“She knows. Truly, you came in at a weird moment and it looked sexual. It wasn’t. I swear to you.”
Her harrumph was less severe and when she sat on the couch, he took a chance and landed next to her. “Now will you stay? And we’ll get past this mess and enjoy the rest of this time we have?”
Maybe it was the year without ever feeling like she truly belonged because she had such big secrets that led to her always holding part of herself back, but Rain took another chance and decided to stay.
“You know my family is involved in organized crime already. I grew up in a world where women were accessories—daughters, mothers and wives. There are mistresses as well but they have their own world and aren’t spoken of. Anyway, from an early age my sister and I were trained to be dutiful daughters. We were sent to college but really only in preparation for marriage. I went to graduate school but only because my mother intervened so hard on my behalf.
“My father and his buddies actually arranged mine and my sister’s marriages when we were young. My sister married a fifty-five-year-old friend of my dad’s, a man who’d saved his life. This man was a widower and has three children, all of whom are older than she is. My sister is twenty-three years old.” Rain let the weight of that guilt settle around her like a worn sweater.
“I knew who my husband-to-be was. The son of one of my dad’s associates . Anthony wasn’t a total bad guy. At least he was my age. He’s the person who took my virginity at twenty-four, not that the event was very memorable. Anyway, my dad put the pressure on for me to finally get married.”
She remembered the turmoil. The creeping sense of dread that her life was never going to be her own and the one thing that kept her sanity intact was never going to be tolerated by her new husband.
“I’d been side-stepping and resisting for years and the situation finally came to a head. I didn’t love him, I wanted to paint. My dad insisted, Anthony insisted, Anthony’s father insisted. I agreed but secretly I went to my mother, who agreed to help me run. She started to put aside money for me here and there. My dad knew something was up and started to have me watched very closely. He made me leave my job so I had no money of my own. I agreed to marry Anthony but set the date a year out, saying that we had to plan a bash significant enough for a man of my father’s stature. He, being the egomaniacal asshole that he is, agreed and the pressure lightened a bit but I still had no car and no money.
“One day, after a fitting of my dress, Anthony came over to the bridal shop. He was tweaking. We argued and he beat me up pretty badly. My eye was swollen up and he actually fractured my arm in two places. The worst part is that he did it in a room filled with people and none of them did a thing to help me. My father came in and finally made him stop. He looked at me and shook his head and said, ‘Julia, this is what happens when you can’t keep your fiancé happy, don’t let it happen again’ and he turned and walked away, leaving me there. My aunt convinced them to let me go to the hospital and get treated. That’s what saved my life. My mom took me and they left us alone. She knew none of them—my father’s men—would come to the emergency room for fear of getting arrested. I got treated and my mother and aunt gave me all of their cash, my mom gave me some jewelry, the money she’d saved up, and they dropped me at the bus station with the clothes I had on my back, bruises and all and my arm in a sling.
“I walked in, bought three tickets, one to Salt Lake, one to Florida and one to Boston. I took the bus to Boston and got off halfway there and took the train out here. I never looked back.
“I call my mother once a month at the pay phone near her beauty salon. They’re tearing it out later this year.” Who knew how she’d call once that happened. “My dad doesn’t know where I
Her harrumph was less severe and when she sat on the couch, he took a chance and landed next to her. “Now will you stay? And we’ll get past this mess and enjoy the rest of this time we have?”
Maybe it was the year without ever feeling like she truly belonged because she had such big secrets that led to her always holding part of herself back, but Rain took another chance and decided to stay.
“You know my family is involved in organized crime already. I grew up in a world where women were accessories—daughters, mothers and wives. There are mistresses as well but they have their own world and aren’t spoken of. Anyway, from an early age my sister and I were trained to be dutiful daughters. We were sent to college but really only in preparation for marriage. I went to graduate school but only because my mother intervened so hard on my behalf.
“My father and his buddies actually arranged mine and my sister’s marriages when we were young. My sister married a fifty-five-year-old friend of my dad’s, a man who’d saved his life. This man was a widower and has three children, all of whom are older than she is. My sister is twenty-three years old.” Rain let the weight of that guilt settle around her like a worn sweater.
“I knew who my husband-to-be was. The son of one of my dad’s associates . Anthony wasn’t a total bad guy. At least he was my age. He’s the person who took my virginity at twenty-four, not that the event was very memorable. Anyway, my dad put the pressure on for me to finally get married.”
She remembered the turmoil. The creeping sense of dread that her life was never going to be her own and the one thing that kept her sanity intact was never going to be tolerated by her new husband.
“I’d been side-stepping and resisting for years and the situation finally came to a head. I didn’t love him, I wanted to paint. My dad insisted, Anthony insisted, Anthony’s father insisted. I agreed but secretly I went to my mother, who agreed to help me run. She started to put aside money for me here and there. My dad knew something was up and started to have me watched very closely. He made me leave my job so I had no money of my own. I agreed to marry Anthony but set the date a year out, saying that we had to plan a bash significant enough for a man of my father’s stature. He, being the egomaniacal asshole that he is, agreed and the pressure lightened a bit but I still had no car and no money.
“One day, after a fitting of my dress, Anthony came over to the bridal shop. He was tweaking. We argued and he beat me up pretty badly. My eye was swollen up and he actually fractured my arm in two places. The worst part is that he did it in a room filled with people and none of them did a thing to help me. My father came in and finally made him stop. He looked at me and shook his head and said, ‘Julia, this is what happens when you can’t keep your fiancé happy, don’t let it happen again’ and he turned and walked away, leaving me there. My aunt convinced them to let me go to the hospital and get treated. That’s what saved my life. My mom took me and they left us alone. She knew none of them—my father’s men—would come to the emergency room for fear of getting arrested. I got treated and my mother and aunt gave me all of their cash, my mom gave me some jewelry, the money she’d saved up, and they dropped me at the bus station with the clothes I had on my back, bruises and all and my arm in a sling.
“I walked in, bought three tickets, one to Salt Lake, one to Florida and one to Boston. I took the bus to Boston and got off halfway there and took the train out here. I never looked back.
“I call my mother once a month at the pay phone near her beauty salon. They’re tearing it out later this year.” Who knew how she’d call once that happened. “My dad doesn’t know where I
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