The Water

by Nancy Jackson

  “They’re very capable, but I have this feeling it’s all connected somehow. I believe the girls knew the man in the black car or Sam wouldn’t have gone willingly with him and Cami wouldn’t have been so unconcerned.

  “What if it somehow involves the parents?” Carrie asked.

  Bracket frowned and Randy shifted in his seat to better engage in their conversation.

  “Why do you think it may involve the parents?” Randy asked.

  Carrie was shaking her head as she answered, “I don’t know for sure. Maybe this guy was a family member or a friend of their parents. What if he told them something like their parents were hurt or asking for him to take them to where they were?”

  “But only Sam went, not Cami. If their parents were hurt or something like that, then wouldn’t both girls have gone?” asked Randy.

  Carrie sat thinking for a minute looking down at the floor. The sun shone through the large windows in Bracket’s office and the dust motes danced their familiar rhythm. Carrie sat transfixed for a moment watching them.

  “He could have said they were asking for Sam, not Cami.” Carrie looked up at Bracket and Randy.

  Bracket leaned back in his chair unconvinced. “I think that’s a stretch. But I do believe you are right about the girls knowing the man. Go ahead and follow up with the parents when Rick calls and let us know.”

  Carrie sat and nodded looking at the men who sat quiet. She had the strange sensation she had interrupted a conversation, and that they didn’t want to continue until she had gone. Uneasiness touched her and told her they were talking about her.

  Suddenly self-conscious, Carrie stood to leave. From sheer nervousness she brushed the palms of her hands down her pant legs and then shoved them in her pockets.

  She nodded awkwardly and turned to go. At the door, she turned back to look at them.

  “Well… Ok, I’ll just go now… Carrie thought how awkward that sounded and mentally berated herself for it.

  She closed the door behind her and walked back to her desk. Her mind raced, jumping from one topic to another that they could be discussing.

  Was Randy talking to Bracket about her continued drinking, she wondered. She was trying to stop. She was doing better, wasn’t she? The sheer anxiety of the situation just made her want to drink even more. She slammed her palm on the desk, then rested her head in her hands. Would it ever end?

  Beth had spent a full hour with Sandy going over what she knew about the incoming girls and the orientation process. They went over the forms to fill out, and also signs to look for in the girls.

  It was important to make sure the girls felt welcome, and free to talk if they felt the need to do so. Also, there may be nightmares and trauma associated with their experiences. There could also be possible drug withdrawals.

  Then there were those who might try to leave. This wasn’t a prison, but if the girls left, then they would be right back in the same danger they had been in. Beth taught Sandy signs to look for in the girls that might indicate that they were thinking of running.

  It’s a lot to take in, thought Sandy as she left Beth’s office. The smell of fresh-baked bread reached out to her in the hallway, and she knew it must be time for lunch. She followed the sounds of giggles and laughter to the dining room.

  When Sandy entered the room, Emma patted the chair next to her and said, “Miss Sandy come sit by me.”

  “Lunch smells good. Is that fresh-baked bread?” asked Sandy as she reached for a hot roll.

  “Yes. The cooks here are good. We don’t always get fresh baked stuff, but today we did,” said Emma.

  On the table sat a large ham, and there were also green beans and corn. It was a home-cooked meal and Sandy filled her plate. She wasn’t sure she’d eaten this well since she last ate at her mother’s table.

  The thought of her own mother caused gratitude to well up inside her. She had been fortunate to have grown up in a good home. Her mother and father had been good parents and her home had been one that Sandy always wanted to come home too, unlike many of these girls.

  About the time that Sandy finished her meal, she heard voices and movement near the back of the home. She picked up her plate and utensils and took them to the kitchen where she rinsed them and placed them in the dishwasher.

  She heard Beth call her name, and she turned to follow her voice. Coming from the back entrance were Beth and four teenage girls. They had varied expressions, some timid and others defiant, but all looked leery of their new surroundings.

  “This is Abigail, Brianna, Ella, and Mia. If you will show Abby and Bri where their room is and help them get settled, I will take Ella and Mia.” Beth handed Sandy two white trash bags and a few plastic shopping bags which held the girls' things.

  Sandy smiled at the girls and led the way. As she led them up the stairs and to a new room that was not being used, she pointed out the bathrooms and other rooms of interest.

  Neither of the girls spoke. Sandy didn’t know if that was because they were scared, or just had nothing to say. She was curious and wanted to ask questions about the girls, but Beth had cautioned her not to. Especially on the first day, they didn’t want to do anything to push the girls. Her goal was to help them relax in their new surroundings.

  She entered a room with two bunk beds and sat the bags in the room's center. It was sparsely furnished, but welcoming. The beds had unmatched quilts done in the same color scheme of primary colors. Unique, but coordinated.

  Between their beds, was a short chest that served as a nightstand for both bunk beds. In the center was a large rug. Across the room was a larger chest of drawers and a closet.

  Sandy looked at the girls and asked, “Right now you’ll be the only two in this room. You may have whichever bed you wish.”

  The girls looked at the beds and Abby shrugged. “I don’t care, really.”

  “I don’t want up on a top one. Can I have one on the bottom?” asked Bri.

  “Yes, you may. Just choose whichever bed you want. There are two small drawers in this chest so you can each have one, but this chest here is good to put your clothes in. There are hangers in the closet so you can hang up clothes as well.”

  The girls just stood there, unsure of what to do. Sandy felt a little awkward, not knowing how to help them feel at home. She stood for a moment rubbing the palms of her hands together and then sat on one of the lower bunks.

  “I don’t know which bag belongs to who. Abby which are yours and which are Bri’s?” Sandy said as she bent over to separate the bags.

  It seemed to move the girls into action, and Bri sat on the bed next to Sandy while Abby sat on the opposite bottom bunk.

  Soon they had the bags with their meager goods sorted, and with Sandy’s direction, they had picked out drawers in the chest and folded and placed their items inside. They each filled their drawer less than half-way. They had also each hung up only a couple of items.

  Abby stood at the closet door looking at one of her dresses. She held the hem in her hand. She then turned and looked at Sandy. Her eyes were sad, and she spoke as if she wasn’t sure how Sandy would respond to what she had to say.

  “I don’t have normal clothes anymore,” said Abby.

  “What do you mean?” asked Sandy.

  Abby looked back at the dress she held the hem of. “I don’t want to wear these clothes here. I wore them to make men want me.” She looked back at Sandy. “I don’t want men to want me anymore.”

  Sandy stood rigid with compassion in the center of the room. Then moved toward Abby. She reached out her hand for Abby to take it. “They will help you get new clothes.” Then she smiled.

  Abby dropped the hem of the dress and walked to Sandy. She stood facing her and looked her square in the eyes. “I know they say I will get past this, but I don’t know how.”

  “I know it sounds trite and cliche, but it will just take one day at a time. Think about today, this day, and what you can and need to do to get better. Then tomorrow will be a
nother day.”

  Chapter 11

  Jenny was trying to get used to Safe At Last. Everyone was nice to her there, but she severely missed Pride. She couldn’t imagine a life without her and each time she thought of it, her heart broke all over again.

  Beth had met with her and they went through a questionnaire about the things that Jenny thought she might like to do, careers or jobs she thought she might be good at.

  After some discussion they had decided that she might like to be a beautician at a hair salon. She would work with the tutor to get her GED and then attend a trade school. That sounded good to Jenny.

  At that moment though, there was nothing to do but sit and watch television. Jenny sat on the sofa and felt as though her skin was crawling with bugs, so she rubbed her hands up and down her arms. She had had nothing for several days, but the anxiety of missing Pride triggered familiar urges in her.

  She sprang up off of the sofa and paced the room. Her nails were down to the quick, but she gnawed on one anyway, trying to slide her tooth under the slightest sliver of remaining fingernail. The sting of raw skin caused her to pull her hand away where she saw a thin line of blood. Aggravated, she dropped her hand and continued her pacing.

  Just then, the four new girls walked into the room with Beth. She got the attention of Jenny and the other two girls in the room and made introductions all around.

  Jenny remembered yesterday when she had first arrived. They looked as lost and scared as she had… still did. She walked over to the one nearest her and reached out her hand, “Hi, I’m Jenny.”

  The girl was Ella. She had short black hair that was spikey on top. Ella looked at Jenny’s hand and took it. “I’m Ella.”

  Jenny noticed that Ella had stunning bright green eyes that stood out against her black hair and white complexion. I was watching tv. You want to watch with me?

  Ella nodded in response and followed Jenny to the sofa. The other girls were quickly welcomed into the group and soon found themselves around the room watching the television. No one spoke. No one knew what to say. They all had basically the same story, and no one wanted to relive any of it, so they sat in silence.

  Beth spent the afternoon having one new girl at a time come to her office so they could talk about themselves in private. She would spend at least an hour with each girl. It was a good time to get to know them and hopefully help them feel more welcome and at home.

  After two hours of sitting on the sofa, Jenny thought she would go mad. Lisa had been out with another volunteer that day and Jenny was hoping she would be home soon. At the thought of the word home, she snorted. This wasn’t home. Home was with Pride.

  At the thought of Pride, a tear slid down Jenny’s cheek. She didn’t want anyone to see her sitting there crying, so she mumbled an excuse and got up to go to her room.

  The bedroom she shared with Lisa was calm and quiet. As the door clicked shut, she felt as though she were shutting the world out. She’d made her bed that morning, since it was one of the rules, so she laid on top of the spread and curled up in a ball.

  Then she let the tears come. She dozed in and out as the crying exhausted her. Then at about three that afternoon, Lisa came into the room. She wasn’t used to the door being closed, so she opened it quietly, and then promptly shut it behind her.

  She hurried over to the bottom bunk opposite of where Jenny laid and leaned over speaking to Jenny in a hushed but urgent voice. “I saw Gus!” Lisa let the words sink in.

  When they did, Jenny's eye flew open wide, and she swung her legs over the edge of the bed and sat upright. Her mind was still foggy from her crying jag, so she had a little trouble comprehending what Lisa had said.

  “You saw Gus? Where?” Jenny asked with confusion on her face.

  “He’s watching this house.” Lisa spoke slow and deliberate. She wanted the impact of her words to hit Jenny the way Lisa felt them.

  And they did. Panic flashed through Jenny and she jumped up wildly searching around the room wondering where to go and what to do.

  Lisa stood up and grabbed Jenny by the shoulders. “I saw him when we left, and his crew was still there when we came back. He knows we’re here.”

  Jenny felt sick to her stomach and doubled over. “I’m going to be sick.” She bolted from the room and pounded on the closed bathroom door.

  Quickly the door opened, and she shoved herself past the girl standing in the doorway. She made it to the toilet in time to lose the wonderful lunch she’d enjoyed.

  Her mind was pounding. Gus is here. Gus is watching us. What am I going to do?

  Lisa had been right behind her and was now reaching down with a wet cloth for Jenny to wipe her face with. Jenny sat on the floor and leaned against the wall, wiping her face with the cloth.

  Once again the sobs started. She didn’t know how she had any tears left to cry, but she did. Maybe she’d been holding them back for so long they couldn’t stay locked up any longer.

  Lisa sat on the floor cross-legged facing Jenny. “We have to get out of here.”

  Jenny removed the cloth from her face and looked at Lisa. “Get out of here?”

  “We have to run away from here and go somewhere he can’t find us. If we don’t, we will wind up dead like Mandy and Cami,” said Lisa.

  Jenny’s hands plopped into her lap. The damp rag was soaking her jeans, but she didn’t even notice, as she stared off into the distance.

  Maybe Lisa was right. Soon they would go to class and out to part-time jobs and then Beth couldn’t protect them from Gus. He would get them one way or another. As that reality soaked in, Jenny slowly nodded in agreement.

  She looked up at Lisa. “You’re right. They can’t protect us. If we go, we have to go get Pride and take her with us. I can’t stop grieving for her, and she’s in danger from Gus too.”

  Lisa really didn’t want the baggage of caring for a fat old woman like Pride, but she knew Jenny wouldn’t go without her, so she nodded in agreement.

  “Are you okay? Let’s go back to our room and make a plan,” said Lisa as she stood and reached out to help Jenny up.

  Once back in their room, they shut the door and sat on their beds facing each other.

  “We can’t just walk out that door. They have security, and alarms will go off. We don’t have the code. We won’t get to the end of the walk,” said Jenny.

  Lisa nodded thinking. “But we could get the code. If we stand to the side when Beth or one of the other volunteers goes out, we can watch what code they punch in to release the lock.

  “But what about the monitors? Someone is always watching a monitor,” replied Jenny.

  “I went down in the middle of the night the other night to get something to drink and no one was watching them. They don’t expect anyone to come to the door in the middle of the night, and no one can get in without someone from in here releasing the lock, so they don’t worry so much.

  “During the day they pay more attention. If we can get the code, we can slip out in the middle of the night and no one will even know we’re gone until morning. We have to go at night anyway to sneak past Gus,” said Lisa.

  Jenny sat and thought for a moment. “We don’t have much money. What are we going to do?”

  “How much do you have?” Lisa asked Jenny.

  Before Jenny could answer a knock sounded on their door and Sandy stuck her head in. “Is everything all right in here? One girl said Jenny had been sick.”

  Jenny and Lisa looked at Sandy with innocent eyes and guilty hearts. They both hoped they could pull off the innocent act.

  “I was,” Jenny stammered. “But I’m fine now.”

  Sandy wasn’t buying it. She had taught school way too long, as well as being a mother, to know when kids weren’t telling the truth. She opened the door all the way up and walked on in.

  She sat on the edge of the bed next to Jenny and attempted to look her in the eye. She reached her hand to Jenny’s forehead to feel. “You don’t have a fever.”

&
nbsp; Jenny ducked her head and pulled it away from Sandy’s hand. “I promise I’m fine. I guess lunch just didn’t set well with me.”

  Sandy looked over at Lisa, but she wouldn’t make eye contact either. She wasn’t sure what to say, not wanting to make false accusations.

  Beth was now gone for the day and would not be back until tomorrow afternoon. She had told Sandy that she had pressing family matters to attend to, so basically while Sandy was here, she was in charge.

  Concern creased Sandy’s brow. “You know you can talk to me if you need to, right?”

  Both girls nodded. They would not tell Sandy what they were planning. If they told anyone about Gus, it would not make any difference. There was nothing anyone could do to help them, so they had to help themselves.

  Finally Sandy nodded, smiled, and rose from the bed. She stopped at the door knowing something was up, but feeling at a lost at what to do. She wanted to prove to Beth that she could handle this without her. She would just keep an eye on the girls while she was here.

  With that thought, she closed the door behind her.

  Carrie met Rick and Mike outside the Anderson’s home. They agreed that it would be too much for all three to go in together, so Mike stayed out by the car while Rick and Carrie spoke with the parents.

  On the way up the walk, Carrie asked, “Did you ask the store owner if he could instruct a sketch artist to draw a rendering of the man?”

  “I did, but he said it was too long ago and that he only saw him through the dirty glass on the front door. Apparently he wasn’t out there long before Sam got in and he drove off.”

  “What about a year on the car or a tag number?” Carrie knew Rick did his job well, but it was her nature to ask.

  “He wasn’t much of a car guy and couldn’t decide on a year. He was guessing, but thought maybe late eighties or early nineties. He couldn’t get a tag because the guy left turning the corner behind the store where there were no windows. Since he didn’t go out to look, he didn’t see it.”