Page 78 of Tony

“Nothing. I told her nothing!” Betina cried, holding her face.

“Well, she’s been snooping around the laundry, I saw her follow you the other day. She looked upset, so I want to know what she knows.” He walked toward her, his hand raised again.

“Nothing, I swear,” she cried again.

Hernando stopped, his mind working. Looking at her split lip and seeing that her eye was already swelling, he knew that he had to get her out of the house. “Come with me,” he ordered. Before she could protest, he added, “Your mama will be here soon. If you don’t want me to hurt her then come with me and I’ll keep you somewhere overnight. I’ll tell her you are spending the night with a friend.”

Once again the threat against her mom was all it took and Betina stumbled out of the bed and followed him to his car. Her mind numb, she barely paid attention to where he was taking her. He pulled into an alley that was barely lit and they walked through a back door. Taking her up a back stairwell, he left her in a small room with a bed and a dresser. There was a small bathroom with just a toilet and sink through a door. No closet. No window. No escape.

He locked her in and as she sat, overwhelmed at her life, the tears began to flow.

And now it was the next day and she had lost all sense of time. Hernando had not come back. She was hungry, but at least could drink using her hand from the sink faucet. With no mirror, she could not even see what she looked like.

The lock on the door sounded and she turned to the bedroom. In walked a large man wearing a cowboy hat, jeans with a leather belt and huge buckle, as well as cowboy boots on his feet. Not understanding what he was doing there, she stood numbly for a moment.Is he here to rescue me?

That notion was quickly disbanded when he lunged for her, a leer on his face. “I paid extra for a virgin, but didn’t expect her face to be all smashed up. I aughtta get some of my money back.”

He grabbed her, pinning her arms as she began to scream and struggle to gain freedom. As large as he was he had no problem ripping her shirt as he pushed her back on the bed and threw his large frame down on top of her. Her shirt in rags, he began assaulting her as he tried to get his hands down her pants. Squirming, she was doing nothing but inflaming him even more as the large bulge in his jeans was indicating.

Her mind racing, she quieted, laying completely still. He looked down in surprise before grinning. “You can’t wait to get holda’ my cock, can you girlie? Well, ol’ Bobby’s gonna give it to you good.”

She tried not to move as he leered at her naked breasts just a few inches from his face. Seeing the fight go out of her, he stood and tossed his hat to the side. Unbuttoning his shirt, he quickly discarded it as well. Pulling his leather belt out of his jeans he snapped the leather, making a popping sound.

“We might use this later, little lady. Your little ass may just need tanning by my belt.” He tossed the belt on the bed beside her and her eyes latched onto the large, heavy metal buckle.

He bent over to remove his boots when she moved like lightning, kicking at his crotch when his pants were halfway down. He hit the floor, clutching his dick as she flew off of the bed. She had the belt in one hand and swung it down toward his head. The metal buckle cracked against his skull and he stilled. Heart pounding, she grabbed his shirt, throwing it over her torn one and then saw his cell phone lying on the floor. Scooping it up, she fled the room, running down the back stairs and out into the alley. She did not stop running until she finally collapsed in an unfamiliar neighborhood near the river.

She pulled out the cell phone and called the only person she knew she could trust.

* * *

Sherrie was almost finished with the work day and ready to head home. Tony had only texted her once to say that ‘things were progressing’.What the hell does that mean?she wondered, but did not want to ask too many questions.

Her phone buzzed and she slid it out of her purse as she was walking out of the building. Not recognizing the number, she almost let it go to voicemail, but then thought that maybe Tony was calling from a different phone.

“Hello?”

“Ms. Mullins?” came a timid, shaky voice.

“Betina? Is that you?” she asked, her blood turning cold. “Where are you?”

“He hurt me,” she cried. “The man…he…”

“Oh, Jesus,” Sherrie said. “Where are you?”

“I don’t know. I ran away from him. I…I was…locked up.”

“Can you get to somewhere safe? Can you call 911? Find a policeman,” Sherrie’s voice began to rise with fear.

“No, no police. He said he’d hurt mama.”

“Okay, baby, listen to me. I’m going to come get you, but you have to help me find you. Do you see a street sign or business?”

“Um, I’m peeking around a corner and I see 81StSW on the street sign.”

“That’s good, Betina. Now are there any businesses or store signs around?”

“Across the street it has a closed up sign on the door, but above the door it says Club Edge.”

---