"I heard Rory shout 'yes'. She sounded, like,distressed, and then a man's voice said something and I ran to them-"
"Could you understand what the male voice said?" the detective interrupts again.
Sam's hesitation tells me he heard exactly what Robin's awful words were. Sam nods and the detective raises her eyebrows expectantly. "He called her a 'fucking whore'," he says quietly. Detective Mora bristles in place in obvious discomfort at hearing Robin's vitriol, and I wonder what the hell she expected to hear when she came to investigate what she referred to as an "attempted sexual assault".
"What happened next?" she prompts.
"He had her up against the wall, holding her by her neck," Sam grits out. His fingers rake through his hair again and he bites his lip harshly before taking a deep breath. "He had her skirt hiked up, and he was... hurting her. As soon as I reached them I pulled him off her and he swung at me. We fought. Eventually I got him down, Tuck came over and kept an eye on him while I helped Rory and we called the police, and that was it," he says with a shrug.
"By 'Tuck', you mean Tucker Green, correct?"
Sam nods.
"Let's just back up a moment, Mr. Caplan. When you reached Mr. Forbes and Miss Pine, did you recognize him?"
"Yes. I'd seen his Facebook photo," Sam replies.
"You say he was hurting her. Can you elaborate?" the detective presses.
Sam swallows audibly. "Like I said," he says carefully, "he had her up against the wallby her throat.He was fuckingstranglingher... She looked so fucking scared," his voice breaks. His head drops, his eyes close and he rubs his face with his palm.
I just stand there, mesmerized by how affected Sam is by the night's events. The realization of whathewent through tonight - from thinking I would hook up with some random guy, to searching for me frantically... to finding me in that fucking alley, being attacked,God, and fighting for me - it washes over me in a tidal wave of grief. I hate that he saw me like that - so helpless and frightened. I feel so pathetic.
Thisis what Robin does to me, how he makes me feel - that I have no control in my own fate. That I only matter, onlyexist,in reference tohim. My father's words forge their way back through my mind unbidden, reminding me that I am nothing but asmall-town girl, common and unimportant.Worthless.
But Sam, he has the opposite effect. He cares aboutme. To him, Imatter. And with every selfless gesture of friendship, of affection, Sam has managed the impossible - to revive a sense of self-worth Robin - and my own father - spent so much time obliterating. The realization calms me, even as it overwhelms me with emotion.
I blink back tears as Sam continues his statement, "I knew what he was going to do-"
"And what is that?"
Sam lifts his head and glares intently at the detective. "Rape her."
"And just to be completely clear, you knew this because he had her skirt hiked up?"
"He was trying to get her fucking underwear down and hold her legs apart. And he'd done it before. Several times. He's obsessed with her."
"Miss Pine told you this?"
"She told me about the- uh, assaults, and about their history. She didn't say he was obsessed with her. That's my own conclusion."
Sam finally notices me in his peripheral, staring at him in awe, and we lock eyes.
"So you pulled Mr. Forbes off of her," Detective Mora prompts, but Sam just continues to stare at me with profound emotion. I wrap my arms around myself protectively, still feeling so vulnerable, and I can't help but wish they were his arms instead of my own.
"Mr. Caplan?"
Sam blinks and returns his gaze to the detective.
"So you pulled him off of her," she repeats.
"Yeah. We fought until he was down, Tuck found us and held our friends back, told them to call the police, which they did."
Detective Mora glares at him for a few moments as if she's trying to decide whether or not she wants to say something. Finally her eyes narrow slightly. "So after you helped Miss Pine from the alley, did you return to Mr. Forbes?"
Sam nods. "Tuck and I made sure he didn't get up. I didn't want him to come after Rory again."
"That's all? You just held him down and waited for the authorities to arrive?"
