He decided it was time to get scared. She might have hurt him before but now Ginni could do some serious damage.
Simon wasn’t sure what made him think of his stone at that moment. Maybe he hoped she would be confused. Or perhaps seeing it would remind her of the necklace and in turn about her love for him. Whatever the reason, she wasn’t attacking and he took those seconds to pull the blue orb from his inside pocket.
By some trick of the lights it seemed to burst forth an intense beam which was reflected by the pendent around her neck. She grew calmer and within a few seconds had dropped the bat. Her eyes passed from berserk hatred to sanity to horror.
“Oh Simon, what have I done? Are you okay? I’m so sorry.”
None of this had dampened his love for Ginni at all. Yes there was something dangerous and ugly deep in there. But he knew the wonderful her as well.
“Ginni, what’s going on? Why did you…I thought you were going to kill me. Talk to me.” He was pleading with her now.
“Simon, there’s something I’m not ready to talk about yet. It hurts. I have nightmares about it all the time. Maybe someday I’ll be able to tell you but not right now. I can’t be with you. I can’t be around you. I’m not safe.”
He couldn’t believe that she was trying to end what they had. And for what? Because she didn’t feel safe? What had he ever done to hurt her? The hurt and anger began to rise in his bowels now.
“Wait a minute. You attacked me remember? I’ve never done anything to hurt you. WhatDoYouMeanYourNotSafe?”
Now it was her turn to plead. “You don’t understand. I didn’t…”
“Didn’t what? Want to be with me anymore? Couldn’t find a nicer way to break it off? Maybe you could have, oh I don’t know, sent me a letter or even a text. Obviously telling me face to face wouldn’t work unless you beat me half to death first.”
Her face was awash with more tears than ever, “Simon no! That’s not what I meant!”
He winced with the renewed pain in his ribs. He didn’t think they were broken but something sure was moving around that hadn’t earlier. It boiled his blood until a new head of steam erupted. “And I’ll be having that necklace back if you don’t mind. It’s kind of special to me.” It was the cruelest thing he could imagine right then. Part of his heart died when the words passed his lips.
Ginni blanched then opened her mouth. It quivered but no words came. She lifted the locket from under her blouse, kissed it and then tossed the shining blue star at Simon’s feet.
He saw a change come over her. There was less tension around her eyes. Her hands unclenched and she gave a great heaving sigh. The Ginni who had been running around school causing trouble had disappeared. This was the sweet woman whom Simon cherished.
His own anger ebbed away until just the tiniest corner of his brain screamed to hurt her for everything she had done. He didn’t want to listen but couldn’t quite drown it out either. Simon looked down at the necklace and then back into her face. “Maybe I’ll just let you keep it for a while. As a remembrance of what we had.”
He walked backwards to the door and turned the handle. It swung open to the hallway and stairs leading down. Simon couldn’t prevent himself from taking one more glimpse at the woman he feared and wanted to marry. She appeared as if through the finest white silk. A haze was filling the room which projected a halo about her head like a Russian icon. He longed to rush back in, hold her and protect her. But that was impossible. Not after tonight. He needed some time to think things over. They needed time to rebuild.
The fog grew thicker in her room and Simon wiped his tears away, hoping it would help. It didn’t.
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