Broken, Navaura Campbell [top young adult novels txt] 📗

sat there for a minute staring, wondering, how and why did she end up with a woman who just didn’t care or even get it. Reaching up and whiping her hands over her eyes, she went to the door and as she was about to push it close, the door pushed open and she felt the sting without having seeing the hit. Tamarah’s eyes stung as she glanced up into the face of Tommy whitaker. His rage so raw and heated, he came toward her again,

 

Tamarah cried out loud but instead of running away, she ran toward him, shouting a stream of curse words. She screamed, “I hate you, I hate you!, as her fists wailed into his chest, hitting him as hard as she could. He yelled, “Shut the hell up.” and grabbed her by the throat. Although he squeezed and it hurt, Tamarah used every ounce of her strength to pull her foot up to his groin area and connect with it. She balled up her fist and hit him so hard in the eye, he stumbled backward, completely loosing the grip he’d already loosened from the previous hit and let go of her kneck.

 

Tamarah ran at him again and kicked him hard in the stomach, he gasped, “You bitch, I’m going to kill you.” His hand grasped a fist full of her hair and pulled her toward him. She screamed and yelled as he wrapped his hand around her throat. Her hands went to his eyes as she tried to pry them out of his skull. As far as she was concerned, her life was over any way and it didn't matter, nothing mattered except hurting him the same way she hurt and even if it took her last breath, she would make him pay for this. As she began to caugh from lack of air, she faught to draw in breath.

 

Tears welled up in her eyes and she could feel everything begin to fade as the fight in her began to fade until eventually, there was none left and she went limp. Tommy glanced down at her, his eyes hard and full of hatred. He actually felt no fear, no remorse, not even sympathy for the young girl that lay still beneath him. Staring down at her, making sure she wasn’t about to move, he nodded satisfactorily and turned to exit out of the apartment. As he did, sirens were heard in the distance. Someone had called the police. He smirked and hoped they’d brought a body bag because she was going to need one.

 

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Chapter Thirteen:

~ ~

Tamarah startled awake, beads of perspiration falling down her forehead and the temples of her face. With a shaky hand, she reached up and wiped away the sweat. Putting her hand up to her face, she let out a shaky breath and closed her eyes tightly, trying hard to forget the nightmare she’d had. Pushing her hair away from her face, she let out a deep sigh and felt a fear encompass her heart. She didn’t want to die, wasn’t ready to die. Glancing around, she noticed that she was on the couch and light shadows were shrouding the windows in the condo she shared with her mother. She remembered her mother telling her they’d talk after she got home, but anything outside of that alluded her. Her first idea was to call Vanessa and tell her about it but then she remembered that Vanessa was a part of nightmare. She thought of other possibilities and the only person she knew who’d talked to her was Tim. She’d never used his phone number for anything other than the school project. Sighing, she got up, went to her book bag and pulled out her project folder. Opening the flap, she stared at the name and number written on top of the page. Running her hand over it, she exhaled a deep breath and stared at it.

~ ~

Timothy jogged across Deppend road to the country road Altman and picked up his pace as he continued out. Altman went on for a good stretch of three miles before hitting Mariner boulevard and turning down another long winding road that led up a good mile to a small grocery store which would be where he’d stop to catch his breath and refill on the water canteen he had. Drenched in sweat by the time he hit Mariner, he swiped his brow and took a long swig on the canteen and then set out to a walk, allowing the water to filter through his body. He’d walked halfway down Mariner by the time he felt his heart rate slow down to normal. He calculated his pulse, took a pen and piece of paper out of his bag and wrote down the number. He then determined his Target heart rate before continuing on through walking til he got to the store. When he arrived there he was not surprised to see his mother’s best-friend Janine behind the cash register. “Hi Janine.” “Hey, Tim. How’s it going?”

“Alright,” He stated, heading to the back of the store for a water.

“Enjoying your run on this Spring evening?”

“Yes. It’s been nice thus far.”

“How’s your mom?”

“Good, she’s...” Just then, Timothy'’s phone went off and he went through his bag to come up with it before it stopped ringing. He found it underneath his stop watch and canteen. Swiping the screen, he answered. “Hello?”

“Hi, Tim.” Immediately his heart plummeted and began beating furiously, “Hi Tamarah.”“I was calling because there was no one else to talk to you know, so I thought since I had your number...” The words rushed out of her mouth.

 

Timothy found himself smiling, “No prob. What’s up?”

 

“Well, I had a bad dream and I needed someone to talk to about it.”

 

“Oh, I just finished a run...”

 

“I..well, I can call back another time...” She interrupted.

“No..no, it’s cool. I um...just...” Timothy frowned as he realized he couldn’t remember what he'’d been about to say. He’d suddenly forgot his train of thought.

“You know...I’ll just...” with that she hung up. Timothy pulled the phone away from his face, hitting it against the counter. “Uhh, this is so frustrating.” His cheeks were so red they spoke of the embarassment.

 

“That was the strangest conversation I’ve ever heard.” Janine stated, watching Timothy with pecuilar eyes. “She just hung up on me.” Timothy stated, looking up at Janine. “I can’t believe she hung up on me.”

 

“Who?”

 

Timothy was about to say her name but stopped himself, immediately knowing that she’d know who Tamarah was. Going to the freezer, he pulled out a water, pulled a dollar from his pocket and slapped it on the counter, “I’ll talk to you later Janine.” Timothy ran out of the store.

~ ~

 

Tamarah laid a frustrated hand over her forehead, not knowing what to do. She’d needed someone to talk to and for some reason had gotten the bright idea to call him, but that obviously back fired. Inhaling sharply, she didn’t know why she was acting goofy. Standing up, she decided to go have a shower before she’d began dinner for herself. She’d plan to make beef hot dogs and black beans over a bed of rice.

After a shower she went downstairs, pulled out the ingredients and began the small dinner she was going to prepare. Just as she’d gotten the rice into a pot to boil, the doorbell rang. Going to the door, she was about to pull it open but stopped, remembering her nightmare. “Tamarah, it’s Timothy.” Tamarah glanced down at herself, relieved that she atleast had a robe on over her pajamas. Exhaling sharply, she unlocked the door and opened it. “Hi.” He stated.

 

Tamarah smiled, “Hi.”

“You hung up on me.”

 

She nodded her head, moving away from the door, allowing him entrance, “I know.”

 

“Why?” He inquired, stepping into the house. Tamarah stared at him, seeing that he was still in his exercise clothing. Sweat drenched his hair as it matted his forehead as well as his body and clothing. “You came over here straight from your run?”

 

Timothy sat his bag down beside the couch, “Yes.”

 

“Why?” Tamarah inquired confused.

 

Timothy didn’t answer her question, instead asked his own, “Do you have a towel?”Tamarah sighed, “I can do better than that.

 

"When my cousin Caleb comes in during the summer to visit, he usually has clothes in the spare bedroom, I can get you a pair.” With that, she ran through the hallway and through the kitchen area and up the stairs. Timothy took this time to look around the apartment. He noticed the kitchen done up in black and white on the East end of the wall. The appliances looked new with a nook inside the kitchen. Turning toward the living area, he noticed a fifty inch flat screen bolted to the west end wall, and beneath it a fire place. The living room was spacious as it held a white sectional sofa with end tables on either side and a coffee table with a throw rug underneath a blue and white speckled flooring, and yet still had enough space to walk through. The stairwell curved upward to where you were able to see the second floor with no problem, since there were no walls to block your view. There were several doors, dividing the areas. There was something homey, yet lonely about the place. That’s when he realizeed that the only sound in the house that could be heard was Tamarah’s. He slapped his forehead in irritation.

 

He hadn’t even bothered to ask about her parents. “I hope these fit well. You can shower in the downstairs bathroom.” Tamarah made her way downstairs to him. When she got to him and handed him the clothes, he said, “I didn’t know you were here by yourself.”

 

Tamarah smiled, “I usually am.”

 

“I’m sorry for just intruding like this.” His eyes connected with hers. Tamarah shrugged, “Trust me, it’s better than always being alone. The bathroom is right there.” She pointed behind his shoulder. That’s when Timothy noticed a door next to the television. “Ok, thanks.” Turning, he went to the bathroom.

~ ~

 

Tamarah glanced down at her robe and turned off the pot of rice when it was close to being done. She didn’t want to let the rice continue cooking and get soft, so before it completed the process, she turned it off. Taking this time, she ran upstairs, dressed and came back down wearing a red silk blouse and a pair of capri shorts that stretched around the waist. Going to the cabinet, she pulled out two plates and cups. She pulled out utensils from the drawers. As she was setting the table, Timothy came out of the bathroom, wearing the clothes she’d given him. Glancing up, she felt her heart began hammering. Her gaze was caught up in awe at the sky blue eyes that stood out against a golden halo of wet and wavy hair that was combed away from his forehead, giving a full view of his features. As her eyes locked with his, she felt pricks flood her body, giving off a lot of heat. He broke contact with her, “I didn't know you could cook.” She finally took her eyes away from him, her gaze having traveled the length of his muscular frame and