Under the Oak Tree

by Victoria Ashlee

  She uncrossed her arms, “Until you fucked her! Or did you forget that part!”

  “Don’t bring that up.” He growled.

  “I bet you’re still sleeping with her; can’t keep your dick in your pants.”

  “Shut up!” He slammed on the breaks, causing her to fly forward, hitting her face on the dash. He put the car in park in the middle of the road. She immediately regretted not putting her seatbelt on.

  Claire was trying to recover from hitting her face when she felt herself being lifted, and shoved back into the seat.

  “Get it through your thick head,” Jason pointed at her, “Whatever I did with Jenny is in the past. Plus, you opened your legs right up for Clay Williams.”

  “I love him! There’s a difference!” She yelled back.

  “Don’t you fucking say that to me!” His hand hit her across the face so fast, she didn’t realize what happened.

  She couldn’t breathe; her face and forehead stung. Her tears stopped falling because the shock was slowly filling her. She was numb. With her hand clutched on her cheekbone, she closed her eyes, “Please, take me home.” She whispered. “Please.”

  Jason was audibly breathing through his nose. He was fuming, and she was afraid of what might happen if she didn’t get out of the car soon. After a few moments of silence, he put the car in drive.

  He pulled into his driveway about twenty minutes later. Claire glanced at her house, the lights were off. Jason lied. Her parents didn’t ask him to take her home. She reached for the door handle, but Jason grabbed her arm, “Wait.”

  She wouldn’t look at him, but stopped. She was afraid if she moved the wrong way, or said the wrong thing that he would snap again.

  “I’m sorry I hit you.” He said.

  “I’m tired, Jason.” Her voice had no emotion.

  His grip became a little tighter, but not like when he’s angry. “You believe me don’t you?”

  Numb. “Sure.” She lied. She’d say anything to get out of the car.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow for church?”

  Numb. “Ok.”

  “Night, Babe.” Jason said, kissing the top of her hand.

  Numb. “Night.” She stepped out of the car, and walked across the grass to her front door. Once the large wooden door shut behind her, her entire body started to shake, her breathing started rising, and the tears wouldn’t stop falling.

  *

  The next morning the sunlight coming through her bedroom window woke her. She touched her cheek, and winced from the pain. She laid in bed staring up at the ceiling, feeling as if last night were nothing more than a nightmare. But, the throbbing on her forehead, and sting on her cheek and next to her eye told her otherwise.

  She crawled out of bed, and walked into her bathroom where she got a first glimpse of herself. She gasped, covering her mouth. The left side of her face was black and blue, paired with the knot on the top of her forehead from when she fell into the dashboard.

  She fumbled through her makeup bag trying to find anything to cover up her face. She started pulling everything out, and eventually poured out the entire bag, throwing it against the wall. Her mind was racing, she couldn’t go out in public like this.

  Her mom was down stairs making breakfast when she poked her head out her door. She knew her father would be downstairs reading the paper. Her feet carried her to her parent’s bedroom, and she quickly grabbed her mother’s foundation. She let out a sigh of relief, and rushed back to her bedroom.

  She was thankful for once that her mom wasted money on expensive products. Her hand shook as she attempted to apply the makeup with the sponge. Tears crept onto her cheeks, continuously ruining the liquid foundation. When she finally was able to compose herself, the makeup covered up every bit of bruise that was on her face. She curled her hair, slipped into a pink sundress, and put a white sweater on to cover up the bruises on her forearm; even in the heat of September.

  When she got to the bottom of the stairs she braced herself before she walked into the kitchen. She was afraid of her parent’s lingering reaction to Clay from last night, but more so she was afraid that they would notice the caked on makeup on her face. They didn’t believe her last night, why would they start now.

  “Good Morning, Honey.” Her mom smiled, putting toast on a plate. “We’re leaving in a few minutes. I made you toast.”

  “Thanks.” She didn’t make eye contact with her father as she walked across the kitchen.

  “Oh,” Her mother pointed to the dining table. “Jason said you two made up last night, and that he took you home. You left your purse on the table with your phone.”

  “I’m glad you took my advice and apologized.” Her father grunted. “I don’t want to see Clay Williams ever again.”

  She didn’t think she was really hearing what was coming out of their mouths. It was as if she were invisible. They ignored her feelings down to the very core. She walked out of the kitchen and stared at her phone. She had three missed calls and a text message, all from Clay.

  Clay: You didn’t text me when you got home. Are you ok? I tried to call you.

  She didn’t want him to see her like this, not today. She typed back; Everything is fine. Dad took my phone. Can’t see you today. Parents are having a dinner party. She knew that lie would make the most sense. They had dinner parties like it was going out of style, and she always had to be present.

  He responded; Ok. I will call you later, Babe. Working right now.

  After reading his text, she held the phone to her chest wondering how her life had become so messed up. She just wanted everything to disappear.

  Chapter Thirty One

  Clay

  Monday after work Clay called Claire, but she didn’t answer, again. Yesterday she was short with everything that they talked about, and she barely spoke about Saturday night’s events. She said everything was fine, just that her father wasn’t speaking to her. He was starting to worry about her. Claire was the type of girl who questions everything, and tells you when she thinks you’re wrong. It was unlike her to keep her thoughts to herself, and he knew she had plenty to say after Saturday night.

  Clay glanced at the clock on his truck. Her parents wouldn’t be home for another 45 minutes. He ran his hands along his steering wheel as he debated his next action. Then he cranked his truck up, and started driving in the direction of Claire’s house.

  Her SUV was in the driveway which gave him relief. He parked his truck on the street, and walked to the front door. If she was just in a bad mood, he’d be happy with that. That means she’s ok. But, Claire hardly ever was in a bad mood. She saw the world with her heart; everything in her sight was good, and he knew that.

  He knocked three times, and stepped back to wait. After a few seconds, he saw her silhouette walk up to the front door through the hazy glass.

  “Clay, what are you doing here?” Her voice sounded pained.

  Something was wrong. “I wanted to check on you. You’ve ignored every text or call today.”

  She placed her hand on the hazy glass, “I don’t want to see you today.”

  “That’s a lie. Claire, open the door. Whatever you’re upset about, you can talk to me.”

  “I can’t.” Her voice still sounded pained. He wasn’t leaving until she opened the door.

  “Baby, listen to me. We do this together, remember? If your father did something…”

  “It’s not that.”

  Clay sighed, “Then what is it? Just open the door, so I can see you.”

  Claire was silent for far too long, but he remained standing there. “Babe…”

  Just when he was about to plead again, the door unlocked. She slowly pulled back the large wooden door, and that’s when he saw her. Her eyes were red as if she had been crying, but that’s not what shocked him. It was the black and blue bruises on her face. He scanned the rest of her body, and saw her forearm had very distinct hand grip bruises.

  He didn’t want to touch her from fear of sca
ring her, “Who did this?” He asked, already knowing the answer. He was going to make Jason pay for this; no one was allowed to touch Claire. Not anymore.

  Claire touched her forearm to cover herself up, “I was afraid...to let you see me like this. I was embarrassed.”

  Clay stepped forward to embrace her, but stopped, “Why on earth would you be embarrassed?”

  “Because,” She whimpered, “I allowed him to do this to me.”

  He finally gave in, taking her by the hips, making sure to steer clear of any bruised part of her body, “Don’t you dare ever think you were the reason he did this to you. That piece of shit did this by his own choice, and he won’t get away with it.” He put his knuckle under her chin, lifting her eyes to his, “Your parents might not believe you, but that doesn’t matter anymore. I will always take care of you.”

  She blinked a few tears away, “I’m sorry.”

  He kissed her lips, “Don’t say sorry. It’s not your fault.”

  “I feel like it is.” Her voice strained. “If I had never strayed from the perfect path, none of this would have happened. You would have never been brought into this mess.”

  “My beautiful girl, I wouldn’t ever want to go backwards. You are my future. The shit that has happened would have happened with or without me. You tell me you love me all the time, would you want to give that up?”

  She stared up at him with her broken eyes, “I would never give you up. I couldn’t.”

  “Tell me what happened.” He searched her eyes; he wanted her to know that she could tell him anything.

  Her gaze dropped to the ground, still in his embrace, “It was late, I stayed outside on the patio until the party started to die down. That’s when he showed up. He demanded that I go with him, I tried to refuse at first, but he grabbed me.” She closed her eyes. “He dragged me to the car, and forced me to get in. I didn’t have my phone.” She touched her mouth walking into the house, as if trying to force herself to tell the story.

  Clay followed, shutting the door.

  She turned back to him, “During our arguing in the car, I told him I loved you, that’s when he hit me.”

  Hearing the words come out of her mouth sent a fury through him he didn’t think possible. He finally spoke, “Claire, you didn’t get all that from one hit.”

  She stared back at him; he could see it on her face that it wasn’t one hit. “I…” She took a watery breath, she was breaking. “I can’t talk about it.” She burst out into tears, and he rushed to hold her. She cried into his chest in the middle of the foyer.

  He ran his hands through her hair, “Shh. I’m here.” He wanted to protect her, but he couldn’t always be everywhere she was. Jason was going to find out that this was the last time he would ever put a bruise on Claire’s body.

  Her eyes were closed as her head rested against his chest. “Promise me that you’ll never leave me.”

  His chin was on the top of her head, “I couldn’t even if I wanted to. You took hold of my heart. I pity the person that ever tries to take you from me.”

  “Can we leave?”

  He looked down at her, “What do you mean?”

  “Can we take our stuff, and move? We could escape all this. We could get jobs, move to a different town? Maybe go to Lafayette. Just leave.”

  He pushed her hair behind her shoulder, “No, Baby. We can’t. You can run all your life, but the bad things will always catch up to you. Just look at my mom, I made my way back to her eventually. I was her biggest regret, and she had to face me.”

  “I just want it all to stop.” She said hopelessly.

  He clenched his jaw, it was driving him crazy that he had no power here. “I’m going to talk to your father.”

  “What?” She shrieked. “What for?”

  “I’m going to spell it out for him about the kind of person Jason is.”

  “What if he doesn’t listen?”

  “Has he seen you like this?”

  She looked down at the floor, almost shameful, “No. I borrowed my mom’s makeup.”

  He ran his thumb on her bottom lip, “Trust me he will listen.” He kissed her, then looked her back in the eyes, “Jason will never put his hands on you again.”

  “When will you talk to him?”

  “I will reach out to him tomorrow. Now isn’t a good time, he would feel like I was ambushing him, being in his home without his knowledge. He’ll be defensive. I need the calm version of your father.”

  She nodded, “That makes sense.”

  Clay looked at his watch, “I have to leave. Your parents will be home soon. But, you need to call me tonight. I don’t care what you have to do; you make sure you call me. I need to know that you’re ok.”

  “I will.” She said. Her blue eyes were the dark blue that they become when her spirit is broken. It pained him to leave her. All he wanted to do was whisk her away, and make her pain fade into nothing.

  He leaned down, and kissed her, taking every bit of her in, “It’s all going to be ok soon. I promise.”

  *

  After Clay left Claire’s parents house he drove straight to Brett’s. On the drive over Clay was weighing out his options. He was going to talk to Claire’s father, there was no doubt about that, but first he was going to pay a little visit to Jason Matthews.

  At times Clay acted on impulse, but Brett was normally there to knock some sense into him. He knew he needed Brett to go with him, because Clay knew that he might actually make a very wrong decision when he finds Jason.

  Clay hopped out of his truck, and walked up the driveway. Brett was leaning into the engine of Gloria’s car. Brett looked up, “What a surprise.” He grabbed a towel, wiping his hands off.

  “I’m going to fucking kill Jason Matthews, and I need you to talk me down.”

  Brett gave him a confused look, “Um, come again?”

  “What did you just say?” Gloria’s chirpy voice came from their front porch. She was holding a glass of lemonade.

  “Clay ran his tongue along his bottom lip, “He put his hands on her for the last time.”

  Gloria gasped, “What did he do?” She walked down the steps, and handed Brett the lemonade.

  “Her face is black and blue, and he gave her matching arm bruises to go along with it.”

  Gloria’s hand went to her mouth as she stared at Clay in shock.

  Brett set the glass of lemonade on the top of Gloria’s car, “When the hell did he do that?”

  “Saturday night.”

  “I thought you were with her Saturday?” Brett asked.

  “I was, but her father threatened to call the police if I didn’t leave.” Clay ran his hand over his mouth. “She was with over a hundred people, I thought she was fine. I should never have fucking left.”

  “It’s not your fault.” Gloria said. “How could you have known?”

  “Because, I know the type of low level person Jason is. That’s why.”

  Brett shook his head, “No. Blaming yourself doesn’t solve anything. Do her parents know?”

  “She tried to tell her mom once before, but her mom said that she was making it up.”

  “Bitch.” Gloria said. Clay glanced at her, Gloria has never even peeped a fowl word as long as he’s known her.

  Clay continued, “Anyway, I’m going to talk to her father tomorrow. Her mom might not have listened, but her father is going to sure as hell know the truth by the time our conversation is over.”

  “So, what are you going to do about Jason?” Brett asked.

  “Make Jason understand that he will never touch her again.”

  Gloria made Clay look at her, “What does that entail?”

  “The less you know the better. I’m just going to have a nice little chat with him.”

  “I don’t like this.” She looked at Brett.

  Brett clenched his jaw, “Babe, if it were you, I’d do the same damn thing. I have to go with him; at least to keep him from making a huge mistake. Because, he will go with
or without me.”

  Clay spoke, “That’s why I’m here. I don’t want to fuck this situation up even more. Let’s just say Brett is my voice of reason.”

  Gloria sighed, “I know. Sometimes you two stress me out.”

  Brett kissed her on the cheek, “What are you talking about? We stress you out all the time.”

  “Ain't that the truth.” She crossed her arms. “So, I’m assuming you’re going right now? Do you even know where to find him?”

  “Tenpenny’s. Jason and Kevin Cunningham have a bad habit in common. Jason goes there after work most days for a quick drink.”

  Brett slammed the hood of Gloria’s car shut, “Alright, let’s go then.” He kissed Gloria on the lips, “We’ll be back soon.”

  “Try not to get arrested.” Gloria called out.

  Chapter Thirty Two

  Clay

  Clay pulled into the parking lot of Tenpenny’s around 6:30PM. It wasn’t busy by any normal Tenpenny's standard; just the usual afternoon crowd. His adrenaline was going haywire, the closer that they got to the front door.

  Clay stopped before they walked in, and looked at Brett, “When we get in here, I need you to find Logan, and explain to him the situation. So, he doesn’t think that I’ve lost my mind when voices start to rise.”

  “Oh you’ve definitely lost your mind. But, for a good reason.”

  Clay patted Brett’s shoulder, “I’m glad you understand.” He turned, and opened the door.

  They walked into the bar, Clay stopped at the entrance scanning the tables while Brett walked over to the bar. His eyes landed on a table; Jason was sitting with two men that Clay didn’t know. Was this about to be a really bad decision? Probably. Was Clay thinking clearly? Not really.

  Clay walked up to the table, “Are you enjoying yourself?”

  Jason’s face dropped, “What do you want?”

  “I need to have a word with you.” Clay’s eyes didn’t leave Jason. Even though he knew the other two men at the table were staring him down from their confusion.

  “I have nothing I want to talk to you about.” Jason said smugly, and took a sip of his beer.