sleep. One pill had nearly killed twenty-four hours.
“I fucked up real bad with that weird bitch,” he told Paul last night. “I mean, she wanted it, you know, but after . . . she kept saying, ‘no, no, no.’ I could be really fucked.”
“Oh, shit,” Paul almost screamed. “You boned her? You fucked that weird snaggletooth slut?”
Tyler waited for the laughter and cheers to die before repeating the last part of the scene where Miss Snaggletooth curled into a ball and sobbed that she had begged him to stop. The bitch had even used the word rape. I told you to stop , she said. I said no, no, no, no, and you . . . you kept going. You raped me . Her tears had been endless.
“Oh, shit,” Paul said, much quieter this time. It was a tone of complete shock and you’re-totally-fucking-screwed-now despair.
“What should I do?”
Paul was silent.
“I mean, she’s going to tell, right? She’s probably telling her mother right now. She’ll call the cops and . . . aw, fuck.” Tears gathered in his eyes.
“She won’t call the cops, that weirdo bitch is as crazy as her snaggletooth daughter. She does spells and shit. Like a witch. She’ll probably curse you so your balls rot off or something.”
“Be serious.”
“I am. You’ve seen her at those gay Fright Fest things. She really believes that shit. She isn’t putting on a costume and having fun. She’s, like, worshiping her gods or whatever. Seriously, watch your balls. Wash them carefully in the shower, just in case.”
“Fuck you.”
“I’m only trying to cheer you up, Jesus.”
“What if she calls the cops?”
Paul grunted. “Tell her what you told me. She didn’t resist. She let you take her pants off. You fucking fingered her, for God’s sake. She didn’t say stop when you pulled your pants off, right?”
“Right,” Tyler said, but he wasn’t sure when Sash started saying no. He hadn’t heard her until it was over.
“I mean, you’re not some rapist or something. But . . .”
“What?”
“It’s a ‘He Said/She Said’ thing, you know? And they always side with the bitches. It’s fucked up.”
He wanted to vomit, have diarrhea, and pass out’and pas all at once. How could he have been so stupid? He only wanted to suck her breasts and maybe get a hand job. Why had he gone so damn nuts all of a sudden? He had raped her, he could admit that to himself at least, but he hadn’t meant it. Did intention even matter in cases like this? Were the bitches always right?
“I don’t know what I’m gonna do.”
“Take a couple of your mom’s pills and forget about it. At least until morning.”
“I take a couple of those pills I won’t be awake for school on Monday.”
“Even better. She’ll probably spread the story around first period and everyone will know by lunch.”
He hadn’t thought of that. Sasha wasn’t the prettiest girl in school and was even a little odd, but a story of rape, especially involving such a nondescript kid like Tyler, would earn her every girl’s ear. Hell, she’d probably be Miss Popular for the day. Then he’d be in Guidance and then The Office and then the School Resource Officer would get involved. And then he’d be really fucked.
“Don’t worry,” Paul said without enthusiasm. “People won’t listen to her. In fact, she’ll probably keep her snaggletooth mouth shut. If, that is, she knows what’s good for her.”
“What does that mean?”
“You have friends.”
“Like tough guys? You gonna bully some girl into lying about being raped?”
“Jesus, man, don’t say she was raped. She wasn’t . Get that through your head now. You did nothing wrong. Bitch was eager, you said she was wet, and she wanted it, but after she had second thoughts. That’s a ticket on the Too Fucking Bad Train. Don’t worry.”
“Okay.”
“Besides, you wore a rubber, right?”
I’m really fucked .
Tyler had lied about the condom and Paul had reassured him that there was nothing to worry
Mark Tufo, Armand Rosamilia