Not Just Another Walk In The Park Ch 02

After the attack in the park, I make my way home, incoherently stumbling inside the house where I live with my mom, Elise. My dad was killed in a terrible car accident last year putting my mom and me through the hardest thing we have ever had to face. Right around the same time, my mom quit her very lucrative job at a big law firm to work at the county Prosecutor's office. She said she was tired of working for the "bad guys". Things were tough but we were managing.

I sneak through the back door and head straight for the bathroom while my mom sits in the living room drinking coffee and watching a TV news show. I step in the shower, sobbing as I look down at my bruised and bloodied body. The water from the shower stings the gash on my leg and the scrapes and scratches all over my body. My inner thighs are black and blue from the pounding I had just received. I slide down the shower wall wishing the water could somehow wash away the guilt and shame that consumes me.

Why didn't I listen to my mom? How could I be so stupid to run in the park alone? Did I invite this on myself? Did I ask for it? No! I didn't ask for this...I didn't want this...this is not my fault! I will not let him take anything else from me!

"Ava, honey? Are you okay?" My mother says, knocking on the bathroom door.

"Yeah, Mom, I...I'm fine." I say, trying my best to compose myself.

"What happened? Why were you so late getting back?" She says, in her normal concerned tone. "Don't you have to go to work?"

Shit! I forgot about work! I've never missed a day or been late before but I know I'm not in any shape to be able to do my job today.

"I'm not feeling very good, Mom. I think I pushed myself too hard out there. Do you think you could call into work for me and let them know I can't come in today?"

"Sure, honey. Should I call the doctor?"

"No, I'll be fine. I just need to rest."

When I've finally scrubbed hard enough to get the sickening feeling of my attacker's filth off of me I step out of the shower and look at myself in the mirror. My dark green eyes are bloodshot and puffy from all of the crying and my cheek has a slight hint of a bruise from where the guy hit me. Using make up, I try my best to hide the bruise on my face so that my mom won't ask a bazillion questions if she sees it. I dry myself off avoiding the most painful areas and wrap up in a fluffy white bathrobe.

I slowly walk to my bedroom as the home phone rings. My mom answers it and starts talking in a heated tone, almost as if she's arguing. Too emotionally and physically drained to concern myself with my mom's problems I climb into my bed and pull the covers up to my chin. A shudder surges through my body as I remember the way the man's hands groped and defiled me.

"Can I come in?" She says, knocking on the door as she's opening it.

"Sure." I say, though she doesn't me a chance to actually answer before she walks in.

"Are you sure you're okay?" She says, sitting on the bed next to me, somewhat distracted.

"Yeah." I say, turning to the side so she won't see the bruise.

"That's good."

"Are you okay, Mom? You seem...worried."

"Me...sure, everything's fine." She says, clearly not telling me the whole truth. "Hey listen, I need to go out for a little bit, you'll be okay, right?"

"Yeah, I'll be okay." I say, in the most confident tone I can muster. I really didn't want her to leave....my nerves are shot.

"Okay. I shouldn't be long." She says, pushing a strand of hair back behind my ears. Her touch sends shivers down my spine.

Just minutes after I hear the garage door close, my cell phone begins ringing. I pick it up thinking she forgot to tell me something before she left but I don't recognize the number.

"Hello?" I say.

"Hello, Sweetheart. How are you feeling?" The sound of his voice brings a wretch in my stomach.

"How did you get this number?" I say, my pulse quickening.

"Ava, I'm disappointed how you underestimate me." He says, disdain dripping in his voice. "I am glad, however, that you kept our...little secret."

"What....how....?" I swallow a large lump in my throat as terror wells up inside me. I disconnect the call and throw my phone across the room, scared of even his voice. It rings again. I just stare at it, afraid to even touch it. It continues ringing until it goes to voicemail. It rings again and I pick it up and turn it completely off. Minutes later the home phone starts ringing. I run to the kitchen and pick it up.

"What the hell do you want?" I scream into the phone.

"Excuse me....Ava?" It was one of my mom's associates from work. "Is your mother there?"

"Oh, I'm sorry Mrs. McKinley. I thought you were someone else." I stumbled over my words.

"Clearly." She says, with an edge of irritation in her voice.

"Mom left a few minutes ago."

"Did she say where she was going?"

"No, she didn't say."

"That's very strange. She isn't answering her cell phone or her work number. She was supposed to meet with a client half an hour ago. That isn't like her."

"It might have been my fault. I was late coming home from my jog. She was probably worried about me and didn't want to leave until I got home."

"That's unfortunate. This is a very important case and we have a lot of work to do. If you hear from her, can you tell her to call into work right away, please?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

Oh, great. Now on top of everything else, I have to worry about my mother getting fired, too! I run into my bedroom and pick my cell phone up off the floor. I scroll through the missed calls to see the same number called me over twenty times and I have one voicemail. I type in my code and listen to the message.

"Sweetheart, you know you really shouldn't hang up on me. That isn't very nice. I hope you remember what we discussed earlier. I would really hate to see something....terrible happen to someone you love...." His voice trails off as the phone goes dead.

Terror grips my soul. What does he mean something terrible? Is he the one my mom was arguing with? Is he the one she went to see?

I quickly call the number back.

"Hey Sweetheart! You're a smart girl. What can I do for you?" He says, with a smug satisfaction in his voice.

"Where's my mom? What did you say to her?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." His voice drips with patronizing sarcasm.

"Just leave her alone! You sick bastard!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that."

Feeling fiercely protective, I string together a long line of profanities calling him every name in the book and then some, telling him where to go and how he can go about getting there. Even though my mother was a tough, strong Prosecutor in the public eye that many low life criminals feared, I knew the real her....the one that cried herself to sleep many nights still mourning the loss of her best friend and soul mate. I can't bear the thought of this sleaze bag touching her....hurting her, it's ripping my guts out.

"I'll tell you what.....you come over here and we can take care of all this. I'll give you what you want and well....you get the idea."

My head is spinning. Oh my god. What should I do?

"Tell me where to go. I'll be there." I say, with every intention of giving the address straight to the police.

"How about I send over a cab for you?"

"I'd rather drive."

"Sorry. We're going to do things my way. Okay?" He says in more of a demand rather than a question. "A car will be at your house in ten minutes. If you tell anyone, you'll both regret it. Understand?"

"Yes." I fully understand the implication.

"Delete all the history on your cell phone and leave it on your dresser...got it? Oh, and by the way, wear something sexy....like that little black dress you bought at the mall the other day. Also, wear those black heels in the back of your closet that you never wear. They're sexy as hell. See you soon."

I feel a knot form in the pit of my stomach...how did he know about the dress and the heels?

I reach into my closet and pull out the brand new black silky dress with the tags still attached. I slip it on over my black lace bra and black panties and step into a pair of black high heels. I stare at myself in the mirror trying to talk myself out of what I am about to do. I don't want to do it but I have to...for my mom.

Erasing all the history on my cellphone, like he commanded, I set it down on my dresser as a horn honking outside brings a new level of panic.

I head out door and climb into the cab. An older man stares at me through the rear view mirror. He backs out of our driveway and heads down the road. He hands me a blindfold and tells me to put it on. When I question him, he tells me to 'shut up and do it'. I tie the blindfold over my eyes and sit nervously in the back seat of the cab, knowing I have just made the biggest mistake of my life. We drive for a really long time, making so many twists and turns that I lose all sense of direction. We could have been going around in circles for all I know. Finally the car comes to a stop. I reach up to take the blindfold off but my hand gets smacked away. The car door opens and someone reaches in and yanks me out of the car. I'm pulled through a door and hear it slam shut behind me. Then I'm thrown onto a couch as the blindfold is pulled off my eyes.

"You sure you weren't followed?" The man from the park says to the cab driver.

"I am sure. I made many turns and travel many different streets to be sure that I am not followed." The cabbie says. He's a short, foreign-looking man, half as tall as the other guy.

"Good."

"You're lucky I brought her at all. When I see how pretty she is I almost drove away with her." The small man says, eyeing me up and down. "You think I could 'borrow' her for a bit?"

"Hmmm....what do you think, Sweetheart?" He laughs, placing his hand on the little guy's head and pushing him toward me.

"No! Stay away from me!" I scream.

"Be careful, she's a feisty one."

The little man comes toward me unbuttoning his pants, he's already hard. The other guy grabs a twelve pack out of the fridge and sits on a bar stool at the counter preparing to watch the show. The cab driver kneels down in front of me reaching up my dress and tries to grab my panties.

"Stop it! Get away from me!" I say, pushing him away before he gets a good grip.

"Be still." He says, pinning me against the couch. He slips the strap of my dress and bra off my shoulder and gropes my bare breast. He lowers his head down to lick and suck at my tits and I squirm and kick violently, planting the heel of my shoe into his nuts. He gasps in pain as he drops face first on the ground. The other guy is laughing so hard he nearly falls off the stool.

In terrible pain and embarrassment, the little man stumbles to his feet and staggers toward the door.

"That's it? Oh come on, man, you're giving up that easy?" The other guy says, enjoying this entirely too much. "What's wrong with you?"

"I don't like them when they fight back." The older man says, as he walks out the door. "Good luck being here alone with her."

"I think I'll be alright." He says with a grin, folding his arms in front of his chest.