“Just take the money, please,” I begged in a voice so low I wasn’t sure he’d even heard me until he dropped my body to the ground, snatched the clutch, and started kicking me.
“Hey, man!” I heard the stranger’s voice, but with kicks to the ribs and my head pounding, I couldn’t tell how far away he was or if he’d make the attack stop. “What the hell are you doing, dude?” With one final punch to the face, I released the clutch I didn’t realize I’d still held, and he took off like a bat out of hell.
My body wadded itself into a tiny little ball. Everything from the waist up hurt, and I didn’t want to be touched. A man kneeled beside me and kept whispering it would be okay, that they were getting me help, while I heard another guy on the phone. The wracking sobs hurt as much as the crying did, but the stranger didn’t leave my side until the ambulance pulled away.
I’d never felt more alone.
~~~
Waking in the emergency room, by myself, behind a curtain, didn’t do much for my mood. I tried to get up to find a nurse, but my ribs were killing me, and as I became more aware of my body, every inch ached or burned. I needed a phone, but movement of any kind was brutally painful.
Just as I was about to have a full-blown panic attack, a bubbly brunette bounced through the fabric hanging from the ceiling. “How are you feeling?” she chirped, and I imagined she was a cheerleader in another life.
“Like I was trampled by a herd of elephants. Is there a phone I can use?” I winced as I dropped my leg over the side of the bed.
“Sit still and let me go get one from the nurses’ station.”
When she returned, I dialed my cell phone four times before Trace finally answered. I could tell I’d woken him up. He didn’t understand why I didn’t want him to wake Miss Pearl but finally relented and said he’d call Jase and tell him where I was. I prayed he got the message right, but with a four-year-old and a hot-headed man, there was no telling how this telephone game would go. I glanced at the clock and gave Jase thirty minutes. If I didn’t hear from him or see him by then, I’d have to call Trace back and have him wake my neighbor.
Seven minutes later, I heard Jase before I saw him, raising all matter of Cain in an effort to find me. I didn’t have the energy to call out to him, and I was sure the teenybopper who’d been in moments ago would be more than happy to direct him to me…by the hand…with her phone number strategically placed inside.
Sure enough, the curtain parted, and her peppy face peeked through. “Is this who you’re looking for?”
He brushed by her to reach me but stopped short of actually touching me. “What the hell happened? Trace is terrified.”
“Can you call him back and tell him you’re with me and I’m okay, please?” I leaned back on the bed to try to stop the pounding in my head, but just as Jase finished talking to my son, a doctor came in.
“Your x-rays look good.” Funny, I didn’t recall getting any. “Nothing’s broken, but you do have a couple of fractured ribs, so they’re going to be sore for a while. We stitched up the cut on your scalp, but the others are fairly superficial and just have to heal, so keep them clean. I’ll get you a script for some pain medication, and we’ll get you discharged. Any questions?”
I shook my head, and he promptly left.
“What happened, Gia?” The worry etched in his brow made me feel awful. “How long have you been here, and why don’t you have the phone I gave you?”
I took a deep breath and exhaled before answering his questions. “I was mugged on my way to the bus stop. I gave the kids my phone because Miss Pearl’s not feeling all that great and I wanted them to be able to contact me.”
“How were they going to do that if they had your phone?” I didn’t like his tone at all.
“Call Willum since that’s who I was with.” As soon as I said it, I knew I shouldn’t have.
“You were with Willum when this happened?”
“No, he’d left long before.” Wrong again.
“Left where?”
“Konan’s downtown.”
“I’m sure there must be large pieces of this puzzle you’re leaving out, so how about tell me what took place from the time Willum picked you up.”
I gave him the best recap I could, but the pounding in my head made recalling facts a little difficult, so I tried broad brush strokes.
Jase heard what he wanted to hear. “Willum left you downtown, at a bar, alone, with no phone and no ride home, to take another woman to the symphony he’d invited and paid you to attend with him?”
I closed my eyes and huffed in his general direction. “It wasn’t like that. He asked, and I told him to go. He offered to call me a cab, but I was enjoying drinks and people watching. I told him I’d call you to come get me. He really thought I’d be leaving with you, Jase. Don’t be upset with him.”
“Don’t be upset…are you fucking kidding me right now? He left you, alone, in that dress downtown in a not so hot part of town. He didn’t protect you. He didn’t take care of you because he was too hell bent on getting his dick wet. Fuck that. No. You will not spend any time with him alone again, do you hear me?” His voice was well above a church whisper. I didn’t think anyone around us was interested in his rant, so I just nodded, hoping to shut it down.
My best friend was angry, my son was scared, and I’d lost the money I’d planned to give to Miss Pearl. I didn’t even want to think about the hospital bills that would come trickling in after this fiasco. The tears seeped from my eyes and down my face as if they, too, were too tired to run. They crept in slow motion to my jaw before hanging on until the last possible moment. The mattress dipped, and Jase tucked himself into the tiny bed, nestling me in his arms.
He took me home when I was released from the hospital but refused to leave me alone. The kids were at Pearl’s, so he climbed into bed behind me, still in his jersey shorts and T-shirt, and pulled me close to him. My breathing evened out before his did, but just before I fell asleep, I heard him whisper words I wished I felt on my skin every night. “Goodnight, Gia.”
Groggily, I responded, “Goodnight, Jase.”
~~~
The kids came bounding through the door early, or maybe it just felt early because my night had been all kinds of messed up. They had no idea Jase was there, nor in my bed, much less that my face was scraped up and black and blue. All of it scared them to tears. Only Derrick came hopping in and flopped on Jase, begging for his attention and hugs.
With a bed full of babies and the man who didn’t know I loved him, this was perfect—even with the cuts and bruises. While I’d rather not be waking up in The Village, I could wake up next to Jase every day and never regret a moment of anything I’d had to live through to reach him. He’d formed a bond with each of the kids, but he and Derrick were especially tight. I loved seeing them all pal around together. The boys needed a strong man in their life, and Jase seemed to naturally fall into the role. I just wished I knew it was permanent…and I wished he knew everything.
He hopped up and corralled the kids back to the kitchen to make breakfast. I heard Emmy laugh at him. “We don’t eat here, silly. We came to get Mommy for Miss Pearl’s table.”
Seconds later, his face appeared in the doorway, his eyes held something I hadn’t seen before, but I wasn’t able to discern whether it was pity or some other emotion. Whatever it was, I hated it. “You up to going next door or do you want to sleep?”
I desperately wanted to sleep but refused to give up any time I could get with Jase. He’d leave soon, and I wouldn’t see him again until Monday. I wasn’t ready to be alone, so I needed to soak up his presence before he took off. I hobbled over to breakfast next door and found a smorgasbord, a veritable cornucopia of food.
“Jase, son, I’m glad you could make it.” She patted his arm and acted as though she’d extended an invitation—I wondered if her mind had started to go with her lungs.
“Wouldn’t have missed it, Miss Pearl.” He kissed her cheek and earned s
ome more brownie points, but oddly, hadn’t said a word to me about the condition of my face. “How’ve you been feeling? Doing any better?”
It hit me like a ton of bricks. In that moment, I remembered I had lost the money Willium had given me to the thug on the street and had nothing to offer my friend to take her to the doctor. She coughed into her elbow, shielding the rest of us from the germs. It didn’t go unnoticed that each of her fits—as she liked to call them—had become longer and harder to control. When Jase glanced at me, I fought back the tears.
“I’ll tell you the same thing I tell Gianna every time she brings it up. I’m fine. I’m old—when are you two gonna get that through your thick noggins?” Her weathered hand grabbed me by the arm and pulled harder than was comfortable, but I masked the pain, and she tugged Jase into our little huddle. “You two are scarin’ the children. Stop that nonsense. Derrick’s done figured his mama ain’t comin’ back, and I’m all he’s got. No need to scare the bejesus out of him. Hear?” Her southern accent was especially strong when she was lecturing us.
Jase could get away with more than I could. She loved him, and he was a man who did no wrong. “Have you made any arrangements for Derrick if something should happen to you?” But even he didn’t get away with that. She dropped his arm in favor of a spatula and smacked him on the hand. “Don’t make me wash yo’ mouth out with soap, boy.”
That was the end of that discussion. Jase had finally ruffled her feathers and fallen from grace. I couldn’t help but snicker, which earned me an evil glance from his steely gray eyes. I stuck my tongue out like a five-year-old, and it felt good. I didn’t have a clue how I’d get Miss Pearl to a doctor, or how I’d pay for it, much less how I’d pay for my own hospital bills, but a moment of silliness temporarily evaporated those worries.
After breakfast, and after the food had been put away and the dishes were done, Jase sat me down in my living room. I could tell by the look on his face this conversation was going to irritate me.
“You know I’m going to ream Willum out, don’t you?”
“Jase—”
“It’s not up for negotiation, Gia. It was his responsibility to take care of you, and obviously, that didn’t happen. And you’re not going out with him again, so I hope his little tart he left you for pans out.”
There was zero point in arguing with him. He’d do what he wanted to do, and I couldn’t sway him. “Fine. But I’m warning him you’re on the warpath and to avoid you.”
“Do what you’ve gotta do, and I’ll do the same. But your safety and well-being far supersede anything he could’ve done. End of story. Now, let’s talk about Miss Pearl.”
I listened intently, but his words cut deep. I knew she was in bad shape, and I knew she needed help, but hearing someone else confirm what I’d already witnessed was like a dagger to the heart.
“I can’t make her go see a doctor.”
“I know, but I do think you should encourage her every chance you get. Even if it’s just the free clinic. But Gia, babe, you need to start preparing yourself and the kids. It may not be next week or even three months from now, but she’s getting progressively worse every time I see her.”
Slowly, I nodded my understanding. I knew he was right, but I felt cheated. This was the only time I’d ever had a motherly or grandmotherly figure in my life—the first time I’d ever felt a sense of family, and she was going to be ripped away from us far too soon. My kids adored her and thought of her as family. “What about Derrick?” His name caught in my throat. I couldn’t stomach the thought of that little boy going to foster care, but I knew I couldn’t take him. I had a hard enough time taking care of my own. He was a good kid; I only hoped the system wouldn’t fail him like it had so many other kids I’d grown up with.
“Does he not have any other family?” he looked confused.
I shook my head as I started to speak. “Not that I know of. Miss Pearl said his mom’s strung out, which is why she has him. And she hasn’t ever indicated there’s a father around. I never hear him talk about anyone else either.”
“So, what, he becomes a ward of the state?”
I shrugged not knowing how to answer his question without the horrible truth. “Yeah, he’ll go into foster care.”
Jase nodded his understanding but didn’t add anything further. This wasn’t a life he knew anything about, and if I had to bet, I’d wager he’d never known anyone who’d faced it, either.
Chapter Nine
The guys had all repeatedly called to check on me over the last few weeks, primarily to find out when I’d be available again, but until I could cover the bruises on my face with makeup or they faded completely, none of them should be seen with me publicly. I’d never want anyone to think one of them had laid a hand on me. I felt awful for Willum—I warned him, but Jase laid into him, and from what I gathered, it wasn’t pretty. He apologized profusely, but regardless of how many times I told him I didn’t blame him, he carried that guilt.
I was fortunate; people at work were kind when I showed up the following Monday looking like I’d been in a bar room brawl. Jase drove me home and picked me up daily, so I didn’t have to take public transportation. I couldn’t count the number of times we argued about his buying me a car, which wasn’t going to happen. I’d get there, but it was going to be on my own, not with a big red bow on it.
Tonight was the first time I was going out again. Honestly, I wasn’t quite ready, but I was desperate for the money. The hospital bills had started to come in, the kids’ birthdays were in a couple of weeks, the twins were starting school, and Emmy had one flare up after another. The list of specialists had grown a mile long, and no one had been able to get her back into remission. No matter how hard I worked, I couldn’t keep up with the continuous influx of bills, and I was sick to death of arguing with the insurance company—so when Holland called, I was desperate and agreed.
Staring at my face in the mirror while touching up my makeup, I tried to put my mind in a place to enjoy the evening. He had another charity function to attend where there would be a lot of highbrow people from around town; there’d be dinner and dancing, a silent auction, and then home. I shouldn’t be dreading it, but he’s just not the guy I wanted to be spending time with. I appreciated the arrangement, but my heart was always cuddled up with someone else.
The knock on the front door alerted me to the arrival of my date. I slid on my four-inch heels and sauntered to the door. The dress he’d chosen was very sexy and very revealing, but I felt powerful in it. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had this much confidence. I hoped he had picked appropriately for the occasion. Otherwise, I’d be receiving attention I wasn’t interested in getting.
When I opened the front door, I could tell by the expression on his face that he, too, thought I looked amazing, and his eyes hinted at more. “You—you’re stunning, Gianna. Absolutely breathtaking.” He motioned for me to twirl, which I obliged, before he smacked me playfully on the rear end. I couldn’t help but grin—the attention felt good, it was just the wrong man.
Dinner had been fantastic and the conversation easy. He knew my circumstances, and when we were alone at the table, he’d asked about the mugging and Miss Pearl. I told him about Jase being adamant he didn’t want me taking public transportation, but I refused to let him buy me a car. He laughed at how protective Jase was of me and joked that if people heard him talk, they’d think we were together. I played it off as though that would be preposterous, but I hung onto every word he said, hoping to get a clue of whether or not Jase felt more than friendship. When Holland never broached the subject again, I didn’t think I could ask without raising questions. I’d probably told him too much about my financial issues and my desire to help Pearl, but heck, he picked me up in the projects, so he couldn’t be totally clueless. I’d kept Emmy’s secret, though not by much.
I played my role dutifully, but the more wine Holland had to drink, the more handsy he became. I knew he was flirting and I should
have stopped it when it started, but it played into the tone of the evening. It boosted my confidence and lifted my morale. While dancing with him, his hand would inch down my waist until he had cupped my butt; he’d pull me into him and tuck his head into my neck. The warmth of his breath sent heat to my lady bits—alcohol induced desire. It had been so long since a man had touched me with any intention. Fermented grapes clouded my judgment, and I allowed his hands to wander. As they came up my sides, he settled one on my hip while the other continued to travel up, past my rib cage. His thumb grazed the bit of my breast exposed by the side of the dress, and I pictured them being Jase’s hands on my body, pleading in my mind for him to touch more of me. With every song the band played, Holland got more familiar, and my mind convinced me he was safe. We were friends enjoying the feel of each other’s skin on a dance floor.
By the time we left, I was notably more intoxicated than Holland, although he was tipsy enough he’d called his driver to come pick us up instead of driving home. When his car arrived, the chauffeur stepped around the car to open the door for us. I climbed in first, and Holland briefly closed the door behind me before reopening it and joining me in the back.
“Everything okay?” I asked half lit.
He tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. “Yeah, just thought it would be nice to go for a ride before taking you home.” His eyes raked my body as he spoke.
I didn’t object. The kids were with Miss Pearl and wouldn’t be home until morning. Going home alone with a buzz wasn’t my idea of a great way to end the evening. He opened the sunroof and allowed the breeze to flow into the seat and provide a view of the brilliant night sky. I closed my eyes and permitted the cool air to wash over me, which somehow heightened my buzz. When his hand landed on my thigh, the warmth was so inviting I didn’t think to fight it off. I felt him shift in the seat next to me but didn’t turn to see what he was doing. The caress of his soft fingers on my thigh sent a shiver up my spine.
As he snuck closer to the end of the rainbow, I didn’t make a move to halt his progression. I knew I should have, but I wanted the moment of pleasure—the feel of intimate contact. His nose traced the outline of my ear, and his breath teased my neck. The moment his finger traced the fabric of my panties over my sex, I nearly lost my composure. His teeth nipped at my ear as he stroked, ever so faintly, the outline of my slit covered in satin. I turned my face toward his, burying him in my neck, silently encouraging his progression. But in my imagination, it was Jase’s tongue licking my skin and Jase’s hand tempting me. Except, when I opened my eyes, Holland’s face was before me.
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