Thou Shalt Not(105)

“Just having a chat with my new friend,” Marco said, patting me on the shoulder. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“I think I’ll stay out here,” April said, taking a spot to my left and his right, between us, but not directly. “What are you talking about?” she asked. She was nervous.

“You need to go inside,” he said, again, this time more forcefully.

“I said, I think I’ll stay out here.”

Marco was getting more agitated.

“If you don’t go inside, I might end up hurting your little boy toy. And I don’t think you’d want that.”

The look on April’s face went from nervous tension to shock. She didn’t care that her husband had just threatened me. She only cared that he knew.

“How could you?” she said to me.

“I didn’t say anything, April. He already knew.”

Then, the fear was back in her eyes.

“Look honey, I can explain,” she said, turning back to Marco. “He started flirting with me and—”

“Shut up,” he said, backhanding her.

April fell backwards onto the grass.

Marco stepped toward me as I stepped toward April, hoping to shield her from any more blows. I hadn’t expected him to hit her. He did it with such speed and force.

“If you touch her again, I’ll kill you,” I said. “I told you, she’s mine,” he said, lunging toward me.

I pivoted backwards just in time and was able to push him away from me. Marco stumbled a little, but didn’t fall over.

“Stop it,” I heard her say loudly. But when I looked down at her, she wasn’t looking at Marco. April had been saying that to me.

“He just hit you,” I said, not thinking I would need to remind her.

“It was an accident,” she said, even though she was holding her cheek. “He wasn’t trying to hurt me.”

Marco was standing behind her now, and he put his arm around her.

“It was an accident,” she said again.

“Are you listening to yourself?” I said. “He just hit you. He’s hit you before. He will hit you again!”

Marco stepped in front of her, this time looking like he was protecting her from me.

“She’s mine,” he repeated. “You don’t get to have her.”

I knew men could be possessive, Latin men, in particular. I was. I knew macho men were kings of double-standards—”Do as I say, not as I do.” They could do whatever they wanted with any woman they wanted to, but if someone so much as looked at their wife a second too long, they’d want to pummel you. That was Marco.

And April. God, I knew she would never leave him. She had to have known he cheated on her. She obviously knew he was abusive with her. But, she would never leave. The lifestyle his career afforded was too much to let go. And, at the end of the day, he had been paid well for many years for all the stunts he pulled on the field. Everyone knew how he was. She knew. If she hadn’t already left him by this point, she never would.

I had just been a play-thing, a diversion. Someone to make her feel better about herself, to give her energy to endure more of her life with him. She would have continued if he hadn’t shown up. But, she became too afraid of what might happen if he found out. April lived a life of luxury, but she lived it in fear.

“I don’t want her, Marco,” I said. “I did. For a few days, at least. She is a special woman,” I said, looking right at her. ”But, I had someone the whole time who I already loved spending time with, who I couldn’t wait to see each day. She was right in front of me, and somehow I let myself lose sight of her. But that won’t ever happen again. I love someone, but it’s not April.”

I turned back toward the house, surprised the whole crew hadn’t come out to look for us. But, only one person was standing there. Holly.

She must have heard the whole thing.

“Let’s go,” I said, taking her hand in mine.

And we walked back to the party, where people were either eating dessert or busy cleaning up.

Mark loudly asked where I had been, saying I had missed out on some seriously good key lime pie.

“I was out front talking to the Batistas,” I said.

Before Mark could ask if they were coming back, Marco returned.

“I’m really sorry for having to do this,” he said. “But, April isn’t feeling well and I’m going to have to take her home.”

“Oh no,” Mark said. “Does she need anything? We’ve got stuff in our medicine cabinet. Come look.”

“No, thank you,” Marco said. “She’s already in the car. I should just get her home to rest.”