mouth and let the first sentences tumble out of her numb lips.
She explained Ron’s courtship of her, how he treated her so well in the beginning. She tried not to pay attention to the scratching of the pen on the paper as he scribbled notes as she talked. Cammie relived the first attack, the one brought on by her purchase of lite beer instead of the regular. She felt the impact of his palm on her cheek and the sound of it cracking through the silence in his kitchen.
Her cackle completely lacked humor. “The ass had the audacity to tell me that he wouldn’t have hit me, but he wanted to set an example for something small so I understood my place. What the hell was I thinking staying with him after that?”
“Hon, you know that I don’t blame you, so you shouldn’t blame yourself. He is trouble. Ron has been a problem for years, and it just sounds like you were the last in the long line of women he found who would put up with his shit.”
She knew that in her head, but her heart wasn’t so forgiving. She’d allowed a man not only to demean her more than once but she’d let him strike and bruise her. What the hell was wrong with her that she’d permit something like that? She was the first one to scoff at women who repeatedly went back to an abuser. Now, she found herself sitting with the sheriff, talking through her inability to act appropriately during multiple instances of abuse. Her head dropped into her hands and she almost reveled in the slight pain from her black eye and bruised face as she pressed it into her palms.
“Cammie. Keep going. What happened today?” She glanced over at Connor and cringed at the pure pity shining in his eyes.
She looked away and stared out into the trees again. She didn’t need his pity. She felt bad enough for everyone. “Last night I drove to Ron’s house. We were going to just hang out, or that’s what he told me. When I got there he was already drunk off his ass. He started yelling about nothing particular, ranting and raving. When he came at me with a miniature bat I panicked. I grabbed the first thing I could, which happened to be a broom. In the fight I got hit a few times. I whacked him over the head with the broomstick, and, well, knocked him out.”
The memory of the drive home, getting hit by Titan, and the struggle to get the poor baby into her car brought a tired smile to her lips. She shook her head. It was pretty sad that something so traumatic was almost a nice memory. “I knew that wouldn’t be the end of it, but I didn’t expect him to show up here and try to kill me. He came in and chased me around the house. When we made it into the kitchen he threw me around, and if Titan wasn’t here I’d probably be dead.”
“Who’s Titan?”
She’d forgotten she was telling her story to Connor. The memories had been so vivid that she was stuck living them again, wincing with the phantom feel of hard flesh striking her. She turned to the sheriff slowly, letting the images bleed from her mind before meeting his eyes. “The wolf inside my house is Titan. He hit my car last night while I was driving home from Ron’s. If he hadn’t come in and attacked Ron in my kitchen I’d be gone. I saw it in his eyes. Ron was going to beat me until I wasn’t breathing anymore.”
She’d tried so hard to keep her voice level throughout the story, but a sob escaped when she uttered the last sentence.
“All right. Just stay calm. He can’t hurt you now.” Connor moved in the chair and reached toward her, but her jerk ing away from his hand made him stop. Slowly the hand dropped back into his lap. A look close to rage crossed his face. “Cammie, you’re going to press charges, right? You aren’t just telling me this story to warn me or some other horse shit.”
“I don’t know what I was thinking, actually. I know that he is pissed. He threatened to come back and kill Titan. The problem is that I will eventually be alone again. Once I find Titan’s owner
She explained Ron’s courtship of her, how he treated her so well in the beginning. She tried not to pay attention to the scratching of the pen on the paper as he scribbled notes as she talked. Cammie relived the first attack, the one brought on by her purchase of lite beer instead of the regular. She felt the impact of his palm on her cheek and the sound of it cracking through the silence in his kitchen.
Her cackle completely lacked humor. “The ass had the audacity to tell me that he wouldn’t have hit me, but he wanted to set an example for something small so I understood my place. What the hell was I thinking staying with him after that?”
“Hon, you know that I don’t blame you, so you shouldn’t blame yourself. He is trouble. Ron has been a problem for years, and it just sounds like you were the last in the long line of women he found who would put up with his shit.”
She knew that in her head, but her heart wasn’t so forgiving. She’d allowed a man not only to demean her more than once but she’d let him strike and bruise her. What the hell was wrong with her that she’d permit something like that? She was the first one to scoff at women who repeatedly went back to an abuser. Now, she found herself sitting with the sheriff, talking through her inability to act appropriately during multiple instances of abuse. Her head dropped into her hands and she almost reveled in the slight pain from her black eye and bruised face as she pressed it into her palms.
“Cammie. Keep going. What happened today?” She glanced over at Connor and cringed at the pure pity shining in his eyes.
She looked away and stared out into the trees again. She didn’t need his pity. She felt bad enough for everyone. “Last night I drove to Ron’s house. We were going to just hang out, or that’s what he told me. When I got there he was already drunk off his ass. He started yelling about nothing particular, ranting and raving. When he came at me with a miniature bat I panicked. I grabbed the first thing I could, which happened to be a broom. In the fight I got hit a few times. I whacked him over the head with the broomstick, and, well, knocked him out.”
The memory of the drive home, getting hit by Titan, and the struggle to get the poor baby into her car brought a tired smile to her lips. She shook her head. It was pretty sad that something so traumatic was almost a nice memory. “I knew that wouldn’t be the end of it, but I didn’t expect him to show up here and try to kill me. He came in and chased me around the house. When we made it into the kitchen he threw me around, and if Titan wasn’t here I’d probably be dead.”
“Who’s Titan?”
She’d forgotten she was telling her story to Connor. The memories had been so vivid that she was stuck living them again, wincing with the phantom feel of hard flesh striking her. She turned to the sheriff slowly, letting the images bleed from her mind before meeting his eyes. “The wolf inside my house is Titan. He hit my car last night while I was driving home from Ron’s. If he hadn’t come in and attacked Ron in my kitchen I’d be gone. I saw it in his eyes. Ron was going to beat me until I wasn’t breathing anymore.”
She’d tried so hard to keep her voice level throughout the story, but a sob escaped when she uttered the last sentence.
“All right. Just stay calm. He can’t hurt you now.” Connor moved in the chair and reached toward her, but her jerk ing away from his hand made him stop. Slowly the hand dropped back into his lap. A look close to rage crossed his face. “Cammie, you’re going to press charges, right? You aren’t just telling me this story to warn me or some other horse shit.”
“I don’t know what I was thinking, actually. I know that he is pissed. He threatened to come back and kill Titan. The problem is that I will eventually be alone again. Once I find Titan’s owner
Similar Books
