“I get it. We will just have to take further precautions, I guess,” she says, closing the door behind them hard. They weren’t here very long. Basically telling us that since they weren’t here, it would be a he said/she said situation. The markson my neck are not visible anymore. My neck was red when they got here, but as time passed the marks dissipated.
Shayna walks back in and sits on the couch next to me. I think we are both in shock from how unreceptive those assholes were to the whole situation. I’ve never thought of myself as a victim. Even when everything was happening in Florida with Jason, I tried to remind myself that I was strong. But they seemed to be blaming me for allowing it to happen.
When I explained the years of abuse from him, they looked at each other as if to say,‘Then you deserve what you get’. At least, that’s how I felt their response was. I’ve heard about people victim blaming, but I have never seen it first hand… until today.
Shayna takes my hand and entwines our fingers, settling them on my thigh. “I’m so sorry babes. They were complete assholes,” she says.
I shrug my shoulders. “It is what it is,” I relent. “I’m sure it would have been different if at least one of the cops were female.”
“True. When we call Cam tonight, we gotta tell him, you know that,” she says looking at me. I look back at her and nod.
“Yeah, I know. He’s going to blow a gasket.”
She nods at me and we just sit there for a few minutes more. I can tell she’s thinking and I don’t know what her mind is running a thousand miles an hour about.
“Okay,” she blurts out and my head quickly turns in her direction. “From now on, where I go, you go and vice versa. You are not to be left alone. I have a feeling that when he didn’t see mine or Cam’s car in the driveway, he took advantage of the situation.”
I let that roll through my head nodding slowly. She’s probably right. I don’t see Jason taking the chance with both of us. Jason isn’t a really big guy. I mean he’s 6’2” tall and toned, but not overly muscular at all. Another reason he won’tchallenge Camden head on either, since Cam has a lot of muscle on him. At least an additional forty pounds.
“Okay. I’m okay with that until we’re sure he’s gone. I don’t see him trying to pursue this much longer. It’s been a week. I’m sure he’s going to need to get back to work again soon. He will lose interest. At least I hope so,” I hesitantly reply.
Shayna pulls her cell phone from her back pocket and I take a deep breath because I know what’s coming next, and release it in a rush. I am not looking forward to telling Cam.
“Might as well get it over with while the boys are still out. I don’t want to have to explain to Darian what we’re talking about. Landon won’t understand, but we both know how protective D is,” she said and slides the button to open her phone to call him.
She presses the screen to pull up Camden’s number and I lean back on the couch sinking in, pulling my knees up to my chest. Putting the phone on speaker, I can hear the line start to ring.
“Hey there, beautiful,” Camden answers after only two short rings.
“Hey baby, I have you on speaker phone with Lexi,” she says, turning to face me on the couch.
“Hey, sweet girl. How are my girls doing?” he asks. Shayna and I look at each other waiting for the other to say something.
“Well…” Shayna replies hesitantly. Before she can get anything else out, Camden comes through loud and clear.
“What the fuck happened? Do I need to come home now?” he asks, and I can hear him moving around.
“No, Cam. We’re okay. Just a little scared is all,” Shayna says, still looking at me. She raises her eyebrows, telling me I need to say something. I just know this is going to piss Camden off. Not at me, but at the fact that he’s not here to help. And I don’t want him to leave his job to come home. Not when he’s due to come back home tomorrow.
“What’s going on then? Someone talk to me,” he demands in his gruff authoritative voice.
Shayna motions for me to talk, so I lean forward to explain. I feel that just ripping the bandaid off, so to speak, is the best way. “Jason came by. When I opened the door, thinking it was a delivery or something, he bum rushed me and held me by the throat. But I’m okay. Shayna showed up from picking the boys up from school and threatened him with the baseball bat, so he left and then we called the cops,” I rush everything out as quickly as possible. I know he’s going to be upset, but I know if I just come out with it, he won’t react as badly. At least I hope so.
He’s quiet for a moment. Shayna and I look at each other as the quiet turns uneasy. I look back at the phone and then to her again and she shrugs her shoulders.
“Cam… everything is okay. He didn’t hurt either of us,” Shayna says.
“What did the cops do?” he asks in such a low voice we could barely hear him.
“They made a report. Honestly, they didn’t do shit, but Lexi and I have made a plan that no matter what, neither of us will go anywhere without the other now. I could tell by his reaction, he’s not prepared to deal with both of us,” Shayna assures him, and once again the other end of the line goes quiet.
“Lexi?”
“Yeah,” I reply quietly. I can hear the concern in his voice.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asks. Shayna gives me a little smirk tilting her head. She’s usually the only one who sees the soft side of Camden. It’s a nice change having a guy like him worry about me also.
“I promise. I’m okay. We’re just happy you’re coming home tomorrow. We’ve missed you,” I say.
