About Leaving and a Comeback

Annette blushed. "There's a dance-party Saturday. Would you like to come with me?"

"As in a date? You know I have the motor skills of a broomstick, right? So why would you go dancing with me?"

"Because you are a nice guy and you never started hitting on me like the others I went dancing with." Annette replied with a red face.

"You mean, I'm safe. Alright, I'm going with you. What do I wear without embarrassing you too much?"

Annette was now beet red. Robert had seen right through her. She stammered, "But...but...you are a nice guy. And the only decent one I know."

"Yeah. I love you too. That's why I'm going," Robert said, still with a little smile on his face.

Annette hugged him and gave him a peck on his cheek and said, "Just be yourself. You can't embarrass me."

====

Two days before their date Anne found Robert just sitting behind his laptop looking at it. She asked, "What's the matter Robert?"

Robert replied with not a little despair in his voice, "Nette asked me on a date Saturday. I wanted to rent a car, but that is next to impossible. Either I have to be 25, or the rate is way above my budget."

He still didn't have one, hesitating to buy because of the costs and since his bike served him well enough...most of the time. At the university, he was generally seen as a bit strange and most students avoided him, so he had no social life; this would be his first-ever time out, making it a nice change from his usual routine.

Anne smiled, happy that Anette finally found a nice level-headed boy to go out with. She learned that she could rely on Robert and that he would see her safely home. She gently replied, "Why don't you take ours? We don't need it this weekend."

"Can I?" Robert asked, relieved.

"Yes. I'll talk to Gus about it."

For the occasion he bought a nice pair of jeans and a short-sleeved shirt; thus dressed, he waited for Annette, looking up from his laptop when heard her entering the living room. He was almost speechless. Annette dressed herself to show to her maximum advantage, a short clinging dress to outline her boobs and bottom. Her legs were clad in stockings, ending way down below in high heels barely suitable for an evening of dancing.

Robert stuttered, "You look beautiful. If I want to dance with you, I'll have to fight my way past every man at the party."

Annette laughed a very happy laugh. "You like my outfit?"

"Very much so! Now let's go." He smiled and extended an elbow. Smiling back at him, she hooked her hand through.

When they arrived at the party, there was no parking space nearby so Robert told Annette, "I'll drop you off. I'll park the car and will meet you at the party."

He got out of the car, opened the door and handed Annette her coat, and then went to find a place to park. It took a while but 20 minutes later he was at the party looking for his date. Annette was nowhere to be found.

Having no luck, he finally walked to the bar and asked for a ginger ale and observed the dancing crowd. He tried to start a conversation with the girl next to him and she turned her back to him. When he tried the man on his other side, he got the same treatment. Robert was stunned; he wasn't being ignored, he was being avoided. He thought out loud, "What did I do to deserve this treatment?"

With no answer forthcoming, Robert began to feel aggravated.

The evening was winding down to an end, with only about an hour left when Robert finally spotted Annette. He walked over but as he approached her, he was shouldered aside by a man who said, "Oh no you don't. You better get back in line and wait your turn. That is, if there will be a turn for you." He said it with a smirk on his face while being backed up by two other men.

Annette didn't seem to notice him at all and was still dancing with abandon, so Robert decided not to force the issue, but underneath he was furious. Only decency prevented him from going home alone and leaving Annette on her own.

When the party was at its end, Robert had already picked up the car and was waiting for Annette to appear. She stumbled out of the door, looking disheveled and followed by the three men. He jumped out of the car and got to her just before her legs gave out. He said to the men, "Thank you, I'll take it from here." Robert helped Annette in the car and handed her a plastic container with the words, "If you need to puke, do it in there! Otherwise, you're cleaning the car tomorrow."

Annette slurred, "Can't a girl have an evening fun?"

Robert retorted, "Not when I have to clean up the mess afterwards."

Once they got home, Robert lifted her out of the car and brought her inside. All the time Annette was giggling and she tried to kiss him. Robert said crossly that he didn't kiss drunk women and put her on her bed, taking her shoes off and covering her with a blanket. Annette immediately started to snore.

Robert went to the kitchen to find a bucket, wanting to put it beside the bed but while he was doing so, Annette suddenly started heaving and her stomach contents splattered over her pillow, headboard, sheets and her dress. The stench immediately permeated the room.

Robert gagged when he returned but shrugged it off and lifted Annette, who was once again out like a light again, into the shower. Annette had soiled herself to her underwear so he was forced to undress her and sat her on a chair under a tepid shower. That woke her up a bit and she looked at him but she didn't register what was going on. When Robert rinsed her, he dried her and gave her a clean t-shirt, one of his own.

All the while, he was having trouble keeping his lust under control. What a woman! he thought but he only did what was needed, being careful not to take advantage of the situation. When done, he lifted her into his bed and started cleaning the mess. He was almost done when he had to start again; Annette had a knack of missing the bucket each time she had to empty her stomach.

After two hours on the couch, Robert woke up and saw light in the main house. He gathered all the soiled sheets, his t-shirts, and Annette's clothes into two big garbage bags and went over. Anne looked curiously at the bags.

Robert said with a wry smile, "The day after the party for someone."

Anne asked angrily, "Why didn't you prevent it? You were with her."

Robert had enough, being dead on his feet after a long night and an emotional evening. He snapped and snarled, "Your daughter disappeared while I was parking the car; she didn't even have the decency to wait till I was back. When I finally found her, it was already much too late. I nursed her through the night, but now you can have a go. I'm going to try to get some sleep because in three hours, your twins will need my attention."

Very angrily he walked back to his home and was almost there when Anne overtook him. She panted and gasped, "Please Robert. Stop. I'm sorry. I should have known that that was going to happen. You're not to blame. Can we talk please? The twins can skip a session."

"Mrs. Kendrick, I'm tired, and pissed off is an understatement. And, NO! I promised the twins an afternoon on the bikes. So that's going to happen. Now I'm going to get some rest."

Robert walked inside leaving a distraught Anne behind.

====

When Robert's alarm woke him, he felt as if he'd hardly had his eyes closed. He grunted when he stepped out of bed. He looked to see if Annette was still sleeping. She wasn't, but she wasn't there either. He bit back a curse.

The whole house smelled foul. In the shower stall he found the reason, the last sheets coated in stomach contents. Gagging, he filled another garbage bag and cleaned the shower stall before he finally stood under the steaming hot water. When done, he went to see the twins and dump the bag.

Robert went into the kitchen where Annette, still having a greenish pallor, was nursing a cup of tea as her mother sat on the opposite side of the table. Annette wanted to say something but Robert completely ignored her and said curtly to Anne, "Another bag of filth. Found it in our shower and had to clean all of it before I was able to shower. Where do you want it?"

Annette croaked, "I'm sorry."

Robert bitched back, "Yeah. Me too." And to Anne, he added, "Where are the twins?"

Anne was taken aback, having never experienced Robert like this. She asked, "Are you still angry?"

"You have no idea!"

The twins saved the day, or at least the rest of the afternoon. They came tumbling into the kitchen excitedly calling, "Robert! Robert, are we really going to the woods? The bikes are at the back. Did you forget yours?"

Robert's mood lifted immediately. He answered with a genuine smile on his face, fatigue forgotten, "No, I had something to deliver. You go to the little house, but be careful! I'll be there in a minute."

Lydia ran off, quickly followed by Thom. Robert wanted to walk away when Anne, again, tried to stop him and to talk, but he just walked past and dumped the bag in the utility kitchen.

Annette watched him go and was close to tears. It was obvious to her that she'd ruined his evening, his night, and his lovely attitude towards her. She could only hope that the damage to their relationship could somehow, someday, be repaired.

====

The atmosphere was cold for a long time in the little house. Because he'd promised, Robert still helped Annette with her assignments, but his friendly attitude toward her was gone. Cool, polite and resigned. No jokes, no warm praise, and no compliments were forthcoming from him.

Robert heard a knock on the door as he was finishing the last touches on his novel, a young-adult science-fiction story of almost five hundred pages. He already had two novellas published in a magazine and the publisher was interested in his novel. He looked up to see Anne standing there.

She asked, "Can we have a talk? Please?"

"Of course. Do you have a moment? I just have to finish this and send it off to the publisher."

"Publisher?"

"My guilty pleasure; I unwind by writing stories. This one got out of hand and is now a novel but the publisher's interested. There, done. I'm all yours now."

Anne hesitated a bit. "I don't know how to begin."

"Anne, please. The last half year you became more of a family to me than my real family in the eighteen years before. Just say it. I won't bite."

Anne looked at Robert, startled by his declaration, never thinking that Robert felt so strongly about her family. She said, "Well thank you. That makes me very happy. When I tell Gus he will be over the moon. He is very fond of you, you know. But now I know how to start. Does that include Annette too? Especially after what happened?"

Anna saw Robert struggling to form an answer and said gently, "Robert, what you just said is mutual. You've always been honest with us. Don't stop now. I know she hurt you terribly with that dumb action of hers."

Robert swallowed and softly started his reply. "This is between us two. I absolutely don't want anything I say, here and now, to leave this room. Can you promise me that?"

Anne took a good look at the now very anxious boy and thought, This is going to be bad news. I've never seen him so tense. On the other hand, he is going to confide in me, so he trusts me. I can't break his trust. He never told us why he is here. Only that, what he called his former life was harsh. Can I not promise? Anne came to a decision and said, "Yes, I promise. I won't tell anyone including Gus."

Robert's face was flushed when he started to talk. "I don't see Annette as family."

Anne looked at him with a shocked look on her face, but Robert held up his hand to stop her and went on. "I love her. Actually, I am in love with her. From the moment she started talking to me on the train."

Anne nodded, understanding. "Annette tells me that you're giving her the cold shoulder; are you still mad at her?"

"No. I'm not mad anymore. It's difficult. I'm not not mad, too. I don't know. I'm confused. She sees me more like a nice cousin or something like that. That hurts a bit, too. So, I kept more distance than she was used to, just to give her and me some space. I still do everything to help her though. On the other hand, she never properly apologized except at the table that morning and I still don't know if that was because she puked all over or because of her attitude the night before."

"Can I ask you another personal question?"

"Now that I've decided to trust you? Try me."

"I'm under the impression that you, I would almost say, hate your family. Is that correct and what is the reason?"

Robert stood and asked, "Will you tell why Annette has issues if I tell you why I hate my family?"

"I promise. That is a short story so..."

Robert walked into his sleeping room and came back with a stack of slim books. He said, "These are my diaries. I have kept a diary since I was eleven. Pick three and read them."

Anne was flabbergasted. "You want me to read your diary?" she asked, incredulous at his offer.

"Yes," Robert said. "How else can I prove my anger? And unlike my confession earlier on, you can have Gus read it too. Now, about Annette?"

"That's quite simple. Annette's biological father has bipolar disorder and whenever things became difficult, he snapped. In his case he went and started to look for a fight. Annette has it, too, though in a much lighter form. When she gets under too much pressure, she becomes more or less self-destructive. Hence the drinking, like that evening at the dance party. My ex-husband was much, much worse. In the end I had to divorce him because he became dangerous to Annette. We tried to help Annette with counseling but that helps only so much. Then you came into her life and she became much more grounded and more balanced. You really have a calming influence on her."

Anne took a deep breath and looked Robert straight in his eyes. "Now I have one last question."

Robert just looked back into her eyes and said, "Why do I get the impression that I am not going to like this one bit"

Anne cleared her throat and said softly, "There is another dance party this weekend. She really wants to go and she's afraid to ask you but she wants to make amends."

"Sorry, I'm not going to any dance parties anymore. I want to bring her; I want to pick her up if necessary but I'm not going in there."

"Will you do that? Really? Ohh. That lifts a weight off my shoulders."

====

That Saturday, Robert stood next to the car waiting for Annette. When she came out of the door, she looked stunning again. He said, "Your chariot awaits, princess."

Annette looked a little frustrated but she smiled timidly at Robert. She was well aware that she never had the courage to properly apologize to Robert. She looked at the ground and whispered, "Thank you, Prince Robert."

When they arrived at the party, Robert opened the door and held his hand out to help Annette out of the car. She looked at Robert with a tear in her eye and asked, "Are you sure that you are not coming in?"

"Yes, Nette. I'm very sure. I have nothing there and would only be bored. Call me when you want me to pick you up, otherwise I'll be here at 1am. Have fun." His reply was gentle and he gave her a peck on her cheek before getting back in the car and driving home.

On returning to his room, Robert concluded that he didn't have any more obligations that weekend.

Study, done.

Assignments, done.

No tutoring so he was free to do as he wanted.

He opened his laptop and thought, time to start putting my ideas for a new story on paper. Nah, not paper exactly. Time to digitize my idea for a new story would be a better fit. He got himself a bottle of water and some snacks and sat down behind his desk. Fifteen minutes later he was mistreating his keyboard, oblivious to the rest of the world.

Just after midnight he looked up. He had been working non-stop and didn't even take time to switch the lights on. Not sure what disturbed him, he sat very still and listened. There! It was at the front door. He opened his door a crack and waited. The front door opened and he saw some men hauling a very unstable Annette inside. He recognized them as the same ones hanging around her at the last party.

One man said, "Now that that wimp isn't interfering, we're going to have so much fun with this little slut."

The other man got out his phone and started filming. The first man was talking again while he uncapped a small vial and said to Annette, "Here drink this. We want you to be docile and willing, don't we?"

Not knowing what to do, he waited a few minutes until he heard Annette protesting weakly. Robert dialed the emergency number on the phone and told the operator that the two guys were trying to rape his drugged housemate. He took out the baseball bat the twins had given him and softly stepped out of his room.

What he saw in Annette's room made him almost vomit. They had Annette on her knees and the one who forced her to drink the contents of the vial had his pants down and was trying to enter her from behind. It wasn't going well enough because Annette was still struggling and the man was swearing vehemently.

Robert slammed the bat down on the wrist of the man filming the rancid scene. The phone flew from his hand, bounced against the wall, and slid under the bed. Then Robert rammed the bat into the side of the man behind Annette. When the man stepped back, he whacked the man's knee and he collapsed. The other man's hand hung limp and before he could react Robert's bat hit him across his face.

Suddenly he heard something behind him and he felt a searing pain in his side. Shit, he thought, there were three of them. How could I have missed that one. Robert swung the bat backward in the hope that the man would let go of whatever he'd stabbed him with.

He hit something and indeed the man let go of the knife. Robert turned toward him and tried to hit him again, but only partially succeeded, leading the third man to cry out to his accomplices, "Let's get out before he wakes someone up and they call the Police!"

Together the three of them stumbled to their car and they took off with tires squealing.

Robert heard the sirens in the distance. He wanted to check on Annette but suddenly he became dizzy and black flecks started to dance in his vision. Slipping to his knees, he collapsed, falling face down.

As the darkness took him, he thought, Well that's it. My life was like a child's shirt. Too short and dirty.

====

Anne woke to the sound of the sirens and the flashing blue lights. She looked out of her bedroom window and cried, "Gus, wake up. It's at the little house. Something happened over there."

In their dressing gowns, they ran over only to be stopped by a Police officer. Gus asked in one breath, "What happened? Is our daughter all right?"

The officer gently replied, "You can't go inside, yet. Your daughter isn't wounded, but someone tried to rape her. The boy, however, is in bad shape. He has been stabbed. We called an ambulance and one of my colleagues is trying to stem the blood flow. He is losing blood fast."

"Oh my God. The young man, dark hair, slender build, long legs?" Anne anxiously asked.

"Yes. Do you know him?"

"We do. That's her housemate. He would have picked her up at the dance party when it was over. What on earth has happened?"

"That's something we would like to know as well. But your daughter is not approachable. It seems she has taken, or given some drugs and the boy is unconscious. The premises are now closed for investigation."

The wail of another siren came through the night. The officer looked up and said, "Finally. There are the medics."

Half an hour later, Annette was helped carefully in the back of the patrol car together with her mother and Robert was wheeled out, face down, into the ambulance. Holding a bag of blood plasma up high, the medic said to Gus, "It's a nasty serrated knife and can only be removed by a surgeon. Are you coming with us?"