CHAPTER 12
BILLY'S POV
The next morning came and I was sitting on the couch with a glass of whiskey. Mia had spend the night at Chelsea's and I was starting to feel bad about what happened the night before. I watched as Joe got a couple garbage bags out from under the sink.
"What da fuck are ya doin'?" I asked as I watched him start to put Mia's things in the bag.
"Getting Mia's things together," he answered, not making eye contact with me. "How could ya fuckin' do that to her? She's your wife," he said as he stopped picking things up and looked at me.
"I don't know," I said as I looked away from him and took a sip of my drink.
"She is da best thing has happened to you and you're ruinin' it," he said as he started to put more of her things in the bag.
I continued to sit there with my glass as he continued to pack up more of her things. I knew that what I did was wrong and couldn't be fixed. What had be done was done and that was it. Mia was gone.
MIA'S POV
I was sitting on the bench by the windowsill as I continued to look outside as the rain came down. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I continued to look out the window.
"Here you go, Mia," I heard Chelsea say and I looked over to see her placing a mug of hot tea in the stand in front of me.
"Thanks," I quietly said and looked back out the window.
The door to the apartment opened and I glanced over to see Joe coming in with a couple garbage bags.
"Hi, Joe," Chelsea said as she came over to help him.
"Hey," he said as he handed one of the bags to her. "Hey, Mia," I heard him say and I nodded my head as I continued to look out the window.
They took the bags to the spare room. A few minutes later, they came back out and I saw my phone appear in front of me. I looked at it for a moment and then looked up at Joe as he held it out to me.
"Thanks," I quietly said as I took the phone from him.
"I um...I got your stuff together," he started to say as he sat down by my feet.
"Thanks," I said as I looked down and felt tears coming to my eyes again. "He hates me, doesn't he?" I asked as I glanced up at him.
"Mia, he doesn't hate ya," Joe said as tears went down my cheeks and I sniffled.
"Then why did he do that?" I asked as Chelsea handed me a tissue.
"I don't know," he answered as he shook his head and looked away. "Are ya gonna be okay?" He asked as he looked at me again.
"I don't know," I quietly said as I shook my head and wiped more tears away.
"He seems like he's sorry," he said.
"Then he should come here to apologize to her," Chelsea said as she placed her hands on her hips.
"Ya know how Billy is. I will try talking to him again once I go back. Just try and calm down about it," he said as he placed his hand on top of my knee and I nodded my head.
"Thanks for getting my things," I said as I looked at him again.
"No problem and when he forgives ya, I'll help ya move it back in," he said with a small smile as he stood up.
I watched as Joe left the apartment and I picked up my phone. I unlocked it and saw the picture of Billy and I in the background. I locked the phone again and set it back down beside me.
Later that day, Chelsea had gone to the store to get some things while I was resting on the couch. As I scrolled through my contacts, I stopped when I saw Kristen's name. As I layed there, I thought about what it would be like to get my life back to how it was before, to be working at a hospital and having a life. I decided to send her a text message instead of calling. Hopefully, she would help me out.
A couple days had passed and I was packing things in a couple suitcases that I had bought when Chelsea and I were out one day.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Chelsea asked as she helped me pack my things.
"Yeah, Kristen is a great person and will help me get back to work," I said as I placed more things in the suitcase.
"You're not going to turn Billy in, are you?" She asked as I grabbed the last of my things and placed them into the suitcase.
"No," I said as I shook my head and zipped up the suitcase. "Can you help me get these in my car?" I asked as I made sure that I had everything.
"Sure," she said with a smile as she grabbed one of the suitcases and we headed out of her apartment.
We walked down the steps and headed outside to my car. I opened up the trunk and placed the suitcase that I had inside while Chelsea placed the other one beside it. I closed the trunk and we stood there together.
"Please don't forget about me," she said as tears started to come to her eyes.
"I won't," I said with a small smile.
"And make sure you come and visit me when you have time to," she said with a slight chuckle as she wiped tears away.
" I will," I said as I leaned towards her and we hugged. "I'm going to miss you," I said as I held her tight.
"I'm gonna miss you, too," She said as she pulled back from the hug. "Don't be a stranger around here," she said as I opened the driver's side door and I got in.
"I will call you once I get settled," I said as I set my purse down on the passenger's seat.
"Okay, be safe," she said as she backed away from my car and I started to back out.
I started to pull out of the parking lot and was on my way to Kristen's. Since Billy didn't want to be a part of my life, I was going to have to move on and get my old life back.
BILLY'S POV
"Ya talk to Mia yet?" I heard Joe ask from behind me as I looked through some pictures that we were laying on the counter.
"No," I answered as I shook my head and continued to go through them.
"Dude, ya need to talk to her. Ya miss her and I know it," he said as he hopped up on the counter and sat down.
"I gotta go deal wit some shit," I said as I walked away from him and put my jacket on.
I grabbed the bag from the chair and headed out of the apartment, slamming the door shut behind me. I went down the steps as I lit up a cigarette and took a long drag out of it as I walked outside. As soon as I stepped outside, I noticed that Mia's car was gone. I stood there and blew smoke out of my mouth as I looked around to see that her gone was gone.
"She's gone," I heard Chelsea's voice say from behind me and I turned around to face her.
"What do ya mean she's gone," I said as I threw my bag in the passenger's seat and leaned back against the car as I continued to smoke.
"She left a little bit ago," she said as she continued to look at me.
"Where did she go?" I asked as I looked around.
"If she wants you to know, she will contact you," she said before she turned around and headed back into the apartments.
I stood there, flicking my cigarette to the ground and got into my car. I slammed the door shut and sat there as I thought about where he could have gone. I smacked the steering wheel with my hands and rested my forehead against it. I didn't want her to go. Truth was, I was afraid to be a dad. I was afraid of how the child was going to grow up with the life what I was living. That's why it was so hard for me, but I knew that I needed to try.
MIA'S POV
I pulled up into Kristen's driveway and pulled up beside her car. I shut my car off and opened the door as I got out. She lived in a cute little two story house and I was thankful that she was letting me stay with her.
I opened my car door, got out, and walked around to the trunk to get my luggage out. I grabbed the handles of each suitcase and started to head towards her front door. As I reached the front door, I stood the luggage upright and rang the doorbell. The door opened and I smiled as soon as I saw Kristen.
"Oh my god, Mia!" She said with a smile as soon as she saw me and brought me into a hug. "You look great," she added as she hugged me tight.
"Thanks, so do you, Kristen," I said as I pulled back from the hug.
"And you're expecting. That's a change for you," she said as she saw my small bump.
"Yeah, it's something that we need to talk about," I said as my smile started to fade.
"Well, let's get you settled in her," she said as she took my luggage and I followed behind her.
"Thanks for letting me come here. I really appreciate it," I said as I took one and she took the other.
"It's no problem. I'm still single as ever, especially with all the hours I put in at the hospital," she said as I followed her upstairs to the spare bedroom. "Here is your room," she said as we entered a room that had a queen sized bed, off white walls, a flat screen TV, and private bathroom.
"Kristen, this is...this is amazing. Thank you," I said as I stood the luggage upright.
"It's no problem. I am glad that you came to me," she said with a smile. "I will be downstairs. So, go ahead and get yourself settled in and then we can talk," she said before she walked out of the room.
I looked around and set my luggage up on the bed. As I started to take things out to put them away, my phone started to go off from the bed. I looked over and saw that Billy was calling me. I decided to let it go to voicemail for the time being. After what he had put me through, I didn't want to deal with him at the moment.
Once I got the majority of my things put away, I decided to head downstairs to talk to Kristen about what was going on. She was in the kitchen, baking something. As soon as I walked in, I felt her eyes on me.
"So, did you get everything put away?" She asked as I sat down on the stool by the island.
"Yes, thank you," I said with a small smile as I watched her take a pan out cupcakes out of the oven and set them down on top.
"So, we need to talk about things," she said as she came over and sat down on the other stool beside me. "What happened to you, Mia?" She asked as we both looked at each other.
"What do you mean?" I asked as I knew what she was going to get at.
"You just all the sudden one day up and disappeared. That is not like you at all," she said and I looked down at the counter. "Mia," she said as I felt tears coming to my eyes. "Mia, talk to me," she said as she lightly placed her hand on my back.
"I can't," I answered as tears started to come out of my eyes.
"Yes, you can. I am here listening. You need to talk to someone about what happened," she said and I shook my head no.
"Kirsten, I can't," I said as I looked back over at her and she came closer to me.
"Yes, you can," she said as I reached up to wipe tears away. "I am right here and you need someone to talk to."
"The reason why I disappeared was not because I wanted to do something different," I started to explain. "I was taken," I said as I looked over at her.
"Taken? By who?" She asked as she continued to look at me.
"I was at the corner market down the street. Jim, he was...he was there as always," I said as I looked back down at the counter and started to think about what happened. "I was going to get something and the next thing I know, I heard shouting from a bunch of guys. They had guns," I said as I looked over at her and more tears came down my cheeks.
"Oh, god, Mia," she quietly said as she pulled her hand up to her mouth.
"They shot Jim and then they took me because I was there," I said as I reached up to wipe tears away.
"They...took you?" She asked as she lightly touched my arm and I nodded my head as I looked back down. "Where did they take you?"
"They took me back to the apartments that they lived in. I tried to fight back against them, but they were too strong," I said as I reached up to wipe more tears away. "I was...forced into this bedroom and that is where I stayed."
"Oh, Mia," she quietly said as she, too, started to get upset.
"The...leader of the gang...Billy...it was his room. I was his. At first, it was just kissing. I didn't it, but he forced me," I said as I glanced over at her. "I ended up getting sick and he took care of me," I said as I reached up to wipe more tears away. "Something changed between us. We ended up getting closer and that's when you called me," I explained and sniffled. "I told you that everything was okay with me, but it wasn't."
"I could tell that something wasn't right," she said and I nodded my head.
"We ended up being together, having sex, drinking together. It was like a different life for me," I explained as she lightly rubbed my back.
"A different life that you shouldn't be involved in," she said as I wiped more tears from my cheeks.
"One night, I was out with his brother and a couple friends at the one bar, Four Roses," I said.
"I know where that is," she said and I nodded my head.
"His brother, Joe, and I were coming out of the bar. The one gang, their rival, they were waiting for us outside. They ended up grabbing the both of us and took us to his abandoned building downtown," I said as I looked at my hands. "The leader of that gang tried to..," I started to say, but shook my head.
"He didn't, Mia, did he?" She asked and I shook my head no.
"No, he didn't. The guys got there just in time to break it up," I said as I glanced over at her. "I ended up getting away from the guy and when I was helping Joe get his rope untied, the guy shot me."
"Jesus, Mia," I heard her quietly say as I continued on with my story.
"Billy was there and they ended up getting me to the hospital just in time. I had never seen him so worried about me," I said with a small smile as I glanced over at her. "He...umm...he ended up proposing to me Christmas Day, which I wasn't expecting. About a little over a month after that, I found out that I was pregnant," I said as I looked down and placed my hand on my small belly. "I...umm...I told Billy the one night and...he wasn't happy," I said as I felt myself start to get upset again. "He basically told me to get rid of it," I said as more tears came to my eyes and bottom jaw quivered as I looked over at her.
"What? Why?" She asked as more tears came out of her eyes.
"Because...he..he didn't want to bring a baby into the life that he was living. He sells drugs, Kristen," I said as I looked at her again and she shook her head. "He seemed like he was coming around. We even got married," I said as I held up my hand to show her that we got married. "Last week, he was supposed to come to my appointment with me. Something just seemed...off with him that morning. He ended up not coming to the appointment with me, but his brother, Joe, and my friend came. I found out that I am having a girl," I said with a small smile and she smiled back at me. "We got back to the apartment and Billy was hanging out with his guys," I said as I looked away from her again. "We...ended up..getting into a fight and...he...he ended up hitting me," I said as I brought my hands up to my face.
"Oh my god, Mia," she said as she wrapped her arms around me. "We have to call the police. They need to know what happened," she said and I immediately started to shake my head no.
"No, I don't want to get the police involved," I said as I wiped the tears from my cheeks.
"Mia, they took you and kept you at the apartments. No one knew where you were. And this guy was hitting you? He needs to be locked up," she explained and I shook my head no again.
"No, I'm fine, Kristen. I don't want to get the police involved," I said as I looked at her and she nodded her head. "I just want to get my life back," I said as I wiped some more tears away.
"I'll help you get your life back. You can stay here as long as you need to, okay?" She said and I nodded my head. "Do you want something to eat?" She asked as she stood up from the chair and sniffled.
"Sure," I quietly said as I watched her open the fridge to see what she had.
I knew that it was going to be hard for me to move on from Billy, but if he didn't want me in his life, I was going to just let it be and see what would happen.