Chapter 10
I knew Deacon’s history with women before I met Rue. He’d been terrorizing the women he dated for years. I hadn’t gone after him because I didn’t want to start a war. Since a war was already brewing after that other situation, I decided to strike while the iron was hot.
After hearing what he did to Rue yesterday and during their relationship, I saw red. When I left her last night, I had Semiyon track Deacon down. He found him at a hole-in-the-wall bar, and he was drunk. I had one of my female decoys lure him to the back.
Usually, I liked a good fight and allowed the abuser to defend themselves. Last night, I didn’t give a fuck and would’ve killed Deacon if Semiyon and Russell hadn’t been with me. It was brutal, but I left him breathing.
“I broke up with Deacon three years ago. Were you with him back then?” Rue asked.
They all dated him on and off for five to eight years but didn’t have enough courage to leave him until the last several months.
“So basically, the whole time we were together, he was messing around with at least one of y’all?” she asked, seemingly disgusted.
“At one point or another,” Chardae said.
“He always made sure I knew I wasn’t main girl, nor was I the only one he was dealing with,” Danette shared.
“Me too, but he would flip out if he suspected I was talking to another man,” Kamisha added.
“Same here. That’s how the abuse started with me. He saw me having an innocent conversation with a man and swore we’d had or were planning to fuck,” Chardae said.
“How do you all know each other?” Rue inquired.
“This is a safe house for abused women and children,” Kamisha told her. “Everyone that lives here fled from an abusive relationship.”
“Wow! How long have you all been here?”
Danette had been there for two months, Kamisha for four months, and Chardae for five months. Women could stay there for up to six months if they had no children and a year if they had children.
“Were you with him until you came here?” They all nodded. “I knew Deacon was unfaithful, but I had no idea he was abusing other women.”
“It was always bad, but it got progressively worse over the years. When I look back, I don’t know how I dealt with it for so long. All he did was take, take, and take some more, offering me nothing but a bruised body and a broken heart,” Chardae said.
“Same,” Kamisha and Danette responded simultaneously.
“The only good thing I got from our relationship was my son.”
“At least he let you have your baby. He forced all of us to have multiple abortions,” Kamisha confessed.
The more the ladies shared, the more emotional Rue became. Tears gathered in her eyes as each woman shared what led them to finally leave. Deacon had beaten all of them to the point of unconsciousness and left them for dead.
When they were found, they barely had a pulse. Chardae’s ribs were broken, Kamisha’s arm and wrists were broken, and Danette suffered a concussion along with a sprained ankle. I had no idea how extensive Rue's injuries were from her ex, but I felt she could relate to the ladies.
“I… this…this is…I don’t know what to say. This is a lot, and I’m sorry you ladies had to go through so much. I ended up in the hospital twice, but my injuries weren’t as serious as any of yours. Maybe if I had?—"
“Don’t do that, Rue. There is no way you could’ve known. You don’t need to apologize for that asshole,” Danette said.
“How did this happen?” she asked, pointing between me and the ladies.
“As you know, my father abused and ultimately killed my mother. She tried to leave, but we didn’t have a safe place to go. My grandparents were unaware of the abuse until it was too late, and at that time, they lived hours away. Anyway, I’m not sure what led me here in high school, but I began volunteering and never stopped. This is one of the organizations the proceeds from the fundraiser will go to.”
“That’s great, Rocky.” Rue complimented me, and I was relieved she didn’t ask what my volunteer duties were. If she knew, she might run for cover.
“We have a database with the names of all the women who come through these doors along with the names of their abusers. When the abusers’ names appear repeatedly connected to different women, the therapists bring the women together if they’re willing and encourage them to start the healing process together,” I continued.
“Meeting each other and sharing our stories has truly helped the healing process,” Chardae said.
“That’s good. I’m glad you all had each other.”
“Do you have a therapist or someone you can talk to?” Kamisha asked.
Rue shook her head. “No, not really. I mean, I have five younger sisters, but thankfully, they’ve never experienced abuse, so sometimes I feel like they don’t understand.”
“Well, if therapy isn’t your thing, we can exchange information, and you can talk to us if you’d like.”
“I’d like that.”
I wasn’t sure if bringing Rue here was the right thing to do, but as I watched her exchange information with the other ladies, I knew I’d made the right decision.
“Thank you for that,” Rue said once we were settled in my truck and on the road.
“You’re welcome. You sure you’re not mad?”
“No. Why would I be mad?”
“Shit! First of all, because you’re mean as hell.”
She smacked her lips. “Here you go with that old shit. I’m not mean.”
“The jury is still out on that.”
“Whatever.”
“I wasn’t sure if you’d be receptive. What you’ve been through is very personal and usually not something women like to discuss.”
“Talking about it with women who understood how I felt was…I don’t know…refreshing or liberating maybe. I’m not sure of the right word, but I feel lighter than I’ve felt in a long time.”
“Then my mission was accomplished.”
After a few minutes of silence, she abruptly said, “Why did you introduce me as your girl?”
“Because you met my grandparents, baby. We go together, and ain’t shit you can do about it.”
“You’re forcing me to be with you?”
“Does it feel like I’m forcing you?”
“No, but?—”
“Just let it flow, beautiful. I’ll never force you to do anything you don’t want to do, but I have a feeling you want to be my woman just as much as I want you to be.”
She didn’t respond, and I let her have a moment to process my words.
“Did you have something to do with Deacon being in the hospital?”
I wasn’t surprised by her question, but it was unexpected.
“I didn’t know Deacon was in the hospital. Is it serious?”
“I’m not sure. The nurse who called me didn’t give a lot of details, but she said he was beat up pretty badly.”
“That’s too bad, but I’m sure he deserved it.”
“So, it wasn’t you?”
We stopped at a red light, and instead of responding, I turned to look at her. Our eyes locked and communicated what needed to be said. Hopefully, she understood and wouldn’t ask me about Deacon’s bitch ass again.
“I don’t want to go home,” she announced.
That was the last thing I expected her to say, so this time, I took my time responding.
“You want to grab something to eat?”
“No, I don’t want to eat, but I wouldn’t mind being eaten.”
My dick got hard when I realized what she said.
“Rue, don’t tease me because I’ll pull this fuckin’ car over and eat your pussy on the side of the road.”
“That’s fine. Do you really want our first time together to be on the side of the road? Because after I cum on your face, I need to cum on your dick.”
“Shit! Say less!”
As luck would have it, we were approaching Onyx City Hotel and Suites. I turned onto the property and quickly found a parking spot. We walked inside hand in hand, but I stopped before we reached the counter.
“Are you sure about this? Last week?—”
“You still talking about old shit?”