Suddenly, there was a sharp agony in my head as though I’d been struck by a hammer. I couldn’t even open my eyes. The pain was that brutal. I was sure he had hit me, but when I swung my hand out in defense, my hand connected with nothing. I felt his hands close around my ankles, and …
Memories began to flash across my mind. Horrible, horrible things. Unbearable. Horrendous. Sins of the flesh. I heard the sinner’s laughter, but I couldn’t see the face. I didn’t want to see. I opened my eyes to try to put an end to the torment but it was of no use. The memories there even when my eyes were open. My white cotton panties were lying on the floor. My skinny little legs were open. And the sinner was forcing himself into me. “You like this,” he was saying. A maddened scream erupted from my throat.
Bradley began to drag me across the floor.
I felt like I was screaming at the top of my lungs, but whether that was my actual reaction, or from the memory that was replaying, I had no clue. I was out of strength and life, and the only name I could think of was Caleb’s.
I screamed out his name and it felt like an echo. Was that what I was doing now or was it once again a memory? I could hear too many voices around me … maybe it was the sinner, or Bradley’s. I couldn’t tell.
“Caleb,” I screamed again, and his name shattered the wall that held my memories at bay. The final domino fell, his face came rushing towards me.
I saw him then … my uncle. The smug smile … the lustful glaze. The wall that was erected in my mind had fallen. I killed him. I killed him and Caleb took the blame. I was the murderer. I went into shock, no longer even cognizant of what was happening around me. I stopped breathing. I couldn’t breathe. My chest heaved, but I couldn’t draw any air into my lungs. My lungs burned with the lack of oxygen. I was dying.
Then I felt the sharp sting across my cheek.
Bradley had struck me, and the pain forced air into my lungs again. For a while he did nothing and all I could hear was my harsh wheezing.
I shot up and scuttled backwards. My gaze was beginning to clear, my face was soaked, as Bradley came back into focus.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” he asked.
He was poised over me. I looked down to see his cock out, already red and hard. My own underwear had been pulled down and bunched around my thighs. He was about to rape me. The rage I felt inside me could not be described. I’d just discovered I once killed a man for this. I looked at him with hate. I saw the shock in his eyes as he watched the transformation inside me. We were by his mini fridge on the floor, and on top of it was the bottle he had used.
I grabbed it and with vindictive strength, slammed it into the side of his head. It didn’t explode into shards of glass as it did in movies. Instead it made a dull thud and it made his skin split. Blood poured down. With a cry of pain he fell, his hands grabbing his head.
I didn’t waste any time.
I staggered to my feet, and attempted to run, but the underwear still bunched around my thighs sent me falling back down to the floor. The fall sucked the life out of me, and for a few seconds all I could do was lie face down in complete helplessness. Then my eyes opened, and my hand connected with my purse.
The memory of Caleb bursting into the parish house after I called him. I saw it all as vividly as the day it happened. I showed him my uncle’s body. He was so livid, so insanely angry, he lost it. He kicked my uncle’s dead body repeatedly until I had to scream for him to stop.
When he finally did. I felt no fear as I told him I knew I was going to prison and asked him if he would wait for me, but he wouldn’t hear of it. He told me he would go to prison because he should have been the one to kill my uncle. It was his privilege. He asked me for my watch. I took it off and gave it to him. Then he set the house on fire. We stood outside and we made our promises. We made them in blood. My heart felt as if it was breaking in a million pieces when I thought of the sacrifice Caleb had made for me.
“Caleb,” I heard myself call. I found the strength to try and rise. I pulled my panties up, then looked at Bradley. He was curled up and moaning with pain. I pulled myself up, grabbed my purse and staggered out of his house.