“Hey, were just doing our job. So step back,” the police officer demanded.
Ramsey turned to Renee and said, “Do what they say. Just go call Carmella, tell her that I need to be bailed out of jail.”
“This is a nightmare, and it’s all my fault,” Renee said as she followed the officers as they escorted her father to the police car.
Ramsey got in the backseat of the police car and said, “Stop blaming yourself, Renee and call Carmella for me.”
“okay, your right. I’ll meet you at the police station.” She ran to her car, locked the doors and then called Carmella. “He’s been arrested,” Renee shouted as soon as Carmella picked up the phone.
“Whose been arrested?”
“Daddy. He wants you to meet him at the police station to bail him out.” Then she quickly said, “I’ll pay you and Daddy back. Whatever the cost, I’ll pay it back,” Renee promised.
“What happened?”
“Marlin followed me to the restaurant. Daddy saw him and went ballistic. Oh and just so you know. Daddy heard us talking that day I came to your office. And I can tell that he’s upset with you for keeping my secret.”
“Thanks for letting me know. I’ll meet you at the police station.”
***
Carmella paid the bond, but they still waited two hours before her father was released. It pained Renee to think of her father behind bars from something she caused. Why hadn’t she listened to Ram in the first place? Her family was going to hate her for what she’d done to Daddy.
Ramsey hugged Renee and Carmella as the officers released him. “I was afraid you’d be mad enough to do something this foolish if I told you what happened to Renee. I was only waiting long enough to hear from God about the right time to deliver such devastating news.”
Ramsey pulled away from them. He pointed towards the door he’d just walked out of and then said, “I’ve never been behind bars before, but if it would get Renee out of the grips of that monster, I’d spend the rest of my life in there and wouldn’t complain a bit.”
“Hush with all that foolish talk. No husband of mine is going to prison.”
“Yeah Dad, Carmella already had to endure the shame of her ex-husband being sent to prison. How do you think she’d feel if she had visit you in here?”
“Let’s just go home and pray,” Carmella said.
Renee left the praying to her Daddy and Carmella. She went upstairs and flung herself across the bed. The day had drained her of all strength. But every time she shut her eyes, she would see Marlin beating the life out of her. At about three in the morning when she could take no more of the melodrama in her head she turned on the television and channel surfed.
As usual, nothing much was on TV. But she did come across an episode of Snapped. That particular show best fit her mood so she turned it on. She had seen this episode before. It was about a bipolar mess of a woman who couldn’t deal with the fact that her boyfriend no longer wanted to be abused by her. After harassing him for months, she’d finally driven to his job and shot him in the face right in front of his co-workers. The man had lived but his face was a bit disfigured and his eye twitched as he spoke of the horrible ordeal.
Marlin had used, abused and caused her to loose her baby. Now he was taking pleasure in tormenting her and her family. She was so tired of being afraid of what lurked behind every corner... tired of living her life as a victim. But what could she do, because just like sin doesn’t ask for permission, bullies don’t ask if it’s okay for them to ruin a life either.
***
“So the prototype of the new website has been built and you all are running off to the Bahamas to celebrate. I am completely jealous.”
“Huh?” Jay turned to Tiffany and gave her a quick smile. She’d said something to him, but he had been lost in thought about Renee, wondering just how much abuse she suffered at the hands of a man who was supposed to love and protect her.
“You’re distracted. You barely watched the movie and now you’re not eating your food. I know you’ve got a lot going on at work, but it’s okay to relax now. You’re at the finish line.”
“My executives are still working.”
“Your executives are getting reading to receive an all expense paid trip, they need to burning the midnight oil and with no complaints.”
“I still feel a bit guilty about being out with you tonight. They have all put their lives on hold while I’m out for dinner and a movie.”
“There’s nothing to feel guilty about. You’ve cancelled every date we had scheduled in the last month. If you had cancelled on me tonight I would have finally taken the hint and deleted your number out of my contact list.” Tiffany laughed at her joke.
Jay put his fork down and stared at Tiffany. She was beautiful, educated and successful woman. He enjoyed being with her, but not enough to take their relationship any further. Jay wondered if he was doing her a disservice by allowing her to hang on to any hope that they would become a couple. “Tiffany, I think we need to talk.”
“I thought that’s what we were doing.” She was still smiling, enjoying his company.
“No, I mean about us.” He wiped his mouth with his napkin. “See, I don’t want you to sit around waiting on me. There’s so much going on in my life right now, that I don’t know if I have room for a relationship.”
She put her hands on the table and straightened her back. “It would be an understatement to say that this has caught me off guard. I thought we were having a good time together.”
“I do enjoy being with you. I just don’t know if this is the right time for us.”
“Can I ask you something?” Tiffany’s tone was calm and business like.
“Of course. What do you want to know?”
“Does your new assistant have anything to do with you wanting to back away from our relationship?”
“My new assistant? I don’t have a new assistant. Renee works for Dean.”
“It really doesn’t matter who she works for. Every time I have spoken to her I get the distinct impression that she’s ticked off or something. And I ask myself why on earth you would let a person with an attitude like that answer your phone. But then, maybe she doesn’t have the same attitude with your business associates.”
“This is the first complaint I’ve received about Renee’s telephone conduct. I will speak with her first thing in the morning.”
“Don’t bother. The person I want you to speak to is yourself. We’ve got something. Don’t mess it up.” She put her hand over his as she added. “We could be good together Jay. Just give us a chance.”
5
The next morning, as Renee was getting in her car, she noticed something on her windshield. She Looked around, studying the neighborhood, trying to see if Marlin was hiding behind some bush, preparing to jump out and attack her. When she didn’t see anything that looked amiss, Renee opened her car door, grabbed the note off her windshield, then quickly closed and locked her door.
She unfolded the note and read:
I’m sorry. I will drop the charges against your father if you agree to have breakfast with me.
Crumbling the note, Renee decided that it was time for a conversation with Marlin. She needed to get it through his thick head that they would never ever be a couple again. She pulled her cell out of her purse and called him.
“You got my note?” Marlin asked in an even, calm tone. That held a hint of compassion.
That was the way he used sound when they first began dating... but fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. “I got your note, and I called to remind you that I have a restraining order.”
“Don’t worry about that little piece of paper. The police won’t enforce it if you don’t call and report me.”
Taking in a deep breath, she blew it out and said, “What do you want from me? Why don’t we just get to the bottom of all this and then go our separate ways?”
“You sound so cold. Not like the Renee I know and l
ove at all.”
“You changed me, Marlin. And not for the good either.” She used to freely trust. But she couldn’t do that anymore. She was always looking for motive or the angle. Why would anyone do anything for her without expecting something in return? The world was full of takers, and Renee wasn’t living on purpose anymore, she was just trying to stay out of everyone’s way.
“You know I love you, babe.”
“I don’t know that, Marlin. Truth be told, I don’t think you’re capable of love. Because if you were, you never would have stomped our baby to death.”
“I did no such thing!” he exploded.
She was tired of going through the same ol same ol with him. There had to be and end. “What do you want from me, Marlin?”
Calming down, Marlin began talking as if realization just struck. “You’re never coming back to me, are you?”
“No,” was all she said. She wasn’t giving him reasons... wasn’t trying to make him feel better about the rejection, just ‘no’.
“So you don’t want to help your father out of the jam he’s gotten himself into?”
That wasn’t fair. Of course she wanted to help her father. Closing her eyes, she bit the bullet. “What do I have to do?”
“Just meet me for breakfast. That’s all I’m asking. If you do that then I’ll tell the judge that I provoked your father.”
“And all I have to do is have breakfast with you?”
“Me and one of my business associates.”
“I don’t like where this is going, Marlin.”
“No funny business. I just want you to have breakfast with us. As beautiful as you are, I will close the deal while he’s staring at you.”
Men had been using her as their little Barbie doll for as long as she could remember. But Marlin had been the worse. He seemed to think the only thing she was good for consisted of lying on her back or being eye candy. She hated him for suggesting such a thing but she had to help her father. “Where do you want to meet at?”
He told her and then Renee said, “I can’t stay long, because I have to get to work on time.”
As she headed toward the restaurant, Renee reminded herself that she had just agreed to meet with a man that she had a restraining order against. Even though she agreed to do this to help her father, Renee knew in her heart that her father would not want this. She pulled into a gas station and parked her car. As she held onto the steering wheel as she remembered how Marlin held on the floor and made say that she was dumb and worthless. Sweat beaded across her forehead as she imagined such a thing happening to her again.
Marlin would be right about her being a dumb if she allowed herself to get within fifty feet of him. She pulled her cell out of her bag, dialed her cell phone provider and asked them to change her phone number. She then threw the cell back into her purse and headed to work.
Turning on her radio, Renee tried to get the sound of Marlin’s voice out of her head. Carmella said that praise music soothed her. Renee needed something to ease her troubled mind so she turned to an inspirational station. Marvin Sapp was singing Praise Him in Advance. What struck Renee was the part of the song that said ‘praise will confuse the enemy’. She wondered if that was true and if it was, what was she supposed to do, just start shouting in front of Marlin. Maybe he would think that he’d finally driven her insane and leave her alone. Maybe all she had to do was just start playing with her lip or try to eat wax fruit.
She laughed at her silly thoughts. But as she pulled into the parking lot of her job all her laughter dried up. Jay standing outside talking with a police officer.
“What’s going on?” She asked Jay as she approached.
He pointed to the back of the police car. Marlin was in the car with his hands cuffed.
Her hand flew to her mouth as she tried to figure out what must have happened in the space of time that she hung up with Marlin and drove into work.
“I saw him sitting in his car when I came in this morning. I figured he was up to no good so I called the police. They found a gun in his glover compartment.”
“He came here to kill me?” Renee eyes filled with fear. She didn’t understand why he asked her to breakfast, if he planned to kill her at her job.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got your back, Renee. Nothing is going to happen to you.”
Jay reminded her so much of her brother, Ram. He’d thought he could handle everything that came his way, until the wrong thing came calling. Then the family had to call on God and all His angels to get Ram out of a jam he’d put himself in. She wouldn’t allow Jay to get hurt trying to defend her. After showing the officers her restraining order, they hauled Marlin off to jail and then she told Jay. “I think it’s best if I make today my last day here.”
Jay took hold of her arm and went into the small conference room to the left of the front door. He pulled her close to him and wrapped his arms around her. When they pulled apart, Jay told her, “Looked like you needed a hug.”
She did, but she hated that she needed it... and hated that Jay’s hug felt so good and so right at a time in her life when everything else was so wrong. But she didn’t trust her feelings or intuition anymore. If Jay felt good and right, then he had to be all wrong for her.
“Sit down, Renee.”
She was shaking. Confusion swept over her. How could she have ever thought she was in love with a man as evil as Marlin?
“Calm down Please let me talk to you.”
“I’ve got to go. I don’t want anyone here to get hurt because of what’s going on in my life.”
Jay put her hands in his, walked her over to the seat, and helped her sit in it. “That’s what I want to talk to you about. Dean told me that he invited you on the retreat this weekend.”
“He did, but I don’t think I contributed enough to be included on this celebratory trip,” Renee hung her head. She was so tired of feeling inferior, so tired of being out of place.
“Dean never would have finished the program for Pro-Site 2 if you hadn’t pulled things together for him. The man is a genius but he can’t find his way to the corner store without a gps. Dean knows he owes the completion of this project to you. That’s why he invited you.”
“Are you sure?” Renee had a hard time accepting that she had actually added value to this project. After all, if it was true, she’d come a long way from the girl who could only prove her worth by lying on her back.
“Positive. And anyway, you could use an escape. So, why don’t you take the day off, go home and pack your bags. Meet us at the airport tomorrow morning. I’ll have Dawn get the info concerning your reservations from Dean.”
“Okay Jay, if you think I’ve made enough of a contribution, then I’d love to go to the Bahamas this weekend.” Renee left the office, feeling as if she had made the right decision. She needed to relax and forget about ex-boyfriends who were out to kill her. But telling her parents why she had left work early and would now be packing for the Bahamas was more than she wanted to do with her day.”
“I don’t believe this,” Ramsey exploded. He popped up out of his chair and paced the floor. “This is too much. Why is he even in Raleigh anyway?”
“I guess he has some free time and decided to use it to harass me.”
Carmella shook her head. “What’s wrong with him? Why won’t he just leave you alone?”
“He works for Satan that’s why.”
“And you think running off to the Bahamas for the weekend is going to stop him?” Carmella asked.
“Maybe I should stay down there.” She turned to her father. “Remember when you took us to the Caribbean when we were teens?”
Ramsey nodded.
“Remember that lady who stood on the corner with a fruit basket on her head. She charged people as they took pictures. Maybe I could earn a living doing something like that.”
“That’s crazy, Renee. Why would you want to do that?” Carmella asked.
“I don’t. But I don’t want to sta
y here, waiting on Marlin to make a move either.”
“Or maybe I should just go and buy a gun and then drive to Charlotte and sit outside his office building waiting on him.”
“No Dad, I made the mistake of getting involved with Marlin and I will find a way to get out of this situation. But the last thing I want is for you to suffer because of my poor decisions.”
***
“You are not bringing a gun in this house, Ramsey. How can you even think such a thing?” Carmella asked her husband with hands on her hips later that night, once they were in their bedroom.
“Something has to be done. I’m not just going to sit idly by and let that man kill my daughter.” He then turned an accusing finger in her direction. “And while you and Renee were keeping secrets from me, Marlin could have killed Renee and I wouldn’t have known anything about it.”
“That’s not fair, Ramsey. I didn’t want to keep that from you. And I wouldn’t have if Renee hadn’t implemented steps to protect herself.”
“Big wup, you helped Renee get a restraining order that Marlin doesn’t seem to care a thing about.” Ramsey grabbed his pillow off the bed and then walked into the closet and grabbed a blanket.
When he came out of the closet, Carmella’s eyes widened in shock. “What are you doing?”
“I’m sleeping downstairs, I can’t sleep in here with you tonight.”
She and Ramsey had been married for over a decade and in all that time, they had never slept apart. “Don’t do this Ramsey. Don’t destroy what we have.”
“I could say the same thing to you.”
The look in his eyes told her that she had gone too far. She never should have agreed to keep Renee’s secret. She only prayed that their love would be able to weather this storm.
“You and I made promises to each other.” He pointed from her chest to his. “I meant it when I said I’d never keep secrets from you. But now you’ve got me wondering what else you haven’t told me.”
“I made a mistake, Ramsey. I’m sorry about that. But I tried to get Renee to tell you what was going on. She was too ashamed. I kept praying...”
Escape to Love Page 4