The Secret Angel

EVA

Standing here making breakfast, I think about everything that has happened in the last few months. Scott was the best boyfriend—treated me and Nate beautifully in the beginning.

Then, as time went on, his attitude changed. Nothing seemed to ever be done right. First it was yelling, then it started getting physical.

Our neighbor—I know he means well, but every time he calls the cops, Scott freaks out. Yelling at me to get rid of them—he doesn’t need the attention.

As I think about what I could possibly do to help myself, I’m pulled out of my thoughts by Scott yelling and pulling my head back by my hair so he’s right in my face.

“What the fuck, Eva. You’re burning the fucking breakfast.”

“I’m so sorry. Here, take this. This is ready to go. I’m sorry…”

“Stop saying your fucking sorry. You’re a sorry piece of shit! Fucking worthless piece of trash.”

At the same moment, my son Nate walks in and sits down.

Scott leans in to whisper in my ear. “You’re lucky your little bastard kid saved your ass! I will deal with you later.” Then he finally lets go of my hair.

He abruptly walks out of the house without even eating. So I give his food to Nate so he can start eating before I walk him to school. I quickly scarf down some food because now I’m running behind.

I quickly run upstairs to get clothes and shoes for Nate so I can get him dressed. I have a part-time job at a local bakery that I go to after dropping off Nate at his school.

It’s not an amazing job, but it gives me something to do while I wait for Nate. My boss, Linda, is great and lets me off just in time to grab Nate from school.

I quickly get him dressed and we head out the door so he isn’t late to school. As we get walking, Nate starts talking to me.

“Mama, I had the dream again last night.”

“What dream, Nate?”

“You know, Mama, the one with the man that saves us. This time was different, though. This time he gave you a card.”

“Does this man have a name, Nate?”

“He says his name is Angel.”

“Well, baby, it was just a dream. Mama is trying to figure out how to get us out of this mess. I promise, okay?”

“Okay, Mama, I know. I just… Scott scares me, and I don’t like it when he hits you.”

“Shh. Baby, I know. I don’t like it either.”

We walk in silence the rest of the way to the school. I can’t help but keep replaying Nate’s dream in my head. Where’s this mystery man? Would Nate even recognize him if he saw him?

When we approach the front of the school, I kneel down to give Nate a hug and kiss. He quickly turns and runs into the school so he isn’t late. He turns back to give me one last wave when I let out a tear that I quickly brush away.

He doesn’t deserve this. If only Nathan was still here. Nate’s dad got into an accident and passed away while I was pregnant with Nate. His name is Nathaniel, after his father, but I call him Nate for short.

I look at my watch, noticing the time, and quickly walk to the bakery on the next block over, rushing inside to clock in. When I clock in, Linda grabs my wrist and pulls me aside.

“Eva, love, I know it’s your normal grocery day. So if you need to leave a little early to go next door and get some, it’s okay. You know you always have me if you need any help.”

“I know, Linda. I appreciate it.”

I head out to the front where I start stocking all the pastries and ringing up customers. As usual, we are starting the infamous morning rush. The morning goes by quickly, and soon we are through the afternoon rush.

It’s now about one thirty in the afternoon, and I clock out so I can run next door and get groceries for dinner. I have to be quick because dinner has to be done at a certain time. I shiver just thinking about what happens if it isn’t.

I quickly get groceries, and as I pay, I look at my watch. Crap, Nate is getting out and I’m already behind. I quickly walk down the street, grabbing Nate since he’s already outside waiting for me.

I can see the relief in his eyes when he sees me walking toward him, and it just breaks my heart. I gotta figure out something quickly. Even if I were to run, Scott would find me. We have tried that, and it didn’t end well.

So we start to walk quickly back home since it’s now almost four, and Scott usually gets home right after five. While we are walking up the street with the groceries, I see this man jump off the neighbor’s porch with two well-dressed men quickly following him. I’m thinking they must be his bodyguards or something.

While he’s walking toward us, Nate starts tugging on my arm, so I kneel down to his level.

Nate whispers to me, “Mommy, that’s him… That’s the man!”

“Baby, which man? The one from your dream? Are you sure?”

“Yes, Mama, the one that’s gonna save us.”

“Sweetie, no one will save us, unfortunately. I promise, though, I will find a way out of this mess.”

“Mama, we have to pray that he will.”

I am so focused on Nate that I don’t see that this man has now stopped right in front of us. I slowly stand up, trembling, and look up at him since he’s quite taller than me and very broad-shouldered. I thought my Scott was in good shape, but this man has to be engineered.

I start scanning around quickly, making sure Scott hasn’t come home yet. If he caught me even glancing toward another guy, it wouldn’t end well. I start getting nervous, praying that I don’t get caught.

“Can I help you, sir?”

“Look, I am not going to get involved, but here, take my card. All it has is my phone number. Put it in your phone under Angel. When it gets to be too much, and you’ve had enough, text 911, and I’ll get you out.”

“But, I don’t understand.”

I see him wink at Nate then turn around and go back to the neighbor’s porch. I quickly kneel back down to Nate and show him the card and, sure enough, there’s only a number written on it. I take out my cell phone and input the number.

I hope I don’t have to use it, but I feel a sense of calm knowing it is there. I quickly look to where the man is sitting. He raises his beer and then sets it back down. I let out a little grin, quickly grab Nate, and run into the house.

I tell Nate to go upstairs and that I’ll get him when dinner is ready. I rush into the kitchen and get stuff put away and quickly get dinner going. It seems to be taking forever to cook. As I watch the time slowly tick by, tears start falling.

Shit, it won’t be ready, and I don’t need to add to his anger. I am trying to cook faster as I hear him drive up and park. I start to panic because he’s home ten minutes early, and I need that time.

I quickly take out my phone and get it ready to call the number so all I have to hit is the send key. He enters the house and makes his way to the kitchen. He looks at the table and doesn’t see the food ready.

“Where the fuck is dinner! You’re useless! I swear, you can’t even have fucking dinner ready.”

“It only needs five more minutes. You came home a little early. I’m going as fast as I can.”

He strides over to me, grabbing me by my hair, and lowers his face to mine yelling, “I don’t give a shit that I’m fucking early. Dinner should have been fucking done. Get it done and serve my plate and go upstairs. I will deal with you in a bit.”

I nod and hurry to finish so I can serve him his food. When I go to set it down, with my hands shaking, the plate slips out of my hands and falls on the table, breaking. He gives me a sinister look, and I panic, crying, and start to run up the stairs.

He runs after me, catching me at the top of the stairs by my hair and slamming my head into the wall. I try to apologize repeatedly, but he is hearing none of it.

I feel my head whip to the side as he continues to punch my face, kick my stomach, and scream in my face. After repeatedly hitting and kicking, he steps back to look at his handiwork. I lie there, blood running from my busted, swollen lips and I hear a door open.

Nate walks out and starts to move in front of me. He takes a stand between me and Scott, and I start to panic.

“Nate, go to your room, sweetie. Everything is okay.”

“No, Mama, no more!”

“Well isn’t this just precious! Your little bastard kid thinks he’s going to protect you. Well, we will just deal with this trash like I do his mother.”

I see Scott grab Nate by the arm and start dragging him downstairs. I try to scream but my voice is cracking badly. I can hear Nate screaming for me, and I can barely move.

I hear what sounds like hitting, and Nate continuously screaming, then a slam of a door. I quickly pull out my phone and scroll to the Angel contact and hit send just as Scott grabs the phone and looks at it.

“Who did you send that text to, you stupid bitch?”

I just remain silent when he starts kicking me and punching my face again. It seems to be going on forever. I start to have black spots appear in my vision. The next thing I hear is a loud banging on the front door.

Could it really be him? Please, God, I hope it is. I have to get to Nate, but I can’t even lift myself up. He leaves me and walks down the stairs to open the door.

“Who the fuck are you?” Scott says, as I hear the sound of a gun cocking.

“Your worst fucking nightmare!