Rhonda Gets Deeper into the Game

As she dressed, Rhonda looked over now and then. They guy still had an angry look on his face and sometimes he would pull Carmen tight against him until she was choking and trying to push herself away. She looked at Melody who was dressed enough for public and was now tipping her head in a 'let's go' motion. As they walked past the guy he grabbed Rhonda.

"Your husband left you, huh? Maybe he left you for me. Give me a kiss."

Rhonda had slowed, and now she started saying, "I'm, I need to go and OOWWwww."

He had grabbed her by her hair and jerked her closer, almost knocking over Carmen in the process. "I want a kiss, you lezzy whore." He pulled her head to him and began licking at her lips trying to force his way into her mouth. He pulled her hair back and down to open her mouth and shoved in his tongue, nasty with the taste of old alcohol. The frightened woman shrieked and then she was released as the man cried out.

"Fucking BITCH!" he yelled at his wife and kicked her. Rhonda took a step to help, but Melody grabbed her wrist and pulled her from the basement and up the stairs. Thuds kept rising from the basement with an occasional female grunt or groan.

In the driveway Rhonda pulled free. "We need to help her."

Melody grabbed her wrist again. "Rhonda, she punched his balls to let you get out. If you go back in then everything she's getting from him will be for nothing. Now please, get into your car and get out of here. We've been through something like this before. I'll see you at the club tonight. Now get out of here."

As she drove home the irony kept playing in Rhonda's head. Her husband had left because she wanted to dance, and got wrapped up in something with another guy. Carmen's husband would NOT leave, and he would beat her for anything that upset him, even if she was trying to protect another woman from him. How could she be so lucky and so stupidly throw it aside at the same time?

Martin saw her park and came up to put his arm around her waist. "I hope you appreciate the price those girls are going to pay for trying to protect you. I always get what I set my sights on. Oh, and I sent a couple of texts to guys I, well, WE, know from work telling them how you blew me for a hundred bucks. You should expect some visitors on Monday."

She was largely recovered from what he had done. "You have no idea the price," she told him. They saw Melody outside the club, and Rhonda noticed the worried look on her face.

Martin missed it completely, to nobody's surprise. "Hey slut, where's your partner?"

Rhonda pulled free of Martin and put her arms around Melody. The fear in her eyes was so obvious she couldn't understand how someone even as clueless as Martin missed it. "Melody? What's wrong?"

"I went back in later, and he, my god, he really had her messed up. I had to call an ambulance and he threatened them, wouldn't let them in, so they called the police. He's arrested and really mad, but she's in the hospital. They took her and she looked awful."

For the first time, Martin seemed to realize something was wrong. "What? Who's in the hospital?"

Rhonda turned on him, hissing her answer in a quiet but focused voice. "Carmen is in the hospital you ass. She won't be joining us because her husband woke up and flipped out about her having naked girls in the house. He beat her up, if you can understand it. She won't be with us tonight." She turned back toward Melody, then spun back. "Because of you and your stupid 'I want her' attitude." Where did that suddenly come from? If she could say that, could she walk away from this mess?

Her arm was grabbed and she was spun around to face an angry Martin. "You don't talk to me like that. NO woman talks to me like that. And if you do, then maybe YOU will join your friend in the hospital, do you understand? Now those of us who are left are going to go in there and dance and drink and fucking enjoy ourselves or I will follow you home tonight and there will be nobody to call the ambulance for you."

This had all just gone up several levels and she felt real fear. He seemed capable of what he said, especially after she had seen him pushing Carmen and Melody around earlier. She just nodded, not wanting to verbalize her assent to anything.

They went in, soon after joined by Betty. Martin told her to give Rhonda instructions on when to be at her house tomorrow. He grew increasingly agitated as time passed and Mary had not arrived. She finally showed up and he dressed her down for being 20 minutes late. She apologized, saying she had gotten busy and lost track of time. Everybody noted that she had a light sheen of sweat and was curious about what she was doing. She said she had found a new dance and was trying to perfect it.

Martin was up most of the night this time, making sure he got his time in with the women. He also tried to separate Rhonda from Melody and Mary, grabbing her hand and insisting she dance with him every time he saw them talking together. As a result, Rhonda was quite tired by the end of the night, and even worse, she was tired of Martin's hand on her ass and breast and anywhere else he chose to put it.

They walked out as a group and in the crowd at the entrance Mary got jostled and fell against Rhonda. Once on the sidewalk and away from the loud music Martin took over again. "Betty, you told Mary when to be at your house tomorrow? Good. Melody, I think you need to just go home now. Spend some time with your wimpy husband. I'm sure he missed you today. And Mary, come late like that again and, well, certain things will get known by a political opponent of somebody you know very well."

Mary looked at him, steely eyed. "If you want to threaten me, that's one thing. If you start on my husband, I've seen some of his resources. You really don't want to start that battle. Good night girls." And she walked away.

Rhonda thought Martin was going to blow up, but he kept it in. Surprisingly, he turned and walked away without addressing her. She looked around confused.

Betty cleared it up for her. "He's expecting you at my house tomorrow, and he knows I don't care about your tears. He told me about today. Don't think there will be a rescue tomorrow." She turned and left.

Now it was just Melody and Rhonda. "It's my fault. If I had listened to my husband, wasn't so crazy on the dance thing ..."

"Hey," Melody cut in, "I told you, we have a system. He's gone off on her before, but never like this. My god, I thought he had killed her. I'm afraid she won't testify because it will bring in me and you and Martin and a lot of other people, and then he'll beat her again."

Rhonda held Melody. "It sounds like she needs a good lawyer."

Melody gave her a soft kiss and turned to leave. "You were just talking to one, and tomorrow she's going to see you fucked."

Now stunned, Rhonda stood in place, trying to fit the pieces together and beginning to get a bigger picture. She finally moved on when the second guy barely old enough to buy a drink started hitting on her, telling her his fantasy had always been to fuck his mother but that would be weird though the age was about right and would she be willing to play the role?

Once again she went home to a quiet, empty house. Something was out of place, though. Martin had threatened her and it bothered her that somebody had been in her home while she was out. Were they coming back tomorrow for more? And what did they take? What caught her eye but not her memory?

She went to the bathroom and took off her shirt. The long sleeves had covered the bruising near her wrists where she had been held so tightly. There was a little bruising on her shoulder, but she didn't even remember being grabbed there. Her eyes widened and she ran downstairs, not even bothering to pick up her shirt. She walked directly to an upholstered chair that sat in a corner and looked over the top. There was the depression in the carpet from the portable CD/cassette player. Who the hell came into her house and took an old boom box?