Rosalia's Bittersweet Pastry Shop by Rosanna Chiofalo Page B

what he was thinking. He had me, and no one would stand in his way now.
    â€œMarco said to me, ‘Rosalia, I know it will take some time for you to get accustomed to being here, but this is only temporary. I need to make arrangements, and then we will leave and go where we can start fresh. You will be happy being married to me.’
    â€œ ‘How many times do I need to tell you I will never marry you? Do you understand you have committed a crime by kidnapping me?’ I cried as I said this.
    â€œ ‘Once you become my wife, the authorities won’t care,’ Marco said, shrugging his shoulders. He wasn’t even looking at me. Instead, his eyes stared off into space, and he had this sick smile.
    â€œI became so enraged in that moment and did not think about my safety. I threw myself at him, scratching his face, pulling his hair, kicking him. He let me have my way for a little while, but then without warning, he struck my face so hard with the back of his hand that I fell. That should’ve frightened me, but it only made me angrier. I crawled over and bit his leg. He pulled me by my hair, forcing me to stand.” Rosalia placed her hand on the back of her head as if she were feeling the pain all over again.
    â€œThen he turned me around, and pulled my arms behind me. He nudged the back of my legs with his knees and said, ‘Walk!’
    â€œI remained rooted in place, but then he jerked my arms back so hard I thought my shoulder was going to dislocate.
    â€œHe screamed again, ‘Walk!’ I stepped forward. He kept nudging me forward until we came to a spot in the cave that had what looked like a bed made of hay with blankets laid on top.”
    Madre Carmela closed her eyes, remembering the makeshift bed of hay and the bloody clothes she’d found when she examined the cave after she and the other nuns had discovered Rosalia.
    â€œMarco pushed me so hard that I fell onto the hay bed. He then slapped me a few times. I fought back, kicking and scratching him. But it was no use. He was stronger than me. He tore my clothes off and . . .” Rosalia’s voice trailed off. She looked at Madre Carmela, who was weeping silently. “I think you know what happened next, Madre.”
    Madre Carmela took Rosalia in her arms. She held her close as Rosalia sobbed uncontrollably. “He stole my innocence. He took away the girl I used to be.”
    â€œShhh! Shhh! No one can take away who you are, Rosalia. Remember that! No one! You still have the same pure heart of the girl you were before this monster came into your life.”
    â€œThank you, Madre,” Rosalia said before pulling away and continuing her story.
    â€œOver the next few weeks . . . Well, I imagine it was weeks. It felt like I was there a long time. You found me by the cave in September, Madre? Is that right?”
    â€œ Si. It was September.”
    â€œSo I was in the cave for a month, since I remember it was early August when Marco kidnapped me. He continued to beat me over the course of those weeks. He beat me often for no reason. After he raped me, I was too afraid and in too much despair to fight back like I had on that first day. He seemed to take pleasure in hurting me. He didn’t rape me again after that first time. I thought that was strange since he continued to beat me. Then I realized he was deluding himself into thinking we had a pure relationship. He actually apologized for forcing himself onto me.” Rosalia shook her head.
    â€œHe said, ‘I hope you will forgive me, Rosalia, for taking you against your will. We will not sleep together again until we are man and wife.’
    â€œI asked him, ‘Why did you do that, Marco?’
    â€œNaturally, I did not expect a rational answer from a lunatic. I had no doubt that he was absolutely mad in addition to being evil. But I still had to ask him why, especially now that he was telling me he would wait to have relations with me