The Family BBC Ch. 03

I too had a job, one that let me work from home. It was part-time work as a customer service rep for a traditional chain of high-end clothing and cosmetics, but I worked for their also-ran, online store.

George called me at lunch, and I picked up my phone without thinking.

The baritone voice sounded as powerfully as ever. "Colleen, I checked out of the hotel, but I need a ride to the Social Security office. Bastards are holding back my checks!"

My free hand flew up, fingers frantic to stab the disconnect button, but it merely hovered over the red circle.

"I-I can't." I heard myself speak into the microphone. "I'm working." It wasn't really a lie. While I was technically taking a lunch, I'd have to sign into the call board in just a few minutes.

"Shit. I might not make it there in time, if I had to bus to your house, on 1377 Waverly St. in order to borrow your car."

Of course he knew our address. He had access to every iota of information on my husband's phone.

"Please, Mr. Jones, just leave me and my husband alone. Haven't you done enough to us?" I started babbling. "He wants to press charges, but if you promise to go away, I'll promise he never will."

"So that's the way you're gonna be." Leland's sigh sounded fake even through the cell connection. "And after all the fun we had, yesterday."

"That was a nightmare!" My voice nearly broke into unabashed anger.

"Maybe it was for you, on the surface, but I think you aren't being honest with yourself. Deep down, you need what I can give to you."

My mind suddenly reflected on my behavior when I returned home the night before. I confronted my children's constant bickering and got them to shut up. I'd never been able to do that, not until- A cold shiver ran down my spine.

"You're not making any sense. It was horrible!" I persisted.

But he had me talking, and he knew, unless I hung up, he would win the victory eventually. Deep down, I may have known that too.

"Let's cut the bullshit." He attacked. "You're not going to charge me, and without you, your husband can't make his case." He waited, but I didn't respond.

"I understand you don't want me dropping by your home. You've got two beautiful kids, and it might twist their minds if they interrupted us."

Bastard! Of course George had pictures of us and the kids! I fumed on the inside, but I couldn't draw on my anger to form words. The idea of Peg and Ridley finding me pinned by an old, black man's cock, no matter how large, was too terrifying!

George would divorce me, and I would never see my kids again. Cold certainty forced me to ask for the address of Leland's destination. I had my doubts about the Social Security office. My rapist didn't look or act like the minimum age to receive payments. Perhaps he had lied to the administration and forged his paperwork.

That wasn't my problem, I told myself during the drive back to that awful hotel!

Tears of helplessness formed in my eyes when I saw him flag down my Volvo. I pulled up at the curb, and he opened the driver side door. "It's bad manners for a man to let a woman drive." He asserted.