A Mahogany Bracelet

Samantha searched through her closet desperately trying to find her favorite white with orange print top. A car horn blared throughout her room.
“I’ll be down in a sec!” she shouted out the window. She started to run back to her closet, but paused when she saw the top laying on the bed. She rolled her eyes and slipped it on. She headed toward her dresser and slowly picked up her brand new, thick, mahogany bracelet. Carefully she put it on her wrist and ran out the door.
It was a beautiful 75 degrees in Malibu, California. Alex, Jeff, and Olivia were waiting for her in Alex’s green Jeep. She jumped in the passenger’s seat and they took off for their weekend at Jeff’s beach house. They had all been planning this adventure for months and Samantha couldn’t wait to get away.
As soon as they arrived, Samantha, Alex, and Jeff headed straight for the ocean to do a little surfing. Olivia stayed behind to suntan.
“Come on, Olivia! Come surf with us! I’ll teach you.” Jeff yelled towards the spot where Olivia was sun tanning.
“Why don’t you come out here with me?” Olivia yelled back. Jeff sighed and started to get out of the water.
“Dude, you are so whipped!” Alex laughed.
“Shut up!” Jeff said splashing him on his way to Olivia.
“Guess it’s just you and me, Sam.” Alex said smiling at her.
“More like just me, you keep falling off your board.” Sam said laughing.
“Oh yeah? I’ll show you.” Alex smirked. They both surfed for a few more hours then they all got together and made a bonfire and played some volleyball. Their first day on the beach ended quicker than it started. Sam and Olivia headed off to bed while the boys put out the fire.
“You like Sam, don’t you?” Jeff asked once the girls were out of sight. Alex looked up at him for a second, quickly nodded his head and went back to cleaning up. “I so knew it! Why don’t you ask her out?”
“I don’t know. What if she says no? That could ruin our friendship.” Alex responded.
“She won’t say no. I can tell that she likes you too.” Jeff said with a smile as they walked into the beach house. “Speaking of Sam, have you noticed the big bracelet she was wearing? It’s made of mahogany and she wore it in the water. That can’t be good.”
“Maybe she forgot she had it on?” Alex said shrugging off Jeff’s comment.
“Or she is hiding something, like a new tattoo! How hot would that be man?”
Alex just laughed at him and stared walking towards their room. “Wait a second. I want to find out.” Jeff said stopping in front of the girls’ room.
“Oh come on, Jeff. She is sleeping. Let’s just ask her in the morning.” Alex complained.
“What’s the fun in that?” Jeff asked walking into the girls’ room. Sam was sound asleep in the bed on the right side of the room. Alex couldn’t help admire how peaceful and beautiful she looked while she slept. Her left hand lay across her pillow with the mahogany bracelet still wrapped around her wrist. Jeff quietly crept over to her and carefully slipped the bracelet off her wrist. Immediately he backed away from her in shock.
“What? What’s wrong?” Alex asked when he saw Jeff’s horrified expression. Jeff just kept staring at Sam’s wrist so Alex walked towards her to see what startled him. Where the bracelet used to be was a purplish green ring and a huge slash under her palm. His eyes grew wide. He looked over at Sam’s sleeping face and he felt a stab of anger and agony in his chest. After a moment he got up and walked out to his room, not saying one word to Jeff.
The next morning Sam woke up to find her bracelet on the floor next to her. She quickly put it back on before Olivia woke up. She walked into the kitchen for some breakfast. Jeff and Alex were already in there eating cereal. Sam and Alex’s eyes met for a brief second and she could see the pain in them.
“Are you okay Alex?” she asked him while she poured her own bowl of cereal. He just leaned over his bowl and started eating again so Sam looked at Jeff for an answer to her question.
“We need you to explain something to us.” He replied to her inquisitive gaze and pointed at the mahogany bracelet. Immediately Sam understood that her bracelet had not fallen off, but had been taken off. “Look, if you are feeling depressed you can come to us, you don’t have to…”
“Wait! You think I cut myself?” Sam interrupted.
“Well yeah.” Jeff replied a little unsure now.
“I can’t believe this. You of all people know that I have zero tolerance for pain! You really think I would go ahead and cut myself?” she said to Alex. “And since when have I been depressed? I can’t believe you guys!” Sam screamed as she burst into tears. She ran outside towards the end of the beach. There was a little hill of rocks that she liked to sit on when she wanted to look at the vast ocean. A few minutes later she felt someone sit down next to her. She dried her eyes, but didn’t turn around to see who it was.
“I’m sorry we jumped to conclusions, Sam.” Alex said quietly after awhile. Sam turned around and looked him in the eyes. The pain was still there and she quickly looked away. They were both quiet for a moment, listening to the waves crash onto the shore. Then finally, after gathering up enough courage, Sam spoke.
“Last week I got off of work a little later than usual. I was walking to my car when a man came out of the alley and asked me if I wanted a ride home. I said no and walked faster towards my car. Well he didn’t want to take no for an answer. He grabbed my wrist tight and dragged me to his car. I tried fighting him off and screamed for help. He almost had me in the car when someone from down the street shouted at him. He threw me to the ground and took off. When I fell my wrist landed on a piece of a broken beer bottle and cut it open. After that I was so scared I just ran to my car and drove straight home.”
She looked up at Alex and saw that he had tears in his eyes. She laid her head on his shoulder as tears began to flow down her cheek.
“I’m so sorry, Sam.” Alex said putting his arm around her. “I can’t believe this happened to you. This will never happen to you again, I’ll make sure of that.”
“Alex, you are such a good friend. I’m glad I have you in my life.”
Alex hugged her tighter and they both sat there looking at the ocean in silence. Even though Alex had learned something tragic about Sam, he couldn’t help feel a little jolt of happiness in his chest because he was holding the girl he loved and made a silent vow to himself that no matter what happened between them, he would protect her.