Rage

Chapter 1

    It was midnight in the Illinois. The streets were loud, the people were loud, but there she laid there peacefully. BANG! BANG! BANG! Rain woke up from a dead sleep. “No, not again.” She said to herself in a panic. She frantically grabbed her black hoodie and dark grey leggings. She pulls the clothes on and raced to Eddies room. “ED! ED! Come on, you gotta wake up! Please!” She took her tan palm and smacked his face repeatedly. His scruffy bread felt like sandpaper against her hand. She quickly looked around the room for something to wake him. But all she saw was two dozen empty beer bottles and a forty on the floor. She grabbed the half empty one in his hand and poured it on him. His grey and brown hair got wet, but it did not disrupt his sleep. He reeked of must and alcohol. She knew her fight to wake him was useless. BANG! BANG! BANG! The pound on the door and in her chest continues. She snatches a pair of sneakers and doesn’t take the time to find socks. BOOM! The door comes flying open. There is nothing standing in between her and that monster. Knowing that she is at the door, she heads for the fire escape. She gathers a small bag and opens the window. She sticks her foot out and feels a firm hand grip her hair. “Ahh!” Rain screams as she yanked back into her room. “Where do you think you’re going’?” a slimy snake like voice shrills at her. “Mom! Mom please! Let go of me!” She tries to release her mothers grip on her hair. Her efforts only make her mother tighten her grip. She tries to stand but she is being dragged across the room floor. The hardwood is cold, but her panic warms her. Rain beings to scream for help that she knows will not come. It never does. As they approach the room door her mother turns to her. Her mothers once blond hair is now dirty and thinning. Like her body, but her strength never diminished. Her teeth were crooked, stained, and some were missing. She got a close as she could to Rain’s face and uttered, “You’re gonna act right. You got a job to do. He’s gonna pay in advance and you’re gonna give him what he wants. So, I can get what I want.” She pulled Rain to her feet and they walked out the door. Rain stopped screaming, she stopped squirming, she wouldn’t shed a tear. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to fight off her mother, not when the meth and bath salts made her strong. They continued to walk down the street. “Where are you taking me, Lucille?!” she made sure to put extra emphasis on her name, because she knew she would hate that. “I’d hit you but tonight you’re gonna make me some money. Can’t damage my merchandise.” Lucille smiled showing her disgusting teeth. They finally stopped walking when they reached her mothers 1970 Honda Civic. A tweaker emerged from the other side of the car. He had no hair, denim jeans with holes, and an oily, dingy white t-shirt. “Two-hundred.” Lucille said to the man. “Come on. That’s all I got.” He responded. “I told you, you could’ve had me for one hundred, but you want young and perky.” She started to grab at Rain. The man looked Rain up and down. He hands the two-hundred dollars to Lucille. She opens her backseat door dragging Rain with her. Once the door is open, she shoves Rain inside. Rain lands with her back on the seat so she is horizontal. She looks back at the man, “Thirty minutes…Forty-five if she puts up at fight.” The man nods and climbs in the backseat with Rain. Lucille disappears from outside the car. Leaving Rain alone with the man. “You’re pretty.” He takes his dirty hands and runs his long slender fingers throw her thick black hair, “Oh my I hope you put up a fight.” She climbs on top of her smelling of sewage. His hand crept under her hoodie and he began pawing at her. As she laid there, she started to look around the car for something to use. She put her hand under the passenger seat and patted around, while she did that the tweaker reached for the lining of her leggings and began pulling them down. She squirmed, kicked, and tried to close her legs. But he had wedged himself in between them. With her underwear exposed, the tweaker reached from his zipper. Rain shifted, still looking for a weapon. He pushed her panties to the side and took out his genitals; she continued to struggle. She screamed hoping someone would hear but the car was parked in an alley. They were all alone. She felt him insert himself inside of her. She looked and saw a smile on his face. He started to thrust and grunt harder and faster. His moans filled the car. She moved her hand under the seat. With a powerful pull she broke the seat adjuster handle and hit him. Once, he was no longer inside her she hit him again. He fell back against the door. She grabbed her leggings, opened the car door, and ran. He tried to grab her arm, but he was too late. She heard him say, “I want my money back!” as she left. She kept running for two blocks before she put back on her pants. When she stops to breathe, she is faced with the realization that she has no where to go. She cannot go back to Ed’s, not yet. Her mother would just come back for her and make her finish the job. The thought made her skin crawl. She ran to the only place she could think. The only place she ever really felt at home. The Illinois Battered Women’s Shelter. She approached the entrance and tugged on the handle, but it was locked. Rain clouds formed and started to hover above her location. She knocked heavily on the door. “Maureen! Maureen!” Maureen is the coordinator for the women’s shelter. Rain has been here before. Many times, before. Maureen opened the window and stuck out her head. Her strawberry red hair was tied in a tight ponytail. “Rain?” she asked awaking from her sleep. “Yes! Please let me in. I have no where to go.” She pleaded with her. “We’re all full tonight, Rain…I can’t.” she said filled with sorrow. “Please, just for tonight then I can go back to Eddie’s. I don’t even need a bed…I just need a place stay.” She locked eyes with Maureen from the ground. She was getting soaked by the rain. Knowing her situation, Maureen felt sorry for her. She nodded at her. A few minutes later Maureen was at the door letting her in. “You don’t need to sleep on the floor. I have a cot in the closet you can stay there. You can shower up in the morning. I will lay some fresh clothes out for you. …If you’re ever feeling up to it…You can tell me what happened…” Maureen opened her arms and gave her the biggest hug. Rain was almost brought to tears. She knew that she could tell Maureen anything, but she also knew that she would never want too. She swallowed her anger. Pushed it way, way down. Maureen laid out the green cot with a blanket and a firm pillow. She changed out of the wet clothes and laid down. It was 3:00 a.m., the day was not going to get any better because she still had school.