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around as quickly as I could and heaved the hot contents into Buster's face.
He screamed and I ducked under his arms and shot out of the kitchen. I scooped Pearl up and rushed out the door of the shack, pounding over the gallery and down the stairs. I ran into the night without looking back. I heard his shouts and curses and I heard him flailing about within, knocking over chairs, breaking dishes, smashing a window in his rage. But I didn't stop. I hurried into the darkness.
Pearl was so shocked by my actions, she stopped crying. She was shivering with fear, though, for she felt the trembling in my own body. I was afraid Buster would come running after us, but when he didn't do that, I was afraid he would get into his car and come driving after us, so I stayed in the ditches off the side of the road, ready to lunge into the brush and hide the moment I saw car headlights.
I don't know how I managed not to trip and fall with Pearl in my arms, but I was lucky there was some moonlight peeking in and out of the clouds. It threw enough illumination ahead of me to show me the way. Fortunately, I never saw his car coming. I arrived at Mrs. Thibodeau's house and pounded on her front door.
"Ruby!" she cried as soon as she set eyes on Pearl and me. "What's happened?"
"Oh, Mrs. Thibodeau, please help us. Buster Trahaw just tried to rape me in my house," I cried. She opened her door and hurried us in, locking the door after her.
"You just sit right there in the living room," she said, her face white with shock. "I'll get you some water and then ring up the police. Thank goodness I got one of them phones put in last year."
She brought a glass of water back from the kitchen and took Pearl into her arms. I gulped down the cool liquid and sat back, my eyes closed, my heart still thumping so hard, I thought Mrs. Thibodeau could see it rising and falling against my blouse.
"Poor baby, poor child. Oh, my, my. . . Buster Trahaw, you say. My, my .....
Pearl stopped crying. She whimpered a bit and then closed her eyes and fell asleep. I took her back into my arms while Mrs. Thibodeau went back to the kitchen to call the police. A short while later, a patrol car arrived, and when the two policemen came in, I described what had happened to me.
"We've had more than one run-in with that good-for-nothing," one of the officers said. "You just stay right here until we come back."
I wasn't about to move an inch. About an hour later, they returned to tell us they found him still at my shack.
He had done some damage and then dug a bottle of rotgut whiskey out of his car to sit and wait for my return. From what they described, they had to have another pair of policemen come by to help subdue Buster.
"We got him in the cage, where he belongs," the policeman told me. "But you'll have to come down to the police station and swear out a complaint. You can do it now or you can do it in the morning."
"She's exhausted," Mrs. Thibodeau said.
"Morning will be fine," the policeman told us. "You don't want to go back to your house just yet anyway," he added, gazing at Mrs. Thibodeau. "It will take a bit of work."
"Oh, Mrs. Thibodeau," I wailed. "He's ruined the only home I have."
"Now, now, child. You know we'll all be there to help you fix it up again. Don't you fret about it. Just get some sleep so you can be bright and cheerful for Pearl in the morning."
I nodded. She brought me a blanket and I slept on her sofa with Pearl in my arms. I didn't think I could sleep, but the moment I closed my eyes, exhaustion set in firmly, and the next thing I knew, the morning light was warming my face. Pearl moaned when I stirred. Her little eyelids fluttered open and she gazed into my face. The realization that she was safe in my arms brought a smile to her lips. I kissed her and thanked God we had escaped.
After Mrs. Thibodeau made us some breakfast, I left Pearl with her and walked to town to go to the police station. They couldn't have been any nicer to me, getting a seat for me