Margarette (Violet) by Johi Jenkins, K LeMaire Read Free Book Online Page A

reflection.
    “Margarette, are you okay?”
    “I must ask,” she begins as if dazed, pausing for
dramatic interest. “Did you kiss me when I was asleep?”
    “No,” he says sharply.
    Margarette’s image shatters in the mirror, but she
can’t see his eyes so she knows it is okay. She continues in a different tone.
“Why did you take me?”
    “I don’t know. You were alone. I didn’t want to
leave you there.”
    “Where did you find me?”
    “You don’t remember?”
    “Tell me again.”
    “You were sleeping in a backroom.”
    “Why would you pull me out of a room?”
    “You weren’t really alone… and you had
passed out. I found you with two guys, but I know you didn’t know they were
there.”
    Some of the story comes back to her.
    “Uh huh….” Her anger flares. “Two of them…. Who?”
    “I didn’t get a good look at them. I just kicked
their asses. The one I punched was a big dude. Got him good, too. My knuckles
hurt.”
    “The least of my concerns is you or them. Filthy
animals.”
    “Don’t lop me in with them. I saved you.”
    “Thanks. Is that what you want?” She is seriously
pissed.
    “I guess. Why are you angry with me?”
    “What do you think you deserve from me? Huh? You
are exactly like them.”
    “No…. Totally not. I’m just….”
    “All alike with innocent flesh and sex,” she says,
nearly hissing like a cat.
    “How innocent are you?” Tommy asks. He doesn’t
know he is crossing a line. As far as lines go he had stepped on an exposed
power line.
    “What the hell do you mean? I don’t lead girls
into dark rooms, for one.”
    “You have the wrong idea,” Tommy says, almost
angrily, fighting to recover. “I was defending your honor. I didn’t even kiss
you.” His point is technically true, but somewhat misleading. “I heard someone
at the party talking about you passing out. I went to find you and found them
first.”
    “Oh, you intervened and what, now you’re my hero?
Thanks for being human. For keeping people from committing…. This disgusts me.”
    “Why were you in there to begin with? Why were you
alone?” He stops her cold.
    Margarette’s head drops, sad and furious at the
same time. “Because I have no fricking friends, okay? I thought I did, but I
know no one. No one I can trust or respect on this earth.”
    “I’m sorry.”
    She starts crying. “I hate this place. I think
anywhere would be better than here.”
    “Look…. Nothing happened. I don’t think they did
anything.”
    “I know that,” she says. “ Lord I know that,
but it happened to take something from me. I feel…. Forgive me for being
vulnerable, for feeling empty and betrayed in front of you. At this point I don’t
even care what you think of me. I’ve embarrassed myself completely…. I want to
go home. All I want is for all of this to end.”
    “Look… you’re lucky nothing happened.”
    “Lucky?”
    “You are…. Lucky that I found you.” His head rocks
forward and he smiles at her.
    Her voice turns placating. “Sure. I’m lucky. You
think I owe you something?” Her tone goes flat.
    “Owe? You don’t owe me anything.”
    “You say that, but what you’ve shown me… the
things you say…. You can’t seriously expect anything from me.”
    “I said I don’t.”
    The door opens on an awkward silence and May
stands still in the doorway. Margarette turns away and is forced to look back
at Tommy. She closes her eyes tight and the saltine water wells at the edges of
her eyelids and rolls down her cheeks. May walks in and Margarette shows her
only her shoulder.
    Tommy sighs and sits at a chair in a corner, and
puts his hands between his knees. He doesn’t know what he did wrong, but he sits
like a dunce in the corner.
    “Is everything okay?” May asks. “Tommy…?”
    “Yeah. It’s fine,” he says.
    “Good. Well, come with me,” she says. It is more
than a subtle suggestion. It is an order.
    She leads them down a wooden staircase to the
kitchen.