When Love's at Work (20 page)

The morning flew by and Purity lost sight of
her friends quickly as they all scattered to toss rings, throw
balls at bowling pins, and get their fortune told by Madame
Priscilla.

Mid-afternoon, when Meg tapped on Purity’s
shoulder, Pure’s startled response was golden. “What in the hell
happened to you?”

Meg looked like she had been in a horrific
accident. Rivers of blood stains covered half of her face and her
forehead looked as if someone had bludgeoned her with a sharp
instrument.

“
Court?” Purity asked,
knowing full well that no one else could have transformed sweet,
pixie-like Meg into such a heinous accident victim.

“
Isn’t it great?” Meg said
enthusiastically. “You should see Bobby. He looks hideous! The kids
are totally having a ball with it, too. Court’s got the longest
booth line in the whole place, even longer than the lines for the
rides.”

“
I’m not surprised. I
think I need to go get in line,” Purity said with a mischievous
smile.

“
Oh yes!” Meg encouraged.
“I’ll go with you.”

Halfway to Court’s booth, Bobby caught Meg’s
arm and said, “Let’s ride the Scrambler.”

“
I’m going with Pure to
get her face painted,” Meg explained.

“
Oh, no, it’s fine, Meg,
go with Bob. I’ll catch up with you later.”

“
Are you sure you don’t
mind?” Meg asked.

“
I’m sure. Go, go,” Pure
shooed the couple away.

As she approached Courtney’s booth,
Stephanie Watson was just getting up from having her face painted.
Her cute little mug was now covered from her forehead down to her
lips with a jagged scar that resembled a railroad track. She was
grinning broadly as she surveyed her new look in the mirror. “Cool!
Look mom,” she said.

“
You getting tired,
Court?” Pure asked her friend.

Court met her friend’s gaze and replied,
“Never.” Courtney was in her element.

Meg hadn’t exaggerated the popularity of
Court’s booth. Pure decided to come back later when the line was
not quite so long. It seemed like the size of the crowd had tripled
in the last half hour. Even though the event was outside, it felt
claustrophobic to Purity.

Pure eyed the picnic benches that were
located at the very end of the southeast corner of the parking lot.
They were deserted. Pure made a bee-line for them. It would feel
good to sit down and take a bit of a breather.

It was fun to watch all the activity from
the sidelines. Everyone appeared to be having a good time. Chalk up
another success, although a bit prematurely since the day wasn’t
over and they had two more days to go.

The clown seemed to come out of nowhere.
Pure hadn’t noticed him walking towards her.

“
You startled me,” she
said.

“
Sorry,” the clown said in
a deep voice.

“
No problem. Everything
seems to be going really well. Thanks for participating,” Purity
made small talk with the man in polka dot pants and a multi-colored
wig.

“
My pleasure.”

Purity wasn’t sure why she felt
uncomfortable, but the hairs on the back of her neck were standing
on end and a cold chill ran down her spine, even though the
temperature was in the low 80s.

“
Do you want to sit down?”
Pure asked.

“
Thanks,” he said, and sat
down on the bench next to her. They sat in silence for several
minutes.

“
Well,” Pure began,
getting up from her seated position and turning to face the clown,
“guess I’d better get back to work.”

“
Can’t you stay a little
longer?”

Purity thought it was sweet that the clown
wanted company, so she smiled at him and their eyes met, familiar
eyes.

Her entire body was locked in a trance-like
state and the smile fell from her lips. She was too far away from
the crowd to be heard over all the noise of the rides, laughter and
carnival music. If she tried to run, he’d be on top of her in
seconds.

“
You need to leave,”
Purity said, surprised that her voice didn’t shake, but sounded
firm and in control. She certainly didn’t feel that way.

“
Or what?” Derek
Worthington asked. “Are you going to try your self-defense
techniques on me?”

He’d been watching her, probably much more
than she was even aware. Well, if this was where she needed to take
her stand, so be it. She was not going to be a victim even one
minute longer. This was going to end now. Her fear would not get
the best of her this time around.

“
What do you want, Derek?”
She said his name deliberately. She wanted him to know that his
disguise didn’t fool her and she was not the scared little girl he
once knew.

“
I want you. And then I
want you,” he paused, “dead.”

“
So, what are you waiting
for, an engraved invitation?” Purity pushed him with her
words.

Derek’s eyes narrowed, “What are you trying
to pull?”

“
If you want me, come get
me.”

Derek moved quickly from the picnic table
and lunged for Purity.

Purity shoved the heel of her hand directly
up and onto Derek’s nose, thankful he had taken off the big, red
rubber ball nose most of the clowns were wearing. Blood came
gushing out and Pure realized it was quite different than hitting
Charlie Mankins in his attacker suit.

“
You broke my fucking
nose!” Derek yelled. After coming out of shock that Purity had hit
him, he lunged at her again, this time being sure to watch where
her hands were.

Purity grabbed Derek’s arm and pulled him
past her, then she stepped up onto the picnic table seat and threw
her entire body weight onto Derek’s back, tackling him before he
could turn around. He rolled her over so he was on top of her.

“
Well, this is better,” he
said cockily. “This is just where I wanted you.”

Derek took her arms and placed them above
her head, then pinned them with one of his hands.

Damn, Pure thought. She hadn’t expected this
turn of events and she suddenly felt very foolish for not running
away or screaming. She had played right into Derek’s hands.

Derek’s fingertips traced Pure’s lips. “So
soft,” Derek said dreamily. “Such a shame that no one will ever
touch your lips again.”

Pure swallowed hard as his hand lowered to
her neck and began to squeeze.

“
Remember what it felt
like the last time we were together?” he asked.

Pure squirmed. She would not panic, she told
herself. She had to keep a clear head. This was not like last time.
It would never be like last time ever again.

Derek removed his hand and Purity tried to
escape.

“
Not so fast, little one,”
Derek said, soothingly, as he retrieved the blade from his pocket.
He showed the knife to Purity. He wanted to make sure she saw every
inch of the sharp steel. He pressed it against the flesh on her
neck where his fingers had been.

“
It feels cool in the
heat, doesn’t it?” he asked. When Pure didn’t answer he pushed the
blade further against her skin, “Doesn’t it?” he said louder and
stronger.

“
No,” she said firmly.
“Get the fuck off of me,” Pure commanded with much more verve than
she felt.

“
When did you get a
backbone?”

“
When I fell in love with
a real man. A man I can trust and believe in. A man who doesn’t lie
or cheat or steal. The kind of man you’ll never be.”

“
Shut up!”

“
No, I won’t shut up. I’ll
never shut up. My voice will not be silent any more,” Purity stated
with conviction. Then she screamed. A loud blood-curling, from the
very tips of your toes kind of scream.

Because he had the knife in his right hand,
he used his left hand to cover Pure’s mouth. Big mistake, Purity
thought as she used her free hands to whack Derek in his
already-broken nose.

Derek howled in pain as more blood shot out
of his nasal passages.

“
Sonofabitch,” he mumbled
in agony.

Purity rolled out from under him, stood up,
and began stomping on the hand that held the knife. Derek dropped
the blade and Purity picked it up. She’d never threatened anyone
with a knife in her life, but she swore if Derek moved an inch she
would stab that blade so deep into his flesh no one would ever be
able to get it out.

“
You will never hurt me
again. Do you understand?” she yelled at Derek. “Do you
understand?” she repeated when he didn’t answer.

The sound of running footsteps reached
Pure’s ears. She didn’t want to take her eyes off the man on the
ground, but she quickly glanced toward the sound. Meg, Bobby and
Alex were only yards from her. That’s when her legs began to feel
weak and the gravity of the situation began to reveal itself. She
could have been killed. She would have been killed. That had been
Derek’s intention.

Alex said quietly, “Purity, it’s Alex. I’m
going to take the knife from you. The police are on their way.” He
approached her slowly, still talking in a calm, quiet tone. “I’m
almost behind you. I’m going to put my hand out and take the knife
from you.” He gently touched her hand. Purity heard his words, but
was frozen in place. Once Alex had the knife in his hand, Purity
turned her body into his and he held her tightly with his left
arm.

“
That’s it, Worthington.
You’re over,” Alex commented with absolutely no remorse.

Bobby wasn’t satisfied that Derek’s body
seemed to be in such good health. He bent down, pulled Derek up by
his swirly clown collar and began punching the shit out of him. His
face looked like one of Courtney’s elaborate facial paintings, only
this blood was real. Several more punches to the gut and a final
blow, hard on his back, left Derek in a crumpled heap on the
ground.

“
Couldn’t have done it
better myself,” Alex said to Bobby with admiration in his
voice.

Courtney came running up to the group with
the police a few yards behind.

“
Holy crap!” Courtney
said, her hand flying to her mouth in shock. Courtney turned to
glance at the police officers, then hurriedly ran over to where
Derek was lying and gave him a swift kick in the ribs.

“
Nobody hurts my friend,”
Courtney said angrily. “You deserve all of this and so much more. I
hope you rot in hell!”

Meg nodded her agreement.

The police took statements and called an
ambulance for Derek.

“
Is he going to jail?”
Purity asked, worried that, even now, Derek Worthington would still
be out on the streets within hours.

“
Yes. Attempted murder
with a deadly weapon,” one of the officers stated.

Purity took a deep breath. Finally, Derek
Worthington would be behind bars. Maybe now she could close this
chapter of her life.

The crowd that gathered when the police
arrived was beginning to thin. Purity was glad her encounter with
Derek Worthington was already old news. Sheila, Judd and Mark were
concerned for Pure’s well-being and they all assured her that
things were under control and she should take the rest of the day
off.

Purity wanted to argue, but she felt so
drained. All she wanted to do was curl up in Alex’s arms and let
the experience fade into a memory.

Meg, Court and Bobby weren’t exactly sure
what they should do. Alex seemed to be what Pure needed now, so
they gave her words of encouragement, hugs and then watched Alex
and Purity walk away together toward Alex’s car.

Bobby put his arm around Meg and Courtney
felt the sting of change. Under different circumstances it would
have been she and Meg helping Purity through her ordeal with Derek.
Court sighed.

Meg heard her deep exhale and circled her
waist with her arm. Their eyes met and Court needed to bite her lip
to keep the tears at bay. She and Meg didn’t always see eye-to-eye,
but the empathy and insight in Meggie’s gaze made Court realize
that she wasn’t the only one who knew that their trio would need to
bend and grow if the three women were to remain life-long
friends.

Courtney gave Meg and Bobby a hug and then
headed back to her booth. There were carnival goers who needed to
have their faces altered, and she was just the gal for the job.

“
Are you worried about
Pure?” Meg asked Bobby.

“
No. Alex is a good man.
I’d trust him with my life.”

“
You barely know
him.”

“
That’s true, but I still
trust him.”

Meg tightened her grip around Bobby’s waist
and snuggled closer. “Me, too.”

Purity was quiet on the trip to Alex’s home.
Her emotions were all over the place. One minute she was elated
that she had the courage to stand up to Derek and the next minute
she could feel the blade of the knife against her flesh.

Alex didn’t try to get her to talk or ask
her how she felt, he just walked her up to the second floor where
his bedroom was and sat her down on the bed. Then he went into the
adjacent bathroom and Pure could hear the sound of running water
streaming into the bathtub.

Numb. That’s how she felt right this very
moment.

When Alex came back into the bedroom, he sat
next to Pure for a minute or two and then began to remove her
clothing slowly. It wasn’t sexual, although Alex did have to put an
image of dead puppies in his mind’s eye so he wouldn’t get
distracted at seeing Purity’s naked body for the first time.