Page 90 of Staying for You

“See what coming, honey?”

“The hits.”

I gasp. He never, not once in our entire decade of time together, laid a hand on me. “He hit you?” I whisper sinisterly. What the hell has gotten into him?

Quietly sitting on the couch, she stops fidgeting for a few moments then she takes on another look. This one of determination. I have no idea just how many disguises she’s using to hide what’s going on underneath. Biting her lower lip that’s trembling, she pulls out something from her purse and starts wiping on her face. Wipe after wipe, I watch in awe as the more she rids her face of makeup, the more that’s revealed. A bruised left cheek that looks like it took one heck of a wallup. A spot next to her lip that looks like it had a cut in it as well as a small cut on her right cheek. There’s darkness and a little bit of yellow around her right eye as well, as if she had a black eye there recently.

I gasp, covering my mouth with my hand but immediately stand up and move next to her.

“He did this?”

“He did.”

“Did you call the police?”

With dejection in her voice, she says, “Look at me, Camilla. It might be 2019 but people still believe what they want to believe.”

“First of all, call me Cami. Second of all, that’s bullshit and I’m sorry, but it’s an excuse.” Tears flood her eyes, rushing down her sweet face that confirms what I was guessing about her age. “Did he tell you that?”

Helen looks away, staring at the mantel in my living room. “When I first got here, he told me these pictures were of his sister. Then the truth came out that you weren’t his sister, but you were his wife but only because your friends showed up. He told me you were the crazy one.”

“Helen, did he tell you that the police wouldn’t believe you?”

“Not only him,” she whispers with a trembling lip.

“Your father?” I guess and she only nods to confirm, looking down at her lap. “What a piece of shit,” I say out loud what I’m thinking. Probably not appropriate but entirely accurate.

She shrugs. It’s her dad and I can tell there’s a love there even if he is a jerk.

“I’m so sorry we broke into your home, Cami. The police, they came to the door and we looked like freaking idiots because we had on these headlamps. I mean, really, what the heck was I thinking? He told me he wanted to have a romantic night without the lights on but that we needed to be safe. The police asked what we were doing and he just kept lying about the power being out. The cop looked at him, leaned over, and flipped a switch. There we stood with our freaking headlamps beaming in his direction looking like a couple fools.”

I can’t help the laugh that bubbles out of my throat because the picture she paints is pretty funny to imagine. I can just see Scott’s dumb expression and hear him fumbling for excuses. What did I ever see in him?

“It all kind of kept clicking together. So, after the police escorted us out of here, we went to a cheap hotel. I started asking him questions, he didn’t like that, and then this happened.” She touches her cheek and I breathe deeply. What a jackass. What type of man did he become? I don’t remember ever feeling unsafe around him. Not in the sense that he would physically abuse me, anyway.

“Do you have a safe place to stay?” I ask, but I have a feeling I already know the answer to that question. She doesn’t answer, just shakes her head.

“Where have you been sleeping? Where were you before you met Scott?”

“Right now, I’ve been sleeping in my car. Before that, I was with some friends. But as soon as I moved out, they moved someone else into my room and they said I couldn’t sleep on the couch. I still work at the club but I don’t make enough for an apartment and food.”

My phone rings and I look to it, see it’s Olivia calling. “I’m sorry, Helen, I need to take this.” She nods and asks to use the restroom and I tell her I’ll be here when she gets out.

“Olivia?”

“What’s going on? Who was at the door?”

“You’re never going to believe it. Let’s just say, it’s been a crazy fifteen minutes.”

“Is everything alright?”

I look in the direction where Helen disappeared to. She lived here for a few weeks so she knew where the bathroom was. Someone I met only a few minutes ago knows her way around my house as if it’s her own. “I think so.”

“Did you make a decision? Are you coming up here?”

“Does he want me to?”

The phone is silent for a few beats and then… “Cami?” His voice. My gosh I missed his voice. It’s deep and husky and raspy. I immediately start crying because when I left there, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be brave enough to hear his voice again.

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