inkling I
was in any danger. There were other cars there, although they were parked a
long distance away. And Pierce had never shown any physical aggression toward
me in the past. So when he grabbed my hair,” she swallowed hard, “and tore open
my blouse, I was in complete shock.”
“Fucker.”
Christa sent Gigi a grateful smile. In spite of their rocky
start, she already felt a connection with the woman.
She pressed forward, anxious to get to the end. “At first, I
was too shocked to even fight back. Then I screamed, but we were too far away
for anyone else in the other cars to hear me and Pierce didn’t let me scream
for long. He slapped me in the mouth. Hard. Today, after a boatload of
self-defense classes, I like to think I’d have had a fighting chance. But then?
I was toast. I started to beg and he just kept shouting at me. ‘You’re going to
give me what you gave that lowlife motherfucker. You think he’s better than me?
He’s nothing.’”
She shuddered, remembering. “It was like a demon had taken
over his body. Spittle was flying from his mouth, he was literally vibrating
with rage. One minute, I was pinned beneath him, the next, the door flew open
and I was free.”
“Tai,” Gigi said softly.
“Yeah. I guess he’d been going to the lake a lot since we’d
been apart. He was there, sitting on the dock, and saw us pull up. He was
walking back to his car to leave and heard what he thought was a scream.” She
met the other woman’s eyes. “Do you know how many people would’ve walked away?
After what I’d put him through? For all he knew, we were just joking around, or
worse, it was the good kind of scream. Not Tai though. He dragged Pierce out of
the car by his shirt, onto the ground. I’d never seen him so furious. Pierce
got to his feet pretty quick, but not for long. He lunged at Tai and Tai laid
him out with a snap kick to the jaw. It was over in less than ten seconds.”
“So not exactly a fight then. More like an old-school
ass-whooping.”
“That’s exactly what it was. We left Pierce on the ground
groaning and Tai brought me home. I was a wreck, shaking and crying. He was so
sweet and gentle to me. Walked me to the door, then left. The next time I saw
him was two nights ago.”
“Wait, what do you mean?” Gigi demanded. “Why didn’t you go
see him? And I still don’t get why the hell he got arrested.”
“Pierce ended up with a broken jaw. Tai was a black belt in
Shotokan Karate. According to the law, he assaulted Pierce with a deadly
weapon, using his expertise to maim him with forethought and malice.”
“He was trying to hurt you. Not to mention he came at Tai
first. That’s total bullshit.” Gigi’s expressive eyes snapped with anger as she
handed Christa a steaming cup of tea.
“Total,” she confirmed with a nod. “I was a minor and my
parents wouldn’t allow me to go and testify, but I did have to give a statement
to the police explaining what happened. What I don’t get is why they didn’t
seem to take my statement into account at all.”
“What happened to Pierce?”
“My parents insisted that the issues with Pierce should be
settled privately, in a civilized manner. In the end, they laid the blame on
Tai. If he hadn’t treated me like ‘one of his ghetto sluts’, Pierce would have
known I wasn’t that type of girl and he wouldn’t have tried to ‘seduce’ me. No
matter what I said, they refused to believe that he was actually prepared to
rape me, which hurt even more. His family was very influential, mine was in
denial, and no charges were ever filed. In fact, my parents still summer in the
Hamptons with the Ridells.”
She paused to take a sip of tea to wash the bitterness from
her tongue before continuing. “My father told me Tai was sentenced to six
months in a juvenile detention center. I begged to visit or at least know where
he was so I could send letters. They refused. When I was able to sneak away a
few weeks later, I tried to
was in any danger. There were other cars there, although they were parked a
long distance away. And Pierce had never shown any physical aggression toward
me in the past. So when he grabbed my hair,” she swallowed hard, “and tore open
my blouse, I was in complete shock.”
“Fucker.”
Christa sent Gigi a grateful smile. In spite of their rocky
start, she already felt a connection with the woman.
She pressed forward, anxious to get to the end. “At first, I
was too shocked to even fight back. Then I screamed, but we were too far away
for anyone else in the other cars to hear me and Pierce didn’t let me scream
for long. He slapped me in the mouth. Hard. Today, after a boatload of
self-defense classes, I like to think I’d have had a fighting chance. But then?
I was toast. I started to beg and he just kept shouting at me. ‘You’re going to
give me what you gave that lowlife motherfucker. You think he’s better than me?
He’s nothing.’”
She shuddered, remembering. “It was like a demon had taken
over his body. Spittle was flying from his mouth, he was literally vibrating
with rage. One minute, I was pinned beneath him, the next, the door flew open
and I was free.”
“Tai,” Gigi said softly.
“Yeah. I guess he’d been going to the lake a lot since we’d
been apart. He was there, sitting on the dock, and saw us pull up. He was
walking back to his car to leave and heard what he thought was a scream.” She
met the other woman’s eyes. “Do you know how many people would’ve walked away?
After what I’d put him through? For all he knew, we were just joking around, or
worse, it was the good kind of scream. Not Tai though. He dragged Pierce out of
the car by his shirt, onto the ground. I’d never seen him so furious. Pierce
got to his feet pretty quick, but not for long. He lunged at Tai and Tai laid
him out with a snap kick to the jaw. It was over in less than ten seconds.”
“So not exactly a fight then. More like an old-school
ass-whooping.”
“That’s exactly what it was. We left Pierce on the ground
groaning and Tai brought me home. I was a wreck, shaking and crying. He was so
sweet and gentle to me. Walked me to the door, then left. The next time I saw
him was two nights ago.”
“Wait, what do you mean?” Gigi demanded. “Why didn’t you go
see him? And I still don’t get why the hell he got arrested.”
“Pierce ended up with a broken jaw. Tai was a black belt in
Shotokan Karate. According to the law, he assaulted Pierce with a deadly
weapon, using his expertise to maim him with forethought and malice.”
“He was trying to hurt you. Not to mention he came at Tai
first. That’s total bullshit.” Gigi’s expressive eyes snapped with anger as she
handed Christa a steaming cup of tea.
“Total,” she confirmed with a nod. “I was a minor and my
parents wouldn’t allow me to go and testify, but I did have to give a statement
to the police explaining what happened. What I don’t get is why they didn’t
seem to take my statement into account at all.”
“What happened to Pierce?”
“My parents insisted that the issues with Pierce should be
settled privately, in a civilized manner. In the end, they laid the blame on
Tai. If he hadn’t treated me like ‘one of his ghetto sluts’, Pierce would have
known I wasn’t that type of girl and he wouldn’t have tried to ‘seduce’ me. No
matter what I said, they refused to believe that he was actually prepared to
rape me, which hurt even more. His family was very influential, mine was in
denial, and no charges were ever filed. In fact, my parents still summer in the
Hamptons with the Ridells.”
She paused to take a sip of tea to wash the bitterness from
her tongue before continuing. “My father told me Tai was sentenced to six
months in a juvenile detention center. I begged to visit or at least know where
he was so I could send letters. They refused. When I was able to sneak away a
few weeks later, I tried to
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