Then that night happened... He had two friends over. They had been getting high for a good twenty-four hours. Almost out of drugs they went around the apartment, turning everything over, trying to find anything to keep the high going.
I tried to stay out of his way, out of sight, out of mind, but Lilah had to go to the bathroom. I tried to pass them, till one of his friends grabbed us and pulled us into his lap.
Lilah started crying. I looked over at Adam with fear in my eyes, silently begging him to help me. His hands had started on my thighs and traveled up to my breasts.
“Adam, HELP!”
“We can get some good money for this bitch right here,” his friend said with a leering smile, showing me his rotten, yellowed, decayed teeth.
Adam turned to us finally and said, “How much do you think?”
I fought to get away from him, pushing Lilah to the floor. He must have mistook my squirming to get away from him as me playing hard to get because I felt his dick get hard under me.
I finally managed to break free from him and crawl away, hoping they’d forget about me. But Adam grabbed my arm and roughly yanked me up from the floor, twisting it and causing me to cry out in pain.
“Shut up, Bella. You are going to do what I say, understand? Or else...” The threat hung in the air, but he turned to look at Lilah crying on the floor by my feet.
“Adam, she’s scared, let me take her back into the room, and we won’t bother you.” The need to get her away from him was what was keeping me from losing my shit right then.
“You go shut that kid up and be ready for me when I come and get you.” The pupils in his bloodshot eyes were big and dilated. I turned my head away from him, the bile rising in my throat.
A car door breaks me from my memories. She pulls out of the driveway, Jackson watching it drive away. He watches until she disappears and then he looks right over at my house. The shades are open, but the house is dark, so I know he can’t see in. But I can feel him looking into the house.
I wonder why she left and who she is to him. I don’t know who he is or what he does, but I somehow knew after he followed Lilah and me into the house, almost shielding and protecting us, I could trust him.
It could be that Nan trusted him. It could be that Brenda said he was the most loyal person she has ever known.
I get up to put my cup in the sink and rinse it with water. Walking back to the living room window, I pull down the shades. Jackson isn’t there anymore, but I do see his shadow in his house.
I make the rounds, checking to make sure all the doors and windows are locked. Thankfully, Nan had upgraded the furnace and added an air conditioner in here so I didn’t have to sleep with the windows open.
Making my way back to my bed, I cuddle up to my baby girl, who is stretched out in her sleep like a starfish, right in the middle of the bed. My mind is exhausted, my body is exhausted. This time, it takes me just a few moments to fall into a slumber.
***
I’m washing the breakfast plates the next day when there is a knock at the door. Lilah and I both stop moving, not saying a word.
I put my hand to my lips to tell her to be quiet, while I tiptoe to the door, looking to see who it is. I let out a breath of relief when I notice it’s just Brenda.
Unlocking the door, I smile at her. My smile goes away when I see her talking to Jackson, who is across the street. His dress attire is the same as the last couple of days.
Nice, but faded blue jeans, hugging him in all the right places. His blond hair is wet like he just got out of the shower. Today his T-shirt is a navy blue, and it also fits him like a glove, tight across his wide chest. The sleeves wrap around the tops of his tatted biceps. The blue of his shirt makes his Caribbean Sea blue eyes stand out.
I look down at my shorts and a matching blue tank top without a bra. Even though my breasts are small enough to pull this off, I still cross my hands over my chest so he doesn’t see me.
He looks me up and down and gives me a chin up. I nod at him and then turn back to Brenda.
“Good morning. You’re up early,” I say while two hands wrap around my thigh.
“Good morning, sunshine, how are you this morning?” Brenda ignores me, going straight for Lilah.
She hides her face in my thigh, fighting her smile at Brenda.
A honk makes us all look up to see Jackson drive away, waving.
“What a boy that one is.” She sighs while waving. “What I wouldn’t do to be twenty years younger.” This makes me laugh because I’m thinking Brenda is close to seventy. Even if she were twenty years younger, I doubt she’d have a chance with him, but more power to her.
“So I was thinking today we hit up the hardware store, maybe go get some new drapes. I know your Nan was looking at replacing them right before she passed. So what do you say we go shop a little?”