Desperate Lies

Chapter 8

December 31st.

The past couple weeks without talking to Eve were really hard on Chris. After discussing it with his friends though, they'd all agreed that if Eve was legitimately being abused by Paul, and her being with Chris could potentially make it worse, it was probably in Eve's best interest for Chris to stay away from her as requested. What bothered Chris though was that Paul was clearly abusing Eve for other reasons too, and him being away from her wouldn't stop that.

It was also very clear that Eve was being manipulated into believing that she deserved the abuse she was receiving, or that being abused right now was the only way that she would be happy in the future. What she couldn't seem to see though was that Paul was finding more and more ways to get Eve to stay with him as she got older. Eve kept saying that after she got her Master's degree, she would be able to get out and away from Paul and start her own life. Chris, however, was convinced that once she graduated, Paul would find a new excuse to keep her around and to continue using her as his punching bag.

Chris thought about calling the police, but he was sure that they wouldn't believe a word the town freak would have to say about a local pastor, no matter what kind of reputation Paul Lawrence had. Chris felt so helpless, like there was nothing that he could do to help Eve...other than stay away from her. The fact of the matter was, until Eve could see for herself that she had to get away from Paul, there was no hope of getting her to leave.

Eve had begun receiving beatings almost daily ever since Paul found out about her and Chris. She'd spent all of Christmas with a bloody nose, crying in her room. A part of Eve wished that Chris would try to reach out to her again, but Eve was sure that revealing to Chris that Paul beat her scared him enough to keep him away. She missed him so much though. She was safe with him; she had somewhere pleasant to go with him. She mattered to him.

So much so that he stayed away from her like she'd asked him to.

Eve tried to get out of the house whenever she could, even if it was just to go out and get coffee or something. She couldn't wait for her classes to start up again so that she could be away from Paul more often. In the meantime, she went out to Starbucks every chance she could, just to get out even for a little while.

Eve walks back into her house after making a Starbucks run, "Dad, I'm back!"

Paul walks out of his room and Eve hands him the coffee she'd gotten for him.

"Oh, great, thank you!" Paul says, smiling.

"You seem to be in an awfully good mood," Eve comments.

"Well, I've come up with the best idea! Here, come sit."

The two of them sit down on the couch.

"Idea for what?" Eve asks.

"For you! For your future!"

Eve furrows her eyebrows in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"Eve, you're an incredibly talented artist. Your paintings, your drawings, your sculptures; they're all so beautiful. You really have a gift."

Eve smiles, surprised at Paul's behavior.

"Wow..." She says, touched, "Thank you, Dad."

"Now, you graduate in about six months, so you need to start thinking about what you want to do next - and I want to help you!"

Eve furrows her eyebrows, "You do?"

"Oh, yes! An art career is going to be very difficult; you can't do it by yourself. So you make the art work, and I'll handle the business side of things: finding clients for you, getting your art displayed around town - I could be like your manager!" Paul exclaims, happily, "However, even with me helping you, it could still potentially take a while for your career to really take off. So in the mean time, you can...oh, I know! You can stay here and teach in the Sunday School at the church! You're great with children, and it'd be a great way to occupy your time while your career builds."