Six
Pain woke me up a couple of hours later. My body hurt so bad—I was crying before I opened my eyes. Jiji had covered me with the blanket I kept in the back for transporting her animals to the shelter.
“Jiji, what the hell is going on?” I croaked. My throat was really sore. She handed me a bottle of water.
“Oh, thank God you’re awake, Tish. I don’t know how to help you.”
“Tell me about Aden. I need to know the truth, Jiji.”
“He’s bad news, Tish. It started the year after he married Mom. I could hear them argue, then he would drag her to their room and lock them in. I would pound on the door because I could hear her crying. He would scream at me to go away or I would get what’s coming to me. He was really creeping me out, leering at me, pinching my butt when Mom couldn’t see. I refused to be alone with him; I didn’t trust him.”
“Jiji, why didn’t you tell me? What did I do to make you think I wouldn’t have helped you both?”
“Your mom had just died, Tish, you were in no shape to do anything but grieve. I couldn’t put this on you. Besides, Aden warned me that if I said anything to you, he would come after you too. He was really graphic about what he would do. The sicko gets off on the fear.”
She hung her head before continuing, “One night, he did beat me pretty bad. While he was hitting me, he said I would learn my role. That one day soon, I would take over my mom’s place beside him. He was psycho, saying shit about sticking his dick in my ass ‘til I screamed—that I would learn to like it. He was smart, though, he never hit me in the face because he didn’t want bruises people could see. It was sick, Tish. He was getting off on hitting me. Do you remember when I was supposed to go to my cousin Michelle’s wedding? I was gone the whole week, but not for the celebration. I was in the hospital, healing from a beating.”
“Oh my God, Jiji! You’re just telling me about this now? Does Jameson know? Why wouldn’t you tell me?”
“I couldn’t tell you, Tish. When I tried to report him to the police, Chief Barry told me to quit spreading lies. That I had better keep my mouth shut or there would be consequences for both me and my mom. I showed him the bruises on my body. He blew me off, saying I could have gotten those from the dogs I was always working with. He had an answer for everything. I knew we wouldn’t get help from him. And no, Jameson does not know any of this, Tish.
“I begged and pleaded with my mother to leave him, but she wouldn’t. Finally, she said that he would come after me if she left him. That one wet hole was as good as another. That mine would be his if she got any ideas about leaving.” Jiji burst into tears as she went on, “She did it to protect me, Tish. My mother let that monster beat her, rape her, humiliate her…all to keep me safe.”
I handed her some tissues. “Dry your eyes or pull over,” I said. “Jiji, why didn’t you tell Jameson?”
“Because my mom begged me not to. She said Aden knew things about Jameson’s club that could get them all arrested and thrown in jail. My mom couldn’t do that to him. He had a life away from that freak, and she swore it would stay that way.” She settled down in the seat, wiping her eyes and nose.
I had a lot to think about as we drove through the night. It started raining, which suited my mood perfectly. She flipped on the windshield wipers. The sound of them slapping against the window soothed me and I soon went back to sleep. A few hours later, I felt the car slow and stop. We needed gas and a bathroom break. Getting back in the car, I got behind the wheel so Jiji could rest, and then settled in for the remainder of the trip.
I’d been driving for almost thirteen hours. I had to get off the road to rest. My face was throbbing in a couple places, and my left arm down to my hand was numb. I shook Jiji awake.
“Honey, you have to drive for a while. I need you to get some pain killers at a drug store, then we’ll get a few hours’ rest.” I pulled over in the parking lot of a twenty-four-hour Walgreens. Good thing I cashed my paycheck this morning and didn’t have a chance to get to the bank. I had plenty of cash. Pulling out my wallet, I handed Jiji a twenty.
“You can get in and out of the Walgreens faster than me without anyone asking questions.” While I looked like I’d gone ten rounds with a gorilla, she’d piled her hair on top of her head in a messy bun, which hid the lump. She changed into my extra scrub top, which was clean and free of blood. She was back in the car, sliding into the driver’s seat, in under fifteen minutes.
She unscrewed the cap on the bottled water, handing it to me along with two Aleve. She started the car and drove a couple blocks to a gas station. While she pumped gas, I sank down in the seat to wait ‘til she finished. She got back in the car then drove to the back of the station to a small building before shutting the car off. She came over to my door and helped me out, grabbing a bag from the Walgreens out of the backseat.
She opened the door to the bathroom with the key the attendant gave her, checking inside before motioning me in and closing, then locking, the door. We both used the bathroom quickly. I hobbled over to the sink. As I looked in the mirror, my split lip quivered. I started to cry silently, my shoulders shaking. I didn’t recognize the person staring back at me.
“I’m so sorry he did this to you, Tish.” She started dabbing at some of the cuts on my face. She stopped then whipped out her phone. She told me to stand still while she took some pictures of my face and neck. “I don’t know what Aden plans to do, but at least we will have some proof that he hit you, Tish,” she said, snapping away. “I knew he was unstable. I knew he’d been fuckin’ around on my mom, plus whatever else he’d been into.” I saw her eyes fill with tears. She whispered, “I never thought he’d go this far. He scared me, but I kept telling myself I was leaving, going to school, and that Mom would be alright once I was gone and he didn’t have to share her with me. But I was wrong, and it got her killed.”
I turned away from the mirror, looking Jiji in the eye. “It’s not on you, Jiji. This is all on Aden! He did this. He’s fucked up. Don’t let him get in your head.” We hugged each other, each crying for a different reason.
Then she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Whew, okay, I’m done crying because of that asshole. He will never get me to shed another tear! Let’s go find Jameson, Tish.”
“You’ll still have to drive, Jiji. I’m shot; my body can’t take anymore.”
“I’m okay; I can drive for a while.” She opened the door, looked out, then motioned for me to follow. I got in the car, she returned the bathroom key, then she joined me and we got back on the road.
The motion of the car ceased, pulling me from sleep. Blinking, I felt my face pull from the dried blood caking it. I couldn’t open my right eye. Jiji had gotten in line at a drive-thru and was getting us food. Pulling away from the window, she drove around the lot before parking in the back so we could eat in some privacy.
“Where are we, Jiji?”
She laughed, looking out the window. “Podunk, New York,” she said.
I tried to smile, but my split lip hurt so I quit. “Stop, it hurts,” I said.
She laughed before handing me a soda. She positioned the straw on the side of my lip that wasn’t split so I could take a few sips, but it was all I could manage. The bubbles felt funny going down my throat, which was still sore.
Jiji was eating a burger mechanically, biting and chewing but not really tasting. She was exhausted, her strength drained; she was running on empty. She had bags under her eyes so dark they looked bruised; tiredly she pushed some hair out of her face, shoving it behind her ear, too exhausted to mess with it further. I told her to slide over, that I would drive for a while. She didn’t say anything as I got out of the car, but slid across the seat to make room for me behind the wheel. I reached for my cell phone in its usual place before remembering Jiji had dumped them when we stopped the first time.
She bought a couple of prepaid phones at the Walgreens. We opened them, programmed each other’s numbers in, then plugged in one at a time to charge. She also made me put Jameson’s number in and label it Fighter.
About two hours later, we pulled up to the gates of this old barn; it was up on a knoll so it could be seen from the gate. It was surrounded by a high fence with a booth checking cars going in. Lights were on, music was blaring, and people were milling around the front and on the porch.
The guy at the gate came up to the car. I rolled the window down partway, making sure the doors were still locked.
He took one look at my face and backed up. “What the fuck?” he said.
Jiji leaned over me, speaking loudly, “Listen asswipe, we know we look like shit. We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t need help.”
He stepped closer to the car. “Who you looking for?”
Without thinking, I replied, “Jameson,” and he looked at me funny.
“Who?”
Jiji said, “Sorry, she means Fighter.”
He smiled. “Lucky bastard.” Pulling his cell from his cut, he turned around and, hitting a few buttons, he dialed.
The back of his leather vest read prospect. Looking at Jiji, I raised my eyebrow. She shrugged her shoulders in a hell if I know answer. We listened as the prospect talked on the phone.
“Yo, Fighter, there are two, umm, ladies down here at the gate asking for you.” He listened for a sec before replying, “Yeah, I know, that’s why I called. They look done in, boss, said they need your help. Sure, hang on a sec.” Holding the speaker against his chest, he said, “He wants names?”
“Jiji Wilks and Tish DeMarco,” she said.
He relayed the info into the phone. We could hear Fighter’s roar from where the prospect was standing. He swiped the screen to end the call, motioning us to drive through the gate and park directly inside. He leaned down and said, “Fighter said not to move. He will be down shortly. I gotta go back to the gate so don’t do nothin’ ‘til he gets here. Feel me?” We both nodded, so he tapped the roof and walked away.
I rested my head against the seat back, closing my eyes. Jiji reached over and held my hand, giving it a squeeze. I squeezed back but didn’t have the strength to open my eyes. We just held on and waited.