Tropicana Redefined

Chapter 13

Cana squared her shoulders as she sat on the far end of the bed. Nervous, she played with the hem of her shorts.

Now was the moment of truth.

Dared she?

She had no other choice. He wanted an answer. She would lose him either way.

"It's a long story.."

She started, still playing with the hem of her shorts. She was startled when his hand covered hers to still the agitated movement.

She had not been aware of him moving.

"Start at the beginning, sweetheart."

Her startled eyes shot up to meet his waiting ones.

They were brimming with a myriad of emotions vying for dominance. The one that stood out to her clearly, was his overwhelming love for her.

And that gave her courage to bring out all the negativity, the hurt, the self hatred that had been dogging her footsteps all these years. She lay them out for him to dissect as she started from the beginning as he had asked.

"I was 13, just started wearing training bra's when it started."

His hand tightened as she gulped back tears.

But he kept quiet. Her words were staccato as she continued, trying to keep the bile from rising in her throat.

"My mothers elder brother lost his job at the airline company he had been working at. Being a drunk it was understandable the company was fed up with his missing a lot of work. At my mothers invite, he moved in with us as he couldn't pay rent. He had lost his family two years before that due to his boozing. Coming home drunk he would abuse her and sometimes slap the two girls around. His wife won custody of the kids and took them back to the UK, as she wasn't a US citizen.

She obtained a divorce from him when she was back home in London. He wallowed in his bitterness and self pity for a while, staying out on drunken sprees but always came back home to crash."

She swallowed, the sound sounding loud in the silence of the room amplified by the stillness of the man sitting beside her, his body rigid. Cana had chosen to ignore the stiffening of his posture as the story unfolded. She found it easier to narrate her story in a voice drained of all feeling.

Keeping her emotions tightly locked up, would allow her to override the sickening revulsion and disgust. Those feelings all came back. She could not erase the degradation she felt enduring the overtures of her own flesh and blood.

"I guess that saved me from his notice at first."

The tightening of his hands was the only indication he had heard.

"The first night he came into my room..."

Her voice broke.

Stopping she tried to stem the flow of tears.

He went into action.

Lifting her onto his lap, his arms tightened around her, as he buried his face against her neck. It was then she could feel the trembling of his body. She was not sure whether it was from rage or disgust. She was just glad he was holding her, because it steadied her resolve to continue.

Pulling herself together she continued, her voice low and steady.

"I woke up to find my panties bunched up down around my thighs and him fondling me. Being groggy I didn't react at first. I was shocked that my mothers brother was touching my most private parts. Then I started struggling. When he held me down, I screamed. That's when he got up to rush out of my room."