LL Chapter 19

LL Chapter 19

Talking Through the Night

Warning: this chapter touches on the sensitive topic of rape and suicide.



It was her stepfather. It was a man that her mother not only let near her, but also allowed into their home. I was speechless. When I figured out that she had been raped I assumed that is had been strangers or kids at a party or something like that. Never had I thought that the attack had occurred in her home; where she was supposed to feel safe and secure.



"You're upset. I can see it in your face."



"I hate you went through this. That upsets me."



"Me too. But I tried to fight them Edward. I really did."



"I believe you, Bella, but you really didn't stand a chance against two professional athletes."



"I never liked him. I begged my mom not to marry him. I really wanted her to break up with him. But she was pretty snowed by him."



"I hate to speak ill of the dead, but I do not like your mom right now."



"I feel the same way sometimes and sometimes I wish I had taken that damn drink. At least then I'd be dead and been spared from enduring the aftermath of all this shit."



I could not believe that she had just said that. Did she really wish that she was dead? My breaths started coming fast as if I was starting to hyperventilate.



"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."



"I don't know what to say to that. If you had, you would not be her and neither would Tanya. But then they also would not have…"



"That's the part that makes me feel like shit. No matter how she was conceived, I love my daughter."



We sat in silence for a bit before she looked at me again, "Edward, how did you know that it was two guys? I didn't tell you that."



"Uh, I ran into your dad this morning. He mentioned it. But in his defense he thought that I knew already. I'm sorry."



"He probably did think that. Since Rose and Angela know everything. Do you want to hear the whole story?"



"Yes and no. I mean if you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to."



"I talk about it all the time Edward. I talk about it in group. I talk about it in therapy. I had to tell the damn story about two hundred times to lawyers and in front of everyone in court."



"I don't want to pressure you to tell me though."



:You're not. You are going to end up finding out anyway and I'd rather you hear the whole thing from me than bits and pieces from everyone else. Ok. I may repeat things that you already know but it will be easier for me if I start at the beginning."



"Alright. Take your time."



"Ok. I never liked Phil. When mom started dating Phil I begged her to dump him. But she was too caught up in the fact that a young professional athlete wanted her. When she agreed to marry him, I begged her to let me ask dad if I could move up here. But she started crying that she would miss me too much and did not want to be left alone when Phil was on the road, so I caved. That's the decision that I regret the most.



On the night that they attacked me I had stayed late at school for a DECA Club meeting and my friend, Cassie, drove me home since Mom took mine for the day as hers was in the shop. She had plans to go out to dinner and clubbing with some ladies from work for a bachelorette party.



After I refused their drink, I went straight to my room stopping only to grab a baseball bat out of the hall closet. I locked my door, called Cassie, and begged her to come back and get me. I was throwing some clothes in a bag and trying to keep Cassie on the line with me.



After only a couple of minutes, they crashed through my bedroom door. They kicked it down to be more accurate. I dropped the phone and spun around yielding the bat. They both stood there and laughed at me. I swung at them as hard as I could but I was no match for them.



Eric grabbed the bat from my hand while Phil shoved me down on the bed. Eric swung the bat down on me repeatedly. He got my arms, my chest, and the last thing I remember before blacking out was when the bat made contact with my head. Like I said, I woke up six weeks later with a cracked skull, both arms broken in multiple places, and five broken ribs and I was pregnant.



The lucky thing about it is that I don't have any memories of actually being raped. I was unconscious through the whole ordeal. Cassie heard everything though. She called the cops and her mom, who was out with my mom.



Dad was there when I woke up. So was Sue. But Mom wasn't. She blamed herself for the whole thing, for bringing him into our lives, for not listening to me, for not being home that night.



I was so angry with everything at the time that I told her that I blamed her too. That I wished she had left me in Forks when I was a baby. I told her that I hated her. Over the next six months I thought that things were getting better with us but she was just pretending. She was drinking like crazy. I was so busy with healing and the pregnancy I wasn't paying close attention to her.



The day that she died, she went to work drunk, which considering that she taught kindergarten was definitely not acceptable. One of her students slipped out of the room when she wasn't looking and got the principal, she thought that Mrs. Dwyer was sick and needed to see the nurse. They fired mom when they found the vodka in her desk. She took her life that afternoon.



I named my daughter after her because I loved my mom and I know that she loved me. No matter if she could be held at fault for bringing him into our lives or that she took a coward's way out, I will always love her and miss her.



I was determined that those two bastards were going to pay. So I decided to help the cops prosecute them. They told me that it was going to be tough. Defense lawyers would do anything to discredit a rape victim. To make her out to be a lying whore.



But there wasn't anything in my past that they would be able to use. I was a virgin when they attacked me. I had never even been on a date before, let alone kissed. So the defense use the only other strategy that they could against me, public opinion.



They got the press to go after me and harass me. They even went after Cassie. They got to her so bad that she refused to testify and being a minor her parents could refuse to allow her to take the stand. So all I had was the physical injuries and the damn spiked drinks. Everyone turned on me, all of my friends and all of mom's friends. I had to stop attending school in person for my safety because the other kids were against me.



There are so many days that I cannot believe I won that trial. They both went to prison on several charges, including assault with a deadly weapon, felony child abuse, sodomy, and sexual assault of a minor child. They will each be in prison for many, many years.



Not only did I have to deal with healing from the physical injuries form the attack, because of the stress surrounding the trial, I developed complications with the pregnancy. You know about the preeclampsia but I also developed gestational diabetes.



I was in the hospital for weeks after she was born recovering. As soon as I was released Dad brought me up here. Tanya had to be airlifted, but Dad was going to drive me up here. I flipped out. I was not going to let her out of my sight. As they led Eric out of the court after sentencing he started yelling that he would make me suffer and that the moment Tanya was out of my sight for a second he make sure she was taken from me. That's why I kinda flipped out and hit you. I'm sorry for that again. As a nurse, Sue was allowed to fly up with her. But when I walked in and saw a strange guy with my baby I was terrified."



"Wow. I cannot believe that you are as strong as you are after going through all of that."



"I don't feel strong. I can't go to sleep without seeing them smashing into my room or the sight of my mom lying dead on her bed." Yeah, I could believe that.



"I have one question if you don't mind. I mean you don't have to answer it."



"Ask me."



"Do you know which one is her father?"



"No. There was a paternity test done but the results are locked in Dad's safe deposit box at the bank. I never opened it and don't plan on it. It doesn't matter anyway."



"No it doesn't." We sat there in silence for the longest time. I was trying to process everything that she had told me. FUCK! It had been a lot worse than I thought.



A/N:



There you go. Bella's story. More in a day or so. Thanks for reading!