Page 3 of Devoted Enough

Slipping into the truck, he shut the door, started the engine, and rolled his window down. “Don’t worry, boy, she’s still intact if you want a go at her.”

I reached in and grabbed him again, hitting him this time with my left fist. The blow wasn’t as hard, but it caused him to step on the gas and drive away, knowing I wouldn’t stop with just one hit the longer he stayed there.

I wasn’t sure how long I stood there, watching his truck, before I looked around. No one had been outside when Ipunched him, but I wasn’t sure if anyone might have seen or heard anything from their house.

Remembering Haven, I ran back into the house and up the steps to find her in bed. Her legs were pulled up to her chest, her chin on her knees as she rocked back and forth. I slowly moved closer and sat down on the bed.

“Are you okay?”

Tears streamed down her face, and she nodded. I pushed a brown curl behind her ear. “Haven, why won’t you let me call the police?”

She lifted her head and shook it. “It would destroy my mother, and I only have a handful of friends as it is, I don’t want to lose them. I can’t, Nathan. I can’t go through with that. I just…can’t.”

Reaching for me, she grabbed onto my arms. “Promise me, Nate, promise me right now that you won’t tell a soul. Not even your parents.”

I closed my eyes. “Haven, I think we need to tell someone. What if he hurts others too.”

She closed her eyes. “He got fired from his job today, and that was why he was so angry and wanted someone to take it out on.”

Taking her hands in mine, I swallowed the lump in my throat and asked the one thing I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. “Has he ever done…that before?”

Haven looked down at the bed. “He’s hit me before.”

“It didn’t look like he was trying to hit you when I walked in.”

More tears slid down her face as she closed her eyes. “He’s made me watch him do…that to himself and he’s touched me once. He said he would kill me and Mother if I ever said anything to anyone.”

“Touched you how?”

She shook her head. “Please, Nate. Please. I can’t tell you.”

“Did he rape you? Have intercourse with you?” I needed to hear it from her mouth because I didn’t believe a damn thing that he told before he drove away.

With a shake of her head, a sob slipped free. “But I think he would have had you not been here.”

I wanted to destroy something. No, I wanted to get in the truck and go hunt that motherfucker down and kill him, just like I threatened to do before he left.

But I had to be strong in this moment for Haven, had to be the calm in her storm. “Hey, it’s okay. It’s okay now.”

Haven buried her face in her hands and cried. I put my arm around her as she dropped her head to my shoulder, and it felt like she sobbed for hours. In truth, it had only been about thirty minutes.

“What if he comes back?” she softly asked.

“He won’t.”

“How do you know?” she asked, lifting her head and staring up at me with those eyes of hers. They looked blue today, most likely because she was wearing a blue top.

“Because I told him if he ever sets foot in Hamilton or tries to contact you, I’ll be digging his grave.”

She didn’t say anything, only stared at me.

“I’m so sorry, Haven. I’m so…so fucking sorry.”

“It’s over, and I won’t ever have to see him again.”

Wiping her face, she moved away from me, and I took that as a sign to stand up. She did the same.

“Promise me, Nate, right now, that you won’t tell a soul.”

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