VIOLATED
After dropping the boys off at summer camp one day, Nyla received a call from her sister.
“Hey, Dee...what’s up?” Nyla answered.
Dee didn’t respond.
“Hello?”
“Yeah, I’m here.” Dee was crying.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Me and BJ had a fight last night.”
“Do you mean argument...or an actual fight?”
“I’ll just tell you what happened. Last night I woke up in the middle of the night and overheard BJ in the other room whispering on the phone. So, I slowly got out of bed and sneaked close enough to see if I could hear who he was talking to and what they were talking about. I heard him say, You looked good today baby. I can’t wait to get off from work tomorrow so I can come see you again. Nyla, that lying dog doesn’t work! I take care of him and help him pay his child support! I’m the one that goes in early and gets off late to make sure we’re okay! How could he do me like this?”
“Dee,” interrupted Nyla, “that’s the problem.”
“What?”
“I know you’re hurting right now and may not want to hear this, but he has way too much free time on his hands. He drops you off at the beauty shop every day, and why? He doesn’t have a job to go to. You should be driving your own car.”
“He needs the car to go look for a job, Nyla!”
“And that’s another thing...why do you make excuses for him?”
“I’m not making excuses for him!”
“Yes, you are! To be honest, you make more excuses for his behavior than he does!”
Dee was quiet.
“Like I was saying, he doesn’t have a job. Still, he’s dropping you off every day and has your car to go do God knows what with God knows who. You stand on your feet all day trying to make ends meet while he’s running around on you with other females, and he’s not worried about you catching him because you’re stuck at the shop with no ride. Sometimes you have to wait for hours for him to pick you up, long after the shop has closed for the day. Then, when you call him, he doesn’t answer and shows up when he wants. The sad part about it all is that you accept every weak excuse he gives you. What do you expect when you make it so easy?”
Nyla could hear Dee crying and imagined the tears that she was shedding, but she continued. “I’m not sorry for what I’m saying because you need to hear this. Truth is...BJ is only doing what you are allowing him to do. It ends when you put an end to it, Dee.”
“I can’t be mad at you for telling me what I need to hear.” Dee responded. “I just wish he’d appreciate me for all I do for him. I guess I’m expecting too much.”
“Trust me, Dee, he appreciates everything you do for him, but at the same time, he’s taking your kindness for weakness.” Nyla exhaled as she heard her sister cry even harder. Still, she continued. “Think about this...BJ was no good before you claimed him to be your man. He cheated on his wife with you, or should I say he is cheating on his wife with you because he still hadn’t gotten a divorce yet. You two have been together for five years. He has three babies from three different women and does nothing for those kids, except send the child support money that you’re giving him. What makes you think he’s going to suddenly become a better man? It’s obvious by the conversation that you overheard last night that he hasn’t changed…not even for you.”
“I really hate that I love him so much!”
“I know you do, sis, and when you love someone, it’s not always easy to just let go, but what has he done to show you that he loves you back?”
Dee didn’t answer.
“Exactly! If he loved you, you wouldn’t be fighting and you definitely wouldn’t be crying on this phone right now! Speaking of fighting...did he hit you again?”
“Yes…well, sort of. After hearing him flirting on the phone, I walked over and snatched the phone from him. I said hello, and the woman said, Yeah, it’s me, stupid bitch! Then, she laughed and hung up before I could say anything back to her. I was so mad that I started beating him in his face with the phone. He shoved me to stop me from hitting him. I lost my balance and fell. That’s about it.”
“Wow, Dee are you serious?” Nyla couldn’t believe it.
“Yes, but I’m alright. I have a small bruise on my arm from when I fell and hit it on the corner of the coffee table, but I’m good. It’s not like I had to get stitches or anything.”
Nyla shook her head, “So, what are you going to do, Dee?”
“Honestly, I want to end it, but it seems he has some kind of hold on me.”
“Sex? Are you serious?”
“No, it’s not that!”
“It has to be the sex because he doesn’t do anything else for you.”
“No, I really do love him!” She claimed. “I don’t know what to do!”
“Dee, when you are truly ready to let him go, you won’t even call me to talk about it. You’ll just do what you need to do.” Nyla pause, then said, “I’m gonna pray for you and you need to pray for yourself. Then, watch God work. He will open a door for you and guide you out of that messy relationship you’re in. Meanwhile, you need to open your eyes and pay attention...see things for what they are and not for what you want them to be. When that door is opened for you to leave, you ‘ll be able to recognize it and walk right on through. I love you Dee and I am always here for you!”
“Thanks, Nyla! I knew talking with you would make me feel better.”
Nyla smiled, “That’s what sisters are for. I know if there ever comes a time when I need you, you’ll be there for me too, right?”
“That’s right!” They both laughed. “I’m definitely going to do what’s best for me. I just need a little time to figure some things out.”
“Ok, but be careful while you’re figuring.”
“I will.” Dee took a deep breath. “Well, I’m not working today. So, I think I’m going to get some rest. I’ll call you later.”
“Okay. Stay out of trouble.”
“I will.”
Nyla reached home and noticed her neighbor, Aaron, standing outside bending over into the driver side window of a candy apple red mustang parked in his driveway. There was a lovely brunette sitting inside. When Nyla got out of her car, he noticed her and stood upright to speak.
“Hey Nyla, how are you?”
“I’m fine, thanks! How are you?”
“I’m great!” He smirked, then looked back at the young lady that appeared to blush as she flirtatiously pushed his arm.
Nyla smiled. “Take care of yourself.”
“Always do…thanks!”
Aaron was young, handsome, well educated, and quite the ladies’ man. When they first met, he told Nyla that he was looking for that special lady to settle down with. Seven years later, he still tells her something similar. He often went to Nyla for advice whenever he had women problems, and he didn’t discriminate amongst them. Considering that he’s a white guy, it didn’t matter what race or size his women were, long as they were liftable. This meant that if he couldn’t pick her up, he couldn’t date her. He even dated women that he thought were unattractive, but they had to have a nice body. Nyla had seen all kinds come and go over the years. Whenever she tried to convince him to pick one to settle down with, he’d tell her that he hadn’t met one quite like her yet. Therefore, he had to keep looking until he did.
Nyla went inside of her house and since it was already clean, she decided to put on a gospel cd and relax for a while. After a few hours, she remembered that she needed to go outside to check on some plants. Just as she opened the front door, she was startled to see her other neighbor standing there.
“Oh! You spooked me!” She said. “How are you and how may I help you?” She felt goose bumps chasing each other up her arms.
“I’m fine, thanks! How are you?” He replied.
“I’m alright, thanks for asking.” Nyla couldn’t help but to notice how different he was from Aaron. While Aaron almost always wore a sm
ile, this man was much older and never smiled. He always had a mean look on his old and wrinkled face, like he hated the world for some unknown reason. Either way, Nyla was more concerned about the reason for his visit. “May I help you?”
The man gazed creepily into her eyes and said, “I don’t like bothering people because I don’t like to be bothered, unless it’s concerning something worthwhile. Either way, I think you’d want to know that your water has be running for quite some time.” He turned and pointed to the water that had formed a little stream along the side of her house, flowed into the street and was collecting near the front of both of their driveways.
“Oh! I wonder how long it’s been on?” She said as they both headed to the side of her house. “I saw the water when I came back home this morning, but I had no idea it was coming from our house. Thank you so much!”
“You are very welcome. I was on my way out when I noticed it. So, I looked to see where it was coming from and found that it was coming from here. After so long, I didn’t see anybody come out to turn it off, so I figured I’d let you know. I expect that you’d do the same for me.”
“Of course, I would!” She said as she turned the water off and smiled at him for the first time in seven years. “By the way, I’m Nyla. My husband’s name is Chance, and we have three boys named Chance, Jr., Ronald, and Anthony. I’m sure you’ve seen them running around here.”
“Yes, I have.” He smiled. “I’m Jack, and it’s nice to meet you, since this is our first conversation as neighbors.”
They both laughed.
“Yes, it’s nice to meet you too, Mr. Jack!”
“Well, I guess I’ll be on my way.” He said as he turned to go back home. “Enjoy the rest of your day.”
“Thanks, you too!” Nyla smiled as she watched him walk away. She felt kind of bad because several years ago, she’d prejudged him to be a bitter old man. Now that they’d officially met, she found out that he was really a nice guy.
Later that day, Nyla picked up the boys from summer camp and returned home to find Chance was home already. He’d told her earlier that he would pick up dinner along the way, but she had no idea that it would be Chinese food. Nyla and the boys loved Chinese, but Chance hated it. From that, she knew he was waiting on the perfect time to start an argument concerning her desire to go back to school. So, she didn’t question his food choice or why he was home early. Instead, she showed him how happy she was to have him there. Chance was obviously disappointed that Nyla didn’t question him, but out of respect for their children’s presence, he refrained from any negative comments…at least for the moment.
Later that night after the children were asleep, Nyla and Chance were getting ready for bed and began to talk.
“So, you’re going back to college now?” Chance asked.
“Yes, I am. I think this is a great time, don’t you?”
“Well, I’m not going to lie to you. I don’t want you to go back because you don’t need to. It’ll just be a waste of money that we could use on something else. Don’t I do well enough for you and our boys?”
“Yes, but...”
“It’s not your place to work anyway.” He interrupted. “Your place is here at home. I don’t know why I just didn’t tell you this years ago.”
Nyla hesitated to respond at first. Then, she thought about how he had promised in the past that she would be able to return to school after he finished. “So, you’re saying that although we agreed that I would go back when the time was right, you really didn’t mean it?”
“No, I didn’t mean it! I was hoping that over the years, after having the boys and me being a good provider, that you would forget about it!”
“Chance, that’s not fair! It’s been years and I’m still loafing around this house! You have reached your goals and accomplished so much, and I’m happy for you, but I want to do something that makes me happy with myself...you know? I want to feel like I’ve accomplished something too!”
“I’ve done that for you!” He yelled.
“Chance, I don’t want to argue, okay? Would you at least look at the course schedule that I picked up the other day?”
“You already enrolled?”
“No, it’s not an official schedule. I went and selected courses and times that would work best for us. You can see that none of the classes will interfere with my routine here at home. The only difference you might see, would be me doing a little homework from time to time. I promise, I’ll be the same wife and mother that I am now. Please...just look at it. If you still disagree, then I will leave it alone for good. Okay?”
He stared at the wall for a few seconds, then asked, “Where is the paperwork?”
“I left it in the car. I’ll run out and get it.” She felt a sense of hope. “Go ahead and jump in the shower and I’ll be right back.”
Nyla put on her robe and slippers while Chance went into the bathroom to take a shower. She went into to the garage and saw that she forgot to pull her car inside. Since she didn’t have her keys with her, she let the garage up and went outside to get the papers. It seems darker than usual tonight, she thought. She looked up and noticed that the motion sensor lights didn’t come on. No wonder...we need to get those changed. She continued to her car and opened the back door. As she reached in to get the papers, she was shoved from behind, so hard that she fell flat on her stomach. She tried to get back up, but was overpowered and pushed back down. She tried to scream, but her face was pressed firmly into the leather seat, to the point where she had to concentrate more on trying to breathe than scream. She felt her robe raise up and the night air touch her bare skin. She automatically knew she was about to be raped. The person climbed on her back, then shoved himself inside of her. Tears ran from her eyes as pictures of her family flashed through her head. The stranger started penetrating harder and deeper until Nyla found enough strength to lift her head up enough to say, “Please stop!”
He pushed her head back down into the seat, laid his head on the back of hers and said, “Shhhh!” Alcohol filled her nostrils. He placed his hands around her neck and slightly choked her as he went faster.
A few seconds later, it was over. He pulled himself out of her and again said, “Shhhh!”
Nyla quickly realized that he was warning her not to mention what was happening to anybody. Slowly and pitifully, she nodded her head.
The man then quickly got off her and disappeared into the darkness.
Nyla couldn’t believe what had just happened to her. Her first thought was to hurry inside and tell Chance what had happened. Then she thought, what if she did and the man comes back to kill her next time, or her kids? She grabbed her school papers, and then stood up. As she pulled her robe back down and put her slippers back on, she felt wetness between her thighs. The thought of the stranger going inside of her made her sick to her stomach. She ran to the side of the house to throw up because she didn’t want to risk Chance hearing her. When she was done, she tried to pull herself together before going back inside. She found a few napkins and shakily dried herself off. Scared that whoever was still close and possibly watching, she hurried back inside.
Nyla heard Chance turn off the shower and knew that if he saw her right at that moment, he would immediately know that something was wrong. She rushed to the boys’ bathroom to straighten her hair and wipe her face, then took a few deep breaths before going back to the bedroom with Chance. Without any eye contact, she handed Chance the papers, then went straight to the bathroom to take a shower.
In the shower, Nyla cried hard, but silently as she wiped and wiped, but still felt dirty, and the smell of alcohol seemed permanently settled in her nostrils no matter how hard she tried to blow it out. She looked at her white washcloth and saw spots of blood, but she couldn’t tell if it was from the stranger shoving himself inside of her or from her wiping for too long.
Ten minutes later, she got out of the shower and joined Chance in bed, her back against his. She hoped that he wouldn’t say anythin
g else about her going back to school because at that point, it didn’t matter. After about five minutes of lying there, she heard him start to snore. She was never so relieved that he’d finally went to sleep, and that’s all she wanted to do...sleep, hoping that by morning, it would all be nothing more than a horrific nightmare. However, going to sleep wasn’t so easy. She thought long and hard about whether to tell Chance or report what had happened to her. Silently, she began to cry again as she laid still as she could until eventually, she fell asleep.
SECRECY
The next morning when Nyla woke up, Chance was already gone. He left a note on the fridge that said, I’ll be working late tonight. Don’t wait up. Nyla didn’t mind, because long as he wasn’t around, she didn’t have to worry about arguing with him. His absence also lessened the possibility of him noticing that something was wrong.
“Mom, we’re ready!” Ronald yelled.
“Okay, let’s load up and get out of here then.” She responded, trying to sound as normal as possible.
The boys followed Nyla into the garage where she wished her car would’ve been the night before. She let up the garage door and proceeded to walk outside. As she got closer to her car, the nightmare vividly flashed through her head. It became a harsh reality when she opened the back door for Anthony and saw a few spots on the leather seat that had dried up from the night before. She started shaking. “Hold on boys, I need to wipe down the seat really quick!” She stopped Anthony from getting in, closed the door and turned to go back inside.
“Why can’t you do that after you drop us off?” Ronald asked.
CJ noticed something was wrong with their mom and answered before Nyla could say anything, “Because she wants to do it now.”
Nyla was relieved at CJ’s response. “That’s right!” She tried to smile. “Hold tight and I’ll be right back!” Nyla jogged inside, grabbed a couple of cleaning wipes and returned to the car to wipe the seats.
The boys jumped in and for most of the drive, Nyla was in a daze. She returned home in time to catch the house phone ringing.
The Good Neighbor Page 2