Being Neighborly

Chapter 40

"This is for my family, you bitch!" Katy screams as she tackles me to the ground and begins throwing punches. I'm fast enough to block her from making contact with my face, but her nails do some damage to my forearms. I can already feel the cool night air stinging the fresh scratches. 

"Katy! Stop!" I yell, defending myself from her frantic strikes. "I didn't do anything!" 

Literally what the hell is happening? How did I end up fighting my preppy class president in the middle of the night with absolutely no warning?

I wiggle under Katy to throw her off balance enough to get out from under her. On instinct, I pin her on her back, arms sinking into the soft soil under us. She's little, but she's strong. Katy forces herself out of my grip and lunges at me again, wailing like a banshee. 

Just as she's about to throw a punch, my back porch light turns on and Uncle Luke rushes out. I can hear Tristan  yelling my name from his backyard as well. Katy rushes off the ground and runs away, disappearing into darkness. I am left, on the wet ground, already developing bruises in the various places Katy hit me and put her full weight on me to hold me still. 

"Leila, what the hell is going on?" Uncle Luke sprints over to me in his pajamas. Her holds me at arms length away, inspecting my face. "Oh kiddo, you're going to have a nasty black eye."

Katy didn't even touch my face. I reach up to touch under my eye and feel the throbbing skin. I wince a little at the pain. I guess I didn't notice she got one punch in. 

"Was that fucking Katy?" Tristan runs into the backyard, still in his business suit, rage and confusion clear in his eyes. 

"Yes, she went complete psycho on me!" I exclaim, standing up with the help of my uncle. I wince again, realizing how sore I am from being thrown to the ground twice by my assailant. 

"You can tell us what happened inside," Uncle Luke says, steering me towards the house. "We need to get you cleaned up and make sure you're okay."

With the support of Uncle Luke, I make it into the kitchen and up onto the breakfast bar. He goes to find the first aid kit and Tristan steps in front of me, hands on the counter on either side of my legs. 

"Leila, what the fuck happened out there? Why was Katy here? Why were you outside in the middle of the night? What were you two fighting about?"

His questions fly at me, but no answers are returned. Should I tell him the reason I was in my backyard and not in bed? No, let's save that for later.

"I have no idea why she was here and what she wanted from me and why she attacked me like that," I answer honestly. "She yelled something about her family. I don't even know her family!"

"Do you think she knows that we've been looking into her connection with Carter? That we've been doing research on her and her family?" Tristan's voice drops to a whisper.

"How would she even find that out?" I ask. 

Uncle Luke returns with the first aid kit and some of my clothes to change into. Tristan takes a step back and lets my uncle inspect my many scrapes, scratches, cuts, and bruises. He pretty much asks me the same questions Tristan just did, I answer him with the same responses. 

"Should we get the police involved? She attacked you unprovoked," Uncle Luke suggests.

"I don't know," I say. "I'm not seriously hurt and what are the police going to do anyway? Question her what happened and then they'll probably write it off as teenage drama."

"Leila, don't say you're not seriously hurt," Tristan lifts my right arm. "We had to bandage you up."

"Look, I just don't want to get anyone involved if there's a chance I can deal with it myself. I've dealt with stuff by myself for a long time so I think I am capable to doing it again."

"You don't have to handle everything on your own anymore," my uncle reassures me. "You've accepted help before when you needed it." He's talking about after my parents passed and when I needed counseling for my drug problem. I let him and Aunt Clara take me in and I accepted their unconditional love. They, plus lots of therapy, helped me heal. But this is not something that requires other people. Especially if it has anything to do with a connection to Carter.

"I know, and I am forever grateful for that, but I really don't think we need law enforcement just yet. Can I just go to bed? I need to sleep this whole night off."

"Sure, kiddo," Uncle Luke smiles softly, kissing the side of my head. "Just be quiet when you go upstairs, Clara is asleep and I don't think we should worry her about anything until the morning. Tristan, you can let yourself out," he gives Tristan a curt nod before turning to leave the kitchen.

"Wait!" I blurt out, and then instantly cover my mouth for being loud and not thinking before speaking. 

"What? Does something still hurt? You can take an advil for the soreness, I'll even give you the baby one," my uncle says, concern in his eyes. Well that just makes me feel guilty for what I'm about to bring up now.

"I need to tell you guys why I was outside in the first place," I start. Uncle Luke and Tristan share a glance as if they don't see how this is important right now. I take a deep breath and continue, gipping the edge of the counter for support. "I was putting the bike back in the shed."

"So you went out for a night ride, nothing wrong with that. Leila this can wait until morning. You need to rest up."

"No, let her finish," Tristan says, stopping Uncle Luke from going upstairs. He keeps steady eye contact with me and I understand. He knows I know.

"I saw you two at The Underground," I get straight to the point. "Well, not me, but Nicole did and sent me a video. How are you guys involved and what was that meeting about?"

Uncle Luke's expression turns serious, if not somewhat stressed. Tristan, as usual, remains composed. The two of them exchange another look between them and come to a silent agreement. 

"It's my dad," Tristan states. "He's back."