The Black Stiletto Read Online Free PDF

ignored him. I shut the fridge and tried to move past him. He was blocking the way out of the kitchen.
    “I’d like to go to my room, please,” I said.
    “Hold on, sweetie. We’re gonna play a little trick or treat.”
    I wanted to say something to him I’d heard kids at school say. You know, the “F” word. But I didn’t use that word in those days. I kept silent.
    Then he reached out and caressed my cheek with the back of his gnarly hand .
    I jerked back and hissed, “Don’t touch me!”
    After that there was fire in his eyes and he whispered, “Don’t you dare talk like that to your father! You respect your elders, do you hear me?”
    “You’re not my father.”
    “I’m your stepfather. Same thing.”
    “No it ain’t.”
    He got this sickly grin on his face and licked his lips. “My, my, ain’t you the spirited one? You and I are gonna have some fun , sweetheart. I can see that, yes siree.”
    Douglas backed me up against the fridge and there was nowhere I could go. I could smell his rancid whiskey breath and, I swear, I could hear his heart beating furiously in his chest. It turned him on to be in such a dominating position over me.
    He grabbed me by the throat and held it tightly—not hard enough to make a mark or choke me, just strong enough to keep me from moving. I was scared to death. I think I started crying, I’m not sure. For God’s sake, I was still thirteen years old. I may have been a tough little street girl, but I was no match for a grown man who weighed two hundred and sixty pounds.
    “You wanna go to your room? Let’s go to your room!”
    He then yanked me away from the fridge and, still holding me by the neck, marched me out of the kitchen, through the living room, and into the hall. I wanted to cry out for my mom, but the bedroom door was closed and I knew she was sleeping soundly. I could hear her snoring. I prayed for Frank to come home, but the chances of that happening were slim. It was hopeless.
    When we got to my room, he threw me down on my bed and then shut the door. Douglas came at me and started tearing off my costume. He laughed and started chanting, “Trick or treat, trick or treat,” as if this was fun— some game he thought we both enjoyed. I tried to kick and punch him, but it was no use. He held me down and ripped away my panties. Then he unbuckled his pants.
    I couldn’t stop him.
    When he’d finished his business, he patted my face as if I’ddone a household chore for him. “Thanks, sweetie. You done real good,” he said. “That was definitely a treat, not a trick.”
    I don’t remember if I was crying or what. I just know I was hurt. There was blood on my bed and I felt as if I’d been torn apart. I must have been in shock.
    Douglas stood, pulled up his pants, and said, “Now don’t you go tellin’ anyone about this. It was your fault, you know. You teased me. You can’t go around teasin’ grown men or this is what’ll happen. If your mother found out, it would kill her. You don’t want to kill your mama, do you? She’d hate you for the rest of your life. You’d be in so much trouble. Maybe even get sent away to some juvenile home, y’know what I mean? A prison for bad girls. ‘Cause that’s what you are, sweetheart. A bad girl . Do you hear me?”
    I didn’t say anything.
    “ Do we understand each other? ”
    I nodded.
    Then he left the room.
    The rest of that night was a blur. I’m pretty sure I sat in the bathtub for a long time and then went to bed and cried myself to sleep.
    Needless to say, my fourteenth birthday was the unhappiest of my life.
    For the next several weeks, the hell of living at home was magnified tenfold. I couldn’t stand to be there. I took long walks, stayed out late—for which I got in trouble with Mom—and spent more time at school than was necessary. Whenever I was home, Douglas would just leer at me, grin, and lick his lips. I knew it was a matter of time before he did it again.
    Yes, he was planning it.