Underestimated

by Jettie Woodruff

  “Riley, I’m not sure what’s going on here,” he stated. He too looked white as a ghost.

  “I can’t talk to you here. Please just meet me over there,” I got up and Marta followed me out. I needed air, not that the Nevada heat had much to offer, but I had to try. I didn’t know if Dawson would show up or not. Hell, I didn’t know if I would show up.

  “What the hell, Morgan?” Marta asked as we walked to my car.

  “You drive, Marta,” I said, ignoring her and getting into the passenger side.

  “Will you tell me what the hell that was all about?” she asked again as she pulled on her seatbelt. I didn’t put mine on. I wanted to crash and burn.

  “That was someone from my past, Marta. I remember him.”

  “You do! That’s great. We should call Dr. Tharp.”

  “It’s not great. He is someone Drew wouldn’t understand,” I snapped at her. I didn’t mean to snap. I just didn’t know what to think myself, and I wasn’t about to explain it to her.

  “Oh,” Marta said. I could tell she thought that he was someone that I was cheating on Drew with. I didn’t care. I wasn’t even going to try. I knew her enough to know that she would mind her own business.

  I went right to mine and Drew’s bed and lay down. I couldn’t take the pain in my head. I couldn’t think about anything until it stopped. Marta brought me the water and pain pills that I asked her to bring to me.

  My cellphone rang. I didn’t want to answer it. I knew that he could tell something was wrong from where ever the hell he was. I didn’t care. I didn’t want his pity party at the moment.

  “Hello,” I almost yelled. Even my own voice echoed through my head.

  “What’s wrong, Morgan?” He asked concerned.

  “I just have a headache from hell. I need to rest for a little bit. It was probably just the heat.”

  “I’m calling Dr. Tharp,” he demanded.

  “I don’t need Dr. Tharp. I just need to rest for a few minutes. I’m fine.”

  “Okay. Go rest. I will call you in a couple hours to see how you’re doing. I love you,” he added.

  I could only grunt as I felt the tears. No. I didn’t want to cry.

  I covered my head with the pillow, one I couldn’t stand the light at the time, and two, I didn’t want Drew to see me cry.

  Dawson Bade, Lauren, Starlight, the coffee shop, my house, Misty Bay, my trip to Vegas, my wreck. I remembered it all. I was going to marry Dawson. We were to get married two months ago. I never fell asleep. I would probably never sleep again. I felt the love that I had for Dawson as soon as I saw him. It was real, and I knew that he loved me. Wait. He knew. He knew all about Drew. He knew what a monster he was. Why did he wait five months to come for me? How did he find me?

  I let everything flood through my mind, everything but the one that was going to rip my heart out. I saved that for my last memory or memories. There were so many of them. Not one was good. Drew hit me. He called me names, humiliated me, and he did treat me like a piece of meat. Why Drew? Why did you buy me for cash if you never wanted me? How could you do those things to me? I hated him. I hated him with everything in me. What should I do? Should I just run away with Dawson? What if he didn’t want me anymore?

  I lay with my head covered for almost three hours while thoughts and memories flooded my mind. I finally sat up around four to see if my head felt better. It wasn’t gone, but it did feel better. I guessed it was just overloaded and needed time to funnel all of the abrupt information.

  “Feel better?” Marta asked as I walked into the kitchen.

  “Yes, thank you. Could you make me a sandwich or something before I head out,” I asked, sitting at the table.

  “Yes, but I’m not sure you should go to that game. You had a pretty bad spell this afternoon.”

  “It was just the heat. I’m fine now,” I lied. I wasn’t fine. I had no idea what to do.

  “Maybe I should come with you.”

  “Marta,” I warned with a look. “I’m fine. I just need something to eat.”

  I didn’t shower, change, do my hair or put on makeup. I wasn’t trying to impress anyone at the time. I wore the same jean shorts and red tank top. I had been looking forward to this game for three days, and now I knew I wouldn’t even see it.

  I saw him standing at the concession stand. My heart ached for him. He smiled a warm smile as I neared.

  “Do you want something to drink?”

  “Lemonade, please,” I replied.

  We didn’t walk to the bleachers around the crowd of people. He followed me to a picnic table under a shade tree. He sat right beside me rather than across from me like I wanted him to. I hoped he would start. I didn’t have a clue what to say. He didn’t either.

  “How did you find me?” I asked.

  “You didn’t make it easy. You lied about everything.”

  “No. I didn’t. I only lied about things that would lead you to Drew which would lead him to me.”

  “I don’t understand, Riley.”

  I snorted. That wasn’t my name. “How did you find me?” I asked again.

  “I tried everything to find you with Starlight and Lauren’s help. I was lying in bed the other night and I just remembered you telling me about Drew coming to your high school and donating money. I went there and pretended to be investigating a fraud case. They told me that the money that was donated that year was from Callaway Jewels. You told me he was a software developer from Indiana. Did you leave me, Ry? because you could have just told me.”

  “Daw,” I quietly said. How was I supposed to explain this? “I didn’t leave you. I didn’t know you.”

  “What do you mean?”

  I took his hand and ran his finger over the L shaped scar down the whole right side of my head. “I was in a car accident before I got out of Vegas. I didn’t remember anything until I saw you in that shop this afternoon. I remembered my whole life today, right at that moment. I have spent the last five months of my life not knowing who I was.”

  “But you were on the plane. The airline told me that you had departed and landed in Chicago.”

  “I did not get on the plane. I left the airport because Derik saw me. He chased me. I ran underneath the front of a bus. I was in induced coma for five weeks.”

  “You are at his house?”

  “Yes,” I answered and then had to answer my phone.

  Shit…

  “I didn’t think you would go to the game. How do you feel?” Drew asked

  “I’m better. I told you I just had a headache.”

  “But, I worry about you when I’m not there.”

  “You shouldn’t.” I didn’t want to say much. Dawson Bade was sitting right beside me, and my lying abusive husband was worried about me.

  “Well, I do, and there is nothing you can do about it,” he tried teasing. I wasn’t in the mood.

  “I’ll call you when I get home, Drew. The game is getting ready to start.”

  “Okay. I love you.”

  I shook my head in disbelief. “love you too,” I replied, hanging up.

  “Did he hurt you?”

  “No. Dawson, he hasn’t hurt me. He has been very good to me.”

  Dawson looked down at my wedding rings. “Are you staying with him, Ry?”

  “No. I don’t know what I am doing yet. There are too many things that I have to have answers to.”

  “Leave with me now. I can’t leave you here, knowing what he is capable of.”

  “I’m not afraid of Drew.”

  “What do you mean you’re not afraid of him? You’re terrified of him.”

  “I was terrified before. I haven’t been afraid of him since I didn’t know who he or I was. I’m fine. I can’t leave yet.”

  “Can I call you?”

  “No. I have to lay low until I figure things out.”

  “What do you mean, figure things out. Ry? I’m not going to let you sneak around and play investigator. You’re going to get yourself kill
ed.”

  “Dawson. I have to do this. I will call you when I can.”

  “You need to call Lauren and Star. They have been beside themselves worried about you.”

  “I can’t right now, Dawson. Just tell them that I love and miss them, and I will talk to them when I can.”

  “Am I just supposed to go home and do what, Ry? Are we still a couple?”

  “I don’t know, Dawson. I truly don’t. I just remembered who I was four hours ago. I need time to process all of this.”

  “Have you been sleeping with Drew?”

  “Dawson, don’t do this. I didn’t even know that you existed.”

  “Was it consensual?”

  “I’m not going there with you right now. I can’t,” I pleaded. What the hell did he expect?

  “You’re in love with him aren’t you?”

  “Dawson, he’s not the same man that he was then.”

  Dawson blew out a puff of air. I could read his face. It was calling me a dumb girl.

  “You know where to find me when you figure it out,” he said and stood. I stood with him.

  “Dawson,” I pleaded. He turned and crushed his mouth to mine.

  God Damnit.

  I kissed him back, and it was all there, all the love, understanding, care, him putting up with my hang ups. It all came flooding back. I loved this man.

  “Please take care of yourself,” he whispered to my lips and let me go.

  I sank back to the bench and watched him go. What else was I going to do? The first thing I had to do was get Dawson out of my mind. I hated doing it to him, but he had to get put on the back burner for a while.

  Chapter 18

  Okay. This time I had a real plan. Well, sort of.

  The guy at the pawnshop told me that it was a Smith and Weston semi-automatic, nine millimeter, five shot revolver. I used Drew’s credit card and paid for it. It was small enough to fit in the back of my jean shorts so that he wouldn’t see it. I turned just before I got out of the store and picked up a ball bat.

  “I’m going to need this too,” I told the clerk.

  “I’m not gonna see you on the news later, am I?” The older black male with gray hair asked.

  “Maybe,” I replied tossing the bat in the air and catching it by the handle.

  “Just take the bat,” he offered. I smiled some kind of crazy person smile. I was crazy. There was no doubt about it.

  I left both of my new weapons in Drew’s car. I needed Marta out of the house before I did anything. I didn’t want to put her in the middle.

  I slept in Drew’s bed as hard as it was. I talked to him on the phone like nothing was wrong and got up the following morning feeling like a super hero. Yeah, I know it was stupid, but I was going to get answers if it was the last thing that I did.

  I walked out to the kitchen and said good morning to Marta.

  “You can take off whenever you want. Drew is on his way. We’re going to go away for a few days,” I lied, pouring a cup of coffee. I didn’t know where Drew was, but if he wasn’t in a meeting, or in the air. He was listening to me. He was probably smiling, thinking that I was sending her away again because I wanted him to myself. I did. Him and Derik both.

  Marta left shortly after, telling me to have a nice time, not suspecting anything. As soon as I knew that she was gone. I took a shower, pulled my hair back and walked out to Drew’s car to retrieve my weapons. I stuck the pistol in the back of my jeans, and carried the bat in like I was Rambo or something. I started in the kitchen, smashing the tiny camera hidden in the handle of one of the cabinets. I turned and smashed the one in the light switch next.

  My cellphone rang. I smiled.

  “You don’t need to call me you son of a bitch. You can hear every word I am saying. I smashed the last camera in the kitchen and started in the living room next. My phone wouldn’t stop ringing. I was afraid to hear his voice. I was afraid that I would coward out. I didn’t want to do that. I started to smash a black vase. I always hated that vase. It looked like it had a crack going in a jagged line and the artist had messed up at the top, and it dipped in on one side. I’m sure it was on purpose. I stopped the bat in midair. I knew it had to be expensive, and something told me that it was Mr. Callaway’s money who had bought it and not Drew’s at all, besides, I liked the idea of the screen in front of him going black from the contact of my wooden bat. I decided to stick with smashing cameras.

  By the time I had finished smashing the cameras in the living room and hallway to Drew’s office my cellphone had stopped ringing. I knew that he was in the air, or I thought anyway. I just didn’t know where he was coming from this time. Would he be there in an hour, two, ten? I didn’t know. I couldn’t remember where he told me that he was going.

  I walked to the lavish painting hanging in the hallway and pulled the key, velcroed to the back from behind it. Yeah, I remembered where that was too. My heart started to beat faster as I unlocked his office door. I walked around and sat in his plush leather chair. I picked up the phone with trembling hands and dialed the number on my little sticky note. I had to hang up and redial three times before my shaky hands got it right.

  “Can I talk to Mr. Callaway please?” I asked the lady who I was sure was his nurse.

  “I’m sorry, but Mr. Callaway isn’t feeling well today.”

  Shit…Now what?

  “Who is it?” I heard Mr. Callaway grouchily say in the background.

  “Tell him that it is Morgan,” I said quickly before she had a chance to ask or say goodbye.

  “Morgan, how are you?” he asked after demanding to talk to me.

  “I’ve been a lot better sir,” I lied. I had never been better, well, that’s a lie too. I was better in Maine where I had friends and a man who loved me for all the right reasons. I would have to revisit that later.

  “Is there something that I can do for you?” he asked sincerely.

  “I hope so. I want Derik to go away. I need for Derik to go away.”

  “Derik Hastings,” he asked.

  I don’t fucking know.

  “The Derik that seems to always be around. Yes.”

  “Did he do something to upset you? Derik has been around almost as long as Drew has. I’m sure that whatever it was, a good old talking to from me would do the trick.”

  “He raped me,” I blurted out. I didn’t want him to have a talking to. I wanted him dead. The line was silent. I wasn’t sure if he hung up or not.

  “Does Drew know about this? When did this happen?”

  “It’s been a while ago before I went to Florence. I just remembered yesterday, and no, Drew doesn’t know, and I would like to keep it that way for now. I am home alone, and I am afraid that he is coming here.”

  “Get Sal and Dillon over to the mansion… Now! Tell them I will call them on their way and to hurry.” I heard him say to someone. I relaxed a little. I didn’t know why, but for some reason this man would take care of me.

  “Thank you,” I said and I meant it.

  “I think that you should stay on the phone with me until they arrive,” he assured me.

  “I can’t right now, but, I’m fine now. I promise. I just need him to go away.”

  “Oh, don’t you worry about that. He is going away. You’ll never have to worry about Derik again. Do you need some help, I mean like, coping or whatever it is that you do when you go through something like that?” he asked concerned.

  I smiled. I had been raped so many times I couldn’t even count them. “No. I’m fine Mr. Callaway.”

  My intuitions were right. Drew called Derik. I had to put my hand on my shaking knee to stop it or settle it anyway. I couldn’t seem to stop the trembling going on in my body. I heard the door slam. I didn’t think it had been long enough for the two men to show up, not that I knew where they were coming from. It could be hours before they got there.

  “You little whore,” Derik yelled with a look that I knew could kill me dead right there on the spot.

&
nbsp; “What did I tell you about entering my house without knocking?” I said with my finger shaking on the trigger from my lap.

  “You fucking little cunt, I’ll….”

  “You’ll do what, Derik? Rape me again?” I asked, pulling the gun from my lap, and stopping him in his tracks.

  “You’re not going to ruin this for me,” he demanded. “I have almost ten years of my life invested in this money. I will fucking kill you.”

  “No. No. Derik. I don’t think so.” I couldn’t believe how cool my voice sounded. I sure wasn’t feeling cool. I was shaking like leaf. “Do you really think that I won’t pull this trigger?” I asked. I knew that I didn’t have to cock the gun. The old man at the pawn shop had already told me that it was ready. I only did it to add a little bit of excitement to my show, kind of like putting an exclamation mark behind it.

  “You don’t have the guts, you little pussy.”

  I could have shot him in the chest. I didn’t know how to shoot a gun. I pulled the trigger and grazed his left arm. “Don’t fuck with me,” I said feeling, extremely cocky all of a sudden. “Have a seat.”

  His eyes were huge. Did I mention that it was priceless? He stumbled back, holding his arm and sat down.

  I saw him debating on whether or not to lunge at me when my eyes darted and I jumped, startled from the ringing desk phone. I kept the gun pointed right at his head while I picked it up.

  “Hello,” I answered, having a pretty good sense of who it was.

  “Morgan, please,” I heard Drew’s voice.

  “I’m sorry, Drew. I can’t talk to you at the moment. I’m a little busy, waiting for your friend to be picked up.” That look was priceless too.

  I hung up and then removed the phone from the receiver when it rang again.

  It was a good thing that I had the gun. I was sure that the ten minutes for the two men to come and retrieve Derik would have given him plenty of time to stop my heart beat.

  They too entered without knocking. Derik looked to them confused while I laid the gun down on the desk, still pointing at him.

  “Let’s go, Derik,” the enormously, huge balled man said.