An Excerpt From "Cross Roads" By Christie Chambless

Tyler was getting impatient again, May had come, and still he hadn’t had a chance to carry out his plans. Jessie was still breathing, and he was still stuck with Lacey. That was not how he’d planned for his life to go, he was supposed to be the popular guy with the hot head cheerleader at his beck and call. Things were screwed up bad now, but maybe they could still improve enough for him to get his life back. He had just finished submitting roughly two dozen applications for scholarships through different schools and government programs across the country. He was almost positive that there were at least three schools that wanted him, maybe he could shake the hick dust off his shoes and have a chance to be the star he always knew he could be.

His hopes were the only thing keeping him from running Jessie Stanton off the road and down the steep hill on Olympic Highway. She was often down town at the library late, and he had fantasized about seeing her heavy steel framed car going through the flimsy barrier and soaring down into a fiery inferno at the bottom of the steep hillside. He wondered idly if he would have time to roast a marshmallow over her burning hulk before the stupid cops got there. The police station was only a few blocks from the bottom of the hill, but they were so incompetent that they’d probably get lost on the way.

He spent most of his time glued to the spy cams that he’d hidden in Jessie’s room, making hundreds of D.V.D.’s, he had her in every stage of undress, form as many angles as his limited cameras allowed, all the times she got undressed or showered were all cut together in different ways, ways that pleased him. He wasn’t completely satisfied with the amount of time she spent there anymore. She was always out with that stupid prick Toby, he knew she was giving it up to him, probably two or three times a day, the stupid little slut. Every time his thoughts turned down this path, he turned them right back around with thoughts of Jessie begging for mercy. That always put a smile on his face, that and picturing her bruised and battered body burning merrily in a dumpster.

On this day, in early May, Tyler was with Lacey. He didn’t really want to be here with her, but all the other girls looked at him funny now. Jessie had apparently spread her infuriating lies around the entire town, and he’d get her for that. Lacey was whining about something again, and he knew that she wanted him to ask her what was wrong, but he just didn’t care.

“Did you hear me honey?” She asked timidly. He turned and looked her directly in the face, and she cringed. He pulled his fist back and punched her in the chest. She recoiled, but she knew better then to scream anymore, he had taught her well so far.

“No, and I don’t care either. Shut up and get your clothes off whore.” He ordered cruelly. She cringed again, but started to strip hastily. She knew that he would hit her again if she didn’t move when he told her to.

He might think her servile attitude was the result of his good training, but in truth, it was the work of all the men that came in and out of her mother’s life. None of them had ever been nice to her, and most had been cruel. Deliberately withholding the love that she so desperately craved, grooming her to be the substitute girlfriend when her mother was unable or unwilling to give them what they wanted.

The first time, she had only been eleven, and her mother’s boyfriend Lenny had started by “educating” her about her new role. Telling her exactly what would be required of her, if she wanted him to love her. He told her that this was how daddies taught their daughters to be women. The way that he explained it, it actually sounded like something that every good dad did for his daughter, if he loved her. He had talked to her about it again and again for almost three months, until she’d practically begged him to help her learn.

After the shocking reality of what had happened to her had sunk in, she’d tried to tell her mom, but he had talked his way out of trouble. He had convinced her mom that she had been the one that had seduced him, and her mom believed him. Part of the reason it had worked so well for Lenny, was the fact that she knew she had begged him to do it. That, and the fact that her mom a hundred dollar a day methamphetamine monkey on her back, and just didn’t have the presence of mind to protect her vulnerable young daughter.

More Excerpts From "Cross Roads" By Christie Chambless

“I made him mad in January. Actually I remember the date, ironically enough it was my mom’s birthday, the nineteenth. He was angry for the usual reasons, but he lost it when he punished me. He punched me in my stomach over and over again. I’m not sure how many times he hit me, but by the end I was spitting up blood and I could hardly breathe. I’m fairly certain that I had at least two broken ribs.” She kept her eyes away from Katie, waiting for her reaction, but Katie held all of her chaotic emotions in check.

“What happened then, Jess?” She asked gently, knowing that sometimes the things you least wanted people to hear, were the things that you needed to say most. Jessie sighed, a small sound of disgust escaping her.

“I thought he was going to kill me, he had threatened me with death often enough. He was always threatening me, it wasn’t unusual to hear violent warnings. Do you want to know what the worst part of it is?” She asked, looking Katie in the eyes for the first time in since she had started to talk. She couldn’t bear to wait for an answer. Katie nodded encouragingly, not really wanting to know, but knowing how important it was to let Jessie talk.

“The most terrible, sickest thing is, I wanted him to kill me. I wanted to die so that I wouldn’t have to face the pity and sympathy in the eyes of everybody I know when they found out. I could just imagine it, Poor Jessie, did you hear what he did to her? How could she be so stupid? I was so hurt and ashamed that I thought it would be better if I was dead, then I wouldn’t have to deal with it anymore.” Tears streamed down her face as she tried to explain how death would have been preferable to living with this shame. Katie reached out to her and took her hand comfortingly. Jessie looked into those bottomless blue eyes and realized that there was at least one person who didn’t pity her. She could see that Katie was upset, on the verge of breaking down herself, but not mad at Jessie, more at the idea of what she’d been through.

“Instead of killing me though, he threw a damp wash cloth at me and told me to clean myself up. There was blood all over the front of my shirt, and I was wondering how I could possibly get past my mom without her noticing that. He thought of that, too. He went out and found one of his sister Candy’s shirts that was similar, and told me to put it on. I had to stay at his house for almost two hours, until I finally stopped coughing up blood, before he would let me go home.” Her voice was barely a whisper as she paused.

“After that, I felt so trapped, and the bastard knew it. He knew that I could no more tell my mom about what he was doing, then I could leave him. I was too ashamed, and honestly terrified of him. He’s so much stronger then I am, and he constantly reminded me what would happen if I tried to leave or tell anyone.” She stopped then, and Katie waited. After a time it was clear to Katie that she would have to push a little.

“What did he tell you would happen if you left him?” Katie asked gently, taking Jessie’s hand comfortingly.

“He said that he would kill me. I knew that he would, eventually. It was just a matter of time. I used to try to imagine how it would finally happen. Would it be with his bare hands, or would he use a knife? I used to hope that I would get lucky and he’d just lose control and I’d be dead before I could feel too much pain.” Jessie answered, her voice completely devoid of emotion. It chilled Katie to the bone, hearing her flat decided tone.