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Chapter 10
After the initial shock of the previous announcement, they separated us and
had us each tell our version of the story. The police questioned everyone
except Stacie and Deb. When we had all been questioned we reassembled in
the lobby of the station.
"What you have told us, plus the admission of the attacker will put him in
jail for a long time. You won’t have to worry about seeing him again,"
one of the officers calmly stated. I was still trying to process this
information. I couldn’t believe this had happened to me! I could have
been killed! The officers left the lobby leaving us standing there silently.
No one knew what to say. Finally I spoke.
"Thank you again. If it hadn’t been for your kindness and your willingness
to help a stranger I wouldn’t be standing here now." I looked around
at everyone. We were all pale. I went around the room and hugged everyone.
By this time, almost four in the morning, Stacie was sober again. She spoke
next. "Thank you for saving my sister. I am so grateful. I know it’s
not much, but Deb and I would like to take you all out to dinner tomorrow,"
Stacie said, then stopped and waited for a response.
Brian looked at each of the other guys, then nodded and said, "We’ll
be there. Name the time and place. We’ll pick you up." At this response
Deb began to jump up and down excitedly. I put my hands on her shoulders
to keep her on the ground.
"You’ll have to excuse her. I don’t think the effects of the drinks
have worn off yet," I said knowing full well that although she would be calmer
in their presence if she was sober, as soon as we got home she would jump
and scream. They all just nodded and pretended not to notice, but I saw Nick
and AJ suppressing laughs. Stacie and Brian continued their conversation
as I once again fell into silence.
"We’ve only been here a month, so we don’t know very many good
places to eat," Stacie said. "Do you know a good place that everyone will
agree on?"
"Well I know a lot of good restaurants, but we all have such different tastes
that it will be hard getting everyone to agree," Brian replied.
Deb now spoke up; her voice still a bit slurred. "How about the Broadway
CafE9? We went there for lunch yesterday. They serve every kind of food,
and it’s great!"
"Sounds good," Kevin responded. "I’ve actually been there once. The
food is really great, but the restaurant is tiny so you have to go early
or late to avoid crowds."
"OK, now that we’ve settled on a place, what time should we go?" Stacie
questioned.
"Hmmmm……," Brian paused, "how about 8pm, then we’ll miss any
crowds."
Everyone agreed and we parted. Stacie, Deb, and I climbed back into the Durango.
Nick was driving us back to the club so we could get our car.
Nick pulled up behind our car, across the street from the club. We thanked
Nick and climbed out of the car. Nick waited until we had all gotten into
our car and started the engine before driving away.
I purposely avoided looking across the street at the alley. I was in a daze.
I had only been going through the motions of everything since I had found
out what my fate would have been if the guys hadn’t been there. That
had been the most frightening experience of my life. It wasn’t until
Stacie and Deb were asleep that I finally sank down to the floor of my room,
broke down, and cried.
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