Ruined: Loving An Alpha Male(101)

I know she said she went to school in Philly. But by what Cory explained so far, you would think either Maxine would have stayed in Dallas or Tiffany would have followed her to Philly.

Cory’s lighthearted demeanor changed. He sat back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. He looked over at me.

“She didn’t tell you?”

By the look on his face, whatever she regrettably didn’t tell me I wasn’t going to like it. I shook my head, and he sighed.

“I don’t blame her. I mean it’s something that she never talks about. Hell, the only reason why me and Tiffany know is because we witnessed it.”

“Witnessed what?” I asked him, wanting him to get on with it.

He looked at me for a minute, as if battling with himself over whether he should tell me or not.

Finally, he nodded as if he had convinced himself it was okay, and said, “Did she tell you about her dad?”

“Yes,” I answered, sitting up straighter in my chair as if that will help me listen more closely.

I mean, there wasn’t anything or anyone that would distract me from what Cory was about to reveal.

“Well, her dad is into all sorts of shit. He thinks he’s fucking American Gangster or something. When Max first arrived in town, she reached out to him, and things were cool. I mean, it seemed he wanted to establish some type of relationship with her. But he was into some bad shit. So he so-called tried to keep her away from everything. I don’t know how, but one of his enemies found out she was his daughter, and they kidnaped her. We were coming out of a club downtown, and Max was walking ahead of us. She was half dressed and cold as hell, so she was running to the car. Well, some van pulled up next to her, and someone just jumped out and grabbed her. By the time I got to where I’d seen the van, it was gone. We called the police and gave them a description of the van and the license plate. The next day, Kat called Max’s dad, and he came to the apartment and asked us all about it. We told him what we knew and asked if he had any idea who took her. He said no, but he would do his best to get her back.”

At this point, I couldn’t breathe. I was staring at nothing in particular, trying to keep in check the anger that was threatening to explode. Most of all though, I was hurt…hurt that she didn’t tell me anything about getting kidnaped.

I heard myself ask, “How long was she held in captivity?”

“Ten long days.”

“Ten days” I blanched. “How the fuck did he let them have her for ten long days?”

Cory shrugged.

“I don’t know, man. I mean, it was crazy for us, too. One minute she was gone. The next minute, she called Tiff and told her she was okay and that she was in the hospital. What’s crazy though, is that—to this day—she won’t talk about it. We don’t know what happened to her or who took her.”

“Well, did you go to the hospital when she called?” I asked, frowning.

“Yes, of course, we did. But when we got there, she ordered the nurses to not let anyone in to see her. I mean, she wouldn’t even let her dad in. She was in the hospital for days, and we don’t know what all they did to her. To be honest, the only person that does know was my aunt. Tiff’s mom wasn’t accepting the ‘no visitors’ rule, and she made her way inside Max’s room. She was in there for a long time, and when she came out she wouldn’t say a thing. So, when we finally saw her, she was a mess. She had bruising on her face, and her jaw was wired shut. She had trouble breathing, so I think her ribs were either bruised or broken. I don’t know if they did more to her or not because she hasn’t talked about it.”

I asked Cory, “Do you know if her dad or the cops got who kidnaped her?”

Cory shrugged.

“I don’t know. The cops came to the hospital a few times, but I don’t know if they found the guys, or if her father did.”

I was quiet…thinking hard. I glanced out on the dance floor and found her eyes were on mine. I typically can be a mask. You’ll never know what I’m feeling or thinking, if I don’t want you to. But at that moment, I wanted her to know I was pissed and hurt, and it was because of her. I couldn’t hide how I felt at that moment. She has told me everything about her…so I thought, anyway. To hear that she kept something secret, that was this deep and serious, has me seeing red.

“So after she got out of the hospital, she left? She moved?” I asked, not taking my eyes off Max.

“Actually, no. She stayed for a while. But there was another attempt to snatch her. This time she was with Tiff. She thought that she would endanger her by staying in Dallas, so she left.”