by Amanda Wals
Michelle reached out and took my hand. "I really enjoyed that last time. Too much. That probably doesn't make much sense, so I'm going to talk about Jared for a while."
"Okay."
"I loved him and I still do think a lot about him. Looking back on it, it was like he could never accept that I would stay in love with him. It was like he had to constantly test that I still loved him. For the first year, the tests weren't that often and they mainly involved sex. We didn't fuck for the first six months because I wasn't on birth control and I was terrified of getting pregnant. So during that time, I gave Jared blow jobs. Lots and lots of blow jobs. And the tests were could he cum on my chest; could he cum on my face; would I flash him in public; would I suck him off while he drove around; would I suck him off in a public place. After six months, I had to fuck Jared. I told Mom I was going to fuck him and I'd either fuck him while he used a condom or she could put me on a more reliable method of birth control. She got me an IUD. Once we started fucking, the tests were would I fuck in different positions and different places in his apartment; would I do anal sex; would I fuck him in a public place. I agreed to all those things. I loved doing all those things. Sex with Jared made me feel wonderful. With me so far?"
"Yes."
"There were sex acts that Jared asked me to do that I said no to. I'd never have sex with people around. I'd never have threesome. I refused to let him tie me up. The one time he slapped my ass hard, I told him that hurt and to never do it again. He called me his slut a couple of times and I told him that I didn't like it. So after about a year, we had established all the boundaries when it came to sex."
"Okay."
"Then the tests changed. Rather than being about sex, they were about demeaning and controlling me. There had been some before, but it became those full-time once the boundaries for sex were set. At first, the demeaning tests were snide little comments like Dad makes. He'd make a comment about me having no tits. Or me not being very bright. Or me being clumsy. When I got upset, he'd say he was making a joke. After a while, I let them go. The control tests were I couldn't see this person. I had to defriend that person from Facebook. I couldn't text this person. At first, it was guys and Jared was protecting me. Again, I stopped pushing back after a while. The tests got more often and more often. When the tests had been all about sex, they had built me up - that I was one hot babe who knew lots of ways of making her man happy. These new tests were tearing me down, making me doubt myself; destroying my self-esteem. And as my self-esteem ebbed away, I put up less and less resistance to Jared's tests."
I nodded my head. This fit everything she had told me.
Michelle continued, "The thing about Jared is that if he had just stopped testing my love, I'd be happily living with him now. Our plan was for me to move in with him once I finished my last final. He was the one that suggested I get a job while going to school to help us get a nicer apartment when I moved in. I loved him. I enjoyed being with him. I was looking forward to living with him, hopefully forever."
"But then he slapped you..."
"That was the test where I finally said enough. And I was lucky. If he had slapped me two months later, I would have been living with him. It would have been a lot harder then to break up with him. All my stuff would have been in the apartment. My name would have been on everything associated with apartment. I would have faced coming home to Mom and Dad saying 'Told you so. Told you so.'"
Which Mom and Dad definitely would have done.
Michelle reached out and took my hand. "I'm sure you're wondering what that has to do with us. Do you know what I was wishing would happen after you played with my tits?
"No."
"I kept wishing you'd pick me up, throw me down on the bed and fuck me hard. You'd take me. You'd force me to be your woman." Michelle looked down at my hand. She played with my fingers a bit. "And I would have enjoyed it." She sighed. "When I realized how close I came to being dominated again, I got scared. It scared me so much that I haven't been able to discuss it until now."
Michelle dropped her eyes and played with my fingers.
After a while, I said, "So what happens next?"
"We go back to the way we were before I started sleeping in your room. You've done wonders for me. I feel so much better about myself. I'm happy with my body now. I feel ready to face the world without you boosting me every night."
"Okay."
Michelle squeezed my hand and said, "Thanks. Thanks for everything." Then she let my hand go.
I started to get off her bed and then I sat back down. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Why did you not want to give me a hand job the other night?"
Michelle sighed. "Because I thought I couldn't stop with just a hand job; that if I touched your cock with my hand, it was going into my mouth. Or going into my mouth and then into me."
I nodded my head and said, "Okay."
I hadn't realized at the time that Michelle had been so ready to fuck me. And I had been ready to fuck her. It would have taken only the littlest thing for us to start fucking.
Now that the fucking had been discussed, I realized how badly I wanted to fuck my sister. And it would never happen.
I went to my bedroom and cried.
* * *
Friday morning, Michelle got a call on her cell phone. Since we had stopped sleeping together, things were awkward between us. We frequently retreated to our rooms to be away from the other one, so I didn't think it odd when she went upstairs for the call.
About fifteen minutes later, Michelle came down the stairs. "That call was from a friend of Jared's. Jared is in the hospital"
"He is? Why?"
"When he was leaving work Tuesday night, someone attacked him with what the police say was an aluminum baseball bat." Ouch! "Broke his right leg, his left arm and multiple ribs. Lots and lots of bruises."
"Oh my god! Who did it?"
"Jared thinks it was Terry's ex. He kept coming around, telling Terry that she should get back together with him. Jared told him several times to leave Terry alone. When he didn't take the hint, Jared beat him up. Two days later, someone attacked Jared."
Terry had probably gone from one abusive boyfriend to the next.
"What do the police say?"
"Jared's wallet was taken, so it could have been a robbery. When they questioned Terry's ex about the attack, he said he was innocent and pressed charges against Jared for beating him up. As Jared had told the police that he had beat the guy up, he'll be convicted. Jared's going to be released from the hospital today and then turn himself in. He'll have to stay in jail because he doesn't have the money to post bail."
"Why doesn't one of Jared's friends bail him out?"
"They're all broke."
"Wow. That really sucks. As much as I dislike Jared, I'm sorry to hear that."
Not too terribly sorry. Actually, I was happy that someone had beat him up. But when I had wanted him beat up, I hadn't wanted him beaten up this badly. And going to jail - I wouldn't wish that on even Jared.
Michelle said, "I'm going to go see Jared."
"No," I said firmly. "You're not. Jared has stopped harassing you. If you go see him, he'll take that as a sign that you're open to resuming the relationship. He'll be calling and texting and tweeting at you, all over again."
"But...He's hurt. He needs someone right now."
"Why not Terry?"
"She's taken off."
Probably afraid that her ex will visit her with a baseball bat.
I had an idea. Something to get Michelle finally free from Jared. "I'll go see him. I'll bail him out of jail in return for him promising to never contact you again." The money I had saved up for college would be more than enough to bail him out of jail. But I needed more than a promise from Jared.
I had an inspiration. "Michelle, write down what Jared did to you. Say two paragraphs of the abuse before he slapped you, a paragraph about him slapping you and then two paragraphs of ho
w he has harassed you since the break up."
"What will you do with that?"
"I'll have Jared read it while I record him and then have him admit that he did all of those things. Then if he ever bothers you again, we'll have his confession to give to the police for domestic assault."
"I'm not so sure, Chris."
"Trust me, Michelle. You don't want Jared to go to jail, do you?"
No."
"So do what I ask and I'll bail him out."
Michelle went upstairs to write the note. I called my bank and found out what I had to do to withdraw a lot of cash at once. I called my manager and told her I might be late to work. Michelle came down and gave me the five paragraph description. I got the room number from her and left for the hospital.
* * *
When I got home that night, I went through the formalities with Mom and Dad as quickly as I could and then went upstairs. Michelle was waiting in my room.
"How did it go?" she asked.
"It went well. I recorded him reading your statement and admitting that he had done all of those things. In return, I promised him that I would have you watch this video."
I took out my phone and started Jared's apology. I then handed it to Michelle. I watched over her shoulder as she watched it.
Jared in the video said, "Michelle, this is the last time I'm going to communicate with you. I want to say I'm sorry. I shouldn't have slapped you. I shouldn't have called you stupid and clumsy. I shouldn't have harassed you after we broke up. Every nasty thing I have ever said about you is bullshit."
Michelle teared up.
Jared continued in the video, "You were a great girlfriend. I loved you. You made me incredibly happy." Tears flowed down Michelle's face. "I didn't appreciate you and I wound up throwing it all away. I was an idiot. Then I was angry at myself for being an idiot and took it out on you. I'm sorry once again. I hope you'll think fondly of me. I'll certainly think fondly of you. The end."
Michelle cried for a little while, and then threw herself around my neck. "Thanks, Chris. Thanks for this. I finally feel like there's been closure." Michelle let me go.
I said, "I promised Jared that after you watched the video, you'd send him an email saying you watched it to where he said 'the end'. That way he'd know you had watched the whole video."
"I'll go email him now."
Several minutes later, Michelle came back. "I said to Jared, 'I watched the video until you said the end. If you want me to think fondly of you, learn from us.'" Michelle gave me a big hug. "Thanks again, Chris."
Then she left.
* * *
I was both happy and relieved. It hadn't been easy to get Jared to make that video. As I was driving to the hospital that morning, I realized my plan had two flaws. The first flaw was that Jared would be able to say that his video confession was made under duress and what he said in it wasn't true. And it was good defense as I'd confess to most anything if it kept me out of jail.
The second flaw was that Michelle wouldn't press charges if Jared harassed her again. She hadn't pressed charges in the days after Jared slapped her when he was at his most harassing. Why would she press charges now? And Jared would know that she was unlikely to press charges. He'd look on making the video confession as a joke.
So my plan was almost certainly going to fail. As I got close to the hospital, I remembered something. For my world history class at college, I had read a biography of Peter the Great, the ruler of Russia from 1682 to 1721. At one point, Peter thought his royal guards were plotting against him and he had them tortured. None of them would talk. Peter was unexpectedly kind to one of them and that guard talked. What if I was unexpectedly kind to Jared? Make it clear that I thought he was an asshole but do what I could for him on what would be a very bad day?
When I walked into Jared's room, the first thing I noticed was the he was covered with bruises. Terry's ex had worked him over. Jared's lower left arm and lower right leg were in casts.
"Hey, Jared."
"Hey, Chris. Look at what Terry's ex did to me. The coward whacked me over the head before I knew he was there and then did this to me while I was unconscious. I'm going to kill the motherfucker."
"If you're looking for sympathy, you're talking to the wrong guy. I dreamed about doing something similar to you. What I'm here for is to make a deal - I'll bail you out of jail if you agree to never see or communicate with Michelle again."
I didn't exactly put Jared in a happy mood, but eventually I got him to talk about what he'd be willing to do for me to bail him out. We started bargaining. Jared complained that he had never really gotten a chance to talk with Michelle.
I said, "She didn't want to talk with you. There was nothing to discuss. Can't you understand that? If she had thought there was something to discuss with you, there were plenty of opportunities for her to discuss them with you. Give it up."
We bargained some more. As we were closing in on the deal, a nurse came in with the discharge papers. We finally struck a deal. I would loan him the money to bail him out of jail with his car as collateral; I'd keep the keys as he couldn't drive. He'd make two videos, one reading Michelle's note and one a final appeal to Michelle. Michelle would send him an email saying she had watched his appeal. We made the videos as the final preparations for his discharge were made.
I said, "I'll drive you to the police station to turn yourself in."
"You don't have to do that. I'll call one of my friends."
"I'm here. I've got the time. Do you want to spend any more time in this room than you have to?"
Jared hemmed and hawed then finally agreed to let me drive him to the police station.
A nurse brought Jared out of the hospital in a wheelchair. We had trouble getting Jared into my car as he struggled to cross the short distance to my car with a leg in a cast.
I said to Jared as we drove off, "You're going to have to get a crutch to get around."
"I don't have any money."
"We'll stop some place and I'll rent you a crutch for a month. You can pay me back after I bail you out."
"If you don't mind. I'd appreciate it."
"No big deal."
I looked up a store that rented crutches and drove over there. I got the crutch and threw it in the back seat. It was almost eleven.
"They aren't going to feed you at the police station. Let's get an early lunch."
"I still don't have money."
"You can still pay me back after I bail you out."
We stopped at a fast food place and got burgers. As we ate, I told Jared about breaking up with Gina.
"She just slammed the door in your face?" said Jared in amusement. "Did you see it coming?"
"Didn't see it coming."
We swapped stories about Gina and Terry after that. I got the impression that Jared was less than thrilled with Terry.
In the car, I asked, "How did Terry's ex know where you'd be?"
"He and Terry used to be regulars at the bar I work at. That's how I knew Terry. Her ex was bad news. He'd beat her up. She came to the bar one night and asked me to protect her, made it clear I'd get full benefits if I did so. So she moved in with me."
"Her ex does sound like bad news. A mean and sneaky bastard."
"Wait until I catch up with him. I'll kill him."
"Do you know where he lives or works?"
"Terry does."
"Terry's gone."
"I know. She'll be back when things cool down. Then I'll get my revenge."
Jared turned himself in at the police station. At the desk, Jared turned to me and said, "Thanks for lunch. I'll see you later."
"I don't want to drive all the way home and then drive all way back here to bail you out. I'll stick around instead."
Jared shrugged. "Whatever."
I walked with Jared through a door to the first stop in the booking process. A cop said to me, "What are you doing?"
I said, "I'll be bailing him out once bail is set. And I'll take
the crutch when it's time for him to go into the jail cell."
The cop didn't respond. He talked with a few other cops. None of them said anything to Jared or me, but they kept an eye on us. Eventually, I got the impression as long as Jared and I were quiet and cooperative, the cops didn't give a shit what we did.
The booking process consisted of multiple steps, each of which involved sitting in a room until it was Jared's turn to do something. Jared and I swapped stories about funny things that happened at our work. Jared said at one point, "Terry had a nice body, but she couldn't cook or clean worth a shit. If I had been her ex, I would have been glad to see her go."
I raised my eyebrows at that.
Jared said, "She's not like Michelle. Michelle was worth trying to win back. Michelle was a great girlfriend."
"Michelle - the plain-looking girl with no tits and a bony ass?"
Jared sighed and shook his head. "I liked her body well enough. She was great in bed. And she was so sweet. She made me feel special."
Eventually, Jared was charged and bail was set. I went to my bank and got the bail money.
Once I bailed Jared out, I drove him to his apartment. When we got there, he said, "Thanks for bailing me out. I'll borrow some money at the bar when I work tonight and I'll mail you what I owe you for the crutch and lunch." He sighed. "If you hadn't bailed me out, the bar would have gotten another bouncer instead of me. If I had stayed in jail, I wouldn't have earned the money to pay the rent or to make the payment on my car."
"I don't see the value of locking up someone like you. Being locked up before the trial would have been a severe punishment all by itself."
"You've got that right." He said, "Thanks again," as he offered me his hand.