“Hello?” Nick answered the phone to silence, “I said… Hello!” Nick repeated louder.
“Shhh…” Tanya whispered not wanting Justin to hear her talking to anyone, especially another guy.
“Tanya? Is that you?” Nick said quieter, as if Justin could hear him through the phone. “It’s Tanya! Give me that phone Nickolas!” Melissa ripped the phone from his hand.
“Tanya Jo! It is about time you came to your senses!” Melissa began to lecture her best friend. “If you need me to pick you up… I’ll be there in five minutes.” Melissa went on.
“Slow down. I don’t know yet.” Tanya whispered.
“What do you mean you don’t know? What is there not to know? You need to leave that controlling bastard before you get hurt anymore than you already are.” Melissa looked around her living room for her keys.
Tanya walked across the bedroom to the mirror at the vanity, she looked at her swollen, red eye and sighed, “I’ll climb down the fire escape… meet me in the alley behind our apartment building.”
“Tanya get your ass down here!” Justin yelled from his place on the couch.
Tanya was silent… she wasn’t sure if she should go to him or not, he’d either want another beer, or some sexual favor. She decided that if she ignored him… the shit would only fly higher. Tanya quickly packed a bag with some clothes in it… she came downstairs and quietly set her bag down near the kitchen, so she could escape out the back door in a few minutes.
“Yes honey…” Tanya walked over to Justin. “Bitch, what took you so long? I need another beer.” Tanya simply nodded and went to the kitchen… she saw Melissa’s car out back in the alley. She went over to the window and motioned to her best friend that it’d be only another minute before she’d leave her controlling boyfriend, hopefully forever.
“Here you are. I’m just going to take the trash out.” Tanya said handing Justin two bottles of Heineken. “That should’ve fucking been done already!” Justin yelled back at her as Tanya disappeared into the kitchen.
Tanya picked up her suitcase, opened the door and quietly stepped out onto the fire escape balcony/ladder. She loudly opened and closed the door again with out going inside to let Justin think she was headed back upstairs.
Melissa waved her down to the alley letting her know it was safe to come down. Tanya climbed down the two sets of stairs from her 3rd floor apartment to the cold, dark alley.
“Thank God!” Melissa greeted her with a hug. “We have to get out of here now!” Tanya rushed to get into Melissa silver BMW and sunk down in her seat so no one could see her.
Justin was still watching the basketball game screaming when the other team made a basket. “Dammit!” He screamed at the television set and threw his bowl of pretzels at it when the Lakers lost. “That whore better still be awake. I gotta get laid.” He carried himself upstairs and into the bedroom.
He saw that Tanya was no where to be seen. “Fucking bitch!” He grabbed the lamp from the bed side table and threw it out the window. It crashed to the ground and his downstairs neighbor saw it fly past his window.
“God, not again.” AJ said to himself as he saw the lamp smash to smithereens when it hit the asphalt of the alley.
Living downstairs from Justin and Tanya, AJ constantly heard the fights and the pain that Justin forced upon his girlfriend of a year. It never stopped amazing AJ how she put up with it days on end. AJ’s roommate once went upstairs to confront Justin about the abuse, but that just erupted into another fight which left him with a restraining order against Justin.
“She better be in that fucking bathroom!” Justin shouted. He kicked in the door to the bathroom that led off of the master bedroom, Tanya wasn’t there. Outraged, Justin yelled again, pounding his fist into the wall, leaving yet another large dent in the sheetrock.
In the car ride to Nick and Melissa’s house, Tanya began to cry to herself. “Oh, it’s all for the best.” Melissa said comforting her best friend.
“He loves me, I know he does. He just doesn’t know how to express himself in a positive way.” Tanya said wiping her tears.
“Tanya. No he doesn’t. You don’t know what true love is.” Melissa said turning into the gated subdivision where she and Nick resided.
“I’m twenty fucking one years old. I think I have some idea.” Tanya said regaining her composure.
“How do you feel when you are with him? Not around him… but with him?” Melissa asked as she pulled into the driveway.
Tanya was silent.
“See what I mean. For God’s sake, he forces you to have sex with him. That’s not love.” Melissa turned off her car and hopped out. “Come on, we’ll get ya set up in the guestroom.”
Tanya slowly slid out of the passenger’s seat and took her suitcase out of the backseat. She let out a sigh.
“Shit Tanya… what did he do this time?” Nick said when they walked in the door and he saw her swollen eye. “I’ll get some ice for you.” Nick said heading to the kitchen.
“Nick, it’s not that bad.” Tanya said setting her things down.
“It looks like hell Tanya! If you would’ve stayed any longer, I’m sure you’d be in the hospital.” Nick said coming back with some ice. “Just hold this on there for a little while.” He placed the ice pack on her eye and she winced in pain when she felt the coldness of it.
~*~
“I’m going to head out.” AJ called to his roommate. “I’ll be at the beach house if ya need anything.” He said as he walked out the door.
AJ had kept a small house on the beach so he could escape from the city life every once in a while. And tonight, he figured if the fighting upstairs was going to continue he didn’t want to hear it.
He took the stairs down one flight to the lobby and left the building. Raising his hand to hail a taxi cab, AJ noticed that there was a hat on the ground, he picked it up and looked around. No one in sight. He tucked it under his arm and hopped into the cab that pulled up.
~*~
“You had a hat on when you came down the stairs. Where’d you put it?” Melissa asked Tanya as they settled onto the couch.
“It blew off when I was running down to the alley. Must’ve blown somewhere when I got down, I didn’t see it when I got into your car. I was in too much of a hurry to worry about it.” Tanya said still holding the ice on her eye.
“I gave you that hat!” Nick said, “I see my gifts don’t matter to you.” He whined plopping onto the floor.
“You don’t even know which one I was wearing, you weren’t there.” Tanya stated matter-of-factly.
“Just playing with ya.” Nick laughed with a snort.
Tanya just smiled. “I’m going for a walk down the shore.” She said getting up from the couch and setting the ice pack on the coffee table.
“You sure? Do you want me to come with?” Nick asked acting as a bodyguard.
“I can take care of myself.” Tanya said grabbing her jacket and walking outside.
“If she could take care of herself, she’d be able to see out of her right eye.” Melissa sighed bringing the ice pack back into the kitchen.
As Tanya began to stroll down the beach of Siesta Key, she thought of the last year of her life that she had spent with Justin. She met him when she was just turning 19. Fresh out of high school and getting ready to jump into the work force, she met Justin at a bar one night when she went there with Melissa. Tanya wasn’t expecting to meet anyone that night, but she was enthralled by the man she saw sitting at the bar. Just once dance and she was captivated by him. Justin expected her to be just a one-night-stand, but it had lasted a year. He didn’t get abusive until about a month into the relationship, and then it was just small things. Each day, each week, each month, the ill-treatment got more frequent and more violent each time. He had Tanya so scared for her life, that she thought if she left him, her life would be in danger.
Tanya was lost in her daze and sat down on the shore watching the sunset. She didn’t notice a man that walked up beside her.
“Excuse me… are you all right?” He asked kneeling down next to her.
“Huh? Oh, sorry, you scared me, I’m fine.” Tanya responded looking at the man.
“Dang, it doesn’t look like it! Who did this to you?” he asked sitting down on the sand with her.
“Oh, my eye. It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.” Tanya said covering the welt that was the size of a baseball.
“You sure?” He asked. “Yeah. Thanks. Oh, I’m Tanya.” She said introducing herself.
“I’m Alex.” He said shaking her hand.
Tanya looked at him questioningly, “Where’d you get that hat?” he inquired noticing he was holding onto one that looked extremely familiar to the one she had on when she left Justin’s apartment.
“I found it outside my building when I was leaving earlier, why?” Alex said holding up the hat.
“I think it’s mine.” Tanya laughed, “I dropped it outside my building, 800 East Mulchatna Lane.”
“You live at 800 Mulchatna?”
“Well I did earlier today, but not anymore. Why?” Tanya said taking her hat.
“I live there too. I hope you don’t think I am being too nosey, but why don’t you live there anymore?” Alex asked, his tone becoming serious.
Tanya lightly started to cry, “I left my boyfriend.” She wasn’t sure why she was pouring her heart out to this strange man, but it was what she needed. To just talk.
“I’m sorry.” Alex handed her a tissue. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
Tanya brought her head back up after she had wiped the tears from her eyes and looked straight at him. Alex knew immediately what was wrong.
“He did this to you didn’t he? Your apartment… it’s on the third floor.” Alex said softly realizing the fights he had heard upstairs were from Tanya and her the boyfriend she had just left.
Tanya couldn’t hold it in any longer; her tears flowed steadily from her green eyes. “I’m sorry, come here.” Alex took Tanya into his embrace and hugged her. “Shhh, it’ll be okay. He won’t get to you here.” He whispered.
“Oh God, I should probably go home.” Tanya said through her sobs, she sat back up on her own. “No, you can’t go back to him.” AJ wouldn’t let her go. “I won’t, I’m staying with my friends down on Taylor Street.” Tanya said scrambling to her feet, “They are probably worried about me.” She said walking away from him.
Alex was speechless, this poor woman had just been through so much and poured her heart out to him, and just like that she was walking away. “Tanya! Wait! I’ll walk back with you.” AJ called out running after her. When he caught up to Tanya, he wrapped his jacket around her and led her back to Melissa’s house.
~END of CHAPTER 3~
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Chapter 4