Page 38 of Louisiana Protector

She sank down on the edge of her bed and silently wept from the pain and the fear she had felt in the moment. I’m the man you belong to. You belong to me. The man’s words whirled around and around in her head.

Who had it been? Which man had slammed his fist into her jaw? Which of her friends was secretly a monster?

And what might the monster do next?

TUESDAY EVENING JOHNNY walked slowly through the swamp. The early evening sun was still bright overhead, although the deeper in he walked the less the sun managed to penetrate the leaves overhead. He was looking for a specific place that would be perfect for what he wanted to plan.

Saturday night he wasn’t taking Mimi to the café or to any other place in town. He wanted something more intimate than that. He needed a place away from people and noise, a place where it would just be the two of them and they could focus solely on each other. More than anything, he wanted to transport her back to the past…back to when they had been so happy together. And then he wanted them to talk about the present and their potential future together.

Over the last couple of weeks, his feelings for Mimi had transformed from the young, wild love he had once felt for her into a deep, mature love of a man for a woman.

Still, he worried. He had no idea exactly what she felt about him. Was she finding a new love for him, too? Or were those days in the past all he would ever have of her?

It took him almost thirty minutes to find exactly what he was looking for, and then he headed on to Mimi’s shanty. It was still early enough that he hoped he would be the first man to arrive. A sweet anticipation flooded through him as he thought of seeing not only Mimi but also Danny again. He even enjoyed seeing Gramps each evening. There was such a feeling of family for him in that shanty and with those people.

He reached the front door and knocked and was surprised that it was Gramps who opened the door. “Johnny, come on in,” Gramps said. He motioned Johnny to the sofa. “Mimi and Danny are in the kitchen having a standoff over peas.”

“Far be it for me to get into the middle of that particular battle,” Johnny said with a laugh as he lowered himself onto the sofa.

“All she wants is for him to take two spoonfuls, but Danny is being quite stubborn,” Gramps replied.

“Danny, just two bites, and then you can go play,” Mimi’s voice drifted out of the kitchen.

“I don’t want to eat even one bite,” Danny replied.

“Well, you’re not getting up from the table until you do,” Mimi’s frustrated voice rang out. “And I think I just heard Johnny come in. He probably wants to play with you.”

It was only a minute or two later that Danny came running out of the kitchen. “Hi, Johnny.” The little boy hurried to Johnny’s side.

“Did you eat your peas?” Johnny asked. He fought the impulse to pull Danny up on his lap and hold him tight.

“Mommy made me eat two spoons of them. They weren’t as bad as I thought,” Danny said. “But, Gramps, maybe you don’t need to make them too often.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Gramps replied with a grin as he sank back down in his recliner.

At that moment Mimi came into the room, and any humor Johnny felt instantly vanished as he saw the dark bruise on her jaw.

“Hi, Johnny,” she greeted him with a small smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“What happened?” he asked.

She raised a hand to her jaw and then shot a quick glance at Danny. “I…uh…fell coming up the bridge last night,” she replied. “I stumbled and hit my jaw.”

“She has a bad boo-boo,” Danny said sympathetically. “I kissed it to try to make it better.”

Johnny knew immediately her story of falling on the bridge was a lie. But whatever had happened, it was obvious she didn’t want to talk about it in front of Danny. He wouldn’t get a genuine answer from her until later in the evening. But the sight of the angry-looking bruise hurt him for her. It was obvious it was quite painful. So, what the hell had really happened to her?

She sat next to him on the sofa and was unusually quiet as he and Gramps visited about their day.

“I’m surprised I’m still here all by myself,” Johnny said after about an hour had passed and none of the other men had arrived.

“I called them all last night and told them I needed a break from their nightly visits,” Mimi replied. “I was definitely in the mood for some quieter evenings.”

He frowned, a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. “Uh…did I somehow miss a call from you?”

“No,” she replied. She gazed at him for a long moment, and in the depths of her eyes he saw something that invited him in and excited him. “I didn’t call you to stop you from coming by.” She finally broke the gaze.

“Thanks, because I truly love being here with you and Danny,” he replied.