Page 58 of Power
I snort with a dry laugh and shake my head. “No. She grabbed me by the hair, and dragged me through the house, and tossed me out. Naked.”
Bennett leans an elbow on the table and exhales with pity. “My God,” he whispers with pain in his voice.
“The guy opened my bedroom window and threw out some clothes, and my phone and told me to wait for his call because I could go live with him.” I let out a humorless chuckle. “He even winked at me.” I feel like I’m going to be sick.
“I don’t even know what to say or how to react to this. What happened?”
“He kept calling, but I never answered.”
“Where did you go?”
“During the day I tried to stay invisible, and at night, I’d sneak back home and sleep under the house.” Bennett stares at me. The pain in his eyes is too much to look at. I turn away. “Then one day, about two or three weeks later, Mom called and told me to come home because she found out he was cheating on her with someone else. And I could come home as long as I promised not to try to steal her boyfriend again.”
“Steal him? He’s a predator who abused you.” There’s a long silence between us. With shaky hands I lift my coffee mug and sip on my drink, Bennett does the same. “What happened after you returned home, Reece?”
“The next boyfriend was a mean drunk, just like Mom. Actually, he was worse. He’d fill her up on alcohol then beat the shit out of her, then he’d try to force his way into my room. But I learned from the first guy, and when I returned home, I stole a lock from the hardware store, and installed it myself.”
“Good for you. That was a smart thing for you to do, Reece.”
“It didn’t stop the next boyfriend, it merely slowed him down,” I say, bursting Bennett’s bubble. “He was nasty, rough, and mean. He’d bite me so hard I’d bleed. But thankfully, I have no physical scars from him.”
“How the hell did you get out of there?”
“Mom caught him and tossed me out. I had just turned fourteen when she caught him doing things to me. Of course, I was blamed, and she accused me of flirting with him, and leading him on. He didn’t even have to convince her, because in her mind I was the one who was at fault to begin with.”
“What happened?’
“I was out on the streets again. I was fourteen years old. I had no money. I couldn’t go to school. There were no resources available to me, because where does someone that age go? I did the only thing I knew how to do.”
“Which was?” his words drag as if he already knows the answer, but he needs it confirmed.
“I figured out that men like sex. So, I stole a packet of condoms, and I sold myself.” Bennett closes his eyes and rubs at the center part of his forehead between his brows. “It was either that, or starve. And I chose that. I managed to be able to hire a room at a really nasty motel where I lived for a little over a year.”
“How did no one ask questions? How did you do this?”
“Who’s going to ask questions, Bennett? My mother? She wouldn’t know me if she tripped over me. The police? They didn’t even know I was homeless. I was street smart. I blended in and made sure I wasn’t seen during school hours because that would’ve been a red flag.”
“Men paid you to have sex with them at the age of fourteen?” His eyes water as he shakes his head. “I’m sorry,” he says.
“Most of it was okay, but there were times I was terrified. Overall though, I got really lucky because I had somewhat decent clients. I guess as decent as they could be when they were screwing a child.” I shake my head at my own words. “I’m trying to say, I could’ve ended up a statistic, and I’m glad I didn’t. I realize now how it made them feel better that they were paying me for a service, although we both know the type of people they were.”
“I’m lost for words.”
“I know. This is a lot to take in. Tash knows a considerable amount of this, but not as much as I’m sharing with you.”
“Thank you, for trusting me with this.”
I place my mug on the table and sit opposite him. “I got a new client,” I continue with how I ended up with a baby at the age of fifteen. “He gave me the creeps. He wanted me to wear diapers and crawl around the floor. He was...” I shiver with revulsion. “He was...” I don’t even know what to say about him. “The third time I was with him, as he was having his way with me, his hand moved between us. I had no idea until after he climaxed, that he’d torn off the condom and came inside me.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah. Nine months later, Emily was born.”
“What about that fucker? What happened to him?”
“I don’t know. He never came back after he did what he did.” I take a moment to compose myself. “I got myself tested, kept working, and then found out I was pregnant. I was terrified,” I say as I choke back the tears. “How could I bring a baby into this awful world?” My eyes water, and I find myself crying.
“Sweetheart,” Bennett says as he stands and moves to console me.
