Continued from Part 1. Please read that first then come on back!
________
As I stood in that terrible place, a dozen thoughts rushed through my head. I began to feel paranoid that this had been staged and she had played some elaborate hustle on me, but that didn't add up. There was only one explanation; Mary had been abducted.
In a panic, I got back in my car and drove off in a hurry. I wasn't sure where I was going, but decided to go by her parents place one more time, then to the police. I hesitated about going straight to the cops because I didn't know if my role in all this had been legal either. All I knew was that I had grown desperately fond of Mary and needed to protect her, to save her.
I pulled up outside Mary's parents place and to my immense relief, the front door was open and I saw her father in the front room. I parked outside and heard shouting coming from the front room. I heard Mary's voice and my heart raced. I didn't think of any possible consequences and got out of the car.
I marched straight in through their front door and assessed the situation. Her mom was sitting in the corner looking dazed and her father was standing over Mary, who was sitting on the couch. I saw a used needle lying on the floor. As soon as she saw me, Mary yelled my name, got up and tried to run towards me. Her father pushed her back down roughly, saying "Sit down, you dumb bitch," and that was all I needed to hear. I wasn't a violent man, but I could take this creep. I went over to him, but spoke to Mary without taking my eye off him.
"Mary, are you OK?"
"No, please help me, I..."
"You want me to get you out of here?" I didn't want to force her into anything. This had to be her decision and I had to be certain she wanted to come with me.
"Yes! I..." Her father slapped her face and then came at me. I got him in a Half Nelson hold and then told Mary to get in my car. She ran out fast, grabbing a few things on the way out, including her envelope of cash. Her mother just sat there and I could tell she was full of junk. I watched Mary go and then whispered in her Father's ear "Now. We're not gonna see you again. You come near her again or even if I see you again, I'll break your arm. And that's just the beginning. She's gone from your life now. Figure out another way to get your dirty money."
"You're...the guy...from..." I tightened my grip on him and he yelped in pain.
"That's right. I'm also your worst nightmare." I needed to sound as badass as I could muster and I could appear pretty mean if I needed to be. This wasn't in my nature, but my love for Mary had put me in a blind rage. "Now, how'd you find us?" I whispered menacingly in his ear.
"A guy I know saw her out and followed..." he replied and I'd heard enough. I let him go and then slugged him across the jaw. He folded onto the couch. I'd never punched anyone before and was shocked at how much it hurt my fist, but my adrenaline was going and I tried to ignore it.
Mary's mother just sat there with her mouth open and she appeared to be unconscious. This family was pretty fucked up. I looked at the father one more time with a grimace.
"Take her. Good riddance, I say," he shouted after me as I left.
I got back in the car and Mary and I drove off. My hand was throbbing and I wondered if I might have broken it. I looked over at Mary and she was basically curled up in a ball. Quickly making sure she was OK, I started heading back over to my place.
"Who broke into my place? Was it just your dad?"
"Yeah. And my mom, I guess," she mumbled. I figured I could talk to her about it later, but I wanted to make sure there wasn't anyone else coming after her.
"Are you OK to go back there?" I asked.
She just nodded but didn't look at me. She was crying and shaking. Returning to my apartment, I put her in bed, wrapped her up and made tea. The front door lock was fucked up so I called the locksmith and told him we'd had a break in. As I was on the phone by my door, my neighbor Charlie came over and said he'd called the police when he heard noise, then seen my door. I thanked him, but secretly cursed.
I went back to Mary, who was still lying in bed and she appeared to be in shock. She hadn't said a word since we got back. I looked at her and saw that she had a bruise on her face and bruises on her arm and waist. Fuck. Now, I felt regret that I hadn't beaten her father to a pulp. "Are you alright, sweetie?" I ventured to ask.
She looked at me and with tears welling in her eyes, sat up and gave me a giant, tight hug. "Oh, Richard," and she let out all her emotion and tears while I comforted her.
"You're safe now."
"I may never be safe. Oh, baby. I thought that was it. I thought he'd take me back to that place and I'd never see you again, I..." she cried, then broke off.
"I won't ever let that happen, Mary. I'll protect you, no matter what, alright?" Mary kissed me sweetly and I felt those feelings of guilt coming back. Even though we had spent all this last week having sex, once again, I started to feel like it was wrong. "So, babe. The police are probably going to come over because a neighbor called over the break-in. You want to tell them everything?"
"Oh, no no no," she said, her eyes wide.
"OK, then, we'll need to get our story straight. For one thing, your face and body are bruised, and my hand..."
Mary looked at my hand in shock and more tears fell down her pretty cheek. My hand was swollen and red and hurt like a motherfucker. "Oh, baby, what did he do to you?" she asked me.
"His jaw connected sharply with my fist, Mary." She looked at me with a half-smile at my attempted joke.
"Oh. I see," she said. "Thank you, Richard. You're my knight in shining armor," she said and kissed me again.
"OK, so how do we explain all this?" We went over a story. I had defended her from an abusive ex-boyfriend who had found out where she was and kicked the door down. She had been staying with me to get away from him. I'd lost my temper and punched him, and he'd run off. We didn't think he'd be back. It was essentially true, aside from the details of the boyfriend instead of her parents.
