“Did you call the number your pops gave you?”
“Not right away. I was scared, so I called my pops. I was screaming and crying in the phone, telling him he was coming to get me. I begged him to help me. I thought he would be yelling in the phone, but he had a quiet calm to his voice. He just told me to hang up, call the number that was in my cell phone, and ask for Dave. So I did. I told Dave that my pops told me to call him. I told him that I was in trouble and to please come help me. Bunny’s brother was steadily banging on the door and cussing at me. I was petrified. What drove me crazy was how calm Dave was as well. He just told me he was on his way, and then he hung up.”
“I don’t know how long it was. But the next thing I heard was the front door busting in. Then Bunny’s brother was saying, ‘Hey, who the fuck are you?’ Then I heard a body being tossed around, shit breaking, and him screaming bloody murder… Then silence. I was shaking at this point. When I heard the police in my apartment, I screamed for them to help me.
“I was still in my towel. At first they thought there was an intruder who broke in and beat Bunny’s brother to near death. But I pointed to the man the paramedic was helping and told them that he was the one trying to get me. I couldn’t tell him who it was that came in the apartment, but I just told them what I heard. When I finally got a good look at Bunny’s brother, I was shocked at what I saw. He was on a stretcher with a face that was unrecognizable.”
“Damn, really? And you never saw Dave?”
She shook her head.
“Nope. To this day, I haven’t a clue who Dave was.”
“Well, what happened when Bunny and your father came home?”
“Oh, Bunny came home cussing and carrying on. When the cops told her what her brother was trying to do to me, she actually started blaming me. I was floored. And when my father came home, he wasn’t any help either. When my pops finally showed up, the cops were gone, and the door was still messed up from either Dave or the cops. So my pops just pushed the flimsy door open and commenced to whooping my father’s ass. I mean he took it to him. When Bunny tried to jump in, he choked her and then tossed her out of the way. Pops called my father a useless piece of shit to let that child molester around his daughter. He then just grabbed my hand and took me away that very moment. I left everything I had there and just left with the clothes on my back.”
I fell silent, and so did she. She really had it rough for a while, and my heart bled for her. My childhood wasn’t as messed up as that. To hear what she went through made my shit meaningless. She then captured my large hands between hers and laced her fingers with mine. She stared absent-mindedly.
“You know, my pops was a nervous wreck for a long time after that. He got Lou to teach me a few things I could do to protect myself. Throughout my childhood, he taught me how to shoot and to watch my back. He wanted to make sure no one snuck up on me. I mean, I have a glock in my room and a stun gun and mace… None of that was of any use to me as Travis fucking choked the shit out of me.”
She broke down, and I cradled her in my arms.
“Hey, baby. No, no, no. That son-of-a-bitch took advantage of you when you were at your most vulnerable. He’s a fucking coward. This is not your fault. Do you understand me?” I kissed her forehead and held her for a minute longer, before I said softly, “Come on. Let’s take a shower and get back in the bed.”
I picked her up and took us both out of the bathtub and into the shower. I quietly washed her body, while she held on to me. Then I washed myself and both of our hair before I carried her out and in the room. I took my time to dry her off and lotion her body. I massaged every inch of her, trying to subdue the urge I had to ravage her body. I put a fresh t-shirt of mine on her body. I went to dry off and grabbed a pair of boxer briefs. When I crawled in the bed, she sat up and looked at me.
“I’m sorry for all this.”
She looked down in her lap, not wanting to look at me. I tilted her chin up, and our eyes met.
“There’s nothing to be sorry about.”
“Yes, there is. I know I should have called you. I mean, I did try to call you that night. I was sitting in my living room on Thursday. I wanted to talk to you, to see you. I missed you so much, you know. When my doorbell rang, it was Train. He begged me to let him in. He wanted to talk to me about Travis, you know. He was worried about him and thought he needed help for some issues he was having. I knew something was off with Trip, so I agreed and let him in. Train and I were talking and came to the conclusion that we both needed to try and get through to Trip in the best way possible.” She sighed and shook her head. “I know that was stupid, and I know you warned me about him, but I figured I was safe with Train, you know? And I mean, at first, everything was fine. The three of us talked, and Trip told us how he had some things going on, but he felt things were fine. Then we—or rather I, because Train chickened out—told Trip that he’s been changing lately and that we were worried. Well, to make a long story short, he first blamed me for the change in him because I broke up with him. Then he started accusing me of sleeping around on him with other fighters, with his brother, and then with you.”