by TJ Rudolph
“That’s a tough one,” Aaron said, stroking his chin. “It would be a good idea to meet with her because if she and Jerry are in this together, you could figure out exactly what he wants from you and where he plans to go with this. But you can only do that if you’re ready to spend time with her. Things are going to come up that you left behind years ago.”
“I know,” I sighed.
I already knew what I wanted to do; I just needed Aaron to echo it.
****
The next morning, after I had eaten breakfast, I got dressed and walked outside my room. Tony was standing upright as if he were guarding the queen. “I want to go see my mother,” I told him.
He didn’t look at me as he took out a two-way radio and pressed a black button on the top. “Uniform 1, this is Alpha 1, do you copy? Over.”
“Alpha 1, this is Uniform 1, over.”
“Uniform 1, I am dispatching the package, standby, over.”
“Rodger that Alpha 1, over and out.”
A chill ran over my body as I listened to them. That was definitely confirmation that Jerry was more than serious about keeping me here.
“Come with me,” Tony said.
I followed him outside and was surprised when he walked past the car.
“Aren’t we going with the car?” I asked
“We’re walking,” he grunted.
He walked toward a gravel path and we stayed on that path for about five minutes, until we reached a row of bushes. We cut through the bushes and when we were on the other side, I saw the cottage my mother was being held in.
When I walked in, Cherry was sitting in a rocking chair, watching something on TV. She turned around when she heard her door opening. “Hello, baby,” she said, quickly getting up and hugging me. “I’m so glad to see you’re okay.” She held me by my shoulders to assess me from head to toe.
“Did you eat anything yet? I can make some pancakes.”
“You cook?” I asked, surprised.
“You know I was your mother before...”
“I ate already,” I told her trying to break the awkward moment.
“I’m so happy you decided to visit me, baby, do you want to sit down and watch a movie?”
“Cherry, this is not your moment for salvation; you missed that chance a long time ago,” I said bluntly.
“I know, baby, I know I missed out on everything. I was not myself and I know I can’t make up for any of that. But I have you here now and I don’t know how long this will last. For now, we just have each other.”
I couldn’t argue with that logic, it was a cruel world and Jerry could kill us both at any time.
“How about a walk?” Cherry offered.
I nodded.
We walked out through the front door and found Tony and another guard who I assumed was Uniform 1, waiting for us.
“We’re going for a walk,” Cherry said. “I would appreciate it if you kept your distance.”
We walked on the grass toward a pond, the silence filling the air. I didn’t know what to say, the woman walking next to me was a complete stranger. At least this version of her was.
We stopped at a lake and Cherry picked up a stone and drove it into the water, it bounced a few times before it sank. “Remember how we used to do this near the lake by the house? You used to think it was so much fun back then.”
“I don’t remember much of you being a doting mother, Cherry.”
She turned away and looked at the water. “Before I got involved with Jerry, I loved you and your father more than anything. I was working as a teller at the bank and your father could see that I was not happy doing that. One night when we went out for dinner, we saw a poster for an open mic night the following week.”
She sighed as she turned back to me.
“Your father encouraged me to go, he knew how much I loved to sing and I agreed. The night of the open mic I met Jerry, he offered me a singing contract, all sorts of other things and said that he would pay me more than I was making at the bank. I was so excited but your father he had a suspicion that Jerry was trouble and told me no. I convinced him that this was our chance, that I could handle Jerry. I havenever been more wrong in my life.
Anyway, your father finally agreed and then the trouble started.
We never realized how strenuous it would be working for Jerry. I hardly saw the two of you. So when I wanted to take a break Jerry got nasty with me, said that I would lose everything that I owned if I didn’t work for him. After a few months, he saw that I was unhappy, so he offered me the drugs, said it would make me feel better about things. At first, I said no but I was so unhappy, I felt like I was trapped and your father and I were fighting all the time. So eventually I took it and after the first hit…” she stopped talking for a moment as if she was catching her breath.
“Well, you know what happened next, I was never the same after that.”
I said nothing, I actually felt kind of sad for all that she had been through, my dad never told me any of this. Maybe she never told him either.
We heard someone come up behind us, it was Tony. “Your time is up,” he told us. As we walked back to her cottage so many things were running through my mind, so many things I finally understood. My mother did love us, something which I would never have believed unless I heard its straight from the horse’s mouth.
When we arrived back at the cottage, Cherry pulled me in for a hug as I was about to leave. “Keep your head up, baby, we will get out of here soon.”
I tried to give her a small smile. I wanted to forgive her but my anger ran deep and I didn’t think I ever could.
As I walked back to the house, Aaron appeared next to me. “So how did it go with Cherry?” I looked behind me; Tony always kept a few hundred feet away from me, so I was comfortable talking to Aaron about my intimate encounter with my mother.
“It was strange,” I said.
“How so?” Aaron asked.
“She explained to me that she wanted to get away from Jerry, but he was threatening her and I think ultimately what became of her was as a result of her trying to protect me and my father.”
“Interesting,” Aaron said.
“I know, I am still shocked at everything she told me,” I said. “I thought meeting with her would be a bad idea, but I am kind of glad that I did.”
“I am too, you deserve to know the truth.” Aaron smiled.
When I stepped in through the front door, the maid was waiting for me, “Jerry wants to meet with you in the seating area outside.”
I walked through the wide hallway with its polished white tiles into the backyard where Jerry was sitting, smoking a cigar.
He put out his cigar when he saw me and stood up. “I trust you enjoyed your time with your mother,” he grinned.
“Is there something you needed?” I asked curtly.
“Your first gig is this Saturday; you will do the same set you did at the Vive. Everyone thinks they’re going to see Cherry and when I drop the bomb that you are her daughter…” He burst out laughing and it scared me. I wondered what exactly he was playing at.
He stopped laughing abruptly. “There is a guitar in your room in case you need practicing, but I doubt that you do.” He winked as if we were friends. “Your wardrobe had been filled with dresses,” he continued. “Choose whichever one you want. Now leave me,” he barked.
I turned around and as I was about to walk back into the house, he called my name and I stopped. “Grace! You better not try to pull any shit. You might not care about your mother, or your own life for that matter, but I know that you will do anything for your good for nothing father.”
I stormed up to my room with tears burning my eyes; whatever plans I had to get someone to help me at the gig was over. As long as Jerry could hold the people I loved over me, I would be his captive forever. I lay down on my bed and sobbed. He had done to me, what he had done to Cherry.
Chapter 15
The day before my first gig, I went to see Cherr
y; she was pacing up and down when I walked inside.
“Baby,” she sighed as she came to hug me, something I was still not used to. “I heard that you’re performing tomorrow night,” she whispered.
“We have to work on a plan to get you out when you’re there.”
I shook my head. “Jerry already told me, if I try any funny business, he is going to hurt Dad.”
“That bastard is trying to pull the same shit with you! He is not going to get away with this.”
Tony knocked on the door. “Time to go.”
I swung the door open. “I haven’t even been here five minutes,” I told him.
“Jerry’s orders, he doesn’t want you distracted before the show.”
“It’s okay, baby,” Cherry told me. “You will be okay, I promise.” We looked at each other both knowing that there wasn’t much I could do.
She pulled me into her arms again. “Just try your best to get out and be careful,” she whispered.
I nodded and walked back to Jerry’s house, I wasn’t sure if me trying to escape was a good idea, since my dad was involved.
When I walked into the room, Aaron was waiting for me, looking out through the window. He turned around and smiled when he saw me. “You doing okay?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Everything is so messed up. I am never getting out of here and I keep thinking even if I do, what is waiting out there for me? I lost you and things between Chase and me are ruined. I don’t know where to go to from here.”
Aaron came to sit next to me on the bed. “Grace, you know I will always be with you, no matter where you go, and do you want to know what I think about this situation with Chase?”
“Well, since you are just a reflection of what I am thinking anyway, please go ahead.”
“You need to give him another chance. The fact that he was driving that car doesn’t change anything, he is a good guy and he loves you. And the reason why you fell in love with him is not because he needed saving. You wanted to do that, because you already loved him.”
“But how can I love the man who killed you?
Did it really have to be him?”
“Would you have wanted it to be anyone else?”
I didn’t answer that, after Aaron died I was so sure that I would never fall in love again. But Chase was different; he was so much like Aaron, even though he tried to portray someone different to the world.
“I fell in love with Chase because he was so much like you and that wasn’t fair,” I said.
Aaron shook his head. “You didn’t fall in love with him because you thought he was like me. You fell in love with him because he comes from a very dark place, his father was scum and through it all, he is still a good person. He didn’t become his fate. He’s not like me, Gracy, he is like you.”
Tears started rolling down my cheeks, Aaron was right. “It doesn’t matter anyway; I am never getting out of here.”
“You will get out of here, Gracy, just keep fighting.”
***
Since I didn’t get much sleep, I was lying awake when I heard a bunch of people outside my door and I sat up. There was a knock and the maid walked in. “”here are a few people here to get you ready for the show, ma'am.”
“Ready?” I asked.
She nodded and opened the door wider. A short, bald headed man walked in holding a black bag. He set it on the dressing table and surveyed me. “You won’t need much,” he smiled, trying to be friendly.
“Please have a seat,” he said pulling out a chair. I reluctantly got up and sat down in the chair opposite the mirror. He fluffed up my hair and put a small amount of makeup on. “Perfect,” he said as he stood back and looked at me. He gathered his items and left the lipstick on the dresser before he walked out, shutting the door behind him. There was another knock.
A tall woman walked in with a black brief case. She wore a short blue dress and bright red lipstick. Her blond hair was pulled backed and she looked like she underwent a lot of plastic surgery in her life time. She placed the briefcase on the dresser. “Choose anything you like,” she smiled with Botox filled lips. She walked out and closed the door behind her. I wondered if these people knew I was being held captive and briefly thought about asking her for help but I knew that was a bad idea.
I opened the briefcase and found neck pieces and earrings made entirely of white diamonds.
“We’re leaving in thirty minutes,” I heard Tony say from the other side. I walked to the long brown cupboard, slid it open and a light immediately came on. It was a lot bigger inside than what I had expected. There were about twenty different dresses hanging on a rail and they were a lot more sparkly than what I cared for. I went through them looking for the most inconspicuous one, which was a long white dress, with a few diamonds around the rounded neckline. It had a long slit on the one side and a satin feel to it. I slipped it over my head and found that it hugged my body as if it were made for me. I put on a pair of nude high heels and walked outside.
“I am ready,” I told Tony.
We walked downstairs and a limo was waiting outside. I was relieved to see that Jerry was not inside when I got in.
We drove for over an hour and when we stopped and Tony opened the door, I was excited to see a few buildings and apartments. There were still lots of trees surrounding it, it looked like it was a closed off community, but I still had hope that perhaps there might be someone who could save me after all.
When I walked further, I noticed a long red carpet rolled out and walked onto it toward a set of heavy brass doors. There wasn’t a soul in site and my hopes started to diminish. If I was going to get help, I needed to make contact with some people. I followed Tony up a staircase and walked to the back of the stage. I peeked behind the royal blue curtain and saw that the auditorium was an intimate one; it seated roughly about three hundred people. Cherry’s gigs were usually three times the size. There were few people seated already and I wondered if I should try to get their attention or shout for help, but that seemed too risky. I needed more witnesses. I knew that my dad’s life was in danger, but if I could get out of here, I could get to him in time.
My head was running wild with ways to get out of there; I hardly noticed the page that someone stuffed in my hands. I eventually looked down at it and it was a list of Cherry’s songs that I usually did. I still hadn’t seen Jerry since I got here and that made me more nervous. I needed to know where he was. I needed to factor everything into my poorly planned escape. Maybe it was a bad idea, I thought as I hugged myself. But I needed to try something; I was not going to remain Jerry’s prisoner.
Eventually, I saw the room in the auditorium darken and someone testing the microphone. A few moments later, I heard a woman speaking. “Good evening everyone, thank you all for coming. I know that you were expecting someone else but tonight we will be listening to the beautiful sultry voice of a rising star, the daughter of the notable Cherry D. For your consideration, please welcome Grace.”
For their consideration, what does that mean, I wondered as Tony walked up to me. “No tricks,” he warned me.
I walked onto the stage and unlike the usual chanting of the crowd, this one was eerily quiet. It actually made me uneasy. I started singing and I looked over the crowd to see if I could connect with someone in the room. Someone who looked sympathetic or trustworthy. But everyone wore a serious look on their face, each one wearing business suits and a chill crept over my body at the thought of what Jerry was doing.
I sang every song like I was programmed to do and after the last song as I walked off the stage, I thought perhaps they would clap. But the silence continued and when I looked back, I saw everyone getting up and they started talking amongst each other.