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Gary looked at the clock, a bit surprised that it was nearly nine o'clock pm. He turned off the TV and straightened out the TV room before going to bed. A neat room was ingrained in his character since early childhood and old habits died hard or, as in Gary's case, didn't die at all. He finished his late cup of coffee and a science article on a magazine caught his eye. Sitting down again, he began to read about another theory of how the universe was going to end. The article was longer than he had thought, but he was so absorbed in it that he was determined to finish the article before going to bed.
Just then the doorbell rang, and rang again several times, before he was able to reach the door. Opening the door he saw Amber standing there with tears rolling down both of her cheeks and her dress in near tatters. Amber had often dated his nephew and he knew her fairly well. She would stop by occasionally to see him and chat. Seeing her crying and in obvious distress, Gary quickly ushered her inside closing the door behind him. "What happened, Amber?" he asked her as she continued crying even harder. Amber was a lovely girl, bubbly, effervescent and very pretty. She was not outstanding beautiful, but she was a very pretty girl, long deep red hair, a great body with long shapely legs and outstanding breasts, one of which was nearly out of her torn blouse. What little she lacked in outer beauty, she more than made up with her inner beauty.
Gray managed to calm her down enough to guide her to his living room couch where they sat down side by side. Amber composed herself as best as she could and looked deeply into Gary's eyes. Gary saw that she had a deep bruise on her cheek and some scratches on her exposed shoulder and her barely covered breast. "Did Sam do this to you?" he asked hoping that he was wrong. Amber shook her head, no, swallowing hard she turned her gaze toward the floor.
"Oh, no, sir…Sam would never do anything like this," Amber said, nearly blubbering, "I went out with my girlfriend to a party. We met this guy who seemed nice enough, at the time, but when he offered us a ride home, he changed." She began crying again as Gary tried to comfort her. She regained her composure, "He began by telling us that he would charge us a price for the ride home." Amber paused momentarily then continued, "We thought he was kidding and joked with him about what the price was. I thought he was going to ask one of us out on a date as the price of taking us home."
She cried some more then swallowed hard and continued, "He dropped my girlfriend off at her house then drove toward my house. But then he drove to a parking lot near an abandoned store and told me to take my clothes off, because I had to pay the price." Amber began crying again and Gary patiently consoled her. "He got mad when I said no, and he tore my dress. I screamed…and he…hit me…with…with his fist," she was whimpering as she rubbed her jaw. "He thought he knocked me out and then he was taking his pants off to rape me," she cried hard again, shaken to the core from her experience. "I kicked him in his balls as hard as I could with my heels. He screamed dirty words at me as he doubled up…I opened the door and ran out into the parking lot," she paused again. "He tried to chase me, but fell down. I waived down a taxi and it brought me here," she concluded and began crying again.
Gary looked at her high heeled shoes to see that her right heel was covered in blood. "Well, Amber, from the looks of your heel, I don't think he will be trying that again for a long time," Gary told her. "It looks like you stabbed him with your heel. I'm going to call the police so they can check with the hospitals for someone with a stabbed groin injury." Gray dialed 911 and spoke to the police for a few minutes then hung up. "The police will contact the hospitals. They also want to talk to you, Amber. They're on their way." Amber nodded as she tried to cover her torn blouse as best as she could. Gary gave her a light blanket to cover herself and asked if she wanted a soft drink or coffee. Amber chose coffee and Gary went to the kitchen to put on the coffee maker.
The police arrived in a few minutes, took Amber's statement, convinced her to press charges, and took pictures of her bruised jaw, torn blouse and bloody shoe. They placed her bloody shoe in a plastic bag to keep as evidence, thanked her for her cooperation and left after giving her their cards. Amber sat on the couch next to Gary and sniffled, trying to hold back the tears again. Gary put his arm around her shoulder and held her as she whimpered and trembled from her ordeal. Amber looked up at him and kissed his cheek and thanked him for helping her. Gary smiled and nodded telling her he was glad he could help.
Gary looked at the clock and it was nearly one o'clock am. He told her he would drive her home and started to get his car keys, but Amber stopped him. "May I stay here?" she asked, "My folks are out of town and nobody is home. May I stay the night since it's so late?" Gary smiled and nodded telling her that she could stay in the spare room down the hall from his bedroom. Amber sighed deeply in relief, as she was truly afraid to spend the night alone at her parents home. She couldn't remember if she had given her assailant her address when he first offered to take her home. This way she felt safer. Gary understood her concern and began to lead the way upstairs to the spare bedroom.