Wake Up Call

I can't promise this story is a happy one, nor that it will have a good ending. I can, however, promise it's one that you have never heard. Although it's possible that you are better off that way. It's not too late to turn back. Not too late for you to set the book down and step away, because beyond this point you will not walk away the same.

Veronica is from the small town of Redding, California. She had the ideal upbringing, her parents were everything they should have been. Both were doctors and had the same expectation for their children, Veronica, Victoria, and Vincent. Veronica never quite reached those standards, always making sure her siblings did.

On one hand, her brother, Vince knew what she sacrificed by helping them but he'd had a much softer relationship than that of his older siblings. Veronica never made it easy to understand her; though he suspected that's all she really wanted.

Her sister Victoria, on the other hand, never took note of this, she believed all her success had to be her own. As far as she was concerned, Veronica made her own bed; now she could lay in it. To Victoria, it seemed Vee was always more interested in the opposite sex than her studies. The whole school already thought her a whore, and Victoria knew that. It was almost as if Veronica paid no mind to the reputation she brought on all of them with her behavior.

***

"Veronica Black! Do NOT walk away when I'm talking to you! Do you hear me? You take one step closer to that door, and you are grounded!"

Vee rolled her eyes, snapped the gum in her mouth, and grabbed the leather strap to her purse. She swung the door wide and strode out. At the end of the drive set a shiny, black motorcycle. Aaron smiled his douche-bag smirk at Mr. Black.

"Later pops. Don't worry, Bring her back early this time, promise." Aaron teased, flicking the end of his rollie into the lawn.

Veronica didn't buy into Aaron's bad boy routine. He was a corny little poser, but it did the job to piss off her pearl-clutching parents. She tossed her leg over the bike, suppressing a cringe as hot metal singed the bare of her legs. Neighbors glared as they spun out, running through the grass across the street. Pulling down a lesser road, and off into the sticks, Veronica mm'd and awed as Aaron told her about all his recent accomplishments. His tiny pot-dealing business made him feel like a "real gangster". She wouldn't argue. If for the sake of her lack of energy to do so, or for the fact that she enjoyed the reaction of her strung-up parents, either way, she remained silent. She accepted his mumbling as white-noise, laid her head on his back, and let the rest fade-out, her gaze tuned off into the sky. The buzz of the engine soothed her. She had so little energy anymore, just drained by life, bored of her current predicament. The change of ground under the bike woke her from her castle in the sky.

***

Dirt flung about as Aaron skidded up to the tin-box house, he chuckled to himself. He was so proud of his little show in front of Vee's house. He kicked up the bike stand and grabbed Vee by the hand. He pulled her into the den of the aluminum cave. He looked her over, hungrily. His eyes felt evaluating, appraising. Like fresh-cut meat, he studied her frame. She ignored his eyes and the unending scrutiny, thoroughly uninterested in the things they had to offer.

"Ay Vee, baby, Nikki, girl, Nica..." Aarons thoughts finally broke the surface.

Vee snipped "What?" her patience ran low, as it so often had those days.

"Girl, you know how much I love you." As Aaron continued, Vee stared at him blankly, void of the implied mutual emotion, "So I have a plan. I need ya help." Vee readjusted her attention to her nails, this obviously wasn't that important. "So, can you do that for me?"

"Do what, now?" She glanced back up at him momentarily.

"I said," he repeated, impatience on his breath, "Escort. We gonna make money, girl." Veronica could feel the confusion twist in her face. He must have misread that because he continued "Don't worry, you get paid too," he tapped her nose as if he had settled all her insignificant concerns, "I mean, not as much as me, but there's a lot of fees you payin'. See what I'm sayin? Protection, business plans, clientles"

It took a moment for her to process what he said, but when she finally regained her composure, her patience had deteriorated completely. "Clientele." she only managed these words, her blood starting to boil.

"What?"

"It's clientele, you stupid mother fucker" she got up snatching her purse, ready to leave.

"Where you think you goin'?" he planted his hand in the middle of her chest knocking her back onto the dusty sofa. "We ain't done talkin" he towered over her, face in a scowl. The cloud of dust that plumed from the sofa choked Vee. His gangly arms folded, his meager muscles pressed out by his hands. Watching him look at her made her sick. The bulldog look of his snarl only worked to piss her off more, she was done here. No, they were done here, the mild entertainment she got from him wasn't worth this.

"You stupid ass, pathetic mother fucker" she growled, coiling her body like a cat watching it's prey. "You dare lay a hand on me?" she pushed herself off the couch slowly. Aaron faltered back a step, never having seen Vee as any more than a complacent rich kid. "This is done. We are done, and If you dare to ever so much as look at me again... I will serve you your fucking balls in a Cool Whip jar. You got that?" She jabs her finger into his chest, disgust evident on her face. The creak of the door tore her attention away from the scene…

***

A disoriented wave rushed over Veronica, the nausea returned, only this time it was real vomit that had threatened to spill out. She reached for the ache on her head, but her arms didn't seem to respond to the effort. There was undecipherable mumbling somewhere in the background. Her head spins, and throbs as she tried to focus, the coppery taste of blood is evident on her tongue. Reality began to fade back through her searing headache.

"Fuck that! The bitch wants to leave me? Naw… I say when it's done." Aaron raved, pacing back and forth.

"I'ont know man." a low voice hesitated. Vee struggled to concentrate, trying to decode the voice. It was familiar. "This just seems like more trouble than it's worth," Vee strained, the pieces were all there but she failed to place the voice "I mean think about this. Pretty little rich girl, last seen with you goes missing? How's it gonna look" The voice trailed off.

"Shut up! Just give me a second to think. " The blurry image of Aaron's boots passed in front of her. "There is a unit out in Willow just off the highway… I'm gonna need a few things.."

"Come on man.." The voice pushed.

"You're either with me or against me and you don't want to be against me." His footsteps pounded closer to the door simultaneous to the other set unsteady fumble backward.

Muffled words were exchanged before the door croaked and slammed. Boots thudded their way back toward Vee, a rough hand cupped her chin as she winced. His face faded into view.

"Don't you fucking touch me!" Vee fumed, writhing against her restraints. She spit venom with her words.

"You didn't mean that." A sickly smile infected his expression "Did you, Nica?" He looked at Veronica expectant of compliance that he knew he wouldn't receive.

"Do you feel big, Aaron? Do you feel like a real hard-core thug? Hitting a woman. Real scary... You fucking pussy! You prick, ass, cunt mother fucker!" She shook furiously through her words, betraying her own fear.

"Ah ah ah" Aaron chided stuffing a dingy black ball of fabric in her mouth "See that mouth is what got you here in the first place." he grinned through gritted teeth and sent a crushing kick to Vee's ribs. Blood swelled in her mouth. Her makeup was smudged and blood matted her hair to her temple. Veronica was in pain, but alive. Her senses are wired. Never having felt the chaos of this brand of energy. She felt like an animal cornered in, and ready to fight her way out...

Writhing, she mumbled incoherently into the gag. Aaron lowered himself once again accompanied by a switchblade he spun against the tip of his finger. "Let's try this again, shall we?" He pulled the gag from her mouth.

"You stupid mother fucker." she laughed, "Fight me. What do you have to lose" she continues to laugh entirely amused by herself. "fight me. What? Afraid you'll lose to a bitch with broken ribs and a concussion?"

"Fight you? You already lost." he tapped the side of the blade indelicately against her face "But I do gotta say it's an awful shame" his eyes traveled south with the tip of the blade. The blade halted at her throat, although his eyes had other plans. He leaned down grabbing Veronica's head up by her hair, and kissed the side of her mouth, whispering, "Then again… Maybe it doesn't have to be..."

Veronica held back the vomit that threatened her, coiling all her energy, and strength. He traced the blade lower, popping a button on her shirt pulling the edge up towards himself. She glared intently, slowly filling her lungs with air. Vee watched every strand of the thread give way to the force of the knife. In one swift motion, she shoves her hands against the dual edge of the blade forcing it through the end of the thread and up into his face, driving him backward.

Aaron hit the brass of the bar behind him, shock and pain stunning him for vital seconds. Before he could even register the trickle that blurred his vision, Vee wretched the knife from his forehead. The haze of adrenaline broke with screams. Vee wrestled Aaron to the floor, pounding the knife through his flailing arms. She used all her strength to beat her bound fists, knife still in hand, into his face, more out of pure rage rather than out of fear. It wasn't until about 10 seconds after his body went limp and he stopped fighting back that she realized he was gone. Her fists were bloody and so were her clothes. Realization broke like daylight as she surveyed the room. The sirens already rung in her ears. Vee wedged the knife between the binds on her wrists taking some effort to release them. She reached into Aaron's pocket working out the keys to his bike and his wallet. She took everything that wasn't an ID. Vee dropped the blood-soaked fold of leather on his chest, and leaned in real close, a gurgle emitting from his barely recognizable mouth, she took his hair in her hand and whispered in his ear "Was it good for you, too, baby?" Vee planted a crimson-stained kiss on the side of his mouth, and slashed the blade across his throat, blood spilled out in a fine mist.