CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Martha was smiling ear to ear as she prepared Saturday morning breakfast for she and her girls. She’d made them help her unpack the kitchen before sorting things out in any other room. She loved the abundance of cabinets and all of the counter space. When she first stepped into the walk in pantry, she thought she’d died and gone to kitchen heaven. All of the appliances were new and state of the art, Eugene had even had a new side-by-side refrigerator delivered.
“It smells good in there Mama. How much longer before it’s ready?” Zoe yelled from the family room.
“Another five or ten minutes and we’ll be eating.”
Zoe turned her attention back to unpacking and the conversation she was having with Pam. “Are you starting to regret turning down Alvin’s proposal? I mean he is the best thing that’s ever happened to you. He loves you unconditionally, is always there for you, and understands your past. Any girl would regret denying a man like that and of course, it’s not too late to change your mind.”
“Look, I respect and understand your views and opinions about Alvin and about our relationship. He is a wonderful man, no one can deny that, but I just don’t want to get married. I don’t understand why he is so against us living together in a committed relationship without that stupid piece of paper. I mean if it’s good enough for Oprah then it should be good enough for us,” Pam surmised.
“Oh my sweet sister, you are not Oprah. You are a woman scared to trust a man enough to fully commit to him, despite how he has proved himself worthy time and time again.”
Pam stopped un wrapping the framed pictures and looked Zoe dead in the eyes. “So you can honestly stand there and tell me that with all you’ve been through, you’d still trust a man enough to marry him?”
“Yes, despite everything I still have high hopes for finding someone decent who will love, respect, and support me. It was hard to open up to Ramon and I regret that I did, but Alvin has inspired me. By loving you the way he has, he’s shown me that there are some truly good men still left in the world and I hope that one day one of them will find me.”
~~~~
Rich burst into laughter as Ramon told him of his plan to find out where Zoe was now living. He told Rich how Zoe was always so worried for Candy because of the so called abuse she suffered at Rich’s hand. It was Ramon’s thinking that Zoe would be more than willing to help Candy escape the abuse that she was so sure she’d escaped.
“Man, if she moved it only makes sense that she changed her phone number too. So how will Candy call her?” Rich asked.
“That shows how stupid her ass is. She kept her number, but won’t answer my calls. She sends my ass straight to voice mail.”
“Okay, so this just might work,” Rich stroked his chin as if he were some deep thinker. Then he shouted, “Candy, come here and hurry up.”
Candy strolled into the room looking as if she didn’t know whether to be scared or annoyed. “What is it?”
“Did Zoe ever give you her number?” Ramon quizzed.
“Yeah, she gave it to me a while back.”
“What difference does that make? Even if she didn’t have the number you’ve got it, boy genius,” Rich remarked.
“If she never gave her number to Candy and Candy calls her out the blue, she’d know I was behind it, dumb ass,” Ramon snapped.
“Forget you man, just tell this bitch what you want her to do.”
“Look Candy, Zoe won’t answer my calls and I don’t know where she’s living now. I need you to call her and act like you need her help. Tell her that Rich has hurt you and you want to get away from him. I know she’ll want to help you, but you’ve got to sound convincing,” Ramon emphasized.
Candy started to tear up and her bottom lip began to tremble. “Ramon, maybe you should just walk away. I…I…mean if she wants to be gone that bad, do you really even wa…want her back?” She stuttered, obviously scared of their reaction, but still wanting to protect Zoe.
“Yes I’m sure. Now make the call,” Ramon tried to speak calmly.
“I just know that if someone wanted to be away from me that bad, I wouldn’t even want them anymore. She’s just not good enough for you anyway Ramon,” Candy said as she made one last attempt to save Zoe from his wrath. But now it was Rich who had grown angry and impatient with her song and dance. He jumped up out of his chair and Candy knew that she was in trouble.
“Why the hell are you trying to save her ass?” Rich shouted as he struck Candy across the face with a backhand. The blood from her lip tasted a little salty. She’d hoped that would be the only strike, but deep down she knew better. “If you would just do as you’re told, you’d save yourself a lot of pain.” He landed another smack across the face, this time with his closed fist. And then another right to her left eye and she instantly felt it begin to swell. Grabbing her around her neck and squeezing tightly, Rich barked, “Now get your damn phone and call her now!” When he released his grip, Candy gasped for air and fumbled to pull her phone out of her pocket.
Sobbing, Candy dialed Zoe’s number. To her surprise and disappointment, Zoe answered on the second ring. “Zoe, this is Candy. I need help.”
“What’s wrong, why are you crying? Did Rich hurt you?” The concern in her voice was unmistakable.
“Yes, Rich attacked me and I ran out when he fell asleep, but I don’t have anywhere to go,” Candy lied and sobbed.
Zoe hesitated for a moment, but her conscience wouldn’t let her turn her back to Candy. If the woman ended up dead or something, Zoe would never be able to forgive herself. “Okay, can you get to the Starbucks around the corner from your house?”
“Yes, I’ll be there waiting for you in a few minutes,” Candy cried.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
“Damn it, Zoe, I don’t think you should go. She may be crying now but she’s the same one that told you to go back to Ramon or die all while she was trying to set your shit on fire,” Pam yelled. “Now I’m sorry that she’s an abused woman, but you need to stay away from her. I mean what if Ramon is hiding in the background just waiting to pounce?”
“Pam, I know what that damn Rich is capable of and I can’t in good conscience leave her there if she’s crying for help. I won’t be long, I promise I’ll be okay and when I get back the three of us will head on out to dinner. Love y’all and I’ll be back shortly,” Zoe assured them as she headed out the door.
“Mama, why didn’t you try to help me talk her out of going?” Pam asked as she plopped down on the couch.
“She is right, if something happened to that girl and she could’ve prevented it, she’d never live in peace again. The best thing we can do is pray for her safety and quick return,” Martha advised. But deep in her heart she was scared to death for Zoe. It was all she could do to keep tears from rolling down her face. She loved her children and continued to blame herself for exposing them to a violent environment. Had she not, they would’ve lived totally different lives.
Zoe headed across town to the Starbucks and she prayed all the way. She asked God for guidance and most of all for protection. Within thirty minutes she was pulling into the parking lot where she saw a young woman sitting alone at one of the outdoor tables. Zoe parked the car and made her way over to the table. “Candy, is that you?” When the woman looked up and she saw how badly she’d been beaten, her heart sank. “Oh Candy, I’m so sorry he did this to you.” Zoe sat down and wrapped an injured and weeping Candy in her arms. “Okay, he’ll be up looking for you soon so let’s get out of here. You can come home with me.”
“No, I need you to listen to me,” Candy sobbed. “This is a setup, Ramon and Rich are parked around the corner watching us. It’s my job to get you to take me home with you so that they can follow and find out where you live. Ramon is determined to get you back and he’s using me to do it.”
“Damn it, is Ramon the one that beat you like this?”
“No, this was courtesy of Rich. He got pissed cause I was trying to tal
k Ramon out of trying to find you. Plus he thought that the bruises would convince you that I needed your help. He’s such a bastard,” Candy spat.
“Well I can’t leave you here or Rich will kill you, but I can’t let them know where I live either.” Zoe’s mind was flying as she tried to figure out her next move.
“Zoe, you’re going to put your arm around me, walk me to your car and help me in. I need them to think that I’m really playing my role well. But instead of taking me to your home, you’re going to drive me to the women’s shelter over in midtown. When I get out of the car, you peel out of there. They are going to stop long enough for Rich to get me back in the truck. You’ll have a little bit of a head start, but just in case it’s not enough, go to one of your friend’s houses and hang out for a while. They are not patient and if you stay for longer than thirty minutes or so, they’re going to leave and then you can go home. You got all that?” Candy asked.
“This is un-freaking believable. How did I allow this to become my life,” Zoe shook her head in disgust.
“Look, you can have your pity party later, but right now we need to go. Get up and act like you’re helping me up and to the car.”
Zoe did as she was told; she held Candy around the shoulders and escorted her to the car. As she walked to the driver’s side of her car, she instinctively looked around to see if she saw Ramon and Rich lurking in the background. She didn’t see them anywhere but didn’t doubt for a second that they were watching her every move. Candy gave her the location of the shelter and she headed that way. “Candy, I can’t thank you enough for this. It would’ve been so easy for you to mislead me. But I’m concerned for your wellbeing and how bad it will be for you later.”
“I don’t even care, Zoe. I figure the worst he can do is beat me again and the most merciful thing he could do is kill me. At least that way I wouldn’t be tortured anymore.”
Zoe didn’t know what to say. How do you comfort someone who views a violent death as a viable escape plan? Instead of speaking, she reached over with her free hand and laid it on top of Candy’s, but Candy moved her hand away. Human touch was not something she longed for anymore.
“You see that tan house right up there? That’s the shelter. Remember what I said, take off as fast as you can and go hang out with a friend for a while,” Candy instructed.
“Are you sure Candy? I don’t want you hurt any more than you already are.”
As the car came to a stop, Candy took a deep breath and replied, “I’m sure.” She jumped out of the car and made a run for the front door of the shelter. Zoe had no idea if she made it or not because she hit the gas just like Candy had instructed. As Zoe flew through the city, she called Desi to let him know that she had an emergency and was on her way over. She kept looking in her rearview mirror and felt confident that Ramon had not been able to follow her. What she didn’t realize was that Rich had jumped out of the truck, ran and yanked Candy back by the hair just before she skipped through the door. And to make matters worse, Ramon didn’t wait on Rich and Candy, but instead he sped off to catch Zoe. Once he had her in sight, he stayed a couple of car lengths back to ensure that she didn’t see him. He became incredibly irritated when he realized they’d driven to Desi’s place, but he was determined to wait it out. Ramon stayed there for three hours watching people come and go. He saw the old man from Zoe’s old apartment complex, the one that wouldn’t tell him where or when Zoe had moved. He wondered to himself how many complexes could one man work for. He watched the women passing by and thought of the things he’d like to do to them. And finally, Zoe emerged from Desi’s apartment. She trotted across the parking lot and unknowingly took off with Ramon hot on her tail.
After pulling into her driveway, Zoe sprinted to the door with keys in hand. She managed to get in and lock the door before Ramon could park and jump out of his truck. But in a matter of seconds he was banging on the front door demanding entry. Zoe stood in the living room shocked that he’d found her. She stood there shaking in her proverbial boots as Martha and Pam ran to the front room to see what the commotion was all about.
Bang, bang, bang… The door shook from the pounding. “Open the door, Zoe. I’m not leaving until you let me in. I just want five minutes to talk, that’s all. Now open the door!” Bang, bang, bang, bang… The violent knocking was relentless. “Open the damn door, Zoe! I know you’re in there. I saw you run in and your damn cars in the driveway.”
“Ramon, get the hell out of here before I call the cops,” Martha threatened.
“Ms. Martha, all I want to do is talk to Zoe for a minute, that’s all. I’m not here to cause any trouble, but she owes me a conversation. The least she can do is give me five minutes.”
“She doesn’t owe you a damn thing,” Pam shouted as she tightly held a butcher knife she’d grabbed from the kitchen before running to the front room.
Seeing Pam standing with a knife and speaking up so strongly in her defense snapped Zoe out of her trance. She knew she had to handle this situation so that it didn’t escalate and become a greater threat to all of the Shaw women. “Ramon, I’m here but you need to know that I’m not going to open the door. Anything you want to say you can go head and say. I promise that I can hear you just fine,” she assured him.
“Zoe, I’m not going to scream through this damn door, now I’m going to ask again as nicely as possible. Open the fucking door!”
His screeching demand sent chills down their backs and prompted Martha to make a run for the phone. But before she could reach the kitchen, Ramon kicked the door in and grabbed Zoe by the neck. “I told you to open the damn door.”
“Let her go!” Pam demanded as she held the knife up, ready to plunge it into Ramon’s back. “I said let her go!”
Ramon did as he was told and loosened his grip on Zoe’s neck. But quicker than she expected, he turned his attention to Pam and attempted to grab the knife. She managed to slice through his hand before he knocked her out cold with the other. “Where is Martha?” Ramon asked as he watched Zoe rush to Pam’s aid. “I said where is Martha?” He asked again as he kicked Zoe in her side.
“She ran out the back to our neighbor’s house for help. You’d better leave before the cops get here,” Zoe warned through hysterical tears.
“Your big ass mama ain’t never ran nowhere,” he grumbled as he grabbed Zoe by the arm and drug her through the house in search of Martha. He heard Martha in the kitchen reciting the address. He turned the corner and snatched the phone out of the wall. Zoe screamed as she watched Ramon bang her mother’s head into the wall and Martha slid to the ground. “Come on, we’re leaving,” he announced as he tried to snatch Zoe up from the floor.
“Go to hell you son-of-a-bitch, I’m not going anywhere with you.” Zoe scrambled to her feet and grabbed a glass that she threw at Ramon as she tried to run away. The glass barely missed his head and shattered against the wall. He wasted no time catching her and yanking her back by her hair. “Don’t be stupid, Ramon, you know the cops are on their way,” she tried to reason, but it was to no avail. He held her tightly by the back of the head and ushered her towards the front door. Pam was coming around and tried to get up to help her baby sister, but dizziness knocked her back down. Then Zoe remembered hearing that the biggest mistake one could make was to allow themselves to be taken to another location by their captor. Not knowing what else to do, she let her body go limp and fall to the floor. Ramon almost fell trying to hold her dead body weight up.
“What the hell are you doing? Get up, Zoe, get the hell up now!” he shouted as he tried to pull her to her feet. But when she refused to cooperate, he became enraged and pounded her in the face with his closed fist and she screamed out like a wounded animal. But before he could continue his attack on her, out of nowhere a metal pipe came down across his back and this time it was Ramon who squealed in pain. He stumbled back and when he looked up to see who his attacker was, he looked right into the eyes of the old man from the apartment complex. Ramon tried to
charge the man, but when the man cracked him in the knee with the pipe, Ramon went down like a sack of potatoes.
“Oh my God, Otis?” Zoe couldn’t believe her eyes. It was her father, Otis that had swung the pipe and stopped Ramon’s attack on her. When Pam heard Zoe call his name, she looked up and almost lost all the courage and strength she’d gained. One look into Otis’ face and Pam started crying silent tears but refused to scurry across the floor and ball herself up in a corner. Martha emerged from the kitchen and couldn’t believe her eyes. How the hell had Otis found them? As the Shaw women looked on in shock, Otis stood over Ramon daring him to move. Within seconds, the police sirens could be heard blaring down the street headed in their direction. Not only had Martha managed to call them, but the shouting and crying prompted the neighbors to call for help as well.
The cops rushed to the door and warned Otis to drop his weapon. Otis did as he was instructed and Ramon took that opportunity to snatch the knife previously held by Pam. He grabbed Zoe by the ankle and dragged her across the floor to him. By the time the cops pulled their weapons, Ramon had the knife to Zoe’s throat.
“I swear to God I will slit her throat if y’all don’t get out of here,” Ramon warned as he positioned Zoe directly in front of him. He knew that if he used her as a shield the cops would never take a shot at him. “I keep telling y’all that all I want to do is talk. Once I say what I came to say, I’ll let her go, but I won’t do it with all of y’all in here.”
“Take it easy,” one cop instructed. “Things will go a lot easier for you if you put the knife down and come with us.”
“Get out,” Ramon shouted. “Get out or I will kill her right now!” he warned as he dug the knife into her throat just enough to draw blood. Zoe cried out in pain and fear.
Seeing the blood ooze from her daughter’s neck made Martha beg the cops to back off. “Please do as he says, please… I don’t want to see my daughter die,” she sobbed. “Just give him what he wants and step away.”
Hate the Way He Loves Me Page 18
