The Witness

Chapter 10

The man who owned this bar obviously never thought about cleaning up the women's rest room. They didn't allow women in this joint anyway, so it puzzled me that they had a female washroom for little girls like myself. Then I figured that they had to have some employees with ovaries instead of cajones. Hey, something's got to attract a male crowd.

I pushed up the sleeves of my sweater and started washing my hands, then taking the cold water and splashing it over my face. I couldn't get over how much of an ass Andy really could be; he left me in a hot car for an hour! If I were a newborn baby, he'd probably be arrested! I have never ever met a man who had been so careless: drinking away in the afternoon and gambling away his money. Thinking now though, I feel as though a bit like a hypocrite, but I didn't care. Andy made me a promise, then he fucked it up. Well, what more should I expect out of a lanky-barkeep-cowboy who takes a leak in his boss' scotch?

The girl looking back at me in the mirror looked disheveled, tired, and weak. Her white blonde hair was frazzled and knotted, longing for a long hot shower and a hair brush. The girl's eyes were red and a little bit dark underneath her eyelashes, and her clothes and shoes were collecting dirt and dust from her long travel. In layman's terms; I looked like a hot mess. I hoped that through all of Ricky's renovations, he still had running hot water and a comfortable room I could use for the night.

I could imagine poor Christi up in New York with Aunt Daisy, waiting for me to come along and join them. She was probably worried sick; I could see her now, sitting by the window and staring out into the abyss of the unknown, wondering: 'Where is she?', 'Is she coming?', 'Is she alive?'. I was so so far, telling for how much longer was still undetermined.

I made a little promise to her: if I got out of this alive, I would join one of those alcoholics anonymous programs, get straight, and go to school. Because getting drunk on the weekends was not worth this whole fucked up mess.

The door opened behind me, but I just kept splashing water on my face to cool myself down. When I looked up in the mirror, I was shocked to see Ray behind me. I shut off the tap and looked at him through the reflective glass; he had a hungry look in his eye, his jaw was clenched tight, I could hear his harsh breathing. Something told me he wasn't lost.

"I think you got the wrong bathroom, there are no urinals here," I said.

"No, I think I have the right one," he replied. I looped my bag over my shoulder and tried to push passed him, but he grabbed me and threw me into a bathroom stall. I tried shutting the stall door but he was too fast, he pulled the door open and slammed me against the wall. He was strong, he kept he still with both of his legs around mine, I could feel his member poking up through his jeans.

I freed one of my hands and tried beating him away. He was stronger, and bigger, and brooding. He grabbed both of my hands and held them over my head with one arm, then tried to get my shorts off with the other. I kicked up my knee and rammed it into his crotch. Ray groaned and buckled down, grabbing between his legs and letting my hands down. I pushed him away and tried going for the door again; but no avail.

Ray yanked on my hair and threw me to the floor. Then he turned me onto my stomach and I felt him sit on top of me. I was terrified, my body felt really cold and shrill as I felt his hands grab my body. I tried to scream out, but my throat wouldn't make a sound, only cry and struggle while Ray tried to control me.

But suddenly, his heavy weight was pulled off me, and I was able to breathe freely again. I sat up and shuffled into the corner of the stall, finding Ray and Andy going at each other. Andy pulled Ray down on all fours, and he started kicking his stomach over and over again. I pulled my knees into my chest, helpless but to watch at Andy gave Ray the worst beating of his life. He slammed the stall door on Ray's head several times, blood was started to drip and sputter from the sides of his head. When he was done, Andy let Ray catch his breath and ran over to me, pulling me onto my feet.