AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Otay, Mommy.” Zoey rubbed her eyes before she skipped down the walkway. Belle opened the door and waved. Jasmine pointed to her phone and held up her finger. She waited until the girls were both inside before she turned towards the street and typed out a text to Remy.
Jasmine: Thank you for coming to the inn early to cover for me. I appreciate it. I know it was last minute.
Remy: No problem. Atlas was looking for you. I told him you’d be back later.
Jasmine swallowed the ball of emotions she didn’t even want to start sorting through. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. After a few deep breaths, she grabbed Zoey’s sleepover bag and walked inside.
Bently got home from work with non-birthday cupcakes for them to share—her family at least respected her wish to not celebrate her birthday on the actual day. But in the days that followed, they usually stopped by with their own treats and surprises in increments. She said her goodbye to Zoey.
She climbed in the passenger seat of Belle’s car as her sister-in-law drove them to the old church.
“Everything okay?” Belle asked.
“Just peachy.” Jasmine turned the radio up and stared out the window.
Belle didn’t say anything else as they weaved through the roads towards the meeting. Jasmine was grateful for the silence. Her stomach was in knots, churning with a mixture of doubt and pain.
Once they arrived, they walked into the building together.
“Jasmine?” Belle asked as they climbed the old cement stairs.
“Yeah?”
“Would you prefer if I don’t join you tonight?” Belle asked.
Jasmine opened the door and held it open for her. “Why would you think that?”
“Because in all the months we’ve come here, you’ve never shared your story. If you’d prefer I find another meeting, I can have a different SANE nurse to take my place.”
Jasmine shook her head. “It’s not you. I’ve never . . . told anyone.”
Belle nodded. “Speaking my truth was huge in my healing journey. It was one of the hardest things I had to do, fighting that shame. But I felt lighter after. Like the more I told, the less power it had over me.”
Jasmine looked down. She’d heard Belle’s story. The trauma she’d endured at the hands of her mother’s boyfriends or drug dealers. If anyone would understand her, it would be Belle, and the other women at this Sexual Assault Survivors meeting. But every time she got the urge to open up, the words stuck in her throat like a ball of shame. A sinking feeling that maybe, unlike these women, she had deserved what happened to her. Maybe she truly was a bad person. That’s why Mom left me.
“Don’t listen to them.” Belle’s strong voice interrupted her thoughts.
“Who?”
“Those voices that tell you what you don’t deserve. The ones that tell you you aren’t good enough. Don’t let him hold any more power over you,” Belle said, walking inside.
Jasmine stood stunned, conflict rioting inside her every cell. The urge to flee rose with each pained breath. She turned back to the car, hands raking through her hair. She could do what she usually did, and go in and sit quietly to listen to everyone else share. Or she could turn around and face this for the first time in her life. If anyone could help her, it was these women.
She took a deep breath, gathering all her courage. If she was going to be a better mother for Zoey, she needed to work through her issues.
One shaky step in front of the other, she walked into the church.
Jasmine was the last to arrive. She took an empty seat next to Belle. Charli waved from across the circle of chairs, next to Brynn, the woman from the diner. Oh no. Her too? She recognized a few other women from previous meetings.
“Did everyone get refreshments?” Cassidy Clark, the group therapist, asked.
The ladies nodded.
“Okay, well, I thought we’d start the meeting with some meditation and then affirmations.”
Cassidy led them through fifteen minutes of grounding themselves and speaking strength and resilience aloud.
“Is there anyone who wants to share today?” Cassidy asked.
