Divine: A Novel (13 page)

“Div,” he says, with his hands in his
back pockets.

“Dan.”

“Div,” he whispers with a drop of a brow.
I notice the moonlight has cast two separate shadows of us that should be one.
Move closer.

“Dan,” I whisper with a step forward and
my hands on his shirtless chest. I rub my lips along his neck until I reach his
ear to give him my final message of the night. “You’re quite a kick-ass guy,
not one of those mundane blokes you run across in the meat department of the
supermarket, and yes, I like you too.” There, I said it.

I see a smile on his face before we kiss.
An intimate, heartfelt, I’ll miss you until I see you again, kiss. With the
release I rush up my front steps, but stop suddenly when I notice a light
coming from the second floor of my place. Dan asks if I forgot something and I
look up, and he looks up, and I say shit, and he asks if I could’ve left it on,
and I say fuck, and he knows something’s wrong.

“Let me go in and check it out,” he says.

“No, I’ll check. You stay here.”

“Div,” he walks up to the door and puts
his hand out for my key.

I shake my head.

“This is no time for games, open the
door.”

“It’s my home and I’ll take care of it.”

“What does that mean, are you expecting
someone? You’ll take care of what?”

I exhale deeply and take out my key, look
at the lock, then back to him. I pause again. I don’t want to ruin this thing
we have, it’s too good, and because of that he can’t come in.

“Divine, open the door.”

“No. The light’s on upstairs, let’s go
around back to my second floor deck and through that door.”

“Fine.” He takes my hand and whisks me
through the side gate, into my backyard, and we climb the wooden stairs to my
second floor. “Stay here, outside, and I’ll check things out,” he insists.

When we reach the top I see my bedroom
door’s open and the light’s on. There’s movement. It’s a girl, a blonde, that
fucking bitch.

I race past Dan and into my home,
reaching for Hannah’s arm as Bridgette emerges from my bathroom. Both girls
scream. Hannah slips out of my grip and runs past me, out the back door, while
Dan catches his sister in his arms. Bridgette screams again and kicks her feet
frantically to escape. I rush outside but Hannah’s already at the bottom of the
steps, running out of my yard.

“What the fuck?” I walk back inside and
slam the door. “What the fuck are you doing in my house?”

“Let go of me Dan, or I’ll tell her all
your dirty little secrets!” Bridgette yells and then vomits down the front of
her pink sorority shirt. It looks better that way. All sorority girls should
have puke down the front of their chests.

“You’re wasted, and what the fuck do you
think you’re doing breaking into Div’s house? You wanna go to jail?” Dan yells
back at her.

“That’s not a bad idea, actually,” I say,
picking up my cell.

“No wait, please don’t. I didn’t mean
it,” she starts to cry. “Hannah talked me into it, she thinks you killed her
boyfriend and she was looking for evidence. Please, I don’t want to go to
jail.”

“She’s bombed off her ass, Div. If I
weren’t holding her up right now she’d be crawling around on your bedroom
floor. How much did you drink tonight, sis?”

She throws up again and continues to cry.

“Dan, put her in the bathroom until I decide
what to do.”

“She’s only nineteen,” he says.

“She broke into my home.”

“Your door was open,” Bridgette groans.

“What the hell’s wrong with your family?
An open door doesn’t mean it’s okay to walk inside someone’s house!” I yell. I
think back to this afternoon, when I was in such a hurry and distracted while
getting ready for my date. I could’ve easily forgotten to lock the door, but
still, that doesn’t mean any of this is okay.

“Hannah should go to jail. I want to
press charges.”

Dan drags his sister into the bathroom
and places her in the tub. “You can’t file a report against one of them, it
would have to be both, in which case I’ll beg you not to. My sister’s really
not a bad person; she’s just with the wrong crowd. Hannah’s the one with
issues.”

“That entire sorority has issues. They’re
a bunch of prissy alcoholic rich girls who plan on getting a degree based on
their looks. And don’t think it can’t happen, because I’ve been witnessing it
for years. And now they’re gonna break into homes on top of all of their other
shit.”

His face changes to one of concern as he
listens to my rant. “Hey,” he says with a raised hand. “Div, calm down. Clearly
there are things I’m unaware of with you and your students, but trust me when I
say my sister isn’t some rich kid getting by on her looks.” He turns and shakes
his head at his sister who’s still awake but unable to stand. “Bridgette, what
the fuck? It’s time to grow up.”

“I’m sorry,” she mumbles. “Sorry
Professor.”

“An apology isn’t enough. Did you guys
take anything? Did you go downstairs? What did you see in my house? What were
you looking for?”

I’m pissed, Dan’s angry, and Bridgette’s
vomiting again. Fuckin’ A.

“Call her,” I say. “Bridgette, call
Hannah and tell her to get her ass back here. I want to talk to both of you,
and if she doesn’t come back, the police are going to be notified.”

“I think she’s about to pass out,” Dan
says. “Bridgette, wake up.”

“Noooooo,” she moans. “No cops. We didn’t
take anything.” She grins suddenly. Damn her, I have a feeling I know what’s in
her head.

“Did you go in my guest bedroom?”

She shakes her head and then laughs.

“Bullshit. You say a word about my
collections at school and you’re toast, you hear me? Don’t you dare open your
mouth.”

I pace and Dan does the same. He looks at
his sister then at me, then to his sister, back and forth.

“Div, I don’t know what to do. If it was
anyone else I’d say call the police, but...”

“I know, the only reason they’re not here
is because you’re related to this... this girl in my tub.”

I search Bridgette’s pockets and find her
cell then call Hannah’s number.

“Bridgey! Where are you? I’m in your
bro’s backyard.”

“Hannah, get your ass back over here or
I’m calling the police.”

There’s silence and then I hear heavy
breathing, as if she’s running away.

“Hannah? Listen to me. What you did was
illegal and you can’t brush it off as some sorority prank, or have your parents
buy your way out of being arrested. I want you to get your ass back here and
talk to me or both you and Bridgette are taking a ride in a police car
tonight.”

“Nooo.” Another moan comes from the tub.
“Hannah, come save me.”

“Hannah?” I use my sternest voice.
“You’ve got one minute to...”

“Hi Professor Hallowell,” Hannah says
from outside my bedroom window. She waves and then walks inside. “Knock, knock.
Anyone home?”

“Are you drunk, too?” Dan asks.

“Get your butt inside and take a seat by
your friend.” I demand with my arms folded and tapping my foot. Little pissant.

“I can hold my liquor,” Hannah sneers as
she walks past Dan, “unlike the baby in the tub.” She sits on the counter of my
double vanity and swings her feet, leaving scuffmarks on my white cabinet
doors. “Bridgette, what gives? If you hadn’t taken those last two shots of
Vodka earlier you would’ve escaped.”

“Enough,” I scold. “First, how did you
know where I lived?”

Hannah flashes a big grin toward Dan.

“Sorry,” he says. “I mentioned to my
family you were a few doors down the row. I didn’t think anything of it.”

“Did you take anything?” I ask.

She shakes her head.

“What did you think your were going to
find? What were you looking for?”

“Evidence.”

“Hannah, I had nothing to do with Luke’s
death. It sounds like it was either a hit and run or an accident. The person
may not have even realized they hit someone.”

“How shitty of you,” she says and wipes a
tear from her cheek. “Don’t give me that dog ass story like the cops did. If
you hit a person on a bike you’re going to hear it. Whoever did it, knew.” She
stands and gets a tissue to wipe away more tears.

“Hanny,” Bridgette whispers. “Don’t cry.
Come sit by me, Babe.”

“No Bridgette, get up. Let’s go.”

Dan blocks Hannah’s hand from reaching
for his sister and takes control of the situation. “She’s not going anywhere
with you tonight, now take a seat and finish answering Div’s questions.”

“Div?” Hannah laughs. “Your name is Div?
That’s the worst name in the history of the world.”

“What the fuck’s wrong with you, you,
you, little tool? Are you in grammar school or something? No adult would ever
pick on another person’s name. At least not one with any intelligence.”

“Stop it,” Dan raises his voice. “This is
getting out of hand. Hannah, sit your ass down and shut your mouth before I’m
the one who calls the police. I don’t care if my sister gets arrested. After
listening to this shit it would probably do her some good. You know what, Div,
go ahead and call the cops. They deserve what’s coming to them.”

“No, wait,” Hannah says. “Wait, I’m
sorry. You’re right, I didn’t mean to be a nasty bi-otch and pick on your
name.”

“That’s not what I want an apology for.”

“Alright, I’m sorry. You probably didn’t
kill Luke.” She tears up again and then starts to sob. “I just miss him so much
and Margaret said it was probably you.” She blows her nose in my towel, my
towel! And even though she’s emotionally distraught, I’d love to smack her
upside the head.

“What were you looking for?”

“Something, anything, I don’t know,” she
shrugs. “Maybe a note or a diary saying how much you hate all of us.”

“What am I missing here?” Dan asks.

“It’s a war with a colleague, a long
story, and all I can say is that she has total control over the students and
makes me out to be the bad guy.”

“Professor Cole?” he asks. “Are you
talking about Margaret? I had her during undergrad, hell my parents did too.
She’s a sweetheart, but the other person in the department when I was there was
a dope. He yelled at everyone and demanded too much work. He treated the
students as if they were at graduate level.”

“And you know this how?” I ask with my
arms folded once again.

“Margaret said...” He starts to speak but
catches himself. “I don’t know, I never had the guy,” he answers. “Forget I
brought it up.”

“I thought we were talking about my
boyfriend,” Hannah whines, in need of attention.

I’m suddenly extremely disappointed. Saddened
by Dan’s words about Margaret and the fact that a student would break into my
home because of her brainwashing. That woman... argh.... she infects all parts
of my life and I can’t stand it anymore. Even on the weekend, when I’m on a
date, she’s here, causing problems. I hate her! And I hate the fact that the
students are so buddy-buddy with her that they call her by her first name!

“Div, you okay?” Dan whispers.

“Fine. I’m just fine.” I turn on the
faucet and fill my hand with water then splash it in Bridgette’s face. “Get up.
I want everyone out of my house.” I turn to Hannah and point my finger in her
face. “Listen to me, and listen very carefully. I had absolutely nothing to do
with what happened to Luke. Nothing. I was here, in my home that night, and I
probably have a trail of online searches to prove it. I’ve done nothing but
help you and my other students in my classes and I’m an incredible teacher. If
you think otherwise then you’re going to have a shit-ass time trying to survive
in this world after graduation. And another thing, I want you to cancel your
appointment with the Dean and drop that petition or I’m calling the police.”

“Is that a threat?” she asks.

“No, no threats,” Dan steps in. “Div,” he
says quietly in my ear. “Hannah’s father’s a lawyer. Be careful.”

“I don’t like you,” Hannah says as
Bridgette moans.

“You don’t have to,” I respond, walking
out to my bedroom to grab my laptop. “Here, do it now. Sign-in to your email
and cancel that meeting. This is my job you’re fucking with.” Brat-face-piece-of-shit.

“No need. I never rescheduled after the
morning Luke disappeared. I haven’t been in class since that day. If you were a
caring teacher you would’ve noticed.”

“I’m perceptive, Hannah. I know what’s
going on with my students, but I haven’t been on campus either.”

We stare at one another with quivering
lips. I need to back off. I’m the adult, I’m the Professor; I’ll be
professional and stop this.

“Hannah, someday you’ll look back on all
of this and realize I was the one who taught you skills that you can, in fact,
use in this world. I’m not out to
get
you,
as you’ve been so misguided to believe. Hopefully, in the future, you’ll be
able to make your own decisions about people, and not rely on the words of
others.”