Chapter 11
After the incident with Mr. Cain, Kassia tried not to let him get under her skin like he always did.
In about thirty minutes, Chicago's school would be dismissed. For Kassia, today was supposed to be the day she submitted her university letter.
Mrs. Cherry Mon had been on her case lately. She strongly believed Kassia could earn a scholarship to a school in New York City. But the deadline would have to wait—Kassia planned to submit the letter tomorrow.
Later, Kassia arrived at Chicago's school to pick her up.
"Baby, how was school today?" she asked.
"School was good," Chicago replied. "But my teacher wants to talk to you."
"Really? I didn't see her when I came to pick you up," Kassia said. "Maybe I'll see her tomorrow."
"Chi, I want to drop you off at Christy's place. I have work at 4 p.m., and she'll prepare something for you to eat. Is that okay?"
"Yes, that's fine," Chicago said with a nod.
Kassia drove directly to Christy's house and knocked.
"Hey girlie, please help me watch her," Kassia said. "I need to go to work."
"Which work is this?" Christy asked, raising an eyebrow.
"The library job. I'll be here to pick her up by 8 p.m.," Kassia replied.
"Alright, no problem," Christy said. "I don't want her staying home alone either."
"Thank you so much," Kassia said, grateful, and then headed to work.
Work was a little slow, as usual.
"It's a library," Kassia said to Melissa, the owner of the shop. It was just the two of them most days. The library was small, and much of their business came from fulfilling online orders for customers.
"Work is always slow," Melissa agreed with a small shrug.
Kassia smiled faintly and decided to pass the time reading a book. She preferred historical fiction—romance novels weren't really her thing.
Suddenly, the sound of the door clicking open broke the silence. Someone had just walked in.
"Where can I find comic books?" a familiar voice asked.
Kassia looked up, recognizing it immediately.
"Caleb? What are you doing here?" she asked in surprise.
"Excuse you—are you the owner of this place?" Caleb shot back.
"Sorry," she said quickly. "I just didn't expect to see you in a place like this."
"The comic books are in Section C, at the back," she added.
"You could've just said that instead of wasting my time," Caleb muttered as he walked toward the section.
He returned shortly with a book, paid for it by swiping his card, and then turned back to her.
"Our chemistry teacher gave us an assignment," he said. "I don't have the time to do it. How much would you charge to do it for me?"
"Caleb, I'm swamped this week. I don't think I can," Kassia replied.
"How about $100?" he offered.
She hesitated but eventually nodded. "Fine. I'll do it for $100. You'll have it by Saturday afternoon."
"Where should we meet so I can get it from you?" he asked.
"You can bring it to the house," Caleb suggested casually.
"Alright. I'll drop it off at your place on Saturday," Kassia said.
With that, Caleb left, and Kassia let out a long sigh.
She checked the clock—it was already 8 p.m. Melissa had left earlier, so Kassia locked up the library and began the walk to Christy's house.
As she made her way through a quiet street, she suddenly heard a muffled scream. It wasn't loud—like someone was trying to cry out but had their mouth covered.
Her heart pounding, she followed the sound and soon spotted a man-like figure in a dimly lit alley.
Stepping closer, she gasped in horror. The man was on top of someone.
She screamed instinctively, realizing the man was assaulting a woman—he was raping her.
The man turned at the sound, and his eyes met Kassia's. Their gazes locked in a moment of shock and silence.
_________________
Author's note
Hey everyone,
I'm so sorry for the lack of updates these past few weeks—I was feeling under the weather and needed some time to recover.
Thankfully, I'm doing much better now and will be resuming regular updates!
Thank you all so much for your continued support and love.
Please keep reading!
Xoxo,
CC
---