Vera's head dropped from shame. “I should’ve just done it.”
“Fuck that!” Donna blurted.
Vera’s head flew up. She looked around the room as if they weren’t alone.
“Don’t use that language!” she admonished in a hushed tone.
Even after everything, she was still a believer. Donna couldn’t remember ever feeling sorrier for anyone in her life. Vera was completely lost, and when the walls around them came crumbling down, she was worried that she wouldn’t survive the fallout.
Donna guided Vera to her bed. She sat, pulling her to sit with her. She looked her in the eye and tried to be as plain as possible.
“I went with that man because I wanted to. I mean…did you see him? He was totally gorgeous. That man they tried to force on you was repulsive.”
Vera was utterly distraught. She shook her head and grabbed Donna’s hand.
“I-I’m so ashamed. I couldn’t even show my loyalty to the Prophet. I’m just grateful they’re not making me leave.”
Donna could not believe what she was hearing. “Vera, you listen to me, and you listen to me good. Your body is not for sale. I know I may look like a hypocrite, but you did the right thing by refusing to sleep with that slob. He was rude, disrespectful, and disgusting. I don’t blame you not one bit. That pig couldn’t have touched me with a ten-foot pole.”
Vera grunted her frustration and swiped another tear from her cheek.
“How did they punish you?” Donna inquired “What did they whip you with?”
“A b-belt,” Vera sobbed. “A big belt.”
Donna was enraged. Not only were they brainwashing women into believing in their shitty cult, but they were also physically abusing them when they weren’t cooperative in their prostitution racket.
“Who whipped you? Was it the Prophet?”
Vera nodded. “Clara tied me down and the Prophet punished me.”
“Ugh!”Donna grunted out of rage.
Vera’s eye widened with panic. “Shhh! Kateri, I’ll be fine. Please don’t make a fuss.”
Donna couldn’t take it anymore. Vera was way too sweet and trusting. She didn’t deserve anything that was happening to her.
She grabbed her by the face and forced her to look in her eye. “Leave this place,” Donna implored. “Just get all your stuff, right now, and leave.”
Vera began to cry. Her head fell on Donna’s shoulder, so she held her as she sobbed. She rubbed her shoulder, careful not to agitate her wounds.
“Vera, leave now,” Donna implored.
“I can’t. This is my home,” she whimpered. “Where am I going to go?”
“Sweetie, this is not your home. This is not your family. Family wouldn’t hurt you like this.”
“Maybe not your family,” Vera quipped.
There it was. Vera was accustomed to abuse from people who were supposed to look after her. Her seemingly broken home life had prepared her to fall prey for people like Clara and Robert Lee Khal.
She grabbed the front of her bath towel and hopped up from the bed. “We gotta get ready,” she pressed with her chin in the air. Vera was doing her very best to feign strength and resilience. What she had no way of knowing was that she was, in fact, a very strong woman. She’d clearly survived familial abuse. Donna was no shrink, but that was quite evident. Vera was simply a woman that needed something to believe in. Had she not been working undercover, Donna would have totally introduced her to her Mom and Dad. They’d for sure show her a better, safer way to worship God.
“Okay. Let’s get ready,” Donna relented.
