Page 97 of Dirty Roulette
My mouth waters and everything sinks in my stomach. “Can you call Noah and ask if he’s seen her?”
He licks his lips with an annoyed eye roll. “Look, man...”
“Please... I don’t knowwhere she is.”
“Okay, hold on.” He disappears into the dim house. Cool air floods out of the door as I stand there with pain hurting like hell traveling in all directions in my body.
The guy comes back, his phone in his hand. He unlocks the screen door, stepping out. Noah’s name is on the cellphone. “Here...” The guy hands it over and leans against the brick wall with arms crossed.
“Hey...” I swallow hard.
“What’s going on?” Noah asks on the other end.
“I dunno where Charlie is.”
He is quiet on the other end, the sound of his breath inhales in the speaker. “I haven’t heard from her since last night. She dumped me, something about me not being the right fit for her. She called me half a dozen times last night, but right now I don’t want to talk to her. I need some space.”
“Did you see her after the concert? Anything?”
“No, she came with her asshole ex-boyfriend. Why would she come see me?”
At this point, I think my stomach is bleeding. It hurts so bad. “Brody... umm.” My tongue is an unnecessary accessory that can’t do its damn job.
“What?”
“He raped her last night. She screamed she wanted you and she jumped out of my Jeep. I should have just gone after her, but...”
“You’re a shitty brother?” He snaps, and I go limp, and it’s like he hammered nails into my wrists.
“Fuck you, man. Clearly, you were a shitty-ass boyfriend.”
“I haven’t seen her... I dunno what you want me to say. I gotta go...”
“If you hear from her, can you please let me know?” I ask, regret eating at my flesh like I’m a dead carcass and maggots are burrowing holes through every inch of me.
“Yeah... I’ll let her know to reach out.” The phone call ends. His friend presses his lips into a fine line of bitterness, and it rubs off on me the wrong way. I hand over the phone, and he slips it into the back pocket of his skinny jeans.
“Sorry about your sister, dude,” he says, his eyes staring down at the gravel and weeds decorating the front yard. “I’m sure she’ll turn up. Have you tried calling the hospital? There were paramedics at the concert. Quite a few people passed out and that one dude got the shit beat out of him.”
I throw up my palms showcasing my knuckles. “I know.”
“Whoa...” he says, blinking at the bruises like it’s some sort of surprise. “Man...”
“That’s the dude who raped her...”
“Yeah... call the hospital... she’s probably there.” He steps back into the house.
“Thanks,” I say as he closes the door and I walk down the concrete, staring at the weeds peeking out of the cracks.
I slip back into the car. Jared’s hands on the wheel.
“Any luck?” he asks.
“No. I’m gonna call the hospital.” I scroll through my phone, looking at the numbers until I find the correct one. They put me on hold for several long minutes to speak to a representative. The worst type of music plays on the line as I wait. The time on the screen turns from three minutes to fifteen easily.
“Sorry for the wait. Can I help you?” A lady finally answers.
“I’m looking for my sister. I dunno if she checked in there.”
