The Beloved

by Gonzalez, J. F.

  FIFTEEN

  WHEN THEY GOT to the house Elizabeth made sure Eric and Mary were inside before she closed the garage door. Gregg had already gone inside with the kids, and as she stepped into the mudroom that led to the kitchen she called out. “Eric, take Mary upstairs to our bedroom. We can talk up there.”

  Gregg stood in the kitchen while Elizabeth went around the house checking the windows and doors. She could feel his gaze on her as she drew the drapes closed. “Jesus, Elizabeth, what the hell is going on?”

  “Can you set the alarm, please?”

  Gregg started, his features puzzled, then registered the implications of what she was asking him to do. She could feel her stomach grow tight and she wondered if she should go to the basement to check the windows there. She felt cold, the hairs along her arm standing on end, and she was shaking.

  The tension had grown so thick in the house since they’d entered that it felt like they were walking through molasses.

  Gregg had stepped away from the kitchen to cross over to the entryway to engage the alarm, and Elizabeth felt a little relieved he hadn’t used this opportunity to argue the matter with her. Gregg could be overly analytical when it came to emotions, but she could clearly tell he was letting his instinct take over his rational side. There’d been times in the past when he’d tried to be too rational and they would argue over the stupidest things. Thank God that wasn’t happening now. Because if it was, if he had decided to be pig-headed about this, they could be—

  The phone rang.

  “Don’t answer it!” she yelled. The sudden ring of the phone made her jump and she took a moment to catch her breath, then went to the kitchen where the phone was.

  She looked at the LED read-out .

  The call was coming from her parent’s house.

  Gregg was standing in the breakfast nook. “Your folks?”

  Elizabeth nodded. “Is the side garage door locked?”

  “It’s always locked.”

  “What about the basement windows?”

  “They’re locked.”

  “Let’s go upstairs.” She led the way upstairs and motioned down the hall toward her office. “Can you go around the bedrooms and make sure the drapes are closed in all the rooms? I’m going to make sure the kids are okay.”

  Gregg started down the hallway to her office, which was the only second floor room over the garage. The remaining three bedrooms were on the opposite end of the house.

  Elizabeth went down the hall to the master bedroom where Eric and Mary were waiting for her.

  She had left the drapes wide open when they’d left this morning, but Eric had probably either heard her closing the drapes downstairs or had felt the instinctual need to do so, and they were now all closed off against the afternoon sun. Mary was sitting on the edge of the bed, her face still red from crying, but she had calmed down quite considerably. Elizabeth nodded at Eric and mouthed “Thanks”, then went to the master bathroom. “You guys thirsty?”

  Mary said, “Yeah.”

  Elizabeth checked the windows in the bathroom and went back into the bedroom. Eric had joined Mary on the bed. The kids looked scared, but they also looked relieved that they were safe, that Elizabeth was doing everything she could to keep them that way. “Would you like water? Soda? Lemonade?”

  “Do you have any punch?”

  “I have fruit punch.”

  “I’ll have some punch.”

  “Okay. Eric? You want anything?”

  “A coke.”

  Gregg entered the bedroom. “Drapes are all closed,” he said.

  “Are you thirsty?” she asked Gregg.

  “A little.”

  “Then come downstairs and help me get us some drinks.”

  Gregg gave a quick glance around the room, as if to assure himself everything was all right, nodded at Eric, then joined Elizabeth.

  When they returned a few minutes later bearing drinks, Elizabeth felt the clock ticking; they had to act fast because something was going to happen. She didn’t know what, didn’t know why she felt this unnerving feeling something was going to happen. Therefore, she needed to cut to the chase and get to the bottom of what was happening. She looked at Eric. “We’re going to be talking about some pretty intense stuff, Eric. If you want to stay, you can stay. If you think you won’t be able to handle it and you’ll be scared, that’s okay; you can go to your room. Just don’t open the drapes or go downstairs. Okay?”

  Eric shifted uncomfortably on the bed. He took a sip of coke. “I can handle it,” he said.

  “What Mary says does not leave this room,” Elizabeth said, looking at him sternly.

  Gregg sat down on his side of the bed, back against the headboard. He had gotten a beer for himself. Elizabeth had gotten a Dr. Pepper. Mary sipped from a glass of punch Elizabeth had poured her. “So,” Elizabeth said, looking at Mary. “Grandma told me a few weeks ago about the night you saw that thing in your daddy’s bed...the weekend you spent with us. Remember?”

  Mary nodded, chugging punch. She finished, released a deep sigh. Her mouth was stained red from the punch. She looked more relaxed now that she was away from Diana.

  “Grandma told me all about it,” Elizabeth said. “I told Uncle Gregg later.” She glanced at Eric. “Your cousin doesn’t know what I’m talking about, but he’s a smart kid. He’ll surely figure it out as we talk.”

  “What thing did you see in your dad’s room?” Eric asked, looking interested.

  Elizabeth leaned toward Mary. “Your grandmother thought you’d had a bad dream, that you might be reacting in some way because of...the situation at your house, not seeing your daddy. Is that right? Did you have a bad dream?”

  Mary shook her head vigorously. “No!”

  “So what you told grandma that night was the truth?”

  Mary nodded just as vigorously.

  “What happened after that?” Elizabeth asked. “In the weeks that followed? I know it’s been hard for you because of what happened to your mommy, but...”

  “It got her, didn’t it?” Mary whispered. She looked like she was going to cry again.

  Elizabeth glanced quickly at Gregg, whose gaze seemed to say take it easy. She shifted around on the bed and tried a more gentle approach. “I don’t know honey, but I believe you even if grandma doesn’t. And we want to help. We love you and we don’t want anything to happen to you. If you can tell us anything that...well, anything that you can remember about the last few weeks, that would really help us out a lot.”

  Mary began slowly, repeating the story Laura had told her three weeks ago. As the story spun out, she seemed to get her bearings on it and was able to skip right through without crying. Eric listened, his eyes growing wide; he occasionally cast questioning glances at his parents as if to seek their confirmation that what Mary was telling them was really true. Gregg rubbed Eric’s shoulders as Mary brought the story to its conclusion.

  “What happened the last few weeks?” Elizabeth asked. “Eric told me you had signed up for some after-school thing. Was that what you were really doing?”

  Mary looked ashamed. She bowed her head slightly. “I lied,” she said, her voice almost a whisper.

  Elizabeth glanced at Gregg quickly. “It’s okay honey. You won’t get into trouble. We won’t tell anybody.”

  Mary sighed, looked back up at her Aunt. For an eight-year-old, she had the worry lines and composure of a much older child, one who has seen and been through a lot. “After that weekend...especially after my mommy died, I didn’t want to go back to my house, but there was no place left for me to go. I’d go to school and it was the best part of the day for me. I started dreading the three o’clock bell. The first few days after I spent the weekend here, Diana would pick me up and we would go to grandma’s because of mommy.” Elizabeth nodded, understanding what she meant; Cindy’s funeral had been planned that week, and Diana would pick the kids up from school and bring them to the house where the family was gathering every day. “Then at
night I’d have to go to that house. I’d go straight to my room and go under the covers and pretend to sleep so Lily wouldn’t bother me, but I could always feel her watching me. Sometimes I would sit in the bathroom and I’d be afraid to come out, but then Diana would yell at me to come out, to go to my room with Lily and then I would.” She started crying again and Elizabeth immediately rubbed her shoulder lovingly, soothing her. “I just kept trying to go through it, and then after mommy’s funeral I thought the best thing to do was just to stay away from the house as much as possible. So I lied and told Diana that I signed up for an after-school play and some other things and that grandma had signed the paperwork, and at first she didn’t believe me and I panicked, but then I remembered there really was an after-school play going. So that day at school I signed up. I had Mrs. Sweet, my teacher, call grandma to get permission. I also signed up for girl’s gym. So in a way I had signed up for stuff, but I lied to Diana about how long it lasted. They were supposed to get out at four and five, but I’d stay out till six and seven, sometimes even later.”

  Elizabeth didn’t know whether she should hug her niece or scold her for taking such risks. She wanted to do both. “Didn’t the school know you weren’t being picked up?”

  Mary shook her head. She gave a little smile. “My friend Tina Walker was in girl’s gym and I rode home with her every night. She lives a few blocks from us, and at first her mom wanted to drop me off at my house. I made her go to grandma’s instead. Grandma and grandpa were surprised to see me, but I told them Diana wasn’t home when I got to the house and I didn’t have a key.” She smiled wider. “I got to stay till ten o’clock that night!”

  Elizabeth couldn’t help it; she grinned. “What did you do the rest of the nights?”

  “I had Tina ask her mommy if I could eat supper at their house because my parents were working late,” Mary said. “At first Tina’s mother wasn’t sure and she said no. I was expecting that, so when they dropped me off at the house, I went in through the door in the side of the garage. I’d wait until they were gone, then I’d slip out and head toward the end of the street where the creek was. I’d hang out down there and “

  “You went to the creek by yourself at night?” Gregg exclaimed, his voice rising in surprise.

  The sudden shrill of Gregg’s voice startled Mary, and she got that ashamed look again. “I only went there because I didn’t have anywhere else to go!”

  “How long did you stay there by yourself, honey?” Elizabeth asked, gently coaxing the little girl back into her narrative.

  Mary took a sip of punch and shrugged. “I stayed there till it got too cold to stay outside. Maybe eight o’clock. Then I’d walk home.”

  “And Diana never knew where you were?”

  Mary shook her head. “A lot of times when I came home, she was the only one at the house ‘cause she’d leave Lily with grandma. So that was neat. That was why I signed up for the activities, so I wouldn’t be forced to be with Lily every day at grandma’s. Sometimes I’d even wait until I knew Diana was in the bathroom or the bedroom or something, and then I’d sneak in. Or sometimes I’d time things just perfectly and I’d get home when she wasn’t even there!” She grinned again. “That was the best!”

  Elizabeth smiled at her niece, then took a sip of her Dr. Pepper. She held up her hand, one finger up. “Hold that thought, please.” She stood up and went to the windows to peer outside. She still had that anxious feeling; they’d been home twenty minutes already, more than enough time for Diana or mom to have arrived at the house by now if they’d gotten in the car and driven over immediately after they had left. “So you’ve spent the last three weeks staying out till seven, sometimes eight p.m. on school nights, then you’d sneak in the house. When would Lily get home?”

  “Lily would get home around nine. By then I was taking a bath. I’d take my time, too.” Mary grinned again.

  “And what was it like the rest of the night?”

  Mary got that look of dread in her features again, the same look she had when she first told them about seeing the shapeless thing attached to her father. “Lily would always be hanging around me,” she said. “If I wanted to read a book or watch a cartoon, she would always be there. Every time I wanted to do something by myself, Diana would make me do it with Lily. Even if I wanted to go to bed early she made Lily go to bed with me.”

  “And Rick?”

  “If Lily wasn’t around, she made Rick be with me. On weekends if I wanted to go to Tina’s house, or if she came over and we wanted to go play in the backyard or something, Diana always made one of her kids go with us. They never left me alone!”

  The phone rang again. Elizabeth ignored it and nodded at Mary to continue. She was about to launch into it again when Gregg said, “Are you sure maybe Diana just wanted Rick to watch you to make sure you didn’t hurt yourself?”

  Elizabeth turned to Gregg, the beginning of a frown on her face. Mary turned to him too, her features bearing annoyance. “She always made me be with Lily or Rick. She never let me be alone!”

  Gregg shook his head and Elizabeth recognized the look coming over his face; he looked like he wasn’t buying any of this. “I’m sorry, but I just don’t see what the fuss is. I don’t like Diana or her kids either, but—”

  “She’s stronger now,” Mary said, her face solemn, grave. “Ever since mommy died she and Rick and Lily seem...stronger. More in control.”

  “Jesus Christ!” Gregg protested. He rose to his feet. “This is ridiculous! I’m not going to— ”

  “Gregg, shut up and sit down!” Elizabeth roared, and the intensity of her voice shocked her. The kids jumped, surprised at the tone of her voice. Even Gregg stopped in mid-tirade. He turned to her and she could tell that he knew he had overstepped his bounds. “You’re like the blonde with the big tits you’re always raving about in horror movies; you know, the ones who always go into the room when everybody knows the freak with the knife is waiting. You’re acting just like that, so just shut up and sit down!”

  Gregg took a sip of his beer. He looked confused, not sure of what to do with himself. Eric looked out of place too, as if he didn’t know what to make of this sudden sense of conflict between his parents. Elizabeth nodded at Mary. “Go ahead, Mary. What happened? Did things go on as you described them until today? When’s the last time you saw your daddy?”

  At the mention of her father Mary, got teary-eyed. “I haven’t seen daddy since...since mommy’s funeral.” She wiped her eyes with her fingers and started sobbing. Elizabeth reached out and held her, and as Mary cried she met Gregg’s gaze and he seemed to understand the seriousness of the implications. Even Eric looked disturbed by what Mary was insinuating. He had moved from his side of the bed to be closer to his father, and as Elizabeth soothed meaningless words to Mary, she tried to grasp at the last straws of rationality that refused to leave her. He’s slipped off the wagon again. Diana knows it and is shielding Mary from it. Maybe—

  “I hate it there!” Mary cried. “I hate it! There’s never any food in the house, and it’s messy, Diana never cleans anything, she never makes supper, she doesn’t do anything. She doesn’t talk to me, she doesn’t even talk to her kids. I’ve never even seen her talk to daddy!”

  Elizabeth didn’t know what to say. She looked at Gregg, knowing she had to wrap this up soon; her mother had probably left messages on their voice mail. She’d have to call them back, would have to at least get Mary back to her parent’s house soon.

  “There’s something wrong with them,” Mary said, not crying any more but her eyes still red, her cheeks wet from tears. “They’re weird. They also seem...different!”

  “How different?” Gregg asked softly.

  “I don’t know!” Mary cried. She was obviously growing frustrated at her inability to effectively express herself and she knew it. “My daddy’s never around, he’s always working. I would try to wait up for him but I kept falling asleep. One time I tried to peek in their bedroom before I went to sch
ool. This was before I saw that thing attached to him. Diana was getting ready to take us to school and she’d already put Lily in the car. I pretended that I had to go to the bathroom, and when I thought they were gone, I went out and tried to go into their room but Rick caught me. He...he wouldn’t let me in and said my daddy was asleep and he...he touched me—”

  “He touched you?” The first thing Elizabeth thought was that Rick had touched her inappropriately.

  “He touched me and it felt....it felt creepy!” Mary shivered, rubbed her arms as if she were cold. “Him and Lily...they feel...slippery...like they’re slimy!”

  “Slimy?” Gregg asked.

  “One night I could sense Lily watching me,” Mary continued, not breaking her stride. “I would try to stay awake for as long as I could and would only let myself go to sleep when she went to sleep first. But then some nights I’d wake up and Lily would be in the bed with me and she’d be all over me, like her arms and legs would be wrapped around me like she was hugging me, only...she wasn’t hugging me.” She started crying again and Elizabeth didn’t know what she could do to calm her down. Mary’s crying seemed to be both a great emotional release and a venting, and the best course of action was to let it run its course. “I’d push her out of bed and it would hurt...it was like my skin was burning, like a band aid was being ripped off my body. Then I’d be awake and start crying and Diana would come in and try to get me to go back to sleep, but I’d get sick and I’d either throw up in the bedroom or I’d run to the bathroom and be sick.”

  “How often did this happen?” Elizabeth asked.

  “Two, maybe three times.”

  “Your daddy never knew about it?”

  Mary shook her head, still crying. “The second time it happened Diana kept me home from school and she kept Lily away from me for a few days. I...I liked not having Lily around me...it almost made it worth it to not be forced to be with her. I stayed at home and watched TV all day and Diana made me take a nap after lunch and...I n-n-never saw my daddy when he woke up, got breakfast and left for work!” She buried her face in Elizabeth’s breast again and sobbed uncontrollably.