Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 122609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 613(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 409(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 613(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 409(@300wpm)
“Once they were gone, I kept on working on that window, telling myself I had to survive. I could hear my father’s voice screaming in my ear. It was like he was guiding me, telling me exactly what to do to get out of this mess! I got the window cracked… and I almost burst into tears. I pulled and pulled! My hands were being cut to ribbons, bleeding, riddled with splinters, but I didn’t care.
“I kept on until that window was open. Then I jumped many times until I was able to get my body through it, and wiggled over broken glass until I was free. Like Jessica, I was practically naked. Cut. Bruised. Could barely walk. But I RAN! I ran and ran on pure adrenaline, and by some crazy stroke of luck, I spotted a Catholic church not too far away. I went inside and some of the parishioners saw me. They clothed me immediately. They asked me my name and what happened, and I got ready to tell them, but somethin’ said… NO. I don’t know why, but I made up a story about being lost, being robbed and getting into a fight with a homeless person.
“When I got back with my work crew, they’d been worried sick not knowing where I’d gone. I told them the same made-up story. That I’d gotten into a fight, lost consciousness… I pretended I was okay. I found out later that one of those men who had attacked me, Nasser, often made food deliveries to the church pantry through his job at a grocery store. If he’d somehow found out I was there, by my name swarming around, I think we know what would’ve happened…” She took another drag of the cigar, then passed it back.
“I always listen to my gut. I know it’s God and my father talking to me. So, when you took me, I knew I had to put the same skills to use, and then some. I’ve been here before. I’ve seen things… I’ve lived. I’ve almost died, more than once in my life. I’d been assaulted before this incident. In college. I’ve seen evil too many times to count. I knew you didn’t really want to kill me because I’ve looked into the eyes of men who did! I know the look… I saw it in my father’s eyes when he killed that man. You looked at me differently. I knew I had a chance to live… to endure. I’ve been ridiculed. Alienated. Lied to, and about. I’ve got an editor who is sneaky, trying to wreck my career because I have the balls she could only imagine having. Yes, I’ve gone too far sometimes, but if no one pushes the boundaries, then the young girls coming up in this male-dominated field won’t have anywhere else to maneuver. Someone has to step out of the zone and make new roads to travel! We can’t stay in the same box all of our lives, Archer. We can’t always play it safe!
“Playing it safe isn’t actually safe, either. I have been fighting someone, or something, my entire life!” Her voice shook as a tear rolled down her cheek. “I got into a good college because I earned it! No free ride! No charity case! I put in the work. I was accused by someone of only being there due to affirmative action… another student. That was of course before the Supreme Court ruling.” She tsked. “I’ve proved everyone wrong. My mother. My friends. My colleagues. Myself! And now, you too! I don’t have to say a word. My actions and my camera do the talking. I don’t feel sorry for myself, Archer. I feel sorry for anyone who thinks they can fuck around with me and not find out…”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
He threw the same party every year. On the same day. At the same time. Billy’s three-story house was filled with the fellas he’d regarded for the longest as brothers. The work crew. Over the years they’d made tight connections. After all, employment in such a field instigated one to be careful who to rub shoulders with. Everyone was an enemy until proven otherwise.
Back home, he didn’t have these worries. Originally from Texas, he only had a bitter ex-wife and two kids in college who barely called unless it was for money. He did a couple of stints in prison for armed robbery and came out a better criminal. His mother had passed away long ago, and his father was in a retirement home back in Houston. Mean old fucker… Talked to me like shit every chance he got.
He glanced fleetingly at the framed photos of his almost non-existent family above his living room fireplace. The people of his bloodline were either dead, almost dead, or practical strangers.