And I Trusted You (20 page)

“Ed, please let me finish.” I say holding my hand up for him to stop. “They didn’t take anything form the store. They only wanted me.” I say then pause. I look down at the floor and when I look up, there are tears streaming from my eyes.

Ed looks at me and notices I have bruises on my wrists. He pulls me to him and I begin to cry uncontrollably. There is nothing he can do except hold me. He pushes my hair off my neck and jumps when he sees the bruises on the back of my neck. Slowly he tilts my face upward. “Honey, tell me what happened. I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s wrong.” Ed says cupping my face lovingly.

I look up and say, “Ed, I’m so sorry. But h..h…h…he..he raped me. I tried to fight, I tried to get away, but there was nothing I could do. I’m so sorry, I really am. I tried to fight, Ed. Really I did. Do you want a divorce, now?” I whisper through tears.

Ed stands erect and looks at me in amazement. “How could she think I’d want a divorce? No I don’t want a divorce. I wanna kill whoever did this.”

“Tasha, I love you. No, I don’t want a divorce. We’ll get through this. I’m right here and I’ll always be here for you.” He tells me.

Ed stands there holding me to him like he’s never gonna let me go. Finally I stop crying. The doctor knocks on the door then enters. He tells us I’m going to be sore for a few days and my bruises should heal with no problem. He prescribes something for the pain. The tears have been stitched and I should refrain from sex for a week or so or until I feel comfortable. He asks to speak with Ed outside.

They step out and I stay in the room to get dressed. The doctor explains to Ed that I may feel unloved and moody for a while. He says I will do much better if I have some rape counseling and he should be as supportive as possible. Don’t push me he warns, or I’ll withdraw from him. He also makes him aware of the problems we may experience regarding sex because of what happened and cautions him to be patient.

Finally when Ed comes back in the room, I am dressed and standing looking out the window. I hear Ed come into the room, but I’m too ashamed to turn and face him. I feel so guilty. “If I had quit the job yesterday, this might not have happened. I know Ed loves me, but how can he NOT blame me for this?” Ed comes over and lightly touches me on the shoulder. I turn to face him and he spreads his arms to me. I walk into his arms and lay my head on his chest. Ed is my protector and my rock. We leave together.

“Sonny, I was surprised when I came past here yesterday and the Police were here. Is everything all right?” Curtis says stepping into the door.

Sonny looks at him and shakes his head. “Yesterday, someone broke into the shop while Tasha was here. I’m not sure when she’ll be coming back, if ever.” He says walking to his office with a scowl.

Curtis is strolling behind him and thinks what a bad situation this is. He remembers seeing Tasha yesterday morning and how nice she looked. Then he remembers that she was busy and he remembers her rejecting him. It’s sort of painful, but life goes on.

“I just hope she’ll be okay. I can’t imagine working in this shop without Tasha. She makes it worth coming here, even though it’s my place. I never realized how a woman’s touch to the place could make such a big difference. I’m so sorry something like this happened, ‘cause I’m sure Ed is gonna make her quit. And she’ll listen to him, ‘cause she loves him.”  Sonny finishes holding his head down.

“Man, you are really upset about this. Have you had a chance to talk to Tasha?”

“Nah man. I’m scared to call. I know Ed is gonna curse me out. I wouldn’t be surprised if he comes by here today. But, I do know Tasha was released and went home. Lisa works at that hospital and she told me.”

“Oh man, I’m so sorry something like this happened. What are you gonna do?”

“Everything I can to find this person. You know, Tasha is a nice woman. She doesn’t flirt with the customers, but she does her job. I wish I had met her before Ed. I would have done the same thing he did. Marry her. But that’s beside the point. I’ll kill whoever did this!” Sonny says slamming his fist down on the desk.

“Whoa, man. Calm down. I’m sure the Police will find out who did it.” Cutis assures Sonny.

“I don’t know. From what Tasha told the Police he was pretty well covered up. He disguised his voice and even wore gloves. So she couldn’t really describe any
physical features. I don’t know man, they may never catch him.”

“Well, I’m sure they will do their be…”

The front door opens and Ed walks in. He comes around the desk and walks into Sonny’s office. He stands there glaring at Sonny. The two men don’t say anything to each other for a long time.

              Finally Ed speaks. “Tasha Burrows hereby gives notice of her resignation, effective immediately. You can mail her paycheck. She will never be setting foot into this place again.” Ed announces.

“I’m so sorry about what happened to Tasha. I care about her too, you know. But, thank you for the information.” Sonny says standing up. “But I want you to know, I won’t rest until I find out who did this. It never should have happened, especially not to Tasha. Thank you for letting her work here. I’ll miss her. She did such a good job….”

“Be careful Sonny. She’s my wife. She’s only an employee to you. I never should have let her work here. I don’t know what I was thinking.” Ed says shaking his head as he walks out.

Sonny and Curtis watch him walk out the front door. Suddenly Curtis turns to Sonny and says, “Are you in love with Tasha? You sounded like the husband, there for a minute.”

“You know, I didn’t realize it until yesterday and I came in and saw that she was hurt. Man, this is tearing me up. I know I can’t have her and I know she is in love with him. But, like I told you. I can’t live without her in my life. She keeps me in check. She never lets me get away with anything I shouldn’t. If I touch her, she hits me. I know she doesn’t like it, but I can’t help myself. And she hits pretty hard for a tiny lil’ woman. I guess I am in love with her.” Sonny says with more realization.

“You better not let Ed find out how you feel about his wife. I get the impression that he doesn’t care a great deal for you anyway.” Curtis says standing.

*********************

I am sitting on the side of the bed replaying in my head the events of the last couple of days at the shop. I know the person who raped me. I must, ‘cause they are so familiar to me. Even the few words I heard them use are familiar. Why can’t I remember who it is? Ed has been such a sweetie. The poor man has taken a few days off from work to be home with me.

The Police have a special patrol on the house just in case the person tries to attack me at home. The children don’t know exactly what has happened. But they know I don’t work anymore. They come in and ask if there is anything they can do to make me feel better. I have such sweet boys. Thank goodness my father is dead. I know he would be looking for someone to kill for this. Ed is not a hothead so I’m sure he’ll let the Police handle this. “I wonder if there are any witnesses from across the street who saw anything? They must have seen him come into the shop. He had to have come in through the front door ‘cause he didn’t walk past me.”

I’ll call the Police later and mention this to them. Although I’m sure they’ve already asked questions of the businesses in the area. Then I realize I hadn’t gotten the mail. “The mailman comes at the same time every day. He’s so dependable, you can set a clock by him. The attack was around the same time the mailman should have come. Usually if the shop isn’t open, he slips the mail through the slot.” I reach for the cordless phone next to my bed.

“Yes, may I speak with Officer Woodson? Yes, she responded to a sexual assault yesterday. I may have some additional information for her. That would be fine. I’ll be looking for her to come by. Thank you.” I say hanging up the phone.

About an hour later I’m in the kitchen taking something out for dinner. I hear a chime and jump. Then I realize it’s the doorbell. I cautiously walk to the window to see who it is. The Police car is parked right in front of the house. I look through the peephole and recognize Officer Woodson.

“Who is it?”

“Officer Woodson. I got a message that you may have some new information, Tasha.”

“Okay.” I say opening the door. The Officer and her partner come inside. I tell them I remember something that is odd. I ask if they talked with the business across the street or next door. They say they have done so. I get a little discouraged ‘cause they don’t mention having any leads. But I go on. “I realized today I never got the mail the other day. I remember’ cause the mailman comes the same time
every day. You can set a clock by him. Have you talked with him to see if he saw anything?” I ask hoping this will be something to help.

“No we haven’t. I’ll go back to find out if Sonny got the mail that day, then get the information concerning the mailman. He may have seen something without realizing it. Thanks for the additional information.” She says. She looks at her partner and nods to him.

“I’ll be in the car.” He says walking toward the door.

Officer Woodson looks at me then says, “Are you doing okay. I know this is hard for you. But it’s good that you’re remembering things.”

“Hard is putting it lightly. I feel so guilty. I never should have taken that job and this never would have happened. I don’t know how I’ll ever make this up to Ed.” I say shaking my head.

“I’m sure your husband understands. But statistics show there is someone sexually assaulted every two minutes in this country. So, you can’t say the job had anything to do with it. Though I can understand why you feel that way.”

“Officer, what are the real changes of finding this guy? Truthfully, I need to know.” I ask sincerely.

“If he doesn’t do it again slim, especially if he doesn’t have a Police record. He didn’t leave any fingerprints. And the DNA samples we got from you are no good if we don’t’ have something to compare them to.  Right now, our hopes are resting on the few witnesses in the area that day and their memory. But, honestly, it seems he was after you from what you’ve told me. He even made a reference to doing it again. But, we are doing everything we can to catch him. We just need you to be patient with us.” She says with a small smile.

“I’ll try my best. It’s hard, you know. I find myself thinking about it even when I don’t want to. I’m constantly taking showers. And my poor Ed, he’s been such a wonderful husband about all of this. He even moved out of the bedroom until I was ready to have him sleep in the same bed with me. But, I don’t want this to ruin my marriage.” I say with tears streaming down my face.

“The counseling will help. Have you set up your appointment yet? The counselor is a personal friend of mine. I can tell you, she is very good.”

“Yes, I’ve made the appointment. It’s tomorrow at 3pm. She says I can see her for as long as I need to. Which is good, ‘cause I don’t know how long it will take me to get back to being me.” I tell her.

“Well good. Make sure you use that resource. Many women don’t and have problems later in life. It doesn’t have to be that way. Anyway, we’ll let you know if we find out anything. You try to have a good day.” She says walking to the door.

The Officers leave as I look out the window. I see Ed drive up and come inside. I walk over to him and give him a hug and a kiss. “Thank you for being here and being my rock. I remembered something and called the Police to let them know.”

“Good. I went to see Sonny. I gave him your resignation effective immediately. He says he’s gonna miss you and he’ll do whatever he can to find out who did this.”

“Yeah, that’s nice. I’m so sorry for not listening to you. I should have quit that day rather than convincing you to let me stay. Can you ever forgive me?” I say.

“Tasha, come here. Sit down.” Ed says as he guides me to the sofa. “Look, there is nothing for me to forgive. You didn’t plan for this to happen. You didn’t do anything to make this happen. I know you. I know how you carry yourself. I know how you treat people. You have a pleasing personality and people like being around you. If this was someone who expressed interest in you, I’m sure you turned them down. But I’m also sure you did it nicely, but firmly. The person who did this is a criminal. They took something from you because they knew you wouldn’t give it. They planned it and waited until you were alone. Rape is a crime of anger and power. Not sex. I don’t want you to think I’m upset with you because you were doing something you wanted to do. I don’t blame you for this in any way. I blame the monster who did it completely. Even Sonny feels the same way.