What the Locusts Had Eaten

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I could hear Arthur's drunken obscenities in the hall. He slammed his heavy hip against the door. Then the pounding stopped. I heard jingling. He was fumbling for a key. It was then I rediscovered the window. Opening the latch, I peered at the ground, two floors below me. The handle rattled and I could hear Arthur swearing. I had no choice. My heart pounding so hard I could almost see it, I pushed the window open, climbed on the sill, closed my eyes and jumped. Nikki spent years running: into the arms of uncommitted lovers and unfaithful husbands, into the trap of drug abuse and alcoholism, away from the Mob and toward a dream of stardom. Being devoured a little at a time by every person she dared to trust, Nikki finally ran into the arms of the One who could restore what the locusts had eaten.