Returning Injury (12 page)

At seven, she jumped in the shower to get ready for a little shopping before her spa appointment. The water pressure was awesome and she didn’t want to get out from under the hot water. She dried off and lay back down on the bed, the white sheets feeling so fresh and new. She could smell her perfume from the night before and hugged a pillow to her body. Rebecca was happy. She was alone and happy.

After successfully shopping at one of the hotel boutiques, Rebecca was relaxing and getting a pedicure when a peculiarly attractive man came in. He nodded to her and sat down next to her for a pedicure. Rebecca was paging through some of her notes and ideas she had about starting her own PR firm. This, she had discovered, was her ultimate goal. She woke up that morning knowing that PR was her mission, her dream and her purpose. She also knew that she wanted to focus on women.

Rebecca chose a deep, dark red for her toenails to match her freshly painted fingernails. She figured she needed some fire and passion in her life—not with a man, but with herself and her future.

The man sitting next to her began talking loudly on his cell phone as if he wanted everybody to hear his conversation and she was sure everybody did, even the people getting massages and facials in different rooms. She thought somebody should tell him to be
quiet. Wasn’t this supposed to be a place to relax? Nobody wanted to hear about his latest business deals. Were cell phones even allowed in spas? She started to get the feeling that he was a regular at the spa and nobody seemed to want to tell him to keep it down. So she decided she would.

Once he was off the phone, Rebecca commented, “You’re a loud talker.”

The two women giving the pedicures tried to hide their shock and laughter.

He immediately started laughing and turned toward her, interested in what she had to say. “Is that right?”

She continued to focus on her work and didn’t look up. “Yes.”

“Have you ever known one of us loud talkers?”

“No.”

“Well, then, my name is Jack.” He reached out his hand to shake hers.

“Rebecca.” She looked at her nails, gave them a quick blow and lightly shook his hand, showing little interest in continuing the conversation. Rebecca’s pedicure was finished, and it was time for her facial. As she was helped out of the chair, she heard Jack say, “It was nice to meet you, Rebecca.”

Rebecca turned and smiled back at Jack, flattered but not interested. This trip was for her and about her. A man would just get in the way.

After her day of being pampered, she showered and put on the new cashmere lounge suit she bought that morning. She wasn’t sure what she would do with the rest of her evening, but she was eager to get back to her hotel room. She went to the front counter of the spa
to pay for her treatments. She stood waiting while the man working the desk finished his phone call. She could tell he was getting her bill together for her, so she reached for her wallet and waited.

“Okay, we’ll see you on Tuesday at eleven o’clock. Thank you,” he said before hanging up the phone. “Okay. Let’s see. You had a manicure, pedicure, facial and massage.”

“That’s right. And it was wonderful.”

“Well, I’m glad you enjoyed yourself. Would you like to bill this to your room? Oh, wait a minute, it has been taken care of.”

“Um, no. I… I haven’t paid yet.”

“Yes, a gentleman named Jack took care of your bill.”

“You’re kidding me?” Rebecca was shocked. “Is he still here?”

“No, he left after his pedicure.”

“Well then…” Rebecca stared at the wall fountain behind the desk. She shook her head in disbelief and started to put her wallet away. “Oh, I’d like to tip…”

He interrupted, “It’s been taken care of.”

Rebecca put her wallet in her bag, said thanks and went back to her hotel room. Feeling a little uneasy, she tried not to think about it, but her curiosity about this man kept growing. She didn’t know anything about him, just that he was a loud talker named Jack. She wondered if he knew her last name or if he got it when he paid her bill. Would she ever see or hear from him or was it just a random act of kindness? She shook her head, hoping to clear her thoughts of him. This trip was about her alone.

When Rebecca got out of the shower, she wanted to wear the same cashmere outfit she bought the weekend she met Jack. It wasn’t in the changing room so she threw her towel in the dirty clothes basket and started up the stairs naked. As she walked quickly up the stairs, she became acutely conscious of her nakedness. She felt powerless and like she was being watched. But she always felt more vulnerable when she was naked. She wondered what it felt like for strippers and women in pornography.

About halfway up the stairs, she heard a loud crack and bang. She stood still. Lily started barking. The thunder rumbled loudly outside. She looked up the stairs, then continued walking. She glanced toward the windows and saw the sky changing. Dark clouds surrounded the house. “Oh, God, please don’t let the power go out.” Just as she said that, there was another loud crack and Lily barked again. The lights flickered.

“Honey, it’s okay. It’s just thunder.”

Rebecca rushed up the next set of stairs to the third floor and into the master bedroom closet. She pulled out the camel-colored cashmere lounge suit, held it up to her face and smelled it. She
smiled and quickly got into it. It seemed a little tighter than it used to. “Oh, well.” She hugged herself as she headed back downstairs. She glanced at the clock. It was just after four in the afternoon but almost dark outside because of the heavy clouds.

Rebecca went straight to the kitchen and picked up the phone. She dialed the home security’s number, and asked, “If the power goes out while the alarm system is armed, what will happen?” Rebecca was assured a backup system was in place. She would hear a solid tone until the system was restored and rearmed, which usually took less than thirty seconds. Rebecca felt much more secure.

She sat on the deep sofa watching the rain and anticipating each rumbling of thunder. The clouds were thick and heavy. The thunder was loud, but infrequent and there wasn’t much lightning. Her mind drifted back to that weekend she met Jack.

She had returned to work the following Tuesday, and she gave Ed a month’s notice. She was nervous about quitting but knew she had to make changes in her life. She had to go for her dreams, and she needed the pressure of deadlines and timetables. Rebecca started phoning PR firms to see if they needed help in their office. She wanted to at least get her foot in the door.

After a few days, Response Public Relations, a PR firm just starting out, called back. Three women in the office needed help with answering phones, making calls, doing computer work, cleaning the office, researching clients, filing, and there was room for advancement. It was perfect. She drove to Denver for the interview and was hired on the spot. Rebecca would start by working from
home until she felt she could leave her other job and move to Denver. She couldn’t believe how everything was working out. Happy and excited, Rebecca called her mother in New York to tell her the great news.

That weekend, Rebecca went to Cheyenne to spend time with some friends. She had planned to stay both Friday and Saturday nights, but on Saturday night she felt an urgent need go back home. When she entered her apartment, Roy attacked her.

Rebecca was thankful to have a counselor and support in place. She had already been focusing on how to better herself and her life, so as devastating as the attack was, Rebecca was able to move on quickly. She worked with Victim Services, found answers that she needed and became her own best advocate. She was sometimes anxious about Roy, but she would not let this experience destroy her, and she was more excited than ever to move and leave her past behind.

During Rebecca’s last week in Fort Collins, she said goodbye to friends from her group, her counselor and some of her old coworkers. Although Fort Collins was not far from Denver, she knew that she would be busy, and she wasn’t sure she would want to return to that part of her life. Her direction was forward to her new apartment and her new career.

Two days before she moved to Denver, her phone rang. It was Jack.

“You’re not easy to track down.”

“Who is this?”

“Jack… the loud talker.”

“Jack! Thank you for paying for my spa day!”

“You’re welcome. So you live in Fort Collins.”

“Actually, I’m moving to Denver in two days, for work.”

“That’s wonderful. How about after you get settled, you give me a call and we’ll have dinner.”

“Sure that sounds nice.” She pretended to write down his number and they said their good-byes. She knew she wouldn’t call him. She also knew she was being passive, but she wasn’t perfect. She didn’t want to explain her life to this stranger, Jack. Rebecca sat in her packed-up apartment ready for change but not ready for another man.

Rebecca stood up from the couch and realized she was hungry. She headed into the kitchen to make her favorite meal and the only thing she knew how to make, pasta. She filled the pot with water and placed it on the burner. She stepped into the pantry for the pasta that she always had on hand. She pulled out a handful and broke it in half before setting it into the water.

Loud thunder roared through the valley and the house shook. She tensed and waited for the power to go out, but it didn’t.

Rebecca grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator and gulped down a third of it. She knew she needed to drink more water; she would work on that. Rebecca felt invigorated and alive. She was physically and mentally stronger than she had been before her workout and self-check-in. Now she had a plan for everything.

Rebecca knew that in all probability Roy most likely wouldn’t come after her and she had to stop thinking about him so much. If he skipped out on seeing his parole officer, she was certain that she would be notified. If that happened, she would allow herself to worry, and she would ask Jack to come home or she would get a
bodyguard. Rebecca decided not to call Victim Services or try to contact his parole officer.

Rebecca rinsed the pasta, then added butter and parmesan cheese. Taking a fork from the drawer, she sat down in the kitchen nook. Her thoughts drifted back to Jack while she ate.

Jack had always made her feel safe in every way. But there was something she never considered about him before—he wanted everybody to be safe. Maybe that was the sign of a great man. Rebecca remembered all the little things he did for others.

Once they were in the Bahamas having breakfast, and there was a younger couple just a few tables away who seemed concerned about the bill and their lack of money. Jack told the server to put their bill on his.

Jack also took good care of his two, more serious, ex-girlfriends after they broke up. He helped pay for school for one, and helped out the other financially when she had some health issues and struggled to pay her bills. At first, it bothered Rebecca, but later she understood that was just who Jack was, and she admired him.

Then there was Melvin from just a few days ago when Jack was getting an oil change. An older man sat down and started talking to him. Melvin told Jack about his financial trouble and how he needed to drive over four thousand miles across country to get back home. The mechanic came over and told Melvin that he needed a few things done and four new tires. Jack followed the mechanic to the shop and told him that he wanted to buy the four new tires for Melvin anonymously. So he did. Later Jack noticed that the mechanic had written on his bill, “Jack bought Melvin four new tires so Melvin could make his trip home. God bless you.”

Tears welled in Rebecca’s eyes.

She was feeling tired, which often made her more emotional, so she decided to get back to work. She turned on the fireplace and sat down to find out more about Angie. Rebecca read two more eye-opening articles: “Why Prostitution Should Not be Legalized” and “Violence Against Women and Children: How it Affects Everybody”.

Rebecca understood that it was all connected: child sexual abuse, domestic abuse, addictions, rape, strippers, prostitution, pornography, the overall lack of value placed on people. “Empowered women make healthier choices,” Rebecca wrote in her notes.

Rebecca knew that when she felt strong, happy, loved and empowered, she made better choices in her life. But when she was feeling lonely, depressed, inadequate or rejected, she often made poor choices.

Returning from the kitchen with a Diet Coke, she continued reading where she left off. Lily jumped up to lie next to her, grunting several times while she got comfortable. “You grunt like an old man,” Rebecca said and rubbed Lily’s side.

Angie had charts and diagrams about how little girls get sucked into the cycle of abuse and how sex predators work. The charts were very interesting and easy to follow and understand. Her chart on sex crimes listed the types of crimes, the ages of the perpetrator versus the ages of the victim, and what the punishment was. Angie wanted a national law so that parents living in Wisconsin would have a better understanding of what type of crime their sex offender
neighbor from Texas committed. The language, crime and punishment needed to be the same in every state across the country.