Providence - The Valley Part 1 by Andrea DiMaggio You have led me to the sadness I have carried this pain On a back bruised, nearly broken I'm crying out to you

Katlyn finished her shift at the drug store and stepped into the rain. It was going to be a long walk home and she had forgotten her umbrella. A car pulled up to the curb and the guy inside didn't look very happy.

"Get in...Now!" He said with a scowl. Katlyn stepped back onto the sidewalk and began walking. The guy in the car followed her slowly down the block and stopped just on the corner of the intersection, cutting her off.

"I said...NOW!" He pounded his fist in his palm to threaten. She started to turn away, but thought better of it, as if getting into the car now was better than being confronted at home. She opened the car door, and was just about to get inside when he grabbed her wrist and pulled her in roughly, hurting her wrist for the second time that day. She was about to apologize, sadly since she had nothing to be sorry for.

“I’m sorry, Johnny.”

He cut her off with,

"Shut the hell up, you whore." He slapped her hard in the face with the back of his hand, causing her lip and nose to bleed.

"Don't ever...don't you ever make me wait again." He said to her. Putting the car in gear, he peeled out, leaving her tote back on the sidewalk. The drive home was quick but painful as he used his free hand to continue to twist her wrist. He pulled the car up to the curb under a broken streetlamp. No moon and lots of clouds and a broken street lamp equal no witnesses, although there were some in the neighborhood who heard this go on night after night. It was like a version of Kitty Genovese, the girl in New York who was murdered when the neighbors ignored her cries for help. No murder here, but week upon week of abuse that no reasonable person could have failed to hear. He walked around to the passenger side and yanked her out of the car, pushing her up the steps to the apartment. Once inside, he seemed to calm down....like before a storm. Katlyn tried to plead with him.

"I'm sorry, Johnny. They kept me late 'cause Delia was sick and didn't come in. I wanted to get off early, but Mr. Martinez had a family emergency so I had to close up” A perfectly reasonable explanation which shouldn't have been necessary in the first place, but she tried so hard to please him.

He grabbed her by her long ginger colored hair and threw her roughly onto the couch.

"I really don't give a damn about Mr. Martinez, and that bitch Delia does this all the time." He hit her again, this time on the shoulder, where it wouldn't show...much. Grabbing her again by her hair, he threw her to the floor and said once again.

"Don't ever make me wait again, you little bitch." She only just then started to cry, which showed a great deal of resolve considering how much abuse she had already taken that day from this bastard, but he just said,

"Shut up and get over here." He started to undo his pants, leaving her to look up at him with fear. He wasn't removing his belt for sex; that would come later. He just wanted to show her who was boss. She knelt in front of him as blow upon blow from the leather strap rained down upon her back. He found that she was more eager to please if he softened her up.

Katlyn had actually forgotten how to pray. God was so far away from her that she felt no one could help. Maybe she deserved what she got. After all, she wasn't a good girl...Hell; she wasn't even a girl, if truth be told. Actually, if truth be told, she was a girl since Joey had long ago decided to be herself, and Katlyn was born. Her Dad hated her and she had nowhere else to go, so maybe life with Johnny was her lot in life. She wept silently since her tears usually evoked more beatings and even worse afterward. She had given up any hope for a nice life, but providence had something else in mind.

"Good morning, Louise. How are you today?" Lainey smiled and walked over to give Mrs. Carlucci a hug. She was more confident and sure of herself, and was becoming more comfortable treating the customers as friends rather than be fearful. All of Mrs. M's...correction; Mrs. A's customers usually came for more than just the odd new skirt or blouse. They came for company and friendship, born out of Diane Alluccio's hospitality and warmth. A new dress might be accompanied by a cup of tea and sympathy, so to speak. A sale of a nice sweater might also include looking at pictures of grandchildren or a graduating daughter or son. Lainey loved people, and now, feeling more secure about herself, was enjoying and having success in welcoming and making her clientele feel at home. Mrs. Carlucci's expression meant tea and sympathy, whatever garment she eventually settled on.

"Oh, sweetie, I'm not well at all...at least I don't feel very good. Katlyn came over yesterday to pick up some of her clothing and she was...." Louise Carlucci was not given to crying openly, even among friends, but she put her hand to her face and began to weep.

"He's hitting her again, isn't he?" Lainey said. With that a figure…actually two figures emerged from the storeroom. April was holding little Diane in her arms, and despite the lovely scene of mother and daughter, her expression was not pleasant.

"That bastard...why can't...She needs to leave him." April and Lainey knew Katlyn from the neighborhood. She had been practically best friends with Lainey throughout high school. They had sort of joined a mutual persecution society, since both Lainey and Katlyn were transgender. Katlyn had the love and support of her mother, but her father had turned his back on her from the beginning of her confession to them about her true self. He had kicked her out of the house, and she had gone from friend to friend, with much support but few resources. Unfortunately, she ended up moving in with a guy who ostensibly supported her, but turned out to be abusive. She was caught in the cycle of abuse, and found it almost impossible to escape.

"I'm going to go over to the drug store and talk to her." April said, handing Diane to Lainey. While Lainey was gaining confidence, April already had a way about her that would hopefully convince Katlyn to end her relationship with this guy. Her life depended on it, and April and Lainey both wanted to help.

"Since Mrs. A moved over to Michelle's, we've got plenty of room. I think she would be safer if she moved in with us?" She looked at Lainey, who nodded enthusiastically.

"I'll be back in a little while, honey. She kissed Lainey and baby Diane and hugged Mrs. Carluccci before hurrying out the door to her car.

“Please, April….I can’t talk. He…” Katlyn tried to speak, but the words got stuck. Johnny didn’t permit her to have any friends, and communication with anyone other than him or his cronies brought beatings.

“You’ve got to leave him, Kate…there’s nothing you can do that will ever please him, and he’s going to hurt you even worse if you stay. Come stay with Lainey and me. There’s plenty of room and we always like company. You’re so good with little Diane whenever you come over, and she loves you, honey. Please…I’ll be back over here at closing to pick you up. We’ll figure out a way to get your stuff later, but you need to be safe. You’re too important to treat yourself this way. Lainey and I love you, honey, and we want you to come live with us…okay?” Their conversation was interrupted when Katlyn looked out the front door of the store and saw Johnny’s car parked in front.

“Leave now…It’ll only be worse for me when I get home tonight if he sees me talking to you.”

April had just about enough of this, and she decided to take things to the next level. She walked out of the store and up to Johnny’s car. He looked at her as if she had two heads; probably because no one approached him; he was always in charge and always dictated what was what. Not today, thankfully, and never again...
“Hey…you know who I am?” Johnny had no clue, but he ventured a guess, anyway.

“You’re the bitch who’s been talking with Katie….what business is it of yours?” He actually thought getting out of the car was a good idea. He opened the door and stood up face to face with April, as if challenging her. She smiled, almost sweetly before saying,

“You, jackass, are going to leave my friend alone. You are not to touch her, talk to her, even look at her. If I find out you are doing any of those things, you will regret it.” She smiled sweetly again, a trick she had learned from Diane Alluccio, her benefactor and business partner. Smiling sweetly was disarming and gave the other person a false sense of security; which was exactly the posture Johnny had adopted.

“Who the hell are you to tell me….” That was all he got out before she grabbed both of his hands, and used leverage on his wrists to bring him to his knees, a fitting posture for someone who had abused the sweet girl who stood inside the drug store, cowering with fear.

“I don’t usually tell people this, since I’m not too proud of it. My uncle is Ricci Colavito…you do know who that is, don’t you, you moron?” She never used her very distant connection with her uncle, but she figured, what Johnny didn’t know would hurt him!”

“Yeah…I know who he is” Johnny gasped as she continued to apply pressure to his wrists.

“If you ever wish to see…how old are you?”

“Twenty-seven….ow…ow. Twenty-seven.” Johnny was almost screaming (please pardon the expression, it’s only something that would embarrass a jackass like him) like a girl.

“If you want to see your twenty-eighth birthday, you will leave her alone. Do I make myself clear?” To reinforce her point, she didn’t give him any time to respond and applied more pressure, which did evoke an almost animal-like moan. “I said; do I make myself clear?”

“Yeeeess.” He managed to get out before she shoved him up against his car door, banging his head.”

“My friend and I are coming over this evening after she finishes work. You will not be in the apartment when we get there, capiche?” She rarely tapped into her Italian roots, but she thought it was funny, so she said it anyway. Johnny nodded, and got back into his car. While some might be foolish enough to challenge her once out of her grasp, Johnny knew her uncle’s reputation enough to decide to adhere to her instructions, and when Katlyn and April went over later to pick up her things, he was nowhere to be found. What the idiot didn’t know is that there were two Ricci Colavitos in the Philly area. The businessman with connections of dubious distinction, and his cousin Richard Colavito, who was a deacon in a church in the Penn Wynne area, but Johnny didn’t need to know that, did he?