• Where Is She? Getting Dizzy.

    Kay let out a sigh of relief as she slid to the ground; she hadn’t run that fast for a while and her legs now felt like jelly. She had been running away from her boyfriend Cedric because as of lately he’d been getting a bit too physical with their arguments. This situation was nothing new to her, in fact pretty much all her relationships were like this, and every time it happened she promised for the sake her children she wouldn’t do this to them again.

    Yet she does over and over again and it’s not like she didn’t know why, no she knew exactly why; it was because all the guys seemed so sweet, so great, and so perfect. And the crazy thing is they were, for about a month or two, Cedric had set a new record he’d gone five months before he started to show Kay what he was really like, and then when all that pleasantness was done with it’d be just like the last relationship; abusive and heartbreaking.

    Kay knew that soon Cedric would start calling, pretending to be sorry about what he’d done, and if this had been the first time he’d hit her she would have gone back. This however was not the first but the fifth time he’d hurt her and tonight she wouldn’t be back. She thanked God she had dropped off her two children, Shawn and Abigail, at Nathaniel’s house. Speaking of which, Kay pulled out her phone and dialed Nathaniel’s number; he always answered his phone no matter what time of night it was. Sure enough on the third ring Nathaniel picked up; “Hello?” said his deep and slightly irritated voice. “Hey Natty how are my babies doing?” said Kay with false cheerfulness. “They’re fine now why don’t you tell me where you are so I can come pick you up.”

    There was silence for a moment, “How’d you know?” she asked quietly, all trace of false cheer gone from her voice. Nathaniel snorted and said letting his anger show in his tone, “You don’t just call in the middle of the night to see how your kids are doing unless a) you haven’t seen them for a long period of time or b) something’s wrong. And since you saw Shawn and Abby just this morning and I know that Cedric is almost exactly like the last three or four assholes you’ve dated, I’m guessing that your finally tired of getting smacked around and you need me to come get you because you can’t run any more. Is that about right Kathryn?” Damn he only called her by her full name when he was truly pissed at her, “Yes,” she replied reluctantly “That’s about right Nathaniel.”

    She heard him sigh loudly into the phone and say, “Okay just tell me where you are and I’ll come get you.” Kay rattled off the name of the street she was on and they hung up; she didn’t know why Nathaniel put up with her mess but she was grateful for it everyday. She may never say it out loud but with him she didn’t have to, he already knew.

    After ten minutes she finally saw his car come into view and man was he hauling a**. It was pure magic that he didn’t get a ticket for the way he was driving; she was guessing the car looked like some kind of emergency vehicle to others. To her though it still looked like his regular old faded orange beetle; the same one he drove when he took her to her first dance, her first hospital trip when she was pregnant, and so many other things.

    He pulled the car up to the curb where she was sitting and got out to help her up into the vehicle but stopped suddenly when he got a good look at her face. It was then that he took on an expression Kay had only seen a few times before. He was pissed, no he was beyond pissed he was livid, and when he was livid Nathaniel was liable to do anything. “Now Natty I know it looks bad but it’s really not,” she said in a small voice. His eyes narrowed and he clenched his fists, “Kathryn,” he said his voice barely containing his rage, “You entire ******** face is bruised and I’ll be willing to bet the rest of you is no better.” There was nothing she could say to that because, like always, he was right; she hurt everywhere and the running didn’t help at all but she would eat glass before she’d tell him that.

    “Well that’s a bet I’m afraid you’d lose Nathaniel,” she said icily. “Oh really?” he asked disbelievingly, “Well lets see shall we?” He grabbed her right wrist roughly and yanked up the sleeve on her long sleeved shirt; her arm had multiple bruises and cuts some old and some new. Next he picked up her right ankle and pushed her pant leg up revealing more bruises and though there was not as many of them here as there was on her arm and face, there were still enough to make his temper worsen. “I don’t think I have to see any more to know I’m right do I?” he asked.

    Kay shook her head as tears started falling down her face catching her by surprise, “Oh God, I’m sorry,” she muttered wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. She hated crying in front of anybody but especially him; she didn’t know why but if she had to guess she would say it’s because she doesn’t want to look weak in front of him. Though that’s a silly thing to worry about considering the just about everyone was weaker in comparison to Nathaniel. Kay had never seen the man cry, and she doesn’t ever think she will.

    He sighed leaned down and gently helped her into the car. When she was safely in he turned to her and said, “You have nothing to be sorry for,” and kissed her on her forehead. Kay couldn’t help the smile that broke out on her face and when he got into the drivers seat she reached to him, cupped his face and kissed him on the mouth. “Thank you Natty I love you.” He rubbed the back of her head softly and replied, “I love you too Kay, now lets go home and get you cleaned up.”

    The next morning Kay, while sitting there watching the morning news and eating her breakfast, she got such a shocked that she spit out what she had in her mouth and spilled the drink she had in her hand. Earlier that morning Cedric had been found dead in his home gruesomely murdered; he’d been severely beaten, tortured, skinned, and then hung up in his wall like a decoration. "Who could have done this," she thought, no one hated Cedric enough to kill him, beat him up yes, but defiantly not enough to murder him. She heard the bedroom door open suddenly behind her, scaring her half to death, and when she turned around she saw that it was Nathaniel, wearing a smug satisfied smile on his face. No she was wrong there was one person who would have no problem with murdering Cedric, and as that person walked toward her preparing to give her a hug she found that she wasn't scared; not one bit.