Tea and Tomahawks Read Free Page B

intertwined with surprisingly little silver and oiled to perfection. “This kind of weather don’t take too kindly to that relaxed coif.”
    The faint, tropical scent of coconut tickled Annie’s nose. “It’ll be fine, Grandmother.”
    Richard held the door open for her.
    She walked inside. The screen door creaked shut, and she followed her husband up the stairs.
     
    ~* * * *~
     
    “What were you out there talking to your Grandmother about?” Richard appeared behind her in the mirror, his hair wet and slicked back from the shower.
    Annie looked at his reflection, and her toothbrush paused in mid-stroke. “What?”
    “I said what were you talking to your Grandmother about?” There was no false smile here. His eyes were flat with anger and distrust. “Have you been telling secrets, Annie?”
    Cold fingers of fear crept through her body. She leaned over and spit, stalling for time. “Of course not,” she said after rinsing her mouth. “We were just talking about the old days when I was a kid.”
    He grabbed her arm and turned her around. “Look at me.” Richard scrutinized her face.
    She was careful to keep her features pleasant and neutral. It wouldn’t take much for him to drive her back upstate in the morning, and she wanted to stay. Badly . Please, let me have this.
    “I heard she wants you to change your hair. I like it the way it is.” He dropped her arm and marched out of the bathroom to the bed. Without giving her a second glance, he slid under the white sheets. “You find a way to keep it how I like it. I didn’t marry a pick-a-ninny.”
    “Yes, Richard,” she said. Her verbal acquiescence to his wishes was a reaction without thought.
    A second storm raged outside, giving quite a show with the thunder and lightning. Annie went through her evening toilette in slow motion, using the potions and lotions she brought to keep her skin smooth, to keep her hair from frizzing, to keep the worry wrinkles from around her eyes. The extended ritual served a second purpose: to keep her in the bathroom as long as possible. Finally, having nothing else to tone, smooth or tighten, she slid into bed beside her husband, hoping against hope he had fallen asleep.
    If she could make it through the night, then he would leave her with her grandmother and she would be free for a few days. Keeping that thought in mind, she managed not to flinch when he reached for her.
    Richard pawed at her nightgown, pulling up the white cotton lawn to expose her nakedness to the cool sheets. After a few perfunctory kisses, he pushed himself inside her and moved until he had reached his satisfaction.
    When he withdrew, she whispered flirtatious words and kissed his sweaty cheek before she hurried to the bathroom to clean herself. By the time she slid back into bed, he was asleep.
     
     

 
    CHAPTER FOUR
     
    A nnie stared at the ceiling, listening to the abrasive snores of her husband. Gripping the edge of the sheet with sweaty palms, she pressed her eyes closed, hoping sleep would come. The rawness between her legs kept her awake, fueling the overwhelming anger she harbored against her husband. She was her bravest when he was asleep, when she watched the pulse beat in the vulnerable hollow of his neck. It was her most devious time, when she plotted to escape this miserable life.
    She’d done it once, getting all the way to a hotel in Akron, Ohio. Paying cash for a train ticket from Trenton and staying in an anonymous hotel at her destination hadn’t been enough. He’d been there before dawn on her second day there. The greedy hotel owner had been swayed by a sob story and a couple of hundred dollars.
    The sound of the opening door had made her open her sleepy eyes in confusion and the tinkle of the cut chain dropping against the door jamb made them fly open in fear. At first, she had thought she was about to be the victim of some robbery or rape, but it had been much worse.
    When he’d gotten her home, he beat her so badly with