A Love Like This (Book 1) (28 page)

“
If you ever come near my baby sister again,
”
 
Keisha pauses for a second and smiles at Damian,
 
“
You feel that vein that
’
s pulsating on the side of your neck; I
’
m going to slice right through it and stand over you while you bleed to death.
”

Damian
’
s hand involuntarily moves up to his neck.
 
He swallows hard.
 
 
“
You
’
ll be back,
”
 
he yells to
 
Nickie.
 
His voice cracking in his throat,
 
“
No one will ever take care of you the way I do.
”

Keisha picks up her shoes at the front door.
 
She holds the box cutter in front of her throat and makes a slicing motion with her teeth bared.
 
She sneers and mouths the words,
 
“
gonna
 
kill
 
ya,
”
 
to Damian before following
 
Nickie
 
down the stairs.

They rush to the car.
 
 
Pookie
 
pops the trunk open and
 
Nickie
 
shoves her bags inside.
 
She opens the back door and slides onto the seat.
 
She collapses in a heap and rests her stinging cheek against the cold leather.
 

“
What happened?
”
 
Pookie
 
asks as he swings Keisha
’
s car out into traffic.
 
After dropping
 
Nickie
 
off
 
he
 
and Keisha circled the block and parked a few yards away from
 
Nickie
’
s
 
apartment.
 
When they saw Damian walk up the stairs they tried calling to make sure
 
Nickie
 
was alright.
 
She didn
’
t respond so Keisha insisted that
 
Pookie
 
allow her to go up alone.
 
She knew that
 
Pookie
 
would try and defuse the situation.
 
He
’
d
talk
 
everyone down and make nice. Keisha didn
’
t want the situation defused she wanted blood.
 

“
He hit her in the face.
 
That
’
s what
 
fuckin
 
happened,
”
 
she says reaching in her purse for her cell phone.
 
 
Nickie
 
sees her rustling around.

“
Keisha what are you doing?
”
 
Nickie
 
asks.
 
She doesn
’
t respond. Keisha
’
s suspected that Damian
’
s been abusive for some time but
 
Nickie
 
always denied it.
 
 
 
“
Please don
’
t tell Momma
and daddy.
 
I promise I
’
ll never see him again,
”
 
Nickie
 
says through her sobs.

“
You may not want your parents to know but someone has to do something about him,
”
 
Pookie
 
says.

“
I
’
d rather call the police and file a report than tell anyone in the family,
”
 
Nickie
 
says covering her face with her hands.
 
 
“
Can we please talk about this later?
 
I just want to rest,
”
 
she says blinking away burning tears. They ride to Keisha
’
s house in silence.
 
 
Nickie
 
gets a change of clothes from the bags in the trunk and takes them into Keisha
’
s bathroom to shower and change.
 

She scrubs her skin and hair and stands in the shower until the water runs cold.
 
She looks at herself in the bathroom mirror.
 
There
’
s a purple bruise on her face where Damian punched her.
 
 
She gets dressed and walks out of the bathroom feeling defeated.
 
“
Where are all the kids,
”
 
Nickie
 
asks dryly.
 
Keisha and
 
Pookie
 
are sitting at the table with three glasses in front of them.

“
Doug took them to his parent
’
s house and out for ice cream.
”
 
 
Pookie
 
pours
 
Nickie
 
a glass of wine and refills his and Keisha
’
s glass.
 
Keisha takes the ice pack off her bruised fist and hands it to
 
Nickie.

“
I
’
m sorry about your hand,
”
 
Nickie
 
says.

“
It
’
s ok,
”
 
Keisha says extending her fingers.
 

Pookie
 
reaches over and gently touches
 
Nickie
’
s
 
bruised face.
 
 
“
I wish you could see how special you are.
 
You deserve so much better than this.
”

Nickie
 
takes a long gulp of wine and blinks away tears.

*****

Nickie
 
wakes up early Monday morning with a Hot Wheel track stuck to her face and little Xavier standing in front of her.
 
He
’
s staring with his mouth wide open and his index finger up his nose.

“
Hello little X,
”
 
She says sitting up.
 
Last night
she
passed
out on the couch after one glass of wine.
 
She was emotionally exhausted.

“
What happen to
 
yo
 
face,
”
 
he says pulling his finger out of his nose and wiping the remnants on his shirt.

“
I ran into a door,
”
 
she says.
 

“
X
 
leave
 
your aunt alone,
”
 
Keisha yells from the kitchen.
 
Little Xavier sticks his finger back in his nose and walks off.
 
 
Nickie
 
drags herself from the couch and ambles into the kitchen.
 

“
How are you feeling?
”
 
Keisha asks.
 
She
’
s dressed in jeans that hug her round bottom a loose fitting blouse with a plunging neckline and high heel booties.

“
My face is a little sore but I
’
m ok,
”
 
She says pouring herself a cup of coffee.
 
 
Nickie
 
adds cream and watches as the steaming dark liquid fades and lightens.
 
Keisha is packing the kids lunches.
 
She packs peanut butter and jelly for some, turkey with cheese for others and places the lunches in individual lunch boxes.
 
 

“
Do you feel like talking?
”

Nickie
 
feels Keisha watching but she doesn
’
t look up to meet her gaze.
 
She plunges into the story,
 
“
The first time he hit me was a few weeks after we started dating.
 
You remember I told you we broke up but I didn
’
t tell anyone why?
”

“
Yeah I remember.
”

“
Well he promised he would never do it again.
 
I believed him so we got back together
”
 
She shakes her head,
 
“
I brought this all on myself.
”

“
You didn
’
t make him hit you.
 
 
I
 
just
 
don
’
t understand
 
why you didn
’
t tell me?
”

Nickie
 
looks up at Keisha.
 
She has tears in her eyes.
 
 
“
I
’
m sorry.
 
I was so humiliated that I couldn
’
t tell anyone.
”

“
The physical scars will heal but a broken spirit could last forever if you let it.
”
 
 
Nickie
 
nods her agreement.
 
Keisha walks over to hug
 
Nickie.
 
 
Nickie
 
wraps her arms around her sister and lays her head on Keisha
’
s chest.
 
 
“
There isn
’
t a woman alive who hasn
’
t been a fool for a man at some point in her life.
”
 
 
Keisha holds
 
Nickie
 
at arms link and looks into her eyes.
 
 
“
I
’
m all for a man taking control but you can
’
t give anyone total power over your life.
 
The only thing that matters now is that you learn from your mistakes.
”

Nickie
 
thinks back to Riley.
 
She remembers how he just handed over his credit card without even asking if she wanted to stay longer.
 

“
Alright I
’
m going to get the kids up for school.
 
I could really use your help at the shop today.
 
I
’
ve been over booked for the last few days.
 
You can make appointments and shampoo my clients.
”