Page 44 of Atlas
“I’m listening.”
“We’re not going to let Niklavs terrorize us. Do you hear me?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you for warning me. It was the right thing to do. Now, I’m going to hang up and send you the number, but if you hear anything about his whereabouts, let me know, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Take care, Velna.”
She hung up, and I sat with my phone in my hand. It was like I’d swum a mile, and I was coming out of the water to catch my breath.
Velna had it worse than me. She was married to a man who beat her and whose temper had made social services take away her only child. It would be easy to blame her for not leaving him already, but I knew from my training that it took an average of seven tries to leave an abusive relationship, and with her family most likely back in Latvia, it would be hard to do.
After looking up the number I’d promised her, I wrote her a text message,
National Domestic Violence 24 hour hotline 800 799 7233
I’d only just sent the text when the oven made a “ding” sound. I took out the pot-pie to let it rest for ten minutes and set the table for two people even though I knew Atlas wouldn’t be back until later. But all the while as I did those things, my head kept analyzing everything Velna had said.
I poured myself a glass of apple juice and turned on a lamp in the apartment. The sun had gone down by now, and a glance at the clock showed it was almost seven-thirty.
I’d only taken a few bites of the warm pie, when Atlas walked in.
“Something smells good in here.”
I turned to smile at him. “Thank you. I showered.”
He smiled back at me and walked over to look at the food. “You made this yourself?”
“Yes and no. I cheated a little and bought a rotisserie chicken at the store instead of cooking it myself.”
“It looks amazing.” He sunk to the chair in front of me as I served him a generous portion.
“Here you go.”
“Did you hear from the police?” Atlas asked as he picked up his fork and dug in.
“I called them at six to get an update because I hadn’t heard anything, but the guy I spoke to this morning had left for the day, and the man I talked to didn’t know anything.”
“What kind of amateurs leave you hanging like that?”
“I know. It’s frustrating, but I did something that put me far outside my comfort zone.”
Atlas’ fork stalled mid-air as he frowned.
“I called Velna Zakis and spoke to her about her warning.”
“And what did she say?”
“She’s a victim too. She’s afraid of Niklavs, but he’s all she has, so she's afraid that he’ll kill me and end up in jail.”
“She told you that?”
“Mmm.” I nodded and took another bite of the pie.
“Why is she with the guy if he’s such a monster?”
