Abuse

Chapter 21

    With panic shooting through my body and mind, I rushed up the stairs in fear and slammed the door behind me. The sound of him growling in anger and banging against the door only struck more terror into me, as I sat there back pressed against the door as a barricade in case the door didn't hold up. My hands trembled at the sound of all of the chaos, and in fear, I began to dial Desire's number.

    "Lillian," She answered, revealing agitation from the other side of the phone, "Why do you keep blowing me up every five minutes? What is wrong?!"

    "Help!" I shouted, "He's going to murder me! Please help!"

    "Girl, who's going to murder you?"

    "Kaleb! Please!"

    He let out another scream of anger, kicking at the door. The bolt from one of the hinges had fallen off, and the sound had made its way through the phone to Desire's ear. She let out a loud gasp as the same fear that was within me had also manifested in her.

    "Stay in a safe place! I'm calling the police!" She urged before hanging the phone up. With more bolts falling off of the hinges, I began to clasp my hands together and beg myself for my own life. I cursed myself under my breath, taunting myself for not listening to Fred or the future version of me in my dream.

    With one last kick, the hinges fell out of place and the door was pushed in. Quickly, I leaped out of the way to avoid being crushed under the wood. His face was now reddish from rage, and he had his fist clenched tightly.

    "You're not done until I say you're done!" He bellowed, and I found myself back in a corner next to the window. Tears began to fall as my eyes came to a close. Within seconds, I could feel a strong pair of hands wrapping tightly around my neck and lifting me off of the ground, but I refused to open my eyes. I knew what was happening, and there was nothing I could do. The police would not arrive on time, and only Desire knew this was happening but she was too far away. With a smile, I let myself hang up as he strangled me against the wall, positive that this would be the end of my life.

    "I love you, Kaleb," I murmured, tears now falling to the ground.

    "Put her down and put your hands up before I load you with lead!" A woman shouted. The grip around my neck had ceased, and I came collapsing to the ground coughing and gasping for air. As my heavy lids finally opened, I could see my mother standing at the door with a pistol in hand, aimed directly at Kaleb's chest. His hands were now behind his head, and his gaze was now locked in with hers.

    "Dispatch, this is Dalia McCarthy," She uttered into the walkie-talkie, "I got a suspect that had my daughter in a chokehold and nearly strangled her to death. I'm taking him in."

After the confirmation, she inched her way up to him and got in his face. Her anger exceeded his, but I didn't want to see another fight. My body was too weak for me to rush in front of him, so I reached my hand out to beckon to her.

"You wanna hit girls, boy?" She snarled, "Hit me. Because I'm one of those girls that'll have you begging for me to stop. Hit me."

He hesitated at first, but finally drew his fist up and threw a punch at mom. A squeal escaped my lips as I watched her dodge the punch and smirk, teasing him for his flimsy attempt. After a few more minutes of waiting, another group of cop cars had arrived with handcuffs and bounded him up. The rage on his face had flushed away, being replaced with regret and sorrow as they walked him to the car.

Mom approached me with welcoming arms, but I could barely move. My body became numb with nothing but fear stirring up in me, and I rested there even afraid of my own mother's touch.

"Baby," She asked softly, "What did he do to you?"

"Many things that a female should never experience," I replied with brokenness in my tone, "And I'm proud of myself for being strong enough to put up with his stuff."

"I'm proud of you too, my little warrior. I'm taking you to the police station, and I will be dialing his parents to notify them."

My head was now kept low to avoid eye contact with her. Even though I knew that her face would show nothing but love, I was still struck by everything that had happened. My body was still weak from all of the horrors, and my neck was still in pain from his strong grip. Despite all of this, I ignored all of my weaknesses and followed her to the car.