BrookLyn's Journey (14 page)

She
remember
ed
when
her
sister
,
Ebonee
,
told
her
about her first time. She
had
said that she couldn’t breathe when her and her boyfriend, Quentin,
had
spent their first special night together. She
had told BrookLyn that
she
’d been
nervous
,
but
that
he
had
made her comfortable
,
even holding her after it was over. She
’d said she had
forgot
ten
to be afraid
,
because she
’d
felt so safe with him.

She
’d
told
BrookLyn
to make sure that
her
first time
,
and
the
other times
,
mean
t
something to
her.
Ebonee told
her
not to have sex just because
her
friends were having it. That’s what a lot of people do
, and she
didn’t want
BrookLyn
to get pregnant
. But
Gabby wouldn’t be able to get
her
pregnant no matter how far
they
went with each other.

Gabby stopped kissing
her
and touching
her
legs, and looked directly into
BrookLyn’s
eyes. She
seemed to
be
look
ing
deep inside of
her.

BrookLyn
was trying to catch
her
breath.
She
had never seen anyone with eyes that
were
so mesmerizing
—
they looked
crisp and blue
,
like the ocean
—and they
made her
belong to Gabby,
body and soul,
whether
she
wanted to or not.

Gabby
smile
d
warmly
.
“I told you that I’d make this weekend great for you
.
I want to have some fun. Are you up for it?”

“Sure
.
”
BrookLyn
wondered
if the
fun
Gabby
meant was going to be just kissing and stuff.

Gabby
’s face turned serious.
“BrookLyn, I know you’re nervous being over here
,
alone with me. I’ve watched you for
a while
. I’ve seen you
even
when you didn’t see me. I need you to
believe
that I won’t hurt you. I loved you before I even knew you. I want to make you happy. That’s what you deserve. You don’t deserve to get beaten or yelled at just because you exist
.
”

BrookLyn just
returned her
smile
,
trying to
comprehend where this love came from
.
“How do you love someone before you
even
meet them?”
she
asked.

“I don’t know. I just did. I always had images of you in my mind
.
I mean, I didn’t know it was
you
, but
then one day I walked into church
,
saw you
and
I knew it was
you. It was
always you, BrookLyn.”

“I bet I’m not the first girl you told that story to, Gabby.”
BrookLyn
hop
ed
that
wasn’t true. She wanted to be the
only one.

“BrookLyn
Scott
,
you are the only woman that I’ve ever loved. I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that I played around here and there, but I have never said those words aloud before. They’ve been sitting on the tip of my tongue waiting for you to arrive.”

“Did you get that out of a book
,
or from a movie?”

“Well actually
,
I’m smarter than you think,
and I meant what I said.”

“I’m just kidding. Sorry.”

“I’m just playing
,
too.”

BrookLyn
hoped
she
hadn’t hurt
Gabby’s
feelings. Sometimes
she
didn’t know how to
stop herself from
say
ing
everything she
was thinking.
Except
, when it came to
her
parents
, with them she had
mastered silence
, but
o
ther people weren’t
always
so lucky.

A
hush
over
took the room as
they
both practiced distraction.
It
i
s going to be a long night if my mouth
doesn’t
allow my head to catch up.
BrookLyn
wasn’t good with complete silence.
She
was getting ready to apologize again
,
just to
break the
awkward stillness
,
when
Gabby
looked in
her
direction.

“I want to take your pain away. Can I?”
Her solemn face waited for a response
and she
wiped a stray tear from her
own
eyes.

The
n the
floodgates opened and BrookLyn
started to cry
. It was like all the pain she had squashed down while her father was beating her came rushing to the surface.
“I guess so.”
She
had forgotten about
her
aches and pains
until now. I
t all came
throbbing
back to
her.

Gabby
gently wiped
BrookLyn’s
tears away with her sweet kisses.
W
ill
her gentleness soothe me?
Somehow she knew
it would.

“
Come on.
Let’s go upstairs. I don’t want you to hurt anymore.”
Gabby
held
BrookLyn’s
hand
,
guiding
her
upstairs to
her
large
,
immaculate bedroom
where
she lit the
scented candles on the dresser. It smelled like a garden of roses as she
laid BrookLyn gently
onto the bed.

Gabby
went into her bathroom while
BrookLyn
got comfortable
on
the
soft king
-
sized bed
.
When
Gabby
came back
she had
a
cloth
and a pan of warm water to ease the pain that
BrookLyn’s
father’s wrath had evoked. “Take off your t-shirt,” she whispered.

BrookLyn
hesitated
.
S
he
had never taken off
her
clothes in front of anyone.

Gabby
must have noticed BrookLyn’s reluctance.
“I won’t look. I’ll close my eyes. I promise. Once you take your t-shirt off
,
lay down. Tell me when you’re ready.” She turned her back
and dipped
the
cloth
in the water.

She
slowly took off
her
bra and t-shirt
then tossed them onto the floor
,
peeking to see if
Gabby
was stealing a glimpse
, but s
he was true to her word as she
remained
with her back t
urned
.
She
kicked
her
old sneakers off
then
slowly lay
back
on
her
belly
with just
her
jeans and socks on
. She
was used to this kind of pain
,
but still she
flinched with every movement
.
“I’m ready
.
”

Gabby
straddled
her
back
,
careful
ly avoiding putting too much pressure on all her
welts
.
BrookLyn could feel the
tender
caring in every
move
.
She relaxed and
welcomed
it as
Gabby
stroked
the washcloth slowly
down her back with
comforting
warmth.

After a few moments
she leaned down and kiss
ed
BrookLyn’s battered
body
.
“My aunt taught me how to give
healing
massages
,
”
s
he
whispered as she
reached over
to the nightstand.
“It’s one of the few nice things she ever did with me.”

BrookLyn heard
a soft popping sound
as
Gabby
opened something
.
Once
her han
ds returned she felt the cool lotion
on her skin
and smelled its welcoming scent
as
Gabby
gently
stroked her back
.

BrookLyn
felt like
she
was floating away.
She
had never felt anything like this before.
It was almost surreal.
I
s this love?

Gabby
spent more time
in some areas
than others
and
BrookLyn could feel the pain slowly seeping away.
What the hell is going on?
She had no idea
that
such healing
power could come from Gabby’s soft hands
.
She welcomed
her
touch and the peace that came with it
,
as she closed her eyes
and melted into the
relief.

BrookLyn
lay quietly while
Gabby
kept working on
her
bruises.
She
was so comfortable that
she
hadn’t realize
d
that
Gabby
had taken her shirt off too
,
until
she
felt her
warm skin touch her body. She
didn’t feel as much pain
now
.
Gabby
had
comforted
her
, whether with the cooling lotion, the soft massage, or just her healing energy
.

Gabby
reached under
BrookLyn’s
stomach
,
near the top of
her
jeans
and
fumbl
ed
with
the
button.
BrookLyn took a quick intake of air and
grabbed
Gabby’s
hands.

“
I’m only going to touch your sores from where you were beaten
,
nothing else. I promise.”