Chapter 13: Bailey's Hangover

My head throbbed and my mouth felt like it was stuffed with rotted cotton. I think I might have eaten a pillow in my sleep. The sun was streaming in and I couldn’t keep covering myself in covers to block the sun because I was hot and stuffy. I was a chicken nugget under a heat lamp with a pounding vice on my head.

“Honey, it’s a beautiful day, come have breakfast, or lunch really,” Mom had come in and raised the blinds.

Oh jeez, they were down before, now it was really bright. I moaned a complaint and curled up.

“Come on, get up now, even your brother is up. Don’t go turning into a sour teen on me now, baby,” she teased and muzzed my head.

I fussed and I wanted to slap her away, but breakfast did sound good. I forced myself up to her delight and went to wash up in the bathroom. Christ I looked like death warmed over. I stared at the zombie looking back at me and drank two glasses of water from the spit cup. It was gross but so was that thing in the mirror. I washed up, feeling a little better, threw on some sweat pants and a t-shirt. My legs and pits were still practically shaven from last night’s preparations. Oh jeez, last night. What was I doing?

Breakfast was cold, but at least it was food. Pancakes and cinnamon butter with a fried egg sat okay in my belly and had me starting to feel a little more human. Brian came and took empty my plate, “We need to talk,” he whispered.

“Fine,” I whispered, “but what-”

He shook his head, “Not here.” I let him drag me outside, he told mom we were going to the park together. She smiled real big offered to make us sandwiches, but I reminded her that we just ate. She came and gave us both big hugs. I don’t know why she was being so clingy, but it just made me feel crappy.

We walked out into the light, I winced and Brian sneezed. I smiled, those light eyes always get him. We didn’t go too far, just up over a little hill that sloped down to the back of the convenience store. I wasn’t nice grass, more like knee high weeds, but we sat anyway. I looked up at him with a smile, we were alone together again, and this time it felt really nice.

“Bailey,” he shook his head, “I don’t know where to start. Maybe I do. Yeah, okay. What the fuck were you doing there last night?”

“Well, it’s a party.”

“No, I mean how the hell did you know anything about that party? I thought maybe Robby brought you, but everyone was telling me that I brought you,” his voice was getting more frantic and urgent, and I didn’t like his tone.

“Maybe I should ask you what you were doing there, Bry.”

“Just fuckin’, don’t play around Bailey, this is fucking serious. How the fuck did you know about the party? Who told you?” He was getting really riled up and it was starting to scare me. I couldn’t tell him that I figured out his password, then he’d really hate me for it.

“I- nobody. I found out. I- saw it on your phone,” I lied. It was messenger and that was on his phone, so it was plausible. “Brian, are you mad at me?”

He plopped down next to me and leaned on his knees. “Jesus, this is a nightmare. You really shouldn’t have been there, you could have really fucked things up bad, Bails.”

“Well,” I said leaning against him, “It all worked out okay.” I knew how I could get him to not be mad at me. I nuzzled up to him and hugged his bony arm entangling it with my own. It might be nice to make up and make out like lovers to. He was my lover, after last night, for sure.

“In what universe is this okay?”

I giggled, “Well last night you seemed pretty okay with me. Seems to me that you liked me being there.” I turned towards him in a decidedly un-sisterly way.

He noticed and grabbed my shoulders pushing me back, “Holy fuck, Bailey, are you broken?”

Ouch, that stung. But it was fine though, I was fine, I was okay, I wasn’t broken. God, what kind of thing was that to say? My head throbbed and I looked away and just said, “I’m not broken.”

“Last night was,” he shook his head, “Last night - that was a nightmare, I didn’t have a choice. The boss was cracking jokes about Robby the n-word making me a cuck. Then I get back there are you’re stoned and slutting it up with him. They all thought you were my girlfriend, so if I didn’t either beat the fuck out of Robby or make you out to be some giant nympho slut, I would have been fucked. Boss doesn’t take pussies in his crew.”

“Oh, you didn’t have a choice, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, bullshit, don’t act like this is some sort of trauma for you. Oh poor me, I had to have hot mind blowing sex, boo hoo.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you? With this...”

“You are, you dumb shit! You’re the reason for everything. You know what? Maybe I am a big dumb slut. But if I am, it’s your fault. Those were your sex drugs I got fucked up on. You’re the one that fucked me.”

He stared at me in shock. My heart was breaking, my voice was quivering. My heart pounded in my chest, “Or maybe I’m in love with you, Brian.”

He turned away.

“And don’t tell me you don’t feel it too.”

“Holy jesus, this is so wrong. That, that first night, I never should have let you in my room. I was trying to be nice, but you were really upset, then you threw yourself at me. What was I supposed to do? I was trying to be a good brother.”

“Nothing, everything, I don’t know.”

“I couldn’t kick you out, I had-”

“No choice, I get it, like when you had no choice but to play with my boobs when you thought I was sleeping?”

“Hey, woah, I.”

“Ahum, I know about that, how you played with my body while you thought I was drugged up, then you pulled out your cock and you came all over me just like all the girls in the porn you watch on your computer. Don’t think I don’t know who you really are Brian.”

Somehow in the exchange we’d gotten up and our voices raised. He didn’t reply and the silence hit me hard.

He spoke slow and low, “Robby knows I fucked my sister. That is not a good thing for me.”

“Yeah? And what about me? You have no idea what I have done for you. Did you know that a teacher found your stash?”

He looked at me in shock.

“Yeah, my teacher found your party favors, idiot. Nice hiding place, by the way. School locker, Brian? Really?” He didn’t need to know the truth exactly.

“Oh shhhh-”

“Yeah, Brian, oh shit is right, but don’t worry because I took care of it. Now he won’t ever say anything.”

“What, how?”

“How do you think? I let him fuck me. I couldn’t let him hurt you, so I let him fuck me. Ask me why I was there, I earned my way there, I deserve to be there. And before you call me a slut,” I wiped the tears off and sniffled, but kept going, “it was not a nice fun time. He choked me, Brian. He choked me so hard I thought I was going to die, but I took it and I got your drugs back and I never asked for a thing. Not one goddamn thing.”

“Jesus, you fucked Robby and me, you fucked a teacher, anyone else you fucked?”

I felt the heat flush into my face, such horrible wretched anger and hatred. “At least I’m not a lowlife drug dealer,” I spat back at him.

“Bailey, you’re out of control, you need to stay away from Robby and anyone else I work with.”

“If you hate your little whore of a sister, fine cause I hate you too!”

“Bailey,” his creepy skeletal hand tried to touch my shoulder but I yanked away, with hot tears welling up in my eyes.

“Go away, I fucking hate you! I hate you, I hate you!”

The owner of the shopkeeper came out and looked up the hill at us to see what the hell was going on. I guess my yelling had gotten out of hand. I didn’t care. I stormed off with weeds whipping at my sweats and he didn’t follow me. Why would he? He didn’t love me. Nobody did. I was alone.

My head throbbed but I didn’t have time for a headache. I grabbed my purse and my backpack. I was done here. I needed to get out. I could make Mr. Wainwright take me in. All it would take was an implied threat and he’d be more than willing to have his very own little teen fuck toy. But he’d probably actually kill me while we did it. Maybe that’d be best, I thought with a macabre chill. I looked at the zombie with puffy eyes that I’d become. “Better off dead.”

No, think clearly. Mr. W can barely afford himself. I need money to get out of here. I smiled. Mr. F has money. I bet he’d pay big to fuck me. I bet I could get a thousand dollars. Maybe more if I told him I was a virgin. But no one would believe that after Robby and Brian ruined me last night. No, I needed to do better. I needed to be Milady De Winter.

I needed a plan. I knew what I wanted, the question was exactly how to get it.

Mr. F. was the first one to get a phone call. “Hello, dear girl, it is so good to hear from you.”

“Mr. Fitzpatrick, I wanted to talk to you about business.”

“Business you say, how lovely.”

“Well, you taught me a lot about renting and uhm ... I thought maybe I could sell something?”

“I’m listening, what did you have in mind.”

“I thought, I mean, what if you could be, or I mean you know, you could have it.”

“The whole kit and caboodle, as it were?”

“Yeah.”

“Well that’s worth triple my dear. One thousand.”

“No. I want triple that.”

He laughed, “You are getting shrewder by the day, but no, dear, that is too much.”

“But, this is special.”

His chuckling died down, “Oh, tell me is your pussy magical?”

I whispered, “I’m a virgin.”

Silence on the line. My heart thumped. Three thousand would go a lot further than one.

“That is special ... Oh you are a delight. Triple it is my dear girl.”

“Tuesday night, in the warehouse?”

“Hmm ... I would love to see you tangled up in my bed. Wouldn’t you much rather like to be in soft pillows, girl?”

“Too dangerous. We can’t be seen together.”

I could hear him smiling through the phone, “Too true. You are a wise one, little girl. Tuesday at 9-”

“Six o’clock, I need to ... be back home on time for curfew.”

He chuckled again, “I look forward to it.” I hung up the phone. That should leave a good record for the police. I powered off my phone.

Next up, I had to write a letter. Time was speeding by fast, but the next conversation had to be in person. I left the house and got on the bus to head to the trailer park. I had plenty of time waiting for the bus to write the letter. I sealed it before the bus got me there. This was the most important part. I knocked on trailer door. Of course he was home.

“Bailey, what are you doing here? You can’t-”

“Please, Mr Wainwright, I need your help. I mean I really need your help.”

He frantically looked around, then beckoned me in. Once inside he started, “Ms. Marsh, I don’t know what you think I can do-”

“I’m in trouble. My brother’s in trouble too. You know that the drugs you found were in my brother’s locker, right.”

“Yes, I checked after...”

I smiled, “After we had sex?”

He cleared his throat, “yes well...”

“It’s okay to say, Mr. Wainwright, I don’t regret it, and I haven’t told anyone, and I won’t either. But I need to save Brian, so I need you to do something.”

“Well sure, anything to help a student.”

“I need you to take the bottle from Brian’s locker and put it in Robert Webb’s locker.”

“What? Bailey, I don’t think that’s - well I couldn’t possibly-”

“Robby is the muscle for the drug dealers who are working out of the school. If we get him out, maybe I can get Brian clear of them.”

“Robby, are you sure?”

“I saw it myself, Robby is definitely working with them.”

“Still, I think maybe we’d better turn this over to the police.”

“You can’t tell the police! I don’t want you in danger.” He didn’t seem convinced, so I played my other card, “I mean if the police start asking me questions, I don’t know what will slip out...”

“I see.”

“So, you’ll do it?”

“I don’t have a choice do I?”

“Of course you do, Mr. Wainwright, but you gotta do it tomorrow. And I promise, I am trying to keep you and my brother safe. Trust me. I just need to talk to the boss, and if I can work it out, everything will be just fine by Tuesday.”

“You’re going to talk to the boss? Bailey, you can’t do that. Promise me you will not do that!”

I smiled at him sadly, “He’s my brother, I have to try.”

“But ... let me, who is the boss?”

I shook my head. “You’re sweet. Too sweet. Goodbye Mister Wainwright.”

My next stop was an address I’d been to once before. It was a pain in the ass getting there without turning my phone on, and there wasn’t much daylight left, but this wouldn’t take long. I knocked on the door. The joker’s girlfriend answered, “Hey honey, what are you doing here?”