Page 44 of Forever His This Christmas

“Who he is?” Edward asked Abby as fury ran through him. “Who hurt my little girl?”

“I don’t know his name. She wouldn’t tell me, and I won’t tell you what I know. That’s Mom’s choice,” Abby replied. “I can tell you that whatever you think of her, what she’s done, the onlything I care about is that she did it to keep me safe. She kept the focus on her here…and not on when she came to see me.”

“That she did,” Edward agreed as Corey stood up moving to the couch with Lisa. He sat her down on it and crouched down in front of her, holding her hands in his as she stared at a spot on the floor.

“Baby, please look at me,” Corey said softly gaining her attention. “Whatever happened, it’s not your fault. Just tell us Lisa, please. When did it happen?”

“It…” she started, squeezing his hands trying to find the words. “It wasn’t just once…”

“It wasn’t?” her father asked, moving over to her and she shook her head. “Dear lord, why didn’t tell us?”

“I didn’t think anyone would believe me.”

“Why not?” Gerald asked, his voice softer than she’d ever heard it directed at her.

“Who it was…I didn’t think anyone in town would believe me and he made it so no one would.”

“He who? Who was it?” her dad asked as she closed her eyes trying to forget.

“Oh my god…I’ll kill the bastard myself,” Kirby stated his face white with anger.

“Who?” Gerald asked.

“Benton Johnson,” he replied, and her head whipped up to stare at him a surprised gasp slipping through her lips that he’d know so easily. “That sick son of a…it was him, wasn’t it?”

“Benton Johnson?” Ashton said looking to Gerald to see if he knew who it was.

“Mr. Johnson? Science teacher at the middle school-high school, Benton Johnson?” Gerald asked and she lowered her gaze back down to the floor. “No, he loved you…”

“When she was in eighth grade—but her freshman year he became an absolute jerk to her. You guys didn’t see it, but Iwas still in school,” Kirby said looking at her. “When did he…I mean…”

“When did he force me to have sex with him?” she asked, taking a deep breath as she lifted her face to the group. “At first, he didn’t, everyone knew I loved him in eighth grade, loved that he didn’t treat me the way you all did, he actually encouraged me. Freshman year he started pushing me more, grading me harder, being more critical…and picking on the tiny things I did in class to get me after school with him, alone. It was probably four weeks into the school year; everyone had seen the difference in how we were that year compared to the last one, when he had me in after-school detention for chewing gum in class. He told me I’d never get better than a C in his class unless I put forth somespecialeffort. I said no when he made it clear what he meant, that I’d tell the principal what he’d tried to make me do…and he said no one would believe me. He said he’d claim that I had come onto him at the beginning of the year, and he’d put an end to our student-mentor relationship. He’d claim that I was angry and trying to ruin him and there was no proof otherwise.”

“My god,” Edward said shaking his head. “We would have…”

“Would you? With no proof, just my word against a man twenty years older than me who’d been one of the most favorite teachers at the school, my favorite the year before? I was scared and I knew he’d do it. Everyone would have been staring at me, calling me names behind my back, looking down on me for being crazy or disgusting…I couldn’t handle that, and I said that I wouldn’t tell anyone, but I also wouldn’t do what he wanted me to do. That’s when he gave me a D on my paper. It would have taken me from the top of the class to the bottom. He just wouldn’t stop, and I didn’t know what to do.”

“So you gave in?” her dad asked, not believing it.

“No…he didn’t put the D in the gradebook, so I was still eligible for the science academic competition. I won and when I told him that it would prove that he was trying to lower my grades because I wouldn’t sleep with him, he got mad. He came back that he’d claim I cheated, that he’d turn me in because he found cheat cards in my bag after the competition and the next round of the competition was that weekend. I went to ride the bus to it only to find out that there was no bus because I was the only one going. I tried to leave but he forced me into the car and took me to the competition. I was so worried about what would happen that I lost and, on the way back…he made me… I tried to stop him but…I couldn’t, and he continued to make me do things for the rest of the year or he’d hand over photos he’d taken of me, claiming that I’d sent them to him because I wanted him to want me.”

“Oh god,” her mom said covering her mouth in horror.

“He’d have me get a key to a cabin and leave it for him to get in…he just wouldn’t stop,” she said as the tears started again. “I realized I was pregnant at the beginning of October. I went to a clinic, and they confirmed it, along with taking a rape kit because of what he’d done the prior night. I told the police they called that I wouldn’t tell them who it was because I was terrified of what he’d do, and I already loved Abby. I came back and when he told me what I’d have to do to pass the midterms…I went to the cabin that night with a tape recorder in my pocket. I got him to admit to everything he’d done to me…and then I told him he’d never do it again. I took out the tape recorder and he lunged at me, yelling that he’d kill me if I ever played anyone that tape, if I ever told anyone what he’d done. He gave me all kinds of ways he could kill me, bombs, poison, explosive fires…and I ran.”

“Wait, is that why he was up on the roads when the accident happened?” Kirby asked and she nodded. “Why didn’t you go to the police then?”

“Because…I caused the accident.”

“What? He was driving too fast and slid off the road,” Ashton said.

“He was coming after me. I knew he would so before I went into the cabin, I stuck a knife in his tire. When he came after me, he hit a rock and it burst…the car slid off the side of the road, overturned and crashed into the trees. I saw him there and I left because I was scared that he’d kill me if he got out of that car…”

“But he didn’t get out of it or the wheelchair he’s been in since then,” Gerald said, and she nodded.

“When he got back to school, he told me if I said anything he’d let the police know I slit his tire and put him in that wheelchair, and while I was in jail he’d make sure I never got out alive. He threatened everyone…and I stayed as far from him as I could.”

“Him and anyone making decisions for you,” Corey said lifting her chin to meet her gaze. “It’s not about your parents or brothers at all, is it? It’s because you never had the choice of what he took. You refused to let anyone else ever put you in that situation.”

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