Let Me Just Say This (21 page)

Dee couldn't leave things with Cheryl like that. After an hour, she calmed down enough to drive to Cheryl's house and what she found broke her heart into even smaller pieces. She got home and as she walked into the door, she saw a card lying on the floor. “This must have fallen out of her pocket.” She said as she leaned to pick it up.

She knew she shouldn't but she didn't know what else to do. She called Matthew and after introducing herself. She told him what she saw when she got to Cheryl's house.

“Look, I don't know if I should be telling you this, but if Cheryl trusts you I guess I can too. He beat her up so bad this time, she was in bed and her face was almost unrecognizable. She was in bed and he didn't want me to see her. You say you are her friend, right? So how can we get her away from him? He is going to end up killing her.” She listened intently as Matthew hatched a plan to get her away from Kevin. She knew that the only way to do it was to force her hand. She let Matthew finish telling her the plan and then she made that call to Cheryl. Cheryl told her that Kevin was asleep and she didn't want to wake him but Dee convinced her to listen. When she was confident enough that Cheryl would follow the plan she hung up and went into her guest room to get it ready for her new roommate.

Cheryl hung up and immediately called her parents to ask if the kids could stay with them for a while. They agreed so she got up and packed a bag so she could leave first thing in the morning. She couldn't let him see her with the bag so she hurried downstairs and threw it in the truck. Coming back into the house, she was confronted by Kevin but she told him she just needed some fresh air.

The next morning, she got up, showered and left the house while Kevin was still asleep. As her truck pulled from the garage, Kevin stood at the living room window.

It was nice just to sit and talk to Dee and Matthew. Of course, they wanted her to call the police, but she wasn't going to do that. She had agreed to leave, so that is all that mattered. Matthew made some arrangements for her to stay at a hotel and Dee agreed to pick up the kids and bring them to her. Matthew then arranged for one of his cars to take her, since he didn't want her driving the truck she had.

“Too easy to trace,” he said. “Look, I won't let anything hurt you, do you understand?” She raised her face to his and he kissed her gently.

She drove home and slept for the rest of the day. She was so tired, even after getting out of the shower she decided to lay back down.

Kevin came up the stairs in a rage. She looked at him and tried to diffuse the situation.

“I'm leaving in two days. You can have the house and the cars. I only want the kids and my things. I just can't take this anymore.”

Her heart was pounding so hard, she knew he should be able to hear it. Suddenly she wasn't feeling good about the situation and got up from the bed. She started down the stairs only to have him hot on her heels.

“Wait one damn minute. You sleep all day, and suddenly you wake up, tell me that you are leaving and that's it. What has gotten into you?”

“Have you not noticed my eyes?” she said as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Who have you been talking to? Who's been filling your head with this nonsense? Dee?”

“You have, remember. You wanted a divorce, you asked me so I am giving it to you.”

“Yes, but that was before I knew about the baby. We need to be together until this child is born.”

Things were not going as she had planned. She thought he would be happy to hear that she wouldn't block the divorce. She was supposed to tell him that as long as he let her leave, she would share joint custody.

“Look, stop for a minute and let's just talk.”

She opened the closet door, got the luggage and started back for the stairs.

“Stop and listen to me” he said, grabbing her arm.

“Don't you fucking put your hands on me again, or I swear I will call the police.”

“Where were you today? I tried calling you a hundred damn times, you didn't answer.”

“I turned it off.”

“So, where were you?”

“Out.”

“With who?”

“With people who care about me.”

“Then tell me this, why do you smell like a man's cologne?

“I don't smell anything, and neither do you.”

“Oh, is that what Matthew wears.”

“What…what are you talking about?” she stuttered. “You must be losing your mind, I don't smell anything.”

“Oh, am I crazy to know that Dee called you with someone named Matthew on the other line and you met with him today. Yep, I heard you make your little plans yesterday, you dumb trick. You play miss innocent, but really you been out here the whole time, fucking around with some other man behind my back.”

“You are something else Kevin. I haven't been the one cheating, you have. The only person I've been fucking is your trifling ass.”

He grabbed her and shoved her into the wall.

“I believe I told you what would happen if I thought you were screwing around on me. Didn't I?”

She pushed against him and slapped him hard.

“I've done nothing with no one but you. Only you. You are the one cheating. Leaving me here with the kids all the time. I have put up with this shit for over three years, coming home with her nasty ass perfume lingering on you like a cheap suit. No more. I'm leaving. You can have her. I hate you! I hate you! How long did you think I would put up with this crap? You coming and going as you please and
hitting me. I hope she is worth it, because you are about to lose everything you love.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means, you lose, Kevin, your wife, your kids and this baby.”

“Oh, you think you are taking my kids away from me?”

“You don't think I'm leaving them here do you?”

Kevin screamed, “You think I'm going to let you take my kids, you are totally crazy.”

“Oh, I am not only taking them, but since you can't keep your hands to yourself, I am going for full custody.”

He grabbed her before she had a chance to move.

“What! You think I am going to let you take my kids, you been out there all day, fucking some man, waltz up in here and say you are leaving and taking my kids.”

“I want them around a man who knows how to treat women, because you obviously don't.”

“You aren't taking them anywhere, you slut. Did your new little boyfriend put you up to this? What, you have to suck his little dick? What the fuck did I tell you I would do to you? Huh? You fucking hypocrite.” He shoved her hard and she fell to the floor. “You probably been fucking him every chance you got.”

“Get off of me!”

“When I am good and damn ready I will get off of your whoring ass. Is that who you were with today?”

He slapped her on the side of her head.

“Answer me, were you?”

He got up and dragged her along with him to the window.

“Is he outside somewhere waiting for you? Huh? That nigga ain't nothing but a punk.”

“What…like you.” She shouted, while pulling away from him.

“Get out of my house.”

“Gladly.” She didn't bother to pick up the luggage; she grabbed her purse and headed for the door.

“Don't you ever come back here!” He yelled from the den.

“You think I would dare step back into hell! You can go there your damn self.” She shouted.

“I'll meet you there,” he shouted back. She stopped in the foyer.

“You know what?” She said while walking back towards him, “You hit me, degrade me, call me every name but my God given one and I have never done anything to you. I am the mother of your children and this child I'm carrying.”

The tears started to fall.” You never loved me, only yourself. You loved the idea of having someone you could control. But no more. I won't be here to push around anymore. You can have that trick you been seeing, just tell her she better have a good lawyer on retainer, cause you are going to need one.”

She turned to leave, not realizing how close he was to her. As she opened the front door, he slammed it and shoved her into it. He slapped her so hard in the back of the head that her head hit the door then grabbed her by the hair. She flailed her arms wildly, trying to grab his hands then bolted for the office.

“You fucking bitch. I will kill you.”

She reached the office but couldn't find the phone. He came in after her, closing the door behind him.

“You bitch. Do you think…” he took deliberate steps toward her. “That anyone…” inching closer, “Will put up with this shit!”

He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her towards him.

“Get off of me!”

“When I'm ready.” He back-handed her across the face. “Let's just see if he will want you after I am finished with you.”

After what seemed like hours, Kevin rolled off of her. He had done every unimaginable thing to her. She had long given up the fight. The more she fought the more pain he
inflicted on her. She couldn't see from one eye and her body was tender.

After Kevin finished with her he said, “let's see if he wants your ass now.”

He stood and looked down at her.

“Get out of my fucking sight,” he sneered.

She stood and steadied herself against his mahogany desk. She put her hand to her mouth, hoping that it would stop the liquid that threatened to spill from it. It hadn't worked. She started to vomit. She felt something running down her leg and looked; realizing it was her own blood. Her back was sore; her head felt like a rock had been thrown at it. Her hands were scratched, and her breasts were sore and tender. She could barely lift her arms. Her neck felt as if he had chewed it raw. Her clothes lay in tatters all over his office floor. She tried walking to the door but it hurt so much that she fell to her knees. He sucked his teeth and stepped over her body; leaving her there, like a wounded deer struck down by a speeding car. She vomited again and again. Her stomach started to cramp, and she fell to her knees, crying for the pain to go away. She pulled herself up and made it upstairs. He was snoring so loudly she knew he wouldn't wake up anytime soon. She moved as quickly as she could, covering herself with a lounging dress she found in the closet. The fabric made her body hurt more. She made her way back downstairs and found her purse along with her cell phone. She took his keys from the hook in the foyer and hurried to the garage. She climbed into his car, a feat in itself. Once she was clear of the driveway, she pulled the cell from her pocket and called Matthew, he would meet her at the mall parking lot. Luckily it was Sunday so it would be empty by now.

Matthew arrived first and noticed a car pulling up. Immediately he recognized Cheryl. She opened the door and he noticed that she was struggling to get out. He raced over to her door, and looked at her.

“Please, don't ask any questions right now. I just need you to take me home.”

He walked beside her and put her inside his truck. He drove to his house and helped her inside and up the stairs. He called for his housekeeper, and asked her to find a robe and bring some water and find the aspirin. He tried getting her to call the police, but she flatly refused. He walked her into the bathroom and he turned the shower on, as she requested. She climbed in and let the water slide down her sore body, as well as the tears.

She heard Matthew going through her purse and heard him on the phone with someone.

“Cheryl, are you alright in there? Cheryl?”

There was no answer so he opened the door and Cheryl was standing in the shower. The bathroom was fogged up; he walked toward the open shower. She looked up at him and he climbed in with her. She began to sob uncontrollably. He took her in his arms.

“Your clothes,” she said.

“They are only clothes. I'm here honey. I'm here with you.”

She wrapped her arms around him and continued to cry. They stood like that for a while. He pulled her up into his arms and carried her into his bedroom. He laid her down and covered her. He stripped his clothes off and climbed in beside her and gathered her up into his arms. She continued to cry until she fell asleep.

The police banged on the door until Kevin came downstairs. He opened it, only for the white policeman to announce that he was under arrest. Maybe he shouldn't have drunk the last of the scotch, because he felt as though he was sucking on a cotton ball. He was stunned. He was led out of his house in handcuffs. The neighbors were truly getting a show; with all of the cop cars out there you would have thought the sniper was on the loose again. He started calling for Cheryl, but she never came from
wherever she was.

Kevin called the house once he got to the police station, but no one answered. He called his boy, but of course he wouldn't be home. He finally called Rebecca and explained that he needed a lawyer because they were accusing him of assaulting Cheryl.

Cheryl was nowhere to be found, so he knew the charge couldn't be right. If only she would answer the phone and straighten this shit out. Rebecca was there with the lawyer in no time. The police explained that Cheryl had called in a report, however since they could not reach her to come into the station, they would release him until she was located. He and Rebecca went to his house and he was horrified at the site. The den was a mess. The liquor cabinet was open and two bottles of scotch were drained. He went into the office and the foul smell filled his lungs when he walked in. Torn clothes lay everywhere, the door was broken from the hinges and his chair was pushed over and there was blood on the wall and carpet. There was broken glass everywhere.

Someone must have broken into the house, was the first thought that came to Kevin's mind. He called the police and told them his house had been broken into and to report that his car had been stolen. They came over and took a report and in less than two hours, they called him to tell him that his Lo Jack system had tracked down his missing car. When he arrived at the mall parking lot, the policeman told him that it didn't appear to be stolen. He wondered who his wife might have met because the doors were locked. The cops said he could take his car so he told Rebecca she could go and he would meet her back at his house. Then he noticed it, her wedding ring.