Sade's Return

XIII

  The morning sun shines through the lavender curtain panels of my room. Pale blue colors the walls of my childhood room. I hear my cell alert that I have a text. I reach over and grab my cell and look at the screen.

8:00 am
Jack: Hey! Lunch today? 😁
Now
  Me: of course
  Jack: how about 12 at the cafe?
  Me: yep
  Jack: 👍

  I wash up and walk to the kitchen. My mom is making breakfast and it smells delicious. Pancakes, sausages, and eggs. "Do you have time for breakfast?" mom asks.

  "You know I do. Mmm." I take my fork and snatch a sausage and she slaps my hand, I drop the fork. "Ouch" I kiss and massage my hand.

  "Its not ready." She waves her spatula at me.

  "Okay, okay" I go sit at the table.

  "Do you have any plans for today?" she shouts from the kitchen.

  "Well, certainly do. I met a guy recently, I'm going to meet him at a cafe for lunch."

She brings the food and places it on the table. "I hope he's a good guy. Not like I'm telling you to marry him. But assholes seem to be attracted to you like bees to honey."

I sigh. "Thank you, mom, I think I'll be okay for now."

  When I'm finished with my breakfast I change out of my pajamas back to the clothes I wore yesterday. They're nice and clean. This time I put my hair into a messy bun and I don't wear any makeup. I say goodbye to my Mom and head out.

  I'm the only one at the bus stop. Which is pretty good. It's right on time and it should take about 30 minutes to make it back to my place. I still need to shower and change before I meet Jack at the Cafe. I close my eyes and cross my arms as I listen to the humming of the bus. When I hear the sounds of the area near my neighborhood I open my eyes. Just one more stop is mine so I pull the string. I hop out and look around me. Being Sunday, my apartment building is pretty quiet. The grandmas are at church I assume. The elevator is working so I get straight up to my apartment.

  I get my keys and unlock my door. I walk in and flop on the couch and sigh. I hear a knock on the door. 'Now what is it? Oh I forgot about Sonny' I open the door with a smile on my face. "Sonny, did you take your meds?"

  "Wrong Brother, Sade how are you?" I see Ronny and my smile disappears. Something is wrong. The stench of alcohol is strong on him. "I want to know how it happens to be that you turned into a little nurse for Sonny? Do you think maybe he should stop trusting me?"

  He pushes the door and pushes me in more into my apartment. "Now Ronny calm yourself I was just helping out a little. I know how it is to forget sometimes and it's normal to rely on others in the community once in a while. I can only imagine how stressful it can be to be a caretaker."

  He takes the back of his hand and runs it down my face. Whispering in my ear "Sade, I know you don't like me. But I can't help it. Sweet Sade. I...

  Ronny pushes me against the wall and bites my earlobe. "Ouch! Damn it! Why would you do that?"

  My eyes start to water and my heartbeat quickens. I'm scared out of my mind. He leans in closer and grabs my arm so tight I think it's going to leave a nasty bruise. He's licking and biting my neck. I'm frozen. I can't believe this is happening. He moves his hand down past my waist and that's when I scream and kick him between the legs. He backs off holding his crotch mumbling and cursing to no end. I run out of there real quick. I keep pressing the elevator button until I realize the shit is broken. I decide to run down the stairs not even bothering to see if Ronny is behind me.

I hear him shouting "Sade, I'm sorry! Come back!"

I shake my head, tears are running like Niagara Falls down my face. I run across the street to the playground and find a bench to sit on that's tucked away in a corner. Luckily, I still have my backpack and cell with me. So I take a breathe and try to gather my thoughts. 'Who should I call? Bethany or Jack? I should call both'

Call to Bethany

Straight to voicemail

Me:Bethany hey its an emergency call me back.
*
Call to Jack
Jack:Hello?

Jack, it's Sade. I need help. I was just attacked by my neighbor.

Jack:Oh shit. Where are you? I'll come pick you up.

I'm at the playground across my apartment building. Thank you so much.

Jack: No problem, Sade. I'll be there as fast as I can. Be careful.  Bye

Bye
*

  I put my head in my hands and close my eyes. A flash of Ronny with this crazy look on his face appears. I jump. I can't bother to dwell on that right now. All I have to do is wait for Jack and maybe I'll feel safer when he's here. I should call the police but I feel maybe I'm blowing all out of proportion. The police will probably find this to be a waste of time and money. Right now I am so confused. I'm caught off guard when my cell vibrates. I see that it's Bethany.

Hello?

Bethany:Sade, what's wrong?

Bethany, I..I don't know I was fine
then Ronny and then...(I start sobbing)

Bethany:Inhale and exhale, Sade. Deep breath in, deep breath out. Do you need me to get you?

No, Jack is coming to pick me up.

Bethany:Good. Now stay on the phone until he gets there. Tell me what happened. Slowly.

It started when Sonny....

•13•