"You're hurting me!"
I looked up from my phone to see the person who lived across the street from me throwing a girl out of his house. I raised my eyebrows, interested. For more context, my neighbor Daniel was throwing one of his classic college parties while his parents were away. He never bothered me, the occasional drunk person throwing up in my yard was a hassle but generally I preferred minding my business.
"No, please, I wasn't-" the girl cried out. Her entire body was shaking with sobs.
"Don't come around anymore, you're a cheater and a no good whore, I should've left you when I had the chance!" Daniel pivoted and walked powerfully to his door, giving it a good slam once he was back inside.
It was obvious neither of them noticed me, the sound of music pulsing and the girls heaving filled my ears.
She was nothing short of beautiful in the glow of the street light. Her shirt was torn, I couldn't tell if it was in a styish way or not, but I could see the silhouette of her bra. She had very long hair that was tangled and messy. It looked like someone had been grabbing it.
She shakily got to her feet, and that's when i noticed the blood. She had a large cut on her thigh, bleeding steadily. Should I interfere?
It became very obvious to me that she was drunk as soon as she started walking. She sounded like she was gasping for air, stumbling to the car parked in front of my house. I took a drink of my beer, watching her fumble with her keys and get in. She sobbed into her steering wheel, clutching it.
She screamed, piercing my ears, but I almost could feel her pain. She was fumbling with the glove box, and that's when I decided I needed to interfere.
The gun was silver, it shined bright in the street light. She looked at it, not noticing me standing up and making my way to her car. If it was possible she was crying harder than before, her shaking hands releasing the safety.
I walked slow, careful, watching her raise it to her face. She placed the barrel to her temple, hesitating, unsure. I knocked on her window.
She jumped, quickly putting the gun in the passenger seat. I could see her face very clearly now, her make up looked like it'd taken a trip to hell and back. Her eyes were big and brown, puffy and red as well. She was beautiful underneath it all.
I motioned for her to roll down her window, casually placing my hand on too of her car and leaning down to meet her face. She hesitated before rolling it down.
"You okay miss? I was enjoying the weather and I couldn't help but notice everything from my porch." I offered a smile.
She just looked at me, her crying easing up as She searched my eyes.
"I'm Josh, by the way," I said, " You look like you're going through some shit right now. I'll tell you, shooting yourself is pretty damn permanent, think you can't get passed this? That really how you wanna go?"
"I-I-don't-" She stuttered, "I don't know."
"What's your name?"
" Anaïs." She gulped, looking around. "You don't need to worry about this. Just go inside and pretend like you didn't see me. I'd like to get this over with."
"Anaïs, such a beautiful name. Listen, Anaïs, I'm already involved now and I'd have a pretty guilty conscience if I walked away at this point, would you like to come inside? I can help you fix up your leg and give you some fresh clothes, I'll bet it'll make you feel better. You're pretty drunk and you shouldn't drive, and I'm not normally a narc but I'll call the police if you try to. A DUI probably would be a very sour cherry on top of your shit night," I sighed, "Listen just come in and sober up and let it out to someone who knows nothing about you and won't judge."
Anaïs stared at me, her mouth ajar. She looked like she was considering, but them she glanced at the gun. Tears steamed her cheeks and she wiped her nose as she said, "I don't think you want to hear about any of this. I-I don't want to burden you or anyone, I don't want to be here." Her shoulders dropped on the last word.
"It's not a burden, just come in," I smiled at her again, "I'm not gonna leave you alone at this point anyway so you might as well."
Anaïs looked up at me and sighed, grabbing her keys and pulling the handle. She stepped out, barefoot and her entire leg covered in dried blood. She was very small, standing at what had to be five feet nothing, and she was very skinny as well. Her shirt was definitely not torn in a stylish way, and she had bruises on her wrists and neck. Long story short, she looked rough.
She nearly fell taking her first step, I caught her and gently steadied her. Anaïs tensed at my touch, quickly pulling away. She looked up at me with unsureness.
"I'm sorry, I just didn't want you to fall, you already look pretty beat up," I held my hands up in defense.
She nodded and took small steos with me to my apartment. She leaned heavily on the rail as she climbed the five steps, and held onto the wall after we entered.
"I am very dizzy," Anaïs blurted, "I am very, very dizzy."
I showed her to my bathroom and pulled out my first aid kit, grabbing a few dish towels as well. She watched intently as I gathered everything. I gave her a water and Tylenol to hopefully help her head.
"I can help if you want," I offered.
"I got it."
I gave her the wash cloth I had soaked with warm water. She carefully placed it on the cut, hissing and dropping her hands to her sides.
"I can't do it," she sobbed drunkenly , throwing her head back.
"Here," I said as I slowly got on my knees and took the rag carefully from her hands. "No worries, I've handled worse than this."
She winced and cried the whole time I cleaned her leg. A few ruined towels later, the wound was dressed and Anaïs was silent.
I sat back and put my hands on my knees, trying to make eye contact. She was more interested in her lap.
As I studied her, details became clear, The bruises were definitely shaped like someone much bigger had been grabbing her, the same for her hair. I had noticed more bruises on her legs, the same shape. My imagination ran wild, the worst coming through. My gut told me she hadn't asked for this.
Was it Daniel? He never struck me as the abusive type. He definitely got around, but this girl I didn't recognize. It was a party, so I guess it could have been anyone.
I had to break the silence. "Are you okay?"
Anaïs shook her head.
"Do you wanna tell me what happened to your leg?"
Anaïs looked up from her hands, her lip quivering. She looked scared. "Someone did it to me."
"Daniel?"
She wiped say the tear that had escaped and shook her head again. "No he just caught him. He wouldn't-he'd never do this to someone."
"Caught him?"
"You offered new clothes?" She said leaning forward. "I feel exposed."
"Right." I stood up and brushed off my jeans. "Ah, stay here?"
I turned and went down the hall to my bedroom. Caught him? I chose a black hooded sweatshirt and a pair of drawstring pajama pants. Caught him doing what?
I handed Anaïs the clothes and she gave me a slight smile. She was so beautiful.
"I'll be, um, in the living room?" I said, holding my hands up and backing out. She smiled again and nodded, I shut the door behind me.
Caught him?
