Chapter 41

 

With classes wrapping up that very day for Christmas break, Becky practically floated on her way home from the university. Happily, kicking at the recently fallen snow, she was caught off guard by a snowball to the back of her head.

“What the?”

“Ah-ha! Got you.” Keegan laughed, catching up to her from behind.

“Hey, that wasn’t very nice of you,” Becky said, wiping the snow away from her hair.

“Oh, come on.” He chuckled, helping to dust off the remainder of the snow before it melted and slid down the back of her neck. “Where’s your sense of humour?”

“Get off!” She playfully swatted him, suppressing a giggle at his look of indignation. Keegan was a strange one, to say the least. They were both still trying to figure each other out. He usually avoided her, but that was mostly because he was afraid he might say the wrong thing which usually resulted with Kell’s fist connecting with his face. But every now and then when Kell was nowhere in sight, he would let his guard down.

Keegan, fancied himself quite the ladies man, if only in his own mind. Slighter in structure and standing at five-eleven, he wasn’t as imposing as the other three Goths in Becky’s life, yet to her, he was still a force to be reckoned with, especially when he thought nothing of tackling her into a nearby snow bank.

“There now, what do you think of that, girlie?” He laughed, rolling around so that he absorbed the impact of the fall.

“I think you’re impossible!” she half-shouted, attempting to right herself.

“Haha, not so fast!” Grabbing her wrist, he shook the fistful of snow from her hand, laughing when she attempted to shove it down the front of his jacket.

Becky didn’t know whether to laugh along or cry at Keegan’s steely grip on her body. The problem was, he never quite knew when to quit. Taking what snow she had left on her mitten, he turned it and playfully smacked it against her own face.

“Keegan!” she cried out indignantly.

“Oh… stop,” he said with a rueful pout, flashing her a goofy grin. “Hey, you’re the one on top.” He flippantly pointed out with a playful buck of his hips.

Frustrated, Becky reactively bent his fingers back on his right hand. “Shit, Becky… ah, stop!” he cried out while laughing at the fury in her eyes.

“Say uncle!” she said, staring him down.

“Becky, please… I’ll never play guitar again if you don’t let go.”

“You should have thought of that before you attacked me,” she said with a mocking smile, knowing full well that he was loving this.

So absorbed in their melee in the snow, they both startled when suddenly a car pulled up by the sidewalk behind them. There were three of them. Three very large guys with baseball caps came barreling towards them with murderous intent in their eyes.

“Shit, I’m fucked…” Keegan gasped, realizing that they were coming at him like heat-seeking missiles. Before he could manoeuvre Becky out of the way, one of the Neanderthals had her up in the air, flailing away from him.

“Fucking freak!” said the one that jumped on him first.

“Hey… no, stop this! Let me go!” Becky shouted, kicking and fighting at the large oaf who held her. “What are you doing?” Twisting around him, she watched in horror as the other two punched and kicked at Keegan.

“Helping you!” he shouted back, confused. “The freak was attacking you!”

“No… stop!” she cried out, fighting to free herself. “He’s my friend! My housemate. We were just messing around!”

Coming in and out of consciousness, hearing her voice, Keegan looked over at Becky and hoped to hell that she was okay. God help these fuckers if they laid a hand on her. In a fleeting attempt to free himself, Keegan grabbed a fistful of snow and pounded it into the face of the guy who held him down.

“You piece of shit, freaking Goth punk, bastard!” the guy shouted, catching Keegan’s hand and twisting it back. “This will teach you to keep your fucking dirty hands off our women.”

At the sound of Keegan’s strangled cry of pain, Becky screamed. “Let him go! Let him go!” She kicked and struggled against her self-proclaimed guardian.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” he scoffed, releasing her with a shove towards Keegan. “Guys, let’s get the fuck out of here.”

“What the fuck?” said the guy, holding Keegan down. Without a thought for herself, Becky threw herself on top of him. She pried his meaty mitts away from the Goth’s mangled hand. “Bitch, you deserve everything you get.” Disgusted, he shook her off, got up and kicked snow at the both of them.

“Come on, let’s get the hell out of here,” the third guy said as they got in their car and sped way.

 

They were a right mess, the both of them. Becky and Keegan, lying panting in the snow, his arm around her, holding her safely to him. “Shit, Becky, I’m so sorry you had to see that.”

“Keegan, your hand?” she said, taking it, watching him wince. “Is it broken?”

“No, I don’t think so,” he said, tentatively wiggling his fingers. “You okay? Did they touch you? Did they hurt you?”

“No… but why did they…”

“Never mind, eh. I suppose they thought they were being chivalrous. They probably assumed I was jumping you. I mean look at me. You can’t blame them, really. Besides, I think I might’ve made out with one of their girlfriends,” he joked, making light of the situation.

He was trying to make her laugh, but it wasn’t working. All she could see were the bruises on his face, the cut on his already swollen lip. “They didn’t even stop to ask me, though,” she said as her eyes welled up. “You weren’t doing anything wrong. We were just playing around.”

“Sh… hey, it’s all right,” he soothed her as he helped her up and dusted himself off of snow. “It’s nothing that hasn’t happened before.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, checking his hand once again.

“Happens all the time. They call it a hate crime. I call it fear of the unknown,” he said, wrapping his fingers around her hand, limping as he walked with her.

“It’s not right, whatever it is,” she said, helping him along while thinking back to the day she met Kelley. He had been knocked into her by a similar group of guys on that fateful day.

 

Despite Keegan’s reassurances, Becky couldn’t get the distressing incident from her mind. Needing to be alone, she once again, barricaded herself in her room.

“Becky?” Kelley called, knocking gently on her door. “Love, don’t be sad.” He let himself in and knelt by her side. “Keegan’s none the worse for wear.”

“I can’t help but feel like it was my fault,” she said, looking into his fathomless black eyes. “They hit him because they thought he…”

“None of it is your fault. If anything it was a misunderstanding.”

“They didn’t even stop to let me explain,” she lamented. “They nearly broke his hand, Kelley. What if he can’t play guitar now?”

“Oh, Becky, he’s fine. Come on downstairs.” He leaned in and kissed her forehead. The poor sweet girl was obviously shaken up. It tore at his heart to see her this way. “Don’t let this event ruin our Christmas.”

“He wasn’t doing anything wrong…” she sobbed, wracked with guilt. “We were just playing around. It’s just because of the way he looks.”

“Yes, as unfortunate as that sounds, it’s all very true,” he said with a deep sigh of regret.

“Just like with you.” She blinked back her tears. “When those guys pushed you into me.”

“Wow, you still remember that?” he said with a crooked smile. “Aw, trust me, those idiots did me the biggest favour that day.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, sure. I met you, didn’t I?” he said, smoothing a hand down her hair. “Other than the fact that I nearly pulverized you, it was the best day of my life.”

Becky couldn’t help but smile at his words. “Feel free to pulverize me like that anytime you like, Kelley.”

“Fuck, Becky… you’re killing me,” he groaned as he pulled her in for a ravenous kiss.

 

Eventually, joining the Goths downstairs, she went right up to Keegan and stared at his hand, still worried about lingering damage. “What’s that face for?” Keegan asked, quirking an eyebrow at her.

“Please, put Becky out of her misery and play your guitar for her,” Kell said, gently patting Becky on the head.

“Aw, you’re worried about my hand, Becky?” Keegan said, looking from Becky to the guys. “I’m fine, really.” He watched as she tentatively stroked the back of his hand yet unconvinced. “Come, let’s all head into the garage and have ourselves a little jam session.”

Without further encouragement, Kell, Crispin, and Becky put on their coats and boots and headed outside. Lingering behind, Keegan gave his head a shake. “She certainly has a way of growing on you, doesn’t she?” he said when Dorian sat down to put on his boots.

“That she does, my friend,” Dorian said with a knowing smile. “Once again, our little Becky weaves her magic.”

Moments later, Becky was blown away by Keegan’s guitar playing. Wow, and what a difference having him play lead, made for Crispin. It was insane how awesome they looked and how amazing they sounded together. What a transformation in Crispin! She hadn’t realized what he had meant before. Now she realized how having Keegan play lead guitar, freed Crispin up to be the true performer that he was. In that moment, Becky had no doubt that the Kingston Quartet were destined for greatness.