Love Triangle 2: Fight

Peter had trouble falling asleep that night. He couldn't get the angry voices he'd heard shouting out of his mind. One had been Veronica's, and the other had been male. Was Luis a violent man? Was Veronica in danger? Now that he knew where she lived, he was tempted to stop by just to see if she was all right, but he didn't want to get her in trouble in case Luis was home.

He next saw her at a hot dog stand on the beach on Coney Island the following weekend. He noticed that one of her eyes looked funny, and upon closer observation, it appeared that she had tried to hide a black eye with make-up.

She saw him and smiled and waved.

"Hey! Are you all right?" he asked her.

She frowned. "I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

He shrugged. "It's just that...for a minute there, it looked as if your eye might be injured."

"Oh, that." She laughed lightly. "I'm such a klutz. Bent over to pick something up and smashed it right into the corner of the coffee table."

He frowned but didn't say anything. They got their hot dogs and found a bench to sit on while they ate them.

"Did you have a good week?" Veronica asked.

"It was all right. I reconnected with a few old friends from junior and senior high, brought back some great old memories. You?"

She rolled her eyes. "Same old thing. Work every day. You wouldn't believe how grody some people let their teeth get before they finally go to the dentist."

Peter laughed.

"You've always had some of the most perfect teeth I've ever seen, Peter."

"I've always tried very hard to take good care of them. Keeps my Mom off my case. About that, anyway." They both laughed.

"So what else is your Mom on your case about these days, Peter?"

"Anything and everything." They finished their hot dogs and went for a stroll along the beach, talking and laughing, until suddenly Veronica's face froze in fear.

"I have to go now." Her voice quaked slightly. "Maybe I'll see you again sometime."

He watched as she raced toward a dark-haired, dark-complected man, who grabbed her arm roughly and practically dragged her away.

He waited until they were almost out of sight, then followed discreetly at a safe distance. As he neared Veronica's apartment, he heard the same voices raised in anger again, just as he'd expected that he would.

"I told you he was just a friend!" That was Veronica.

"Like hell he is!" Luis was obviously furious. "I'll teach you to run around on me!"

Peter immediately sprang into action. Finding that the door was, fortunately, unlocked, he burst into the apartment just as Luis' fist swung back. Jumping between Luis and Veronica, he took the hit squarely in the nose. The next thing he knew, Veronica was smashing a chair over Luis' head, causing the man's body to slump to the floor, unconscious.

"Peter!" Veronica screamed. "Are you all right?"

Blood poured copiously from Peter's nose. Veronica hurriedly fetched a bag of ice wrapped in a small towel and handed it to him.

"Thank you," he mumbled, holding the bag to his nose.

"Let's get out of here before he comes to!" Veronica exclaimed. They hurried to the store on the corner, where Veronica called the police and told them what had happened.

The police arrived and asked a series of questions. Veronica and Peter explained what had happened to the best of their ability. It ended with Luis being taken to the hospital by ambulance to see if his skull was fractured and Veronica being told to call them again if there was ever any more trouble.

"I'm afraid to stay here alone," Veronica told Peter after the police had gone. "He's gonna be really angry when he gets released from the hospital."

"So come stay with me," Peter urged her. "You can have my bed. I'll sleep on the sofa."

"No." Veronica was determined. "I pay the rent on this place, and I'm not about to give it up to some bully."

Peter had to smile at her usage of the word 'bully', as that was exactly what she herself had been when they'd first met as junior high students.

"All right," he agreed. "I'll stay for a few days until the dust settles." He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep at night in his own apartment wondering whether or not she was all right, anyway.

Sure enough, a few nights later, Peter was asleep on the sofa when the sound of the key turning in the lock awakened him. He dashed to hide behind the sofa but wasn't quite fast enough. All of a sudden, Luis burst into the apartment brandishing a knife. He grabbed Peter's arm as the smaller man tried to run away.

"I'm gonna cut your balls off, you little shrimp," he growled, pressing the knife against Peter's throat.

Suddenly the larger man slumped to the floor in agony. Peter turned to see Veronica standing in the hallway, a pistol in her hand. Calmly she tucked the gun in her waistband and approached Peter. "Are you all right?"

"I didn't even hear the shot," Peter said, bewildered.

"It has a silencer," Veronica told him. "I bought it right after you came to stay. I knew I'd need it soon."

"I'm sure glad you did!"

"So am I."

They had to call an ambulance again, of course. Both Peter and Veronica also had to go to the police station for questioning, but in the end it was decided that the shooting had been a case of self defense, so no charges would be filed.

'How'd you get mixed up with someone like that, anyway?" Peter asked Veronica once the ordeal was over.

"He was one of my patients," Veronica began. "He was so handsome and charming that he just swept me off my feet! In the beginning he treated me like a queen. He was always such a gentleman, holding doors open for me, things like that. I'd never been treated like that by a man before. Before Luis, guys always either resented me or saw me as pretty much just a buddy."

He saw the longing in her eyes and suddenly felt a peculiar tenderness.

"I was so in love that I didn't even notice when it started to change. Little things at first, moodiness and a lot of complaining and fault finding. I tried to rationalize it away, telling myself that he was just stressed out over not having a regular job and his ex-wife always bugging him for more money, but it just got worse and worse, and before I knew it, things were really bad, but I felt like I was stuck."

"It's your apartment. You could have just put him out."

"I tried. He refused to leave."

"Why didn't you get a restraining order?"

"It wouldn't have done any good. It would have just made him angry."

Peter took both her hands into his own and looked into her eyes. "Why didn't you tell me all this before, Ronnie?" It was the first time he'd ever called her that.

"I didn't want to dump all my problems on you, Peter."

"But that's what friends are for."

"Well, we had kind of drifted apart, and..." She shrugged.

"I should have made more of an effort to stay in touch."

"It was as much my fault as it was yours, Peter."

"Well, it doesn't really matter now, I suppose." He chuckled lightly. "We're back in touch now. Let's never lose touch again, OK?"

She smiled for the first time that day. He smiled back and gently brushed the hair back from her face. "It's been a rough day. How about letting me take you out to dinner?"