in
January 30th, 2005
Chapter 4
Crazy Rumors
"Looks like they're giving you a chance," Dad said, as I jogged up to
them.
"Yeap. Tryouts are Augest 1st. I want to be there. I'm thinking about
asking Twinkle for some help."
"Twinkle? That backstabber?"
"Well, she said we could still be friends, so I-"
"No," he cut me off. "You get lessons from Jesse. She should be good at
it." Jesse's a real close friend of mine. She's this pretty African
American girl with dark, curly hair. At the mention of Jesse's name, I
nearly jumped out of my shoes. We had a Nieva Sista meeting.
"Daddy!" I squeaked. "Today I have a meeting at 8:00pm. He nodded.
"Well it's my turn to buy the snacks, and we're meeting at Abby's house."
He nodded again.
"We'll get those snacks out of your deal money, 'kay?"
It was my turn to nod. Nieva Sista is a group my friends and I made up.
We named it Nieva Sista, cause we liked the sound. Nieva Sista.
Staff: Abbagail Choke, President, Red Harris, V.President, Jesse Hope
and Eshi Lewis, Secretaries, and Ronda Hankins, Treasurer. We had this
club going on since the first of the summer. We started it at a slumber
party that didn't turn out so well. It's a long story.
"So, are we going now?" I asked.
"If you want to. I thought you were so interested in the football
field." he said as we turned around.
"Let's go. Since we live in Sandre now, it'll take thirty minutes to
get to WesBrige and a hour to get to Columbia."
"Columbia?"
"Yup. I got to do some bussiness over there. None of your concern." I
nodded and smiled uncertinly.
"I just hope you ain't going to see my ma."
I waved at daddy as I ringged the doorbell to Abby's house. The
snacks were getting heavy. Her older sister, Hilary answered.
"Hey, Hilary!!" Suzie squealed in delight. I loved when we have
meetings at Abby's house. Since Suzie always have to come with me, Hilary
always takes her in. The two of them were meant for eachother. She picked
up Suzie and kissed each cheek. She smiled.
"Rather have you than Abby anyday." She eyed the snacks I had. "Abby
and the others are up stairs in her room. I nodded.
"Thanks."
In Abby's room, everything was volient and baby-blue. Everyone was
there, except Eshi. She was usualy late.
"Ah, Red. You're on time," she smiled. Jesse was laying on her bed,
looking at the ceiling.
"Why is Eshi always late?" she whined. Abby shurgged.
"We'll just start the meeting without her." Ronda nodded in agreement.
Eshi and Ronda didn't get along too well. Abby went into her closet,
and pulled out a table. Of coarse it was folded. "Ronda, you help me move
this bed, Red, you and Jesse go get four chairs from the gameroom. I'll
use my desk chair."
"Nice," Jesse comented. Abby smiled in pride.
"Rodney, Hilary's new boyfriend gave it to me. He's really cute. He and
his brother is coming over today, too. Hilary thinks she could hook one
of us up with him." she said eyeing me.
"What color is he?" Ronda asked.
"White."
"Nope." Ronda and Jesse answered at the same time. Just than Eshi
burst in, gasping for breath. "Sorry I'm late," she apologized.
Instead of excepting her apology, Abby pointed at her. "I'm tired of
it. Don't be late again. Now go help Jesse and Abby get the chairs."
Eshi bit on her bottem lip as she followed Jesse and I out of Abby's
room. "What's her problem anyway?" she whispered as if Abby could hear.
"Oh, you know her. Always mad when someone's late for a meeting,"
Jesse replied. She pulled on a curl that had escaped from her ponytail.
"All right. Eshi, you get two chairs. Red and I, we'll get one." We
all nodded.
"This'll be fun," Eshi said in her soft voice. She had a light,
british ancent. Her Dad was british, her mom mexican. She had beautiful
white-blonde hair, and sky-blue eyes. The perfect figue, and she was rich.
At least her parents were.
"What'd you bring for snacks, Red?" Jesse asked as we made our way up
the stairs.
"I brought two huge bags of EXTREM Doritoes, and a twelve package of
Sprite. And for sweets, I brought some chocolate-chip cookies. My grandma
on my daddy's side made them." She nodded.
"That sounds good, Red. Your fine daddy sure went out his way for us
this time."
"No he didn't. I brought them."
"With what money."
"I won a bet on....on something."
"What was it?" "It was just.... something." She smiled.
"You're weird, Red. You've always been weird, and always will be.
"Meeting is now in session," Ronda quoted. She always starting the
meetings with that line. Since it's five of us, and we had twelve sodas,
we decided we'd drink one in the meeting.
"I'll like to go ahead and get into the real reason why I called this
emergency meeting," Abby smiled. "Red, tell us. So did your mom and dad
really make love in the streets? In daytime?" I looked around the group
of girls. They looked just as shocked as me. "What are you talking
about?" I asked. She nodded.
"The rumor's been going around. It's even in the WesBrige High School
Newsletter!"
"What? I just met my mom after three years on Thursday! That was a week
ago! And the most my mom and Dad did was talk. I think."
"What do you mean, you think?"
"I mean, I didn't stay out there and butt into that conversation."
"So you actully met your mom?" Jesse asked.
"Yes." "How is she? How does she look? Come on girl, fill us in with
all the details." I hesitated. Then with a deep breath, I told them
everything. I told them how I felt. After I was done, they were all siting
there with their mouths wide open.
"So how'd they get that rumor?" Eshi asked, her voice filled with
excitment. I shrugged.
"I don't know. Dad would never do that." Abby smiled and rubbed her
hands together.
"That means we'll have to solve this thing together. And the first
pearson we can ask is Hilary. Let's go."
Abby knocked on Hilary's bedroom door. We could hear Suzie giggling.
"Come in," Hilary called out. Abby opened the door, and we made our
way in. If I wanted to look like anyone, it would defintely be Hilary
Choke. She had long, dark hair, big, blue eyes, and a great smile. She had
a slim figue, the perfect teeth, and eyelashes to die for. She basicly
was a model, if you asked me. Abby sat down in a chair, I stood by the
door.
"What's up, guys?" she asked.
"Yeah, what's up?" Suzie echoed. She was laying on Hilary's bed with
her legs kicked up, and her belly out. I looked at Abby, who was looking
at me. I nodded at her.
"It's your father," she huffed.
"Fine. Hilary, Suzie might need to go into Abby's room with the girls."
Hilary lifted up one perfectly arched eyebrow.
"Sure thing. You heard that, boo-boo?" she said, referring to Suzie.
Suzie looked at her and shook her head.
"I wanna stay with you."
"Just go out for one second, 'kay?" Suzie glared at me, before
agreeing. She jogged out of the room. Hilary eyed us suspiciously. "What's
going on?" she asked. Abby picked up the WesBrige High Newsletter off
of the floor, and flipped to the the article on my mom and Dad.
"You know anything about this?" she asked. Hilary's face darkened,
and she looked down.
"Sort of," she murmered.
"What is it?" I asked. "Who started it?" Hilary grimiced.
"I was involved."
"What!! Why?" She held up both hands, as I sat on the floor.
"Vera, my best friend, made it up. We were trying to get back at Lee
Thomas for...for something she did to us. Anyways, Lee has this major
chush on your Dad, Red. And everyone knew it. She walked around singing
his name, telling everyone about him, and even said that she went with
him. Of course that's not true. We tried telling everyone, but they
didn't believe us. So when Abby came home from shopping last Thursday, she
told me that you found your mother. Everyone knew Caroline Winkins ran
away from Wayne Harris three years ago. And everyone knew that Wayne
was single. So when you called Abby that night, I ease-dropped on the
other line. When I heard that you had reunited with your parents, I was
overjoyed. I called Vera on my cellphone, and she and I made plans. So at
this party that Stacie Holmes was holding, we told everyone. Stacie's
mom knew your grandmother and your mother. So she called your grandma,
and your grandmother said that Wayne did come back. And that they were
out that very moment. Later, though, Vera and I found out that wasn't
true. So, anyway, it was a joke, and we were going tell everyone, but two
days later when I was going through the mail, I saw that the Newsletter
had come. I flipped through it, and I saw the article on your Dad. Then
I realized that we couldn't undo what we had already done." She paused
and looked down at her feet. "I'm sorry." I nodded, still getting over
the shock.
"It's okay. We just have to get rid of this rumor before it gets back
to my Dad." She nodded. "We can start by-"
The door burst open, interupting Hilary.
"Hilary, baby. What's up?" A guy with green eyes, black ear-length
hair, and a dimand ring in his ear. He had a handsome smile, wide
sholders, and was skinny.
"Rodney!" Hialry sqeaked. She looked at me and Abby. A smile
slithered across her face. Oh Boy.
"Did Donaven come with you?" she asked. Rodney nodded. "Yup" He
stepped to his right to uncover the most handsome guy I had ever seen.
"This is Hilary?" the guy asked. Rodney nodded. He squited his eyes
at me.
"Hil, babe, I thought you said that Suzie was two." "Hilary threw her
head back and laughed.
"This," she said, glanceing from me to the guy standing at the door,
"This is Red, her sister." Rodney nodded.
"Well this is the one and only, Donaven Smith." Donaven smiled a half
smile.
"Hi," he said in a somewhat deep voice. It was low and cool, like he
knew it all.
"Ohh. Touchy, touchy." Hilary said, looking at me. She had this silly
grin on her face. Abby stood and closed the door behind Donaven, as I
stood up.
"Well, I'll be..be in...uh.. Ab..Abby's room," I stuttered.
"No!" Hilary smiled. "Stay." Rodney shook his head at me.
"Talking about a speach problem!" I felt my cheeks burning. Just
than someone knocked on the door. I knew it was Suzie from how soft it
was.
"That must be my baby," Hilary gushed. "Come on in, sweet-cheeks!"
she said sweetly. The door slowly came to an open. Suzie poked her head
in and looked around for a moment. Then allowed herself to come into the
room. She gave one of her cute, irresistable smiles at Rodney. He liked
her right away.
"So this is Suzie! Hey, boo. Hey! I'm Rodney." he cooed. Hilary
smiled and nodded.
"That's my boo, Rod." He picked her up. Hilary shook her head. "Uh
uh, what you thinking, baby? I'm the first person you hold in this
house." Rodney smiled and walked over to her. I looked at Abby. She was
starring, so I did the same. Rodney laid himself on her bed, and they
actully began to make out. I don't mean having sex. But they kissed as if
they were going to do it. I looked away, feeling the heat come to my face.
I looked to my right, which left me starring at handsome Donaven. He
was looking at me. I smiled a small, shy smile. He didn't smile back.
Instead, he leaned his head against the wall, and sighed. I looked at
Abby. She was starring at me.
"Ready to go?" I mouthed. She nodded and stood up. We both walked
stiffly by Donaven and made our way to her room.
"What took y'all so long?" Jesse asked. Abby and I both sighed with
relief.
"Good to be out of there," she said. I nodded in agreement as I took
a seat by Ronda.
"Well, what happened? Don't keep us waiting," Jesse whined. "Okay,"
Abby said. "We found out who started it." She paused and looked at me
thoughtfully. Then she began again. "I want y'all to guess who did it.
Who started that rumor." Ronda leaned back into her chair.
"Don't keep us waiting, Choke, let's go ahead and git to the
niddy-griddy." she snapped. Abby laughed a little.
"What's your problem, Ron? Anyone got you in a bad mood?" she asked.
Ronda glared at Eshi, before shaking her head.
"I'm just curious." she replied.
Abby nodded. "I'm sure you all are. So I guess I'll go head and tell
ya." She leaned forward and put on a serious face.
"It was my sister. It was Hilary and her rich friend, Vera. "
Everyone stared at her in disbelief. Abby nodded.
"Yup. We won't get into all the details just yet, but we'll meet here
Sunday afternoon at five. Jesse, I know you go to church on Sundays,
but soon as you get home, get on your bike, and ride over here. Bring
some changing clothes. By the way, what time do you get out of church?"
"Let's see. We get out of Sunday School at twele o'clock, and church
services end at three. You know, the whole thing. We go at ten, though,
for choir rehersal."
"You're in the choir?" I asked.
"Duh. I'm also in the youth praise team, I'm the youth dance leader,
and I'm in charge of the youth partys. I just love to sing." she bragged.
I was shocked.
"You're in all of that at only fifteen?" I asked. "Yeah, gurl." I
smiled. "I like to sing, too. I sing soul, country, and blues, now how
about you?" I asked. She giggled.
"Me too! Maybe we can-"
"HEY! We're talking about something way more important than
singing country!" Abby interrupted. She clapped her hands together really
hard and smiled evily. "Now back to where we were. You have more than
enough time to change, Jesse. You sure you ain't got nothing with the
youth going on after church?" Abby asked. We all laughed. Jesse smiled and
shook her head.
"Nope. I'm all free. I think."
"You think? Gurl, you better be!" Abby teased. She looked at Ronda. "So
is this meeting done?" she asked. Ronda nodded trying to stay in her
bad mood. But a smile was tugging at the corners of her lips.
"Meeting dismissed."
I was waiting outside on the front steps of the Choke's home, for
daddy to come pick me up. Suzie was still inside under the soothing of
Rodney and Hilary. I heard the screen door slam behind me. I turned around
to see Jesse standing there.
"So you really do sing, huh?" she asked. I nodded as she sat down
beside me.
"Yeah. You don't know how surprised I was, when I found out that
someone loved music as much as I do." I smiled. Jesse laughed, and her eyes
twinkled. She was truely beautiful. She seemed like one of those pop
music stars.
"I really admire you, you know," I confessed to her. She looked at me
with surprise.
"I admire you, Red! You seem like a person who can sing." "Really? I
was just thinking the same about you!" I squealed. We both giggled.
"So," she said after we got a hold of ourselves. "You write songs?"
"Yeah, I wrote several. How 'bout you?" She nodded.
"Ten or eleven. Something like that."
"Wow. I think I wrote, like seven."
"Do you know the song, Amazing Grace?"
"Do I? Yes, Lord, I love that song, girl."
"How about it than? You sing it first, I sing it next. Than we take it
up and sing it together." I could feel excitement bubbling inside me. I
took a deep breath, and began. When I was done, Jesse was starring at
me as if I had given her a million dollars. Without saying anything to
me, she closed her eyes and began the same verse that I'd sang. She had
a beautiful, high-soparno voice. When done, we both sang like planned.
We let the music fill us, even though there was no musicains. We were
the music. We sang with all of our hearts until we were so full of it,
we felt like we'd burst. We were so into it, we didn't hear my Dad pull
up, nor the entire Choke family come up behind us. I opened my eyes and
looked at Jesse, still not knowing that anyone else was there. Her eyes
were still close. Then they fluttered open. It was like seeing her
transform back to Earth from planet song. She looked at me and smiled.
"That was great, huh?" "Suzie might have it in her too," Hilary
smiled. "Caroline and Wayne always got together and made small concerts
for this small town. But they made this small town a big shot," she said.
Dad sucked his teeth, but his face soften when he looked down at me.
"Come on, Red, Suzie, it's time to go. Suzie, go ahead and kiss
Hilary now. I need to get back to Columbia in an hour, and I'm late as it
is." I must admitt. Dad looked more handsome than ever, standing there in
faded, blue-jean pants, a red, plaid shirt, and some brown, work boots.
He ran a hand through his golden, brown hair, and smiled impatietly at
Mrs. Choke.
"How you do, ma'am," he said nodding his head. She nodded. I stood
up, and brushed the back of my demin shorts off.
"Well, I guess I'll be going, Jess, Abby, all y'all." I smiled. Jesse
stood beside me.
"Thanks for everything, Red. I had a great time."
"Me too."
"Well yo Dad impatient as it is, Red. Might as well go on." Abby
huffed. I think she was jealous. I started down the side walk to the
truck. I turned around and waved, again. My eyes met Donaven's. I smiled
at him. And this time...he smiled back.
Chapter 5
BAD, BAD, Girl
I hopped into the truck, smiling. Dad lifted Suzie in the truck. And
then, climbed in himself.
"I saw you smiling at that boy, Red. If ya think you're coming down
here everyday, forget it." My smile widen.
"He's cute, ain't he," I giggled. Dad looked at me for a long time,
before shaking his head, and backing out of the driveway. When I looked
back, Hilary was starring at daddy. Then we were speeding off.
"So, where are we going now?" I asked.
"Columbia."
"Why are we going to Columbia?" He ran a stoplight before answering.
"I need to go see your mother about some bussiness. None of your
concern, 'kay? I'm gonna take you and Suzie to your great-grandma's home."
"What? I'm fifteen years old, and I'm going to see my great-grandma?
You can't be serious."
"Oh, yeah?"
"And why are you going to see ma anyway? You're not desperate. You
got us!" I could feel my anger building up. "You still love her, don't
you? Don't you?" I screamed. He jerked the truck to the side of the road,
covered Suzie's whole face with his hand, and backslapped me as hard as
he could. After the first whack, I felt light as a feather.
"Who you think you talking to, girl? You don't do all that mess with
me!" He gave my face another whack, causing the second mega whip.
"Would you just SHUT UP!" I screamed. "I've had enough of you, Mom,
and the rest of your gang! Y'all make me SICK! And I"m tired of all
this sh** you've been putting on Suzie and I." Tears were racing down my
cheeks. And I knew I was going to get slapped again, anyway, so I went
on. "I only have FIVE, Dad. I only have five friends in this whole
dog-on world, and all you do is just be your hard self to me. You never had
anything like this happen to you. You only love me when I do something
nice for you. No, I take that back. You pretend that you love me." He
shook his head, his face getting harder. But that didn't stop me. "I'm
tired of you being your ole hard self. And if everything don't go your
way, you put it on on us. Like we're responsible for your problems. You
love that wicked witch that ran away from you, more than your own
daughters. Well Dad, you might not tell me everyday, but I know it's true.
But guess what? I hate you too." I waited for him to scream and yell and
slap me again, but he didn't. Instead he cranked up the truck, made an
illegal U-turn, and we were on the road again.
Thirty minutes later, we pulled into our driveway. He hadn't said
anything ever since he cranked back up.
"Happy?" he asked as low and cold his voice would allow him. I didn't
reply. Instead, I opened the door, and got out. After helping Suzie
out, I slammed the door shut. Suzie knew what was going on, so she was
quiet. I pulled out my key to the house, and unlocked the door. I actully
felt bad. Horrible. I pushed the door open, and walked in to the cool
air. Suzie wobbled to her bedroom without saying anything. I heard daddy
get out of the truck, and shut the door to it. I looked out of the
livingroom window, and saw him lean against the truck, and squeeze his eyes
shut. A tear slipped down his jaw and onto his plaid shirt. I gasped. I
never saw my Dad shed a tear before. I wished I could take back all the
horrible things that I had said. I walked out the front door as
silently as I could. Even though I know he heard me, he kept his eyes shut. I
walked over to him, and touched his arm.
"I'm sorry, Dad. I was wrong. I..I don't hate you." He sighed and
began began bumping his head against the truck.
"Daddy....."
"No, Red. I guess you were right. But I never said that I was going to
date your ma, or bring her back here. You get angry too easy." His
voice quevered, but he forced a small smile on his face. "I guess you get
that from me, uh?" I shrugged.
"Dad, I didn't mean anything I said. I was just angrey. I thought you
were going to get back with mama. I know that your heart has been
broken millions of time, and I just don't want it to be broken again."
"Red, after what you told me about your mother, I don't think I'd
want to face her again. But I don't want you and Suzie without a mom. I
don't think I'd be living right now, if I didn't have my mama. She still
means the world to me." The words touched my heart. It seemed to flow
through my heart and pull a string.
"Daddy, you mean the world to us. We don't need her. Let's just live
our lives the way they are. Don't you like it?" He shook his head.
"No, Red. I'll just let y'all spend every other weekend with her. How
about that?"
"Dad, I'm fifteen years old. Don't you think I should make my own
decisions?"
"No."
"Well I do. And I say I want to stay with you." I could tell he was
trying hard not to smile.
"Okay," he agreed. "Now let's go back in there and see what's Suzie
up to.
I walked into Mom's apartment. It was beautiful. The colors were
navy-blue and beige. Mom closed the door behind me. "Is your father here?"
she asked.
"Why?"
"I just wanted to know how many I will need to serve. You see I was
going -"
"He's in the lobby talking to someone. She's an old girlfriend he was
dating last month. Let's see....I think she's the seventh." I lied. Dad
was down there talking to his brother, Billy. My Uncle Bill. He was
going to drive Suzie and I to my Great-Grandma's house. I thought I had
Mom's feelings, but all she did was nod. I let Suzie down, and looked mom
straight in the eye as cold as I could.
"I'm not staying, you know. I'm leaving after Dad come. And you bet
not sweet talk him into letting you stay with us, or vice-versa, or
I'll -"
Dad knocked on the door. Mom looked at me with this hurt expression
on her face, before opening the door for Dad. He got dressed up just
for her. Jean pants that weren't faded, whited dressy, plaid shirt,
clean boots, and his good colonge. The thing about it is,
Mom wore the exact same thing. Only her pants were tighter than Dad's.
She had smaller boots on, and instead of her shirt having buttons, it
had a V-neck, that in my opinion, went way too low. When she and Dad's
eyes met, they both laughed like kids. Like nobody ever wore the same
thing before. Both they're eyes went down to eachother shirts. I wished I
could button up Dad's shirt. He had four buttons
unbottened, to uncover his chest. Curly, brown hair shown all over it. The
sleves of his shirt were rolled up to his elbow, making his muscles stand
out. All I wanted to do was take Dad's arm, and pull him right out of
the door.
"So, how are you, Wayne?" she asked.
"Pretty good, how 'bout you?"
"Oh, you know me. Always trying to keep up with this nonstopable
world." she laughed lighty. "Come right on in, and make yourselves
comfortable. Make yourselves at home." Home? She really does think she's going
to get to daddy. Well I'll show her.
"Sure," Dad said. I began to say something, but Dad came first.
"Sorry I took so long. I was in the lobby talking to Billy. He's going
to drive the girls to my grandma's house. They haven't seen her in a
while." Mom looked at me with disaproval.
"That's not what I heard, now is it, Red?" I sucked my teeth, and
grabbed Suzie's arm.
"Bye, Dad. You two just have fun, while Suzie and I go visit elderly
people, 'kay?" I smiled sourly and headed for the door. Dad got up, and
beat me to the door. He grabbed my arm.
"Watch it. And you tell your ma sorry."
"She ain't no ma to me." I protested. But he squezzed my arm tighter.
"Five, four....."
"I only agreed for your sake, man!"
"....two, one,"
"Sorry, 'kay! I'm sorry." I yanked the door open, jerked away from Dad,
and was on my way to the lobby.
I met Uncle Bill in the lobby. He wore tight black-jean pants,
black steel-toed boots, and a hunter-green sport's shirt, that showed
off his muscles. He was smoking a cigar.
"Want one?" he offered as soon as he saw me. Since I was already in a
bad mood, I decided to be a bad girl. I took the cigar with a nod. As I
put the nasty tobaca to my lips, he lighted for me. He reconized after
the first inhale, that I wasn't a smoker.
"You sure your pa would let you go outta smokin?" he asked.
I nodded. "He let me do it all the time," I lied pushing Suzie behind
me. "You know he still smokes, right."
"Yeah, gurl. I'm his brother. But he only started after your crazy ma
left him." He sighed. "Your pa was a real good man. Yes, suh. I wish I
could kill your blasted ma. Well she's not your ma, now is she, Reddy.
" He laughed bitterly, taking another suck.
I didn't know what he meant, and I didn't want to know.
"Let's go." he said.
In his old station wagon, Uncle Bill ran every stoplight that he
could, and broke basicly every rule in driving. He hummed along with the old
country music that was playing. He rubbed his black beard.
"How 'bout stead of going to grandma, let's go to my place. It's just
over yonder." He pointed to the woods. Suzie tried to look over his
shoulder.
"What house? I don't see no house."
He laughed heavily" It's in the woods, child. Deep down in the woods."
"How long are we going to be there?" I asked. I didn't really want to
go over to his place. He was a drug dealer. He laughed again.
"Look, darling. Your pa and ma is gonna be a while down there. Don't
worry. We won't be long." Uncle Bill wasn't as handsome as my daddy. He
had shoulder-length raven black hair, black beady eyes, and if he
smiled with his lips closed, you wouldn't see his yellow teeth. He really
did have a nice smile. All I can say about his height is short. He wasn't
fat, but he wasn't skinny. He was just medium. He was very muscular and
hairy. He also was a playboy. Another reason I didn't want to go over
his house. Naked, porned ladies were always at his house. I mean they
took the liberty, and walked around his house......naked. He never seemed
to mind. It would always be three or more ladies. Big breasted, big
butt, and big lip. Forget the race. I heard about it from my Aunt Molly,
but never knew if the rumors were true. She was Dad's youngest sister.
Uncle Bill tugged at his short ponytail, and grinned as he sped down a
dirtroad that led to a skinny trail. Small, the trail was, but big
enough for Uncle Bill's small station wagon. Branches scraped against the
old car, as he sped by. Finally we pulled into a small driveway. In
front of us was a small, run downed brick house.
"Here we are, ladies," he smiled. "My palace." He got out of the car,
and walked toward the house. Forget opening the door for us. Since the
windows were open, I saw that the rumor was true. Sure enough, I saw a
big lady walked past the window. Naked. I squezzed my eyes shut.
"This isn't good," I muttered. I opened my eyes in time to hear Uncle
Bill say,
"Hey, Sasha. Hope you ready for a wild ride." I helped Suzie out, and
told her not to repeat anything she heard or saw today. She nodded
obediently.
"Good." I said. I walked toward the house slowly. Suzie's hand in
mine.
"Why are we walking so slow?" Suzie asked.
"Um, I'm just looking around at all this beauty." I said trying to
look for something that looked a little pretty. Nothing. Nothing but
huge, mega trucks, tires, porn magazines, and old shoes and underwear.
"This?" Suzie asked looking up at me.
"Well it's not the prettiest thing, now is it?" I said trying to
sound cheerful.
"I wanna go home," Suzie cried.
"Me too," I muttered. And I really did.
As soon as we were in the house, there was not only naked women, but
naked men too. It looked like a sex house. Men and ladies were every
place having sex. Floor, couches, tables, every place I looked, there was
someone making love. I pulled Suzie closer to me. A man with only a
pair of tight red jeans on, walked up to me and Suzie. He seemed to be in
his early forties.
"You looking for someone to have sex with?" he asked.
"Uh-"
"Right this way."
He took my arm and led me to a small room crammed with half-dressed
teenagers. He shoved me inside, but took Suzie away.
"The little one will just have to sit outside on the porch, and wait."
he said.
"NO!" I protested. "I think I'll wait out with her." He shook his
head.
"Come here lil baby," he smiled through crooked teeth. "Come ta papa."
Suzie shook her head slowly.
"Ye ain't my papa. You a ole dog," she declared stomping her feet.
"Aw, come here, you ole rat," he spat snatching her up.
"No!" I screamed. "You give her back this minute." Unlce Bill came
around.
"What's all the yelling about?" he asked. The man in the tight red
jeans looked down at me.
"This young gal's got a problem leaving her lil' babe with me." he
huffed. Suzie reached for me and I took her. Uncle Bill sighed.
"Red, you can stay in here, and I'll take Suzie. I'll get her
something to eat." I didn't want to stay in there.
"Can I come too?" I asked. He shook his head.
"We'll be right back. Sasha!" he yelled as he walked off. Suzie was
still in his arms.
I turned around, and looked at the teenagers. Every boy in the room
had taken his shirt off. The girls were all in nothing but thongs.
Nothing else. Everyone, though, was starring at me.
"Hi," I said.
"Who the heck is this?" I heard from behind me. I turned around to see
a tall, muscalar guy. He looked to be around at least eighteen. As soon
as my eyes met his, he smirked.
"She's a cute lil' thing. I took a step back. He took a step forward.
Think girl! Think! Tell him you're taken. Wait! He didn't say he wanted
to go with you. Walk out! He took another step forward.
"What's your name, Reddy?" I blushed so hard, I felt like a fireball.
"Uh, Red."
He laughed.
"Come on, red head. What's your name?"
I laughed nervously taking another step back.
"It's..it's Red. I gotta go," I said taking another step back. He took
two more steps forward.
"You 'fraid of sex?" I shook my head.
"I..I...I'm taken." He laughed again.
"So what if you're taken? I don't give a -"
"Please no. I have to go." I repeated.
"Okay. You can go if you can git past me, 'kay?"
A tall girl with nothing at all on, strolled up to him.
"If she won't take you...I will." she slurred. She licked her lips.
The guy didn't even look at her. He had his eyes on me.
"Go ahead. Leave. If you can."
He took another step toward me. I took another step back. I bumped into
the wall.
Trapped.
He took another step forward. His body now covered mine.
"Don't look like you're leaving," he smiled. He really would be cute,
if he weren't so mean. If he weren't so forceful. If he weren't so
scary. Think, Red! Do something. Scream. I opened my mouth to scream, but
he knew better. He cover my mouth with his hand.
"Screaming won't do no good, Red Head. I was trembling and shaking
as hard as my body would allow me. Then he touched one of my breast. He
smiled.
"Juicey," he mumbled. "You're coming with me.
He took my hand, and nearly dragged me out of the room. As soon as we
were in the hall, he kissed me long and hard full on my lips. I could
not push away. He was too forceful. He bit my bottem lip so hard that I
tasted blood.
"Like that?" he whispered. I shook my head, and tried to pull away.
Once he realized this, he pulled me closer and tighter to him. My breast
were crushed against his bare chest. I felt stapled to him. He moved us
into an empty bedroom. The only thing that was in there was a bed. He
lifted me, and dropped me onto the bed. It was hard. He ripped off his
pants. Nothing else was on.
"You gonna take off your clothes, or I'll take 'em off for ya. Your
choice."
"I..I'll do it." I laughed nervously again. I slowly took my shirt off.
"Ah, you ain't gotta be shy. If ya wanted me to take your clothes
off, you should have said so. Well at least you haven't gotten too far,
yet."
He walked toward me. He touched my breast again, before peeling my bra
off. I was trembling all over.
"We can remember this as our special room, 'kay?" he said laying me
down. He stripped my panties off. He got in a position that he wasn't
in me, but still so close.
"Let's see," he said putting his index finger on his chin. "Did I
miss any place?"
He looked behind hisself.
"Oh! That's what I forgot!" he laughed. "Your little sandals!"
"Please don't do this," I pleded. "I'm a virgin. So I woudn't be good. And
as you can see, I don't have big boobs."
He took one sandal off, and licked my small toe.
"You jist right, ha. Don't ya worry 'bout a thing. Now if ya ain't
got nothin nice to say 'bout my body, than keep ya mouth shut, and enjoy
the ride."
He took my other sandal off. He ran his fingers over my legs before
climbing on top of me. He began sucking on one of my breast, and rubbing
his manliness against my leg. He pulled closer to me, and began kissing
my lips, his manliness still rubbing against my leg. I could feel the
tears streaming down my cheeks. He licked them off of my cheek.
"Um. Nice and salty." he slurred. Think! Think! Think, my head was
screaming.
"Ah, yes!" he moaned pleasurely. "This is great." Kick him! Kick him
where it hurts most! I bended my knee back to get ready for a forceful
kick. But when I bended my knee, it provided more room for him. He
moved between my legs.
"See, I knew you would loesen up," he whispered. He tightened his
grip on me. Pretend like you're enjoying it. Maybe he'll losen up a
little bit. I ran my fingers down his back.
"Yes," I breathed. His breathing quickened. I squeezed his butt, and
kissed his neck. I could feel heat coming into his body. He seemed to
have more energy. But he did loesen up. I didn't waste any time. I jerked
away from him, and rolled off of the bed. Yes! He looked up surprised.
"What do you think you're doing?" he shierked.
"Getting away from you, you hairy creature! You monster!"
He jumped off of the bed, and grabbed me.
"I don't think so," he seethed. He slapped me on my bare hips five
times.
"Bad girl. Bad, bad, girl." he whispered. His breath was hot
against my shouder. I jerked away from him and ran for the door. I looked
back, still running. I hit the door with a bam. He was still standing by
the bed with a smile on his face. I tried the doorknob. It wouldn't
open. It was locked.
"Darn," I muttered.
He walked toward me.
"What's the matter, reddy? Door won't open? Right. I locked it."
"HELP!" I screamed, bamming against the door. "Someone HELP ME!" He grabbed
my shoulder, and slapped me across the face. I had never been slapped
that hard in my life.
"You're coming with me. I'm going git my sex from you, weather you
like it or NOT!"
He pulled me by my hair, lifted me up by my hips, and threw me on the
bed. It seemed to be harder. He jumped on the bed, barley missing me. I
rolled off of the bed, looking for a weapon to use in defense. I saw a
broom in the coner of the room. I raced across the room and grabbed it.
He jumped off of the bed, and ran toward me. He took it right out of my
hands, and broke it in half.
"BAD, BAD, GIRL!" he raged.
He began beating me with both halfs.
"Stop!" I screamed. "Please! Please! PLEASE!"
He didn't though. He laughed this strange laugh, and whipped me harder.
When I felt like all hope was up, the door burst open, and there stood
the guy in the tight, red pants. I was never more happy to see him.
"Bo! What you think you doing?" he yelled.
The boy looked up surprised. He stood up.
"Sir, I was just -"
"Myers, git out of here. I was saving her for me!"
"NO!" I screamed. He smiled a toothy grin at me. Then I heard the cries
of my baby sister, Suzie. I was never more happy to hear it. I grabbed
my clothes, my bag, pushed by the men, and ran out of there as quick as
I could. I didn't waste anytime grabbing Suzie, either. After grabbing
her, I was out of the door.
And I didn't look back.
Chapter 6
A Home, A Family
I ran as far as I could from that horrible, filthy house. Suzie's
cries were the only thing I heard. I stopped in the middle of the trail,
and put Suzie down. I had left my shirt, but I still had my pants, bra,
panties, and shoes. I got dressed as soon as my trembling hands would
allow me, picked Suzie back up, and began running again. As I saw the
brightness of daylight from out of the trees, I ran faster and harder.
When I finally came to traffic, it was slow and steady.
"Suzie, help me find a payphone, 'kay?"
"Okay."
I shifted her onto my other hip.
An hour later, we didn't get nowhere. We were still walking. I was
tired, I was hungrey, and I was lost. It was starting to get dark, and the
last thing I wanted was to get snatched. I hugged Suzie closer to me.
"I wanna go home," Suzie whispered.
I knew she was tired too.
"I want to go, too," I whispered back. "We'll be there soon." I said
the words with confidence, but I didn't feel any. I didn't feel any
hope whatsoever. It began to drizzle. "I wish I had a shirt," I shivered.
"It's getting cool. You okay, Suzie?" She didn't respond. Instead, she
hugged my neck, and began to cry.
"Daaaddy!" she wailed. "I want my daddy!"
"Shh," I comforted her. "We'll be home soon."
Another hour later, it was raining hard. It was totaly dark, and I
still didn't see a pay phone. Neither a gas station. Finally, I gave up,
and sat under a tree. Suzie was falling asleep in my arms. I sang
quietly to her, until she was all the way sleep. She snored softly in my
arms. A black sports car sped past us, spraying us soaking wet. I usualy
don't pray. But at the time, I was desperate.
"Jesus," I whispered. "Please help Suzie and I get home safely. Or
at least get to our parents. Please, Jesus, please."
I stood up, and lifted Suzie as softly as I could, and I began our walk
again.
About two hours later, I guess it was around 11:30p.m, I saw a gas
station. The station was closed, but there was a payphone there. I digged
into my purse, until I found what I was looking for. I pushed the coins
into into the slot, punched in 411, and waited for the operater.
"What state, what city?" he asked.
"Columbia SC." I said as patiently as I could.
"What listing?"
"Caroline Winkins."
"Please wait for the number."
I pulled out a shopping list I had planned for the next day, and wrote
the number down. I pushed some more coins in to make the call. I
punched in the number, and this time, I waited patiently. At least I would
talk to mom or Dad. I didn't care who it was at the time.
"Hello?" mom said.
"Mom? Is this mom?"
"Red?"
"Yes."
"Red! Where are you? Your father and I are worried."
"Red?" I heard Dad say in the back. I could hear his footsteps, and
the phone being snatched away from my mom.
"Red, is that you?" he asked. I could tell he was trying to sound
angrey, but I could hear the worriness in his voice. "Where are you," he
asked. I sniffled back a sob.
"I...I don't know."
"What? You don't know where you are? What you mean?"
"I..I..we..." I couldn't finish, because the pain was still there. I
couldn't tell him what happened. I began to cry.
"Daddy," I wailed. "Please come and get me!"
"Red? What's the matter? You need to give me some directions."
"I don't know where I'm at," I sobbed. "I was at Uncle Bill's place
and -"
"You were what? Did you say you were at Billy's house?" he asked.
"Yeah." I sniffled.
"Was Suzie there."
"Uh um."
"I don't understand that."
"Yes, sir." I heard him take a deep breath. I began to weep again.
"Wait, don't cry. Red, stop it. I need you to give me some kind of
directions. I need to come get you." I wipped my nose on my arm, and used my
purse as an umbrella.
"We're at a EXPRESS gas station, and after we got out of the woods
from Unce Bill's, we went right. And we walked on until we got here."
"That's all?" he asked. "What else did you pass?" I shrugged even
though I knew he couldn't see me.
"I ain't know. All I know is that I'm cold, scared, lost, and
hungrey. Please come and get Suzie and I, daddy. And please hurry."
Thirty minutes later, we saw daddy's truck. Suzie had woken up crying
and shivering. The both of us were soaking wet. Dad pulled into the gas
station, and in front of us. After getting out, he ran over to Suzie
and hugged her. Mom got out of the other side and ran to me.
"Oh, Red! You don't have a shirt on! What happened?" Dad looked over
at me, as soon as he heard I didn't have a shirt on. He tried to put
Suzie down, but Suzie's chubby arms were glued to his neck.
"Where's your shirt?" he asked. I looked down at my feet.
"It's a long story," I whispered. "We'll talk about it later. What I
need now, is some real love." Mom wrapped her arms around me.
"I have to take your mother home," Dad said. Mom looked down.
"That's okay, I have two homes now. Because," I snifed. "she is my
mother. She has the right to know what happened......just like every
other mother. I opened the door, and climbed into the truck.
"Let's go home."
At mom's apartment, we sat in front of the fireplace on the soft,
plush carpet, drinking hot chocolate.
"So what happened," Dad asked after a moment of relaxing. I shivered at
the thought.
"I was, well, I was almost raped."
"WHAT?!" Dad exploded. His face went from pale to bright red, then deep
red. "What the samhill were you doing there anyway?" he asked. Not
waiting for a reply, he jumped up, and started pacing back and forth. "Why
weren't you at my grandma's place. Why didn't you -"
"Red smoke." Suzie interupted.
"Red smoked, huh?" Dad lifted up one eyebrow.
"Look," I said. "I don't have time to discuss that now. Who knows how
many girls were in my place, or worse." I said.
"You had no bussiness being over there anyway." Dad snapped.
"Dad, he asked if we wanted to go over there. I...I didn't say yes."
"Yeah, and I bet ya didn say no, either, huh?"
"Dad, look, I've been through alot today, please don't put anymore
preasure on me." Mom was just starring with her hands over her heart. She
was so pale. Dad sighed and sat down.
"Hand me the phone, Caroline," he commanded.
"For what, Wayne. You're not going to call the police, now are you?"
she asked.
"Hand me the phone, Caroline." he repeated. She picked up the cordless
phone, and handed it to him. He began punching in numbers. I leaned
forward.
"Dad, I wouldn't call the police without information. They won't be
able to help." He slowly turned his face toward me. He was angrey.
"Who said I was calling the police?" he asked coldly. I leaned back in
the chair.
"Fine." I said lifting up one hand.
"Hello." he said into the phone. "Yeah, Billy, I need to talk to you. I
don't care about your ladies. Something happened this afternoon with my
daughters, and I'd like to discuss it. Ohhh....yes that! I would like
a....." Dad went walking out of the room into the dinning room. I looked
into my now cold chocolate.
"Red. Tell me what happened." Mom pleaded. "I can help you. I'm your
mother so I can do this. Come on, let's talk about it. That may help
out." I sighed and let a tear slip down my cheek. This was all my fault.
If I had just said no, everything would have been all right. If I had
just said no, I wouldn't be hurting. Who knows what happened to little
Suzie. Mom laid her hands on my shoulders.
"Sweetie, if you don't want to talk about it now, you don't have to."
I looked up at her. She was my mom. Maybe we could have one of those
mother to daughter talks, like they do on t.v. I leaned forward, and
placed my cold chocolate on the coffe table.
"I want to talk about it. I need to tell someone," I said truthfully.
"And I feel that it would be great to talk to you of all people...mom."
She smiled, and placed her coffe down.
"Thank you for feeling that way, welcome back into my life."
We talked for a long time. Dad came in and joined. After hearing the
whole story out, we prayed. We hardly ever pray, but we did that night.
And Dad led us in it! It was a time of grief, but love and family time.
And I don't think I would trade that time for all the money in the
world.
I laid down on the soft pillow that now belonged to me. It was a gift
from mom. It was hers since she was ten, and she passed it on to me. It
was baby-blue with big, blooming, sunflowers spread all around. Suzie
had one, too. It was beidge, with one big rose, bloomed out on it. It
had red lace on the ends. They were beautiful. Dad, of coarse got
something, too. A big kiss on the cheek. And the strange thing about it is, I
didn't mind. Actuly, I was kind of hoping that they would do more, but
Dad was ready to go. He didn't want her to see him blushing. Even
though I had a really bad day, I had a great night. It was like a dream come
true. We were one big family. I closed my eyes, and said a prayer of
thanks. My eyes stayed close as I drifted into a pitiful sleep. I dreamed
of the man with red, tight jeans, of being forced into a brick bed, and
being abused with two halves of a broom. I woke up trembling. I looked
at my alarm clock. 4:15am. I got up. and quietly slipped into my robe.
"Some nice, cool, milk will do me good," I whispered to myself. I
opened the door, and tip-toed down the hall and into the kicten. I found
Dad in there drinking a glass of juice. He looked up at me. "Red, what
are you doing up," he asked, looking down into his now empty glass.
"Couldn't sleep." I replied. He nodded.
"Have a seat. I..um, wanna talk to you about what happened."
I obediantly sat down, and took his glass from him.
"Pass the juice," I said.
He passed it as told, and leaned forward.
"Red, I'm sorry that happened today. I guess I'm responsible for
everything. I shouldn't have let you lose with Billy anyway." He paused
taking a deep breath. "This will never happen again. I want you to know
that I love you. And I'll always be there for you. Always." I got up, and
hugged him.
"I know, Dad, and I believe in you. Trust in you. And I'll always be
there for you, too."
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