~Chapter 3
~Peach
As we reach the hotel I can barely keep my eyes open to make it inside of the room. The man whose bike I rode and whose body I have been attached to since leaving the house, Shadow I heard them call him, is there supporting me again as we come to a halt outside a hotel. He scoops me up into his arms and has no problem carrying me to the room after one of the other men has gone in and gotten a key.
I slip in and out of sleep as he cleans me up, running a quick bath for me before redressing me and putting me to bed. The dreams that I have are restless and are not far from the reality that I have been living these past five years. Thoughts of my step-father and the time I have spent trying to forget about those years haunt me as well.
The next few days, I am out of it more than with it. I only know that time has passed, remembering that man, Shadow, waking me to feed me and make sure that I was resting comfortably. As I regain more consciousness and come to maybe three days later, Shadow is here with me, and his eyes move towards me as he notices my movement, that I am finally awake.
As I take stock of my changed clothes my thoughts slip to how this man has helped me, as my body becomes more aware of my surroundings and I wonder what he will want from me to repay this kindness. Three days of waiting on me and watching over me is something that no other person has done for me since Irene and before her there was only my mother.
Sitting up in my bed, I find myself grabbing up at the blankets that tumble off me. Looking towards Shadow I am not able to hide the fear that comes over me with this man’s eyes burning a hole through me as they are. My head drops quickly as I see the anger in him and I wonder what he will take from me to repay his kindness, just as the others have.
Rising to his feet, his hands come out in front of him moving slowly slightly up and down, trying to show me that he is of no treat to me. His voice is low as he speaks, “Becca.”
Cutting him off the words are harsh as they come outta my mouth, “Not Becca. Never fucking Becca. Just Rebecca.”
Shaking his head in answer he lowers his hands tugging briefly on the vest he is wearing as he goes on. “Rebecca, you don’t have anything to fear from me, from any of us really.” Running a hand through his long slightly graying hair he goes on, “Irene told Preach enough to let us know that you had been to hell and back before you even left Burlington years ago. We are just here to help get you home and make sure you are safe on the way there.” Looking around again he pauses to light up a smoke before continuing. “I’ll stop at nothing to get you there safely and with as little trouble from your past as possible in the future.”
As I nod my head in understanding, this man continues on, “Irene told Preach what she wants, so that is what we are doing. Preach is taking care of a few things that came up while I was out the last time, and Gun, well he is doing what Gun does best.” Laughing to himself the smile that crosses his face brings a joy and light to his eyes that I would like to see more. Looking back towards me he goes on, “When they get finished, we’ll let you rest and heal up for a few more days before we make our way home.”
Tapping the cigarette into an empty can, he looks towards me with a million questions in those gorgeous brown eyes. I don’t see the demand that most men have had in their eyes during these last few years as he runs his free hand through his hair again.
The silence in the room is deafening as we stare at each other. I am nervous with him being so close and the nerves cause my mouth to move. “Just ask whatever it is that’s on your mind.” I say slowly moving towards the edge of the bed. Beginning to stand the cramp that gets me has me growling out in pain before I can make it two steps. I hit the floor and grab my calf, while wincing in pain.
Shadow is next to me in seconds grabbing for me as soon as I fall. His touch sends my thoughts back and the scream that rips itself from my lips at those thoughts has him pulling back right quick. I can see his dark eyes consume me as he tries to piece together what has happened to this poor broken girl in front of him. The look on his face is one that drives me further from him, scaring me with the depth and sincerity in it.
I can only begin to wonder as he continues to look at me, what story he might be coming up with as far as my past is concerned. I decide to spare him from the fucking Q&A after a few seconds and dive head first into the story.
“I’m not sure what Irene has told you about my life, but the man that raised me after my mom and sister died, Harold, was not a nice man. He held their deaths against me the entire time I was there and after a while I started believing all the shit he was saying.”
Pushing myself up I sit on the edge of the bed and continue rubbing my leg as I go on. “When he was at the point of seeing me as more than his daughter and more of a free hole to try and stick his dick in, I decided it was time to be fucking gone.” Shrugging towards the pack of smokes, Shadow nods his head and I reach over for one, lighting it as I try to relax back into the bed.
“The road from there didn’t get much fucking smoother. The first of the other six had the guy that found me paying for his help with my fucking pussy right quick and not in a way that I asked for or even fucking wanted.” Taking a deep pull from the smoke, I exhale before adding, “Fuck at that age, I am not sure it would have been legal even if I had been willing.”
Reaching into the pocket of the pants I now have on, and finding it empty has me freaking the fuck out. Scrambling up off the bed, I am wildly looking around the room, until Shadow reaches his hand out holding the one thing that has keep me somewhat sane these last years. A scrap of paper that has been with me since the day I left my step-dad, in one form or another. Moving towards him, I can’t look into his face as I reach for the note.
“I could have lost track of how many there were or their names, or where I have been these past years, if it wasn’t for this.” Holding it close, I absently rub my thumb over the well-worn paper before placing it back into my pocket. “Not that I haven’t had the seven in mind or don’t have this list memorized, I don’t know.” Looking back into his face, seeing the pain in those brown eyes, gives me pause. “It just helps to have something to be able to hold onto.”
When I realize that he is quiet it takes a few moments for me to see that he is running his hands through that long salt and pepper hair again. He finds himself asking a question I am sure he wishes quickly that he wouldn’t have asked. “Those seven names on that list, they are the men that have hurt you?” Running his hands through his hair again before going on, “The men that have taken advantage of the girl that you are? That you were?”
Nodding my head is the only way that I can answer for long minutes. As I come back to my senses, I rub at the scars on my wrists and think back to number five, at the pain. “Those names, they have been carved into my brain and in one way or another my body as well, and will never leave it.”
Shaking his head there is little said between us for about ten minutes. I think back to the most recent of the seven, he seemed better than the rest, he wasn’t. I wonder if the man is still alive and think about the first time he brought me to that house.
He had given number six a shipment of drugs for me. Knowing my value equates to a shipment of drugs or at least it did to number six was eye opening. It was one of the first times that I thought about trying to get out of the situations that I kept finding myself in, and that hadn’t happened since I left home.
I was happy as fuck to be outta number six’s grasp but didn’t know what I was getting into here in Georgia. I am almost thankful that number seven bought me because he was always so fucked up that I was able to reach out to Irene and start on the journey home.
Number seven’s house was a real piece of shit and I knew as soon as we got here the situation was not better, just different. He didn’t even hide the shit he needed and used for his “job” if that’s even what you can call it. I kept to myself as much as I could during the months that I was there. Although, some days number seven and his fucking friends had different ideas. At least he would ply me up with liquor or some sort of drugs before trying anything after the first time.
After getting to the house from Arkansas I wasn’t even given time to freshen up before number seven was pawing at me. When his hands wrapped around my wrists from behind, the thoughts of number five came rushing back and I elbowed him in the face, breaking his nose instantly. His screams at that were nothing compared to what would be coming out of my mouth at his retribution a short while later. He broke a few of my ribs that day and made sure that he got what he wanted in the end anyway.
Only smoke fills the room as I come back into the here and now. The void between Shadow and I grows as I focus across the room at him. Until I finally speak, answering his unasked questions.
“Look, I know that the seven each were a mark against me. None of them were welcome, and the things that they did to me, or had me do should never be thought of again, but I know it hasn’t and won’t be that easy.” Rubbing a hand through my hair and cringing at the feel of a bruise that I find there. “How else is a girl to get by at sixteen or twenty in these types of things?”
Taking a pull, I let the smoke fill my lungs as my thoughts come to a crashing halt as Shadow moves closer to the bed. Staring up at him, I am not sure what it is that he wants, the look in his eye is not one that I am completely comfortable with, but if he is anything like all the others I am about to pay for his niceties, the help he has given.
Letting go of the blankets, they drop away from me as I start to reach for the t-shirt which is draped over me, but his hand is quick to cover my own. As he squeezes tightly I look down to see the tattoos that cover his hand and am entranced by what I see. The black and white lines drawing my thoughts in before his voice breaks me outta it.
“Never would I accept what it is you are offering to me like this, my little Peach.” Taking a drag, he raises his eyes to mine before moving his hand and going on, “I am a lot of things little Peach, I am a bastard and murderer, I am a rough man and Master, I am a sadist, incapable of the things that you should have, the things that are the opposite of what you have gone through these last years.” Moving the cigarette to his lips, I can’t help to watch his mouth as he sucks in. “Above all I am loyal to my brothers, their women, and the families that they have. That is what has brought me here to you. I am the one who will watch over you from now on, and that will not stop when we return to Chicago, but I will never accept your body as payment for that.” His eyes turn dark and the look on his face is one of pure disgust, “As I can only guess the seven men that have fucking helped you over the years have had no problem doing.”
Snuffing out his smoke, he tosses it in the can on the table before heading out the door. Before I’m able to respond the door is locking from the outside. I am on my feet in a second, and pulling back the curtains to see him running his hands through his long salt and pepper hair, tugging roughly on the ends as he does so- walking towards his bike.
Turning I move back to the bed and grab up another smoke, lighting it up and inhaling deeply. My mind wanders to the man who has left me alone, the man that says he would never want my body, the man that is only doing this as a favor. As the moments pass, the cigarette starts to burn my lips, I move towards the bathroom putting it out in the can on the table on my way.
Stripping outta my clothing, maybe a shower is what I need to stop my mind from racing. As I turn the handles and the water starts to heat, I run my fingers under the spigot before pulling the knob up to start the shower.
Tossing aside the curtain, I step into the tub feeling every ache in my body scream out. As the hot water runs over me, the tension that I am feeling starts to drift away and my thoughts slowly move back to the men that have saved me, no not all the men, just the one man that has vowed to protect me, to keep me safe no matter what.