Little Did she Know!
Once upon a time, no wait, once upon her lifetime, she was happy. She could remember happiness she used to have in this now contaminated dirty apartment, but Jake ruined that. He had walked out the front door after trampling all over her hopes, dreams, and her bruised body.
She was going to be a writer. She was going to be someone. She was going to have people speaking her name. Instead, he had made others speak her name in the police report. He had beaten her within an inch of her life and she had been lucky to come back. She was alone again and for the first time in a long time feeling safe again. It had been six months since he was put in jail.
Ursula had come to the city like many, she wanted a career in journalism. The problem with this idea was that like many in the journalistic field found out, those jobs were held onto tightly like a person in rough waters holding onto their life preserver. No one ever quit their jobs, they just stayed until they retired. She was determined to break in and kept going to their offices each and every day and that is where she met Jake.
Jake was a tall drink of water. He was about 6'4" and built like a mack truck. He clearly worked out and thought highly of himself. He had piercing blue eyes that every woman in the office commented on. He was gorgeous and smelled of cedar and pomegranates all the time. He supposedly built houses for Habitat for Humanity on the side.
She got an intern position finally for a semester and he was coy, playing with Ursula at first. Winking at her and making her think she saw something that did not exist. Then a single rose appeared on her desk one day and then another wink. He toyed with her as he did with every woman in this office. That was until the day an invitation to dinner along with twelve long stem roses ended up on her desk. She had only known Jake a few weeks, but since she did not know many people, she said yes.
Jake was kind at first. He opened doors for her, let her always order first, and he made sure she was always warm and offered his jacket to her. He was the kind of man she had always wanted. He was warm and inviting and friendly. Then one night they went up to her apartment. They had not slept together and she was not ready, but he took that option away from her. When Ursula said good night he said it was going to be and he pushed her down, she stood right back up, so he slapped her. She was stunned. He began removing her clothes and she screamed for him to stop, clawed at his face, but he kept going until he finished inside her and had raped her.
Ursula knew that she needed to call 911 and never see Jake again. He left and she dialed, the police arrived and he was gone. Ursula told the policeman where she could find him and they took the info down. They rushed her to the ER where she stayed overnight. The next morning shaking still they released her and she came home to fine her house a disaster. She couldn’t prove it but she knew it was Jake. He was threatening her to put fear into her so she did not report him. He was telling her he was in control and she needed to be quiet.
Ursula knew the police report had been filed and there was nothing she could do about it now. She got new locks installed, she protected herself inside the fortress of her walls with a new gun. She had pepper spray and a bat and bought anything she thought would help her. She was not going to be raped again, but one late Thursday night he knocked and said he was sorry, he didn’t mean it, he thought they were playing, and how he missed her so, and she made the mistake of opening the door.
He slammed her apartment door open wide, flung it shut and grabbed her by the hair and started screaming at her as he hit her over and over and over.
She tried to appease him saying “I am sorry, I’ll cancel the police report, I will take care of it.”
He softened a little, smiled a crooked smile, and began to kiss her. It made her skin prickle up and she squirmed in his arms and he felt her wiggle and he began punching her.
Jake yelled, “ I loved you, you are mine!” and she fell to the floor and he kicked her and kicked her and she was bruised and bleeding everywhere. She had cuts, she had bruises, she had broken bones, and she was barely alive. She was begging to die and Jake suddenly stopped. He realized he almost killed her and he ran out the door leaving it open.
Ursula screamed and screamed until a neighbor came running, screamed from all the blood, and ran to call 911. The neighbor ran back to sit with Ursula until the paramedics came. They told the neighbor she was barely alive and asked what happened. The neighbor said she just heard screaming and came running and did not see any person. Ursula let out one word, JAKE, and passed out almost dead.
