Lights, Camera, Rumblefish!

Ch. 27

Ch. 27
Two months in, and I was able to go home after all the radiation therapy. And during those two months, I probably only saw Matt 10 times. Cruise and Emilio had set up camp at home and Rob was due in any day now. He had to book his plane. The times I did see Matt were horrible. He was doped up on something and was really loving his alcohol. He went over to his mother's nearly everyday and gave up on finding a job. He was a class A bum. But when I went home, he wasn't there. He got home late that night and I was in bed, sleeping. Then the door slammed and a glass broke and Cruise came in my room.
"Essie, we have to go. We have to go now!" He said, taking my hand and helping me out of bed.
"Why? What's the matter?"
"Matt's high. And drunk. He's being really violent, sweetheart. Get some shoes on."
"Just get Matt out."
"Milio's trying. Get some shoes on!"
"Where are we going?"
"Airport. Rob's flight comes in the morning."
"Cruise-"
"Let's go!"
******
We slept in the concourse, waiting for Rob's flight. I was in pain and clutched to the back of Cruise's shirt all night. He probably had scratch marks on his back. Emilio paced nearly all night, and called Matt's mother to tell her what happened at a pay phone. He came home drunk and high and told Emilio he had been at his mother's apartment when that's not what happened. He was never at his mother's.
"He was probably getting drugs... I know how these things go," Emilio said the next morning. Cruise paid for breakfast and we waited for Rob for another two hours. He came running up to us, hugging us and kissing my cheek.
"My god, Essie, look at you. You're so thin... How's Matt? Where is he?" He said.
"I don't know where he is now but... We have a situation on our hands now... He, uh, got high. And drunk and he ran into the apartment last night and... He was really just very dangerous," Cruise said.
"Oh, wow. I'm so sorry... What'd you do then?"
"We came here. Spent the night," Emilio said.
"You shouldn't be sleeping in an airport right now. Especially in her condition. Let's go back to the apartment."
"And what if he's there?" I asked.
"Then he'll have to get through all three of us to get to you. Nothing's going to happen to you. You're safe with us," Rob said.
********
We drove back and the apartment was a mess. Beer bottles were all over the place and strewn across the floors. Matt was passed out in a chair with a cigarette butt between his fingers and a beer bottle on the table. Cruise held me close and sensed when I started to shake.
"Essie, why don't you get some sleep in your bed? You've had a rough night," he said.
"No. I want to see what happened with him," I said.
"He's a drunkard now, Essie. He's a violent, hell-raised drunkard. You can't do anything about it right now," Emilio said.
"I can leave him."
"And fuel the fire? Essie, do you know how easily you can become a target with this sort of violence if you play your cards wrong?" Emilio said.
"But if she feels unsafe-" Rob started.
"Then we'll see a psychiatrist. But this psycho is not going to go after her. She's not going to become a target," Emilio said.
"If she's feeling unsafe, she has every right to leave," Cruise said.
"You said I was safe with you," I said.
"You are."
"What the hell is going on here?" Matt had woken up.