Page 48 of Twisted Salvation
“Ew. Naomi, Mom is kissing Dad,” Rose says. Dominic pulls back and snaps his head in her direction. “What? Don’t look at me like that. She is my mom, and you are married to her. That makes you my stepdad. So is Matt. I think that makes Natalie and Trish my stepmothers.”
“I… What?” Dominic asks, almost tearfully.
“See? I told you he might cry,” I say to Rose with a smile. Matt leans up and kisses me, making Rose fake gag.
“Start from the beginning,” Naomi says. I go through everything from the text to being kidnapped to running, and Rose being there. I make sure to be as detailed as possible with her. If she is letting Rose be here for this, then it must be alright. I avoid going into graphic detail, though, unless it is about what they looked like. No one needs to know exactly how I was raped. When I’m done talking, everyone but Naomi, Rose, and I are teary-eyed.
“Am I in trouble for bashing his brains in?” I ask.
“No,” she says. “We were there for a lot of it. We only stopped you when you started to hit the concrete. I can’t exactly put in a report that I let you continue to smash his skull in, so it will just be written down as self-defense. No one is going to want to see that go to court because then they will have to admit that they knew he was up to no good and still let him be in the courtroom.”
“When can I go home?” I ask.
“We have a flight out first thing in the morning,” Naomi says. “We flew here, so I’ll fly y’all home.”
“I… am exhausted and hungry,” I say.
“You’ve lost weight,” Natalie says. “I am concerned about that.”
“As a doctor or as a friend?”
“Both,” she says. “You are malnourished.”
“Well, I also didn’t eat for the last week, so I’m sure that’s where most of the issue is,” I say. “Mostly, I’m just tired. I haven’t slept but maybe a few minutes at a time, but I gave up after a while.”
“All of you need your sleep,” Naomi says. “Let’s go to the hotel. There are clothes there for you to change into.”
“It’s over?” I ask.
“It’s over,” she smiles. “Let’s go.”
Chapter Eighteen
Myra
I ended up fallingasleep on the way to the hotel and only woke up when we were in the elevator. “Hey,” Dominic smiles. “Megan and Paul are in our room waiting for us.”
“Oh,” I say as he sets me on my feet when we get out of the elevator. “They are going to be mad at me.”
“Why would they be mad?” Matt asks.
“She thinks it’s her fault,” Rose says. “They won’t be mad. They might scold me, though. Who knows?”
“Doubtful,” Dominic says as he opens the door to our hotel room. I expect Megan and Paul to run for Rose, but it’s me they hug first.
“Oh, sweetheart,” Megan says tearfully. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“I… you…”
“Slow down,” Dominic says gently.
“Why do you care so much about me?” I ask.
“We have a confession to make,”Megan says slowly.
“Okay?”
“Do you remember your mother’s family, besides Alvin?”
