A Second Chance at love The Rocker Girls Series

by Jennifer Byars

  Her fingers gripped onto the countertop; she wanted to scream out in anger and frustration. She dug in, holding back the scream that wanted to rip from her chest, until she couldn’t take the pain anymore. She bent over, placing her head between her arms and taking deep cleansing breaths to get her nerves under control.

  “Addison, hurry up!” Jimmy hollered at her.

  Tears squeezed out as she tried to hide the sob that accidentally escaped. She breathed a couple more times, not sure if she was ready to do what she had to do to get away from him. At that thought, she placed her hand over her mouth and smothered another sob that broke free, but then sucked in her breath and straightened her shoulders.

  “Addison,” his booming voice called out.

  She cleared her throat, trying to sound like everything was fine. “I’m coming, Jimmy. I just wanted to splash some water on my face,” she lied.

  She turned on the water now, splashing some cold water on her face and rinsing off the crusted blood on her lip. When she picked up the towel that was on the counter, a small pill bottle fell out from it.

  She picked up the bottle, knowing what she’d found. Jimmy, being so screwed up, forgot to hide his pills from her. She quickly opened the bottle, looking at all the pills Jimmy had in there. If she could only find something in there to knock him out… “Addison. If you don’t get your ass out here right now, I’m coming in to fucking get you,” he growled once more, and she knew this was her final warning.

  Pouring the pills into her hand she found one that could work. She could believe that he had pills to stay awake, and heavy-duty pills to put him asleep. She took one of the sleeping pills in her hand, knowing about how long it would take a normal person to fall asleep with it, but someone on uppers…

  He had stripped off his pants and boxers, and was sitting naked on the end of the bed with his elbows at his knees, waiting for her. When he saw her step out into the room and walk to him, he jumped off the bed, coming to her in three big steps, taking her in his arms and kissing her hungrily. She tried to pull back from him, but his hand went to her head keeping her in place while the other lifted her up, keeping her glued to his body.

  He took her to the bed and placed her on top of it, starting to strip her of her panties. “Jimmy, I really need something to drink. My eye is really hurting right now,” she whispered, again trying to stall and thinking of a way to get the pill in him.

  She saw him tense at the mention of the damage he’d inflicted on her, but he got up to pour her a drink. “No, baby, let me do it.” She gave him a slight chuckle. “I know how much I need to help the pain. If you give me too much you’ll have me pass out on you.”

  She took the glass he was drinking from, pouring herself just a bit to help fool him. Then she gulped it down. She looked up at him, giving him the look he liked with her eyes, pouring just a little more in the cup, trying to be smooth about dropping the pill in the liquor.

  “I poured you a little. You know how I love the taste of whiskey on your tongue when we kiss,” she told him seductively, handing over the glass. He took it from her hand, never even bothering to look at the substance in the cup, throwing it back. He dropped it to the ground and pulled on her arm, making her fall into bed.

  He placed her under him, his naked body in between her thighs, as his hunger to have her was growing out of control. “I missed you, baby girl,” he moaned, kissing the side of her neck, slipping his fingers between her thighs and feeling her center through the thin fabric of her panties.

  She gasped when he pushed the fabric out of the way, feeling him sink his fingers into her. The panic was rising and she needed to slow this down to let the drugs take effect on him. “Jimmy, take it slowly, baby. I haven’t felt you in so long, let’s just take our time with one another,” she tried to persuade him.

  “I need you baby, I need you so damn bad!” he moaned as he worked his fingers in her. “We can take our time later, I just need to be in you now!” he said, but with a slur to it.

  He started making his way down her neck to her chest, latching onto her nipple, and she bit her lip not to scream out. She grabbed into the sheets, not knowing what to expect, feeling his frenzy. He let go of her nipple and came down upon her mouth, and she could feel his erection rubbing against her entrance, starting to push up into her.

  But as quickly as his frenzy was at its height, the drugs kicked in and he was unaware that he was drifting off to sleep. He just lay there on top of her, and she could feel the rise and fall of his chest on her stomach. Reaching down she slowly took his hands from between her thighs.

  She started crying, and breathed through it to make sure she didn’t wake him. She must have lain there for about five minutes, making sure he was out before she moved out from under him carefully.

  She picked up her bra and quickly put it on, quietly making her way around the room where he threw her clothing. She looked around for her shoes and was prepared to run to get help without them, when she saw a pair of flip-flops. She slid them on, then quietly opened the door to the room, planning on running to the office.

  When she got out on the balcony, she knew why Jimmy was talking about the trip to Niagara Falls. This was the Erie motel that he pulled into that day, and the place where they indeed made love to each other all night long. It was a place that once had such happy memories for them.

  The motel was big then, she remembered, and her brain couldn’t quite remember where the office was. She stood for a minute deciding what direction to take. She looked right, then left, running her hand through her hair. This could be the only time to make her getaway.

  She saw lights pulling into the parking lot, and all her brain was screaming at her was escape now you fool! So she ran on the balcony, sliding in the oversized flip-flops, making it to the other side of the building. She heard her name being called and she panicked. Had Jimmy already woken up, and was looking for her? In her panic she ran, banging on doors, trying to open them as her name was called again. Tears came freely, blurring her vision, and the adrenaline was screaming in her ears.

  A car door slammed. “Addison!” She heard her name and in her panic she ran faster, thinking that it might be Jimmy; maybe she didn’t give him enough and he was coming after her.

  “Addison!”

  She started to go down the stairs as fast as she could, terrified the owner of the voice would catch her. “Addison, stop!” he called again. She saw someone at the bottom of the stairs, and turned to run up and away.

  “Angel, please!” Winston called to her.

  She turned around quickly, seeing it wasn’t Jimmy but Winston at the bottom of the stairs. A hand took her shoulder, and she screamed out, thinking it was Jimmy. As she turned around she misplaced her foot in the oversized flip-flop, and felt her ankle give as she lost her balance.

  ***

  When Win pulled into the parking lot and saw Addison running, every instinct was to just jump out of the car and go get her. But if Nickels and Dax were right about her ex-husband being out of his mind for her, he didn’t want to put her at risk if Jimmy saw him.

  When Dax called out her name, he could see Addison’s shoulders tighten, and she turned tail and ran like a scared little rabbit from the big bad wolf. As Dax ran closer to her, she ran away from him, banging on doors trying to get help. Win couldn’t just sit there any longer, seeing his angel so distraught. All that kept running through his mind was, What the hell did that fucker do to her?

  Whether her husband came out or not wasn’t his concern right now; all that mattered was he had to get to her. His angel was scared out of her mind; she was running everywhere to escape Dax and he saw the fear in her eyes as she ran their way.

  Win scrambled out of his door. “I’m going to go see if I can catch her. I don’t think she knows who’s calling her name,” he yelled to South, slamming the door and racing away.

  South jumped out too, calling her name, hoping she’d recognize one of them. Dax went running at he
r as she ran like hell down the stairs. When Win reached the bottom of the stairs she was coming down, she saw him and blindly turned around to run back up. “Angel, please!” Win begged her. Only then did she stop and turn to him.

  After that, everything was a blur. As Dax touched her shoulder, the look of sheer terror that struck her was overwhelming to watch. She turned sharply to whom she thought was her attacker, and Win saw her misplace her foot, snapping something.

  She fell backwards, hitting her head on the railing before he got to her, but he did catch her in time to stop a tumble down the stairs. “Addison!” he called out to her, hoping to wake her up. Once he had her in his arms he saw her face, and his grip tightened. She didn’t move, and he wasn’t sure if she’d hit her head hard or was out cold from the trauma of her attack. “Call 911!” Win told Dax, who nodded, pulling out his cell.

  Nickels came running to them, looking at Dax on the phone. “Tell them they’re going to need two ambulances. I think Addie gave him something to make him pass out,” he told him. Dax nodded, following Nickels to where Jimmy was, while South came up to Win who was just sitting on the steps, waiting for the ambulance.

  When South took a look at her face, Win thought for a moment he might break down… He could understand that feeling completely. “Holy shit!” South whispered, sitting next to his best friend. Win just held her, waiting for help.

  “I know.” It was the only thing he could get out.

  In the distance the sirens could be heard coming their way, and Win didn’t move, afraid any movement could hurt her further.

  When they pulled in, Nickels directed one crew to Addison and the others up to the motel room. An EMT came up to him, and looked down on her face. “What happened?” he asked, checking her pulse and the dilation of her eyes.

  “She was running, and she fell down the stairs, hitting her head,” Win was able to get out.

  “Did she sustain these injuries to her face from the fall?”

  Win couldn’t answer that, he just held her. South looked up at the EMT. “No, she was beaten,” he told the guy.

  The man nodded as two other EMTs brought a gurney to the bottom of the stairs, and Win picked her up and placed her on it so they could take her to the hospital. Two of them lifted her body up from his arms, strapping her in place, before taking her to the ambulance.

  The others came down with James Richardson strapped to one as well, and it did seem like his angel drugged him up to get him to pass out. A part of him wondered what happened in that room. What exactly did she have to do to get him drugged…but he knew he couldn’t go there…not ever.

  They all jumped into their vehicles, following the ambulances to the nearest hospital. Win and South ran in after they parked, trying to get information about Addison. But since her husband was in the other room, he couldn’t even lie to get in and see her. He and South waited for what seemed like an eternity for the doctors to come out. Nickels was the only one who was able to go back and talk to the medical staff.

  South had gone to get him a cup of coffee. His nerves were shot and he picked at some fabric that was unraveling from the old worn-out chair he was sitting in. Dax was talking on his cell, standing two chairs away from him, when his head snapped in his direction and he looked Win over. His hand went to the back of his neck, and he heard him say, “Fuck!” Then he whispered something, and nodded.

  Dax’s hand fell to his side as he made his way over to Win, sitting next to him. He looked him over, then turned away, running his hands through his now flattened red hair. “I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to give you some advice…”

  Win slouched forward with his arms resting on his legs. “I’m not walking away from Addison for that fucker! Not for anyone…ever!” he seethed.

  Dax let out a deep long breath. “Look, I wasn’t going to tell you to leave her. In fact I think it’s best if she moves on, and so does Nickels. Jimmy’s really screwed himself up, and for Addie to drug him like she did, I don’t even want to know what the fuck was going through his head… I want to give you some advice on this whole fucked-up situation,” Dax began.

  Win turned his head, glaring at Dax. “I don’t need any advice from a fucker like…” he started to growl.

  Dax hit his hands on his thighs, getting frustrated. “Yes, yes you do!” he yelled, as Win sat up looking pissed, and others in the waiting room stared at them. Dax then sighed. “Look, don’t ask her what happened in that room tonight. It would hurt her, and it would hurt you.”

  “You know what happened? What he did to her?” Win looked at the doors heading into the examining rooms like he was going to jump out of his seat.

  Dax’s hands ran over his face. “No, man, I don’t. And I don’t think anybody but Addie will know the whole truth. That’s why I told you what I did. Now, what I’m going to tell you is just the facts, man, and if you can live with it, make a life with our chipmunk, you’re one lucky son of a bitch,” he told Win.

  Win didn’t say anything, and he didn’t look at him. Deep down he blamed these men for letting his angel get hurt. Maybe he’d listen to what this ass had to say, and go knock the shit out of him when he was finished.

  “Okay, so here it goes,” Dax said. “Jimmy will always love Addison. You’re going to hear a song from us, and you’re going to know who it’s about, and it’s going to be tough on you. There’s no stopping his love for her, it just is. That’s the love of his life. Yes, he fucked it up beyond repair, but that’s all there is to it. You’ll always be the one who stole his wife from him. But he’s going to need a lot of work to be the man he once was again, and it’s not going to be a year-long run. I see it taking a long time.”

  Win sat back in the seat, looking over at Dax. “And what the hell does any of that have to do with me? I won’t listen to your damn music. Why should I care if he thinks I stole his wife? He fucking beat her!”

  Dax leaned forward, no longer looking at Win. “Hell, you don’t think I know that!” He rubbed both hands over his face before he continued. “Now this is the part that’s going to be hard for you to hear. Because even though Jimmy fucked up, and he hurt Addie both mentally and physically…” Dax took a breath. “She’s always going to love him, too.”

  “She’s going to love you and if she told you she loves you, then it’s real. Because that woman has never loved anybody but her Jimmy, and you’ve replaced him. But don’t say anything bad about him, don’t bring up the bad things that he’s done to her, because she’ll be working on not thinking about him, and moving on. That will just bring him up in her mind again.

  “You, my friend, are a part of a tragic love story. But you’re the one who gets to keep his true love. I know that sounds corny, and you know we music men know how not to mince words and all that shit, but that’s it. You want her? I’ll make sure Jimmy stays away. I really thought he would have gotten himself together by now, but after seeing Addie’s face, and body…” Win looked over to see tears coming from his eyes and he wiped them away.

  “She’s like a little sister to me. Her and Tia both. I just can’t let this happen anymore!” He shook his head, looking at his hands. “Do you love her?” he questioned Win.

  “Yeah, a crazy kind of love!” Win told him honestly.

  Dax nodded. “You have any problems with the girls all staying together? Keeping Tia next to her sister any way possible?”

  “No, in fact I just got a place only two doors down from her sister so they could be together.”

  “Good. That’s good,” Dax mumbled, then stood, taking Win’s hand and shaking it. “I’m sorry about you leaving your hometown, but the girls always talked about Nashville. They loved watching the Grand Ole Opry and Hee-Haw reruns, and giggling about Elvis…used to drive me and Jimmy crazy with that shit.” He laughed, but then it fell from his face as the reality of what was happening hit him once again.

  “Good luck, man. Take care of our girl.” Then Dax walked away.

  South walked up with
the coffees in his hands, and saw Dax leaving Win. “What the hell did he want?” he growled to his back.

  Win was sitting up now, processing what the hell Dax had just said to him. “I think the band just gave me permission to marry their little sister and take her away from Jimmy,” he said, sitting back in the seat, amazed at what just happened.

  “Are you fucking kidding?” South said, turning back to Nickels and Dax as they talked to the doctor, who nodded his head and came over to Win.

  “I was told that Mr. Molloye is the soon-to-be husband of Mrs. Richardson,” the doctor said. Win looked over at Nickels and Dax, who had their arms crossed, looking at him.

  He nodded to the doctor. “Um, yes we’re getting married within the month. Just waiting on paperwork,” he said, and Dax nodded his head. Then he and Nickels went off in the other direction to where he assumed Jimmy was being examined.

  “Well, I just wanted you to know that Mrs. Richardson is awake and asking for you. She did break her ankle, and in her condition we thought it best just putting it in a cast. We would like a specialist to take a look within the next week to make sure it’s healing properly,” he told him.

  Win sat there looking at the doctor, trying to keep up with what the man was saying. “I’m sorry, but what’s her condition?” he asked, thinking something worse was happening.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, I thought you knew. She’s five weeks along in her pregnancy, and with all the stress that she just went through, we thought it best to let her body relax from its ordeal, before a possible surgery on her ankle. We informed Mrs. Richardson of her condition, and she agreed with our opinion.”

  South looked over at Win, stunned by what was just said. “Holy shit, you’re going to be a father!” he shouted out loud. Win looked down the hallway to where Dax and Nickels had gone, and he knew they knew all about the baby.