Finding Eve Ch. 02

Once back at the Caywood house, Eve began to clean up the house and contemplated her next move. As much as she wanted to tie up all of the loose ends herself, she had to admit she was in over her head and would need help. She straightened the pictures on the wall and walked out on to the porch, lit a cigarette and thumbed through her contacts on her cell phone.

"Hello" said the strong voice on the other end.

"Hey, I need a huge favor, can you come over?" Eve asked.

"Everything ok?"

Eve sighed and said no.

Thirty minutes later she could hear the loud exhaust of a motorcycle. She knew instantly who it was. Will had been her best friend for years. They always kept everything platonic, He was a perfect gentleman, there was no way he could be interested in a mess like Eve. The motorcycle rolled into the driveway and he sat looking at her trying to figure out what was wrong before she could tell him. He had always been good at reading her. In ten years he had seen her in every situation and could read her like a book. Just one look at her and he knew what happened, or at least the majority of it.

"So what's up? Will asked.

"I'm in trouble...or I might be... or ..lets just say I need big help" she stammered.

"What did you do?" he asked, while snapping his snuff can in his hand.

"I did what I had to do, now I just need to tie up some loose ends and I can't do it by myself. I don't have anyone else that I can trust with this."

"Well...." he said is his slow Texas drawl. "Start at the beginning and I'll see what I can do."

Eve sat on the porch and told Will the whole sordid tale. How he had come home from the bar drunk and started a fight with her. She told him that most times she could handle him and he would eventually just pass out and things would be better in the morning, but this time was different. He was totally out of control and she had never seen him this way before. After hours of fighting she felt she had no choice. She just couldn't handle anymore. Not then, not ever! She locked herself in the back bedroom and hid under the bed. She could hear him yelling as he came down the hall, threatening to kill her. He didn't bother to knock on the door, he kicked the door and busted the jamb. He knew she was under the bed. There was no place else to hide in that room. He told her that if she came out it would be better for her than if he had to drag her out, and he would. She stayed where she was. She didn't think negotiating with him right now would benefit her at all. He reached under the bed and grabbed a handful of hair "You coming out now, bitch?" She had no choice.

The fighting continued for another hour or so, she lost track of time. She only wanted it to be over. In his drunken fit, he stumbled in the kitchen and tried to catch himself but knocked the chair over breaking it. Eve ran towards the bedroom and as she did he regained his balance, reached into the cabinet and threw several glasses at her. One hit her in the head, breaking the glass and cutting her.

Eve rounded the corner into the bedroom and he grabbed her by the hair once again, his 6ft 4 stature was no match for her 5ft frame. He spun her around and smacked her across the face with the back of his hand, busting her lower lip. She could feel the sting and taste the blood in her mouth. She thought she was about to die at the hand of this man, the man she promised to love, honor and cherish until death do them part.

He had no idea she had bought a gun at a local gun show. There was no paper trail and no background check just a 38 caliber that she never told anyone about. She kept it hidden in a box full of the kids old report cards and baby pictures. She grabbed for the box under the bed and he grabbed her ankle, pulling him towards her. he began to unfasten his belt with his left hand as his right hand held her by the ankle. She wasn't sure if he was going to hit her with the belt or rape her. At that point it didn't matter. She had begged him to stop. Cried and pleaded but to no avail. She had never seen him this bad. The fights were usually over within an hour. This one seemed to be never-ending.

Eve grasped the 38 in her right hand and swung it into his face. "Leave me the fuck alone!" She screamed.

"You won't shoot me, you need me, how are you going to pay for the house or feed the kids with out me? You'll end up living at the Tejas Motel turning tricks for cigarettes" She tried to wrestle her leg from his grasp but it only made him angrier. "C'mon baby, if you wanna leave me you can in the morning. Let me have some of that good stuff one more time" He slurred

"You're out of your mind!" She screamed. He grabbed at her jeans trying to pull them down and when she tried to get away he hit her again. She knew there was no other option. She raised the gun back up again and pulled the trigger. He fell back a bit and she fired again, and again, and again until she has no more bullets.

For the first time in hours. The house was quiet.

Will spit his snuff out into the flower bed and looked at her. "I'm surprised it took you this long" he said.