Shane Irres was standing in his apartment, one hand in his pocket, the other wrapped around the phone that was pushed against his face.
"No, I know, and that's why I'm leaving," he said, "Look, I'll be there soon, okay? Things around here have calmed down considerably, and I don't need to be here anymore right now. I think my sister is capable of taking care of herself now and even if not she has a much better support group than she's ever had before. It's...it's no longer my responsibility, and I wanna come back now." He let the person on the other end speak for a minute, and once they were finished, he smiled. "Yes, and I'll bring her a box," he said, "She likes white chocolate, right? Okay. I'll be there soon." Shane hung up the phone, then walked to the suitcases he'd packed the night before. Emma was right. It was time for him to move on. He pulled the suitcases to his car and pushed them into the backseat and the trunk, then walked back into his apartment and sat down on his couch, pulling his pad of paper and a pen to his lap. He thought for a moment, then started to write. Yes, Shane Irres was about to leave town, but first he had to write his sister a letter and leave it at her apartment. *** "He's dangerous," Chiako said, sitting on Gus's couch, "He's dangerous, and he knows he's dangerous and he doesn't care that he's dangerous. That's not exactly a great combination. He's very good at acting like a sane stable human being, but once alone, he...well, you can see." Gus wanted to scream. In all the years he and Chiako had been together, he'd never once hurt her, not physically anyway. Oh sure, he'd said some stuff he'd later come to deeply regret, and his alcoholism had gotten way out of hand, but he'd never struck her. Gus knew you never hit a woman, unless perhaps it's in self defense, and even then he still would've felt bad about it. He paced back and forth in front of the coffee table as Bea sat on the couch beside Chiako, rubbing her back gently in circles. "You can't just, you know, go to the police? Get a restraining order? For god sakes, there's physical evidence now," Gus said, finally turning to face her on the couch; he continued, "I mean, sure, he could violate the order, but-" "Not could, would," Chiako replied, "He would absolutely violate the order and he'd be so mad about it that this bruise would be the least of my concerns. After what he'd do to me if I did that, I'd beg for this bruise. No. And I can't leave. I can't leave cause he'd find me, he'd know where to go, he'd...he'd hurt us if we left." "Go to your folks, go out of state, somewhere you know he'll never find you," Gus said. "I'm stuck, Gus," Chiako cried quietly, dabbing her eyes with the end of her sweater sleeve, "I...I'm so stuck and it's so scary." Gus looked at Bea, who motioned with her head for him to follow her into the kitchen. Once inside, she lowered her voice and looked back over his shoulder at Chiako. "We can't just send that poor woman out there on her own," Bea said, "As someone who's faced violent men in her personal life, I feel like I have an obligation, a duty of sorts, to help other women who are in the same situation. Look how badly he hurt her, and she's right, if this was for something minor, imagine what he'd do for something major." "Okay, but what CAN we do, Beatrice? I mean, fuck, she can't just stay here," Gus said, "Wouldn't that be awkward?" Bea hesitated, then chewed her lip. "Do you...still love her?" "I always will, we have a child together, but...god no, no, I'm...Bea," Gus put his hands on her arms and looked her square in the eyes as he smiled and said, "I will always love her for what we have together, but my love for her now is different from my love for her then, and it's not the same as the love I have for you. You're the girl in my life, she's the girl from my past. I can manage both without feeling torn. You're never in danger of being replaced, trust me." Bea smiled and blushed, looking down at her feet. She leaned in and kissed him, just as the door to the apartment flew open and Jeremy strode inside. With a look of shock on their faces, nobody knew how to react, not that there was time. He saw Chiako, then saw her glance towards the kitchen. He then turned his sight towards Gus and Bea, then raised his gun. Bea quickly reached for a knife on the counter as Jeremy put his finger on the trigger, but Gus grabbed the knife from her and shoved her against the fridge as the gun was fired, and Gus was pushed back against the wall, bleeding from his chest. Bea screamed, Chiako screamed, and Jeremy shut the door behind him, locking it. "You always come back here," Jeremy said as he approached the couch, "why? Look at him." Chiako wouldn't look, so Jeremy grabbed her chin and forcefully turned her head. "I said look at him!" he screamed, "That pathetic piece of shit couldn't even stop drinking and yet you still come back here! Is he better than me?!" "Anyone's better than you," Bea mumbled, catching Jeremy's attention. He looked up and furrowed his brow, his hand squeezing the gun tightly as Bea wiped her face on her arm, her eyeliner running down her face as she put one hand on Gus and used the other hand to help herself up against the fridge. "Excuse me?" Jeremy asked. "You fucking heard me," Bea said, "Anyone's better than you. You're not a man. A man doesn't have to inflict violence on the people he claims to love to get them to love him back. You call Gus a pathetic loser, but at least he recognized his drinking was a problem for those he loved and removed himself from the situation because of it. Because he didn't want to hurt them. You're the one who's fucking pathetic." Jeremy grinned as he stood fully up now, walking towards her. To his surprise, unlike Chiako, Bea didn't back down as he approached. She firmly stood her ground and stared him in the eyes. "I like you," he said, "I admit it, you've got some guts. I can't imagine what you see in a guy like Gus here, but that's not really my business I guess. But you could do better, really. So do you want me to shoot him again? Would that make you feel scared? Because if not, then I suggest you sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up until I'm done." Bea looked at Gus, who just shook his head gently, his eyes fluttering open and shut, and she did as she was told. She lowered herself back to the floor and put her face down on Gus's chest, holding him tightly as Jeremy walked back to the couch and knelt in front of Chiako. "So let's talk about our relationship," he said coldly. *** Melanie walked into the room after being instructed to enter and shut the door behind her, leaning against it. Amelia looked up from where she sat on the bed and smiled at her. "Hi," she said, "How was seeing your mom?" "I need to talk to you," Melanie said, walking further in and sitting on the bed; she scratched the back of her head and sighed, "Um...look, I...I've never really known who I was, and I guess maybe I won't for a while. A few weeks ago I had my friend help me create a personality for my therapist, because I was so unsure of myself that I didn't trust myself to answer her questions correctly. The only thing I've ever known about myself was that I was a princess to my father. Every dad calls their little girl princess, you know, but mine took it seriously." "I'm sorry," Amelia said, "Losing him must've been hard." "Yeah, it...it was, and it's taken me a very long time to get to this point, where I'm finally capable of seeing that loss for what it was, loss, and not an excuse. I'm like my father, but I'm not my father. I'm not afraid to be who I am like he was. A lot of that, I guarantee, is simply due to the time periods we each grew up in. He had a lot more reason to be afraid. Thanks to how society reacted, and how his parents would've reacted...but my mom isn't like his parents, he wasn't like them. I wasn't afraid to be a princess and I'm not afraid now to say that I like you and I want you to leave with me." Amelia smiled again, and took Mel's hand in her own, rubbing it gently. "I appreciate that," Amelia said, "I do, but I'm not supposed to leave. If you liked me, you'll like someone else. Trust me, outside here, I am not...not okay." "Neither was I, but now I will be, and now I can help you," Mel said, "Please, let me prove that-" "No, I...you said it yourself. Your brothers adolescence was stolen from him because he had to constantly watch out for you. I don't want your adulthood stolen from you for the same reason. I'm not worth that. I'm happy that we met, and that maybe I somehow helped you come to these conclusions about yourself, but if you liked me, go like someone new." Mel felt her chest begin to hurt. All she wanted to do was be with Amelia. Why was this so hard? "Why are you here?" Mel asked softly, "If you're not going to come with me, at least tell me why you're even here." Amelia sighed and looked around the room. She wanted to, she did, but she was afraid of what Melanie might think of her if she did. She looked back at Melanie and, leaning in, kissed her on the cheek. Melanie smiled weakly and blushed. "You're a good person Melanie," she said, "I feel grateful to have known you." "Come with me," Melanie begged, but Amelia just shook her head, starting to cry too. "I'm sorry," she whispered, "but I can't." Melanie just pushed her head into Amelia's chest, and Amelia stroked her hair. Through the doors little window, Karen watched. She wanted Melanie to have love, to be happy, and she could see how much this was hurting her. She sighed and pulled her purse up further on her shoulder by the strings when she heard shoes approach her and turned to see Leah. "Hi doctor," Karen said. "I'm glad you came tonight," Leah said, "I need to talk to you about the Melanie's upcoming release." "...yes, of course, certainly," Karen said. As she prepared to follow Leah to her office, she couldn't help but take one more glance through the window and smile. She knew this would work out somehow. Call it a mothers intuition. *** Bea was sitting on the cold kitchen floor, her fingers playing with Gus's as his breath got more and more shallow. He groaned and tried to sit further up, but she insisted her stay put. She leaned in and looked at the wound, and noticed it wasn't as bad as she initially thought. In fact, it was more of a shoulder wound than an actual chest wound, but it still needed medical attention and soon. "Bea," Gus said, his voice weak and wobbly, "Hey Bea." "Ye...yeah?" she asked, wiping her nose on her sleeve. "You know what I just realized? You stabbed your dad in the shoulder because you hated him, and you stabbed me in the shoulder at the faire. Was it because you loved me?" "Hah," Bea replied, genuinely chuckling as she shook her head, "Uh, yeah, I guess so. That is an odd mirroring, but sure. You're gonna be okay, okay? I'm gonna get you to the hospital and they'll clean and dress your wound and...and you'll be alright." She reached in and pushed Gus's hair from his face and then leaned in and kissed him on the forehead. He smiled, then coughed. He never thought he'd be this lucky again to have someone love him this way. "You're so beautiful," he said softly, which only made her cry more. Suddenly, Jeremy grabbed Bea by her hair and dragged her away from him, into the center of the living room, throwing her to the floor. "Sit here and stop talking!" he screamed, "I need to think and I can't fucking do that if you guys won't shut the hell up!" "Don't you touch her!" Gus shouted, surprising even himself with his strength in the moment. "Oh yeah? You don't want me to touch her? You gonna stop me?" Jeremy asked, raising the gun and aiming at Gus, who was now pulling himself up against the counter, groaning. "Yeah," he said, "I am." Outside, Shane pulled up the complex. He tapped the envelope he'd put the letter for Mel into on his steering wheel, then exhaled. He felt bad leaving without saying anything, but he knew it was easier this way. He put his hand on the door handle and prepared to exit the car when his phone rang. He sighed, reached over to the cell on the dash and looked at it. It was Emma. He smiled, then put the phone down. He'd call her when he got back into the car. Shane exited the car, pushing the envelope into his jacket pocket as he walked across the street. He pulled open the complex doors and headed inside, then headed up the stairs. Shane walked until he found her apartment, and then he used the spare key to open her apartment and he entered. He'd been coming by regularly to help clean it and keep things in check, so he felt it was only fair that he come in one more time before heading out of town. He pulled the envelope from his pocket and leaned it up against the lamp on the bedside table, then looked at the photo Melanie had of herself and Shane as teenagers, and he smiled. She'd be okay now. He'd done his duty, and it was time to get back to his own life. He'd put it off long enough. Shane exited the room and, while locking it, heard crying. He turned and looked at Gus's apartment, right across the hall. Shane cautiously approached the door and put his ear against the door, listening. He could hear crying, and he could hear a man shouting angrily. A man that wasn't Gus. Then he realized he couldn't hear Gus at all. Shane pulled away from the door and looked at it, his brow furrowing. It was probably fine, right? It was probably just an argument with a friend or something. Shane turned and headed down the stairs. He had a long drive ahead of him. Inside the apartment, Gus was staggering towards Jeremy, whose finger was on the trigger now. "Just sit down, man, you don't have a chance, look at you," Jeremy said. "It doesn't matter whether I succeed, the fact that I'm trying is what proves my morality is superior to yours," Gus said, "I'm weak but willing to protect, and you're strong but willing to hurt. That's the core fundamental difference between men like you and I." "Sit down Gus, I don't wanna hurt you again," Jeremy said. "I will not sit down," Gus said, the knife still firmly in his hand, "I'm gonna make you pay for hurting my ex wife, my current girlfriend, scaring my daughter and, least importantly, shooting me." Jeremy shook his head and aimed at Gus's head. "We could've been friends," Jeremy said, "Shame." Just then the door opened and Shane barreled through, tackling Jeremy. Gus staggered backwards, falling onto the ground as the girls screamed in utter surprise. Shane grabbed Jeremy by the collar and held him down, punching him a few times before Jeremy, finally realizing what was happening, managed to kick Shane off of him and scrambled for the gun. Shane looked around for anything to defend himself, to defend Mel's friends, but the only thing he saw was the knife Gus had. He then looked at Jeremy, who was standing tall again. Jeremy smiled, then aimed the gun at Bea's head, and everything seemed to freeze. His entire life, Shane Irres had looked out for his little sister. For her well being. For her mental health. He'd protected her from bullies on the playground, he'd watched over her when she moved out. He was determined, even at the expense of his own life, to make sure she was okay. It was only now that he realized he'd never escape that. Without a weapon, Shane took the only opportunity he had and looked at Gus, nodding. Gus nodded back, almost like he understood, then Shane took off across the room, running full speed at Jeremy, surprising him. As he wrapped his arms around Jeremy, the two struggled through the glass door that led to the balcony, and then tumbled over. It was all over in a second, and at first, nobody in the apartment knew how to react. Somewhere in the distance, Gus swore he could hear a cell phone ringing. *** Emma put the phone back down and looked at the diner from her car, sighing. It wasn't like Shane not to answer, and she was hoping to see him before he left town tonight. She groaned and felt her eyes burn. She wanted to cry. Why was this so difficult for her? Suddenly she heard the wailing of ambulances, and saw two cop cars and an ambulance speed behind him. Usually this sort of thing wouldn't catch Emma's eye, she wouldn't think twice even, but for some reason tonight it did. She pulled out of her parking space and followed them. As she pulled up the apartment complex, she saw Shane's car, and she saw Bea and Chiako standing outside the complex. She didn't see Shane, and she didn't see Gus. Emma parked haphazardly and got out of the car, running across the street. As she approached, Bea walked briskly up to her and put her hands on Emma's arms, stopping her from getting closer. "What's going on?" Emma asked. "Don't come closer," Bea said, her eyes wet as hell, her hair a mess, "Just don't come closer." "Where's Gus?" Emma asked. "He's in the ambulance, he's okay, he'll be okay," Bea said. "Where's Shane?" Emma asked, and Bea didn't answer; Emma knew the answer, but she asked again anyway, almost as if expecting something different as the words left her lips, "Where's...Shane?" *** Melanie was lying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. Why wouldn't Amelia leave with her? Why did all the people she want to love wind up not being able to stay with her? Her father, Lisa, and now Amelia...it just didn't feel fair. Suddenly there was a knock on her door, and she sat up, confused. The door opened and an orderly stood there. "Is everything okay?" Mel asked. "You have a visitor." "But it's, like, really late at night," Mel said. "She said it was an emergency," the orderly said, shrugging, moving aside and letting Emma walk into the room. Melanie was, certainly, surprised but also thrilled to see her. She sat up and smiled, until she saw how Emma looked. She sat down on the bed and she looked at her shoes. She wouldn't even look at Melanie. Melanie tapped her on the shoulder and Emma finally exhaled, then pushed her bangs from her eyes. "When we met," Emma said, "Uh, I hated you. I mean I hated you. You were bubbly and fun and everything I wasn't, and you were trying to steal my boyfriend from me. Now, though...now I can't imagine my life without you. I met your brother a few months ago. We started meeting regularly and having coffee and just talking. I grew to like him just as much as I like you. He helped me sort through my life, made me feel like someone really cared about how I felt, and it made me realize how much he loved you, because he'd spent his entire life doing that." Melanie nodded, pulling her legs up to the bed and hugging them, listening. "Um," Emma said, choking back tears, albeit somewhat unsuccessfully, as she continued, "...he was leaving town. He didn't wanna tell you in person, but he was leaving town for a while. Said he had some things to take care of. Uh, I was trying to meet with him tonight, but he wouldn't...he wouldn't answer his phone." She finally cracked and started crying uncontrollably. "He wouldn't answer his phone," she sobbed, her voice low and husky, "I'm so sorry Melanie." "...Emma?" Mel asked, her voice wavering now. "Your brother's dead," Emma said, before hugging Melanie and whispering, "Your brother's dead, and I'm so sorry. But I'm here, and I'll do what he did for you. I promise." Melanie and Emma hugged and cried in that room on that bed for hours, each so appreciative of the other in that moment. It was then and there that each girl recognized they'd never once had a friend as good as eachother, and how grateful they were to have it now. *** Melanie was sitting on a swing in the backyard of their house, when Shane sat down in the adjoining swing. It'd been maybe a week since their father had died, and while Shane was keeping his feelings inside, Melanie was completely breaking down. She spent all her time alone if possible, and she simply immersed herself in not just her isolation, but also her storybooks about fantasy lands with dragons and wizards and, of course, princesses. "You okay?" he asked. "...why did daddy have to die?" Melanie asked, and Shane shrugged. "I don't know," he said, "but...at least he's not in pain anymore." "Who's gonna protect me now?" Melanie asked, "Dad always protected me." "Well, I'll protect you," Shane said, smiling, rubbing her back, "After all, what're big brothers for?"
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Royally Screwed follows 24 year old Melanie Irres, an average young woman...who legitimately believes she's a princess. Archives
July 2023
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