In The Dark

Chapter Six

Rachel walked into the house, planning on hurrying into her room to change before Ian got home. Change and take a minute in the bathroom to at least wipe off the sticky mess her dress had smeared into her back in the car.

Her phone rang, and worrying it was him, she answered without looking.

"Yeah?"

"Hey!" It was Val. "What happened? Jeny said you flew out of there like a bat out of hell!"

"Uh, yeah, no big deal. Ian had a problem here, but he made it sound worse than it was."

"Must have made it sound bad. Jeny said you were white as a ghost and looked like you'd been crying." Val paused. "Or were your eyes watering from something more fun?" she laughed. "You always said there wasn't a cock you couldn't deep throat."

"Got me," she said weakly.

"Well, if everything is cool at home, come on back and hang out with us; we're heading down to Billy's Frosted Mug to swap the dirty details."

"I think I'll just stay here."

"Why?"

"Because I'm home and kind of tired."

"Okay, what's wrong? You were never a good liar, and you sound like you're a nervous wreck. Something go wrong tonight?"

There's a one in six chance it went very wrong!

"No, I mean," she took a breath. Val was her best friend and just showed she knew her too well to be able to keep denying anything was wrong.

"You mean what?" Val sighed. "Something went wrong. Did you freeze up? Was he an asshole?"

"Okay, this stays between us, right?"

"I'm insulted you would even think you had to say that." Val sounded put off.

"Sorry, just on edge." Come on, the best lies were always ones mixed with some truth.

"Do you want me to come over? I'll call the girls and tell them I'll be late or catch them another time."

"No!" she said, and probably too quickly. "Enjoy the rest of the night."

"Then tell me what happened."

"It went well; in fact, I was thinking more than once how right you were and how I needed it."

"That would be great, except I hear a but coming."

"No, but as far as it being a hot time. The but was when he left, I went into the bathroom, and the cardboard over the window had slid down on one side. I know I wasn't supposed to, but I peeked outside."

"Let me guess, you think you saw someone you know?"

Pretty sure I know my son.

"I saw a car that belongs to one of Ian's friends from school."

"Oh, well, he couldn't see you, so he doesn't know, and it doesn't mean he was with you anyway; there's a one in..."

"I know!" she snapped. "I've been telling myself that all the way home."

"So, you lied."

"Huh?" Rachel felt her stomach tighten.

"There was no home emergency; that's why you left."

"Got me," she tried to keep the relief out of her voice. "I just didn't want to say anything to Jeny."

"I get it, she blabs, but you could have trusted me from the start."

"You're right, just embarrassed. I wanted to get out of there quick because this kid's been here a few times and probably knows my car. That's why I looked rattled."

"I think you're overreacting, but" she laughed. "Is he hot?"

"He's hot alright," Rachel muttered while thinking of Ian. "Good-looking kid."

"Then see it as an extra layer of dirty secrets, even though it most likely wasn't him."

"Always the optimist."

"And somehow you even managed to find a way to put a damper on tonight. Rachel, I love you, but you can fuck up a wet dream."

"Thanks," she jumped when she heard a car door outside. "I have to go; Ian's coming home. Don't need him overhearing anything."

"Okay, I'm calling tomorrow morning, and you best be ready to tell me all the juicy details, and I'll tell you mine."

"Deal."

She ended the call without saying goodbye and shut the phone off. She heard Ian entering the house and quickly sat down on the couch so he wouldn't see what she imagined would be a visible stain on the back of her dress.

A stain he may have been responsible for.

"Mom!" He burst into the room and came hurrying over. Before she could get a word out, he leaned over and gave her a hug. "You, okay? What's wrong?"

She returned the hug tightly, her emotions and mind racing. If the worst had happened, who knew if she'd ever get this kind of hug from him again? But even as she gratefully held onto him, a feeling of dread came over her when she caught the scent of his cologne.

Cool Water. Doesn't mean it was him; she tried to tell herself; that brand was a top seller for young men his age, at least according to an article her magazine had put out last year.

He eased back from her but kept his hands on her shoulders. He looked down at her, and his eyes widened.

"Holy shit! What happened to you?"

"What?" The look of concern on his face had her confused.

"Your hair's a mess, you have makeup down your face, and that means you've been crying and..." He stepped back from her and looked her up and down. "You're..." he hesitated a couple of seconds. "Not wearing a bra and look at your knees!"

She looked down to see each knee featured a large patch of raw red skin. Carpet burn.

"Who did this to you?" he demanded.

The question caught her off guard.

"No one did."

"Mom," he spoke slowly, and she could hear the effort he was making to do so. "You said you were going out; you called me upset, and you look like someone got rough with you."

"No, Ian, "Damn, why did the kid have to be so sharp?" It's..."

"Who did this?" he shouted suddenly, his eyes darkening and the veins standing out in his neck. "You tell me who hurt you, and I'll break his fucking arms!"

"Honey, easy!" She put her hands up and saw they were shaking, and as much from him as the situation, she was previously upset over.

He was always so easygoing, but the look on his face was one of naked rage, and he'd clenched his fists, making the muscles in his forearms stand out. As she stared, she noticed red, crescent-shaped marks just under his elbow. Marks from someone digging their nails into him.

"You can tell me, Mom. I won't get caught."

"No one hurt me!" she shouted to stop him from ranting. "I promise, that's not why I called you."

"You sure?" He looked at her dubiously. "You sounded really shaken up, and you look…" His eyes darted to her knees again, and he frowned. "Oh," he whispered softly.

"Oh, what?"

"I get it, you went out and had some fun. But what went wrong?"

"I need you to sit down." She pointed to the other side of the couch. "We need to talk about something."

"I don't need the details," he kept looking at her knees, and she imagined him trying to come to grips with the fact his mother had fucked someone hard enough to get rug burn.

"Where were you tonight?"

"Told you, some of the guys from the team were going out and invited me along."

Rachel looked at him and thought of how close they were, how much he meant to her, and how much she'd come to need him over the last year. The way he'd rushed home, run over to comfort her, then gone into an uncharacteristic fit of anger at the thought someone might have hurt her.

Her eyes dipped to his bare arms in the gray tank top; she noticed several scratches on the top of his shoulder. He wasn't the only one who was rough in the heat of the moment.

No, she didn't know for sure it was her. Val had long nails, so did Molly, and... Val, what if he had been with her best friend? Better than being with her, that was for sure.

"Mom?"

"Why are you lying to me?" Hypocrite, you lied to him about where you were going.

"Huh?"

"You were at the Hit Place Motel in Up Town."

Ian's eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to say something, then closed it.

"Well?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said so softly she could barely hear him.

"Your truck was there. God knows there can't be another 15-year-old beat-up eyesore like that in the area."

"Whoever told you they saw me there was wrong."

"The one thing I've always asked is for you to never lie to me. What were you doing there?"

"Mom, I'm telling you that whoever saw..."

"I saw you there!" Rachel's voice rose in frustration, most of which was currently aimed at herself.

She was beating around the bush because she knew damn well, he was there and why, but she couldn't seem to be able to just get to the point.

"You did?" His look of dismay wasn't an act. "What were you doing, following me?"

Rachel looked down at the floor between her feet. The can of worms was opening before her eyes. As she'd done earlier in the motel, she'd led herself to the point of no return.

"I was there too," she couldn't bring herself to look at him when she added. "For the same reason."