My cell phone started to ring aloud. I left the pot of boiling water on the stove, sending a quick thank you prayer to Saint Nicholas for Kale being in the shower; if he knew someone was calling me, I’d get my head slammed into a wall.

“Hello?” I answered, keeping my voice to a minimum; at any moment Kale could walk out of the bathroom and hear me talking to this person - next thing I would know, my face would meet the floor and I’d get a swift kick to the ribs.

“You got everything you need?”Jimmy’s angelic voice asked I took in a breath in a sigh of relief.

“Yea, I think I’ll have everything ready by tomorrow,” I said, looking towards the bathroom door as I scurried back to stir the macaroni noodles in the pot.

“Okay, see you soon Evan.”Jimmy said, and before I knew it, I heard the faint click, telling me that he had ended the call.

I sighed and stirred the noodles, continuing with making the Mac n’ cheese. It wasn’t until I was finished cooking and putting away what little clean dishes we had, was when Kale walked out of the bathroom. Nothing but a towel covering him, I already tonight was going to be a long night, and likewise, Kale had ran out all the hot water, so no shower for me tonight.

“What is this shit Evan?” Kale asked, scooping out two spoonfuls of the macaroni and placing them in a plastic bowl.

“Food.” Was my reply, I sat down on the dirty floor of the apartment and ate the rubbery tasting noodle; oh well, it kept me alive, so it was good. Kale ate slowly and put his dishes away slowly, I knew something was up, but I couldn’t place my finger on it.

I got up and walked to the tiny bathroom we shared, the counter filled with Axe body spray and Old Spice deodorant, I looked in the cracked mirror, even with a dim light bulb, and I could see the black eye in its final healing stages.

‘Thank God.’I thought, touching the tender spots and wincing at my stupidity.

‘Just survive this hell for another few days, and you’ll be free Evan, you’ll be free.’I thought, a small smile crossing my lips. Oh how sweet freedom sounded right now.



When I finally left the bathroom, Kale was in his bedroom – well, it was his bedroom, but there had been many nights where I’d have to share it with him, sitting on the edge of his bed.

“Everything okay Kale?” I couldn’t help but asking, I saw Kale shake his head and laugh bitterly as he threw a Polaroid photo on the ground.

“Come on Evan, get in bed.” Kale said, taking off his shirt. I bit down on my lip and quickly undressed in front of him, just grabbing an over sized tee shirt to sleep in. I hated sharing Kale’s bed with him. For fuckssakes, he wasn’t my lover; I was his whore.

And that was worse than anything else, to be someone’s whore is the lowest, scummy-est feeling you could ever have.

I crawled under the quilt and shifted onto my side to get comfortable, I knew what Kale was up to. He’s always start with my scar, the scar that branded me to him, whoever he had been. He’d move his fingers up slowly, tracing my scar, as if he had been the one who put it on me. Thank God he wasn’t.

The scar, my scar, wrapped around my upper left thigh, like a rope… To this day, I have no idea how my rapist carved such a scar into my flesh, oh believe me, I felt every bit of it. But, the scar itself was something else, even the doctors were puzzled by it.

The rest, of the evil things Kale does to me, behind closed doors; no one would expect this. That I, Evan Hayley Noel, was a prostitute, a victim of rape and domestic violence, and being someone’s whore.

And every night, it would end in my pillowcase being soaked with tears and my silent screams unheard.