Page 4 of Acid

“Sorry!” he yells back.

Her gaze comes to me. “We need to talk,” I demand. She nods. “Go take a seat on one of the benches, and I will grab us a drink,” I tell her, pointing to the benches.

She nods and makes her way over. Watching her, I notice her walking stiffly, trying hard to cover her pain.

“You want me to take a look at her?” Dixie asks softly.

I look down at her at my side and smile. “Yeah, I will come and get you in a bit. I need to talk to her first.” I sigh.

“Come find me when you need me,” she says before she walks off inside the club.

“Is this something we need to worry about?” Ghost asks as he comes to stand next to me.

I cross my arms over my chest. “At the moment, I don’t fucking know. I thought I had solved this problem, but apparently, he didn’t get the warning,” I state.

“You need us, tell me. I will call church,” he says, squeezing my shoulder as he walks in. I follow behind him and grab a couple of beers from behind the bar. All the brothers and Satan’s are stood around laughing and joking, having a good time. As I am about to leave the bar, Star grabs my arm.

“What, Star? I ain’t got time to hang about,” I sigh.

“Firstly, rude. Secondly, Rose gave me this.” She reaches out and hands me a business card.

I look down at it. “A women’s refuge?” I question.

“Yeah, her sister runs a centre for women of domestic abuse, or well, abuse in general. Anyway, she thought if your friend needs it, just call that number and tell her Rose sent her.” Star smiles softly.

I smile and place a kiss on her cheek. “Thanks, darlin’.”

“Get off my fucking woman!” Ghost yells from across the bar.

Star laughs. “Go on, before he beats your ass,” she urges. I continue to walk out of the club, hearing Star yell from behind me. “Jesus, will you calm your tits, Casper!”

I cough back a laugh. Never in my fucking life would I have thought anyone, let alone a woman, would be able to speak to Pres like that. Rhea doesn’t turn around to face me as I approach. I know that it is because she is in pain. I place her beer down in front of her and sit opposite her.

“Thanks,” she mutters.

“So, you want to tell me how this happened?” I press.

She looks up into the night sky, a sigh escaping her. “He came into the bar drunk. I asked him to leave. Even a few of the regulars tried to help me. They eventually got him out. He shouted some shit at me, nothing I can’t handle.” She shrugs as she takes a sip of her beer.

“Then what?” I press.

“Then,” she croaks, her voice breaking. “After I locked up, Jack offered to walk me to my car. I accepted, just to be safe, you know.” She shrugs. “Then I remembered I didn’t switch on the alarm. I completely forgot, too distracted with what happened, and with Jack chatting and being with me. So, I told Jack to head on home, and that I would be fine. No one was there, so he reluctantly agreed. I ran back in and turned on the alarms. When I returned to my car, he was there. Joe. He was just standing there, blocking the driver’s side. I was scared, but I knew he was drunk, so I stood a chance to fight back.” She pauses, shaking her head. “He wasn’t drunk. He played drunk. He was sober, strong, and waiting for me.” Her bottom lip quivers. “I tried to fight back. I stabbed him with my keys, but he just continued to hit me,” she whispers. “I gave up fighting back. I just laid there on the ground while he did what he wanted to me.” She sniffs.

“What did he do?” I growl.

Her brown eyes flicker to mine. She smiles as tears trickle down her cheeks. “He pushed me face down in the back seat of my car and fucked me.” She sniffs.

“That ain’t fucking, darlin’,” I seethe.

She shrugs. “Potato, patato.”

I shake my head. “No, it fucking ain’t. Fucking is good, and fucking is consensual. He fucking raped you darlin’, and you may not want to say it, because then that means you’re admitting it. But bottom fucking line, that is what he did,” I state, trying my hardest to contain my rage. “Stand up,” I order.

“What?” she asks, confused.

“Stand up. Show me your ribs,” I order.

She slowly gets to her feet and lifts the hem of her top. Her stomach is a sea of blues, blacks and purples.

---