Havana Jazz Club by Mariné Lola

Author:Mariné, Lola [Mariné, Lola]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: AmazonCrossing
Published: 2015-08-25T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 20

“Fucking son of a bitch!” Armando shouted, slamming his fist into the dining room table with so much force it scared Billie, who was sobbing, huddled in a corner of the sofa. “How can such beasts exist? I’m ashamed to be a man! I swear I’ll kill that bastard with my own hands!”

Armando was pacing around the room, red with rage after hearing Billie explain that the creature she carried in her womb was the fruit of a rape. She couldn’t keep the truth from him. Armando was her friend, and she owed him too much to keep deceiving him. But she hadn’t expected him to be so indignant on her behalf. She hadn’t imagined that so much anger lurked within this kindhearted man.

“Calm down. Please,” Billie begged.

Armando stopped in front of her and took a deep breath. Then he knelt before Billie and took her hands.

“You have to report him, Billie,” he said, softening his voice. “That animal has to pay for what he’s done. He deserves to rot in prison.”

“No, no . . . It won’t do any good to report him. It’s his word against mine, don’t you understand? We were alone in the house. I don’t have a witness. Who’s going to believe me? He’s a powerful man. He has money for the best lawyers. It would be a hopeless battle, and I would be the one to be persecuted in the end.”

“But we can’t let him go unpunished,” Armando insisted. “Maybe I don’t have as much money as he does, but I’ll happily use everything I have to put that vermin behind bars. I have powerful friends too. This is very serious, Billie. That son of a bitch has to pay for what he did. He’ll do the same to other girls if nobody stops him.”

“Someone will, Armando. I’m sure of it,” Billie assured him, reaching the limits of her strength. “Someone who’s in a less precarious situation than I am, who has family to support and protect her. Don’t ask me to do it, please. I have enough problems. I just want to put it all behind me. I want to be able to live in peace for once.”

A sob broke through her words, and Armando wrapped his arms around her in an effort to console her.

“It’s okay, little one. It’s okay. We’ll drop it. What we need to do now is find a solution. I assume you don’t want to have it . . .”

“What do you mean?” Billie asked, pulling away from him and looking at him with alarm.

“Well . . . given the circumstances, you’re not obligated to . . . I mean there are ways of resolving it.”

“Are you talking about abortion?”

“Only if you want to,” Armando mumbled, intimidated by Billie’s reproving look.

“I would never do such a thing,” Billie said, looking at her stomach and covering it with her hand. “This creature isn’t guilty of anything. I would never forgive myself if I harmed it in any way.”

“Nobody would blame you, Billie,” Armando said.

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