I was warmly admitted into the shelter as Allie Walker. The shelter director, Marie, happened to be there when I arrived, and she took me right under her wing. She was a tall, confident black woman, with an oval face, glowing skin, amazing cheekbones, and large dark brown eyes with long thick eyelashes. She had the most beautiful tightly curled glistening black hair I had ever seen in my life, and wore it shoulder length.
She was an ex-cop and domestic abuse survivor herself, and I could tell this lady didn't tolerate shit from anyone. She was tough but she was smooth. I was pretty sure she was in her late thirties. She said she didn't have children and no man was currently worthy of being in her life.
She was a fantastic breath of fresh air. I immediately loved her and everything she represented.
She gave me tons of information and support, and set me up in a room with a timid, skinny blond in her late twenties.
"Supper's at six thirty", Marie said, "and this is Savannah. I'll let you rest for a bit. See you then".
"Thank you...so much", I told her.
Savannah was sitting with her arms wrapped around her legs, her chin resting on her knees, watching me cautiously. She had a fading black eye, and fading brown and green bruises all over her bony bare legs and arms.
I flopped myself stomach first on the bed assigned to me.
"I'm Allie", I said. "When did you arrive?"
"Two days ago", she said.
"Has he tried talking you into coming back?", I asked.
She nodded.
"You haven't told him where you are, have you?", I asked.
She shook her head no.
"Block his number. You got away. Now you need to stay away", I told her.
She nodded and pulled out her phone, doing it right in front of me.
Good girl.
"You're not going back?", she asked me.
"Nope. I gotta figure out how to get my stuff, though. I ran with nothing but my phone".
"Oh, that sucks", she sympathized. "I did take everything that was important to me while he was at work".
"What made you decide to go?", I asked.
"He killed my cat", she replied, tearing up. "I had him for four years, since he was a kitten. He didn't do anything wrong. It was to make me suffer".
"That fucking piece of shit", I breathed, internally boiling with anger. I fully intended to find out who this man was and kill him myself.
Savannah sniffed and wiped her eye. "How long were you with your man?", she asked.
"Two years".
"What was your deciding factor?"
"I got a STD which proves he was cheating. I confronted him about it and he hit me".
The Jay story was my backstory, only tweaked slightly for relevance.
"You seem so brave and tough", she said wistfully.
"That doesn't matter when they're twice your size, does it?", I asked.
"Yeah, you're right", she sighed.
I noticed she didn't have a Texan accent.
"Where are you from?", I asked her.
"New Hampshire. You?"
YOU ARE READING
Whiskey River, Drown my Soul
Romance*Third in the Fire Whiskey series* With the tragic loss of her beloved Brad, Paige does what Rev did when she cut him out of her life before...she gives herself a mission so large there's no time for anything or anyone else. She ghosts everyone and...
