Dakota winces at the pain but let's him clean up the wound. Hank puts a small thing of ice in a ziplock bag, wrapping the wet cloth around it. He applies it to her cheek, seeing how it's already bruised. She'll feel it in the morning.
...
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Hank opens the hood to a Cadillac, checking the engine. An older lady had brought it in saying that the engine was making weird noises and the air conditioning went out. Frank walks over, filling out the papers to the Cadillac. When he sees Hank, he hesitates but walks over anyways. "Hey, Hank." Frank says, not getting an answer. "Since I'm a partial store and schedule manager, I was wondering if maybe you want a few days off. Paid, of course." Hank continues to ignore him. Frank lowers his tone to a whisper. "Man, what happened Friday night was an accident-" "Frank, I'm going to keep on passive-aggressive ignoring you until another customer walks in." Hank says annoyed, glaring at Frank. "Where's Johnny? Is he hiding in the back like a puss-?" "Hank, he was drunk." Frank says desperately, "He was drunk and horny, man. Johnny didn't know what he was doing." " 'Still thinking about pressing charges." Hank closes the hood of the Cadillac, "Johnny had no right in Dakota's room. Period." "It'll ruin his life, Hank. He'll lose his wife and kids." Frank pleas, "Think about it." Hank stares at Frank seriously, his eyebrows narrowed. "I have thought about it." Hank walks to the bathroom, "And guys like Johnny don't deserve a good family like he's got." He turns his phone on, dialing the police station.
Hank had called the Police Station to press charges against Johnny but they needed proof of what happened. Then it would be taken to court, the only court in town, and would be Dakota's words against Johnny. And Hank fears he would lose Dakota if he went to court. An assault is on his record and he just barely got Dakota. If Judge Judd heard that Hank had stepped out just that once, long enough for Johnny to sneak into Dakota's room to rape her, Hank knows he would for sure lose Dakota for negligence care of the minor. But not going to court eats at Hank, Dakota's been having terrible nightmares ever since Johnny tried to rape her. Usually once or twice a week she wakes up crying that Johnny came back to finish her off. Hank hates himself for even turning his head for a moment, even after he saw the warning signs. Only if he hadn't of got back just seconds later.
Thorne Bush High's 8th hour bell rings. The students rush out of the classroom to their lockers. Dakota walks into her 8th hour Geometry class to see a question on the board. The bell work. The question reads: If x is the independent variable, what is Z to X? Dakota has always been terrible at math. She always copies her homework from Devin and fails the test on every chapter. She's averaging a C in the class while the others are at a B+ to an A-. Before Mrs. Crump can notice her, she walks out and hurries down the hall. Suddenly, Devin appears. He turns her around and marches her back to Mrs. Crump's class. "I hate math! I'm terrible at it, Devin." She exclaims, "I told you I'm going to be a stripper after high school!" "That's why you need to stay and pay attention." Devin says with a smirk, "So you'll know the average of how much you make a night." They both walk in just as the tardy bell rings. Mrs. Crump looks at Dakota surprised. The young girl managed to come to class. "Dakota, I'm very happy to see you." She says with a bright smile, glowing from her pregnancy. "Please sit down there in front of Devin." Dakota plops down in her seat, disgusted. Devin sits in the seat behind her, smiling at Mrs. Crump. The pregnant woman begins taking about the lesson, Devin leans in close to Dakota's ear. "I was thinking that maybe we could hang out after school tomorrow." He says, "Work on our project for Mom." "Whatever, just as long as it gets me out of here quicker." Dakota groans. "Do you think Hank will let you stay for dinner?" Devin smiles shyly, "Mom said she likes having you over." "Yeah, sure. Whatever you say, Hot Stuff." Devin's face blushes bright pink at Dakota's words. Dakota stares at the window, looking at the trees swaying in the wind. She thinks about the night before. Her dream she had was terrifying. It felt so real to her. Hank promised he wouldn't let anyone hurt her but could he stop Johnny next time? What if he had a group with him, backing him up? The thought scares Dakota.
