“Me next.” Cynthia raises her hand. “Those masks hurt me all over. My brain and my body. But I fooled them. I went up and away, flew right over their heads.” Her eyes go comically large, and my heart squeezes in sympathy.
“I know, Cynthia. Your mind was protecting itself. I know you’ll get yourself back,” I say to her.
“Thanks, wifey.” Cynthia snuggles closer to me, laying her head on my shoulder, softly humming to herself.
“I’ve never been able to block shit out,” Valley confesses. “I relive every minute of the abuse my brother put me through. It's in my dreams every night. Most of the time, I wake up screaming. Bryan helps, though. When he holds me, the monster is scared away.”
I choke on emotion, so much empathy bleeding out for my two friends. It's not a competition of who had it the worst. All three of us have been so traumatized, of course, we're affected still. It's just different for each of us.
I'm desperately in need of the distraction a movie will provide. I want to forget Maxim for a while.
“Why don’t we head over to the theater for our movie?” Valley suggests, as if reading my mind. “I’ve got the perfect movie picked out for us. It's called ‘Teeth’.It's a horror film, mostly. But I promise you it will be cathartic for all of us.” She smiles.
“Horror? Am I going to be scared?” I ask.
Valley laughs. “Nope. The heroine is kick-ass. You'll see.”
The three of us walk down the hall to the theater, hands linked, grinning at each other. I am loving this. I never thought in a million years I’d have a girl’s night or a slumber party.
My heart warms knowing these girls love me as much as I do them. It did take me longer to accept Cynthia, but that was more due to the circumstances of being in The Morgue together. Pair that with the very fresh betrayal and loss I went through thinking my Valley was gone, and it was hard to open up completely.
Until 3, anyway. My Golden-Eyed Boy. He snuck in and stole a piece of my heart. I truly didn’t think anyone could get to me again, so it was both surprising and scary when he got under my skin. I love him as much as I do the others.
I’m jarred from my thoughts when we get to the theater and Valley squeals in excitement.
“You ladies are going to totes love this flick. It's so good. I felt empowered after seeing it the first time,” Valley tells us. “Watching horror is a safe space to heal from trauma. Every movie I watch all the way through is another win for me.” She grins, waggling her brows.
“I believe you,” I laugh, her happiness contagious.
“Me too? I need power. Like Marvel, you know? Thor... yeah. Thor, Loki...” Cynthia trails off.
Valley and I burst out in chuckles.
“Cynthia, you are such a vibe,” Valley giggles.
“She sure is,” I agree. “So, are these Marvel movies ones I need to watch?”
Valley and Cynthia say at the same time, “Yes!”
Okay, then. I guess I’ll meet Thor and Loki soon enough.
We take our seats, hands full of yummy munchies. I sit back in my comfy seat as the lights dim, and the screen comes to life.
“So...Teeth? Is it werewolves, or something?” I attempt, but Valley is having none of it.
“You’ll find out, Nyx.”
I knit my brows in confusion as the movie starts playing.
Damn, the poor girl—the lead in the movie. That stepbrother of hers is a huge piece of shit.
It gets to the scene where she willingly is trying to have sex, and my jaw drops. “Oh my God!” I yell, sending Valley into peals of laughter. “The teeth are in her pussy?”
Cynthia cracks up on my other side. “Now that’s one way to do it!”
I shake my head, riveted to the screen to see how this plays out.
Towards the end, the scene with her stepbrother has me gasping.
