Principled Dislike

Larry is a senior at New York University (NYU) located in Greenwich Village in Manhattan. He had been very close friends with Gia for the last four years.  Although Gia and Larry were very close, Larry couldn’t stand most of Gia’s friends.  They were all products of spoiled Upper East Side trust fund babies.  Although Gia could be included in that category, there was something about her that Larry couldn’t figure out that allowed him to look past it.  Gia was in a sorority with girls that had similar privileged upbringing as her called AEF.  Larry couldn’t stand sorority girls especially Gia’s little sorority sister Marnie.  Although she was a smart girl, she sounded dumb and had the most annoying voice that Larry could not look past.  Whenever he saw Marnie, he remained civil but when she left, he was quick to tell Gia what he thought of her.  Eventually, Gia realized not to invite Larry out if Marnie were going to be there.  But there were some situations where their meeting would be inevitable.

                Gia’s birthday party was one example of these times.  Larry always showed up at places a little early.  Because of this, he was not very surprised to be the first one at the restaurant.  He waited patiently for people to come that he knew.  Not too long later, Larry spotted one of Gia’s friends that he did get along with named Dara.  He immediately went up to her and began talking to her until Gia got there.  Dara was complaining to Larry about having to see one of Gia’s friends whom she couldn’t stand.  Upon hearing the complaint, Larry commented on his feeling toward Marnie.  Dara then pointed out that Marnie was sitting right behind Larry.  As Larry turned around he saw Marnie and tried to cover up what he just said hoping Marnie didn’t hear.  They exchanged greetings and Marnie introduced Larry to her boyfriend and acted as if she didn’t hear Larry.  The rest of the night Marnie and Larry ignored each other, which was fine for both parties.  In a way Larry was relieved that his opinions now were in the open because if Marnie avoids him and doesn’t want to associate with him, then Larry wouldn’t have to hear her voice or be around her, which is exactly what he wanted.

                Like most sorority girls, Marnie enjoyed going out to clubs and engaging in promiscuous behavior.  Although she was promiscuous, she did enjoy toying with guys always believing that she could control men and would never be in any danger.  On a Saturday evening, Marnie went to a club with a couple of her sorority sisters.  It wasn’t long before her and her sisters had guys approach them and start dancing with them.  They all chose guys to stick with either to force them to buy drinks for them before blowing them off or taking them home to have sex with them.  As the hours were winding on, Marnie and her guy for the night went outside.  Marnie had already decided she was going to blow this guy off at the end of the night and was ready to do so the second they stepped outside.  They walked a couple blocks talking as Marnie waited for the right time to let him know that he would not be getting lucky that night.  She finally found her opening when the guy said, “So you want to go back to my place?”

                “Umm I’m not like that, I just met you, I’m not going home with you tonight.”

                “You’ve been hitting on me all night, dancing, and now you’re going to fucking blow me off.”

                “I’m just not like that, I’ll give you my number, call me, I don’t sleep with men I just met.”

                “Yea but you have no problem making them buy drinks for you all night.”

                “I didn’t ask you to do that, that was very nice of you but I mean what’s the big deal just call me and we can hang out again soon.”

                Marnie had no intention of giving the guy her real number, but he seemed to be getting a little angry so she wanted to give off the illusion of hope.  The guy was hoping that Marnie was just being sassy and playing hard to get.  He smiled and went in to kiss Marnie but she shoved her hand out and pushed the guy away saying, “Stop, no, I’m going home, good night.”

                The guy grabbed Marnie’s arm and squeezed hard.  Marnie was extremely petite and thin and her body cringed with the pain that shot through her arm from being squeezed.  She squirmed and said, “Let go of me you psycho.”

                The guy then punched her across the face and to the ground.  This was the first time in Marnie’s privileged life that she had been hit.  She grabbed her face looking up shocked and scared.  She wanted to get up and run but froze in shock.  Her heart started beating extremely too fast as all cognition and simple motor function were disabled leaving her completely at this man’s mercy.

 

                Larry hated going to clubs but he found himself hanging out with some friends who insisted on going to a club.  He finally gave in and went in knowing that he was going to have a bad time because he hated the scene.  He immediately grabbed a drink and stood to the side watching his friends dance.  As much as he hated clubs, the thing that irked him more is when people forced him to go to a club and insisted that he dance.  He is more content just keeping to himself drinking and people watching.  The night ended and Larry waited for his friends to grab a cab to go home.  His friends were female and Larry believed in traditional gender roles as the man should always stay with the woman until she is safely in transportation home or at home.  For himself though, Larry always insisted on walking home.  His mind always wondered and walking alone in the city gave him time to think and daydream.  While he was walking he saw Marnie talking to a guy.  Larry assumed that this was just a random guy that Marnie was going to have sex with and forget about the next day.  It was girls like Marnie that made Larry doubt that women get emotionally attached to a guy after having sex with them.  He knew of a couple guys that thought his night with Marnie meant more than it was and couldn’t think of any time the situation was reversed.  As he approached, he hoped that he could walk past them without Marnie noticing him.  He debated crossing the street but thought it childish and cowardly.  Worst case scenario; he’d say hi, get introduced then politely excuse himself so he could continue his journey home.  As he approached, he saw the guy grab Marnie and saw a look of shock and pain on Marnie’s face.  Larry doubted what his eyes were telling him and although he believed in getting involved when guys were overly aggressive with girls, there was always an opposite emotion yelling at him to not get involved.  This voice was even louder when the woman in question was Gia or one of her friends.  He justified it that with the way these girls live their lives, they almost deserve to get hit.  He somehow could never fully convince himself of this though but decided that the bicep grab was not enough to take the risk of Gia getting upset if Marnie complained to her about how he got involved in a situation that wasn’t his business.  Although his intention would have been good, he knew he’d never win the argument with Gia about it.  As he decided that he was not going to get involved, he saw the guy punch Marnie across the face.  Larry now stopped thinking and just acted on impulse and before he knew what he was doing he grabbed the guy by the bicep and spun him around yelling, “What the fuck are you doing?”

                The guy stared at Larry and realized he was bigger than Larry was.  He also was extremely mad at Marnie and didn’t see a problem taking it out on Larry.  He said, “Get the fuck out of here man, this is none of your Goddamn business.”

                “You think you’re tough punching a girl a third of your size?”

                The guy went to shove Larry but Larry brought his left arm up and his right hand down slapping the guy’s arms before they connected with Larry’s chest.  Since Larry’s right hand was now cocked at his waist, he shot it up slamming his palm into the guy’s nose.  The guy took a couple steps back and Larry said, “A little harder when you’re trying to hit someone close to your size ain’t it?”

                The guy punched at Larry but Larry ducked under the punch and unleashed a few punches into the guy’s kidneys.  The guy turned toward Larry and drove his shoulder into his solar plexus tackling Larry to the ground.  He straddled Larry and punched at his face.  He connected on a few punches before Larry was able to move his head causing the guy to punch the ground.  Larry shoved him off him and got to his feet.  Both men’s noses were bleeding from the blows they had sustained.  The guy charged forward and drove Larry against the wall repeatedly thrusting his shoulder into Larry’s solar plexus ending it with a punch across the face.  Larry staggered and fell to one knee; he looked over and realized that Marnie was still kneeling in the same position that she was in when the fight started.  He looked back at the guy and realized that he would have to stand and face him again.  Larry stood and found himself being charged at again, only this time he jumped to his side leaving his right leg out and his left to kick at the back of the guy’s shin tripping him over Larry’s right leg.  Both men got up simultaneously and circled each other.  The guy took a step forward and Larry lowered his stance.  They locked arms and immediately Larry realized that this was a mistake as he was in a position to be overpowered. Sure enough, the guy gained a grip at Larry shoulders and drove his knee into Larry’s stomach.  He followed them up by a couple more punches into Larry’s midsection and lifted his head up sizing him up for a final blow.  He threw his right hand as hard as he could at Larry’s face but Larry had the wherewithal to move his head slightly below the punch causing the guy’s momentum to carry him a couple steps giving Larry time to recover.  The guy walked quickly toward Larry but Larry jabbed forward nailing the guy in the chest.  The guy responded with a slap across Larry’s face snapping Larry’s face to the side.  Larry snapped his head back and punched the guy across the face staggering him.  Larry charged at him and drove him back toward a parked car but the guy was able to turn Larry around so that Larry’s legs were collapsed by the car’s hood as he lay on his back.  The guy stood up and jabbed his fists into Larry’s midsection.  Larry was able to get his knees up and kicked both of them forward into the guy’s chest knocking him to the ground.  Larry used that time to get up off the car and grab at his stomach trying to catch his breath.  When he made his way to his full height, he saw the guy facing him.  The guy grabbed Larry by the throat and choked him.  Larry brought his right hand up and cupped the guy’s Adam’s apple.  He knew this to be a much more devastating way to choke someone than the method the guy employed of driving both thumbs into the Adam’s apple.  Since Larry had control of the neck, he controlled the body.  He straightened his arm to keep the man at arms length only to pull him forward into his knee.  Larry repeated the motion to drive the man’s stomach into his knee again.  He then released his hold on the neck and took a couple steps back anticipating the guy to bend over to catch his breath from being choked and the blows to the stomach.  Larry ran forward and jumped in the air lining his knee with the guy’s head.  Larry’s knee smacked against the man’s temple dropping him to both knees.  Larry grabbed the man’s hair with his right hand and jammed it into his left knee repeatedly.  Blood gushed from the guy’s face as the consciousness left his body.  When Larry tired, he pulled the guy’s head back one final time only to throw it forward as the guy lay on his stomach unconscious. 

Larry exhaled deeply and walked toward Marnie, who hadn’t moved the entire time.  Larry was still running on adrenaline so wasn’t feeling the effects of the fight yet.  Despite this, he was able to gently rub Marnie’s shoulder and bicep trying to snap her out of the trance.  Marnie shook her head at the feeling of human contact and stood up and wrapped her arms tightly around Larry.  Larry noticed that she was shaking and didn’t know what to do next.  He managed to say “It’s alright Marnie, you’re safe, just go home and go to sleep.”

Marnie rested her head on Larry’s chest and relaxed her entire body.  She had been so shocked not only that she was hit but that Larry was fighting for her.  With Larry’s words of encouragement, she found herself not caring who the rescuer was but just the fact that it was someone that helped her and someone she could feel safe around, which was exactly what Marnie needed.  Larry hadn’t anticipated this before and didn’t like this because he didn’t like Marnie.  Despite his dislike for her, he couldn’t bring himself to try to physically force her off him.  He decided to try to appeal to Marnie’s obsession with her appearance and said, “Marnie, you’re getting blood all over your clothes, you might as well go home before you get more on you.”

It didn’t have the desired effect on Marnie as she just smiled and stood on her tip toes to reach Larry’s ear and said, “Take me home.”

“You’re going to have to let go of me so I can hail a cab for you.”

Marnie felt her strength coming back faster and faster the more Larry talked and she was forced to respond.  She was not holding on for support anymore, but because she wanted to.  She didn’t want to go home alone, not after what happened, and now the game began to try to get Larry to go with her to her apartment.  Larry continued, “Marnie, we can’t call a cab with you hugging me.”

Marnie tightened her grip and pulled her legs up wrapping them around Larry’s waist.  She said, “You can walk now.”

Larry felt his adrenaline dwindling and couldn’t continue his conversation without collapsing.  He needed to do something that would force his adrenaline to keep pumping and carrying Marnie was the easiest solution to the problem.  He knew that Marnie lived downtown so started walking south.  Marnie rested her head on Larry’s shoulder and held on.  To Larry, he would feel like a wimp if he wasn’t able to keep a tiny girl like Marnie up.  Because he wouldn’t allow himself to use the fight as an excuse to not be able to hold her, his adrenaline pumped while he carried her toward her apartment.  Marnie only lived eight blocks away and as Larry got closer, she directed him to her apartment.  Larry made it to the front of her building where the doorman greeted him at the door.  Larry said, “Alright Marnie, you’re home safe, you can go upstairs now.”

Marnie didn’t ease her grip and said in a forceful yet calm voice, “Larry, listen, I got punched today for the first time in my life, and the last thing I want is to be alone in an apartment.  Please, just stay with me tonight.  If you need an excuse, you’re bleeding, I have a washing machine, I’ll do your laundry.  It’s the least I can do considering what you did for me.”

Larry rolled his eyes but his disgust lowered his adrenaline, and he realized that he needed to get off his feet as quickly as he could and he needed to say whatever he needed to say for Marnie to let go so he said, “Alright fine, just get off me.” 

Marnie smiled at her victory and unwrapped her legs and dropped to her own feet.  Larry stumbled toward the elevator with Marnie trying to force himself not to use Marnie for support.  He got to the elevator and leaned against the wall.  The weaker Larry looked, the wider Marnie smiled because the more hurt he was, the more punishment he took for her.  The elevator came and Larry entered it never releasing his grip on a wall for support.  They made their way into Marnie’s apartment and Larry immediately went to the bathroom and lied in the tub.  He started breathing heavy as all the pain he had been holding in hit him all at once.  Marnie came in and saw the agony on Larry’s face.  She said, “Awww, am I really that heavy?  I knew I was fat”

Larry just shook his head.  He was extremely uncomfortable as Marnie seemed completely recovered and he was lying helpless in the tub.  Marnie took off her clothes that had blood on it from Larry’s clothing and face leaving her in lingerie. Larry couldn’t help but look since despite his feelings for Marnie personally, she was attractive.  Marnie untied Larry’s shoes and took them off.  She said, “Now Larry don’t get too excited, but I’m going to take off your clothes.”

All Larry could do was stare.  He wasn’t even sure he could resist if he wanted to.  Marnie took off his shirt and then unzipped and unbuttoned his jeans and pulled them off him.  Marnie left the room with the blood stained clothes and put them in her washing machine to be cleaned.  She came back in the bathroom noticing Larry’s eyes closed and a look of discomfort on his face.  Marnie was debating having intercourse with Larry for a number of reasons; predominantly because he fought for her but also because Larry seemed so helpless and she could dominate him.  There was something powerful about dominating someone that had beaten up someone earlier in the day.  She came into the bathroom and opened the cabinet underneath the sink and took out a bottle of rubbing alcohol and grabbed a roll of paper towels.  She knelt down along the bathtub and wet a paper towel with rubbing alcohol.  She noticed that Larry had cuts on his midsection and face from his fight.  She said as she put the paper towel on one of Larry’s chest wounds a little harder than necessary, “So, I thought you didn’t like me.”

Larry hissed in pain as the rubbing alcohol stung his wound but he managed to get out, “I don’t”

This caused Marnie to douse the paper towel with more alcohol and apply it to the other wound on Larry’s chest.  She continued, “Then why did you get your ass kicked for me?”

Larry was trying to control his hissing and said as calmly as he could, “Don’t flatter yourself; I didn’t do it for you.”

Marnie was rubbing the alcohol in and alternating wounds.  She threw the paper towel away and wet another one and applied it to Larry’s face.  She was getting progressively gentler but continued on, “That’s funny, because I don’t know who else you could have been fighting for, he punched me, you attacked him and got your ass kicked.”

“Let’s recap that I won the fight.”

Marnie smiled, “Yea but still; look at you, you’re completely helpless”

“Is this why you brought me here? So you could taunt me?”

                Marnie still hadn’t stopped smiling, “No, of course not, I’m just a little surprised that of all the people to get involved, it was you who stepped in, a man that has so often commented how much he doesn’t like me.”

                “I don’t like you, but it takes a pretty cold person to not do anything when a girl he knows gets punched, I mean I don’t hate you.”

                “I see,” Marnie said as she poured the rubbing alcohol directly on Larry’s chest causing him to blurt out in pain.  Marnie chuckled and then left the room to get a large bowl and filled it up with water with a sponge.  She came back and sponged off Larry’s face and chest.  She felt kind of bad after pouring the rubbing alcohol on him and decided this would be a peace offering.  Larry said, “You do just want to torture me, that’s why you invited me up.  Giving me this bullshit about how you’re scared to be alone.”

                Marnie gave Larry a dirty look and stopped washing him, “No Larry, I’m messing around with you.  Trust me, you’re pretty high on my list right now.”

                “Yea, actions speak louder than words Marnie.”

                “Funny you mention that.  What actions are so malicious?  That I’m nursing your wounds? So I wasn’t as gentle as I could be.  I mean since the day I’ve met you all you could talk about was how much you don’t like me.  In fact, you’re still playing that card.  But, your actions lead me to believe that you’re full of shit.  I mean you didn’t have to keep getting up; after the first couple hits you could have been like, ‘fuck it, this bitch isn’t worth it, I don’t like her anyway.’”

                “Yea because you know so much about fighting.” Larry responded very sarcastically.

                “You’re right, I don’t, but I’m pretty sure you don’t go around getting into fights over people you don’t like.  Maybe you confront the person, but the harder the fight, the more likely you’re going to decide it’s not worth it.”

                “Okay Marnie, since you think it’s so logical for me not to stay, why did you?”

                “What?” she said a little taken aback

                “Someone just punched you, now that someone is distracted, I’m not that big, there’s no way you could have been absolutely positive I was going to win the fight, especially because of the way you’re talking now, so why not run?  Why did you stay?”

                Marnie was no longer smiling, she eased her tone and said, “Because I was scared.”

                Larry calmed too.  He knew that this was the case and began to feel bad.  He continued in a softer tone, “Marnie, I’m very principled, I acted on the principle that men shouldn’t hit women.  It doesn’t matter who it is, I just acted the second I saw him punch you.  I mean, if I had time to think, a lot of things would have popped in my head like how you and Gia and people like you are so against violence.  It could have easily blown up in my face and you could have yelled at me for resorting to violence.  Or maybe you’re one of those stupid girls that gets hit by guys and blames themselves and then you get pissed at me for getting involved.”  Larry started getting more animated and continued, “Remember, I don’t really give a shit what you think of me, but I’d have to deal with Gia.  You tell Gia that I attacked your boyfriend or a guy you like, I’ll never hear the end of it.  You tell Gia the facts, I might still get yelled at because I know she’s anti-violence.  I half expect a fucking lecture from you or her about how I could have solved the problem without using violence…”

                Larry was cut short when Marnie leaned over and kissed him on the lips.  She smiled and said, “There, that’ll shut you up.  Listen, I’m glad you didn’t think because those are all worries that you shouldn’t be worried about.  It doesn’t matter what you say right now, how wrong your opinion is of me, the mere fact that you’re lying in my bathtub exhausted and weak because you fought for me kind of gives you immunity tonight.  Please, don’t test that by being outrageous.  Lucky for you though, I promise that I will talk very favorably about this incident to Gia for you.”  Larry smiled.  He wasn’t going to tell Marnie this but that was the best thing that she could have said.  Marnie continued, “You know, you’re the only guy I can think of that could be given a sponge bath by a girl and still find it necessary to complain.”

                Larry smiled at this.  Part of the reason he was complaining was because he didn’t want to enjoy the sponge bath too much.  Marnie had finished scrubbing Larry down and grabbed a towel and dried him off.  Larry had regained his strength but had relaxed his body and let Marnie work.  Marnie removed her bra and grabbed a T-shirt from her drawer and put it on.  She noticed Larry trying to pretend he wasn’t looking by turning his head but keeping his eyes fixed on her.  Larry walked over to her couch and lied down on it.  Marnie said, “Larry, don’t be such a prude, there’s no reason we can’t share the bed.”

                Larry was very uncomfortable about this.  He really didn’t want to hook up with Marnie.  That’s not why he helped her.  Larry replied, “Nah, I’m alright on the couch”

                “Larry, I’m going to sleep with you, at least on the bed you’ll have some space, I mean the couch, I’ll really be pressed against you.”

                Larry’s eyes wandered back and forth, he wasn’t sure how she meant the comment.  Larry never liked the term, “sleeping with” because if you share a bed with someone, that’s sleeping together.  He never used that phrase to describe intercourse, but he knew the rest of the world did.  Even though he knew Marnie was promiscuous, something told him that she wouldn’t have been so blunt saying to him that she was going to have sex with him.  While these thoughts were circulating in Larry’s head, Marnie lied down on top of Larry and kissed his neck.  Larry rolled her off and stood up leaving Marnie lying on the couch.  She said, “On the bed, at least you’ll be to the side of me, and my back will be to you so I can’t kiss you.  Gia tells me you don’t mind cuddling, or is that just with her?”

                Larry didn’t say anything; he just walked to the bedroom and lied down on the bed.  Marnie soon followed and lied down with her back to Larry.  She backed herself close to him and wrapped his arm around her waist and rested it on her stomach.  Larry slid the other hand under Marnie’s neck acting as an extenuation of the pillow.  Marnie relaxed her body, she didn’t want to hook up with Larry any more than he did with her.  To her, one night wasn’t going to make up for the past couple years.  She did, however, look at him differently.  Never would she have imagined how warm and safe she’d feel in his arms.  Everything she had told Larry was true; she didn’t want to be alone that night because she would have been affected by what happened.  Having Larry there made her feel safe and not think about it because her protector was still there.  She slept very soundly that night along with Larry.

                Marnie woke up early the next morning and put the clothes in the dryer.  She ordered breakfast for her and Larry and they ate and passed the time uneventfully until Larry’s clothes were dry so he could go home.  Larry returned home and went on with his life.  He knew he would never be able to look at Marnie the same, but he also knew that their relationship, or lack thereof, wouldn’t change from the event.  Just now when they saw each other, he wouldn’t be able to be as cold.  The bottom line was he had helped her. He then received a phone call.        

                As soon as Larry left, Marnie called Gia and told her the whole story of the previous night and praised Larry.  Gia was shocked that Larry had helped her like that.  She immediately concluded that this meant that Larry didn’t dislike Marnie as much as he said he did.  She talked to Marnie for a while as she got all the details and then they talked about other things.  When she got off the phone she called Larry to thank him for what he did for Marnie.  Larry wanted to tell her that he did it for Gia.  If something happened to Marnie, then Marnie would have been really distraught and it would have affected Gia, and Larry would have had to hear about it, which would have made it worse because Larry would have known he could have helped.  He had a similar discussion with Gia about how he couldn’t dislike Marnie if he would fight for her.  Just like with Marnie, Larry didn’t seem to get anywhere but he expected this.  Nothing really changed between how Gia juggled her two friends.  She still wouldn’t invite them both out at the same time.  Larry remained insistent that he didn’t like Marnie and found her annoying.  He even used her excessive rubbing alcohol as fuel.  When Marnie and Larry were forced to be in the same place together, they were able to be a lot more civil toward each other.  There was no way either would forget what had happened that night.  Other than that, everything was just how it was before.