Chapter 17:
Shattered Dreams
“Mom?”
“Cinderella!”
I felt sick. Mom’s normally strong
angry voice was nothing more than a faint whisper. “Mom!” I screamed.
“Your father’s here.” She whispered.
“He’s drunk. I locked the door but he won’t stop pounding. He’s trying to break
it down. Please come home. He won’t hurt me if you’re here.”
I could hear my father’s evil voice
slurring profanity through the door. I couldn’t really understand what he was
saying but I did hear him scream my name. I’m pretty sure my heart stopped in
that instant. Momma sounded so scared and I knew she was probably right about
Hank. He wouldn’t hurt her if I were there. I dropped the phone to the ground
and ran. I couldn’t let him hurt her, not again. She couldn’t die because of my
temper. I felt sick. I had to stop it. Hank was mad at me. This was my battle.
Forget about the song, forget about
the fancy dress, forget everything. It was only a matter of time before Hank
got in the house and after what he did to her the last time there was no
telling what would happen. I shuddered at the thought and ran from the ballroom
as fast as I could. I didn’t mean to cause a scene, but I know there was more
than one pair of eyes watching me as I escaped.
The only time my thoughts strayed from
my mother once the rest of that night. As I flew out the doors I wondered if
Howie had seen me go and what he must be thinking. I wondered if he might come
after me and I prayed he wouldn’t. He would surely try to come with me and
having him there would only complicate things.
I ran through the hotel lobby and when
I got outside I realized for the first time that I had no way to get home.
“Fuck!” I yelled earning a few surprised looks from the people around me. Even
Driving like fucking Batman it would take nearly 15 minutes to get home. If I
had to wait for a cab and then try to convince them to hurry, Mom would be dead
long before I could reach her.
I fell to the ground losing all
control of my emotions and cried. I had no control. No control over anything,
not me, not my parents… My body started trembling and I felt as if I were going
to be sick until I heard someone call my name. Shit! Howie was trying to stop
me. But when I turned around Howie wasn’t there at all, it was Leighanne that
had come running out the door behind me. Her face paled. “What happened?” she
gasped falling to my side and throwing her arms around me.
“If he gets inside before I get there,
he’ll kill her. I have to stop him.”
Part of me couldn’t believe I was
admitting that, but I never have been able to keep anything from Leighanne. The
thing about this was, that I never talked about what my father was really
capable of doing to my mother and I. It was a defense mechanism I guess. If I
didn’t say it out loud then I could pretend that it couldn’t really happen. But
now I had. I’d physically said the words and it terrified me more than I ever
thought possible. I looked around starting to panic. “Somebody call me a
fucking cab!” I yelled.
I looked at Leighanne who had tears in
her eyes as well and she let out a little gasp. “The limo!” she said. She ran
over to the valet and after a moment returned to my side. “The limo is parked
here at the hotel. It will be faster than waiting for a cab.”
I couldn’t believe Leighanne was
helping me like that. I mean I knew she was sweet but the way she was thinking
was like she really understood what was going on. I was barely able to whisper
a thank you but I’m sure she could see how relieved I was. I threw my arms
around her not only to thank her but because I was desperate for any
reassurance I could get.
Seconds later Leighanne was shuffling
me into the limo. I didn’t realize at first that she’d climbed in right behind
me or I never would have let her come, but I wasn’t thinking straight. I heard
her tell the driver that we had to get back to Hanley as fast as we possibly
could and a tiny piece of me relaxed when he took her seriously. He obeyed
traffic laws through Lexington but the moment we hit the highway he punched the
gas.
That drive home was the most agonizing
15 minutes of my life. Leighanne and I sat in the back of the limo both with
shaking bodies and tears spilling from our eyes. God only knows what my father
was doing to my mother right now. “What if I’m too late?” I whispered.”
“Don’t say that.” Leighanne whispered
back squeezing my hand tightly. “Maybe she called the police after she called
you.”
Shit! Why hadn’t I thought of that?
God I’m so stupid sometimes. I thought for a moment? Would my mother have
called them? Before my brain could even think the answer, my head was
involuntarily shaking. “Momma would never call the police on him.”
“Then we’ll call them.” Leighanne
said.
I watched as she frantically looked
around for her phone but it was nowhere to be seen. Apparently she hadn’t
picked it up after I dropped it. Great. Oh well, its not like Sheriff Shithead
and Deputy Dumbass have ever done much to help us before. Why should tonight be
any different?
As we reached the Hanley town limits I
got really nervous. If he had even touched my mom I was going to put a stop to
it once and for all. I was ready to kill the fucking bastard and I didn’t care
if it meant life in prison. I looked at the prim and proper beauty sitting next
to me and I knew I didn’t want her to see what I knew we were walking into. I
especially didn’t want her to be in any danger. She looked scared already and
we weren’t even there yet. “Leighanne?” I said grasping her hands tightly.
“Trust me when I say that no matter what, you do not want to get out of this
car.”
“Cin! You can’t go in there by
yourself.”
“Promise me! Lock the fucking doors
and don’t step one foot out of this car! Hank is a bastard. He WILL hurt you if
you get in his way.”
Leighanne took a sharp intake of
breath. I could only imagine what might be running through her head. Slowly she
nodded her head. “I promise.” She finally whispered.
I looked at her and forced the best
smile I could. I took the locket from around my neck and placed it in
Leighanne’s palm. She went white as I handed it to her. “For safe keeping.” I
said. “I don’t want to break it or have that bastard steal it or something.”
The limo pulled into the trailer park
and as we drove up to my place I could see that the door had been broken in but
I didn’t hear and screaming. I was sure he had killed her. “Leighanne!” I said
trying not to let my voice shake, “As soon as I get out I want you to go and
get the police. Just turn right out of the trailer park and drive about 4 miles
to Main St. Take a left and you’ll see it on the left about 2 miles up the
road.” Leighanne nodded. “Just tell them I sent you. Tell them that Hank’s at
it again and Cindy needs help. They’ll understand.”
Leighanne nodded one more time as
tears flowed down her face. I started to jump out of the car and she grabbed me
pulling me into a tight hug. “Be careful.” She whispered.
Shit! It was almost as if we were
saying goodbye forever and I was marching to my doom. I smirked. It was a
little melodramatic. After all, it was only Hank. Yeah he was a bastard and
yeah he was dangerous, but I knew how to defend myself, I know I can take him,
especially if he’s drunk. I gained a little of my confidence back and walked
into the house. “Momma?” I yelled.
I heard her scream, “Cinderella! No! Don’t!”
and I barely caught a glimpse of her terrified figure being held down by my
father before the lights went out.
I don’t know how he did it, but it
happened so fast I never saw it coming. I don’t even know how long I was
unconscious. The only thing I do know for sure is that the real nightmare began
when I came to. I recognized my bedroom but had no idea how I’d gotten there.
I’d obviously been hit in the head
when I came through the door. With what, I don’t know, but it fucking did some
damage. My head hurt so bad that I could hardly move and my vision was blurred
from the blood that was trickling into my eyes. I laid there for a moment not
sure if I could sit up when I felt someone’s hands gently pushing the blood
soaked hair out of my face. “Not so tough now, are ya Princess?”
I may have had a severe concussion but
I wasn’t messed up bad enough to forget that voice. I forced my eyes to focus
and realized that Pete was straddling me. The strangest combination of panic
and rage overcame me and I tried as hard as I could to crawl out from
underneath him. When I began swinging my arms I was met with a sharp fist to my
face. “Don’t fight it bitch!” he yelled, “You’ll only make it harder on
yourself.”
I was already really weak from the
blow to the head and that fat fuck must have weighed nearly 400 pounds. I was
hurt and I was scared and I was pinned. I was fucking pathetic. So terrified
that I couldn’t even scream for help, I couldn’t stop him. All I could do was
watch as he pulled a butterfly knife from his pants pocket and slit my fucking
brand new dress from bottom to top.
My muscled tensed as the cold metal
blade ran along my skin threatening to slice me open if I flinched. My stomach
churned when I felt his hands on me and I found myself whishing I would throw
up all over him. Maybe then he might get off me. But just like the rest of my
body, my stomach wasn’t listening to my brain.
My nightmare got worse when Pete
slipped his hand under the only piece of clothing he hadn’t ripped off me yet.
He moaned a little as he pushed his fingers deep inside me and I began
thrashing wildly. Oh God how could he do this to me? How could I have let this
happen? I kicked and I fought as hard as I could and I managed to free my right
arm. Unfortunately I’m a lefty and my right arm has never really packed much of
a punch so my hitting didn’t do any good. In fact all it did was piss him off.
He pulled his hand free from me and
began smacking me around again. “I told you not to do that.” He warned but
there was no way in hell I was going to go down without a fight.
I grabbed his arm and bit into it as
hard as I could. I don’t even want to know what kind of nasty diseases I could
contract from doing that, but for a moment he jumped back screaming in pain and
I kicked him off of me. I jumped up off the bed but the moment I stood I nearly
fell to the ground I was so dizzy. I tried to stumble my way out the door but
Pete tackled me to the ground and apparently he’d had enough games this time.
He kicked me in the stomach forcing all the air from my lungs and then beat me
until I was unconscious again. I only
blacked out for a second but the damage had been done. He’d managed to get his
pants down and was holding his knife to my throat. I guess he was waiting for
me to be awake when he fucking raped me. The sick bastard.
When I woke up I immediately began
fighting again. “Do you want to die tonight?” he whispered coldly as he pushed
the blade into my throat lightly drawing blood.
I froze except for the tears that ran down
my cheeks and the blood that was still dripping from my head. I didn’t want to
die tonight, that much I knew. I couldn’t help the whimpering and I begged him
not to hurt me anymore.
I think the begging was what the sick
fuck was actually waiting for because as I cried for help he only laughed in my
face and then committed the worse act that anyone could ever do to another
person. Right then I wished that he’d killed me instead.
It’s funny what your mind thinks about
as your being raped. First of all it shuts down. You don’t bother fighting
anymore. It’s too late and you know it, so you withdraw from your surroundings.
Everything happened so fast and yet moved in slow motion. I wasn’t sure if I
even knew what was really happening to me. I do remember thinking that it
didn’t physically hurt the way I thought it would and I actually fucking
smirked thinking that it was probably because he had suck a tiny pecker. Is
that a fucking twisted thought to be having right then or what?
It didn’t really take the pervert that
long to finish and he must have really enjoyed it because as he reached his
climax he dropped his knife next to my face. The fucker didn’t even realize
he’d done it. Fucking idiot! I grabbed the knife and jabbed it into the side of
his gut as hard as I could. The man is so huge that I doubt I did all that much
damage but I’m sure it still hurt like a damn son of a bitch.
Pete toppled off me rolling on the
floor in pain but I was holding the knife so tightly that it stayed in my hand
as he fell. He swore up a storm but was hurt badly enough that he didn’t get
up. I pulled myself up as quickly as I could and wrapped a small blanket off my
bed around me.
I was hurt bad and I knew it. I was
surprised that I could even stand but somehow I managed to reach my bedroom
door. As I pulled it open my father heard Pete’s cries and came running down
the hallway. He stopped when he saw me standing there with a fucking bloody
knife in my hand. “You crazy bitch!” he said, “You fucking stabbed him didn’t
you.”
“I’ll do worse to you if you don’t get
out of my fucking way.” I said hoping he wouldn’t notice how unsteady I was.
He laughed and then took a step toward
me so I threw the knife at him. It landed in his chest somewhere near his
shoulder and he drew back in shock. “God damn it Cinderella!” he yelled and
then drew a gun from his waist.
I heard the shot go off and
immediately fell to the floor. I knew I had to have been shot but somehow I
didn’t feel any pain. Everything went dark but I wasn’t dead. Not yet anyway. I
felt my father fall to the ground at my feet and took some satisfaction in the
fact that if I were making the trip to the other side tonight then at least I
would be taking him with me, or at least I hoped it.
The last thing I heard was my mother’s
terrified screams and then another gunshot. After that all was silent. One
final thought ran through my brain and although I couldn’t say the words, in my
heart I told my momma I would see her in heaven and then told my father to go
to hell.
***