(15) The Guilty Shall Fall


All weekend long Maria and Isabel rallied hard to keep Tess’ mind off of the terrible event that happened to her. They became the type of friends that she never had, that she never even knew she wanted. They pretty much spent their every waking moment in each others company and when they weren’t together in person then they were on three way conversations on the phone.

Sunday night found them at Maria’s house. The three girls were sitting around the island in the kitchen mixing cookie dough. Amy, Maria’s mom, was at the oven cooking spaghetti.

“Hey, mom, can I drive the car to school tomorrow?” Amy looked up from the meat she was grinding.

“Sure, no problem.” She answered.

“Thanks mom.” Maria walked over to the fridge and pulled out a can of coca cola.

Isabel glanced at her with a thoughtful look on her face. “So, Maria, are you going to tell Max how you feel?”

Maria shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m kind of nervous. What if he doesn’t feel the same way?”

Amy smiled at her daughter. “That’s just a chance you have to take. You know your father and I were best friends. We didn’t start dating until our freshman year of college.”

The three girls were intrigued. “What made you two get together?” Isabel asked.

A look of nostalgia came across Amy’s face. “We practically grew up together. You couldn’t run into one without stumbling over the other. Then he high school he fell in love with the sweetest smartest girl in our school. Our friendship didn’t end it was just pushed on the back burner. It became second fiddle to his love for that girl.

“One day she broke his heart. She told him that she was never in love with him that she was only using him to get to some other guy. That night he came to my house needing comfort. I fell in love with him then.” She smiled at the past memory. Then she rung out the dishtowel and started wiping down the counters.

“So how did you tell him you loved him?” Tess asked.

“I had this whole elaborate speech in my mind that I was going to deliver to him on prom night but then the time came and I chickened out. I never told him I loved him. We went off to college. I started dating this guy and he dated other girls. Then it was my turn to receive a broken heart when I caught the guy I was dating with another guy.” Amy said.

“Oh, mom, you got dumped for a guy?” Maria was shocked.

Amy grinned. “Yeah, I can laugh about it now. Anyway your father was there to wipe away my tears. He held me in his arms all night long.” She stood looking into space a huge smile on her face. “Just as I was about to fall asleep he told me that he loved me and that he had been in love with me for a pretty long time. He then told me that he planned on marrying me some day. His exact words were; ‘You might not be ready to here this yet Amy but I have to tell you. You’re mine, you’ve always been mine. And I plan on marrying you when you realize that.’ I was stunned that he shared my feelings.”

“Wow!” The girls chorused with dreamy expressions on their faces.

All of a sudden Tess broke down into tears. Amy tried to comfort the girl not knowing what was wrong with her. Tess jerked away from her and ran off to Maria’s room.

Amy looked at Isabel and Maria in confusion. “What’s wrong with her. She’s been looking down all weekend?”

“Oh, mom, we can’t tell you right now. I’ll go see if she’s okay.” Maria stood up and walked off.

Maria walked into her room and spotted Tess lying across the bed sobbing into a pillow. “Tess, sweetie, what’s wrong?”

Tess sat up, tears running down her cheeks. “I hate myself. If I had not have been such a tease then none of this would have happened to me.”

Maria wrapped her arms around Tess. “That is so not true Tess. What happened to you was not your fault. You’re not responsible for the actions of those idiots.”

“But I am Maria. I am.” She pulled away from the comforting arms. “I should have listened to Kyle when he told me I dressed to sexily. I should not have gone upstairs alone with Jeff. I should not have been drinking. I should….”

Maria put a finger up against Tess lips to stop the flow of words falling from them. “Tess you should be allowed to dress however you want and not have to worry about some idiot taking that as an invitation to hurt you. And Jeff was your boyfriend. How were you supposed to know what and asshole he really was?”

“I should have known Maria. I should have known more about a guy that I trusted.”

Maria shook her head. “Tess what can I say to you to make you realize that none of this is your fault. I’m not blaming you, Isabel isn’t blaming you, and if Kyle or your father knew they definitely would not be blaming you. The jerks that held you down and hurt you shamelessly are the only ones that can be held responsible for their actions.

“You’re the victim Tess, not the aggressor. If you want to dole out blame then place it on the right people. You should tell the authorities. Make them pay for what they did to you. Don’t keep it bottled in because in the end you would be the only one to get hurt.”

“But I’m scared Maria. What are people going to think about me? How will this affect my dad and Kyle? I can’t do this by myself. I don’t want to be a burden.” She stood up and began pacing the room.

Maria spoke calmly, trying to get her point across. “People will stare and they will talk but the bottom line is that justice will be served in your favor. They will not be condemning you some will even congratulate you for having the courage to speak out against the evil that was done to you.

“Think of other girls that have been in your shoes but kept it bottled up, hidden under a rug hoping that it would go away. You would be a voice for those who were to afraid. I don’t think you are the first that they’ve did this two and if you don’t say anything then you won’t be the last.

“Isabel and I will be with you every step of the way. I had hoped that our weekend together had proven our loyalty and our willingness to be the friends that you need.”

Tess sat down and took Maria’s hands in hers. “You and Isabel have been so good to me. I’ve always admired the friendship you shared with Max. And when Isabel helped me out with Kyle on her first day I had hoped that she and I would become friends. Now it’s happened and I can’t began to tell you how much I appreciate it. Thank you so much.”

Isabel tapped lightly on the door. “Can I come in?”

Tess and Maria smiled at her. “Come on in.”

“Tess, are you alright?” Isabel said sitting down to her right. “I’m fine.” She smiled conscientiously. “Thanks to you two everything is going to be fine. I’ve decided with Maria’s help to tell the authorities about what happened to me.”

Isabel smiled and gave Tess a hug. “You’re making the right choice and just so you know Maria and I will be with you every step of the way holding your hand.”

Tess grinned. “That’s the same thing Maria said. You two are the greatest.”

The three girls shared a group hug.

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“Dad are you serious?” Kyle asked unbelieving.

Jim Valenti nodded even though his son couldn’t see him. “I’m afraid so son. I’m afraid so.”

“Was she able to say who it was?”

“The doctors took her into the examination room before they could question her. Maria knows but she isn’t saying anything until she gets Tess consent.”

“Dad, let me speak with Maria please.” Kyle asked forcefully.

“Kyle I don’t think you should. She’s just being loyal to Tess. She doesn’t need us jumping down her throat.”

“Dad, please I’m not going to jump all over her. I just need to talk with her.” Kyle held back a sob of his own.

Jim handed the phone to Maria. “Hey Kyle. I’m really sorry but I can’t say anything yet. Not until Tess gives me the okay.”

“Maria, you have to tell me who it was. Please? She’s my sister Maria. I should have been there to protect her.” Kyle begged. “I should have known she was in trouble. What kind of protector am I? She probably cried out for me.”

Maria started to cry. “Kyle, don’t torture yourself like that. Tess is going to be fine, okay. She’s going to be all right and the jerks who did this to her are going to pay. The guilty parties shall fall.”

“Parties? Oh my God, there was more than one?” Kyle went beserk. “You have to tell me who those assholes are Maria.”

Something came over Maria strongly. Call it an evil malicious spirit or whatever but she wanted those guys to suffer so badly at the hands of Kyle. “Kyle, I tell you who they were. I overhead them talking about it.”

“Who were they Maria?” He asked quietly.

“Jeff Carter, Mark Andrews, I couldn’t place the third guy, but Jeff and Mark mentioned that Liz and Michael were involved as well.”

Kyle gripped tightly on to his cell phone in growing anger. He was angry at the fact that there were stupid malicious people in the world. He was angry at the fact that his father, a man that he had never seen shaken, sounded as if he was on the verge of tears. Most of all he was angry at the fact that people he considered friends would do something so vicious to the light of his life, his little sister.

Without saying good bye, he ended the call. “Kyle, what’s wrong man?”

He continued to stare off into space ignoring the two guys that were trying to get his attention. “Kyle, man you’re starting to scare us. What the hell is going on?”

He finally looked at the two guys that he came to consider as really close friends. “My sister is in the hospital.”

“What?” Alex and Max chorused in shock. “What happened?”

“They raped her. Those lowlife bastards raped my sister.” A look of pure hatred fell over Kyle’s face. “They’re going to pay. They’re going to pay with their lives.”

He turned and walked away. Alex and Max stared at one other before turning and chasing after Kyle.