Last Kiss Goodbye • Teenage Juice Ortiz

27 - Katie

Edited

THE PAST

As usual, nobody was around when he got home. Juan was assuming that his mother was with her new fling, she had found this one a few weeks ago, which usually resulted in her being absent for days.

The silence in the house felt like it was smothering him – now more than ever. What if this was his future? All alone, every day? His mother flavour of the month, his brother in jail, his sister away at college? How the hell was he ever supposed to survive? Feeling a bit shaky, he breathed in deeply. He tried to think about positive things; June's hand had been around his just a while ago, the dance they had shared, the feeling of her in his arms but it wasn't helpful at all. He didn't even know if that would ever happen again, if he would ever hold her in his arms or kiss her again.

He flopped down on the couch, staring up at the ceiling lethargically. The emptiness and the fear that he was feeling now, were such a contrast to the happiness he had been teased with last night; it made him feel sick. It felt like his one moment of luck for this year was over, as if everything could only go downhill from now on.

His phone rung. In a foolish moment he hoped it would be June; calling to tell him that she liked him so much that she already want to forgive him. Unfortunately however, it was Emilio. He ignored the call. The last thing he wanted to hear right now, was some elaborate description of how his night had been. His friend had already woken him up in the middle of the night by texting him: I love your brother and Melany is so fuckin hot and that was already more than Juan wanted to know.

Juan didn't leave the couch until the door opened and his brother entered the living room. A jolt of pain went through his heart when he saw Mateo's face, adorned with his usual grin. He put down a bag groceries at the counter top.

"Surprised to see you here. Thought you'd be all over your girl by now."

"She doesn't want to see me right now, didn't like the fact that you stabbed her date. He's in the ICU."

Mateo's eyes narrowed. With large steps, he walked towards Juan. "You told her?"

"Of course not. But she ain't stupid man. She figured it out herself."

Mateo ran a hand across his face and sat down next to him. "Shit man. You denied it, right?"

"I told her you did it when I refused to do it."

Mateo snorted. "You wanted it too man. I saw it in your eyes. You were just too chicken."

Juan clenched his jaws. That wasn't true and his brother knew that very well. "What happened with Katie?"

"Huh?" Mateo's eyebrows creased with the sudden topic change.

He fidgeted with the nail on his thumb; there was a crack in it. "Katie. Did you rape her?"

Mateo grabbed his chin and roughly pulled his face to the side. "The fuck are you talkin' about?"

Juan jerked his head away from his brother's grasp. "Don't pretend I'm an idiot. Is it true?" He had wanted to sound steadfast, but his voice was shaking. "Are you a rapist?"

With a darkening face, his brother stared him in the eye.

Juan turned his face away as the tears jumped in his eyes. God, it was really true. His shoulders started to shake and no matter how hard he tried to wipe his eyes, he couldn't stop the tears.

"Hey, calm down kid. Hey!" Mateo swung an arm around him and pulled him close. "Of course not. I'm no rapist. Hey, don't be ridiculous, Juan. Come on, you know me. You never listened to all that crap before, why'd you start now?"