Oh Baby, I'm a Fool For You

"I want to see the polar bears!" Jonah shouted excitedly.
Ben and I followed Jonah and Veronica through the local zoo. Jonah had effectively convinced the two of us to spend our first real day of relaxation with him at the zoo.
"We will," Veronica guaranteed, holding her son on top of her shoulders.
Ben took my hand and squeezed it, grinning down at me. "I've never been to an American zoo before," he admitted, his sunglasses covered eyes looking around the exhibits that surrounded us.
"And what are your first impressions?" I asked.
He smiled then leaned down close to whisper, "I want to see the giraffes."
I giggled and squeezed his hand. "You and Jonah are practically the same child," I teased.
"You're calling me a child?" he asked incredulously. He stopped moving and turned to step in front of me.
"What?" I squeaked, intimidated.
Taking his hand from mine, he grasped my face between his hands and kissed me hard on the lips.
I stood perfectly still, simply blushing under his grasp.
Ben leaned back, tugging on my bottom lip with his teeth one last time before releasing me. "No child is capable of doing that," he said lowly. Then he grabbed my hand and began pulling me behind him as if nothing had just occurred.
Licking my lips, I could taste him on me, and I didn't mind in the least. Standing a few yards away, Veronica stood, her eyes teasing. "Shut up," I told her as we reached her.
"I never said a thing," she said with a smirk. "Jonah wants to see the polar bears, are you two coming with?" she asked.
"Please," Jonah asked.
"Well," I said, looking towards my boyfriend then back towards my nephew, "Ben wants to see the giraffes."
"Kaya," Jonah whined, "please come see the polar bears with me."
"How about you take Jonah to see the polar bears," Veronica proposed, "and I'll go with Ben to the giraffes."
"Yay!" Jonah cried, climbing down his mother's back. He dropped to the dirt ground and ran to my legs, squeezing me.
"Is that okay?" I asked Ben.
He flicked my nose with the tip of his finger and nodded. "That sounds good," he said, stepping forward to stand next to Veronica.
"I guess I'm with you then, little man," I said happily, and picked up my nephew.
Ben and Veronica waved kindly at us, and as they walked away all I could think of was what they were going to talk about.
"Kaya, let's go!" Jonah cheered from my arms.
Shaking my head slightly, I nodded and grinned at him, walking towards the aquatic animals building.
Jonah and I had spent a half an hour in the aquatic building, looking at the fish and penguins. The polar bears were playing with a giant ball, which made my nephew giggle with glee. Eventually, he decided to go see the tigers, which was good because the smell of rotting fish was giving me a headache.
"Is Ben your boyfriend?" Jonah asked as I walked down the stairs into the building that housed all the large cats.
"Yeah," I replied, squeezing onto his ankles. "Why do you ask?"
"Cause he's always staring at you," my nephew replied.
"Watch your head," I instructed when we were going under the doorway. Always staring at me? Aw!
"Do you love him?" he asked, his little hands tugging at my hair.
"Well... Yeah, I do," I replied. Stopping in front of a thick sheet of glass, we came face to face with a large tiger. Never before had I been so grateful for the lack of people in an area.
"Do you love him more than me?" he whined quietly.
"Impossible," I told him. "You're my favorite nephew."
"Good!" he exclaimed. "Now let me down I wanna see the tiger!"
"Okay, okay," I laughed. Picking him up with slight difficulty, I set him on the ground where he immediately pressed his nose against the glass.
"Wow," he whispered, staring right at the tiger that was staring back at him.
A low laugh from behind me caused my muscles to tighten. I turned around slowly. "Zeke," I breathed.
He stood behind me smugly, his hands crossed across his chest and a phone poised to take a photo in one of his raised hands. "Hello Kaya," he greeted. A clicking noise came from his phone; he had taken a photo.
"Go away," I hissed, and turned back towards Jonah.
My nephew was still looking at the tiger, completely oblivious to what was happening behind him.
"Hold on," he said. "Why would I leave you after you've been gone so long?" he asked. His phone took another picture.
"Stop that," I snapped.
"Stop what, Kaya?" he teased.
A mix of anger and fear coursed through me as I reached forward and grabbed for his phone.
He caught my wrist and pulled me into him, flattening me against his chest.
"Ugh," I groaned, breathing becoming difficult. Uh-oh. "Don't do this in front of Jonah," I whispered.
"The little boy?" he said, a wave of minty breath flooding my senses. "He's gone."
"What?" I exclaimed. "Where did he go?" I demanded. Please don't tell me I lost my nephew because of this guy!
Zeke turned us around, my legs hanging uselessly a few inches off the ground. He was right; Jonah was no where to be seen in the abandoned cat building.
"No," I whispered. "What did you do?" I squeaked.
"Enough talking," he growled lowly. Backing up, he flattened my back against the glass of the tiger exhibit, and took both my wrists in his large hand to pin them above my head.
"Zeke, no," I told him in what I hoped was a threatening voice. "Let me go. Now."
"You're not crying," he said as if he was confused.
No, I'm not you asshole. Swinging my leg back, I brought it up to knee him in the nuts. I have to find Jonah!
His knees caught my ankle betwen them. "Not this time, babe," he teased.
"Zeke," I growled, wiggling my arms and legs. "You've really got to let me go." I need to get my nephew.
"Why don't you just keep on wiggling around," he said suggestively, watching my body with those gorgeous yet sick eyes. He swooped down and suddenly his lips were on mine, and his free hand roamed my torso.
I screamed into his mouth, attempting to turn my head but my own arms made it impossible. I need to get out of here. Someone, please help me!
With freakish strength, he pried my mouth open, slipping his tongue into my mouth.
That's it, I don't have time for this. With my free foot that Zeke had forgotten about completely, I raised my leg, using my caught leg as leverage, and stomped on his crotch.
He whimpered loudly and his release loosened significantly but not enough.
So I chomped down on his tongue.
Screaming with his tongue still in my mouth, he completely let me go and swung a closed fist at my cheek. As soon as his fist crunched against my cheek, I released him, and the both of us fell to the side.
"You fucking bitch!" he yelled, though his speech was slurred due to his injured tongue.
Ignoring the throbbing pain in my face, I scrambled to my feet and ran up the stairs of the building, pushing the doors open with excess force. "Jonah!" I screamed, my voice echoing loudly. "Jonah!" I screamed again, looking around frantically. He was nowhere to be seen. "Dammit," I hissed. I have to get away from this building. I started running down the path back towards the aquatic animals building. Maybe Jonah went back to see the polar bears?
"Kaya!"
I spun backwards and saw Ben, Veronica and Jonah running towards me. "Oh my god," I whispered in relief. Falling to my knees, I opened my arms so my nephew could run into my embrace. "Where did you go?" I whispered. "What happened?" I asked, squeezing his back as he clung to my neck.
"I saw the scary man and I went for help," he told me. "Are you okay?" Pulling back from me, he studied my face. "Mommy!" he shouted. "Kaya got hurt!"
Veronica and Ben were instantly crouching on either side of me.
"Move out of the way, baby, thank you," Veronica said to her son, gently pulling him away from me.
"What? What is it?" I asked as her soft hands probed my face.
"Who is this 'scary man' Jonah was talking about?" she asked me, her finger tracing my lips.
"Veronica, it's just that- is that blood?" I squeaked.
A streak of blood was on her index finger which she held in front of her.
"Kaya, what happened?" Ben demanded. His eyebrows were furrowed and his eyes were blazing.
"Uh..." I couldn't say anything, not in front of Jonah.
Veronica seemed to understand that. "Hey, honey," she said, taking his hand while standing up. "Why don't we go back to the polar bears," she suggested.
"I already saw them," he whined.
"I haven't," she replied. "Can you take me to them?"
As soon as we arrived at the polar bear tank, Jonah got distracted from showing his mother the animals because the bears were rolling a large beach ball back and forth to each other.
Ben and Veronica flanked either side of me, their eyes inquisitive.
"Veronica," I said softly as Ben took to wiping my lips and cheeks tenderly with his balled up sweatshirt, "Zeke and I did not break up on good terms."
"This was Zeke's doing?" she snapped angrily.
"Let me finish," I told her as calmly as I could.
"Is he still back at the tiger place?" Ben asked.
"I don't know, maybe? Why? Ben? Don't! What-"
He has bolted through the doors of the building as soon as the 'maybe' escaped my lips.
"Damn," I hissed, and moved to follow him but Veronica stopped me.
"Kaya, I want an explanation. Now." Her hand on my arm squeezed tightly.
Staring at the door from which my boyfriend just left, I sighed. Losing all pretenses, I launched into my story. I told her about how Zeke almost raped me. I told her how he left nearly naked on my bed after breaking up with me. I told her how he organized the welcome back party just to mess with me. I told her how he forcefully made out with me and then punched me when I got myself out of it.
"Oh sweetheart," she whispered, her eyes watering. "I am so sorry." Tugging on my arm she brought me into a hug. "Why didn't you tell me?" she whispered, her tears falling onto my shoulder.
"You liked Zeke," I replied, my voice muffled from being pressed against her shoulder. "I didn't want to disappoint you."
Grabbing onto my shoulders she pushed me back. "You could never disappoint me. Unless you let your English man go," she teased, sniffling.
"I like Ben," I told her. "I'm keeping him as long as I can."
"Mommy?"
Jonah stood in front of us, peering up with big eyes.
"Yes honey?"
"Can we go to the gift shop? I want some rock candy, please," he said in a charming little voice.
"Go on," I said to Veronica. "I'll wait here for Ben."
"You run if you see Zeke again, do you understand?"
I nodded and squeezed her hand.
Veronica quickly kissed my cheek and picked up her son, walking from the building.
It didn't take more than five minutes for Ben to come back to me.
"I couldn't find him," Ben said, walking up to me.
In a way, I was glad. I didn't want Ben to get hurt because of me. Stepping forward, I put my arms around his middle. "I love you," I murmured against his shirt.
He put his arms around my shoulders and kissed the top of my head. "I love you too. Can I ask you something?"
I pulled back slightly and looked up at him. "What is it?"
"If I see that bastard again, may I punch him as hard as I can?"
Grinning, I returned to my tight embrace. "You sure know how to make a girl blush," I teased.
He laughed loudly and squeezed me. "You're adorable," he chuckled.
Ignoring the statement, I nuzzled my face against his chest and sighed in complete contentment.