Hope is in Hell!

 About two weeks later she elbowed a guy in the nose causing gushing blood and kicked him in the nuts almost simultaneously because he simply reached for her from behind. George laughed at the guy and told Hope, “See you are a bad ass.” Hope didn’t think that was bad ass in the least. It was disturbing. She was not a violent person and this was not anger, it was pure terror.  Nothing in Hope ever wanted to see anyone bleed, not on television and damned sure not as a result of her hands.  Hope needed help but she didn’t trust anyone.

Part 11:

Hope woke up before daylight. Her sleep pattern was erratic when things were troubling her. It was storming outside. The wind howled above the trees and the rain drops were hard against the roof. The sound was calming and the thunder and lightning were intriguing. Hope wondered who in her childhood had told her the rumbling sound was God bowling in Heaven. Why would they tell a child such a ridiculous story?  The sudden booming sounds also reminded her of a time in Seattle when a rare thunderstorm came through the city. People actually called 911 not knowing what it was. Hope giggled at the thought. In Texas there were moments the thunder would bang with an intensity and roll through the house like an army tank on the roof. It calmed her and she was thankful to hear and feel every vibration of Mother Nature.

Hope decided to get out of bed and went outside. She wished she could see the clouds but daylight was a couple of hours away.  It was pitch black except when lightning flashed and then lit up the sky with spider web like tracers  of light. She went to the middle of the yard and put her arms out to feel the large drops of rain hit her skin. Her little dog, Sandido watched her through the window from the comfort of the warm house. She was getting soaked from the downpour and she liked it. Her long hair was dripping with rain, pajamas soaked and her tank top now a darker shade of gray. If the neighbors saw her sitting on the ground in the middle of a storm they might want to put her in a strait jacket. Hope didn’t give a shit. The rainwater and cool wind felt good on her otherwise numb being.

As she sat in the wet grass she began to cry,  “What is wrong with me?” to no one in particular.  The only thing Hope wanted to do is stay home on her couch with her dog. Of course she went to work but only out of necessity, not because she wanted to. George had turned into a complete asshole. He was going through a divorce one day and the next he was moving the wife back in. It was exhausting and he was taking it out on every employee. Hope was exhausted and couldn’t gain any weight despite how hard she tried.  She knew something was wrong again but didn’t want to deal with it, with any of it.

Only a few knew what that robbery did to her. She woke up from nightmares dripping with sweat. She wasn’t talking to her therapist despite her attempts. Her on and off girlfriend was non-existent and she didn’t give a shit. Her reoccurring nightmare of waking naked and beaten in a parking lot was taking a toll on her and her well-being. She couldn’t shake this funk for anything except her dog. He was the reason she got up, went to work and came home. He sat with her through every nightmare, every horrid thought and every pound she continued to lose. He was her rock and thank goodness for him or she would have never went to the doctor.

Hope wasn’t just emotionally exhausted, her body was sick again. Instead of waiting through the endless appointments this time she told the essential people, boarded a plane and went to Barbie’s house. Two days after arriving she was at a world renowned center, gave them all of her savings and left the same day with a diagnosis and a surgery date. Everything went off without a hitch and 19 days later she was back at work.

The beloved job she once adored, she now had to fight to get back. No one understood what she had been through or her mental state and with the exception of Donna, she didn’t plan on telling anyone. She had her dog and a will to live and sat in that dreadful meeting with George explaining why she was still worthy of a job her coworkers tried to take from her while she was gone. After having doctors notes faxed, emailed and pretty much shoved up his ass, he had no choice but to take her back. George didn’t like lawsuits and according to some he felt Hope would sue him. It couldn’t be further from the truth. Hope did not have a litigious bone in her body. She despised the judicial system.

Donna had taken care of her home while she was gone and made sure Sandido went with Hope regardless of the financial burdens. Donna was her confidant and she had no idea how she would ever repay her except she knew she never would have to, they would be friends for life.

Weeks went by and Hope was simply taking day by day. Her body was still sore but she was insistent on letting no one know. She would do almost anything to stay numb. She was 39 years old and experimented with drugs for the first time. There were only a few instances and she knew it wasn’t for her.  Even though Hope tended bar she never drank while working and never did drugs. George was even more unbearable than ever before. Friday’s were the days she spent over 15 hours at that place and she came home exhausted. Her body still was not healed and all she wanted to do was sleep but that damned nightmare kept her from doing so. It was after daylight when her eyes finally closed.

 At 10:53 a.m. she  was awakened  to her doorbell ringing more than 20 times. Sandido was going crazy and she picked him up and opened the door to find George standing there. 

He began screaming and  an insane screaming, “Where is the fucking money bag?”

Hope stood sleepily and perplexed and managed to say “huh?”

“The fucking register 1 money bag, where is it?”

She had to stop for 2 seconds and think and replied “in the safe.”

“No it is fucking not, where is the fucking thing?”

She opened the door wider and said “come in.” She was worried about the neighbors listening to all of this.

“NO, where is the fucking bank bag?” George said without moving towards the door.

Obviously now she was more awake than 2 minutes ago and began recalling the night. “George, there was very little cash due to the amount of credit card transactions and I put it in the safe.”

“I don’t care about that, the fucking keys and shit. Where is register 1 money bag God Damnit?”

“George, what in the hell? I put it in the safe, I promise.” Hope began to remember putting it in there now and had no doubt about it.

“It’s not in the fucking safe you fucking idiot. Where is the God Damn bank bag for register 1? This is fucking bullshit. Son of a bitch this pisses me off.” George yells and begins to walk away and kicks some of the landscaping rocks as his phone is ringing and screams again, “I am already pissed off at you.”

He storms off to his vehicle and Hope stands there stunned. She shut the door and put down Sandido who is freaking out and hears the vehicle screech out of the driveway and speed away.

Hope shook her head and thought “What in the fuck was that?” She went to find her  phone. She had some missed calls. One was from a co-worker who was at work at the time.

Hope sent her a text: “Did y’all find the money bag?”

She replied “Yes Ma’am.”

“Well, where was it?”

“It was in the safe against the wall.”

Hope simply sent a text back, “Okay.”

She decided to make some coffee and fight off the tears when the doorbell starts ringing again followed by an affirmative knock. Hope says out loud “Jesus, now what?”

It is the police. “Ma’am, are you okay?”

It is obvious Hope had been crying. “Yes, I am fine.”

“We received a call of threatening language. Can we come in to check the premises?”

“You can come in but that was my ex-husband.  He was angry about some money. I apologize for the disturbance but he is gone and will not be back.” Hope lied.

The one officer behind the pillar says “Could you tell him he almost hit a little boy on the bike when he backed up and left?” She said she would and assured the officers there would be not more problems.

“Okay ma’am, are you positive we do not need to check the premises and you are not in any danger?”

“Yes sir, everything is fine.”

She shut the door again for the second time this morning and shook her head. She texted the manager and ask if the new girl still wanted to work. He replied “No, I told her don’t come in because you were working.”

She replied by saying “given that the cops just left and what happened this morning I did not want to go to work.”

He replied a short time later and said she was working.

Hope was frightened to step foot in that place. The damn job she used to love and adore so much.

To be continued....