Gina's Education

by Mariah Bailey

  Robert scanned the information the Chief handed him. “Are you sure it is the same man?” he asked, indicating another report. Suddenly his voice and demeanor changed and he said, “Good morning, Rose. Did you sleep well?”

  As she entered the room, she smiled at the Chief. She knew he smoothed the way for her name change and expunged her criminal record, and she was very grateful.

  Robert, still controlling the situation, continued, “Are you going for your walk before breakfast? Say hello to Paul before you go, my dear.”

  Rose had long since recognized that when he called her ‘my dear,’ it was her Master speaking. “Good morning, Paul. One of these mornings you should join me on my walk. The shore is so beautiful in the morning.” She shook hands with the man and turned to Robert. “Will you join me for breakfast afterward?”

  “Yes, my dear, in about an hour.” Rose left the room wondering what was going on that she should be dismissed in such a manner, but didn’t give it too much time. The brisk morning air was wonderful and she really did enjoy her walks.

  *****

  Rose changed from her Bermuda shorts and cotton sweater after her walk to her skirt and sweater set in a rich shade of green before she joined Robert in the breakfast room.

  “Do you still have your old Gina ID? I think you should bring it with you today.”

  The suggestion stunned her. He could see the questions crossing her face; “Why? What do I need that for – and why would I want it? What am I to do with it?” She said only, “Yes, Sir.” Truthfully, she was afraid to ask.

  Robert smiled at her and said, “Today we are going to put to rest the disappearance of the girl. You two look so much alike… Well, it is clear that’s how she got away with her deception. I want you to be seen if possible going into the house.”

  Drew drove them to the residence where he found the girl who claimed to be Gina Perry. Rose wanted to scream, but in her best control asked, “This is where you found her?” Drew nodded.

  “Yes, my dear. This is the house you grew up in, isn’t it?” He knew the answer. He knew the imposter had bought the house at auction through an agent for a fraction of the money she took when she remortgaged it using the stolen ID and moved right in.

  Rose’s face was flushed and she was shaking. “Try to calm yourself, my dear. We are going to get to the bottom of all of this, and I am confident you will find it an interesting story.”

  He squeezed her hand and she willed herself to submit to Robert’s order. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “Look at it this way,” he continued in his smooth tone, “You will finally have the deed to this house again.” That did the trick. Finally able to put a smile on her face, they left the limousine.

  They waited in the car long enough for several window shades to be disturbed. It wasn’t every day there was a limousine on this street! They stepped out, Rose in a $300 garnet wool dress and Robert in his Brooks Brothers suit and entered the front door. The eyes behind the curtains became more obvious, trying to get as much information with that look.

  As they entered, Rose realized that the girl had kept the furnishings pretty much as they had been. A flood of memories of growing up in this house hit her. She looked at the couch where she and her stepfather would talk while they waited for dinner. He always wanted to know how her day went and helped her with any troubles on her mind. She remembered her mother making the best dinners and her grandparents visiting often. Tears were starting to threaten.

  As she looked around the room, she became agitated again, and fairly shrieked, “Where did she get the portrait of my father?” She had taken the portrait of her father in uniform with her and safely tucked it away in her room at the manor. Anger took over. There would be no tears!

  That one sentence confirmed what Paul had told Robert. It was the same man, and he was pretty sure neither of the girls knew.

  “It would seem that you weren’t just an opportune target, Rose. I think the girl targeted you – wanted to BE you.”

  Rose sat on the old familiar sofa, near tears and visibly shaking. Pretty clearly Robert was right, “but why?” she asked.

  “You never told me, my dear, about your father.”

  Rose took a deep breath, trying to regain some self-control. “I never knew him. All I know about Stephen Perry are the memories my mother shared with me after my stepfather died. My father was the love of her life. Mom and he were engaged when he had to ship out. They were going to be married as soon as he returned. Mom never even got to tell him about me—he was shot down only a week after he went overseas.”

  “That’s what I thought,” he said. “Now, I want you to go to the computer, get an idea of her writing style from her sent messages, and send a message to her usual contacts that you – Gina – are now living the life of luxury in the country and indicate you have no more need of their friendship.”

  As Rose absorbed this plan, she began to smile. ‘The way this man’s mind works is fascinating,’ she thought. She had no trouble achieving that goal, and soon they were done.

  “Is there anything here you want to bring with you, my dear?” She went straight to the wall and took down the picture.

  When they got back to the manor, Robert ushered Rose into the study. Drew brought Gina to them, and when she stood there not knowing what to do, Robert barked, “Present!” She dropped to the floor and assumed the position, knees apart, hands clasped behind her, eyes down.

  Rose could contain herself no longer and crossed the room with the picture in hand. “Where did you get this? Why do you have this picture?” Her voice had a raw edge that Gina had never heard before and it unnerved her. She looked up, even more puzzled, and said, “My dad? That’s my father’s picture…”

  “Liar!” Rose shrieked, hovering over the girl menacingly.

  Robert took her arm and ushered her to the chair beside his desk. “I have to talk to you about a lot of things. Drew, would you please take the girl to her room?”

  Drew only nodded, and waited for her to crawl away. Gina couldn’t understand anything that had just happened, and wanted desperately to ask for the picture. Seeing her father’s picture made her predicament so much more difficult. She crawled up the stairs leaving a trail of tears.

  “Rose, I had the Chief of Police do some checking into the girl’s background, and into yours.”

  Trembling with fury at the girl’s answer, Rose was taken aback. “Why mine, sir?”

  “I wasn’t sure, but after watching her for a while, I wondered what possessed her to pursue you to such lengths. I suspect she was drawn to you, somehow. It may have been a chance encounter, but the girl became obsessed with you. That part is obvious, even while you train her.”

  Robert handed Rose the reports, and continued, “You see, Rose, you both have the same father. As you said, he never knew about you. After being rescued from the prison of war camp, he spent a long time in the VA hospital. He married one of his nurses and they had a daughter – another daughter - and that girl eventually found you.”

  Rose scanned the papers, tears making it hard to see. “He wasn’t dead? They had nothing. They lived from hand to mouth until they died,” pity shading the tone of her voice.

  “From all accounts, though, it appears they were a happy family. That’s the picture their neighbors paint of the three.”

  “How? How could they be happy when every day had to be a struggle?”

  “Rose, you know better than that. Is money what makes you happy?”

  Her face softened, and she smiled. “No, Robert, you make me happy.” It was the first time she called him simply by his name, and he surprised her by smiling back and hugging her.

  “What are you going to do about your sister?”

  “My sister!” Putting things into perspective, that’s what Robert does. Rose still looked stunned at the words. “Let’s go talk to her.”

  Rose took a robe from her room and went to the attic. She had allowed Gina a bed after the rope s
ession with Drew. She could see the girl had finally been broken that night, and she finally behaved. Rose wanted to encourage her to keep behaving – to keep earning privileges.

  To have this discussion – to talk about the fact that they were sisters – Rose felt the girl ought to be clothed. Since she got there, she’d had nothing on her body besides a towel, ropes or clamps. Rose handed her a robe, and the portrait of their father, and released her shackles.

  She sat on the bed indicating to the girl to sit beside her. Gina looked shocked, but did not speak. She was overwhelmed to have the picture of her dad back, and dying to know what had happened.

  “Master Robert tells me that this is indeed your father.” The look on Gina’s face asked why she doubted it, but she held her tongue. “I was upset and thought you were lying because,” she looked away for a moment and wiped a tear, “because, this is also my father.”

  Gina’s mouth fell open and she gaped. She did not know! Rose had thought maybe she had.

  “I never knew him,” she continued. “I hope you will tell me about him.” Both the young women were too overwhelmed to continue. Gina reached her hand out on the bed, just close enough to touch the side of Rose’s hand. Rose took her hand and held it, neither of them daring to do more.

  After a few minutes, Gina said softly, “I will enjoy telling my Mistress anything she wants to know about our father.”

  Robert smiled from the doorway; the Mistress and her slave were finally bonding.

  Chapter 15

  Gina woke early with the morning light just dawning. She snuggled into the sheets and stretched as far as her shackles allowed. Even being chained to the beam in the attic ceiling no longer bothered her. Comfortable for the first time in over a month, she slept like a baby on clean fresh sheets, and with a blanket! It was the first time she wasn’t cold and uncomfortable all night since she’d arrived.

  She thought about how she‘d gotten here – her own all absorbing greed drawing her into a trap of her own making! “I used to be smarter than that,” she thought. “This time I out-smarted myself!” She pondered for a while the virtue of being smart versus being clever. It seems she should have remained smart – and kind! After all, she had been bought up with good values. Greed. That was the problem. And look at what it had gotten her.

  Her mistress had left her the robe the night before, and the girl felt the satiny smoothness under her hand. She appreciated it even more because it was her mistress’ own, and she’d told her she could keep it.

  She now felt that her mistress had every right to take away her pay whenever Master Robert gave her an appointment to entertain one of the frequent paying guests at the manor. She remembered the first time she’d gotten paid. Humiliating. It also made her feel like she could get out of this situation, for about a minute. No, there would be no chance to hire a lawyer and get back at these two for this humiliation. Master Robert paid her, but she had to take it in her teeth. Then she was ordered to crawl to her mistress and make a payment on what she owed in reparation. She remembered feeling exhilarated and defeated within two seconds! It made her head spin! Even then, she knew it was right, though. She knew she should be made to pay, even while she continued to fight.

  She felt a tear forming when she thought about all the pain she had caused her mistress – her sister! The memory of the night before, talking for the first time with her real life sister –chased away the tear and made her smile.

  Gina lay quietly reflecting on the past month. She no longer chafed at the bonds that held her; she knew she earned them. She knew it was her own doing that had brought her to this state, and for that she was now sorry.

  *****

  Mistress Rose wanted to know everything. Most of all, she wanted to know, “Why?” So Gina talked for hours, telling her mistress everything she wanted to know, and enjoying the companionship of the woman she had so envied.

  She told her about the stories she’d heard from her parents about their father’s confinement as a prisoner of war, about the rescue that had taken place years later and had sent him to the hospital where he met her mother. She told her what she knew about their courtship and marriage. Mistress Rose wondered aloud why he never came back for her own mother and Gina told her about the memory gaps that he’d had as a result of the beatings in the prison camp.

  She told her of the struggle to find enough money for food and rent, about her mother working two part-time jobs and the medical care their father needed. “I am not sure why he didn’t become an alcoholic,” she said, “because he was in constant pain from the beatings.” Both women were crying by this time, thinking about the suffering their father had gone through.

  “What name did your parents give you?” This was the first time anyone had ever asked her, and for a moment she hesitated. “You haven’t forgotten it, have you?”

  Gina smiled, “No, Mistress. I hated my name,” she explained. “I was named after my mother’s mother; Millicent Pearl,” she whispered as though it were a distasteful secret.

  Rose threw head back and laughed out loud. “I can see why you wanted to change it! But why did you take mine?”

  “The first time I saw you, I was drawn to you. I had no idea why. There was just something about you that was familiar.” Both women smiled at the reality in that remark.

  “I saw your wallet fall from your purse onto a chair, but I thought you would see it. Your friend took it to the boy serving coffee; I suddenly got a wild idea! I figured we looked enough alike, maybe he would think you came back. I waited until he was busy, and it worked! He thought I was you. I wanted to find out more about you, Mistress,” she said sheepishly.

  “Then I realized you had the same last name as me. You had a good job and plenty of money. I had just lost my mother and no longer had a place to live. I was staying with my cousin. The idea took hold for some reason that I should have what you had, and I resented you for having it. I wanted to have it all, too. After a while, I wanted to have everything of yours!”

  Gina dropped her eyes and looked ashamed; for the first time saying it out loud made her realize the sin she had never acknowledged before. “I am so sorry, Mistress,” she said miserably, meaning it sincerely, including the title. “I deserve every punishment I receive for what I have put you through!”

  Mistress Rose, moved by the girl’s contrition, said nothing. She was sure she meant it when she said it, but time would tell if she was truly aware of the impact of her actions. The idea of sibling rivalry from a total stranger put an oddly quizzical look on Rose’s face.

  When they were through talking, hours later, she had the maid bring up some sheets and a blanket for the bed. “You may keep the robe,” she said as she left.

  “Thank you, Mistress Rose.” Very quietly, when Rose was almost out of earshot, she said, “I have a real live sister!” Gina sat on the bed grinning and hugging the robe around her. Something about having a hand-me-down from an actual sister made her feel wonderful!

  Gina resolved she would earn her mistress’ favor in many ways from that moment on.

  *****

  “Time to put her to the test,” Rose said as she went up the stairs. Robert gave her the remote, just in case, and told her what parts of the manor were within the ‘invisible fence’ where Gina would be allowed.

  As she removed the chains from Gina’s wrist cuffs, the least restrained she had been in a long while, she told her, “You have permission today to wear the robe and to eat at the table in the kitchen, after the rest of the staff has finished their meal. You may use the bathroom off the hallway. You may come back up to you room if you haven’t been given something else to do. Those are the only places you are allowed to go besides the basement. Do you understand?”

  “Yes Mistress! Thank you, Mistress.” Gina could hardly contain her excitement.

  “Be sure you are showered and ready for a client by 3:00.”

  She watched the girl’s expression in the reflection of the glass and saw her wince
, but she only answered, “Yes, Mistress Rose.”

  Rose turned to go downstairs and grinned at the change in her. What a difference! Rose felt herself warming to the girl. She left her in the kitchen and went out to the terrace for breakfast thinking, ‘It still doesn’t seem real, that we are really sisters!’

  After breakfast, Rose went to check on Joan and the baby. Joan was healing and moving around a bit better, but her face remained a mess. Rose was rocking the baby when Robert knocked.

  Robert was startled when Rose answered the door. She smiled at him. “Joan is taking a shower and I am enjoying a little time with this gentleman.”

  Robert’s expression didn’t give him away, but the sight of Rose holding a baby had melted his heart.

  “I just came to see how she was doing,” he told her, “but I’ll come back later.”

  Rose merely nodded; her attention was on the little man in her arms. She didn’t see the longing in Robert’s eyes before he left the room.

  Rose joined Robert for breakfast after Joan settled down to rest. Even a shower is a lot of work after a beating.

  “Mrs. Parker will be here today for a fitting, along with her new husband-to-be. She has confided that she is afraid he isn’t going to be masterful enough.”

  Rose was surprised at this piece of news. “Isn’t this event a bit risky if he isn’t on board? I thought they were planning a coronation.”

  “That’s what she has asked for,” Robert replied while tapping his soft-boiled egg’s top open. As he scooped the contents out, he stated, “I’ll be interviewing him today. I need to measure him up and get a feel for what he wants. After all,” he finished with a big grin, “if the lady wants to be mastered, he needs to be aware!”

  Rose laughed at the mischief in his eyes and speculated, “I wonder if that is why Mr. Parker is no longer with her! Are you planning to do a little re-writing of the script?”