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“He’s already really hurt me,” I whispered.
Megan’s head shot up from the table of firefighters she was flirting with. She narrowed her eyes at me like I was trying to steal her man. I was just trying to survive him.
“He could do worse,” Josh warned. He then kissed my cheek, knowing it would rile up Megan.
I pushed him away from me just as she approached us.
“What are you doing over here?” She didn’t ask Josh, she asked me.
“Getting back to work,” I told her. It was the truth.
“How does being all over my man equate to yougetting back to work?”
“I’m not all over your man. If anything, he was all over me.” I never asked for their unwanted attention. Not once.
“Liar,” she snarled. “Why can’t you keep your hands to yourself? You always do this…”
As she went off on me, Josh crept away, a secret smile on his face. He knew exactly what he was doing. Disgusting, but they’ve been like this for as long as I can remember. Fucking toxic.
“Are you even fucking listening to me?” Megan dug her nails into my arm, gripping me up and shaking me a bit.
“Erm, no.”
“You’ll pay for your actions. You already know this, Sloane.” She flounced off back to her tables, and I let out a sigh of relief.
Finally, I can get to work.
???
After my shift was over, I headed home. I turned onto my street and pulled into a dark lot. I shut off my lights and engine and listened for the familiar rumble of their engines, or boisterous noise of gathered men, smoking and drinking and waiting for me to arrive so they could entertain themselves. I was exhausted, but I didn’t care. I would wait.
My thoughts lingered on the man from the other day, or rather, his broken condom—and his decision not to replace it, and my decision to not insist. Because of the new laws in place, when I had gone to the pharmacy to secure the morning after pill, I was turned away. It was bullshit.
Initially, I was like whatever. But as the days passed, I started to worry more.
I could barely feed myself let alone a child. Not to mention if I had one with no man to protect me. The MC would take the baby from me. They would claim it as their own, and no one in this damn town would try to stop them.
That would make my shittier life a whole lot worse. I couldn’t bring a child into this world. It would be a cruel thing to do.
After a good twenty minutes of silence, I went to my apartment, climbed out of my car, and headed inside. I locked the door behind me as well as the five deadbolts I had added since the break-in. I even had a wooden bar now. Sadly, three locks hadn’t deterred the person who took what little I had saved up, so more locks were added. Because not only did that one petty crime fuck me over financially, but also got me raped in punishment. And now I was in arrears.
Finally, I could hop in the shower. Yet, I changed my mind and chose a bath as soon as I saw the bubbles sitting on the counter. I’d been trying to have more self-care nights for a long while but often couldn’t find the energy. Double shifts were wreaking havoc on my skin.
The tub was full, and I was ready to slip in, but a loud thud against glass made me jump in fright. I rushed to my bathroom cabinet. Hidden in a box of tampons was the small gun my father gave me on my fifteenth birthday. I tore open the re-glued tampon box that was meant to give the illusion of an unopened package of feminine care products.
All these years, despite the turmoil of my life, I had managed to keep my gun hidden like this. None were the wiser. And the hiding spot worked. While the thieves did look in the bathroom cabinet, the tampon box had remained untouched in the back.
Money could be replaced, but I treasured this gift. While it couldn’t stop all the monsters, it did protect me on nights such as these.
With gun in hand, I donned a robe and went into the living room. I peeked out my curtains. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The shadows were still.
Was my mind playing tricks on me? Maybe it was nothing.
“No, something hard hit my window,” I grumbled to myself.
After a few minutes, I went back to my cooling bath, left the gun on the sink, and slid into the water. But the experience was ruined. I couldn’t relax.
I got out, dried off, turned off my lights off, and went to bed. The rumbling sound of a motorcycle leaving my street made my heart race. They were here. I knew it!
