Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 79940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
I was angry with him. He’d fooled me, but he hadn’t hurt me. There was a difference. I followed King up the stairs. He didn’t say another word to me or even glance back in my direction. It was ridiculous to feel hurt by his betrayal when I had bigger problems. Real issues. But I was.
We stopped at the second floor and went to the first door on the right. King opened the door and walked inside. Maeme was directly behind me, and I had no choice but to go inside the room. Not surprisingly, it was a beautiful bedroom with a king-size canopy bed sitting in the middle of the room on a raised platform. I assumed she called it the blue room because the walls were paneled but painted a soft blue. The bedding was a crisp white, as was the chiffon draped over the canopy. The windows had matching chiffon curtains that pooled on the floor. A white antique dresser and dressing table sat on opposite walls, and a lovely blue-and-white striped chaise lounge chair with a fluffy blue throw over the back of it sat in a corner with a floor lamp made of crystals to its side.
“Put her suitcase on the luggage rack in the closet,” Maeme told King. “Then get downstairs before the boys arrive.”
The boys? The others were boys? Something else King hadn’t told me. I should assume from here on out that everything he’d said was a lie.
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied, opening the door on the left wall and walking inside, then turning on a light.
I could see from here it was a large walk-in closet.
“The bathroom is this way,” she informed me, walking to the door on the opposite side of the room and opening it. “Come on in here and show me what else has been done to you. I have supplies to ease the pain and some medicine that’ll help too. Just need to know what we are dealing with. Might require a doctor.”
Panic seized me again, and I shook my head, backing up. The thought of running from this room and house played out in my head. King would catch me, and I had no vehicle to get far even if I tried.
“I can’t go to a hospital or doctor for that matter. I need to just leave. I think it will be best for everyone. I can call a taxi. I don’t need the bus—”
“Take a deep breath and calm down, Rumor,” Maeme said, closing the space between us and touching my arm lightly. “Ain’t no one going anywhere. Not even the hospital. We have a friend who is a medical doctor. He makes house calls. He is also real discreet. He will come here, fix you up, eat my chicken and dumplings, enjoy my banana pudding, and be happy as a clam to do it.”
“I can’t pay for that,” I argued, wondering what kind of doctor would come here and work on a patient without equipment.
“And you won’t need to. He will do it as a favor,” Maeme informed me. “King, you can go now.”
I turned to watch him walk out of the room without a word. He closed the door behind him, and I took in a shaky breath.
What had I gotten myself into? I could have kept trying to find a woman to help me. Those men weren’t that big of a problem. It wasn’t like one of them was going to abduct me from the store in front of all those people. I was scared and alone, weak and terrified. He had approached me at the right time.
“Take off the shirt and show me what has you holding that side like it hurts to breathe,” Maeme directed me. It was said in a kind tone, but the demand that left no room for argument was also clear in her voice. It was amazing how she could sound like a kind grandmother but have a fierceness that had you obeying her.
I was also worn down. It was clear she wasn’t going to listen to me. I had to get through this, and in the morning, I’d find a way to leave.
I placed my purse on the dresser, then unbuttoned my blouse, only wincing when I had to shrug it off my shoulders. I’d done the best I could with athletic wrap this morning that I kept in my closet for times when Hill went beyond bruising me.
“Let me,” Maeme said with her eyes locked on my ribs.
The pain in her gaze as she began to gently remove the wrap was the first time I’d had anyone genuinely care about me. I felt my eyes begin to burn, and I blinked, fighting back the tears. I would not cry on this woman.
Closing my eyes, I inhaled deeply as the cool air hit my skin. I was afraid to look at the damage that had been done. I knew by now that the bruising would have set in.