Set Fire to the Rain

“Mom what do you want me to do? Do you want me to answer or ignore it?” Jake asked with a slight tremble in his voice and a very scared look on his very young face.

“Here, hand me the phone, there is no time like the present. Might as well get this over with,” I grumbled as I took the cell phone from my youngest child, while motioning for Marguerite to turn the stereo off. This was not a conversation I was looking forward to, nor did I want to have in front of my kids so I answered the phone and took the steps downstairs and out to a wooden swing that was in the back yard. “Hello, David.”

“Eliza, why aren’t you home waiting for me and why isn’t dinner ready and on the table waiting for me? You know exactly how I feel about this. You know what the rules are, and where in the hell are my children. They should be upstairs doing homework and studying and not out working on their stupid fucking music,” David ranted at me. He just continued to go on and on, and I couldn’t begin to get a single word in at all. So I sat outside with the phone to my ear, and listened. Though I waited for it to dawn on him that I had actually answered Jakes phone and not mine, but at this point I think he was too angry too notice. “Well, are you going to fucking answer me, you stupid”

“David, may I answer you please? I know that I am not home and neither are the kids. We won’t be home tonight because we are spending the night out at my brother Jacks place. Sort of having a sister brother and kids bonding time, if you know what I mean. He called right after the kids got home from school and invited us over, and I accepted. I am very sorry for not letting you know before, I simply forgot. I mean, I can always tell Jack that something came up and we can come home.” First of all, I knew that David would never embarrass us by making us leave and go home, so wasn’t worried. I took a quiet steady breath to calm myself. Jack and I had worked this story out for this specific reason. We knew that David would react this way and I wanted to make sure that the kids were as far from David as possible when the papers were served and I met with him tomorrow. “Hey David, would you like to meet for lunch tomorrow at The Café in the center of town at around noon? Only the two of us” I already knew he wouldn’t be able to refuse. He loved to take any opportunity to show off his perfect marriage.

“I am really disappointed in you and the fact that you didn’t ask permission before going to stay at Jacks with the kids, but given that it’s Jack I am not surprised that he waited until the last minute to invite you over. Anyway lunch with you tomorrow at The Café, would be the perfect way to make this up to me. Give the children my best, and I will see you at noon. G’night dear” David answered and he was gone.

So far so good, the little plan seemed to have worked so far. Now to get through the meet tomorrow and that is the part that really scared me. The kids were going to stay here with my parents and Jack was going to be outside The Café in his car watching closely to make sure I was ok. He wasn’t taking any chances. The guy from the lawyers’ office is supposed to show up at around 12:30 with the papers and that will be the end of it, finally.

The Next Day

Jacks’s POV

“Are you sure you’re ok to go through with this all on your own? I mean seriously Laun, I could come in with you or have one of the guys come in or mom and dad, just not alone with this prick. Please. I don’t like it at all. I don’t trust him, I never have. I hate the bastard for fucks sake” I huffed in frustration as we talked in my car that was around the block and behind one of the buildings about 15 minutes before Eliza was to meet David. Yes, I have a nickname for my kid sister. Much to her dismay, I call her by part of her middle name, Laun, but I happen to love it. As for the bastard that she was getting ready to meet, I had never trusted David from the first day we met. I begged her to do a background check and she refused. The only thing left that I could do without completely losing my sister, was to watch over her and be there for her and my niece and nephew whenever they need anything. Unfortunately over the years it’s been a repeating theme. David has tried very hard to put a wedge between my sister and the rest of our family, but it just never worked. Eliza and the rest of us just never allowed it. We have always been exceptionally close as a family, and that would never change. When I first started to notice the signs of the abuse that Eliza was taking from the son of a bitch, I was irate. I told mom and dad that I was going over to the house and I was going to take her from him and I would beat the bastard like he had her. Being the calmer head, my dad convinced me to go visit when she was alone and convince her to leave and press charges. My sister is a very smart woman and this was at the very beginning of their marriage, so they hadn’t had the children yet. We were saddened and shocked to say the least, when we arrived at their home and saw the shape Laun was in, mainly because she hadn’t been expecting us and wasn’t wearing anything to cover up the damage David had left behind. Even more devastating was that when we asked her to come home with us, was that she flat out refused. Eliza said she was fine, that she loved him, he had apologized and said it would never happen again. That was the first time I’d actually seen the leftovers of what David had been doing, and it had already started to take a toll on her. Not a fucking surprise there. All we could do was watch over her, love her and never leave her. It’s sad to look at Eliza sometimes and remember what she used to be like, who my sister used to be years ago, she was so energetic, crazy and had a spark that everyone seemed to notice the second she walked into a room. We had so much fun together as young teenagers getting into trouble together, though you would never guess it now from looking at her. That spark is long gone. I miss her. My only hope is that with this step forward, she can start to work on putting herself back together little by little. She deserves to have a happy life with her kids. I leaned over the console of my Jeep Grand Cherokee and gave her a very tight hug. I held onto her and didn’t let go. Then I turned my head towards my little sister and gently kissed her right cheek with a small smile.

“Hey, what was that for? Is everything ok Jack?” She asked slightly scared.

“Yeah, everything is good. I just wanted to say I am so proud of you and what you’re doing and I really love you.”

I reached out to slowly wipe away a stray tear that had started to fall from the crystal eyes of the sister I love so much. I don’t think she even realized she had started crying, given the somewhat startled reaction she gave when I wiped the tears away, when she started to wipe quickly at the others and then turned away slightly.

“You have nothing to be proud of Jack. This is something I should have done a long fucking time ago. I have felt like a failure to everyone for so damn long I can’t even begin to tell you. God, I was such a fool.” With that she began to cry silently, and I reached over and pulled her back into my arms.

“You know everything is going to work out fine once we get this thing settled today, right? You get that fucking bastard out of your life, and you can finally begin to work towards a real life, without rules, beatings, verbal harassment; you can do whatever the hell you want. We can go out like we used to and stay out all hours, remember!”

“Shit, yes! Mom and dad would get so pissed at us. Especially when we wouldn’t let them know we were going to be out until 4am. Being a mom now, I can’t say I blame them though” she answered with a small smile and a chuckle.

I looked at the clock on the dashboard of my car seeing that it was time for Eliza to start her walk towards The Café.

“It’s about show time for you sis. You sure you’re ok going in there alone?”

“Mhm. I will be fine. I also know that you will be there if I need you, but I have to do this on my own.” Eliza looked down at her left wrist to check the time on her watch, and then looked back up at me. “Alrighty, I think I am going to head over a little early and wait for him. Wish me luck. Love you bro.”

“Luck, and I love you too.” With that she was out of my SUV and walking down the street towards the café to finally be rid of the man who had made her and her children’s lives nothing but a living hell. Now I watch and wait…

Eliza’s POV

I sat by myself at a small table in the center of the small café that was actually called The Café. It had amazing coffee, lattes and the food was really good as well. I loved coming here to unwind. It was one of the few things that David allowed me, and I grabbed onto it with both hands. I looked around at the different people in the café who were coming and going. I just enjoyed people watching, imagining what they did for a living who they knew. It could be fun! Most of the time, I ended up wishing I was with my kids living someone else’s life. Today I will start towards having my own. The Café is very cute, they had outdoor seating in the spring and summer under the canopy area that extended out onto the sidewalk, there was a huge picture window along the front so you had a nice view of the small downtown street and other shops, the tables were all different shapes and sizes with mismatched tablecloths, there were always fresh flowers on the tables during the day and lit candles at night, plus the added bonus was that the seats were super comfortable to sit on. Customers liked that it wasn’t the typical café, and the owners were really nice people who live upstairs. It would feel relaxing to be here, if I were here for any other reason.

Approximately 14 minutes had gone by and I had just glanced at my watch when I heard the small bell ring that hung from over the entry door. I looked toward the door and my heart starting to hammer in my chest while my hands started to shake under the table. It was David. He prided himself on being punctual all the fucking time. Today he was wearing a pair of khaki pants with a light blue button down shirt, and a pair of dark brown leather shoes, plus his long black overcoat. The man almost never wore jeans and t-shirts. Come to think of it, I don’t know if he owned a single band t-shirt, ever. If we were going to be out together in public, he was almost always dressed up, and I had to do the same. If not dressy, it had to be at least dressy-casual. It was a requirement. That being said, I had decided to wear a fitted cable knit cream colored sweater, long dark brown suede skirt, dark brown knee high boots, and my silver locket that held the picture of my children that my parents and Jack had given to me for my 35th birthday. I never take it off. I had my hair pulled to the side and put it into a loose ponytail. It didn’t take more than a couple seconds for David to reach me, then take my hands and kiss the tops of each once, and then he leaned down to reach my shorter 5’5” frame and kiss my right cheek. David is a very tall 6’4”, and very strong. I wouldn’t say overly muscular, but he knows how to hit, and that’s all that’s necessary.

“Good afternoon, Darling. How are you today? I didn’t see your car out front.” David stated in an accusatory tone.

“Good afternoon David. I am fine, how are you? I know my car isn’t here. Jack was going through town on the way to do something at the department while the kids are at my parents’ house, so he offered to drop me off. I accepted. Is that ok?” I asked him. My parents used to live in southern Louisiana with the rest of my extended family, but after I turned 15, they decided to move into ‘The North’ partly for job reasons and partly to give Jack and I a change in scenery. Now my parents live in the country about 45 minutes from where my new place is and a half an hour from where Jack has an apartment. They liked New Jersey well enough, but I know that their hearts truly belong to the south, as does mine. I really did miss New Orleans and the ways of the south. It was a huge part of who I am. One day I hope to return there. For today though, my parents had offered to have the kids over at their house and spend the day together while I took care of business here as it were. When we finished here Jack and I would go back to mom and dad’s house and fill them in.

“I guess it’s fine. There is nothing that can be done about it now, can there. Anyway, did you have a nice evening with your brother?”

“We had a wonderful time” I glanced down at my watch and I knew that the man from my lawyers’ office was going to be here before long, and at that point I am going to be out of time. So I really needed to get this over with now.

“Lizzy, is everything alright, you seem nervous.”

“Umm, well, actually there is something I need to talk to you about, and you are not going to like it.” I could already see his fists begin to clench and his veins start to pulse faster in his neck. This was not going to go well. “David, I’m not in love with you, I’m not happy with you. Let me make this clear, I am divorcing you and the papers will be here any minute. The kids and I have already moved out of the house.”

“Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha” He broke out into a huge fit of laughter, and it actually scared me. Everyone in the restaurant looked on in surprise. “Ok, Lizzy, seriously, what is it you need to talk about. You know I don’t really appreciate this type of humor. It’s honestly not very funny.”

I sat there with my hands folded in my lap, slowly glancing around and making what I was hoping was an apologetic smile to the people who were seated around us. The last thing I wanted to do was cause a problem somewhere I enjoyed going to. So I tried to continue as calmly as I could. “David, I am not kidding. I have never been more serious in my whole life. I can’t do this anymore. I am done with you, with all of it. The kids are too. “

I looked at him carefully as a change took over him. He leaned in slowly clasping his hands on top of the table and looked me straight in the eyes when he began to speak in a very low voice, “Eliza Richards, you are married to me, by law. You are mine, and no one else’s. If you think for one second that you can leave me and take my children away from me, then you are not as smart as I thought you were. If you do leave I will find you, and make your life a fucking hell. No one will ever have you, do you understand me? I will kill anyone who tries; I don’t care if it’s you or another man. I almost succeeded once I can make certain not to fail next time if I want to. I will find our kids and make sure to never let them have a single moment’s peace; their lives will be a fucking nightmare from beginning to end. Maybe they will have a car accident one day; you never know what might happen out there. The world is a dangerous place Lizzy. You know that better than anyone. Tell me, is there someone else? Are you whoring yourself around, is that why you are leaving me you two bit, white trash cunt?” He seethed at me, and I sat there in shock. I couldn’t believe this, what am I doing, he is threatening the lives of not only me, but our children and anyone I may ever become involved with? I must be insane.

The bell over the door once again rang, and when I looked up I saw Clark, whom I recognized from the law firm along with Jack. I swear that Jack has despair radar. He took one look at David and the expression on his face, his posture, and must have figured out precisely what was going on. Jack looked at me, his brows furrowed, and he rushed to my side. When David saw Jack, he jumped up from his seat and lunged at Jack accusing him of trying to brainwash me against him, to convince me that I should leave him. In a split second, Jack had David turned around face down on the table, hands behind his back and a pair of cuffs on him. There are some rules you never break, and you never lay your hands on a police officer. On duty or not, it doesn’t matter. In a matter of a minute, Jack had David cuffed and we were moving to the small office at the rear of the café, so as to not disturb the customers any more than we already had. And believe me David was making it a point to make as much noise as possible about police brutality and bullshit like that, all of it untrue. Jack took care of calling in for the local town police to have the David taken in, and I talked to Clark. When we finished speaking, together we walked over to a very angry and frustrated David, with Jack standing watch nearby.

“David, these are divorce papers that I filed weeks ago. I have already moved out of the house along with the children. I am not giving you any information on our location, until I know that you will let us be. If you don’t leave me and the kids alone, I will file a restraining order against you, and if that doesn’t keep you out of my life, then I will have you arrested. I want nothing more to do with you from this day forward other than for you to sign the papers, or for anything regarding the divorce. Even that, contact your lawyer. This is no fucking joke, you sorry son of a fucking bitch. Consider yourself served. There is no boyfriend by the way, but you know that already, so fuck you. You will never lay another hand on me ever again, do you understand me? The kids are done with your sorry ass, and so am I, so sign the papers and let us all get on with our lives” I said to the devil with tears falling down my cheeks as I handed him the papers that would change my life. Or so I hoped. With no look back, Jack and I walked out of the office door and down the hallway together when Jack stopped in his tracks. He turned on his heels and back towards the office so I followed behind, curious as to what he was up too. When I got to the office doorway, I saw Jack talking to the officers in the room privately, and then to Clark. Clark glanced up at me, then grabbed his case, shook Jacks hand, came to stand in front of me and told me that he would be in touch. What the hell Jack was up to I had no idea. I only knew that I wanted to get out of this place and as far from David as I could.

The police officers stepped out of the room and went to the front counter and began to place an order. Jack had his back to me this whole time but glanced at me over his right shoulder then crouched down so that he was eye level with David. He then began to speak in a very low, very dark tone, and if I were in David’s position, I would have been terrified. It began to dawn on me what was going on, Jack was issuing a threat of sorts, and that’s why he had asked to have some private time with the prisoner. If I hadn’t been where I was standing and listening as closely as I was, I would never have heard what he said. I hung my head and let the end of my ponytail fall to the left side of my shoulder and began to nervously play with the end of my hair as I listened to the very one-sided conversation happening in front of me. “I know what you are and what you have done to my family since day one you sick sadistic fuck. I also know where you work and where you live. I am reminding you of these facts because if there is ever any hint of you being where you shouldn’t be, if you ever lay so much as a finger on my sister or hurt a hair on her head or that of her children, I will personally come after you and I will make your life a living hell. You will not threaten, stalk, call, email, follow, mail or interact with my sister except if it’s through your lawyer. You are the piece of shit, asshole, drunk, fuck here and I never want to see your face anywhere near them or our friends again. You know that I have connections all over, and I know everything that happens around here. Take a chance asshole. I would love to put your ass permanently in jail. Seriously get help man.” Jack said in a very dangerous tone and stood up slowly with his hands clenched into fists staring at David.

David sat there with his hands cuffed behind his back, with his back straight and head held high, looking directly into Jacks eyes and all he said in response to Jacks threat was, “What’s mine is mine, papers or not. That isn’t going to change anything.” David was furious, and I was terrified. Then his eyes flicked over to look directly at me. We needed to get the hell out of here and go see my family. I thought that Jack was turning around to leave, when he hauled off and threw a right hook into David’s face. You could hear the crack, and David went flying to the ground.

Jack stood there shaking his right hand slightly with a smug smile on his handsome face and said, “I have been waiting for a long ass fucking time to do that. God it felt good!” With that he walked away from a groaning David who was now lying on the floor, putting his arm around my shoulders and we walked out the office door and down the hall only stopping to tell the officers that they should go check on the man lying on the floor in the office. One of them did just that as soon as we started telling them what had happened. Then Jack and I began walking to the front door of the café so we could go to his car and head toward home.