Page 20 of Harbinger of Destiny

“I was about to turn sixteen, and I’d only been with my new foster family for a year, when I realized that my foster father was giving me looks that I didn’t like.”

Joshua’s stomach knotted. He could guess where this was leading.

“I was pretty then, you know?”

In fact, he did. He’d seen the photos.

“He wanted me. It started with innocent hugs of encouragement when I was preparing for tests at school. At least I thought they were innocent. But they weren’t. With every week, things got worse. His touching became more inappropriate, and I tried to push him away without angering him, but he didn’t get the message.”

Joshua took her hand and squeezed it.

“I’d met a boy in school. I liked him, and he had a crush on me. We started dating in secret. I couldn’t bring him home. But my foster father found out anyway. A neighbor had seen us together, and she told him. She didn’t think anything of it, of course. How could she know that my foster father would go berserk?”

She sniffled.

Joshua’s heart broke for her. “If you don’t want to continue… I understand.”

She turned her head to him. “No, I need to continue. I haven’t spoken about it in a long time.”

He nodded, and she turned away again.

“I didn’t know that he knew about my boyfriend. I found out later, far too late. He didn’t let on. But I knew something was amiss. He was always in a bad mood, so much so that my foster mother decided to visit her sister for a few days to get a break. I doubt she knew what kind of danger she put me in by leaving for the weekend.”

Amy’s body seemed to stiffen. “He confronted me as soon as she’d left. He accused me of sleeping around, of being a slut. And he grabbed me. I knew what he wanted to do…”

Joshua’s heart began to race. “Did he rape you?”

“He wanted to, but I fought back. I hit him with the first thing I could grab: a half-empty bottle of wine. It only made him angrier. I’d never seen him so furious. That’s when he told me that if he couldn’t have me then nobody else could either.” She sniffled again. “I thought he would kill me, but he was far more brutal. He wanted me to live, but be reminded of him every day.”

Joshua turned her in his arms so he could see both sides of her face. Gently, he ran his fingers over her scars. “How did he do it?”

“A frying pan with hot bacon fat.” She swallowed hard. “The pain was unbearable. I wanted to die just so I wouldn’t feel the pain anymore. When I lay there, screaming and whimpering, he bent over me and said: now nobody will ever desire you again. Every man will find you disgusting, just like you deserve, you little slut.”

Joshua pulled her closer to him and stroked her hair to comfort her. He pressed a kiss on her forehead. “I’m so sorry, Amy, so sorry.” How could somebody be so cruel, so heartless? “I hope he got what he deserved.”

“I told the doctors, and they notified the police. He was charged with aggravated assault. But the trial didn’t go my way. The defense claimed that I was lying. The lawyer made everybody believe that I harmed myself. And with my history of behavioral problems documented by social services, the jury believed him, not me. He walked, and I was sent to live in a group home for difficult teenagers until I turned eighteen. Since then, I’ve been on my own.”

How could a jury not have convicted that bastard? How could they have let him off? What kind of justice was this? It was no justice at all.

“It wasn’t fair,” Joshua said.

“No, it wasn’t.”

“And your boyfriend from back then?”

She lifted her head to meet his gaze. “What do you think? He was sixteen and popular at school. He couldn’t date a girl like me. Imagine how the rest of the school would have treated him.”

“Are you defending him?”

“No. But I understand why he dumped me. It doesn’t matter. I got over it.”

Maybe, but it couldn’t have been easy for her.

“Just like I’ll get over it when you stop coming to see me.”

Her callous words jolted him. “Why are you saying that?”

“Because it’ll happen. You’re too good-looking to date somebody like me. And now that you’ve had me, the novelty will wear off.”