Free Broken Pasts by C. M. Stunich

up.”
    “ Hey
Theresa, your new boyfriend can't be there every minute, baby. When
you're done sucking his dick, he'll leave and I'll be there. Or
maybe I should rephrase that. I am here. That's a cute
little skirt you're wearing and I like the red top, very sexy. Maybe
when we're alone I'll – ”
    I
ended the call. Four messages from that man were four too many. If
I had to hear him say in words what he'd said in the note, I might
just have a nervous breakdown.
    “ He
called me,” I told Nathaniel, trying to hold myself in check.
“I got a new number yesterday and he already knows it. He –
”
    “ It's
alright,” Nathaniel said as he finally removed the sunglasses
he'd been wearing all day. The sight of his eyes, clear and
confident in the rearview gave me the burst of energy I needed to
take a massive breath, slow my heart rate and relax. “It
happens. We'll change the number again, as many times as we need to.
When you give it out, give it to as few people as you can and let
them know that under no circumstances are they to share it with
anyone. Try to think of it as a good thing that he called. This
establishes a pattern of inappropriate behavior, gives us the
evidence that we need to get him arrested. The more he does it while
I'm here, the better.” I saw him purse his lips in the mirror.
“What happens if he's still stalking you when the week's out?”
    “ I
don't know,” I replied honestly. I hadn't thought that far
ahead. Somewhere in my mind, I was still convinced that if I just
waited Gary out, that he would go away. “I guess I'll deal
with it when the time comes.” Nathaniel nodded, but he didn't
look happy. I dropped my gaze from the mirror and waited in silence
until we got to the school.
    Rhea
was a welcome burst of energy when she got in the car, like a
fireworks display in pink and zebra. She handed me some paintings
from art class and even had one for Nathaniel. In keeping with her
current theme, it was … well, it was a penis. With a note
attached for a parent-teacher conference. I decided to laugh it off
rather than stress it off as I ruffled her hair and tried to keep her
from taking off her seat belt.
    “ But
I made it for him,” she whined as she tried to toss the paper
into the front seat.
    “ Mr.
Sutherland is driving,” I said as I tried to distract her with
the other pieces. “What's this one? Is this a cat?”
She ignored me and crossed her arms over her chest, refusing to even
look at me. In a surprise move, Nathaniel pulled the car over to the
curb, turned around and smiled at Rhea.
    “ Let
me see,” he said and in his voice was genuine interest. She
whipped around in less time than it took me to blink and thrust the
painting of the massive green and purple phallus at him.
    “ This
is you,” she said as she pointed at the crinkled watercolor.
Nathaniel raised his dark eyebrows and then against his better
judgment, he let out another nervous snort of laughter.
    “ True
to size, too,” he said as he glanced up at me and I flushed,
bright as scarlet. He blinked, too, like he'd just realized what
he'd said and cleared his throat. “I apologize,” he
grumbled. “That was completely inappropriate. I – ”
    “ Are
you guys getting married?” Rhea asked as she slumped back in
her seat with a sigh, completely oblivious to the fact that there was
something going on between Nathaniel and I. I could barely hear her
over the rush of blood that was pounding in my ears like drums.
Lower parts of me clenched and tightened, begging for something. No,
not something, Nathaniel. And it was different than the lust I'd
felt even a few nights before with Stuart. I didn't just want to
sleep with him because I was lonely or because I was turned on. I
wanted to sleep with him because I was starting to like him.
That was a dangerous word to me, especially with everything that had
happened. The men that I'd liked had let me down in the worst ways.
I turned my face away and tried