Mick was successful in business for a reason. He worked hard. I certainly wasn’t going to call him first thing in the morning, all needy and begging for sex because it had been a week since I’d seen him.
Over the past week, we’d talked on the phone a few times, and I’d sworn to him that I was working toward an endgame. In reality, I hadn’t made much progress. For some reason, I was having a hard time pushing forward, dismantling the fake castle I’d built around myself.
The bus honked and started to pull away. All of us looked up and waved at the darkened windows where surely our daughters were busy gossiping and not caring about us waving.
“See you both on Monday,” I said to Sheila and Dale, waving with my free hand before I turned and took a sip of my coffee on my way to my car.
Later that day, I was in the kitchen, humming and singing to myself while making a homemade flatbread and caramelizing some onions to put on top of it, when the garage door lifted.
“Alexa, turn off,” I told the device playing Madonna.
“What the fuck is that?” Tommy barked at me as he came inside. Nohelloorhow was your day?
Knowing better than to ignore his question, I said, “Flatbread. I was making a mushroom, onion, and goat cheese flatbread.”
“For me? You think I want to eat that shit?”
Tommy stood before me in his suit, his hair perfectly combed and a snarl on his face. He hadn’t mentioned coming home early, and I was perplexed as to why he was here but didn’t dare ask.
“While you’re at it, tell me what this crap is that you’re wearing.” His snarl turned into a menacing smirk.
“I was going to make some bacon-wrapped scallops too. And shrimp cocktail. I stopped at the market.” I answered his first question, not thinking it necessary to explain my leggings and oversize T-shirt.
I’d hoped to make some small bites for myself, munching a little before he got home for his bourbon. Then I could leave him a plate and excuse myself to bed for my own self-care. Of course, this plan was all based on his working late, which apparently wasn’t happening.
“Seriously? I don’t want that.”
When he slammed his hand on the kitchen table, I couldn’t help but flinch. Rather than risk getting burned, I hurriedly turned the cooktop off. My onions wilted in the pan, the smell barely registering over my own fear wafting around me.
“You put on the calendar that Priscilla was on her class trip. I made the mistake of taking that as an invitation to get a piece of ass.”
Oh.
“Shut your mouth, Margaret. Whatever is about to come out of it, bottle it. My dick is going to fall off from lack of use.”
This was a fresh argument from Tommy, and I wasn’t sure what to do. Mystified, I stood there, trying to figure out what was happening.
He was up for sex?
Giving me no time to move away, he grabbed my arm, spinning me around and forcing me to face the oven. I didn’t know whether he saw me turn it off or not, but I didn’t let him in on the secret.
With my right arm twisted behind me, he told me, “Brace yourself on the oven with your other hand.”
A chill I’d never felt before ran through me. Tommy had never forced sex on me. I didn’t know why I didn’t think he would never try. When it came to him, pretty much everything was fair game.
So caught up in fear and worry, I didn’t hear the whoosh until his hand cracked my ass. He must have cocked back in record time, because another blow hit me before I could swallow. This continued for a while, and I couldn’t help but think how lucky I was that he didn’t rape me when he finished. I didn’t want him anywhere near me, let alone inside me.
Without anything further, he said, “I’m going for a steak and a few drinks.”
Like a vampire, he disappeared before I could catch my breath and turn around.
When I finally did, my chest collapsed in a long exhale, and then a second one when the garage door opened and closed. It wasn’t until I was sure he was really gone that I realized hot tears were streaming down my cheeks.
I had to get out of this situation fast. Tonight, or tomorrow before Priscilla came home.
There were good people out there. Decent men like Dale and Mick, and my daughter needed to know that.
Mick
