As I lay there in my bed thinking about the weekend, I grew more and more excited. Grant was coming back Saturday, and I couldn't wait to see him. We’d been talking every night after getting home from work and I lived for those calls. I looked forward to his morning texts and enjoyed our conversations before I fell asleep. And I wasn’t willing to think about the fact that I knew he couldn’t stay. That he had a life in Boston he couldn't give up. All I wanted was to look forward to his presence and being wrapped up in his arms again.
All I wanted was his hands on my body again.
I lay there with my eyes closed as I giggled at his memory. The time he caught me sunbathing by the creek was my favorite one. Looking back on it, I could see the struggle in his eyes. The animal he was trying to keep caged. What I originally took as rejection was merely him trying to wrangle himself. Trying not to throw me down onto the ground and fuck me into oblivion. I felt my chest heat up as my hand began to migrate to my breast, and I allowed my body to ride the wave.
Until I heard a growl emanate from my doorway.
“You bitch.”
I whipped my head up at the voice, but a hand was already around my throat. Ike’s face came into view as I latched onto his wrist, trying to pry his grasp from me. His eyes were bulging with anger. His nostrils were flaring. He was in a blind rage with his dilated pupils and his hands closing around my neck.
It was hard to breathe, and I kicked my legs to try and get him off me.
“Ike? What are you—?”
“Did you really think you could walk away from me?” he asked.
He dragged me from the bed as I tried to get my voice beyond the palm of his hand.
“Did you think I’d let eight years of my life slip through my fingertips and watch you paint yourself like a whore and parade around bars looking for your next fuck?”
He dragged me up to my feet, holding me by my neck. Tears were streaming down my cheeks as my heart slammed against my chest. My eyes darted over to my bedside table. I had to get to my phone.
But before I could reach for it, Ike slammed me against the wall.
“Ike! You’re hurting me!” I choked out.
“Did you think I wouldn't find out? Huh? Did you think I wouldn’t know you were spreading your legs for him again? How many times, Theresa? How many times have you disgraced yourself with him?”
He tossed me into the other wall as my arm grazed the side of the table. My phone teetered to the edge and fell into my lap as Ike’s voice grew.
“Did you think it wouldn’t get back to me? Your little stunt at the bar that night, dressed like a common hooker? Did you think I wouldn’t find out you brought him home with you again? To the home I help you pay for?”
I fumbled with my phone in my hands, but he fisted my hair and yanked me to my feet.
“Stop it! Please!”
“I bet you like it rough, don’t you?” Ike asked as he shoved me against the wall again, this time my back to him. “I bet you enjoy it when a man takes what he wants from you and discards you like trash.”
His hand was on the back of my neck as his knee dug into my lower back.
“Please stop,” I said breathlessly.
His hand was too tight around my throat and I my vision began wavering. I looked around for anything that could help me, anything I could use to fight my way out of this situation. I reached my hand out and grabbed my bedside lamp, then whipped it behind me.
It crashed into Ike’s head, and he stumbled backward with his pants down around his ankles.
The image made me sick, and I grabbed
my phone before I headed for the door.
“You stupid little bitch. Get the fuck back here, Theresa! I’m not done with you yet!”
I scrambled out of my bedroom and down my hallway toward the door to my apartment. I opened my phone and dialed Hollis’ number, crouching down in the space between my couch and the wall as I heard Ike coming down the hallway after me. I was trying to stifle my sobs as the phone kept ringing and ringing, and for a second, I thought he wasn’t going to pick up.
“What’s up?”
“Hollis! Help me!”