doing. Then later tonight my Stepdad told me I was no longer part of the family and to get out. I didn’t know what to do so I went looking for Billy. Well I found him and his three buddies. You can guess what happened after that.”

“Well if you won’t think I’m trying to take advantage of you you’re welcome to come to my place and clean up. You can get some sleep and then decide what to do next. Do you have any other close relatives anywhere near?”

She looked at him as if trying to decide and then said, “Sue ... I’m Sue Parker. No no relatives. And I don’t seem to have many choices do I?”

John walked over and picked up her bag and looked back at her to see if she was going to follow. She did and they walked slowly, silently. John’s apartment was nice. A large two bedroom place that was well outfitted. John’s primary expenses were school and his apartment. He liked being comfortable and his job as a instructor afforded him that much. It was also close and in minutes the two of them stepped inside and John flipped the light switch.

Sue looked around and blinked as her eyes got accustomed to the light. She said, “Nice place John.”

“Thanks, the shower is through there,” and he nodded toward a hallway. She took her bag and smiled a tiny smile as she walked in the direction he had indicated.

All of a sudden John was starved. He moved into the kitchen as he heard the shower start. By the time he heard the shower stop he had a huge platter of bacon scrambled eggs, toast and coffee ready. He called, “Come on, lets eat Sue. There is a robe hanging on the door.”