The Battle for Reegan

Chapter 2

“Come on, slowpoke!” Andy hollered as they were bounding off the front porch. Reegan was nothing if not late. Always. It was a joke the whole gang made at her, time and time again, and it only made her laugh more every time. Andy’s eyes danced when she laughed. Reegan was his whole world since their parents had died and, the whole world be darned, he would never think of leaving her out of anything. There were no such things as “boy’s night” because she was always there.

Once everyone was in the car, they were off. They had planned to hang out at the park for a while, which was their custom on Saturdays when nothing else had to be done, and then they were going to go to the movies. At the park, they had pulled the Mustang up onto the grass by their favorite picnic table, and the five of them bailed out. Jesse and Reegan first because he was driving, and she was in the passenger seat. Next out were Andy, Carter, and Oliver. They sprawled out in their usual fashion and talked about everything and nothing, all at the same time.

They couldn’t have been there more than a half hour when the red Chevy Nova pulled alongside them. It was Tim Crawford and three of his worst best friends. They were trouble everywhere they went, every time they were together. Jesse knew it, just like they all did, and he wondered why they were stopping here now. Andy, all smiles, as usual, sauntered up to the driver’s side door and leaned against the open window. “Tim, it’s been a long time, man. How are ya?”

Tim hit him with the door as he opened it, and suddenly, all four of them were out of the vehicle. None of them looked happy, and even Andy’s smile – which was always there – had faded. He didn’t seem to know anymore what was going on than the rest of the crew. He just backed away, but Tim and the others kept advancing on him. “Whoa, dude,” Andy said, stopping finally and throwing his hands up, “What’s this all about? We ain’t got no beef with you.”

Tim stepped close enough to Andy to have felt his breath. “Yeah, well, that just shows how out of the loop y’all are with everything around here. It’s a shame, dude, and y’all talk like you’re all that.” He spoke quietly but had his hands on his hips and his boys on either side of him.

Knowing Tim’s background and the way he loved violence, Jesse and the rest of Andy’s crew took defensive positions. Jesse stepped in front of Reegan. He was Andy’s best friend and the one in charge of keeping her safe, above all and at all costs. Oliver and Carter flanked Andy, and had it been any other group of guys, they might have been intimidated by their size. But not Tim’s bunch. They were crazy. They’d take any chance and didn’t care what the outcome was. It was like they weren’t even afraid to die, but then Jesse wondered if they even thought they could be killed. They probably didn’t, which made them even more dangerous, but that wasn’t what he was thinking about.

Now that they were standing in front of one another, Jesse cussed under his breath when he saw it. They were outnumbered. Tim had one more guy since Jesse had to stand guard over Reegan, and it would give him just the edge he needed over Andy. Tim knew that Andy wouldn’t allow anyone to leave her unattended for fear that she might get hurt herself, and there was no wondering how fast he’d jump on that. Even though he knew it wouldn’t do any good, Jesse quickly turned to Reegan. “Sweetheart, I want you to get back in the car.” He had told her with certainty and demand, but that Reegan-attitude was in full effect, as usual.

She shook her head and planted her hands on her hips. “No way,” she said defiantly. “They better not start anything, Jesse, I swear, or I’ll…”

It was then that Jesse heard the first punch get thrown behind his back. Whether it was the sound or the look on Reegan’s face that gave it away first, he didn’t know. It all happened so fast once it started that he’d never really been able to put it all together. Not even for the cops afterward. But whatever clued him in, he spun around fast, even though he knew there was nothing he could do but keep Reegan out of harm’s way. With horror, knowing no good could come from Tim in a situation like this, he watched the whole thing go down all within twenty feet of him.

Carter and Oliver did what they could. Each of them had a guy on their backs as fast as you could blink an eye, but it was Tim plus that last buddy that got hold of Andy. Tim landed blow after blow, and if it looked like Andy had shaken off enough to get a blow back on Tim, Tim’s buddy would jump in and keep him down. Jesse couldn’t make out what was going on, especially with Reegan screaming and crying, and shouting. He heard Tim shouting something about Andy, causing him to lose his girl. Apparently, according to Tim, Andy had told this girl something that had caused her to break up with him, and he was none too happy about it.

Reegan was doing everything she could to get away from Jesse. She wanted to throw herself into the mix and save Andy because, however crazy it was in reality, she actually thought she could do something to help. Jesse had finally taken hold of her from behind, holding her around her arms and her entire body. He’d lifted her off the ground as she was screaming and cussing him and landing kicks on his shins that he was sure would break them eventually. But suddenly, she went slack in his arms, and his eyes finally saw what hers did…

They had beaten Andy black and blue and bloody and had him on his knees. Tim’s buddies were still fighting Carter and Oliver, who weren’t fairing much better, and Tim’s right-hand man was behind Andy, with a handful of Andy’s hair, holding his head upright as Tim talked down to him. Andy was too beat up to throw any more punches or even to stand up, and Tim was talking fast before he regained his composure. “If you think we let stuff like that slide, Masters, you’re crazier than I thought!” Tim was screaming down at him.

Jesse had sat Reegan back down now that she had stopped fighting him, and they both watched and wondered what was going to happen next. They both knew it wasn’t going to be good, but neither expected the flash of light in Tim’s hand as it flashed and flickered with stealth movement in front of Andy’s throat.

Suddenly, everything was still, and for a moment, no one really knew what happened. Seconds of dead silence was shattered as Reegan began to scream as if someone was killing her. But it wasn’t Reegan that was dying. Jesse looked at Andy, who had grasped his throat with both hands, with a look on his face that Jesse had never seen before. Blood spurted from Andy’s mouth and poured down his chin as he tried to speak, and that’s when the blood started spraying through his fingers. He had leaned back to try to get up on his feet but fell backward instead, and as he threw one hand back to catch himself, the slit across his throat gaped open, and he fell over. Jesse had never seen that much blood before in his life.

Jesse had nearly lost all the feeling in his arms and legs, and darkness threatened the sides of his vision. It was all that he do to not collapse as he saw Reegan jerk loose and fall, again and again, on her way to Andy. He reached out for her, but it looked as if there were miles between the end of his arm and Reegan herself, as she fell to her knees and closed her own tiny hands across Andy’s throat. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Jesse could hear himself saying, over and over again, It’s no use, Ree, his carotids have both been cut. There’s nothing you can do to help him now.

But all he could do, for the longest time, was to stare. When he finally shook himself out of the daze he was in and forced himself not to pass out, he was right there beside Reegan. He’d taken his shirt off and pressed it tightly against Andy’s throat, but it soaked up the blood like a sponge. Reegan’s screams were piercing his ears. “Help us! Somebody, please, help us!” she screamed once, twice, a million times.

Jesse was looking right into Andy’s eyes as Andy kept shaking his head. He had hold of Jesse’s arms, but his grip was getting looser by the second. Finally, Andy summoned up what Jesse saw to be the last of his strength, grabbed Reegan’s shirt collar, and pulled her down, close to his face. Reagan became so quiet as she stared into Andy’s psychotically desperate eyes, and Jesse saw him mouth the words, I love you, three or four times. He used every ounce of strength he had left to make sure she knew that he loved her.

As Andy’s eyes began to flicker shut, Reegan snapped out of the trance of staring into them and began to scream again. “Andy! Andy, don’t you go! Please! PLEASE, ANDY!” She flung herself across his chest as the puddle of blood beneath them was growing. She slipped her arms under his head and pulled him up into her lap. “You can’t die, Andy!” she kept on screaming. “You can’t leave me! You can’t leave me alone, Andy, PLEASE!” There was no end to her begging and pleading, and Jesse felt his heart shattering inside his chest. For her and for Andy and for himself. He’d lost track of where everyone else in the whole world was. Oliver and Carter could have been dead, and he really didn’t know whether they were or not. The thing that burned forever into his memory and into his heart was watching Reegan hold Andy while he took his last few ragged, desperate attempts at breath. It was seeing Andy and Reegan both covered in his blood. It was seeing Reegan’s burgundy hair slathered with her brother’s life’s blood as she begged him not to leave her. It was having the strangest feeling that Andy was dying a doubly painful death, both physically and mentally, knowing that he was hurting the one he’d vowed to protect against pain.

He knew that, at some point, his brain had simply stopped sending him messages. He figured he had passed out, though no one said one way or the other. But it was as if a portion of his memory was chopped out and simply thrown away. He couldn’t remember actually seeing Andy die. He couldn’t remember seeing anyone take care of Reegan or knowing where she went. He only actually came to himself as the ambulance was driving away. He had been put in the passenger seat of the Mustang, and Carter was driving. He remembered wondering where Oliver and Reegan and Andy were. That’s when he began to realize and remember that Andy was gone. But where was Reegan?

When he came to himself enough to know what was going on, he very nearly tore the dashboard off demanding to know where Reegan was. Carter had to stop the car and literally grab him by the throat to get him to listen. “Jesse!” Carter was yelling, “Stop it and listen to me! Okay?! Just listen!” Once Jesse was no longer combative or loud, Carter went on. “Oliver has Reegan, remember? You couldn’t get her off of Andy, and the ambulance drivers had to sedate her. Jesse, you were right there, man. Remember?”

Jesse’s gaze was drifting back, trying to remember, but he couldn’t even force himself to. He would later remember Reegan sliding her hands and arms up through the sleeves of Andy’s t-shirt, between that shirt and his chest, and locking them there so that no one could separate the two of them, but that memory wouldn’t come for many days. He would remember the paramedics telling her that Andy was dead, that he was gone, and she had to let go. He would remember that she’d bitten one of them, tearing out a chunk of flesh, but it would be a long time before he did. He would remember far more than he ever wanted to, as a matter of fact.

“Don’t worry about Reegan right now, man,” Carter was telling him. “She’s gonna be okay, she’s a tough kid.” He was starting to drive again, and Jesse slouched back into his seat, thinking about her and what she must be going through. Maybe it was at that point that he truly fell in love with her.

The funeral day finally came, and he made his way through all the people so that he could be by Reegan’s side. She sat stone-faced and stockstill on the front row of chairs, staring at the casket where she could see Andy’s face. No matter what he said or how he tried to divert her attention, she never once looked away. He waved his hand in front of her eyes, and it was as if she could see through them. He had to admit that it scared him that she never cried, never let a single tear fall. Not even when the preacher talked about what a travesty it was for Andy to die so soon after his own parents, and at such a young age, in such a brutal way. She didn’t cry as all the people walked past, weeping themselves – for her – saying how sorry they were, and she didn’t cry when they rolled Andy out and loaded him into the hearse. She didn’t cry as she stood and watched them lower the casket into the ground, nor did she let a single tear fall as she turned and walked away.

There was a large gathering of people at Andy and Reegan’s house by the time they got there. As was common for Southern families, they had put together more food than anyone would ever be able to eat and gathered to reminisce and talk about the “good times.” They were also talking about where Reegan was going to go and who was going to ‘have to take her,’ and Jesse had simply had enough. He informed them all that she was going to stay with him. He told everyone that Andy had made him swear to take care of her, and he would do it with the last breath in his body if need be. It seemed like a good idea, they said, especially since Reegan was seventeen anyway, and almost an adult.

They asked Reegan if that’s what she wanted, and her only reply was to fall into Jesse’s arms. She’d finally taken all she could stand to take, and instead of breaking down, her mind simply shut down, and she passed out. As he carried her to her own room in Andy’s home, for the last time, he finally let himself grieve for the both of them. He laid her in her bed, slid down the wall onto the floor, and cried until there wasn’t enough water left in his body for tears. And he wondered how in the world any of them would make it without Andy.

He’d spent the rest of that night, after everyone but their own crew left, packing up her things. The next morning, they left without any real conversation and went to his house. He had thought that someone had given her something that allowed her to make it through the funeral without breaking down, some sort of nerve pill or something, but over the course of the next few days, he realized that wasn’t the case at all. For days on end, she didn’t speak. She barely moved and refused to eat. Nothing Jesse did helped with any of it, and he was so scared for her that he hardly knew what to do.

Every day, he kept expecting social services to come through the door with some kind of paperwork for him or something to create a legal bond for him to have custody of her, but that day never came. It was as if the whole world had just forgotten that she existed, and that broke his heart even more. He was just glad she was there. One day, some weeks later, she had gotten up, gotten dressed, and came out of her room with Andy’s oversized backpack and one of his old corduroy jackets. She walked up to him and leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. “Where are you goin’, sweetheart?” he asked her with a smile. He was just happy to see that she was coming back around.

She smiled a feeble, weak smile and stared into his eyes for a moment before answering. “I’ll be back in a little bit,” she said. He nodded and watched her walk out the door, figuring she was going to Andy’s grave. That was the last time he saw her for about two weeks.

If he had actually gotten something that said he had custody of her, he would have called the police. But he didn’t. He called on everyone he knew, who searched high and low to no avail, but he was afraid to call the police. He just knew he’d be charged with something since she was underage and his responsibility. He spent those couple of weeks absolutely losing his mind, and he’d been up and down every street he knew of looking for her, he’d waited at Andy’s house, which had been sold already, he did everything he could think to do, and never could find her.

He was sitting at home late one evening when the doorknob rattled. He bounded to the door and sure enough, there she stood, stoned out of her mind, smelling like a cross between a moonshine still, and something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. She had that pack across her shoulder, she let it fall to the floor, and she quickly followed suit, crumpling like a wilted flower. He got down on the floor with her as she wailed and screamed and kicked the wall and pulled her own hair. His tears mixed with hers as he tried, unsuccessfully, to soothe her in some way. He didn’t know if it was the alcohol or drugs or grief or if she’d simply lost her mind out there somewhere. Maybe someone had abused her.

Then it occurred to him that she’d never cried. Not since Andy had died that day in her arms. Not since they had drugged her and dragged her off of him. The scenes from that day flitted at the edges of his memory, but her rage and fit of grief kept him from getting the whole picture just then. He held her tight as she continued to scream and wail and cry and kick. He kept shushing her and telling her everything was going to be okay. But all he could do, at last, was cry with her.

Finally, her screams took on words. “Why won’t it stop?!” she screamed, kicking the wall with every word. “Why can’t I get it out of my head?! Why do I still smell the blood?! Why won’t he shut his eyes?!” And then, one long scream that sucked the last breath from her lungs, but then she took another deep breath and screamed again. He held her tight against his chest where she pressed her mouth and screamed again, over and over, and he couldn’t imagine what she must be feeling. His heart shattered with hers as he realized she’d been out there trying to shove the memory out of her mind with anything she could, and still, it hadn’t worked. God, if he could only do something real for her!

He held her, cried with her, and stroked her hair as her screams got less frequent and her kicking began to fade and weaken. Finally, she was reduced to deep sobs that racked her body and caused her to start a coughing fit that eventually led to her throwing up all over both of them. Whether it was from the drugs or the fit, he had no way of knowing for sure. He carried her to the shower and promptly got in with her, both of them clothed and turned it on and let it wash away what it could. Even with the water as cold as ice, within just a few moments, she collapsed in his arms and passed out cold.