The Woman

I kept driving down this long, endless path when I spotted this woman on the side of the street.  Her clothes had been torn and ripped to pieces.  I stopped the car quickly and climbed out.  "Miss, are you alright?" I asked.

The woman's eyes moved up toward me then quickly looked away.  She looked shaken and afraid.  Her chest fell up and down fast while I noticed that she was trying to catch her breath.  She slowly began moving away from me while I moved closer to her.

"I'm not here to hurt you," I told the woman.  I pulled out my cell phone but there was no service in the area.  "Miss," I spoke softly and even backed up, "I'm here to help you.  I'm Jesse," I introduced myself.

She locked eyes with me once more.  "Stay away from me!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

I continued to back up but I didn't want to leave the woman out in the street in the middle of the night and from the looks of her messy hair and torn clothes something bad had already taken place.  "I'm only here to help," I told her again.

She began making this strange sound which it took me a while to realize that she was crying.

"Um... I know you don't know me all that well but I can take you to the nearest police station if you'd like me too," I told her softly.  "I don't know how to reassure you that I'm not dangerous but-"

She looked up at me and began to slowly stand up.  She walked over to me, looking me up and down.  "No gun?" she asked.

I shook my head.

"You're not going to-" she stopped midsentence before continuing.  "You're not going to do what that other man just got done doing to me and my sister, are you?"

"No," I replied.  "You have a sister?  Where is she?  I can take you both to get-"

"He killed her," the woman replied, breaking down even worse than before.

I had no words.  It took me a few moments to piece everything together in my head.  "I'll bring you to the police if you'll let me."

Her eyes locked with mine.  With barely any streetlights around it was hard to see her eyes but I knew she needed help.  "I'm Baylee," she introduced herself.  "I'm trusting you to get me to the police station."

I nodded.

 

 

It took a few hours before where arrived at the police station but I managed to keep conversation for a while.  "So do you like music, Baylee?" I asked.

"Yes," she answered briefly.

"What kind of music do you like?"

"Pop, soft rock, eighties, nineties," she managed to get out.

I nodded.  "I like pop and country," I replied.  "I'll listen to others but those are my favorites," I continued when I pulled up to the police station.  "Here... I'll go in with you if you don't mind."

Baylee nodded.

 

 

It seem like more hours flew by before I knew it.  We sat waiting till a police officer came out and brought Baylee back into another room to question her about what she had been through.  I waited in the waiting room, watching cops bringing in criminals and witnesses coming and leaving.  I sighed while I waited.

"That girl you brought in here," a man dressed as a cowboy spoke to me.

I looked at him, confused and not quite sure how he even knew I had brought in a woman in the first place.  He had seemed kind of off to me.

"She lies," he told me.

I raised an eyebrow.

"She's a prostitute," he told me.

Something told me that the man was lying but I didn't know Baylee well enough to know which one was telling the truth.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I told him, and then I picked up a book and opened it.

"Listen to me," he said, snatching the book out of my hand, "young man.  She will make you believe anything."

"It's none of your business," I told the man.

The man left before Baylee and the cop walked out into the room.  Baylee worked her way over to me and took my hand.  "Thank you," she spoke softly.  "I must go now."

"Go where?" I asked.

"Just somewhere where I can be safe," she explained.

"Can I go with you?" I asked.  I knew it was strange to ask a stranger if I could go with her but I had a feeling that she needed me around.

She just shrugged.

"You can go with her," the officer told me.  "You can keep her out of harm's way.  She'll need someone to watch over her... are you qua-"

"Yes," I lied, knowing it was wrong but I didn't want to worry about what was going on with her.

The police officer nodded then had us follow him to another room.

 

 

I drove Baylee to a safe house which we were told would be our refuge.  I only knew Baylee for less than twenty-four hours but something about the woman was drawing me toward her.  I noticed that her dark brown hair which fell over the side of her face and onto her shoulders and her matching brown eyes made her beautiful but yet I could also see fear.

A Place for Now

We walked into the safe house which seemed larger on the inside than it appeared from the outside.  Baylee sat down on the bulging couch while I looked around the rooms.  The house had two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen connected to the dining room and well the living room of course.  When I had finished exploring, I took a seat in a small wooden chair and looked over at Baylee.  “I have something I need to ask you,” I began.

Baylee’s brown eyes locked onto me while her eyebrows narrowed.  “What?” she asked.         

I took a deep breath before asking.  “Are you a… prostitute?” I asked.         

I watched as her expression changed into anger and hate.  Clearly, I had offended her but I didn’t mean too.

“No… I’m not a prostitute.  Who do you think you are asking that kind of question?  What the heck is going on in that head of yours?  I was raped last night!  I wasn’t standing on a damn street corner, waiting for costumers.  Why do you even think you could ask that?  Did you just assume that I was a prostitute?”  She stood up and began heading toward a room until she stopped and turned toward me.  “Is that why you picked me up last night?  You think that I’ll just do something for you in return as far as…” she didn’t have to finish the sentence in order for me to know what she was thinking.  I watched her leave the room and listened as she slammed a door behind her.         

That was me.  I never knew how to talk to women and that proved it.  I was clearly an idiot.  I hid my face in my hand, thinking and wondering how I could have been so stupid.  How could I just say something like that?  I had a bad habit of putting my foot in my mouth as well.  I needed to learn the proper way of speaking to women, especially after they had been in a horrible situation like Baylee had been in the night before.

 

 

Later on that day, I had walked outside and looked around.  I realized that we were pretty much in the middle of nowhere which was probably why it was a safe house.  We didn’t have to worry too much about people finding us or even bothering us for that matter.  I figured it was a good place to be.         

Baylee walked out and over to where I was.  “Sorry for going off like that… I shouldn’t have exploded the way I did but you shouldn’t ask that a girl that kind of question, especially one who just had something bad happen to her.”

I shook my head.  “I understand and I didn’t mean to ask.  It just came out.  I didn’t mean anything by it.  I mean you are a beautiful woman but I wouldn’t just assume that you were that kind of girl.  I better shut up now.”  I turned my attention away from Baylee to keep myself from saying anything else I might regret.         

“Why did you ask anyways?” she asked.         

I turned my head to look at her.  “This cowboy at the police station told me that you were…”         

“A cowboy?” her question revealed fear.         

I nodded.  “Is something wrong?”         

“I need to get inside,” she answered.         

Before I had a chance to respond, she darted for the house.  I scratched the back of my head, trying to make since of her reaction.  That’s odd, I thought.         

A police car pulled up into the driveway and a couple of officers stepped outside.  I walked over and greeted them with a welcoming smile.  “Good afternoon,” I told them.

“Good afternoon.  Are you Jesse Smith?” one of the officers asked.         

I nodded.  “Yes I am.”         

“You’re here with Baylee Cutler?”         

I nodded again.  “She’s inside as a matter of fact.”         

“I’m Officer Jeff Trescott and this is my colleague Shane Petty.”         

I nodded for a third time.  “Come in.”  I had them follow me inside and I noticed that Baylee was in the kitchen.  “Baylee, these officers are here…”         

“To check up on you two,” Officer Trescott had replied.

Baylee looked over at us and nodded shyly.  She walked from the kitchen and into the living room, carrying a glass of water.  She sat down on the couch and stared at the two officers.  “Are you two here to question us?” she asked, softly.         

Officer Trescott shook his head.  “No, ma’am, we’re just here to make sure that you two had a safe arrival and to make sure that you’re in safe hands.  I think right now you have nothing to really worry about, ma’am.”         

Baylee nodded.         

“If you don’t mind,” Officer Petty spoke up, “how did you wind up in such a mess anyways, miss?”         

Baylee sighed and stared at the small coffee table.  Tears began to fill her beautiful eyes.  “My sister and I were just going to take a walk around the park for a little while.  We used to do it all of the time… it was after nine ‘O clock at night… again it was something we did all of the time so we didn’t think much of it when these men came out of nowhere and…” she began crying and the tears rolled down her cheeks nonstop as she spoke.

“It’s okay,” Officer Petty replied, “you can stop there.”

Baylee nodded.         

Officer Petty and Officer Trescott exchanged worried glances then turned to me.  “Can we talk to you for a moment?” Officer Trescott asked.         

I nodded.  I walked out onto the porch with the two cops.         

“Look it’s clear that she’s a mess after what had happened to her and we think that you should try to be careful around her.  I mean you have to watch what you say or do,” Officer Trescott began to explain.  “She’s probably afraid of men right now so you really need to watch yourself around her.”         

I nodded.         

“I’m not saying that you’re going to harm her or anything at least not purposely but she might not see it that way.”         

“We see this all the time with rape victims,” Officer Petty replied, “so her behavior is normal.  If she shies away from you, don’t take it too personally.  If you have any other questions, you can call us at this number.”  He pulled out a pen and pad then wrote something down.  He ripped out the piece of paper and handed it to me.  “We’ll be back to check up on you two and a few days from now we should be moving you two to another place.”         

“Wait… we’re not staying here?” I asked, confused.         

“Of course not… it’s just in case you two were followed by any of her attackers.  This isn’t a permit place to stay.  Besides, we need to have it open for other people who are in trouble like she is.”         

I nodded slightly.         

“Well, we better get going.  It was nice to meet you,” Officer Petty replied while he shook my hand.         

“Nice to meet you two too,” I answered then wondered if I had worded that right.  I watched as the two officers left without another word. 

The Nightmare

After super I had went to jump into the shower but Baylee had beat me to the bathroom. I took a deep breath and turned toward the room I was staying in instead. I figured that she wouldn’t want me kicking her out of the bathroom considering all that she had been through. It must have been tough for her. I couldn’t imagine the thoughts that kept popping into her mind. She’d lost her sister and had been a victim of rape. The world she had known was gone and now she was stuck with me, a strange man who she had met after all of this had taken place. I couldn’t blame her if she was afraid of me but I wanted to help her somehow.

I sat down on the bed and stared at the clock. I watched the hands move slowly. It had only been 6:30 pm and I was already for bed. I had a long day and a long night but I needed to shower before I did anything else. I leaned back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling.

“Jesse,” Baylee’s soft voice broke my thoughts and she knocked lightly on the door to let me know she was there.

I sat up on the bed and looked over at her. I hadn’t even realized that she had gotten out of the bathroom. She had her hair wrapped up in a towel and she wore a white fleece housecoat to keep herself worm. I couldn’t help but stare at her. She looked beautiful. I needed to say something but I couldn’t think of anything.

“I’m done in the bathroom,” she told me, “if you need to get in.”

I closed my eyes for a moment so I could speak.  “Yeah, thanks for letting me know.”

She nodded and began to leave the room.

“Oh and I forgot to tell you but you know that this place is only temporary right?”

“Yeah I know.  The cop told me last night.”

“Also I’m sorry about last night and earlier today.  I-”

She smiled. “I can tell that you’re not like other guys.” With that she left the room.

A smile grew on my face at her words.

 

 

I had just closed my eyes and went to sleep when someone began screaming. I sat up on my bed and looked at the clock. It was a little after ten. The screaming only grew louder and louder. It took me a minute when I realized that the screaming was coming from Baylee’s room. I quickly jumped out of bed and hurried into her room. I turned on the little light on the nightstand and looked around the room. There was no evidence that someone else had been in there but the screaming continued. I turned my attention toward Baylee who was still sleeping but her body was twisting and turning. She opened her mouth to let out more screams. That was when it hit me that she must have been having a nightmare.

“Baylee,” I spoke softly so I wouldn’t frighten her even more, “wake up. Baylee, it’s okay.” I lightly touched her and barely shook her in order to help her wake up from the dream. “Baylee, it’s okay. You’re safe.”

Her eyes opened and she looked at me, trying to figure out who I was. Her breathing was harsh but she slowly started to relax. Tears rolled down her tanned cheeks. “That guy… that guy with a cowboy hat…”

“What?” I asked, surprised that she would even mention anything about a cowboy after. That was when everything started making sense. “What did the guy look like?”

“I could barely see him but I seen his stupid hat and he was dressed like he came from a rodeo or something,” she continued. “There were two other guys with him.”

“Were they wearing cowboy hats too?” I asked.

“No,” she answered, quietly. “One was dressed like a male stripper… he didn’t have much on except for a vest and some kind of underwear that revealed most of his….” She didn’t have to finish for me to get the picture.

“What about the third guy?” I asked.

“He was dressed like a rich man. He had proper clothing on but he spoke using profanities. I had never heard so much foul language in my life. It was horrible. I and Anna tried to get away from them but they kept following us. Eventually they caught up and before we had the chance to escape they cornered us.” She locked eyes with me. “Please don’t let them get me?” she pleaded.

“I won’t,” I told her. “Was Anna you’re sister?”

She nodded.

“Which one killed her?” I asked.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” More tears fell from her beautiful dark brown eyes.

“Okay. We don’t have to,” I reassured her. I figured that when she was ready she would talk but it was best to let her be until then.

“Jesse,” she whispered.

“Yes?” I asked.

“Thank you for saving me yesterday.”

“You’re welcome.” I stood up and went to turn the light off when her right hand grabbed my arm.

“Please keep it on?”

I nodded and removed my hand from the lamp. “I will.”

 

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 11.10.2014

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