What is a place essay- Copperhead road

Copperhead Road

I can’t believe I let Maria talk me into coming to the club tonight. I stand in front of the mirror trying on every outfit in my closet, it seems like nothing looks the way i want it to. I can’t seem to get comfortable in my own skin. Every dress is too tight around my breasts; my friends are all flat chested so of course they like to make fun of the gigantic pillows on my chest. Just when im about to give up and just go to sleep, i find the right dress. I put it on, its black and has a deep v-cut, it goes right above my knees and the slit comes half way up my leg, and it has long sleeves. I'm finishing up my hair when there's a knock on the door. I let Maria in and she is going on and on about how we will have a one night stand with someone tonight and we won’t remember a thing in the morning. I get my daughters clothes packed to stay the night with her father for the night. I dropped her off earlier and told him i would drop the clothes off on my way to the club. Usually im the responsible one, i stay home with Chloe, i have a full time job, and im in college. He is the one that lives with his mom and runs around with his friends doing drugs, and anyone with legs. The only reason im letting him take her tonight is because i know that his mom will be the one taking care of her.

Maria and I get in her sports car with the top down. I decide that im gonna just let everything go and im gonna have fun tonight. At the club we sit at a table and start drinking immediately. Soon we are giggling and talking about how petty our problems are. Then a man walks up to the table and asks Maria to dance, she gives me a questioning glance and i tell her to go ahead. I sit at the table alone and watch Maria walking away. She’s tall, and very slender, her blonde straight hair goes half way down her back. She’s wearing a wild animal print dress that barely covers her butt; her heels must be six inches long! I don’t understand how that girl can walk in those darn things. The man is very handsome, slender with black hair and brown eyes, he’s wearing ripped jeans and a black button up shirt. They get to the floor and start grinding on each other. I sit in the seat alone in the club like a loser and convince myself that i need another drink. I walk over to the bar, trying not to fall from the heels im wearing, as im about to order a Bahama Mama a man walks up to me and tries to strike up a conversation by complimenting my perfect dress. I just smile, and try to brush him off. He’s very persistent so i let him buy me a drink. We sit at the table, having a normal conversation and i realize this man is possibly the hottest man in here. He is very tan, black hair, blue eyes, tall, and very muscular. He could be a model! The more he talks the more i can’t seem to keep my eyes off of him. What was his name? Josh? Jeremy? Im not sure.

He asks me to dance with him, for some reason it seems that the alcohol has made it much easier to walk in these heels. We start to dance, my arms around his neck and his around my waist. Suddenly i start to feel dizzy and i can’t seem to concentrate, my legs go numb and i lean on him so i don’t fall on the ground. I hear voices but i can’t understand any words, i can’t recognize any faces.

When i wake up im in a cold, dark, wet, cement room. Im lying on the ground with a pillow under my head. I start to raise my head but it’s no use my head feels too heavy. I just lay there unable to figure out what series of events led me here. Is Maria playing a joke on me? I can’t see anything. I start to groan, not able to pronounce any real words and the man from the club opens the door allowing a ridiculous bright light to hit me, im blinded. He asks if i need anything, i try to ask him what’s happening and where i am, but i can’t. The longer i lay here unable to speak or raise my head the more im terrified. The last thing i remember is dancing with him and feeling dizzy. He slams the heavy door shut and with that I hear someone else groaning, the voice sounds familiar... Is that Maria? None of this makes sense. I feel helpless. I slowly start to lean forward, my brain is jello, i try to see something, anything, but it’s too dark. I try to crawl towards Maria's voice. I finally reach her and i try to speak but it’s a lost cause. She grabs my hand and i know that this isn’t a joke, something horrible is happening.

            Maria talks trying to talk and with every noise she makes the more my heart pounds in my chest. Did someone drug us? Im getting deep into thought trying to remember what had happened, when a man opens the door. He looks familiar but I don’t know how. He starts talking; I can’t concentrate on the words just the sound of his voice. He walks closer to us, saying the same thing only louder and Maria jumps, she starts crawling away from him like she knows him. Suddenly, he walks over to her and grabs her face, he says with a sly smile “I thought I recognized you at the club, you’re the daughter of the lawyer. The lawyer that was supposed to protect him. But he failed and now my brother is in prison for life for something he didn’t do. Well if my brother is going to spend life in prison so will his daughter.”  Then he smacks her across the face hard. She screams and I try to run to her but someone grabs me. I turn and notice that the man I was dancing with is holding my arms behind my back. I give him a questioning gaze and he whispers in my ear sweetly, “Im sorry, you’re gonna be okay just trust me.” Then he throws me on the ground and says that next time there will be serious consequences if I do that again.

            The men leave the room, they heavy door slams and the only noise I hear is Maria’s cries. I crawl to her and try to calm her down and realize I can talk again. I ask her as understandingly as I can, “Who is that man? How did we get here? And why does he think your father is a lawyer?” She looks just as bewildered as I am. Obviously she hasn’t found her voice yet. I looks around the room. There is a light bulb hanging from the ceiling, the men must have turned it on when they stormed through here. The walls are all concrete with green mold up the ceiling. There are a few puddles of gross brown water in the corners. We must be in a basement. This room looks familiar for some reason, but I can’t understand how this creepy old basement could be a memory to me.    

            We hear a gun shot and I run to Maria, terrified that , the lunatic is going to shoot her. The grey metal door swings open and slams against the wall. The man I was dancing with runs in and grabs my arm, begging me to trust him. He drags me to my feet then does the same to Maria, she still hasn’t gotten her balance so he throws her over his shoulder. He grabs my hands and yanks me hard. He walks so fast that its almost considered running. He tells me to keep my eyes on him and just to follow him, but I look around the room. Lying on the floor face down is the man that smacked Maria. I don’t see where he was shot, but he is laying in a ocean of his own blood. The man pulls my arm and gives me a scolding look for not listening to him. He leads us outside, we aren’t in town anymore we are in the middle of no where. This place looks familiar. He puts Maria in the car and tells me to drive home. I tell him that I don’t know how to get home, my voice shaking and I sound like a scared child. He looks confused, then says accusingly “you were raised just a few blocks from here. Your just shaken up a bit. When you start driving you will rememeber how to get home.”

When i start driving i see the spot that my brothers and i used to hide from the neighbors in. I see the blackberry bush that we stole berries from and the field with the pond that we threw rocks into. This is where i grew up... Maria grew up less than a mile from me, she must remember this place too. I see the nieghbor guy's house that she thought she was in love with. Maria is just staring out the window, theres nothing being said to each other. We dont talk the whole hour and a half drive back into town. I drive to my house and call my daughter's father to make sure that she is okay. This long night seems like it was a month, I miss Chole, but im too scared to bring her home yet. I tell him that we were kidnapped and that i want her to stay another night with him to make sure that we werent followed, i want her to stay safe. Maria stays the night with me, we are too scared to be alone. Horrified of what could happen if they come back.

The next morning Maria and I wake up, snuggled next to each other like we are little girls again. Everything is okay we made it threw the night. I  wake her up, tears flooding my face at the realization of what had happend to us yesterday. Then i realize that we has been crying too. We sit on the bed crying on each others shoulders. We have no idea what to do next, should we tell the police? I take a shower and get ready to go see Chole, Im never having a night out again... I'll stick to being the boring single mom.