Page 134 of Wrench
stood with my arms out, half-expecting a hug.
Instead, she sped toward me with fresh tears in her eyes with her fists balled and
began punching my chest. ¡°Your¡ stupid¡ club¡¡± she cried out. I could hardly
understand her through her sobs. Scared by the burst of emotion, I held my palms up and
backed away.
¡°Samantha, calm down!¡± I said. ¡°Please, relax. Breathe and talk to me.¡±
I put my hands on her shoulders and bent my knees, so we made eye contact. Her lips
puffed into a pout, trembling, and she hung her head, continuing to shed tears. The last
time I saw a woman cry was one of the girls I dated for a couple days when she lost her
cell phone and I ditched her at a rock show because of it. With Samantha, though, it hurt
me seeing her so upset and I needed to fix it. Pulling her into my arms, I squeezed her
tightly and pressed my lips to her hair. In the pit of my jacket, she continued to sob. We
stood there for what felt like an hour before she finally pulled away, but I would have
stood there all night if it meant knowing she was okay.
I cupped her cheek with my hand, brushing a tear away with my thumb. ¡°Are you
okay?¡±
She nuzzled into my hand. When she closed her eyes, I felt her long wet lashes against
my palm, and she nodded.
¡°What happened, Samantha?¡± I asked with worry and she raised her stormy blue eyes,
sighing.
¡°Can we sit down?¡± she asked. ¡°In the car? I don¡¯t like being out in the open¡¡±
I could tell she was flustered, so I nodded without question and we sat in her car. A
whiff of artificial vanilla from the yellow tree dangling from the rearview mirror hit my
nose and I smiled. ¡°I always liked that smell.¡±
¡°Me, too,¡± she said, rubbing her eyes with her hands. ¡°So, today at the clinic¡¡±
In horror, I listened as my beautiful, darling, innocent, harmless girl shook and wept,
telling about the Freeways impersonating the Rebels. Pulling her in my arms once she
was finished, I stroked her hair, letting her take her time to lift her head. Once she did,
she was frowning.
¡°Is this what you do?¡± she asked quietly, looking at me fearfully.
