“Friend, I beg you, calm down or you’re going to make the situation worse than it is,” Liam suggests before two officers throw themselves on me and hold me down on the floor.
“Let’s go, you idiot, you just got yourself in some serious trouble!” one of the policemen tells me but I’m not listening. I can’t hear anything outside my heartbeat that’s pushing out of my ribcage.
“Please, Aaron, do what they tell you to,” Rain begs in tears and there’s nothing left for me to do but nod, lower my head and get in the car with them, handcuffed like a criminal.
•••
They throw me in a holding cell as soon as we get to the station. Here there are three other men who are drunk and playing card games on the benches.
I sit down and put my head in my hands.
I almost killed a man tonight. With my hands. And I don’t regret it.
Mark put his hands on her, he tried to… I can’t even say it. Just the thought of it brings me to the bars and makes me want to shake them with force if necessary. I would do anything to know how she is, to see her and to know that everything is okay, that she’s alright and that nothing is wrong with her, nothing beyond repair.
They leave me sitting here for I don’t know how long, I’m not able to judge, as I am being eaten alive by rage, guilt and remorse for being the jackass that I am for having left her alone. If I hadn’t acted the way I did, she would be in my arms right now, the only place she should have ever been in the first place.
After an infinity in which I feel I’ve shed every tear that is possible for a man to cry, an officer comes to open the cell door and asks me to follow him.
We enter an interview room where a man in a jacket and tie is waiting for me.
“Sit down Aaron. I’m Malcolm, your lawyer,” he says in a serious tone.
“I haven’t called any lawyer.”
“Yes, you’re very lucky someone else called on your behalf.”
Liam, I think. Only he would have done this.
“She—”
“The girl has been taken to her family’s house and is doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances.”
I nod, grateful to know that she’s in the arms of her loved ones.
“As far as you’re concerned, Aaron, I’m not going to lie to you, you’re in some hot water. You almost killed a man. What was going on in your head?”
“He tried to—”
“Yes, we know that, the girl has confirmed it, but that does not absolve you from your crimes, which are aggravated assault and resisting arrest. You risk also being accused of attempted homicide. You could be sent to jail. Thank God that the man isn’t dead because if he was I wouldn’t be able to get you out on bail tonight.”
“Bail?”
“It’s already been paid. You can go home, but don’t pull any shenanigans please. Stay far away from potential trouble and wait for me tomorrow. We’ve got a lot of things to discuss.”
He offers me his hand and then leaves me alone before a policeman comes to let me know that I’m free to go and escorts me to the door.
I leave the building and hug myself in my sweatshirt, taking in the cold night air that reactivates all of my neurons. I look for a cigarette in my pocket and light one, looking around to see if anyone is waiting for me or if I can get a cab.
When I think that no one is here for me I see a figure leaning against a car door.
It’s the last person I was expecting to see here.
I go to him with my head down and an anxiety that is strangling me, ready for a punch in the face. But when I get close to him, he throws his arms around me in desperation.
I let him hug me, confused and disoriented, before he lets up his grip on me, and grab my shoulders and looking me in the eye Patrick says: “I owe you everything, brother.”
And I melt into tears, falling into his arms.
