Man or Beast by J. R. Rada

Author:J. R. Rada [Rada, J. R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: AIM Publishing
Published: 2021-08-02T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

July 8, 1993

Tina Rourke spent most of the afternoon in her apartment exercising so she wouldn’t have to think about how close she came to being raped. She exercised. She cried. She studied. She cried. She cleaned. She cried. By early evening, she didn’t have a tear left. Only anger was left. She was angry at herself for not fighting Brad harder, but she was even angrier at Brad for attacking her. He was the criminal and yet she felt as if she were the prisoner, not Brad.

As soon as she had gotten home this afternoon, she had taken three showers and scrubbed herself raw trying to get rid of the feeling he had left on her body. Even now, she could still feel his touch on her body.

By six o’clock, Tina needed to get out of the apartment. She didn’t care where she had to go; she just had to get away. Tina parked her car in the lot behind the Dollar General, rather than in her usual space behind Kendall’s Country Store. She didn’t want to chance running into Earl Kendall again. He would certainly have something to say to her, and she was sure it wouldn’t be pleasant. Walking out onto the street toward the hardware store, she thought she might walk over to Kay’s for a milkshake. When she was depressed, something fattening always helped cheer her up. Ice cream, by itself or in any of its varied forms, was her favorite depression cure.

As she crossed Main Street, she stopped in the middle of the road. From inside Kendall’s Country Store, Brad stared at her though the large plate-glass window at the front of the store. He was out on bail. Of course she had known he would be. His father had enough pull to get bail set quickly. He was standing at the window with his hands on his thighs staring at her. When he saw Tina had seen him, Brad quickly grabbed his crotch and smiled. Then he moved his hands back to his thighs. No one had seen him do it but Tina.

A horn blared at Tina’s side and she jumped. She realized she was standing in the middle of the lane. Tina hurried across the street and past Kendall’s, trying not to look panicked. She walked into Kay’s Kitchen hoping to lose herself among plenty of people, but besides Kay, only one other man was in the restaurant. Where was everyone?

The man was tall and lean, not thin like Brad. He was about Daniel’s age. She found herself thinking about Daniel more often, but after what he had done for her this afternoon, it was understandable. Daniel might not be as muscular as some guys she dated, but he certainly was heroic.

Tina sat down at the counter on a stool. On the other side of the counter, Kay walked up next to her. Kay Mitchell was a divorced mother of three. Two of her children were grown and moved away. The third was in Tina’s calculus class at college.

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