My Kind Of Bad

Neera froze as Taylor pressed the blade against her neck. Taylor’s eyes were wild, angry. Her nostrils flared.

“They had all had Kurt and I hadn’t!” She shrieked. “I was going to change that. But you were different. I actually liked you. Even then I thought you two wouldn’t last long. But it was clear from the get-go that Kurt loved you, that you were special. So I distracted him by putting an anonymous tip to Billy that the shooter from the club was in another part of the county. I wanted you to walk away because he was showing no interest in you, that he was working too much to care.”

As she listened, Neera then thought of something else. Something she had forgotten about until then. The shooting, the night when she met Kurt. Something about it…

She stared at Taylor. A memory flickered into view in her mind’s eye. A blonde woman dancing near Petra, gyrating with several men. It was Taylor.

“You were at the club that night. You shot it up, didn’t you?”

“Clever girl. I didn’t think you spotted me.” Taylor’s jaw clenched. “I was angry. I saw Neo go into the locker room when Kurt was in there. From the swiftness she came out she hadn’t got anywhere but it made me mad. A guy across the street sells guns on the street. He let me have a Mac-10 for $100. I wasn’t going to kill anyone that time. I just wanted Kurt to know that someone was still around watching him.”

Kurt had wondered at some point that the shooting had had something to do with him. But then the tip that the shooter was around had distracted him. He had been right the first time.

“He’ll know you killed me.” She said, her voice shaking. “This building has surveillance cameras. Someone would have seen you.”

“No, he won’t.” Taylor grinned. “He won’t believe I can kill somebody. And he’ll be all messed up over losing you. All I have to do is insert myself at the right time and I’ve got him.”

“You’ve killed five times already. What makes you think it’ll work this time?”

“I’m going to keep doing it until there’s nobody left. Anyone who’s ever fu*ked him will be dead.”

Taylor darted forward, shoving Neera in the chest. Neera found herself pinned against the cushions, the knife pressing against her throat. She opened her mouth to scream.

Then it all happened at once. There was the sound of a door splintering. Voices shouting. The knife suddenly disappeared from Neera’s throat as someone wrestled Taylor away, dumping her on the floor and pinning her on her front. And then Kurt was there, kneeling before her and cupping her cheek in his hand.

“Neera?”

Neera thought she was living a dream. She looked around and saw Taylor fighting with Pete, who had two uniformed officers holding her legs as Pete cuffed her. Taylor’s face was red and she was screaming.

“Let me go! The bi*ch deserves to die!”

“Nobody’s dying tonight.” Pete growled. He pulled Taylor to her feet and shoved her towards the door. “Let’s go, Mrs DuJour. You’re under arrest.”

He was still reading her rights as they left, Taylor still screaming over him. Neera couldn’t speak. She was still trying to follow what had just happened.

She stared into space as Kurt cut the zip ties off her wrists, put a blanket around her shoulders, and lifted her into his arms. Neera allowed him to hold her as he carried her out, tears finally coming out. And Kurt didn’t say anything.

He didn’t say a word as they went to the hospital.

*****

Petra poured vodka into a large glass and added a splash of orange juice. Then she carried it over to the couch.

“Here we go, darling. Get that down you.”

Neera scowled and pushed it away, nearly spilling it on the carpet.

“Petra, you know I don’t drink.”

“So what?” Petra licked her hand of the splashes and sat beside her, taking a big gulp. “You should. It will make you forget.”

“It won’t.” Neera stared miserably at the scars on her wrists. “Trust me, I tried.”

Not only did the stuff taste foul she could still remember the feel of the zip-ties in her wrists, how they dug in so badly they had cut the skin deep enough that Neera had needed stitches on one hand. They still hadn’t healed even after three weeks.

Elizabeth chuckled. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor on the other side of the coffee table.

“She gave me the six-pack of vodka she had bought last week to drink herself into a stupor. She only had one and it didn’t work.”

Petra sighed. She slid over and slipped an arm around Neera’s shoulders.

“I know you miss him, honey,” She said gently, “But it’s been three weeks. I think that’s an indication that you weren’t meant to be.”

“I loved him, Petra.” Neera said. “If you can turn off feelings that strong so quickly, I’d like to see you try.”

Neera had thought that things would get back on track now that Taylor had been caught and arrested. She had been arraigned in court already and her trial was due to start next month. Neera had thought Kurt would ask for them to get back together since there wasn’t a threat anymore. But Kurt had not said a word. He had taken her into the hospital, left her with a doctor in the ER, and then walked out. Shortly after Pete had come in to talk to her and was just as surprised as she was that Kurt had disappeared.

He had offered to find Kurt and have it out with him but Neera had refused. Kurt had made his feelings clear; he didn’t want to be with her. It hurt that he had walked away without explanation. He hadn’t called, he wasn’t responding to her texts, and his friends said he had retreated into his apartment, calling in sick at work and refusing to talk to anyone. Even Billy couldn’t get through to him and Kurt always did as Billy asked.

Neera took that as a sign he didn’t want to know. And that just made her recovery even worse. The man she loved didn’t love her. If he did he wouldn’t cut her out of his life.

Someone knocked at the door. Elizabeth put her glass down and stood up, padding to the door. Neera heard her opening the door and then a voice she hadn’t heard in a long time reached her ears.

“Hey, Lizzie, is Neera here?”

“Who wants to know?” Elizabeth’s voice was hard, angry.

“Don’t give me that, Lizzie. I want to talk to Neera.”

“You what? You’ve broken her heart and you expect me to let you in?”

Neera knew he wouldn’t go away until he saw her. She stood, Petra’s arm falling off her shoulders, and she went to the door. Kurt stood on the threshold, Elizabeth blocking his way. He looked awful. His hair was growing out and he had two-day stubble across his jaw. He looked like he hadn’t slept in a while and his clothes clearly needed a wash.

Neera felt her heart aching for him. He was in a mess. Taylor’s betrayal had hit him hard. And she was too soft-hearted with him to turn away. She touched Elizabeth’s shoulder.