Accidents Happen

Chapter 10 - They Come in Two Classes

    “What is HE doing out here?” Jason asked.

    “I am wondering that, too.”

    “Can you just drop me by him? I need to ask him a few things.” His mouth was pressed into a hard line.

    “I want to hear what he has to say. Where can I park and come in?”

    He looked at me speculatively. “Yeah. Visitor parking is by the board fence, near the tree.”

    I parked right under the Visitor Parking Only sign, then we went crunching through the inch of accumulated snow to Frank. We hadn’t reached him when he spotted us.

    “Oh thank god you are all right! You need to stay in my room tonight, Jase.”

    “Um. Okay. Why? What happened? Where the fu … Where did you take off to and leave me there?”

    I don’t know. I lost almost my entire night on Saturday. I saw you and Charity eating in the Gastro Pub, then I was home. I have no memory of about four hours of the night. Then Enrique busted into my room about an hour ago, shoved this,” he gave Justin a phone, “in my face, and shouted at me to keep you the he … heck away from him. What the hell did you do to him, Jason? I’ve never seen him like this.”

    “Me? He abandoned me to get back on my own. I had to put Charity out to get a ride home. She has a big paper to write, and she put that aside to get my ass here. Since my other ride left me, too, and the buses stopped at one pm, I didn’t have another choice.”

    “Damn. I’m sorry, dude.” He put a hand on Jason’s shoulder and looked into his eyes, “I planned on bringing you back. Look, it’s really cold outside. Let’s all go in and clear this up.”

    We walked up four flights of stairs and into a small single dorm room. There was a bed against one wall, a desk with a computer set up against the opposite wall with a wooden chair, and a love seat in the middle with it’s back to the door, looking out the one small window.

    “Okay, Frank,” Jason started with some hostility, “you need to tell me what you remember from Saturday night. Oh, do you have a charger - mini-USB?”

    “Charger is in the computer, three kinds. Pick yours. But Saturday … I don’t remember much. I totally freaked out when I found myself at home.”

    “We need to know about before that. You got a call from your mom; I need … WE need to know what was said and what happened.” Jason, who had finished plugging his phone in, took my hand, pulled me close and sat on the love seat with me.

    Frank looked at Jason and me. He blinked and said, “I see why Enrique is so pissed.”

    “Can you please fill us in on the conversation with your mother?” I asked in as sweet a voice as I could manage, and as politely as I could. I get tired of being treated like an object to be passed around or ignored.

    “Not much to tell,” Frank shrugged. “She was mad ‘cause you were backing out. I offered to step in. She said the horoscope didn’t match and I was totally unsuitable.”

    I couldn’t help it. Ann really seemed to like him, and he was willing to sell out for the family business. “That sucks. You suck. You made eyes at my best friend, got her all charmed, then turn around and offer to marry a terrorist? You totally suck.”

    Frank put a hand up in a defensive position, “Wait just a minute. Have you talked to Ann since Friday at the bar?”

    I shook my head.

    “You need to. After she had me drop her off; an abrupt change of plans, by the way; she told me to leave her alone and not call or come by again. Things were going well, I thought she was interested.  I just want to know what I did wrong.”

    He really did seem lost. “What exactly did she say, Frank?”

    “Just what I said. We were talking and laughing. She’s so nice and so beautiful … Well, I thought we were going to walk in the park and walk by the lake, get to know each other a little more. We pulled up to the parking area in the park and she changed her mind.” His brow creased and his lips dipped into a frown.

    “What happened?”

    “We were in my car, heading to the park. I thanked her for the chance to get to know her better. She was agreeable, and so pretty in the moonlight. We were just entering the park when I asked her to dinner on Saturday. She looked at me like I sprouted a new eyeball in the middle of my forehead. Then she said, ‘Just take me home. I don’t ever want to see or hear from you again.’ I didn’t know what to say or do. So, I took her home. What else could I do?” He put his chin in his hand.

    I didn’t believe for one second that he told me the whole story. I need to talk to Ann. I hoped she hadn’t had a flashback to her childhood. Some phrases threw her mentally and emotionally into the fights her parents had. Her mother was terrible to her father, and Ann feared turning into her mother.

    “So, Guys,” Frank said into the awkward silence, “you need to stay here tonight. The roads are slick and snow is coming down twice as hard. I can pull out the couch and make up the bed for you guys.”

    “Thank you for the offer,” I politely declined, “but I have an eight o’clock class and I cannot be late.”

    “Look.” Frank opened the curtain.

    “I saw about two inches of accumulation, and I could barely see the parking lot light because of the thick snow. I knew Boulder would be worse. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach, but I wanted to make sure I was wrong.  I grabbed my phone and checked my student email. I had the email saying classes were cancelled.  I felt a combination of relief and dread.

    “Well, who is willing to put me up? Do you have a female friend I can stay with?”

    “Um. No. You can stay here in my hide-a-bed. With Jason. I will sleep, alone, in my tiny bed.

    “That has to be a violation of dorm rules.”

    “The RA doesn’t care. It’s not like we have anything to get up for. And, with me here as a chaperone, you won’t get knocked up.”

    “You make it very hard to like you, Frank.” I gave him the stink-eye. “But I get where you are coming from.” 

    “Now, there is an option. You could stay with Enrique and leave Jason here with me. Enrique would love to break all the rules with you.”

    “No. If that is my only option, I will stay here with you and sleep on the floor.” I told him. Then I thought for a few seconds.” You know Enriqaue has respect issues with women. He has also made it very clear that he sees me as the worst of the Devil Women. So why in the name of all that is holy, do people keep telling me he has a crush on me? He hates me.  I only tolerate him for Candi and Paul’s sakes.”

    “Wow. I had no idea he had been harsh with you.” Jason said. “ All he ever says to me is how great you are and how he wants to be closer to you.”

    “Ha!” I barked out a derisive laugh, “He never showed anything but contempt for me and my friends. Except Candi, who he treated like fine china.

    Frank was just looking at me.

    Jason took my hand, “You know he is probably intimidated by you.”

    Frank kept watching and lifted an eyebrow and inclined his head slightly. His staring was making me uncomfortable.

    “All I know is how he speaks to me. It is unacceptably hostile.”

    Frank leaned in a little, but still said nothing, just kept on staring.

    “I can’t imagine anyone being disrespectful to you, Charity. You are strong and intelligent, beautiful, too.”

    Frank smirked a little and kept watching. I wanted to offer him popcorn.

    “Well, thank you, Jason, but that was a pretty gushy comment. Too gushy to take seriously. Not everyone will like me, and I won’t like everyone. Enrique is one of those. He doesn't like me, and I don’t like him. He will continue to live his life, and I will continue to live mine.”

    “That’s kind of harsh.” Frank said.

    “I find it peaceful. Keeping him at arm’s length means I don’t have to deal with his hateful, sexist attitudes.”

    “But he hasn’t ever said anything bad about you around me. I actually feel guilty about wa …” Jason cleared his throat. “About my feelings,” he ended, weakly.

    “Jason, we should have this discussion without an audience.”

    “Oh. Yeah.” He blushed and looked at his toes. After about two seconds, he let go of my hand, pulled his hand onto his lap and leaned forward to Frank. “When you talked to your mom on Saturday, what exactly did she say? We need to know the exact words she used.”

    “I don’t remember the exact words. s**t. I barely even listen to her. How can I …”

    “Cut the crap, Frank.” Jason interrupted. “Your mother is trying to kill Charity and is using an accident to do it. You were used to activate whatever spell or curse or hex or whatever the damn thing is called that your mom put on Charity. Now, every day, without protection, my beautiful, kind, intelligent, strong and  DEFENSELESS woman is in mortal peril! Do you really think Charity deserves any of this? I’m the one who reneged on the deal and I’m the one who fell for her sight unseen.”

    I blinked. He fell for me when he touched my picture. Fell for me. My brain completely froze. How could he possibly fall for feelings from a picture? A picture. Of me. A picture of me. How could he fall for a picture of me?

    I wasn’t sure how long I was in the stupor, but Frank yelled, “Of course I don’t want blood on my hands. That’s not what I am trying to say!”

    Jason was standing over Frank, with his hands clenched into fists, his face livid, and his expression grim. Frank was leaning away from Jason, his face pale and a shocked expression on his face.

    “Jason!” I jumped up. I was so confused. How did he go from sitting to enraged so fast? How did I miss it? What happened when my brain hit neutral?

    He turned his head in my direction, but never took his eyes off Frank. “You need to apologize to her for that comment. Right now.”

    I had never heard a statement sound so much like a death threat before in my life. I wondered what he wanted Frank to apologize for saying.

    Frank nodded and swallowed. “Charity, I am sorry. I was trying to make a joke to lighten the atmosphere, but the comment really crossed the line. I apologize.”

    “Thank you,” I replied graciously, “just don’t let it happen again.” I decided ignorance was bliss in this situation.

    “Are you sure?” Jason asked, clenching and opening his left fist, his right one busy holding the front of Frank’s shirt.

    “Of course I am sure. I like peace and peacefulness. Forgiveness is the key to peace.”

    “If you are sure.” He let go of Frank’s shirt.

    “Of course I am sure. I may not have been nice, but it was intended as a joke. Let it go, Jason.”

    “Okay.” Jason sat next to me, and patted the cushion next to me to sit, as well. “I’m sorry if I overreacted. It just pushed my buttons.”

    “Anyway, we need to get sleeping arrangements worked out.” Frank said. I have two twin beds: Mine that I will sleep in, and the pull out. You can have the pull out to share or one of you can sleep on the floor. There is always the couch in the lounge, if you can’t get comfortable in here, Jason.”

    “Ha! As if I would leave Charity alone in a room with you.” Jason turned to me. “I will take the floor, you have to be comfortable while you are stranded here.”

    “We can share. It will be tight, but the bed is where we should sleep. I need to use a bathroom, and can I borrow a t-shirt to sleep in?”

    “Absolutely.” Frank went to his closet and started putting things together. “I have an extra toothbrush, a washcloth, clean towels.” He was stacking things up as he talked. “We only have one shared bath in this section of the floor. Jason knows the code for clearing out for a girl guest. He can go with you and get you started.” He handed me the stack of toiletries and the shirt. He even had soap and toothpaste in the stack.

    “Okay.” I said.

    Frank opened the door for us, and Jason walked me to the bathroom. After he checked that the bathroom was empty, he looped a belt around the door handle. “This is the signal to stay clear. When you are done, take it off and bring it back to Fran’s room. I need to get my stuff for the night. It might take a few minutes with how pissed Enrique is.”

    “Oh. Okay. I guess I will see you back in Frank’s room?” I gave him a little smile.

    “You’ll be fine. The guys on this floor are cool. They respect the signal.” He smiled at me and I nodded back.

    I entered the bathroom and went to the sink. I washed my face and brushed my teeth. I took off my shirt and was taking off my pants when the door swung open.