“Daddy,” was all Tori could say, actually feeling sorry for him.
“You don’t look all that great either,” Henry responded. Tori knew he meant her busted lip and scratched face. Still, she knew she looked worlds better than him.
“Tori, let’s get this over with,” Henry said wearily. “And when this phony disk turns out that way, I want you to leave me alone forever about Ava. And if you can’t, I want you to just leave me alone – forever.”
Tori went on inside.
“ . . . If you watch this with an open mind, daddy, you’ll see that I’ve never been the villain in all this. Actually, I don’t see how you can’t watch it with an open mind. You’d have to be pretty screwed up in the head to not see what’s going on in this disk. It’s very straightforward.”
“Whatever you say.” He sounded quite cynical.
Henry pushed the door closed. Tori let go of her suitcase. It was parked just inside the door. She went into her purse and pulled out the disk. She handed it to Henry. He didn’t take it. Instead, he only gazed at it. Tori could see immediate fear spring into his eyes.
“It’s all there, daddy. I want you to see your wife in action. I want you to see just what you married. I want to open your eyes to exactly the kind of filth you sleep with every night.”
Henry stared at the disk. He didn’t move. Tori could see fear building in him. But she wasn’t going to let him off the hook. He was going to watch that disk, even if she had to tie him down and force him to watch it.
“See what this scum did to your daughter, daddy. Look at this evil demon that you’ve been blindly defending, ever since you married it. This is definitely going to open your eyes. If it doesn’t, then they can’t be opened. And then, quite frankly . . . God help you.”
“I . . . I’m not scared. Ain’t nothing to fear. Ain’t nothing on that tape. Ava’s not that kind of person.” Henry’s voice trembled somewhat.
“Just take the disk. The DVD player's on top of the TV. Go for it.”
His hands trembling, Henry took the disk. Sluggishly, he made his way past the couch and towards the TV. Tori watched him. And though she knew it was low class, this time, it would just have to be as such. When that disk was finished, she had every intention of telling the blind fool: Damn it, I told you so. I told you, you crazy fool.
Tori couldn’t wait for that DVD player to come on.
There was a door that led out of the ballroom and into the foyer, which was in back of the building at Elks Hall. There was a wide hallway there, which had several offices. The doors to all the offices were closed, and Ava assumed, locked, as she made her way down the hall.
Ava got to the end of the hallway, where there was a wooden door that led to the outside. That door was also locked. To Ava’s left, and just around the corner was a set of steps. The steps led up to the roof of the building. There was a door at the top. Steve had told her that that particular door was broken and couldn’t be locked right now. The roofers who were currently contracted to renovate the roof had broken the door, and they hadn’t fixed it yet. That door was where Ava wanted to go through. She had decided to take a short break from her work.
The roof of the building was flat. Ava knew that sometimes the members and guests of the Elks Hall would go up on the roof and actually have small events, especially initiation rights. Or at times, they would just go up and suntan. Once, Ava and Steve had gone up there and made love.
Part of the reason for using the roof was the breeze. Ava loved it. Like the members, when the breeze was blowing, she felt there was no better place in Del Toray to be to receive it than up on that roof. It could almost make a person high, it felt so good. Ava had been up there several times before to catch the breeze, and she had been mesmerized. Today was a breezy, overcast day, and she was sure that a nice breeze had to be blowing up there right now.
Ava went up the stairs. She opened the door that led outside. She had been right about the breeze; it hit her as soon as she opened the door. Ava smiled, threw back her head, and took a good whiff of it. She walked on out onto the roof. On either side of her were large stacks of shingles. They were lined up all the way from the edge of the roof back to where she stood. She couldn’t see over them. There was a narrow, black tarp pathway that led to the end of the roof. The distance was about ten yards away. Ava decided to walk up to the edge.
She got there, and there was a brick foundation that made up the edge. It was slightly higher than the rest of the roof. It had a white, smooth top. The foundation acted sort of like a sill on a window. It also provided protection to help keep anyone from falling over. The bricks came up to Ava’s knees.
She looked down below. There was nothing but an empty parking lot down there. However, it would be full in a couple of hours, with many money-donating patrons at her disposal. She would play the poor, anguished mother to the hilt. And she would watch the money roll in. Some would go to Susy’s fund; it had to in order to avert any suspicions. But much of it would be funneled into her personal savings, as well as her church. It would help to lay the foundation that would give her the biggest, prettiest, and most successful church in Del Toray.
Ava took a deep breath, in order to take in more of the luscious breeze. She then looked out at the skyline of Del Toray. It was beautiful. In the distance, she could also see a little of the Los Angeles skyline. She loved California. So far, it had been good to her. In fact, she loved America. Only in the USA could a pretty girl work her way out of poverty and to the top. She hadn’t gotten there yet; actually, she still had a long ways to go. But it was coming. Ava could feel it. Her day was on the horizon. Her ambitions were taking off.
Hell, she thought. Forget about Del Toray. She would have the best church in all America. Then, she would branch out. Religion was too small for her. She had a good head for business. There were a lot of other industries in which she could get involved. She could see her picture on the cover of Time magazine. Business Week. The title above it would read: Businesswoman Of The Year.
Ava threw her head back and enjoyed the breeze to the fullest. Hell, she thought again. Forget about America. The world was hers for the taking.
It was done. The disk had been viewed. Tori sat beside her daddy on the couch. She and Henry had been that way for several minutes.
Tori’s attitude had changed completely. She got no satisfaction whatsoever at seeing the pain that her daddy now suffered. The man looked so hurt, she even almost wished now she hadn’t shown it to him. She was starting to think that maybe she should have let him find out some other way. She could see that the man’s body was wracked with desolation.
The television screen had reverted back from the DVD player and to regular television. Some Starz movie had just come on. Neither Tori nor Henry cared. Tori wanted to touch her daddy, but she didn’t know if she should. She wasn’t sure how he would react. Henry just sat there, his face looking so brittle with pain, that it looked as though it could shatter at any moment. He bowed his head briefly and looked to the floor. He then raised it again, looking resentfully at the TV screen that had just recently caused him so much anguish. He repeated the process. He then looked to his right, which was the opposite side of Tori. He looked to his hands, to his knees. He looked to the ceiling. He looked to his right again. It became distressingly obvious to Tori, that he was trying to look in every direction, except hers. He went into a daze. His eyes looked around the room, querying. It was as if Henry wanted to ask questions – lots of questions. But he didn’t know whom to ask. He simply looked lost for the world. However, no matter how perplexed he became, his bewildered face always took deliberate care to avoid Tori’s face.
Suddenly, Henry put on a menacing frown. His face strained horrifically. He stared straight ahead, at what Tori at first thought was the television. But she realized that he was gazing a little to the right of the television – at the framed photo of Ava that hung on the wall. Henry tried to part his lips, like he wanted to say something, or prob
ably ask something. Tori was sure she could sense what he wanted to ask . . . Why?
Tori decided to take a chance. She put her hand on his shoulder. Henry tensed up. He became rigid, as if being ordered to attention. He gazed straight ahead.
Tori was seriously starting to regret what she had done. “ . . . Daddy, I truly am sorry to hurt you like this. But you were going to find out, anyway.”
“Don’t . . . Don’t apologize.” Henry still wouldn’t look at her. “You’ve done nothing wrong.”
“But I love you. Despite all our problems, I do love you. And I don’t like hurting you.”
“You didn’t hurt me . . . She did.”
Tori could tell by his eyes, which again gazed at Ava’s photo, just whom he meant.
“I feel so ashamed,” Henry said. “So ashamed.”
Henry came out of his mini-trance. Gradually, he stood. Tori watched him acutely. He looked downtrodden, as if he were aging by the second, right in front of her. He seemed to have lead in his legs, as he walked away from Tori, headed out of the room. Tori got up. She carefully paced behind him.
Things seemed be so awkward for Tori, as she headed down the narrow hallway towards the kitchen, following her daddy. The house was so still, so quiet. It was even eerie. She realized now that she had to keep an eye on this man. There was no telling what he might do to himself.
They arrived in the kitchen. Henry walked to the basement door and stopped. So did Tori. Beside the door, resting against the wall at an angle was an elongated package. It was a paper bag which had something inside it. It was stapled shut at the top with a receipt attached to it. Above it hanging on a nail on the wall was a set of keys.
“I’m sorry, Tori,” Henry remarked, his back facing his daughter.
“Daddy, I can’t deny, you’ve made some big mistakes. But right now, just try and work through the pain. You and me both. Let’s look at this as a chance for a new beginning – for you, for me. And especially, for Susy.”
“ . . . Susy’s dead. She killed my daughter.”
“Stop thinking that way. Susy’s a fighter. There’s hope.”
“No . . . No. It’s too late.”
Tori couldn’t see Henry’s face, but she could tell that the pain inside him was growing more acute by the second. She really didn’t know what to do. All she could do was stand there and watch him suffer.
Suddenly, Henry whirled around; it caught Tori by complete surprise. He finally looked at her, but with a face that was vibrating with rage. An instant later, Henry balled a fist, and with as much power as he could, he slammed it into Tori’s stomach. Tori grunted heinously and fell to her knees, out of breath. She held her stomach.
“Damn bitch!” she heard her daddy yell.
Tori then felt her daddy’s large hands grab her by the shoulder corners of her blouse. She felt herself being pulled forward, her knees scraping across the kitchen floor. She gasped for breath.
Tori heard a door open, and she was then lightly pushed forward, feeling something in the middle of her back. She suddenly saw herself almost enveloped by darkness, though there was still a small shaft of light to the side of her. She began getting her breath back. It was then that she realized where she was at. She was on the basement steps – the very top one. She moved with caution. She didn’t want to fall down the other nine steps.
Tori tried to make her way to the shaft of light, which was the kitchen, but it quickly disappeared. The door slammed shut. Tori was in near complete darkness. She heard keys going into the knob from the other side. She reached up and grabbed the doorknob. It wouldn’t twist. It was locked.
“Daddy! . . . Daddy, what’s wrong with you? Let me out of here!”
“Damn bitch!” was what Tori heard again.
“Let me out of here, damn you! Let me out!”
Tori banged on the door. She did it continuously. She continued to demand being let out. However, she got no response.
Henry paced frenziedly through the kitchen, amid his daughter’s basement screams. He really didn’t hear them. He also didn’t hear the phone there in the kitchen, which rang away. He was enraged. He had to figure out what to do next. It didn’t take him long.
He stopped pacing and fiendishly planted his eyes on the package beside the door. Tears of anger suddenly flowed from his eyes, as he glared at that package. Henry hurried over to the package. With his daughter’s banging and screaming seemingly causing the room to shake, he picked up the package and ripped the brown bag off it. He held by the handle in front of his face, his shiny new axe. He then mentally made himself very aware – it was time for it to be put to work.
“Damn bitch!” he yelled once more like a lunatic, still staring at the axe. “I’m gonna kill her! Kill her!”
Tori’s screaming and banging came to an abrupt halt. There was nothing but silence in the kitchen for several seconds. Then, Henry thought he heard a voice, which was ravaged with fear. Tori had started up again.
“No, daddy. No! No, daddy, don’t do it! Please don’t do it.” She screamed. She banged.
“I’m begging you. Please, daddy. Please . . .”
Henry cleared the noise from his mind. The phone rang; he didn't hear it. He was in his own world now. Only two people existed in that world – he and Ava. Before long, his world would become very lonely.
His car keys were in his pocket. The back door leading to the carport was just a few feet away. No one would stop him. He knew where he had to go. He knew how to get there. He savagely headed for the door. Not a minute to waste. It was time for the journey to begin.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Ava took another tablecloth from a stack she had on a table in back of her. She unfolded it and spread it across the table in front of her. She looked at her watch. It was nearly seven-thirty. She had to hurry. She needed to go home, take a shower, and pretty herself up. She knew that such things never hurt when it came to asking for money. She had spent a little more time here than she had expected, but she was just about finished. She’d be heading out shortly.
As Ava knelt over the table, evening out the tablecloth on all sides, she heard the door to the room open and close. She looked to the door. She then straightened up. She was surprised at what she saw. She was also rather embarrassed. Henry stood there; he was about twenty feet away. He held his axe at his side. In addition to being dirty, he was also barefoot. He wore a big grin, however. Ava put her hands on her hips, angered by his appearance.
“Henry, why are you here? And dressed like that? Have you lost your mind?”
Henry didn’t say anything. He simply began walking towards her – slowly. He still grinned.
“Are you drunk?” Ava snapped. “Henry, we’ve got a certain image to put forth. Our family’s in the spotlight. You can’t be going out in public drunk.”
Henry continued his slow pace. However, as he got closer and closer to Ava, she began to notice something about his face. The grin on it looked peculiar. It didn’t seem natural. It looked phony. Ava didn’t know just what to make of it.
“Why do you have the axe?” she asked. “Were you chopping wood at home?”
Henry wouldn’t breath a word. He just got closer and closer. The grin became more pronounced, more weird-looking. Ava began to feel a touch of fear. Something wasn’t right. In fact, something was very wrong.
“Henry . . . What’s going on with you?”
Henry finally spoke.
“So, you wanted my daughter to suffer, huh? You wanted her butchered? Well, you just wait. You ain’t seen butchering, till you seen what I’m gonna do to your ass.”
Ava was stunned. What in the world had happened? Where had Henry gotten his information? And then she realized, his face wasn’t grinning at all. It was the face of a deranged fool. His eyes were glazed with lunacy.
“Oh my God,” Ava said lowly. He knows.
"Oh my God,” she said a bit higher. “He knows,” she then screamed.
Henry grabbed the axe with hi
s other hand as well. He raised it high in the air. He stormed for her, his crazy face losing any semblance of normalcy, slobber falling from his open mouth. He let out a deep yell. He was a mad dog.
Ava screamed horrendously. Henry was on her in a flash. He brought the axe down ferociously. Ava jumped to the side and onto another table. The axe crashed down into the first table.
“No, Henry. No,” she screamed desperately.
Henry ripped the axe out of the table, splitting loose a few good-sized chips. He charged for her again, crashing into another table, which knocked him off balance. Still, he swung wildly at Ava, missing her but knocking over a chair that was in front of her.
“Help me! Oh God, help me!”
Ava dived from the table and onto the floor on her back. Henry was then after her again. He bumped into another table, knocking it over as well. But he stumbled towards her and raised the axe. He brought it down.
Ava screamed, as the axe made a straight line for her right leg. Ava twisted her leg away, but the axe partially hit its target, the side of the blade hitting her ankle. Ava felt something crack.
She yelled out in pain.
“God above in Heaven, please help me,” she anguished. “This man’s gonna slaughter me. Please help me . . .”
Henry had fallen to the floor with that swing. He dropped his axe. He went for it so quickly, that when he picked it up, he didn’t grip it well. He dropped it again, falling to the floor again himself. The man was completely out of control.
Ava swung around. She pushed herself up on her knees and hands. She felt blood running from her ankle. She had to escape this man. She couldn’t die. She just couldn’t. Ava got to her feet. She saw the elderly janitor standing in the doorway.
“Help me!” she pleaded. “He’s trying to kill me. Help me!”
The janitor was terrified. He ran from the doorway. The door closed.
“No. Help me.”
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