Loose Change~ Montgomery De La Cruz / Zach Dempsey/Scott Reed

Chapter 14

Montgomery gripped the steering wheel as he began their drive, trying his best not stay calm.

"Why were you in the car with him?"

"I got in a fight, Monty."

He frowned, "A fight? The fuck? With who?"

"Marisa."

"Andy's girlfriend?" She nodded. "What the fuck, O? Do I have to go beat his ass now? What did she say to you?"

Ophelia debated whether or not to tell him what she said. "She was being mean to you."

Montgomery asked, "The fuck does this have to do with you being with Dempsey?"

"He broke it up" she explained to him, hoping he would understand. "I had to leave before getting in trouble."

Montgomery took a moments to process things in his head. "A physical fight? Did she hit you?"

Shyly, Ophelia nodded. She saw Montgomery's face turn from angry, to completely enraged. She said quickly, "But I slapped her first."

"I...." Montgomery didn't finish. He took deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. "What the fuck did she do to you, O?"

She could tell he was trying to control his rage.

"Nothing you have to worry about. It was stupid. She said....she said that I should break up with her. And I thought it was rude, so I slapped her. And she slapped me back."

Now, Montgomery was completely silent.

"It's not like I chose to go with Zach over you. He was just there when you weren't."

Montgomery flinched at her words, and it didn't get unnoticed to him that she had called me "Zach".

Montgomery didn't speak to Ophelia the rest of the way home. She spoke to him, but he didn't respond to her. She tried better to explain what happened. The fight, how the girl had said Montgomery wasn't good enough for her, and how she made sure to prove that she was wrong.

But hearing that only made things worse for him.

Montgomery still refused to talk to her. He just dropped her off, kissed her and left.

He couldn't say anything to her. He knew if he did he wouldn't be to keep himself from yelling at her. And he knew she didn't deserve it. It wasn't her fault.

Because Ophelia didn't know that just the other day Zachary told him that he was better for Ophelia, and then he scooped her out of school like a hero. He couldn't admit that it broke his heart, or that it made him want to cry. Montgomery didn't cry, though, not if he could help it. Not unless he was drunk.

No, he didn't cry. He just yelled. And hit people. And when he got home that day, he took a baseball bat, went out into his yard, and hammered that bat into a large oak tree until his palms and fingers were blistered and he couldn't do it anymore.

The next morning, Montgomery continued to be silent after picking Ophelia up for school.

"What happened to yours hand?" she asked, noticing the red blotchiness.

"Nothin" he brushed off.

Ophelia reaches over and took his hand, examining it. "Monty...what did you do?" She was scared and worried for her boyfriend.

"It's just from baseball practice" he said. He pulled his hand back harshly. The car in front of him did a sharp stop at a stop sign, causing him to hit the brakes due to his fast speed. Ophelia jolted in her seat.