She Never Knew Read online

  “Watch closely, ladies. I’m gonna move real slow so I don’t hurt Marsha and so you can see exactly what I’m about to do.” She nodded for Marsha to proceed with a choke hold.

  Dottie raised both of her hands and tried to insert them in between her throat and Marsha’s choke hold. For demonstrative purposes, she exaggerated her efforts. Then she dropped her entire body on the floor mat so that her weight also pulled Marsha down with her. Dottie then twisted her body around which caused Marsha to release her grip on Dottie’s throat. Dottie immediately got up and pretended to run away.

  The women watching were wide-eyed with interest, amazed at how easy this defense skill appeared to be. The entire drill lasted approximately one minute.

  “You have to remember that chances are your attacker will be bigger than you, taller than you, and stronger than you.” Dottie warned. “If you can’t loosen that grip around your throat, pull yourself down. Drag him down with you! It is generally very difficult for your attacker to maintain a strong grip on anything when he’s falling down too.”

  Dottie and Marsha repeated the drill, this time with more force and speed. Dottie acted as the perpetrator and Marsha had her instructor on the floor mat within thirty seconds. The women cheered.

  “If this happens to you, you can do one of two things. You can either panic or you can stay focused.” Dottie spread her arms wide. “I know what I’m going to do.” She clapped her hands and said, “Okay, pair up with your partner and practice on each other. I’ll be coming around to make sure you’re doing this right.”

  Kat was paired up with Sarah. She wondered if this was fate, somehow, to meet someone who had endured a trauma similar to hers. She knew she wasn’t alone, but it was beneficial for her to share in someone else’s experience.

  “Hi, Sarah!” Kat extended her hand. “Looks like you’re stuck with me.”

  Sarah laughed as she shook Kat’s hand. “I think it’s the other way around.” Quietly, she whispered, “I hope I didn’t make a fool of myself up there.”

  “Absolutely not!” Kat disagreed. “I admire the way you’re taking a stand in the fight against domestic violence. I think what you did is part of the healing process. Perhaps I should try it.”

  Sarah peered at Kat. “Are you saying something happened to you, too?”

  Kat nodded and exhaled deeply. “Yes. Only a couple of people know. I also told my pastor about it last week. It happened to me six years ago.”

  Dottie came around to check on them and saw that they were chatting. “You gonna chit chat all day, ladies?” She made a face and winked.

  Kat and Sarah giggled. “Maybe after class, we could swap phone numbers?” Kat agreed.

  The ladies practiced several drills in the next two hours and by the time class ended, many of them expressed gratitude to Dottie as to how much better they already felt. Mentally, the newly learned skills helped to make them feel more secure.

  “Remember, in order for these skills to be effective, you need to practice them regularly. For those of you who are single and live alone, consider adopting a dog. Have timers that turn lights on in the middle of the night. Ask one of your male friends to record a greeting on your answering machine.” Dottie looked at each of the ladies and said, “Always be alert, no matter where you are at all times. Last, but not least, you may want to keep in touch with your partner and practice the steps I showed you on your own time.”

  Kat and Sarah looked at each other and grinned. We’ll definitely do that, Kat thought.

  Chapter 12

  Darryl Baker was extremely irate. Administration wouldn’t budge in terms of letting him return to classes. They gave him some garbage about losing their accreditation status if they allowed him to finish his courses. He was told before he was expelled that if he were caught cheating again, he would not be allowed to complete his studies.

  Further, he discovered that he would need to repay his student loans effective immediately. Because he didn’t graduate, there was no one year grace period in which he had planned to allot a portion of his work earnings to make payments.

  To top it all off, he woke up in a drunken stupor to find a note his wife left behind on the kitchen table. The letter was brief in content and the handwriting was scrawled in haste, making it difficult for him to comprehend what had happened the night before.

  Apparently, he had sworn at Michelle and punched a hole in their bedroom wall. He didn’t remember doing this. The only thing he remembered about the night before was going to a bar after work. He had been doing that a lot lately because he couldn’t bear to come home to listen to his wife harass him about not having enough money to pay the bills. She was always nagging at him and he was getting tired of it. He just wanted to think about taking over the company he worked for.

  When he had come home, he was dismayed to see his wife was still angry with him. When he tried to comfort Michelle with the new responsibility he would have in his future promotion, she dismissed him and told him to sleep it off. That’s when he became angry and punched the wall.

  Michelle had taken their son to the neighbor’s house out of fear. It wasn’t the first time she had done this. While Darryl had never laid a hand on Jared or her, she didn’t want to take any chances. He had been coming home drunk for the last two weeks and his behavior frightened her. How did he expect to be promoted when he was drinking himself into oblivion? And didn’t his new job hinge on the completion of his college degree?

  When she returned later that evening, she had found Darryl passed out on their bed. It was really becoming an eyesore for her. She had left their son next door so he wouldn’t be exposed to their deteriorating family dilemma any longer.

  Michelle had gone into her son’s bedroom closet and removed two suitcases that she had packed the week before. She was distraught that it had come to this, as she still loved Darryl, but he had left her no other choice. She was afraid for their safety and knew that she had to leave and take their son with her.

  After she quietly got her things together and packed her luggage into her car, she sat down at her kitchen table and wrote her husband of eight years a goodbye letter. She wrote as quickly as she could, feeling a rising sense of nausea at the reality of what she was about to do. In it, she wrote that she was taking Jared to her parent’s house and that they would stay there until she could figure out what needed to be done. Darryl could call his son if he wanted to but he was not allowed to visit them. She also urged him to get his drinking under control before she would consider any possibility of reconciliation. Finally, she warned him that if he didn’t get his act together, he would end up destroying their family.

  Darryl read the letter twice before crumpling it in anger. Who did she think she was, blaming him for all of their problems? And how dare she take off with their son like that! He was only trying to make things better for his family. He was going to be promoted soon and earning double his salary. They wouldn’t have to eat hotdogs every night for much longer and Jared could have new clothes instead of the ones that came from the thrift shop. Why couldn’t Michelle see that?

  His head pounding, Darryl’s eyes drifted to the other side of the table where a letter from the University of Millstone lay. It was the letter he received the week before, stating that as a result of his repeated code of conduct violations, he could no longer attend the university and was indefinitely suspended.

  Michelle didn’t mention anything in her letter about Darryl being kicked out of school, but he knew she had read it. This meant Michelle knew Darryl would no longer be eligible for the job promotion at work. This meant no additional money would be coming in. Michelle’s meager wages from waitressing at the local diner barely paid their utility bills.

  God, was that all she cared about? Darryl fumed. Why doesn’t she just file for divorce, then?

  After a few minutes, Darryl stood up and shuffled his way to the kitchen. He opened the door to the refrigerator and helped himself to a cold beer. Glancing at the clo
ck and seeing that it was only seven o’clock in the morning, he twisted the cap, threw it across the room, and poured the icy liquid down his throat.

  Belching loudly, Darryl grabbed another beer and returned to the kitchen table where he glared at the letter from the university. He knew his teacher was responsible for this. He begged and pleaded with her to give him another chance, but she had refused. In fact, she told him she didn’t want to speak to him anymore and that he needed to discuss his options with his counselor.

  Yeah right, whatever, he thought. He straightened the letter and reviewed it one last time before ripping it into shreds. He swore to himself that he would get his revenge on Katherine Richards if it was the last thing he ever did.

  Chapter 13

  Kat began her day with a light breakfast of a bagel and orange juice. She let Tyler sleep in as he needed the extra rest. Junior camp the previous week and bible school this week would wear anyone out, Kat chuckled.

  As she drank her juice at her desk, Kat checked her email and saw that she had two unread messages. The first was from Elsie asking how the first night of bible school went, and the second was from Academic Affairs. She wasn’t surprised to read what administration had to say.

  The fact that her student did not directly threaten her did not warrant a code of conduct violation. He was simply venting, the message read. The email closed with a recommendation to cease any and all future correspondence with the student. Any future messages should be forwarded to Academic Affairs for review.

  Nothing new there, Kat thought, recalling a previous email that had stated the student’s email account had been deactivated. Hopefully, that’s the end of that. She shut down her computer and brought her breakfast dishes into the kitchen. When she checked on Tyler, she saw that he was still sleeping. She decided this would be a perfect opportunity to shower and change.

  When she emerged a little while later, she saw that Tyler had come downstairs and made himself comfortable on the living room couch. He was watching cartoons and playing with his miniature cars when she snuck up behind him.

  “Boo!” Kat pounced.

  Tyler screamed with delight. “Mommy!” he threw his little arms around her. She scooped him up and hugged him tightly. “Good morning, little boy.”

  “Good morning, Mommy.”

  After a lazy morning, Kat spent the rest of the day with Tyler. She wanted both of them to take it easy as they had bible school again that night. They had watched a movie together that afternoon and shared popcorn. When it was over, Tyler went off to his room to play.

  Kat began working on organizing her materials for that evening. Her thoughts drifted to Daniel and she smiled at the way they had met. She didn’t know why, but she liked him. This frightened her a little bit as she had never been with a man before. Her heart skipped a beat in anticipation of seeing him again that night.

  When Kat dropped off Tyler at Blair’s classroom, she poked her head in Pastor Cullen’s office to see if he had arrived yet. He looked up when she gently tapped on her door.

  “Kat, it’s always a pleasure to see you.” He motioned for her to enter.

  “Hi Pastor Cullen, how are you?”

  “I am doing just marvelous. In fact, I just got done speaking with Daniel. It appears you’ve made quite the impression on him.” His eyes twinkled.

  Thinking Pastor Cullen was referring to the way Kat and Daniel had crashed into each other, she blushed. He noticed her reaction and tried to suppress a smile. “Daniel said he thoroughly enjoyed your class yesterday evening. He was impressed with the way you coordinated the activities among the various age groups.”

  Kat replied, “Well, we missed Elsie but we’re very glad to have Daniel with us. He worked hard last night, keeping the kids occupied. It was a bit chaotic since it was the first night, but he was a large part of why it went very smoothly.”

  Pastor Cullen nodded approvingly. “Glad to hear it.”

  “Pastor, I just wanted to thank you again for the other day. You’ve really helped me put things in perspective. I feel as though I can think more clearly and it’s amazing what a good feeling that is.”

  “You’re very welcome.” He smiled. “My door is always open to you.”

  With a wave, Kat walked down the hall to her classroom and was surprised to see Daniel was already inside, setting up.

  “Hi Kat!” Daniel grinned at her when she walked in.

  “Hi yourself!” she replied, setting her tote bag down on the table. “Ready to do battle again tonight?”

  Daniel laughed. “You know, this may sound corny, but all I could keep thinking about last night was what a great time I had here.” He stuffed his hands inside his jean pockets and rocked back and forth on his feet.

  Kat grinned. “I know that feeling all too well.” She began emptying the contents of her tote bag and making piles, according to age groups. “At first, I thought maybe we had pushed you too hard.”

  “No, not at all.” Daniel said. “It’s all coming back to me,” referring to when he was a teenager at camp. A dark look clouded his face for a moment, but then he brightened.

  “So, what do you have in store for us tonight?” he asked.

  During break each night for the rest of the week, Kat and Daniel spent the time getting to know one another. He had told her about his childhood, which was for the most part, normal. He always felt second best to his older brother. It seemed that no matter what he did, he could never please his father the way his older brother could. Everything his brother did was perfect in his father’s eyes.

  Daniel confided in Kat that he discovered his mother was unfaithful to his father when he was around seven years of age. His parents had been arguing in the house when it came out that Daniel wasn’t biologically his. Since that day, everything had changed.

  His parents never realized Daniel was in the house and overheard them, and he never admitted to his father what he had heard, but from that day forward, his father treated him differently from his older brother. It was almost as if overnight, Daniel became second best to everything his older brother did. It was obvious to Daniel that his older brother was unaware of his mother’s infidelity.

  Daniel watched his father grow bitter over the years. When he was a teenager, his mother ran off with another lover, leaving her two sons behind to fend for themselves. At the same time, his father had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Daniel felt he owed his life to the man who raised another man’s child.

  When his father was on his deathbed, he finally admitted to what Daniel already knew. He apologized profusely for treating Daniel as inferior and told him that he truly loved him, despite that fact that he was a reminder of one of his mother’s trysts. Daniel had held his father’s hands and told him that none of that mattered anymore. No matter what had happened, his father continued to raise him as his own, and he was forever grateful for that.

  What he didn’t tell his father before he died was just how much he hated his mother for tearing apart his family. When she walked out on them, he had never seen her again.

  That was a heavy burden for a little boy to carry for all of those years. Even as a grown man, Daniel seemed to have accepted his family history, but Kat could see that his past still haunted him. Was there more to the story?

  Kat told Daniel about her parents’ death and that her sister blamed her for it. She didn’t mention the rape, of course, as she wasn’t ready to tell people. When Daniel asked her about Tyler’s father, Kat had simply said that Michael was his father. God, she hated lying to people, especially Daniel, since he had shared his past with her. But she really didn’t have a choice right now. Besides, it was no one’s business, anyway.

  Daniel looked at Kat with sad eyes. His face was full of deep regret, which startled her and touched her at the same time. Kat brushed this off as nothing more than genuine concern from a new friend.

  He told Kat that his primary reason for becoming a camp counselor during his teenage years was to help k
ids realize how special they were, that family breakups were never their fault. He didn’t want kids to feel rejected the way he did most of his young life.

  When Bible school ended that week, Kat found herself missing her talks with Daniel. However, she didn’t feel comfortable calling Daniel on the phone. The truth was, she didn’t feel comfortable being alone with any man, for that matter. She truly liked him and found him attractive, but didn’t know if she could ever have more than friendship with Daniel.

  Besides, Daniel never indicated to Kat that he wanted anything more than friendship with her. He had briefly mentioned his last relationship ended in disaster when he found out his fiancé had been unfaithful to him.

  The friendship bond between Daniel and Kat was enough for now. She prayed that she would see him again very soon.

  Chapter 14

  Kat was making lemonade in her kitchen when she heard the doorbell ring.

  “I’ll get it!” Tyler shouted from his bedroom. He ran down the stairs and met his mother at the door. When she saw who was standing outside, she allowed Tyler to open the door.

  “Hi, Sarah!” Kat greeted her friend. “Come on in.” She and Tyler stood back so that Sarah could enter.

  “I’m sorry I’m late.” Sarah apologized as she stepped into the foyer. “I made a wrong turn and ended up having to go all the way back around.”

  “Not a problem. This neighborhood isn’t exactly easy to find.”

  “You must be Tyler!” Sarah smiled, looking at the blond-haired boy who was partially hiding behind Kat.

  “Hi.” Tyler replied shyly, looking at his bare feet.

  “Tyler, this is Miss Sarah. I met her at the Taekwondo class for mommies, remember?”

  “Yes.” Tyler suddenly appeared bored and hopped on one foot. “I’m going back to my room now.”