Emperor's Addiction Chapter 4.1

Arriving home, she gasped. Juanita's car was sitting in the driveway. She couldn't have finished everything so quickly!

Preparing for anything as terror filled her, Reese got out of the car and walked in the house. Church music played loudly and her mother had lit the candles. Reese knew she was in trouble.

"So the defiant daughter decides to come home," Juanita sneered behind Reese. Her mother had been standing behind the door.

"The car broke down. The brakes-"

"You had those brakes fixed weeks ago," Juanita said cutting her off. "Turn around now, Reese."

Slowly, Reese obeyed. "I know, but they started acting up again and-" The taste was slapped out of her mouth as the back of Juanita's hand connected with her jaw.

Reese stepped back, keeping her balance, but after the third slap, she fell to the floor, screaming her lie as if this would stop her mother's beating. Juanita wasn’t usin he hand, she was using her fist. Fighting or protesting would just make it worse. Nothing would ever stop Juanita once she started.

Grabbing Reese by her bun, Juanita flung her in the living room on the couch. Madly, she screamed, "Strip, whore. Strip every piece of filthy cloth off your body."

When Reese couldn't go fast enough, Juanita punched her in the chest and tore her clothing to shreds.

"No, Mother, please," Reese begged, knowing what was next. "Please don't do this."

Juanita easily wrestled her small frame until Reese was lying on her back and her legs were forced down wide open. Not caring about her long nails on her fingers, Juanita's index finger jammed cruelly inside her daughter. Reese screamed for mercy as it felt like a hot fire scorching her insides.

Juanita felt the barrier and was satisfied. "Whores get no where in life. You remember that, Reese. Whores get nothing and I won't have one in this house."

Reese sobbed in pain and horror, closing her eyes and wishing she was somewhere far away from this wretched life she lived in.

"Get some clothes on and go pray until I call you for dinner. And don’t you ever think you can do anything without me, Reese.” She tapped her cheek.

Knowing what that meant made Reese want to throw up. Getting off the couch, Reese felt like her legs wanted to buckle at the trauma her body had just been put through. With her head downward in a meek manor, she stepped to her mother and pressed her lips against Juanita’s cold skin forcing herself not to lose the contents from her stomach. She forced herself to walk up the stairs to her bedroom and found a long ankle length white nightgown. Sobs still racked her body as she knelt down in front of her window and clasped her hands together. She did pray, but she prayed for the Lord to get her away from Juanita.

Oh her mother hid her insanity very well to others, including all those people at school, but she couldn't hide it from her daughter. As the years passed, things had become frighteningly worse around the house. Juanita felt praying cured everything and long hours of praying were often done until Reese couldn't feel her legs. If she fell asleep she was beaten, if she tried to resist, she was beaten, if Juanita didn't feel Reese was praying right, she was beaten.

Reese wanted out, but every time she tried to leave she came home because her mother
had no other family and there were no friends around to help. On top of that Juanita knew too many people in the school system whom she had either blackmailed or they owed favors to her that no one would hire Reese unless they defied Juanita. No one cared whether Reese lived or died and all she had was Juanita, so she stayed there and endured the torment praying something or someone would come rescue her. Just like those women in the romance novels she secretly read when Juanita was asleep. They had knights in shining armor and she knew with all the praying she did, she had to have one somewhere.

Concocting a plan to get away from there had been long in coming. Now that Reese was due to receive her teaching certificate soon she knew independence was just months away and she was not going to let Juanita get in her way and she was going to do all she could do to keep the peace in the house between them until Reese had her hands on the certificate.

For now, she could use Emperor Heart. He seemed to want to help even though he was doing it because he pitied her, but hopefully that would change soon. Hopefully.

Emperor's Addiction Chapter 4.1 (c) 2008 Sylvia Hubbard