Lean on Me

by Candy Crum

  “Strong baby. Do you know what you’re having?”

  “A girl,” Bri said. “I still haven’t picked a name for her yet, though.”

  “Well, she’s a fighter. Whatever issues you have, just take it easy. I have a feeling she’ll take care of the rest. If she can take an ass kickin’ like that? She’s destined for greatness.”

  “Your son was, too,” Bri said. “He was just robbed of it. Look, I know why you thought that I would hate you - because he cheated on me with you - butI don’t hate you for that at all. I know how he manipulated girls. He manipulated me, too. I need to ask you a very sensitive question.”

  She nodded. “Okay.”

  “Did they… Did they get rid of your baby? Or did they keep it?”

  “They kept him. They are doing an autopsy and then we will have a funeral for him.”

  Bri smiled. “Good. I think I have a way that we might be able to get Mike. But it will take both of us. I’ve tried to go at him alone and it was pointless. His lawyer pretty much walked him right out of it. The cops told me that I had to have hard evidence.”

  Molly suddenly became a little worried. “I don’t think that I can.”

  Bri was prepared for that response. “I’m going to say a few things, they will be harsh, but you need to think about it. Your baby is dead. He’s gone and there is absolutely nothing you can do to bring him back. Mike took him from you. He robbed your son of a life of any kind and his mother of an incredible gift. If I were in your bed, I’d feel like I had nothing left to lose. So why not fight to avenge Josiah? Why not fight to see Mike put away?”

  Molly still hesitated. She didn’t know. She was terrified, but she desperately wanted to fight for her son.

  “Your son didn’t die, Molly. He was murdered. Your son was the victim of a violent crime, same as you. Only he lost his life. You lived. Don’t waste it. Mike did this to me. He did this to you. I never thought after the cops got involved that I would ever have to worry about him doing it again. It never even occurred to me. But he did. To you. And I know without a shadow of doubt that he will do it again. Do you want another mother to go through this?”

  Murdered. The word kept ringing through Molly’s mind. She hadn’t truly thought of his death in those terms. Only that he died, because she couldn’t protect him. Now, she began feeling angry. She hated Mike as much as Bri did. She wanted that revenge. She wanted to take him down.

  “What did you have in mind?” Molly asked.

  “Josiah’s autopsy will prove that he died by violent means. So we have that. You also need to have a DNA test done. I will see if I am able to get one done on my daughter. If we can prove that they share Mike as a father, that’s very, very strong evidence given we both got pregnant around the same time and we were both beaten with the purpose of miscarriage. Surely the fact that the brunt of our attacks were on our pregnant bellies will prove that. On top of that, I have surveillance video from outside of the gas station, I have the photos from my beating, and I have all of my medical records.”

  “That might work,” Molly said. “How will we get Mike’s DNA?”

  “Well, that will be the tricky part. He sure as hell isn’t going to offer it up. So the judge will have to sign a warrant for it. The only way that I see that happening is with probable cause. So, if we can prove that both our babies had the same father, we might be able to do that. All that would take is to run your son’s DNA against my daughter’s. I’ll have to talk to my doctor. I’m sure she will figure out something. And we can’t be the only ones. There have had to be other girls. But it’s possible they got the abortions like he wanted, and that’s why we never knew.”

  “Well, in that case we’d need a list of everyone he’s ever dated.”

  Bri thought for a moment. “Actually, I think I might just have someone who would be willing to find out. She might even talk to the girls herself. Are you in?”

  Molly’s chest swelled with hope. For the first time since she’d woken up, she felt like a survivor instead of just a victim. “Yes. What do I need to do?”

  “Get your nurse in here and demand a DNA test. Give her my name, and tell her that you’re ready to talk about your assault. Tell her that you need it to help prove who did it, but do not give her the name. If you do, the cops will pick him up and it will be the same thing all over again. We need to get our evidence before we go at him. Okay?”

  “Bri, thank you. No matter if this works or not, I’m fighting for my Josiah because of you. Maybe this will help me through instead of wallowing in it.”

  “It won’t make it go away, but it will make it better. At least you’ll feel like he didn’t die in vain.”

  Bri carefully leaned over the railing and gave Molly a gentle hug. She felt Molly sobbing again, but knew that it was a mixture of relief with the sadness now, instead of just grief. When she walked out of the room, Matt was standing there just as he’d promised.

  “Did you hear any of that?” she asked.

  “Yep. Heard it all. Have I told you that you’re my hero lately?” he asked.

  She smiled. “If you tell me next that I’m the wind beneath your wings, we’re going to have issues.”

  He laughed. “Nope, but we need to get you back to your room. I’ll have the nurse call Metcalf. I’m sure she will be down for this. We just have to figure out a safe way to do it.”

  Chapter 15

  “You want to do what?” Doctor Metcalf asked.

  “I need you to run Josiah Simpson’s DNA against my daughter’s. Mike beat me with the intent of killing my child, he succeeded with Molly’s. This will help in a trial if I can get one. Look, I know I’m not in the best of shape for an amniocentesis, but if we can prove that our babies were actually siblings fathered by Mike, it might help prove that there is probable cause. As long as it won’t hurt my baby, I want to do it.”

  Doctor Metcalf thought for a moment. “I haven’t had to do a DNA test this other way before, but I know it can be done. There are ways to test the mother’s blood for fetal DNA. We can try it out and see what happens. It takes a couple of weeks for results.”

  “That’s fine. Thank you. And now, I don’t have to worry about hurting the baby.”

  “I’ll order the test for you and Josiah.” She paused for a moment. “What you’re doing… Well, it’s nothing shy of amazing. When I saw Molly this morning, she wasn’t crying. She had some fight to her and I now know it was you that did that. I’ll do whatever I can to help you both.”

  Bri reached out and hugged the doctor. “Thank you. I may have a baby to show for everything, but she doesn’t. And I’m worried there are other girls that don’t have theirs either, because of him. I can’t just sit and do nothing now.”

  Doctor Metcalf pulled away. Her mouth turned in a sad, half smile. She lightly squeezed Bri’s hand before getting up and leaving the room.

  “How do you feel?” Matt asked.

  “Better than I have in a while, actually. Physically and emotionally. I couldn’t get him before, but I’m almost certain that I can now. I need to ask you for something, and it’s probably going to be hard. But, just trust me, okay?”

  He gently brushed the back of his hand down her cheek. “I always trust you. What do you need?”

  She took a deep breath before releasing it. “I need to talk to Tara.”

  Matt’s brows furrowed. “Not that I’m going to try to stop you, but why?”

  “She’s friends with all of those people. She’s close to Mike and all of his friends. But I was thinking. She was concerned about me. I’m not exactly sure why, but she was. I think she knows what Mike’s capable of.”

  “You want to talk to her about the other girls he’s been with.” It was more of a statement than a question.

  Bri nodded. “I do. If he has made even one other girl have an abortion and she comes forward, we will have him. We could win.”

  “Do you really think she’ll do it?” he asked.

  She shrugged. �
�Do you? You know her better than I do. I just thought it might be worth a shot. But if you think she will go running and telling everyone what I’m doing, then we will have to risk going on without her. I’ll find another way. While I was really thinking about all of it, it really seemed like she might truly feel bad about what happened between the two of you. Maybe she’s a different person now.”

  Matt got lost in thought. He remembered back to all of the bad things that Tara had done, but also remembered back to all the good things. She was a good person, though she’d made stupid decisions. Finally, Matt decided that this really was their best shot.

  “I’ll go call her,” he said.

  Bri pulled Matt to her, gently holding his face as she kissed him. “Thank you. I really think this is the right thing to do.”

  “I do, too,” he said. He admired her strength.

  She had so much to worry about and she still found it in herself to fight for Molly. He was sure that Bri would have let Mike go, just sitting on the evidence she’d collected, but he’d messed up. Attacking another girl was enough to fuel Bri’s hatred. The death of that girl’s child was enough to seal his fate. Matt wasn’t exactly sure what Bri was capable of, but he knew that Bri would succeed.

  A few days later Bri was lucky enough to be sent home. She, Matt, and Molly worked together to get any and all information that they needed. Doctor Metcalf gave them the name of her brother, Jason Metcalf, who was an out of town lawyer. Someone not easily swayed by small town politics and the importance of one’s last name. She told him a bit about the situation and he was willing to take their case if they were able to pull together enough evidence.

  Tara swore her allegiance to them and vowed to help any way that she could. She was one of the few girls that Mike talked to about Bri. She knew what he was capable of and she wanted to see him pay for his actions. The only thing she asked for in return was forgiveness and for Matt to allow her to get a gift for Bri and the baby, maybe even see the baby after she was born. He agreed, though he stated visitation rights came from Bri, not him.

  After the news that Tara would help, Bri and Molly spent the next week making a plan and tried to think of any evidence Molly might have against him. They managed to come up with a few things and set to work pulling their resources. By the end of the day, they had a potential witness to the attack, video cameras that may or may not work in her apartment building that would have caught him coming and going, the 911 call recording and the time, the DNA from the babies, and Tara’s investigation help which may or may not turn out to be useful. Things were starting to look good for them.

  Bri was still settling into living back at Matt’s house. Though it was still very strange for her, she was completely comfortable. As always, it felt like home to her. Once again, Matt took to the couch and let her have the bed, though she always asked him to hold her until she fell asleep.

  Shaelyn was still a little upset about everything being kept from her, so no one disagreed when she deemed Wednesday nights as family nights. They found an on-demand movie and ordered pizza and wings. Bri was very excited for the disgustingly greasy, yet absolutely delicious food. Since being home she’d been on a strict diet for her blood pressure and Shaelyn made sure to make all of her meals so she couldn’t waver.

  Tonight, however, was free game and Bri was practically foaming at the mouth. When the doorbell rang, Bri was the first up.

  “Sit back down, young lady,” Matt said, standing along with her.

  “No, you sit down. I’ve been sitting or lying down since I went to the hospital. A walk to the door will be good for me.”

  Matt smiled at her persistence before sitting down. Bri went to the front door and opened it wide, her breath catching when she saw the man on the other side.

  “I was told you’d be here,” he said with a smile. “Heard you were asking questions about me.”

  “Mike,” was all she could say before he struck out, making a hard boxer-quality jab for her nose.

  Bri fell back hard on the floor, her head bouncing off the hard wood and her nose spurting blood all over the place. She heard heavy footsteps, Mike’s footsteps, and she screamed.

  “Matt!” she cried out, trying to shuffle herself away.

  Before she made it more than a couple of feet, Matt and Derek came around the corner. Bri looked up and saw fire in Matt’s eyes. His fists were tight and he only saw one person.

  “Dad! Get her out of here!” he called out.

  Bri found herself being lifted off the floor as Derek tried to help her, but she fought him, worried for the man she loved. Mike had made a large mistake, coming to Matt’s home, messing with his family, harming the mother of his child.

  Matt didn’t hesitate at all as he crossed the room. Mike laughed and threw his hands in the air, readying himself to say something – clearly not believing that Matt would be capable of what came next.

  Matt pulled back and punched Mike harder than Bri had ever seen a man hit anything before. She could hear the bones in the side of Mike’s face give as blood spattered all over the floor. Matt struck him again, taking him down to the floor.

  “You fucked with the wrong girl!” Matt said, lifting him by his shirt. “I’m gonna teach you something your daddy should of taught you years ago. Respect for women.”

  He punched him again. Shaelyn came around the corner and screamed at what she saw. Seeing that Matt was the one in control, she ran to Bri. “Are you okay?” she asked, frantically checking her over, paying close attention to the bloody nose. Bri nodded, not able to look away from Matt.

  “Matt!” she cried out, struggling against Derek’s arms. “Matt! You have to stop. You’ll kill him!”

  Shaelyn looked to her son once again, Mike finally making contact with Matt’s face. She looked up to her husband who held Bri tight. She saw nothing on his face as he silently watched his son.

  “Derek!” Shaelyn said. “Do something! Matt’s going to kill him!”

  “And? He came in; he struck the mother of his child. Do you have any idea what I would do to that boy? Consider Matt doing it a mercy killing. I’ve never been so proud.”

  Shaelyn somehow felt warm by that sentiment, knowing what he would do to protect his family and knowing Matt was the same. But that didn’t change the fact that her son was in danger of doing something he’d never be able to take back.

  “He’ll go to prison, Derek. He barely has a mark on him,” Shaelyn said.

  “Please!” Bri said. “Stop him! I can’t watch him go to prison because of me!”

  A thousand thoughts seemed to cross Derek’s mind all at once, his adrenaline allowing him to make sense of it all. He let go of Bri, Shaelyn taking hold, and he quickly crossed the room to grab his son and pull him back.

  “Matt! You have to stop.”

  “No! He needs to die! He nearly killed her. He came here tonight to finish it.” Matt gritted his teeth as he fought his father’s grasp.

  Mike struggled to his feet and quickly hobbled toward the open door. Jacqueline stepped in front of the door, standing tall on the porch. She’d come home from hanging out with her friends for family night and had seen the ordeal from outside.

  “You’re not going anywhere,” she said with a smile, her expression quickly changing before she struck out, mimicking Mike’s own boxer-quality jab from earlier. She hit him hard in the face. Mike fell straight back into the house, unconscious.

  Bri shook herself out of Shaelyn’s grasp and ran for Matt. She wrapped her arms around him and held him tight against her. “I’m so sorry.”

  Jacqueline walked inside and stood next to her brother. “Family night huh? You didn’t even wait for your sister to start the fun.”

  Matt smiled, but it was brief. He pulled away from Bri and looked her over. “Are you alright? Is it broken?” he asked, gently rubbing her face, careful not to touch her nose.

  She nodded. “I’m fine. I’ve had worse. I don’t think it’s broken.” She realized that he
r small joke wasn’t really that funny, given the situation. “How are you? Your face is bleeding.”

  His eye was turning a sickly shade of green and purple and underneath was a small cut that was oozing blood. His lip was also bloody from another hit he’d received. They could hear sirens coming down the road.

  “Is that for us?” Shaelyn asked.

  “I saw Mike’s car parked down the road when Hannah was dropping me off. I called the cops when I saw him standing in the door,” Jacqueline said. “So what’s the plan? My brother is not going to jail for this asshole.”

  “The truth. That is the plan. Shay, go call Jason Metcalf. Tell him what’s happened before the cops get here,” Derek said.

  Shaelyn grabbed her cell and called the lawyer. Matt led Bri to the living room to sit down. By the time he laid her back and got her covered and comfortable, Jacqueline returned with two ice packs.

  “Your hand looks pretty nasty,” she said, handing one to her brother before helping Bri adjust the other on her nose.

  Matt looked down at his hand. He remembered that first hit. He’d never hit anything so hard in his entire life. He remembered feeling something in his hand snap, but he hadn’t cared. Looking down now, he saw the damage he’d done. Two of his knuckles were completely missing, hidden within the rapidly rising skin tissue. The whole hand was swelling now and was turning just as purple as his face, even darker, but he didn’t care. The only thing he cared about was that Bri was okay and that Mike had finally been given a small portion of what he deserved.

  Within a half hour the house had completely packed with everyone from police, to EMTs, to the lawyer, Jason Metcalf and his sister, Doctor Maree Metcalf. When Shaelyn had called the lawyer, he told her not to say anything at all until he arrived. He then called the doctor to go over and assess the damage, but also instructed her to silence as well.

  “You’re going to need surgery,” Doctor Metcalf told Matt. “I need to get some X-rays on it, but I think it’s completely broken on this side. I’ll recommend you to a good friend of mine.”