Chapter 7
Tom continued to step towards her, and she continued to step back. She tried
to ignore the panic rising in her chest and forced herself to remain calm.
After all of the therapy and time spent rebuilding herself, she had gotten
rid of all her anger - and defenses. She might not walk away from this one.
By now her back was against the door, and she glanced from the switchblade
clenched in his fist to his dark eyes, and back again. Looking over at Kat
she pretended that nothing was wrong. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"
She just shook her head; fear had stolen her tongue.
"You know better than that, girl," he growled at Lit confidently. "I always
get the last word. Always." Looking down at his weapon he put it into his
pocket. "I think I'm going to do this the old fashioned way. You know, for
old time's sake." With that he advanced towards her once more.
"Aren't you supposed to be in prison?" Lit demanded.
"Yeah, but as you can see, I ain't there now, am I?"
Without further hesitation, he lunged towards her, and grabbed her by the
hair as she tried to spin away. Slamming her into the wall with a sickening
thud, he pinned her there and brought his face so close to hers that she
could smell his breath.
"I'm going to make you wish you were never born," he spoke threateningly.
Litt kept her eyes locked with his and tried to keep herself from shaking.
You know, she thought darkly. This would happen, wouldn't it? It was too
good to be true that I was able to move on and start a new life. It was too
good to be true that I had Tom out of my life for good. It was too goddamn
good to be true that I had begun to let my goddamn wounds heal. It was all
coming back, and she found herself falling back into her old routine.
The motion of him shoving her against the wall triggered memories from
before. They came one right after the other like flashes of light, and she
found herself flinching for each one. The time he pushed her into the filing
cabinet. The exercise machine. The table. The television. With each memory
the anger came flooding back. With each image Litt felt herself falling back
into the person she had once been. Bruised and battered, yes, but also
willful, strong, caring, and quick. As all of her old self flowed back into
her body, she felt a surge of energy and her eyes lit up with their old
flame. She came to a realization just then. She had been trying to hide
herself from all the pain and sorrow, but what she hadn't realized was that
she had been hiding herself from the real her. What she needed to do was
accept everything - all of the flashbacks, memories, and anguish - and then
finally move on.
With her eyes never leaving Tom's face she said, "I hate you. You aren't a
father, you aren't a husband, you aren't even strong. You've never dealt
with ME, only a part of me. I'm going to show you today how much I hate
you." Hatred seethed from every part of her body, mind, and spirit, and she
looked so determined that Tom accidentally let his grip slip slightly. Litt
grinned at him and almost laughed.
"You really think so, huh? Well," he released his grip and took a step back.
"Take your best shot."
Litt's eyes narrowed with concentration as she thought about what she would
do. Suddenly she lurched forward and faked a punch then kicked him sharply
in the stomach instead. He quickly retaliated and swung his fist around to
make contact with the side of her head. She stumbled backward for a moment,
dazed, and in that time he tripped her, causing Litt to hit her head against
the wall behind her and sag to the floor. She had lost considerable amount
of energy, but still had her determination full thrust. Rolling clumsily out
of the way, she pulled herself to her feet. Any other time back home she
would have given up by now, but this was different.
Litt thought about everything he had done to her, all the pain he had caused
her, and this fueled her strength enough to kick him in the crotch. He
collapsed to his knees, clutching himself, and Litt smiled triumphantly.
Looking around for something to hit him with while he was down, she grabbed
a nearby lamp and smacked him over the head with it. He feel forward with a
groan, and didn't get up.
Litt closed her eyes and sighed with relief. Sliding down the wall, she
leaned her head back with a thud. "Thank you God for giving me the strength
to do what I needed to do," she whispered. Suddenly she snapped her eyes
open. She had never believed in God in her entire life. She didn't think
there could be one if he was going to sit back and do nothing to help all of
the people in need. Now she realized that he did that for a reason. For her
anyway. She needed to face her troubled on her own, and realize herself the
value of life.
"Litt," Kat broke into her thoughts. "I called the police and an ambulance.
They should be here soon."
She just nodded and relaxed her body. Closing her eyes she whispered, "Were
you going to apologize for last night? If you were, you don't have to. I
needed that wake up call. I'll tell you guys all about it if you'd like."
Kat sensed a change in her, and she smiled. "You've just gone through a
growth process, haven't you?"
A small smile crept its way onto her face, and she nodded slightly. "Yeah. I
have. And DAMN does it feel good!"
Previous Chapter|
Go to main menu| Go home|