Everyone except Derek’s crew seemed completely unaware of what had taken place, which pissed me off even more. I couldn’t take my eyes off Sara, but I wasn’t the only one. Derek was watching her like a hawk, waiting for his drugs to kick in. Seeing the hungry look in his eyes when he ogled her repulsed me even more. The guy had no honor, no reservations about what he was doing, and I hated him for it. I had no idea how many girls had come before Sara, but I refused to let him get away with it again. Along with one of Derek’s sidekicks, I noticed that her eyes were glassing over and her balance was off, but I caught my break when several girls approached Derek and his buddies. They were momentarily distracted and didn’t see Sara when she started staggering toward the stairs. Knowing it might be my only chance to help her, I cautiously followed and found her in Mindy’s parents’ room. I’d prayed Derek had just been fucking around, but when I found Sara’s lifeless body sprawled out across the bed, there was no doubt he’d drugged her. She was completely out of it, and I knew I had to do whatever I could to protect her.
When I heard Derek’s voice drawing closer, I rushed over and locked the door. I turned back, glancing at Sara lying there on the bed, and it was all I could do to keep from slamming my fist through the wall. I wanted to stomp Derek’s ass, but unfortunately, I knew I couldn’t take him on with all of his buddies in tow. There were just too many of them and they weren’t the type to fight fair. When I heard the taunting shouts of my name vibrating through the walls, I knew I had to act fast. Trying to buy myself some time, I grabbed a chair and propped it against the door, bracing it firmly, so no one could get in.
The doorknob turned and jolted, and when it didn’t open, Derek started pounding on the door. “Cotton, I know your ass is in there. Open the fucking door.”
“Not going to happen, Derek. Just back the hell off,” I roared.
“You’ve got thirty seconds to open this goddamn door, or I am going to knock the motherfucker down,” he barked.
“Yeah… you go ahead and do that. Won’t take any time for everyone to come running to see what’s going on up here. Either way, this thing with you and Sara isn’t gonna happen,” I scoffed.
“The hell it isn’t! She’s mine, motherfucker, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me from having her!” he shouted as his fist slammed into the door once again. “Open the fucking door!... Fuck! You’re dead, Cotton! Dead!”
Knowing I was running out of time, I picked up the house phone and dialed 911. When I heard the operator answer, I laid the receiver on the bed next to Sara, rushed over to the window, and slipped out onto the roof.
As soon as my feet hit the ground, I heard someone shout, “There he is! Hey, Derek. He’s out back.”
I knew things were about to go south, so I took off running, hoping like hell I might have a chance to make it to the railroad tracks before they could catch me. I was wrong, and it cost me. I’d barely made it a half a mile down the road when Derek’s truck pulled up next to me, and one of the guys jumped out and tackled me to the ground. Even though he was much bigger than me, I managed to get back on my feet, but in a matter of seconds, all six of them were on top of me. I did my best to fight them off, but it was difficult with all of them coming at me at once. I was holding my own until Derek slammed some kind of board across my chest, cracking several of my ribs with the force of the hit. When he hit me with it again, the pain got to be too much, and I dropped to my knees, unable to defend myself any longer. After that, everything was just a blur. Their grunts echoed around me as they plowed their feet into my side, chest, back, and head over and over again. I was just about to pass out when I heard police sirens coming down the road toward Mindy’s house.
“Fuck! Get in the damn truck,” Derek barked.
“You’re just gonna leave him here?” one of them asked. “Shouldn’t we take him off somewhere so nobody can find him?”
“We don’t have time. Get your ass in the truck,” he ordered.
I’m not sure how long I lay out there in the dark before Doc found me. I barely remember anything after Derek’s truck drove off down the road, leaving me there to die. I woke up the next day in a room I’d never seen before, feeling like I had been put through a fucking meat grinder. Doc was standing over in the corner, talking to Uncle Saul, and I could see the concern in their eyes as they spoke.
When Uncle Saul looked over to me and saw I was awake, he walked over to the bed and rested his hand on my shoulder as he said, “You’re gonna be okay, Cotton. Doc found you lying on the side of the road on his way in this morning. He almost passed you by, thinking you were some drunk, but when he saw that Mariner’s baseball jacket of yours, he realized it was you. He was just going to take you on home until he saw the condition you were in.”
I tried to sit up on the bed, but stopped when a pain shot through my side. Fuck. They’d done quite a number on me. My left eye was almost swollen shut, and my entire body was covered with bruises. I started to feel a little dizzy, so I laid my head back down on the pillow. Knowing I would’ve been in even worse shape if it weren’t for Doc, I turned to him and said, “Thanks, Doc. Appreciate you helping me out.”