Bless the Broken Road Ch. 01

This is my first submitted story and I've never done writing before so any constructive criticism is welcome. A very big thank you to my editor thisname isntakenyet for accepting the challenge. There is some violence in the story so if you own, or lease a crying closet, this story may not be for you. Also there is no sex, in this chapter anyway, so if you are looking for that, best to keep moving along.

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I was driving home from a business meeting in central Pennsylvania, with no hurry to be anywhere anytime soon. I took a detour to the area where I grew up. It's a rural county in eastern Ohio only a half hour off my route so it was not a big deal. I hadn't seen the area in almost a decade. My parents had gone the snowbird route and retired to the south. The family farm was still owned by my parents, at least for a while, but my dad's younger brother and his newest brood with his third wife were running it. As I got closer, I noticed that almost all of the farms were still there. Some had sold off a lot or two along the road frontage for someone to build a house, but other than that, the fields and farms were still there.

I was still a short distance from the farm but ducked off onto a dirt road which led to a creek where a lot of us neighborhood kids met to swim, skinny dip after dark and explore our blossoming sexuality. As I drove, I noticed dust hanging in the air. It got heavier the further I went so I thought I was about to catch up to someone. Maybe the old swimming hole still existed, or maybe it was a farmer on his way to or from his field.

Then I saw an older car pulled partially off the road into the grass. It was a Ford Taurus, around a 1998 or so from what I could tell. God those things were a piece of junk. I wasn't surprised to see it on the side of the road. One of the old sayings from my youth as a Chevy guy was that FORD was short for Found On Road Dead. The driver's door was open and there was a woman kicking at the driver's side front tire. I pulled up behind the car, still mostly on the roadway, parked and got out. I could hear her cussing out the flat tire, the car, the road and just about everything else at the moment.

She was so caught up in her tirade that she didn't hear me come up behind her. From the backside, she looked really nice. She was about 5'4 with long black hair that went over half way down her back. When it reached the middle, it was feathered to a point, much like an arrow head, pointing to the most gorgeous ass I had ever seen. She was wearing a well-worn pair of jeans that deserved a Medal of Valor for the job they were doing, both containing and displaying that gorgeous butt. Her legs were perfect in size, muscular, yet camouflaged in smooth curves. Her hips seemed a bit wide but it was only because her waist was so small. The flare out from her waist gave the impression of wide hips but they weren't. Her shoulders and arms looked in proportion and they looked soft and smooth with a very nice tan.

She wore a pair of black flat shoes which I noticed because she was kicking the tire really hard and I thought she had to be hurting her foot. When she finally turned around and saw me, she stopped and stared at me with a blank look. Likely because I was staring back with a similar blank look, feeling every bit like I had been hit with a surge of electricity. She was incredibly beautiful. Her black hair contoured around and enveloped her face, like the old Jennifer Aniston look. I love bangs. Her face was round, with a small, very cute rounded nose. Her lips were full and her breasts were perfect. They stood straight out and were full. I don't have a clue how to decipher the breast size chart labyrinth. All I cared about was they looked to be a shade more than a handful. The job her bra was doing at the very least deserved an Honorable Mention if not a Medal of Commendation. Looking at her, she just looked... soft. She didn't look overweight by any means. Everything was smooth and blended together flawlessly.

"Oh shit. Get out of here before he shows up!" She yelled. "If he finds you here he is gonna kill both of us!"

It took a couple seconds for me to realize that she was talking...to me.

"Fuck...fuck...fuck. Get outta here! Did you hear me?" she yelled again.

"Uh...yeah I heard you. Who is "he"?"

"My husband. Soon to be ex-husband." She walked toward me and repeated, almost screaming.

"Get out of here before he shows up!" She appeared to be borderline hysterical, but I wasn't sure which side of the border she was on. As I looked at her, I noticed that around her left eye and down to the top of her cheek, her skin looked a little yellow, different than the rest of her complexion. Like she had a black eye that was a day or two from disappearing.

Just then, I heard the distant sound of a loud engine under full power in the distance from the direction that I had come from.

"Oh shit. That's his truck. God dammit! Fuck, I gotta get out of here."

She started to get into the car when I grabbed her arm.

"Miss, you can't drive..."

She turned to me with complete terror in her eyes and recoiled at my touch. I noticed on her arm she had what looked like bruises that were almost gone also. With everything that I had seen in the last minute, I was not at all liking what was about to happen.

"I'm sorry but you can't drive on that flat. You need it changed. Let's deal with your husband first and then we'll change it."

She calmed down a little when I let her arm go although she still had that fear in her face.

"Look. If you don't leave right now, we are both in a world of shit. Just leave me and get out of here!" she said.

"No. I'm not leaving and I'm not leaving you with him until I know you are okay. Do you have your phone with you?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Get your camera ready."

"Why? The..."

"Just do it!"

I didn't think I raised my voice too much but she cowered at the sound of my voice. My thought was that her husband had really fucked her up.

The truck came flying up and skidded to a stop at the rear corner of my truck. The driver's door flew open and a guy jumped out, a tire thumper in his hand. He stood just this side of his truck door, maybe not exactly knowing what to do seeing me there.

"Jessie! You and the kids get the fuck in this truck. Right now!"

She was standing near me and moved a little closer to me as he yelled. Then she stood defiantly, with her feet together and stomped her foot as she screamed.

"Fuck you, asshole!" She was screaming so forcefully she was actually bent forward towards him. "I don't ever want to see you again!"

I thought she looked really cute doing that. It was such a girlie thing.

The guy had a wild look in his eyes from the moment he got out of his truck but this defiance from her only enraged him more. I wasn't sure if he was hopped up on something or not. He smacked the hood of the truck with the thumper and then pointed it in our direction.

"Jessie, if you don't get in this truck right fuckin now...you know what's going to happen."

I said "Hold on a minute here..." just trying to deflate the situation a bit.

"Fuck you. Dickhead. Get the fuck away from her."

He started towards us. If this guy wanted to piss me off, he was well on his way to a good start. When Jessie saw him moving toward us, she quickly moved behind me, placing her hands on my sides above my hips and looked around me at him.

He was still coming and getting closer. I had to do something before he got within 10 feet or else I'd lose any control of this. I reached under my shirt and quickly pulled my .45 auto out and drew down on him.

I hate assholes. I really hate assholes who are egotistical enough to think they are the cock of the roost. But I absolutely detest and have no use for guys who beat on women.

"Stop right there. One more step and you'll regret it."

He stopped immediately. His surprise only lasted a second or two before I saw the smirk start on his face.

"If you pull it, you better be man enough to use it." He sneered.

"I am. And since you are a pussy that needs a thumper to collect your own wife and kids, you must be impotent enough to need it. I'm sure you intend to use it. Which leaves us in an interesting dilemma. Who's going to use theirs first?"

I half whispered to Jessie. "Take his picture...now". She whipped her phone out, moving it around the side of me, and snapped a pic of him.

Her movement and taking a picture of him triggered him to take another step towards us. I fired a round just a little wide of his left ear. If he didn't hear it, he sure as hell had to feel it.

Warning shots are completely useless in a gun fight in reality, which is why Hollywood loves them so much I suppose. Probably the only thing worse is bringing a thumper to a gun fight. But killing someone in this country, as with most western countries, is such a huge hassle. They make such a big deal out of it. I honestly don't understand being punished for doing society a favor and putting down a dirtbag. However, it's best to avoid doing that at all costs if you can. So I have to stoop to the most useless act just to try to keep my hide out of hot water.

"The next three go right through your chest, asshole."

When I fired, I felt Jessie jump and then I no longer felt her touching me.

He stopped, dropped the thumper and then pissed himself. His rage was instantly gone and he looked like a lost puppy about to get hit by a semi-truck.

"Get back in your piece of shit truck and peddle your worthless ass out of here before I decide how much of a waste of air you really are."

He back peddled until he ran into the truck door and then jumped in. Smart guy not to turn his back on me. He turned the truck around and sped off in the direction that he had come. I kept drawn on him until he was well down the road.

"Jessie, are you okay?" I got no response so I turned and saw she was hiding, sitting on the ground wedged between the fender and the driver's door with her knees pulled up to her face as tightly as she could. Her arms were wrapped around her legs. Her head was down but I could still see her eyes. She looked catatonic. The lights were on but nobody was home. Jesus, this guy really fucked her up.

I knelt down a few feet in front of her, putting my gun away. "Jessie...can you hear me?" There was no response. "Jessie... my name is Bob Martin. You are safe now. Your husband is gone. Can you look at me?" After a moment she looked up and I swore her expression was more like a terrified caged wild animal than a person.

"Jessie...you are safe. I'm not going to hurt you. Will you give me your hand?" I reached out my arm as far as I could and held it there, for what seemed like several minutes. I didn't speak, I just wanted to let her take stock of the present situation as she could. Finally, her expression softened like she was coming back to the living. She reached out and put her hand in mine. I held it without moving, letting her get accustomed to my touch. "Jessie...can you stand up with me?"

She nodded yes, but it took her a minute before she stood. I waited a moment, still kneeling, before I got up as well. I wanted to make sure she knew I was not a threat. Only then did it occur to me that her husband had mentioned kids. I looked in the car but I didn't see anyone in the seats.

"Jessie, where are your kids?"

At the mention of her kids, it seemed to kick start her back to reality. She looked at me and said. "They are with my Aunt and Uncle. Uncle Bill told Jack a long time ago that if he ever shows his face, he'd kill him."

I liked Uncle Bill already. I could see Jessie's husband had the same effect on everyone.

"Jessie, I don't think you are in any shape to drive. Where can I take you?"

"Um, what is your name again?" she asked.

"Bob. Bob Martin."

"Does everyone call you Bob?"

"Yes. Well, except..."

"Okay, then I'll call you Rob. I can't go home. Jack will be there. Will you take me somewhere else?"

It almost seemed like I was talking to a six-year-old. I think she was just completely overwhelmed by everything that had happened and needed time to process.

"I'll take you anywhere you want to go. But I'd like a cup of coffee first. Where can I get a cup around here?" I was hoping to engage her mind in a distraction to help bring her around.

"Coffee sounds good. The 7-11 in town has the best." she added.

"We can go in my truck but you'll need to get me there. Lock your car and we'll come back tomorrow for it."

We got in my truck and she started directing me to the 7-11. I knew exactly where it was, I grew up here. I hoped that someone needing her help was a good distraction to get her mind on the present. As we drove, she seemed to become more lucid and more like herself...I think it was herself, anyway. At least she seemed to be coming around. I couldn't help but keep looking at her any time I could steal a glance. She really was remarkably beautiful. A few times she caught me looking, I just wasn't fast enough.

"Is there something wrong with me?"

"Absolutely not." I countered quickly.

"You keep looking at me. You probably think I'm some kind of lunatic, right?"

"No. I'm sorry if I made you feel self-conscious. It's just you are incredibly beautiful. If I've got a weakness, it's stealing a glance at a beautiful woman as often as I can."

That got a slight, little smile out of her even though she acted like I was the one who was nuts.

"Do you get caught at it a lot?"

"No. This is the first time. I've never done it before."

It took her a minute to finally realize what I had said. When it registered, she stared at me for a long time. It was like he was gauging me, trying to figure out if I was the real deal, an idiot or someone she shouldn't trust. I tried to keep my gaze on the road as long as I could, but soon enough, I just had to look over at her again. She had been staring at me and quickly looked away. She didn't have a very happy look on her face.

In about 10 minutes we were in town and she said the store was a block up on the left. We parked and went inside. They had a seating area so we got our coffee and I picked a booth in the corner away from everyone. When we sat down, I made sure that my back was to the wall so I had a full view of the entire place. That put her back toward the store because most of the people were looking at us like maybe we had the plague.

I don't know if Jessie caught their stares but I saw it immediately. She didn't need to deal with the glances and the gossip that was suddenly rampant in the store. Small towns are nice but nosey. With as big an asshole as her husband Jack was, I was sure the rumor mill was just beginning to ramp up. They were probably planning on hanging around just in case the show got interesting. Jessie sipped her coffee but she still had the unhappy look on her face.

"Jessie, talk to me. What are you thinking?"

"Why did you do this?"

"Buy you a coffee? I hate drinking alone."

"No, smart ass. Why did you stop when you saw me?"

"I don't ever get a chance to save a damsel in distress broken down on the side of the road. It seems someone always beats me to it. But today was my lucky day and I finally got her."

"Jesus Christ. Will you stop? This isn't a game."

"I know it's not a game. I think you have gone through enough for one day and I was hoping to get you to smile."

"Do you have any idea what is going to happen to me when Jack finds me? And he WILL find me. I'll be lucky if he doesn't kill me and only puts me in the hospital."

"Jack is not going to hurt you."

"Why? Because I'm your damsel and you are my knight? Jack is a serious idiot but he is a seriously dangerous idiot. Everyone knows it. I'm sure us sitting here has already reached him. I can't go back home. Not ever. I can't take him hitting me anymore." The tears started welling up in her eyes and running down her cheeks.

"Does he hit you often?"

"Only when he is drinking and gets mad, which is several times a week. Mostly it is just slapping and throwing me around but when he got the divorce papers, he went crazy. He punched me in the face and threw me on the ground telling me that I was his forever and that I could never leave. That's where my shiner came from. He kicked me a few times but only in the stomach where it wouldn't show with a shirt on. I told him I'd call my attorney and stop the divorce as long as he promised never to hit me again. He said as long as I behaved I had nothing to worry about."

She looked away. I could see the hopelessness that her eyes held. She felt completely lost in a situation she had no control over and no way out. She feared for her life and what the future held for her.

After summoning up some more courage, she continued. "The following day he apologized like he always did, but it seemed being served was a wake up call because he wasn't violent with me for over a week. But I never had the divorce stopped even though I told him I would."

"Something went off the rails today because you were running from him."

"While he was gone today, I took my kids to my Aunt's house. I was lying to myself that I was only going to leave them there for the night. But I had to get them away from him. When Uncle Bill saw my face, he got so pissed. He said the kids were staying with them as long as Jack was still alive. That really upset my Aunt because she knew what Uncle Bill was saying. They got into a fight because she said that if he went after Jack, he would end up in prison and where would that leave her? I tried to apologize for getting them caught up in this but I had nowhere else to take them. Uncle Bill said the kids would be fine but I needed to file a restraining order against Jack in case he tried to take them from school. That would be the only time he could try it."

"I had my lawyer file the order to include me and the kids. Jack somehow found out before he got back home. He called me to find out where I was. I didn't know he knew about the order so I didn't think anything of telling him where I was. Things had been okay for a little bit and I had no idea he was mad. When he got home, he threw open the door and just exploded." Jessie started shaking and I took her hands in mine hoping to calm her down.

"He started throwing and breaking shit and called me a fucking whore and a liar. I could see in his eyes that he was really going to hurt me. So I ran. I got in my car and took off. I was headed into town just because I'd be safer with people around. What I was going to do after that I had no idea. But I couldn't put up with it any longer. He even started to force me to satisfy his so-called friends. Some of them I'd never seen before so I think they are people he does business with. He made me..." She was sobbing almost uncontrollably now. "He let those guys do anything to me that they wanted. And he laughed and encouraged them."

Now I was truly pissed. And bad things happen to people who have pissed me off. "How many times has he done this?"

"Twice, but I'm sure it would happen again. Jack seemed to really enjoy seeing me raped by other men."

That was about it for me. I tried everything I could to conceal my rage so I didn't scare Jessie. But I was losing that fight as my mind went to a really dark place from years ago. How could a man do that to a woman? While that didn't make sense, what did make sense in my mind was that her husband Jack would pay for the mistake of hurting her. That was already set in stone. Jessie must have seen the anger in my face and she squeezed my hands to get my attention.

"Rob, are you okay? Is something wrong?"

Hearing her voice, feeling her touch, brought me back from the edge. I took a breath, looked at her and said "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bad memory that won't go away."