Road To Recovery (A "Living With The Choices We Make" Sequel) ✔️

13 - Who Is The Bad Guy?

This chapter is dedicated to CrystalREnriquez who kept me busy this week with her many interesting comments. Thanks so much for your support :)

13 - Who Is The Bad Guy?

Rena's POV

Though I hated myself for it, I actually started to appreciate my time away from Noah more and more. School was picking up and I was buried with homework; the days he was with Charlotte gave me a chance to catch up. Patrice and I would meet and hang out at the mall on some afternoons and I relished to just sit at the food court with a coffee, chatting away with her about almost anything.

It was the first time I realized how much I missed having a girl friend – Kade was an excellent listener and a great adviser but he was also close to thirty and a guy who could be quite patronizing. Patrice and I had a lot in common and we found a closeness after only a few weeks that had taken me years to build with Caroline. Not having a fussy baby around when I poured my heart out to her certainly helped.

I finished out my junior year with a decent 3.5 average and almost immediately started to dread the long summer. Patrice was off with her mom and siblings for a month to Southern France to escape Marcus and I was stir-crazy after the first week. While Noah was away, I spent my time lying on the bed, listening to the ticking of the cuckoo clock that Kade had gotten me during a ski trip to Austria, and waited for the evening to come when I could officially turn off the light again to go to sleep.

Therapy was the only highlight of my day and it didn't take Doc long to figure out that something was wrong. By now, he knew me well enough to determine my mood just by looking at me when I stepped through the door.

"I think it's time for you to focus on your community service," he said.

I grimaced. "I don't know, Doc. At the moment, it's still really hard to talk about my abuse and I can't picture myself standing up in a front of a bunch of strangers and tell them about Brent. Mr. Rose said I could wait until after I graduate."

The frown on his face was a clear indication that he did not agree with my probation officer. "Sharing your story can be therapeutic."

I gave him a feeble smile in response, having learned not to get into debates with him. He was the typical educated know-it-all – his arguments were usually sound and it was exhausting to try to change his opinions about anything.

"I'm just not ready, Doc."

I sighed in relief when he dropped the subject.

"How about a part-time job?"

That was actually not a bad idea and would give me some extra cash to spoil Noah with. Charlotte bought him a ton of toys and books in addition to the cutest outfits and the jealousy that she was able to afford all this had been chipping away at me from the beginning.

My lifestyle with Brent had been quite elaborate – even if he had called all the shots and had kept me on a tight leash – and readjusting to my father's stingy standards by living off a $50 monthly allowance had been a challenge. In all fairness, he covered the necessities like diapers and formulas, but felt that anything in excess of the basic wardrobe was a waste for a baby since Noah grew so fast. My dad had no clue that dressing up my son and parading him around was something a mother thrived on.

"Well, I guess I could work in a supermarket or maybe the mall." I grinned at Doc, awaiting his approval.

Yet, the frown on his forehead did not vanish but only deepened. "I think you could do better than that. Why don't you get a job at an office? Maybe that will also help you to figure out what you want to do after high school."