Page 10 of Cain
His eyes go from soft to hard. “So, that’s it? You won’t give the money back?”
I stare at him. Has he lost his mind?
“I—”
“This is who you are, isn’t it?”
Bile is rising inside me. I want to throw up.
“This is who you are, isn’t it? A fucking bitch who spreads her legs. Let’s see who’s gonna want you now,” Jamie yells as he slams his fist into my face. I hear something shatter. Later, I found out it was my cheekbone and my nose.
“You steal from men you fuck.”
I swallow hard and put a hand on my stomach to soothe it.
“You won’t fuck any man but me, got it, little whore?”
“Jamie, stop.” I am sobbing, I can’t see, my eyes are swollen, painful.
I shake my head to release my pain. It is so intense that it’s hard for me to speak. I barely manage to breathe out, “No, Cain.”
He lets out a bitter laugh. “God, you’re good. You almost had me. Don’t get me wrong, you have a great pussy…but did you really think that would stop me from getting you arrested?”
Memory is sliding into now. Past and present merging into one. I can feel the kicks in my ribs. I can feel the hollow in my stomach at the punch.
“When I’m done with you, your pussy will be so used up that no one will want you.”
“I didn’t do it,” I slur the words because I’m feeling faint. There’s black around my vision.
“You should see a therapist, Faith, because the PTSD will be debilitating when it hits. You’ve been abused for years. You have a lot of healing to do,” I hear the ER doctor who patched me up say.
“You want me to believe you didn’t walk into my office and steal ten grand the night you crawled into my bed?”
My stomach turns. “No,” I whimper.
I want to go on my knees and beg him to stop.
“Please, Jamie, I won’t do it. I won’t even talk to any other man again.”
His voice sharpens. “I trusted you. And you played me.”
“I…no.” I’m finding it difficult to form words.
But it doesn’t matter. Cain is past hearing me. “I know about Seattle. Jamie Da Silva. You pulled the same shit there. Get close, get cozy, disappear with the cash.”
The hurt inside intensifies at Jamie’s name. I want to pass out, at least then I won’t feel the blows. I wish for the darkness as I used to with Jamie.
I know my eyes are glazed. I can’t speak any longer. It hurts too much.
I trusted Cain, gave him my trust, and he thinks I betrayed him? No, he is the one betraying me. Just like Jamie. They all turn on me.
But that’s because you are damaged, broken, pathetic. No one wants you.
Cain smirks, cruel and tight. “I only came to see if you’d admit it. Thought maybe there was a sliver of decency in you. But you’re hanging onto that money like your life depends on it.”
“No money…I have no money.” I can’t hear the sounds I’m making. The darkness is coming.
“Good luck spending it in prison,” he yells.
