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Authors: Nikki Worrell
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baby. I guess in my head I pictured me telling him and us getting married. You know, the whole happily-ever-after scenario? But what did I know? I was just a teenager in love. Pretty stupid, huh?”
“No. Not stupid. Naïve maybe, but not stupid.”
“Yeah, well he thought I was pretty stupid. We didn’t finish our dinner and when he drove me home, I’d changed my mind about telling him again and decided he needed to know. I invited him in.”
“It took me a minute to convince him to come in, but he agreed. I thought maybe if we had sex, he’d re-think leaving me. I guess I was desperate to hold onto him. When I finally told him about the baby, after we’d had sex, of course, he went ballistic. He said I’d ruined the rest of his life. I’d never seen him like that. He’d been angry at me—pushed me a few times, but I’d never seen his rage take him over so completely. The first hit landed right on my cheekbone. I was literally shocked into silence. I didn’t even scream. The second and third hits hardly affected me because I was still reeling from the fact that he’d actually hit me.”
Both of my hands were now encased between Cage’s. “I’m so sorry, Karen. God, no man should ever hit a woman.”
I took a deep breath, letting the memory go, and finished the recount of my story with quick sentences, just wanting to get to the end. “Let’s just say he continued to beat me until I couldn’t get up off the floor. He’d kicked me in the stomach so hard and so many times that I knew I’d lose the baby. There was just no way a baby could have withstood that kind of violence.” My lips curled up in one of those smiles that people show when they’re trying to forget the pain. “Hopeless and helpless. That’s how I’d felt. So hopeless and helpless; I curled up in a ball just praying he would leave before he killed me, too.”
Cage was trying to comfort me, but I could hear the raw anger in his voice. His grip on my hands tightened to the point of discomfort. “Where is he now?”
I didn’t answer right away. I shook my hands a little to loosen his grip, and took a cleansing breath. He looked down at our hands and let mine go. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. He’s long gone. He left me lying on the floor that night as soon as he heard the front door opening. My mother came in and he went out, saying goodbye to her like everything was right as rain. I never saw him again after that night. He just disappeared. The police came to me in the hospital and we filed a report. About a year later I got a call telling me that Freddy was killed while evading police when he and some of his buddies tried to rob a store. And that was that.”
“I doubt it was as easy as ‘that was that’. Have you had many boyfriends since then?”
A loud snort popped out before I answered. “No. I’ve tried dating now and then, but apparently the new way of dating is to sleep together after one or two nights out. That’s just not for me. I guess I’m holding out for the guy who thinks I’m worth getting to know.” That was one of the reasons I liked Cage. Even though he flirted with me, he wasn’t a threat to me in any way. I knew he’d never seriously be interested in me. He wanted the fast girls—the ones who were pulling their clothes off before they even entered the house.
“You’re definitely worth getting to know, Karen.”
We talked well into the early hours of the morning, and I fell asleep in his arms on the couch. He never tried anything, and even tried to position himself so that I couldn’t feel the tell-tale proof that he was, at the very least, attracted to me.
Anyway, my whole point was that I knew Cage had a sensitive side. I knew he cared so much more than he let on. What I still didn’t know was why he wouldn’t put some of his attitude aside and put some effort into making a friend or two.
Chapter 7
Cage
I hadn’t seen Karen in over a week, and I found myself thinking
“No. Not stupid. Naïve maybe, but not stupid.”
“Yeah, well he thought I was pretty stupid. We didn’t finish our dinner and when he drove me home, I’d changed my mind about telling him again and decided he needed to know. I invited him in.”
“It took me a minute to convince him to come in, but he agreed. I thought maybe if we had sex, he’d re-think leaving me. I guess I was desperate to hold onto him. When I finally told him about the baby, after we’d had sex, of course, he went ballistic. He said I’d ruined the rest of his life. I’d never seen him like that. He’d been angry at me—pushed me a few times, but I’d never seen his rage take him over so completely. The first hit landed right on my cheekbone. I was literally shocked into silence. I didn’t even scream. The second and third hits hardly affected me because I was still reeling from the fact that he’d actually hit me.”
Both of my hands were now encased between Cage’s. “I’m so sorry, Karen. God, no man should ever hit a woman.”
I took a deep breath, letting the memory go, and finished the recount of my story with quick sentences, just wanting to get to the end. “Let’s just say he continued to beat me until I couldn’t get up off the floor. He’d kicked me in the stomach so hard and so many times that I knew I’d lose the baby. There was just no way a baby could have withstood that kind of violence.” My lips curled up in one of those smiles that people show when they’re trying to forget the pain. “Hopeless and helpless. That’s how I’d felt. So hopeless and helpless; I curled up in a ball just praying he would leave before he killed me, too.”
Cage was trying to comfort me, but I could hear the raw anger in his voice. His grip on my hands tightened to the point of discomfort. “Where is he now?”
I didn’t answer right away. I shook my hands a little to loosen his grip, and took a cleansing breath. He looked down at our hands and let mine go. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. He’s long gone. He left me lying on the floor that night as soon as he heard the front door opening. My mother came in and he went out, saying goodbye to her like everything was right as rain. I never saw him again after that night. He just disappeared. The police came to me in the hospital and we filed a report. About a year later I got a call telling me that Freddy was killed while evading police when he and some of his buddies tried to rob a store. And that was that.”
“I doubt it was as easy as ‘that was that’. Have you had many boyfriends since then?”
A loud snort popped out before I answered. “No. I’ve tried dating now and then, but apparently the new way of dating is to sleep together after one or two nights out. That’s just not for me. I guess I’m holding out for the guy who thinks I’m worth getting to know.” That was one of the reasons I liked Cage. Even though he flirted with me, he wasn’t a threat to me in any way. I knew he’d never seriously be interested in me. He wanted the fast girls—the ones who were pulling their clothes off before they even entered the house.
“You’re definitely worth getting to know, Karen.”
We talked well into the early hours of the morning, and I fell asleep in his arms on the couch. He never tried anything, and even tried to position himself so that I couldn’t feel the tell-tale proof that he was, at the very least, attracted to me.
Anyway, my whole point was that I knew Cage had a sensitive side. I knew he cared so much more than he let on. What I still didn’t know was why he wouldn’t put some of his attitude aside and put some effort into making a friend or two.
Chapter 7
Cage
I hadn’t seen Karen in over a week, and I found myself thinking
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