JUST FOR YOU

《28》Close call.

But I wasn't going to let the bastard succeed with his evil plans. I grabbed a wooden flower vase on the side stool, which—up until then, I did not understand why Ann bought it because we hadn't put any flowers in it—but now I was glad she did. I struck him on the part of his head that wasn't covered in dreads with it. But I made sure it wasn't too hard. I did not want to murder him.

"I said stop! Get off me now!" I bellowed as I mustered all the strength I had and pushed him one more time.

He moved and winced in pain. "What is the matter with you? Why are you so difficult?" He rubbed his head where I hit him.

"So, I'm the one with the problem now. You are a very big fool. You just tried to rape me." I screamed, panting heavily as I jumped to my feet and wore my clothes properly. I backed away from him and held the vase in a defensive manner.

"No, I didn't try to rape you. I'm pretty sure I heard you moan; you were enjoying it. I only wanted to have a taste." He snickered. "I wonder why you are acting so stuck up."

"You must be out of your damn mind. You are a fool! Get out of my house." I exclaimed angrily.

"Is it because of him?" He muttered.

"I said get out of my house!" I repeated.

"Is it because of Vincent?" He asked again.

"Who is Vincent? What the heck are you talking about?" I asked, feigning ignorance.

"I know you know fully well the Vincent I'm talking about. The same Vincent you used to date and the same Vincent that was once my friend." He said sternly.

Was his what now?

"What nonsense is this? Did Vincent ask you to take care of me too?"

"Quite the contrary, you see. Vincent and I used to be friends, but we stopped being friends because apparently I wasn't rich enough to be in his clique or even rub shoulders with him because he is the son of a senator."

All the while I spent with Vincent, I never knew who his father was. Well, this certainly explained a lot about Vincent and the money he had. "So how does that concern me?" I raised my eyebrows challengingly and was surprised that I still allowed him to sit here and yarn nonsense.

"Well after we stopped being friends, I started seeing you guys together. You know, I had a crush on you, and I used to be friends with Vincent. So, everything was just heartbreaking." His demeanour changed to vexed instantly. I thought he was going to hit me and probably kill me because I saw him clench his fist. I held on more tightly to the vase while scanning the room for a potential defensive material.

All my mind was saying was he's going to rape me, brutalise me, then kill me and bury me in some evil forest where no one would ever find me. I didn't have any parents, no boyfriend or husband, or anybody that would look for me after I was gone. So, it was like an easy job. You can't really blame me; I watch too many crime shows and investigatory channels. "So why are you telling me this?" I hissed.

"Hold on. When you and Vincent started dating in year two. I became very upset, and I started planning my revenge. I was mad. I was driven by revenge. I wanted to hurt you guys by all means. So, I joined this cult in school because I knew that was the only way I could get people to harm you guys without it coming back to me. But it seemed you guys had this sort of guardian angel protecting you. All the things we planned against you guys never went through. It just backfired." That was when things started making sense. There was a time Vincent had parked his car in the faculty's lot and had come back to see two of his tyres slashed. Or was it when he mentioned in passing that he had noticed someone following him on his way back home and he had to take a detour just so they wouldn't know where he was headed.