Abruptly awoken, she jumped, sitting up with a jolt. The booming noise echoed through her apartment. It was drums beating—no, it was banging.
Turning her head, she blinked and tried to focus on the numbers on her clock that sat on her nightstand. What in the world was going on? It wasn’t even seven o’clock in the morning.
The thumping increased rapidly. She pulled on her bedroom shoes while the commotion frantically persisted.
Reality struck and she swallowed hard. She knew who lurked behind the door. Even so,
she would force herself to answer it. She didn’t want the racket to wake Ms. West, the landlady.
It was just too early in the morning and the old woman always blamed her for causing trouble.
For some reason, she thought Sam encouraged Rob. Since he was her nephew, she refused to
believe anything bad about him.
Forcing her feet to move, Sam willed herself to the entryway. She paused at the threshold
then mustered the courage to open the door.
With a stiff back and a hard breath, Sam braced herself for what was to come. She
cracked the door as far as the safety latched allowed.
Even through the small opening, she witnessed his cold rigid expression and knew
nothing good lay behind those eyes.
Her only defense was to sound brave and stand firm.
Sam hesitated and forced down the familiar smothering sensation that filled her each time
she confronted him. She had to be careful, like walking on eggs. She never knew what kind of
ugly slurs he would spit or if he might try to force himself on her. Some of the remarks he
threw...she definitely needed to keep her guard up. Sam feared the kinds of things he might be
capable of.
Snarling, Rob gritted his teeth like an animal. He glared at Sam through bloodshot eyes
from the drinking binge he had clearly been on. “Sam, let me in. We’ve played this game long
enough. You need to realize...we belong together.”
Sam shook her head and silently hoped he didn’t hear the hammering of her heart. With
forced bravery, she hid the weakness in her eyes.
She willed her emotions to stay in control. With a bold stance, she voiced her opinion to
his statement of claim. “Rob, I told you there will never be anything between us. Just go away
and leave me alone.”
She reacted quickly before he put his hand or foot into the small opening and closed the
door.
Rob slammed his fist against the hard wood, striking the door as he slurred out
obscenities. The last words she heard were, “If I can’t have you, no one will.”
That final statement chilled her more than the wind outside.