Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 44774 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 224(@200wpm)___ 179(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44774 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 224(@200wpm)___ 179(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
I barely made it to the second-story railing along the walk before my knees gave out. “What do you mean?”
“Stop lying! You sullied yourself with a Hatfield, then put it up all over the Internet!”
“Mom, I didn’t put anything on the Internet. Why would I do that?”
“Because I forbade you to see that boy and you just love flaunting how I ain’t your real mom. I told you he was no good. But you knew better, didn’t you? You just had to prove you could do whatever you wanted since you turned eighteen. Rubbing it in mine and your father’s faces!”
“Mom--” This was spiraling out of control faster than I could keep up. I stopped just outside the motel room, leaning against the wall.
“I can’t believe you did this! We’ll never be able to show our faces at church again. All our friends will shun us! I can’t believe you’d do this to us!”
“I don’t even know what’s happened!” I yelled. “Who told you about this? It literally just happened! And I didn’t film anything! What are you even talking about!” The more my stepmother yelled at me, the more I yelled back.
“Haven’t you been listening? Of course, you haven’t,” she scoffed. “That Hatfield devil sent the video of you fornicating with him to everyone in town.”
“That’s impossible, Mom. He’s only been gone ten minutes, and he didn’t video us. Besides, he said he loved me.” I stumbled down the walk to the steps. If I didn’t sit down, I was afraid I’d fall.
“You always were stupid.” Then my stepmother mimicked me, her voice going higher. Her words sent a chill down my spine. “‘Do you promise we’ll be together forever, Avery?’” Then her voice went deeper as she mimicked Avery. “‘Absolutely, sweet Jolene. We’ll be the only Hatfield and McCoy to ever have a till-death-do-us-part marriage. I swear it, Jolene.’” I gasped, but my stepmom wasn’t finished. “Little fool! Now you’ve ruined yourself and our family’s reputation. I hope you’re happy.”
“This isn’t about you, Mom! And why is it my fault?” I was sitting on the concrete steps as I argued with my mother. Tears threatened, but more than that, I was angry and hurt.
“Because you were a stupid little whore! Just like your real mother.” She snapped the hate-filled words at me. It wasn’t anything I hadn’t heard from her before.
I was the middle of seven children from three different women. I either got lost in the pack or singled out for something I’d done to earn her displeasure. Sometimes, it felt like both my parents hated me and my siblings could give two shits. Maybe it was why I’d allowed Avery Hatfield to get close to me in the first place. Now, they might hate me forever, but at least it got me some attention. Too bad it was the wrong kind.
“Why are you calling me?”
“To tell you not to bother coming home,” she said. “You’ve made your bed. You can lie in it!” The line went dead.
I whimpered. Had my stepmother just thrown me out of the house? Where was I going to go? How was I going to live? I had a job, but payday was still a week away, and Mom and Poppy made me give them most of my check for room and board since I’d turned eighteen.
Just when I thought the night couldn’t get any worse, I was yanked to my feet by my hair. “Hey! Let me go!”
“There’s the little slut!” Someone laughed as they shoved me back toward the motel. “Get her inside before someone sees us.” I screamed, but they slapped a piece of duct tape over my mouth, dragging me back up the landing to the room I’d just vacated.
“Avery said we only got half an hour. Better make it good, boys.”
I gasped as I looked up at Avery’s brother and five of his cousins. They shoved me to the bed and yanked off my pants.
They’d secured me so completely, they didn’t have to beat me much. It must have been part of the fun for them because they still hit me. Though they didn’t have a lot of time, they did plenty of damage in what they had. Strangely, Avery’s brother pulled out a box of condoms and threw them on the bed beside me. They all used them. Probably to keep from leaving evidence of what they’d done that could link them to the crime. At some point, I checked out of reality. Sounds were distorted, my vision blurred. My body ached from the beating and the way they’d used me, but it wasn’t as bad as I’d first thought. Or maybe I really had checked out.
I was found some time later when someone came to clean. The police and ambulance personnel got involved, but I just wanted a shower and to go home so I refused a rape exam. To me, there simply wasn’t any point. I wasn’t going to testify against anybody. Somehow, I was getting the fuck out of here and never fucking coming back. Even though I’d refused most everything offered, I’d allowed a paramedic to give me something for pain, which took the edge off. Tomorrow would be bad, but I’d figure out a way to survive.