Battered

Chapter 4

A week later I find myself back at the women's shelter. The girl I'm bringing in, Anna is twenty five years old and has stayed here several times before. She has been with her boyfriend Kevin since the age of eighteen and they are both addicts.

He is also a heavy drinker and has a volatile temper.

Every now and then Anna leaves him and moves into the shelter to escape his violent outbursts. But the call of drugs soon becomes too much for her and she leaves again.

I'm hoping this time will be different.

Anna says she wants to go to rehab and get off the drugs once and for all, but I'm not sure if she really means it. I'd love nothing more than for her to prove me wrong but past experience with her tells me that she will be back with her boyfriend, shooting up in less than a fortnight.

After checking in with Nicola, I show Anna up to her room. When she has finished unpacking her things; Anna goes out into the garden for a cigarette; the withdrawal symptoms are kicking in now and she desperately needs a nicotine fix to take the edge off.

While Anna is outside smoking herself into oblivion, I decide to go and see how Cheryl is doing. I climb the stairs to her floor and walk down the corridor until I come to her room. I knock lightly on the door and wait for a response.

"Come in" she calls

I open the door a little and peek my head inside, "Hi Cheryl"

"Kimberley" she smiles, motioning me inside.

I enter the room and sit next to her on her bed, "How are you?" I ask

"Much better"

And she looks it. Her eye, that was practically swollen shut last week, has healed and most of the bruises on her face have faded. She looks absolutely gorgeous.

"That's good to hear. How are you settling in?"

She smiles again and I notice that she has dimples, "Really well. Laura is really nice and her baby Harry is the cutest thing ever; I love kids. Next week I'm going to babysit him while she goes on a job interview. And Nicola is so lovely. She's been like a mother to me; which is weird because we are almost the same age, actually she is younger than me. She's helping me to look for a job and she's made me feel so welcome. The first night I was here, I had a nightmare and she came in to see if I was ok......."

I watch Cheryl ramble on animatedly and can't help but smile. I'd never have guessed she has such a bubbly personality. She's completely different to the broken woman I brought here last week. And it's moments like this that I really love my job.

Eventually Cheryl comes up for air, "Do you fancy getting a cuppa?" she asks me, "I'm kind of thirsty"

I'm not surprised with all that talking, "Sure"

We go down to the kitchen and I sit at the table while Cheryl makes the tea. While the kettle is boiling, I glance out into the garden and see Anna leaning against a wall distractedly puffing away on a cigarette; the first of many.

"Milk and sugar?"

"Yeah. Two please."

Carefully Cheryl carries the two cups over to the table and sits down opposite me; she notices me looking outside and turns in her seat, "New girl?" she asks, studying Anna

"Umm, yes and no...this isn't Anna's first time here"

Cheryl turns back to look at me and raises an eyebrow curiously, "So what's her deal?"

"I can't really discuss that Cheryl. You know, confidentiality and everything" I explain

Her face falls and a horrified look flashes across her features, "Oh god, I'm so stupid. I'm really sorry Kimberley; I didn't mean to be nosy. I should have known that you can't go around talking about other....."

I reach out and take hold of her hand that is resting on the table; halting her words, "Cheryl, it's ok" I smile reassuringly

Her eyes look up to meet mine and she breathes a sigh of relief when she realises that it really is ok. It's been a long time since she had a conversation in which a slip of the tongue didn't result in a smack in the mouth; and old habits die hard.

She looks back out into the garden at Anna, "She seems nice. Maybe I'll pop up to her room later and introduce myself."

Cheryl faces me again and it's all I can do not to voice my opinion and tell her that that is a very bad idea. I've got nothing against Anna personally but she is not the kind of person Cheryl should be getting friendly with. Trouble seems to follow Anna where ever she goes and I don't want that same trouble following Cheryl as well. And by trouble, I mean Kevin.

Anna has told me on numerous occasions that Kevin has tried to force her into prostitution in the past and it was him who introduced her to drugs in the first place. I do not want those people around Cheryl.

But my job requires that I maintain a professional relationship with both of them, so I force a smile and nod my head; hoping to God that one of the other girls will fill Cheryl in about Anna and she will stay well away.

"So how's the job hunting going?" I ask; trying to distract myself from wanting to tell Cheryl everything by changing the subject.

"Not too good so far" she sighs and takes a long sip of her tea, "I used to work as a waitress but Ashley made me leave when we got married because he didn't like me being around other men."

"I'm sure something will come along soon" I say, and she flashes me another one of those dimpled smiles.

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After two cups of tea and an hour of chit-chatting, I tell Cheryl that I really should be getting back to work; Nadine will be waiting for me at the police station and she will be wondering where I've gotten to.

Cheryl clears the teacups away and walks me to the door; "It was really nice seeing you again Kimberley" she smiles

"I told you I wouldn't just leave you here." I laugh

She steps forward and puts her arms around me, giving me a light hug, "Thank you" she says quietly, "for everything."

She's so sweet and before I can stop myself, the words tumble out of my mouth, "Cheryl, listen, I want you to promise me something"

She pulls back and gives me a quizzical look, "What?"

I lower my voice so no-one overhears, "Stay away from Anna; she's bad news"

She looks at me with those big, brown eyes, completely puzzled.

"Please Cheryl, just trust me on this one ok?"

She smiles and gives a quick nod of her head, "I promise."