Chapter 114

My body is temporarily shocked by the fear, and I can’t move. His rough hands painfully and cruelly grope my breasts from behind as he keeps me pinned against the wall, immobile.

My mind races back to the desolate horror of my teenage assault and how he exerted power over me in Chicago. My body is trembling involuntarily, and my mind is constantly racing to the miracle inside me and my maternal need to protect it against all odds. This isn’t just about me anymore; I need to find the strength to save my child from what I know is coming.

He will take what I denied him a few months ago and back when I was a teenager; payback for Jake for beating him. He will ravage my body sexually in ways that will devastate my mind emotionally, but I can’t give in to this. I must search deep inside myself for safety with my baby, wrap my body around us, lock us both in, and let my mind detach. I can’t fight someone like him, I could try, but I know he would beat my child from within me, a