Chapter 22: Jade

Today I want to finish my painting of Raine. I also need some time to think over everything I learned about their situation. Dad and I talked about it a little last night when they left. He said he is willing to do whatever it takes to protect them. So am I. he’s going to do some thinking about possible scenarios that could help their situation. She doesn’t want to involve the police. But Dad is trying to think outside the box. He doesn’t want them to spend the rest of their lives running. And he especially doesn’t want them leaving here.

Raine took my confession really well. That was such a relief. I know he’s right about the doctor. I’m just scared. Skye comes over and I show her the painting of Raine. she’s impressed. I am a little quiet today as I think about Raine and Hope. But I can’t share any of that with Skye. I do mention to her that I told him about my possible illness. She’s proud of me for that and also suggests I tell my Dad soon. Skye is off work today, so we head down to the beach. Raine texts me and says he just finished hiking. He decides to meet up with us.

By noon, we have a group of friends with us who are surfing. Skye’s boyfriend is one of them. He lets Raine borrow his board and gives him some pointers. They spend a lot of time in the water. Raine is really trying to stay standing on the board. He rides a few waves. I knew he could do it. He’s super strong and athletic. I just didn’t know how good his balance would be. All the guys head back over to us and take a seat in the sand. Raine removes his wet shirt. I see those broad strong shoulders and pecs. But I also notice a lot of scars. Mostly on his back. Some even on his chest. It makes my heart hurt for him. But he doesn’t seem to be particularly worried about it. I won’t gawk and make him self-conscious. But it’s also difficult not to check him out. He’s super hot. A couple of the other girls are looking too. I scoot next to him, and he puts his arm around me. The girls get my “back off” vibe and look away. We are with our friends who will also be seniors this year. I'm glad Raine gets to make a few friends today.

When the sun starts setting, we make a bon fire and eat snacks. Raine grabs his guitar which he brought. He plays for all of us. People are throwing out requests. He told me before that when they first got away, all he did for fun was listen to music and play. He surprisingly knows a lot of songs considering he hadn’t heard any of them until three years ago. He even plays some Journey. We are all really enjoying our evening. All of us laughing and singing along. Raine seems to be fitting in just fine. This should help when we start school next week. One of the girls pulls out her phone and starts taking a video of Raine playing. He immediately stops with a somber look on his face. I decide I don’t want him to have to say anything. So, I ask her to delete the video because he and I aren’t supposed to be dating, and we don’t want any evidence out there. She laughs and agrees to delete it right away. “I won’t bust you guys, don’t worry,” she says. That wasn’t so bad. Raine smiles at me and starts playing again.

An hour later, Raine and I take a walk along the shore together hand in hand. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?” I ask him. “No, actually, it was very cool. I like those guys. I think I could even get into surfing. It’s great exercise actually. I could break up my workouts by adding that.” He seems excited. “So, are you going to look up your Father?” I ask. “Yeah, I am. I was thinking about doing it today. Can you imagine if I found him, and he was this awesome musician and he has always wished he had a son!” He busts up laughing. “Hey, you never know. It could happen,” I say. “Well, I’m not expecting that. I just want to check him out. I probably won’t even try to get in touch. I just want to see if I can find his picture on the internet or something. But I want you there with me when I do it Jade.” That makes me feel special, wanted, needed. He squeezes my hand. “Of course. I'm really curious too. What if he’s a total hottie? Hey, speaking of that, you were looking especially good out there on the board today. You may have even earned a few admirers.” I tell him. “The only admirer I care about is you, Jade. Only you.”

We head back to our group and decide it’s time to go home. Skye drove with me, so I take her, and I also take Raine home because he walked here. Skye’s car is at my house, so she comes inside. She greets my Dad with a hug as usual. Then we head to my room. “You know Jade, Raine can play that guitar. I wish you could convince him to do something with it.” Skye pushes again. “Skye, I told you it’s not happening. So just drop it.” I snap. “Chill, sorry. I didn’t mean to make you mad.” She says with her hands up. “I'm sorry, I’m just kind of protective of his feelings. That’s all. He doesn’t like to be in the lime light. Just leave it at that. Okay?” “Okay Jade, no problem. If he doesn’t want to be famous, he doesn’t have to be. Whatever.” She says begrudgingly. I can’t tell her the real reason. This will just have to do. Now I know how he felt when I kept saying the same thing. “Well, I need to be at the coffee shop first thing in the morning. So, I better get going.” Then she’s gone. I hope she isn’t mad at me. But there isn’t anything I can do about this particular situation.

My paintings are all with the people organizing the auction. So, I don’t have to worry about those any more. I hope they bring in a lot of money for the shelter. I need to go over there in the morning. Then maybe I will go to Raines and look up his Father. That is super exciting. I hope there’s something about him on the internet and that he isn’t some egotistical conceited jerk. But I don’t see how it’s possible. Raine had to come from a good man.

The next morning I'm up early and head over to the Shelter. I want to talk to one of the counselors. I won’t name any names or get very specific, but I want to talk about some of the things Raine and Hope went through. I think it would be good for both of them to receive some sort of counseling. But I want to find out more before I suggest anything to them. Then maybe I can talk to one of the lawyers and see what the process is for prosecuting someone like him. And how likely it is that he would actually stay in jail. That’s the scary part. He could want retaliation for something like that.

First, I check in with all the women. There are a couple of new ones since last week. I introduce myself. One of them has a bad black eye and her arm is in a sling. She doesn’t talk much. But she has a little brown-haired boy on her lap. He looks about three. I can see the fear in his eyes. I bring over a toy and try to entice him to play with me. But he won’t leave mommy’s side. She has a pretty good grip on him too. Thankfully, I don’t see any bruises on him. That is the worst part of volunteering here. It is so painful to see the children when they have been hurt. It just breaks my heart. I bet Raine clung to his mom like that. I can’t even imagine. I get a little teary eyed just thinking about it.

I go and talk with one of the counselors. Miss Mary we all call her. She has been here as long as I can remember. She is such a calm but strong woman. I want to be like her. When you speak to her, she has authority. But she never makes you feel inferior. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. She makes you feel empowered. Like you can fight back. Regain control of your life. This is who I want Hope to speak to. I don’t think they would let Raine in here for counseling because he is almost 19 and considered a man. But I think he needs it as much as any of these kids do. I will ask her if she has another location where he could meet with her.

I talk with Miss Mary for about an hour and explain that I have a friend who left an abusive situation and still lives in fear that he will find her. She says most women who get away live with at least some fear that the abuser will return or that their next relationship with be the same. It’s so sad to have to live like that. I explain Raine’s age and that he was primarily responsible for her safety and finally her freedom. She suggests some private counseling. She has regular office hours at a place not too far from here and she would be happy to see them both. She suggests they do it separately since they will have entirely different issues. That makes sense.

Then I speak to one of the lawyers on staff. She is only here once a week. She works here pro bono and has an office in town. She tells me that prosecution in many of these cases is very difficult because of the burden of proof. Many of these women are too afraid to press charges. And often if they do, the abuser will try to somehow discredit her character. This doesn’t sound too hopeful to me. I take her card anyway. I could tell that she really cares about these women. That’s why she volunteers her time here. I trust her. She says her job requires discretion and that my friend would have attorney client privilege. Everything they discuss is private.

I text Raine to see if it’s a good time for me to come over there to start our internet search. He just finished his run. So, I head to his place.