The Virgin and the Whore

Chapter 36

Chapter 36

I hugged Esther until her crying and shaking died down.

            It took a while, but that wasn't an issue. I could have kept on hugging her till the end of days.

            It just broke my heart, how her grandmother had the gal to invite Esther's mother and her goddamn aggressor.

            How was any of that okay? Was Christian values actually forcing people to be in the presence of their aggressor, and being coerced into forgiving them?

            How was that fucking okay? How could Esther's grandmother do this to her? If she loved her, how could she do this to her?

            I could never have done something like this to Esther, and I'd barely known her for more than two months.

            I let her cry, and kept patting her back, whispering soothing words.

            Eventually, the crying and shaking died down, and I let go of her.

            I sat back in my seat, looking in her reddened eyes.

            She looked so heartbreakingly sad.

            It crushed me to see her like this.

            "I'm okay," she told me, in her smallest voice.

            "You sure?"

            She nodded. "Yes."

            "Do you want me to bring you home?"

            She nodded again. "Yes please."

            "Okay."

            I drove back to my apartment.

            But as I was driving, I had an idea.

            "I'm just going to make a quick pit stop, okay?" I warned Esther.

            She looked at me, her eyes still vulnerable, with a bit of confusion.

            Once I parked in front of what I hoped was the right store, I said, "I'll be right back, okay? Here's my phone. If you feel unsafe, or just not okay, you can call 911, or any of the speed dials numbers. I have my shrink in there. Also, one of my friends studying to be a shrink. He's under Alex. But it's really going to take just a few minutes, and the doors are all locked. You'll be okay?"

            "Yeah..."

            "Okay."

            I didn't want her to feel powerless. This was probably over kill. But I couldn't just leave her behind like this without making sure she had options to feel safe.

            I ran into the store and quickly got what I wanted.

            It took less than ten minutes, and I was safely back in the car.

             "Here," I handed Esther the bag. "You have mace, you have a siren that blasts a shrieking alarm that would make even someone not guilty run away. I didn't get you any knifes or weapons because if you don't know how to wield any of those, they'll more easily turn against you, than be useful."

            "Thank you..."

            "But in the spirit of knowing how to stab someone," I continued, "I do have a friend that's really good at martial art and self defense. I can have him come teach you some things. We could go to a dojo, where it's public so it'll feel safer. He also knows jiu jitsu, which is arguably one of the best things to learn if you want to know how to get out of getting pinned down on the floor. Or we could just register you to any self defense class you might like to learn."