Joey
Theater geek turned hero
“Theo, can you hear me? Are you okay?”
Theo’s head is cradled in my arms, his head in my lap as I sit with my legs stretched out in front of me. The noise and chaos levels have dissipated now that they’ve removed Tommy from the premises.
Glancing over to where Melody sits, her back up against the old wooded-wall, her knees drawn up to her chest and forehead at the top of her knees, I can now see what was hiding under the surface all these weeks. Although I don’t know her all that well, I do know she’s a sweet woman. Shy, reserved…and obviously scared.
And right now, she’s shaking like a leaf, with a sob that departs from her lungs every few seconds. Birdie rushed over to Melody’s side, leaving me with Theo. She refused to call the police, which I think is a huge mistake, but she did promise to go stay with a friend and wouldn’t return to Tommy.
Theo mumbles something incoherently.
“Shh, it’s okay. Someone’s going to get you an icepack to put on that eye of yours.” I barely feather my finger over the top of his eyebrow and he closes his eyes in a flinch.
“’Surts,” he complains, as he lifts one hand to touch that side of his face.
I want to kiss him. Whisper in his ear that he’ll be fine and I’ll take care of him, but I can’t. There are witnesses. I’m already getting weird side glances from the crew because of the way I’ve positioned Theo’s head on my lap.
Well, screw them. Let them think whatever they want.
At a time like this, all that matters is that Theo knows he’s cared for and someone is here for him after his heroic attempt to thwart wrong doing. I want him to know how brave and amazing he was to stand up to that horrible abusive monster.
I’ve always been a bit squeamish when it comes to blood and stuff. Two years ago, one of my students was tripped while walking into my class. The kid, Benny, fell into his sharpened pencil that had been clutched in his hand. He stabbed himself in his upper shoulder – poor kid.
Blood spurted everywhere and it looked like a scene from The Walking Dead. I just stood there like an immobile zombie. I seriously couldn’t move. I watched it all happen in slow motion and it took three of my students yelling at me and shaking me to move into action. I finally snapped out of it and instructed someone to call up the nurse and I stopped the bleeding with my favorite knit sweater.
Damn, I loved that sweater!
Thankfully, Benny lived another day. And , of course, I received a new title, Hurling Miss Hughes.
Because yes, I did immediately upchuck in the class wastebasket after the adrenaline wore off.
But not now. Now I feel a calm to my core. I have no fear. I’m invincible. And slightly turned on, to be honest.
The moment I walked in and saw Theo jump into action – all hulking alpha male – I may have had a mini-orgasm.
He was my own Bruce Willis in Die Hard. Or Clark Kent. Or insert geek-in-real-life superhero name here. That’s who he is.
Phew. Is it hot in here or what?
I know I’ve teased Theo over the last few weeks since the Woody incident, about his less-than-alpha attributes. But there was none of that the moment he decided to defend Melody and go up against her attacker.
Poor girl. I hope she leaves his ass in the dust for trying to lay a finger on her. Oh geez. What if this is her daily life? What if she’s been abused often by this horrible fire breathing dragon of a man?
I shake my head to ward off the thoughts that my imagination conjures up and refocus my energy on Theo.
“I’m not sure if I should be embarrassed or make a pass at you, considering where my head is at the moment.”
I gaze down into Theo’s grinning face and know he’ll be okay, with or without the shiner now appearing in a deep black and blue under his left eye.
“You have nothing to be embarrassed about,” I reply, shaking my head. “That was the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”
He squints and then thinks twice about it, his hand rubbing between his eyes, his expression evening out across his face.
“So, you’re suggesting that getting me punched in the face turns you on? Does that mean I’m getting laid tonight?”
I bite my lip trying not to smile, looking around to see if anyone heard his naughty remark.
I place my finger at my lip. “Shh, be quiet. You don’t want people to hear you.”
He waves a hand in the air. “I just faced a near-death experience. Life altering. I don’t care.”
Rolling my eyes, I help him up into a sitting position so he sits next to me, both our backs up against the wall. And then the exterior door opens, the outside light blasting in on us as Carla steps through and hands Theo a bag of frozen peas.
She shrugs. “It was all we could find. Went over to the bodega down the block. They didn’t have any other ice-related products. Hope that’s okay.”
I speak up on his behalf. “Thanks so much, Carla. It’ll work just fine.”
Sliding my arms out of my thin cardigan, I reach for the frozen bag and wrap it up in the material, handing it down to Theo, our hands touching, as I guide it to his face.
He sighs and smiles a painful smile.
“It smells like you,” he whispers, pulling the arm of the material to his nose and sniffing it like you see on fabric softener commercials.
“Pervert.”
He chokes out a laugh and leans his head back against the wall.
“I’d only be a pervert if it were your panties.”
Carla is still standing there and clears her throat with a squeak before she darts off down the hallway.
Well, that’s one way to keep our romance under wraps. I snap my head toward him and only see the bag covering his left side of his face.
“Ugh. I’m feeling woozy.”
“Oh no, that’s not good. Here, lay back down.” I stretch my legs out once more and when his head lands in my lap, I see the devilish grin on the side that’s visible.
“You shit. You’re not really dizzy, are you?”
He turns his head so his nose is practically buried in my crotch and I feel his body trembling with laughter.
“No, not really. I just wanted an excuse to put my face in your pussy again.”
“Oh my God,” I screech.
Bad move, though. Now everyone is looking our way and I have to pinch him in the side so he pulls his face out of my lady bits.
Marlon comes sauntering up toward us, crouching down so he’s eye level with me. His eyes scan my face with the briefest of questions and then his attention goes to Theo.
“Hey teach, you good, bro? That was quite a blow. Not something I expected to see at a community theater workshop. Maybe at my brother’s boxing gym where he trains, but not here. But you were badass, bro.”
Theo nods and huffs out a laugh. “Yeah, man. If you consider badass getting smashed in the face. But I’ll be okay. It’s just a little swelling. We’ll still go ahead and do our final rehearsals tonight.”
“Theo,” I admonish.
He waves me off. “This is lesson number two-hundred and twenty in how to be a real stage actor. The show must go on. I didn’t lose life or limb, so we’ll work through the scenes as planned. I’ll just ice it a lot tonight.”
Marlon stands up again. “Glad to know you’ll be okay. But I’m happy to step in if you need me to.”
He’s referring to Theo’s part in the play as Chester. My look of surprise darts to Marlon and then down to Theo.
I can feel Theo stiffen in my lap.
“Nah. Thanks, though. I’ll be good as new tomorrow.”
Marlon gives a thumbs up. “Good to hear. Check ya later.”
I heave a sigh as Marlon strolls down the hallway into the opened doors of the stage area.
“Well, I’ll make sure you get plenty of ice tonight. We can’t have you all black-and-blue this weekend for show time.”
“Hmm,” he hums. “I know a really good technique for bruising.”
“Oh yeah?”
I feel like I’m walking into a trap based on the grin that’s reappeared across his mouth.
“Oh yeah. Come down here and I’ll tell you about it.”
He crooks his finger to me and I bend forward so my ear is just at his lips. His breath is warm and fans across my neck as he speaks.
“You see, a bruise is just trapped blood underneath the skin. So, I figure, I just need to move the blood to another part of my body. Got any idea how we might do that?”
He snickers and I stick my tongue out at him.
He’s such a doofus.
But he’s my kind of a doofus and I kind of like him anyway.