Owned (26 page)

“What point?” I asked.

“Well, we’d been to the airport, and I asked you what your hard limits were. You said that they were no poop and no animals. Those, Kelli, were your limits. You have no idea what you’re getting into.
None. I wanted to prove that to you that night,” he said.

“Oh, okay,” I answered.

“Guess how long I left you tied up,” he said.

I thought. I figured I’d make a really low guess, and I’d be close to right.

“Two hours,” I said.

“Fifteen minutes,” he responded.

“Fifteen minutes?” I asked.

“Yes, fifteen.
I timed it. That’s how your mind works when you’re deprived of sight, sound, and movement. It’s almost too much, at least the first time or two,” he said.

“Wow, it seemed like forever,” I laughed.

“Pulling those beads out of your cute little butt and smacking your ass with that paddle is just a start, Kelli. You understand that, don’t you?” he asked.

I nodded.

“Doing what we’re getting ready to do might make you think I’m going to go easy on you Kelli. I am not. Understand that. If we live together, I’m going to use your little pussy like a tool,” he hesitated, and then laughed.

I nodded.

“Most all of what I have done
to
you, and
with
you, well…pretty much everything so far Kelli. It’s been a test. I’ve done it to test you. It isn’t who I am. It isn’t what I want, really. It was psychiatric bullshit to see how you’d react. Basically, you passed. Now, we’re going to start
really
fucking, understand?”

I smiled and nodded repeatedly.

I can’t wait.

The car turned, slowed down and turned again. We stopped and he sat still for a long time and didn’t talk.

“We’re here. Okay, I will get you out, and we’ll go meet them. You ready?” he asked.

I nodded.

He opened his door, and came over and opened mine.

“Just step out to your right and stand,” he said as he put his hand on the top of my head.

I stepped out, and felt for the ground. When I felt the concrete, I stepped out. He pushed on my head as I stood up, making sure I didn’t smack it on the car. He grabbed my arm and we walked along the concrete for a short ways, and then through a yard, and then back to a sidewalk. I held his left arm as we walked. It smelled like trees.

He stopped walking and turned. He took a deep breath and exhaled. You can hear everything when you are blindfolded.
Everything. I heard birds in the distance. A lot of birds.

“Okay, I’m going to sit you down, okay?” he said.

“Okay,” I said.

He sat me down in a chair.

I put my hands on the chair. It was really cold. He sat beside me. We sat for a while and he stood up.

“Stand up, Kelli,” he said.

I stood up and felt for his arm.

“Kelli, come over here, on my right. No, just stand still, I’ll move,” he said.

He moved to my left, and slipped his right arm into my left arm. It felt weird being on this side.

I remembered what he said at the bar.
After he got in the first fight with Tommy.

You will always be on my left.
Always. Never anywhere else. There’s not one place on this earth, outside of your home, that you will ever be anywhere but on my left, is that understood? It’s for your protection.

I took a deep breath and thought.
Oh. My. God. We’re at our new house.
I smelled the trees and listened to the birds, and waited for the surprise even though I already knew what it was.

“Kelli, I’m going to take your blindfold off. When I do, you let me
talk
. I’m going to introduce you, okay?”

I nodded.

“Wait till I am done with the introduction, and then you can talk, okay?” he asked.

I nodded.

I felt his hands on my head. The blindfold came off. The sun was bright and I was blinded for a minute. I looked up and I saw a lot of trees. And I blinked a few times. I looked straight ahead.

And blinked.

Oh.

My.

God.

KELLI.
There’s something that has happened in everyone’s life that has made them feel at
that point in time
that everything was going to be just fine. There is no longer anything to worry about. When my daddy picked me up from my first day of kindergarten. I stood outside scared. As soon as I saw his car pull up, I knew everything would be fine.

When I opened my eyes and saw my daddy when they took my appendix out. They had put me under anesthesia and operated on me. Before the operation, I was so scared that I would never wake up. When I did, I saw my daddy. I knew I was still on earth - not in heaven, and I was fine.

Right now. Standing here. With Erik.

This
was one of those times. I
knew
that everything was going to be just fine.

I waited for Erik to speak. I stared straight ahead. I did not want to see Erik’s face, and I didn’t want him to see mine. I was crying.

“Kelli, I want you to meet…” he inhaled a choppy breath.

“Meet…”

“Kelli…” another choppy breath.

“I want you to meet my…”

“Parents.”  he inhaled.

“Mom, Dad, this is Kelli. Kelli Parks. We’re. We’re uhmm. Mom, Dad, we’re going to be moving.”

“Moving in
together.
I’m going to get another place Mom. I’ll keep the place, for a while at least. We’ll see. But, uhhmm. It’s time I move on with life.”

“This is Kelli. Kelli Parks. She’s
uhhmm. She’s.”

“She’s…the…love of my life.”

He turned to face me. I didn’t want to turn. His voice was cracking when he spoke. He was upset. I know he was. Tears dripped down my neck.

I wiped my face with my arm. I turned to face him.

“I love you, Kelli Parks,” he paused.

I turned my head to the right and wiped my tears. An old Chevy Impala was parked on the road beside us. We must have driven it here. I closed and opened my eyes. I turned to face forward.

I took a breath.
This is important.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I said
, facing the grave stone.

It was a matter of respect for Erik and his parents both.

“And…” this was the tough part without crying.

I turned to my left.

“I love you back, Erik Ead.”

Continue the story with
“BABY GIRL 2.5 – Let’s Be Honest”
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