Somebody to Lean On

Chapter 3

When Laverne awoke, she was lying on her couch. She couldn't open her eyes more than halfway, but recognized the feeling and familiar smell of her sofa. The burning pain between her legs quickly reminded her what had happened. Not quite ready to think about it so soon, she quickly closed her eyes again and drifted back off to sleep.

When she awoke for the second time, she heard the scattered voices of her friends. She heard Shirley weeping softly and a man telling her that it would be okay. She smelled the distinct odor of hot chocolate and fried Spam and instantly knew that the boys must have been over. After lying there for a minute, she suddenly felt a wave of embarrassment wash over her. She didn't want to open her eyes and be forced to face them all, especially Lenny and Squiggy. She knew they wouldn't know what to say. She wouldn't know what to say either. So, instead, she pretended to be asleep. It was better than having to explain the night's events. She didn't feel like talking about it…ever…and prayed silently that they wouldn't be able to figure out exactly what had happened. Perhaps they thought she had merely been mugged or had gotten into a fight.

"I don't know what to do, Lenny. I just don't know...did you try calling Mrs. Babbish again?" Shirley whispered in a hoarse voice. She sat at the table across from Lenny, while Squiggy pretended to be enamored over cooking the Bosco and Spam.

Lenny sighed. "I called like ten times, Shirl. She ain't home."

"Could you please try again, one more time…for me? For Laverne?" Shirley asked, her eyes red from crying. "I don't know what to do. Mrs. Babbish always knows what to do in these types of situations."

"Sure thing, Shirl." He agreed.

Lenny tried to reach Edna again, but all he got was the dial tone. Hanging up, he glanced over at Laverne lying on the couch motionless, her dress torn up and her face tear-stained. Lenny and Squiggy had found her laying on the stoop like a homeless person, her body shivering from the cold Milwaukee weather. Lenny didn't know what had happened, but he knew it wasn't good.

He saw her stir a little in her sleep and went over to her to see if she had woken up.

"Laverne?" She didn't answer, but he saw her eyes shut a bit tighter at the sound of his voice. He sat down near her legs. When he placed his hand gently on her knee, he felt her stir again. He stared into her closed eyes, hoping she would wake up.

"Laverne? Yoo hoo. It's me, Lenny. I don't know if you can hear me or not, but I…" He paused momentarily. "I wanna say that I hope nothin' real bad happened or anything. We're all real worried about ya…." Not knowing what else to say, he reached up and brushed the bangs out of her eyes. "Uh…. we made up some hot Bosco in case you're thirsty. With the marshmallows and everything, just the way you like it." With that, Lenny's eyes began to well up. He quickly wiped them away, embarrassed. He leaned nearer to her face and whispered so Shirley wouldn't hear him. "I want you to know that whoever did this to you, I'll kill them. I'll kill them…." His words choked on him. A few moments passed. "So, anyway, we'll be here when you get up. Sweet dreams, Vernie."

Shirley wiped her eyes and looked over at Lenny sitting with Laverne. A small smile crept up on her face, but it quickly faded. She looked at her best friend mournfully and realized she should probably get her out of those clothes.

"Lenny, I'm gonna go get some clean clothes for Laverne….would you and Squiggy mind staying in the bed room for a few minutes while I get her changed?"

Normally, this would illicit a loud "bedroom!" reaction from the boys, but due to the seriousness of the situation, they refrained.

"We can go home if ya want." Squiggy offered.

Lenny chimed in, "Yeah, we might just be in the way and all…"

"No no, please stay. I don't want Laverne to be alone when she wakes up. We should all be here for her."

Lenny nodded and motioned to Squiggy to come with him.

After they all went into the bedroom, Laverne opened her eyes and looked down at her sore body. It looked the same, with the exception of her dress being ripped. She sighed in relief, realizing that they probably would never be able to figure out what had really happened. She sat up slowly even though only a faint burning sensation between her legs remained.

I'll be okay, she said to herself. I'm strong….Hell, I'm Italian. As long as no one finds out what happened, it's like it didn't really happen. I'll just forget about it. No one has to know.

"Laverne!" Shirley cried out when she saw that Laverne had awoke and ran over to her. "Oh my God, I was so worried about you. What happened to you? What happened?" Her friend's voice pierced through her mind. "What happened? Are you okay?"

Laverne knew her friend was panicked and didn't want to upset her more. "It's okay. I'm okay. Relax." She reached over and embraced Shirley fiercely, rocking her back and forth in her arms while burrowing her head into Shirley's neck. Secretly, she felt as though she never wanted to break the embrace. The care her friend gave off felt so nice on her cold body.

She reluctantly let go. "I'm fine, Shirl, I promise." Laverne's voice was coarse, she needed water. "Everything's okay."

"What the heck happened to you? Who did this?"

"Uhhh…yeah, I just got into this bad fight with this real trampy girl who was flirting with Mike. That's all. She clocked me real good in front of our building. I tried to fight her off, but it didn't work."

"Oh, Laverne. I'm so sorry. I can't believe she would just leave you outside in the cold like that. What a heartless, emotionless creature! That's inhuman. You could have froze to death!" Shirley exclaimed.

"If it's all good with you, Shirl, I don't really wanna talk about it. It's over. It happened, now it's over. I don't want to discuss it."

"Why not?"

Laverne let out an exasperated sigh. "I just don't wanna, okay?"

Shirley looked confused. "Sure, I mean, I guess. As long as you're okay. Do you want to go to the police? The doctor? I called Mrs. Babbish, but she wasn't home. She usually knows what to do--"

"No, no, and no. I'm fine, see?" To prove this point, she got up and walked around, doing pretend stretches and lunges. "See? Fine. Fresh as a daisy."

"Can we come out yet?" Squiggy called from the bedroom.

"Yes, come on out, Laverne is up! She's up!" Shirley cried excitedly. Lenny and Squiggy burst into the living room, jumping up and down.

"Laverne!" Lenny cried with a big smile across his face as he embraced his friend. "I was so worried you were gonna sleep like that forever! But, look at you…you're up…you look good. We made hot Bosco, ya want some Bosco?"

Laverne chuckled sadly and nodded. "Yeah, Len. Bosco sounds great actually. Thanks." To his surprise, she leaned into him and placed a small, innocent kiss on his cheek. "And just so you know, I did hear you."

He looked perplexed. "When?"

"Before. When you sat by me, I could hear ya."

Lenny blushed. "Aw, well, you know. Desperate times…" He paused for a moment, and then realized he didn't know yet what had happened to her. "Wait…so what happened to ya? Why were you laying on the stoop like that?"

Laverne stumbled with her words, "Well, I…uh…"

Shirley interrupted, "She just got into a fight with some girl who tried to get with this doctor she's been going out with, that's all. She's okay, right Vernie? You're okay?"

Laverne looked into Lenny's eyes for a moment before giving a slow, reluctant nod. "Yeah…I'm okay."

"You promise?" Lenny asked like a small child.

Laverne gave him a reassuring pat on the arm. "I promise."

He cocked his head to the side and looked at Laverne as though he knew she was not telling the truth, but let it go. "I'll get you some hot Bosco, kay Laverne?"

"Mm hmm. I'm gonna go change, I'll be right back." Laverne disappeared into the bedroom.

….