Different Roads (21 page)

I also knew once I got home, that Shelley
and Tim would be there. It was Shelley's turn to decide what their plans were
for date night and Tim was coming over to make a big pot of his famous chili. Afterwards,
they were going to stay up all night to watch scary movies. She was letting him
off easy this week. Normally, date night with movies meant an excruciatingly
painful evening filled with sappy chick flicks.

Shelley walked in from outside carrying
two large bags of groceries and plopped them down on the counter. She eyed me curiously
as I sat at the kitchen table studying. "School work on Saturday
afternoon? Really?"

"Yeah you know me," I smirked.
"Nose to the grindstone."

"Pfft, I know you alright. Which is
why I'm about to fall on the floor from shock because you're sitting at the
kitchen table on a Saturday afternoon actually doing something
productive," she said.

I ignored her snarky comment and returned
my attention back to the text book on automotive electrical systems, "I've
turned over a new leaf."

"Tch, next you'll be joining the
church and renouncing all things evil. Which pretty much means you'd have to
give up all things Jaq-related."

"Stop, I'm not
that
bad," I protested weakly before adding, "Anymore."

She turned and stared at me through
narrowed eyes, "So that means you're finally ready to
officially
end things with the wife beater?"

I took a deep breath and exhaled loudly,
"Okay first of all, we're not married, so technically he can't be a
wife
beater. And secondly, yes, I am officially telling him tonight."

Shelley went back to putting the rest of
the groceries away and said, "Well it's about damn time. Are you going to
call him or text him?"

My eyebrows drew together,
"Neither. I'm telling him face to face."

She whirled around and sent me a
mouth-gaping glare, "What the hell? Why? Do you have a death wish or
something?"

"You and Tim will be here tonight. He
won't do anything as long as the two of you are around," I reasoned.

"So you're inviting him
here
?
To break up with him
?" Her voice raised a couple of octaves.
"That should be entertaining."

I slammed my text book closed with a
thud and pushed away from the table. "No, I'm breaking up with him after
dinner at his sister's house. Then I'm coming home. End of story."

She sighed, "I don't know Jaq. I
don't like it."

"You worry too much," I said
as I walked from the room.

"And you, my naïve friend, don't worry
enough," she shouted after me.

            After
my shower I slipped on a t-shirt and pulled a worn gray hoodie down over my
head. I gathered my damp hair into a low, loose ponytail before grabbing a pair
of comfy jeans and running shoes. Tonight, I wasn't dressing for attention-grabbing
gorgeous; instead I opted for function over fashion since I had no reason to
impress Damon. Those days were
so
over.

            Once
I got to Damon's sister's house, I drove around the block three times trying to
decide where to park. I definitely didn't want to pull into the driveway or
park behind him on the street in case he wanted to block me in if things went
south. I chose to pull in front of Damon's truck at the corner of the street so
that no one could park in front of my car.

            I
had a knot the size of a Volkswagen sitting in my stomach and my hands shook as
I tucked a few stray strands of my hair back into place. I took a deep breath
and pushed open the heavy car door, "Let's get this over with Jaq," I
muttered.

Dinner
was quite possibly
the
most intense forty-five minutes of my life, and I
don't mean intense in a good way. I avoided eye contact with Damon as much as
possible and when he tried to reach for my hand, I made a grab for my water
glass.

            "Did
you stop going to class Jaq?" Damon asked as I took a sip of my water.

            I
sputtered on the mouthful of water, "N-no, I just rearranged a couple of
classes so I could have my afternoons free."

            He
narrowed his eyes, "What for?"

            "I
applied for an afternoon job at Trader Joe's," I lied. The muscle in his
jaw jumped almost imperceptibly, and he sat his beer down on the table a little
harder than necessary, causing me to flinch.

            "When
were you going to tell me?"

            I
gave him a tight-lipped smile, "I was going to tell you when I got the
job, if I got it." I stared down at my plate but saw him nod his head out
of the corner of my eye. I twirled the spaghetti around my fork about seventeen
times. Eating was the last thing I felt like doing.

            Dani
glanced at me over the top of her wine glass, "I think working at Trader
Joe's is a great idea. I love that place."

            "You
would," Damon muttered.

            She
bit her lip and pushed away from the table, "Jaq, do you want some more
garlic bread or maybe a glass of wine?" Dani seemed to have picked up on
the tension making her nervous and chatty. "Damon, what about you?"

            He
shot his sister an icy glare before chugging his almost full beer and handing
her the empty bottle. "Get me another beer." Dani seemed to hesitate.
Her eyes darted between Damon and me, adding to the angst I already felt. Here
was the girl I'd watched fearlessly beating Damon over the head with her
gigantic purse. Yet at that moment, she seemed to be walking on thin ice around
him.

            As
soon as Dani was out of the room, Damon's hand snaked up and grabbed hold of my
chin. His fingers dug in as he forced me to meet his eyes, "What the fuck
is your problem tonight?" he growled.

            I
leaned back, trying to break the vice-like hold he had on me, "Let go of
me Damon," I warned. He gave me a little shove and dropped his hand as
soon as Dani came back with his beer.

            I
cleared my throat and pushed away from the table, "Dani, thanks for
dinner. Everything was great. I'm sorry, I'm just not feeling very good
tonight. I think I'm going to go on home," I gave her my best whipped-puppy
look before I turned to Damon and said, "Walk me out?"

            His
jaw clenched and he stood up, "Yeah, sure."

            We
walked wordlessly across the street to my car. His shoulders were stiff and his
hands were shoved deep into the pockets of his jeans. My right hand gripped the
mace Shelley had insisted I bring along. When she stuck it in the front pouch
of my hoodie earlier I almost laughed at her, until I saw the look of concern
on her face, "For my own peace of mind," she'd pleaded.

            I
tried to avoid getting between Damon and my car. I made sure to stand beside
him instead of in front of him.

"What's your problem tonight?"
he rubbed his hand along the scruff on his chin.

            "Damon,
look, I've been doing some thinking," I paused to give my brain time to
remember the script I'd mentally gone over about a thousand times on the drive
over. I took a deep breath before continuing, "I think it would be best if
we didn't see each other for awhile. I need to focus on school and maybe earn
some extra cash working at Trader Joe's. I don't think dating fits into my life
right now."
There, I'd said it
. I braced myself for his reaction
and fingered the hard cold plastic of the pepper spray.

            "Don’t
think dating
me
fits into your life right now, or dating in
general?" he took a step closer and his eyes were black with anger.

            "Both,"
I said with as much conviction as the fear I felt would allow.

            "Fucking
great," he said with an eerie calm-before-the-storm kind of voice. He
closed the distance between us and glowered down at me. "Know what I think
Jaq?"

            The
hair on my arms stood on end and I tried to put some space between us.
Lightning fast, his left hand fisted in my hair and he yanked my head back. I was
barely able to register the pain from my scalp before he drew back is arm and
slammed his fist into my face. I heard what sounded like gravel crunching as my
head ricocheted between his fist and the roof of my car. He shoved away from me
and took a step back. My knees folded like a paper airplane beneath my body. I
whimpered and he walked away, swearing under his breath.

            "That's
what I fucking think about the whole thing, Jaq."

            I
lay motionless. I was terrified he would come back to finish what he'd started.
I reached up and eased my fingers through the hair on the back of my head where
he had slammed it into the car. There didn't seem to be any blood back there,
but when I pulled my hand away, big clumps of my hair came with it.
Fuck
.

I
waited until I heard the sound of Damon's truck as he roared off before I eased
slowly to my feet. I was a little surprised he walked away while I was still
breathing. Maybe he was hoping I'd let my guard down before coming back to
finish what he'd started.

            Something
warm ran down my face. I looked down at the front of my sweatshirt and saw that
it was soaked through with blood.
A lot of blood
. I carefully pulled the
hoodie over my head and held it against my bleeding face while I started my car
to head for home.

            I
reached for my cell phone to call Shelley; she'd made me promise to call as
soon as I was on my way home. I frowned when I noticed three missed calls from
her and dialed her number.

            "Jaq,
thank God you called," she breathed a sigh of relief. "You're
okay?"

            "Define
okay?" I asked in a nasal-sounding, broken nose sort of way.

            "Jaq?"
she sucked in a breath. "Why do you sound so funny?"

            "Look,
I'm on my way home. I'll tell you when I get there, okay?" I said.

            "Okay,
we've got to run to the store," she said. "I tried to call earlier to
let you know we won't be long, half-hour tops."

            "I'll
be fine. He took it... well. I guess."

            "We
won't be gone long. Lock the door as soon as you get home, and memorize the
number to 9-1-1," she said, trying to interject a little humor into a
completely humorless scenario.

            "Got
it, funny girl," I said and disconnected the call.

            I
couldn't help but watch in my rearview mirror all the way home. I had an uneasy
feeling gnawing at me from the inside out, and I couldn't be sure if it was an
adrenaline rush hangover or something more. "Stop trying to scare yourself
shitless Jaq," I muttered and eased out of my car.

            As
soon as I got through the door, I flipped the deadbolt and left all the lights
off, except for the one above the stove that we always used as our nightlight. 
I grabbed a baggie and filled it with ice and made my way to the bathroom. One
peek at myself in the mirror and I wished I hadn't looked.

            The
skin at the inside corners of my eyes had already started to turn purple, no
doubt they would be full-blown shiners by morning. I resembled something out of
a late-night creature feature and it made my stomach clench. Blood covered the
front of my clothes and there was even some spattered on the tops of my good
white running shoes. "Fucking bastard ruined my new white shoes," I
shook my head.

            I
sat the baggie full of ice in the sink and emptied the pockets of my clothes
before I undressed. I retrieved my robe from the bedroom and turned on the
shower. I wanted to clean myself up so that when Shelley got home she wouldn't
freak completely out and think for sure I was going to die from a loss of
blood.

            I
was only in the shower for a few minutes when I swore I heard the sound of
breaking glass. I froze and the skin at the back of my neck prickled with a
fight or flight warning. I held my breath and waited, straining to hear over
the pounding of my heart.
Shit, was that the sound of the deadbolt
unlocking? Are those footsteps walking down the hall? Fuck.
I waited,
hoping it was Shelley and she'd call out to let me know they were home. Until
then I was too afraid to even breathe.

           
The
sound of splintering wood as the bathroom door burst in on its hinges made the
breath hitch in my chest. I was paralyzed with fear as his large hand yanked
the shower curtain aside, ripping it from the plastic rings. I recognized Damon's
face, but the absolute pure evil blazing from his eyes did not belong to
anything of this world. His hands fisted through my hair, and he jerked me out
of the tub as though I weighed nothing.

            The
breath I'd been holding released in one toe-curling scream, promptly earning me
an ear splitting slap to the side of my head, "Shut. Up!" he hissed.
He spun me around so I was facing the tiled wall and shoved my head repeatedly
against it. He let go of me and I crumpled to the floor, where he proceeded to unleash
numerous kicks. Know what a wishbone sounds like when you snap it in two to
make a wish? That's the noise I heard inside my head as his boot connected over
and over with my battered body.