Taking Charge

by Mandy Baggot

  “Robyn, not all rapes are savage in the sense of physically maiming someone, even when the attacker doesn’t know his victim. A lot of rapes are committed because the attacker can’t forge a relationship and can’t have sexual contact in the usual way,” Trudy reminded her.

  “I never thought of it before, I was just too caught up in the fact that it had happened rather than exactly what happened and how it happened,” Robyn continued.

  “I have to tell you that Jason’s witness has provided a full statement and it can be corroborated. He was on his phone to his girlfriend at the time, we’ve checked telephone records,” Trudy said.

  “Why didn’t he come forward at the time?” Cole asked.

  “He’s spent the last nine years in South America. He only returned home three months ago and Jason’s lawyer did another sweep of the neighborhood.”

  “It has to be him,” Robyn said, shaking her head.

  “How long do you think you were in the woods before you made it back to the side of the road and Brad Willis found you?” Trudy inquired, looking at her file.

  “I don’t know…twenty minutes? Maybe longer? I couldn’t move for a while, because I was shaking and I was wet and I didn’t know what to do. And then I realized that if I didn’t move I would probably die from the cold, so I got dressed and I went back to the road,” Robyn explained.

  “Are we done now?” Cole asked, wiping at his eyes.

  “Just one more thing. We checked your medical records in England, just procedure, and…” Trudy started.

  “Why did you check my medical records?” Robyn asked, the color draining from her face.

  “It’s just procedure, Robyn. We wanted to see how the counseling went, whether you have any ongoing physiological issues, whether you…”

  “You could have just asked me and I would have told you. You didn’t need to go snooping into my medical records,” Robyn said angrily.

  “Would you like Cole to wait outside?” Trudy suggested kindly.

  “Sure, I can go,” Cole said, standing up.

  “No. I don’t want you to go,” Robyn said, taking hold of his hand.

  “We need to ask some questions about…” Trudy began.

  “I know what you want to ask about,” Robyn interrupted, looking up at Cole, tears spilling from her eyes.

  “Robyn?” Cole asked. She could see the immediate worry in his eyes.

  “They want to ask me about the baby,” Robyn blurted out.

  Chapter Forty-one

  He felt emotionally wrung out and now he was listening to Lonestar. He wanted to kill Jason. He wanted to get hold of his scrawny neck and squeeze the life right out of him. He wanted to make him suffer the same way Robyn had suffered. The red mist had descended when he’d found out about Bryn and Veronica, but this feeling was on a completely different level than that. That bastard hadn’t just violated her, he’d left her with his baby. How did you ever get over that?

  He looked at the beer bottle in his hand, gripping it tightly until his knuckles turned white. Then he threw it, as hard as he could, and watched it smash on the floor.

  Robyn sat in the bath surrounded by bubbles and almost scalding hot water, but she still felt cold. She always felt cold whenever she had to speak or think about the rape. She didn’t know whether it was a reflection of the time of year it happened or a reflection of how she felt inside, probably a bit of both. She had spent a lot of time feeling lukewarm inside and now, just when she had started to think a thaw was really beginning, the past wouldn’t let her truly defrost.

  Cole knocked on the door.

  “Can I come in? I‘ve got beer and pickles.”

  She didn’t answer.

  Cole opened the door and stepped in, holding the drinks and a plate of gherkins.

  “Hey,” he greeted.

  Robyn’s head was just poking out from underneath the foam.

  “You put pickles on a plate? Don’t you take in anything I tell you? They should only be eaten from the jar with a fork,” Robyn snapped, looking at the food as if it were contaminated.

  “I’m sorry. I’ll go right back down and get the jar and a fork,” Cole said, about to leave the bathroom.

  “And you’ve been listening to Lonestar. Listening to Lonestar will make you suicidal,” she continued.

  “Yeah, and I smashed a beer bottle too. I’ve cleaned up, but no going barefoot in the kitchen for a while,” Cole replied with a sigh.

  Robyn took a pickle from the plate and put it all in her mouth in one go.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.

  “Do you?”

  “Not if it’s going to upset you.”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I should have told you when I told you about Jason in the first place,” Robyn began, picking another pickle off the plate.

  “I had trouble imagining how you must have felt after the attack; I can’t begin to think how you must have felt to be pregnant.”

  “Terrified, angry, stupid. I didn’t tell anyone. I started putting on weight and feeling sick, and I thought it was maybe the change of food or climate or me eating for comfort because I missed home. But no, the doctor does a test and I’m three months gone,” Robyn said, swigging from the beer bottle.

  “What did your mom say?”

  “I didn’t tell anyone, Cole. I told the doctor there and then that I wanted an abortion and if he didn’t get me one I would find someone who would,” Robyn explained.

  “And what did he say?”

  “He said he wanted me to speak to my parents, that he would like them to come in and see him, and that was all I heard. I knew he wouldn’t agree to help me without involving my mom, so I had to sort things out myself,” Robyn continued.

  Cole offered her the plate of pickles.

  “I had to do it and I had to do it real quick because if I didn’t do it…maybe I wouldn’t be able to do it and what would happen then? I wouldn’t have known what to do and so I figured if I didn’t have the baby I could forget the rape. Didn’t work though, did it? I never got rid of the rape and I aborted a child,” Robyn spoke.

  “What you did on your own was so brave. That’s one Hell of a decision for a sixteen year old,” Cole told her, reaching into the bubbles and taking hold of her hand.

  “I’m not certain I made the right one.”

  “I’m certain you made the right one for you at the time,” Cole assured her.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I should have told you, right away, when you told me about Veronica and Bryn…” Robyn said.

  “I didn’t tell you what I did after my dad died right away.”

  “I’m ashamed of it and I don’t want anyone to know. Not Dad or Pam, and especially not Sarah, not now,” Robyn said.

  “Not now?”

  “She’s pregnant but she hasn’t told Mickey yet, so keep it zipped. I’m hoping for a full reconciliation and, despite her reservations, if he doesn’t do the decent thing and propose, I’m going to book a priest and a venue myself,” Robyn told him.

  “Wow.”

  “Yeah, wow.”

  “I understand you don’t want people to know. It’s hard for you—it’s in the past and we’re moving on, but what if I said there’s a possibility I could obtain DNA that would determine who the father of your baby was?” Cole asked seriously.

  “What?”

  “Listen, it’s a long shot, but over here at least, some clinics keep samples to determine DNA and prove paternity.”

  “But it was nine years ago,” Robyn said, her voice shaking.

  “I know, and I know the DNA they say they found on you was Jason’s, but if the tissue was tested, we would know, maybe not who it was right away, but definitely who it wasn’t,” Cole explained.

  “Can they really do that these days?” Robyn asked.

  “They can, if they took samples and if they still have the information,” Cole told her.

  Robyn swallowed. Memories of the day she
entered the clinic swollen and left bereft filled her head. It hadn’t been the baby’s fault, but it wasn’t her time to be a mother. She had nothing and nobody, and he had been a product of an awful assault she couldn’t forget.

  “Do it. I’ll get you the address,” Robyn agreed determinedly.

  “Hey, Dad. Are you awake?”

  Eddie had more color in his cheeks than Robyn had seen since she’d arrived back in Michigan. He screwed up his eyes and then opened them wide, looking straight at her, a familiar scowl on his face.

  “What are you doing here? You’ve got broken ribs, haven’t you? You should be resting, not poking your nose into what I’m doing. Let your dad have a bit of peace,” Eddie said.

  “You sound so much better. Nancy says you even ate some food today. Pot pie, no less,” Robyn said, smiling.

  “God damn, it was awful! Whatever the meat was made from, it wasn’t a creature on this Earth. What animal does tofu come from? Now, listen, never mind about what I’m eating, what’s going on with Brad? He was here earlier, drunk out of his mind, crying and wailing like a baby; Nancy had to take him home,” Eddie told her.

  “Oh, Dad he’s sore because I’m dating Cole. I tried to tell him that we were never going to be more than friends, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer. I had to make it clear and he didn’t like it,” Robyn explained.

  “He’s had a hard ride in life, Robyn. He’s not the big man he makes himself out to be. His pop’s tough on him, his mom died, that Michelle left him. I tried to pick him back up, making him the captain of the Panthers, but I don’t think it’s enough,” Eddie told her.

  “Dad, I don’t care for him that way. We’re friends, that’s it,” Robyn insisted.

  “Your aunt’s worried about you living with someone you barely know,” Eddie continued.

  “I can’t believe she’s been in here telling you this. You’re recovering from a very serious operation, you need to rest and concentrate on getting better,” Robyn said crossly.

  “Buttercup, I’m bored out of my mind laying here. I feel better, I want to get up and get moving. I want out of here, I want to wear this fancy new coach jacket the team bought me,” Eddie told her.

  “Getting up and at ‘em is weeks away. The best thing is to let things heal and take your time. If you do things too quickly, it could all go wrong,” Robyn said.

  “I think that’s what Pam thinks about you,” Eddie replied.

  “Well, she’s wrong. Trudy came today, I told her everything all over again and I’m really healing this time,” Robyn said firmly.

  “And you’re in love with Cole? You know that after a week?” Eddie asked.

  “You want to talk about feelings?”

  “It seems I have to lately.”

  “Yes, I’m sure about Cole. I’m so sure, I’m going to marry him,” Robyn announced, and she held her hand out to her dad so he could look at her ring.

  “You’re what! Are you freaking insane? You can’t marry someone you’ve known a week! What are you trying to do? Kill me?” Eddie blasted, his face reddening as he clutched at his chest.

  “No, Dad, I’m trying to make you realize that I’m all grown up now and I can make my own decisions—even if you and Aunty Pam don’t think much of them.”

  “This is the craziest thing you’ve ever done! This is even crazier than calling yourself Art and playing against Grand Rapids! This is off the scale!”

  “Nancy told me you were high school sweethearts. She said you were the best guy she ever knew and that she knew even back then you were her Mr. Right,” Robyn told him.

  “She reads too many romance novels,” Eddie replied with a sniff.

  “I believe her. I believe she loves you unconditionally and she knew that all those years ago, just like that,” Robyn carried on.

  “Has she been lending you books? Because I don’t remember you ever having a liking for books. You read car manuals—never books,” Eddie commented.

  “I feel the same way about Cole. I can’t explain it, I certainly don’t want to try and explain it to you because that would be really weird, but I’m certain of him. One hundred percent certain of him,” Robyn said.

  “Knock knock! Hey, old goat, you awake? Where’s the chips?” Max questioned as Cole opened the door and pushed the old man into Eddie’s room.

  “Can’t a man get any privacy around here? First she comes and wakes me up and now you? Don’t any of you have anything better to do?” Eddie barked at his friend.

  “What do you think in this place? It’s wall to wall bedpans and that’s the highlight,” Max announced.

  “I just told Dad we’re getting married,” Robyn told Cole.

  “What? Getting married! We’ve only just met the guy!” Max exclaimed in shock.

  “That’s exactly what I said,” Eddie grumbled.

  “Sir, I wanted to ask you for permission, but Robyn said it was too soon, with the operation and everything, and…” Cole began nervously, appearing to be searching for the right words to say.

  “What are your prospects? Can you provide for her? I’m not talking playing for a two bit hockey team here, I’m talking long term career plans,” Max said, turning around and looking seriously at him.

  “I’ll ask the questions, Max,” Eddie ordered.

  “Have you got her a ring? And I don’t mean something from the pawn shop, I mean a proper ring—diamonds and lots of ‘em,” Max carried on.

  “Will this do?” Robyn asked, holding her hand out to show Max.

  “Jeez! Will you look at that, Eddie! She could have someone’s eye out with that. Are they real diamonds?” Max inquired, screwing his eyes up to focus.

  “D’you know, I don’t know and I don’t care,” Robyn replied, smiling at Cole.

  “So, what are your career prospects?” Eddie muttered, looking at Cole out of the corner of his eye.

  “Dad! He works for Gen-All, you know that,” Robyn exclaimed.

  “I know, but we don’t know what he does, how much he earns…he could be the janitor for all we know,” Eddie responded.

  “I’m not the janitor,” Cole replied with a smile.

  “No? So what do you do, son?”

  “I develop and formulate preventative vaccines,” Cole answered.

  “What does that mean?” Max asked, waiting for someone to translate.

  “It means he’s clever,” Robyn helped out.

  “And I earned three hundred thousand dollars last year,” Cole added.

  Max let out a high pitched whistle.

  “Sir, I love your daughter. I know we didn’t meet that long ago, but we’re sure of how we feel, and even if I didn’t have a good, secure job, I would give her everything I had—everything,” Cole said sincerely.

  “Right, well, you need to know that she loves the Panthers, nearly more than life itself. She never eats vegetables unless they’re in soup or deep fried, and when she lived at home, the only way I could get her out from under the hood of a car was to tell her there were monster trucks on the TV,” Eddie informed him, looking at his daughter.

  “Obviously years have gone by and I’m totally changed,” Robyn insisted.

  “So, when’s this wedding then? Have you set a date?” Eddie asked.

  “Yes. Next week,” Robyn said bluntly.

  “Next week? Are you kidding me! What happened to long engagements? You cannot be serious!”

  Chapter Forty-two

  She’d been feeling completely sick with nerves all day. The clowns were late, Bob had to make an emergency repair to his tractor, and it had taken hours to fill the helium balloons. But Cole had managed to book Special Guest and, an hour after the doors reopened on Eddie’s Roadhouse, the place was buzzing. There were local families, the local football team, teachers and students from Portage High School, plus most of the neighborhood. All the tables were full and Robyn, Nancy, and the agency waitresses had their work cut out. The children were enjoying the clowns and Bob’s tractor rides and the
adults were being entertained well by the band.

  “Rare rib eye, mixed grill, two children’s chicken platters, extra fries, rings, and a green salad,” Robyn announced as she balanced a tray on her arm and put the food down on the table.

  “This looks delicious,” the woman in the party remarked.

  “I hope you enjoy it, if you need anything else just holler,” Robyn replied with a smile.

  She turned around to go back to the kitchen when she spotted Sarah and Mickey entering, their hands clasped tightly together.

  “Hey guys, do you want a table? I probably have one for two right now,” Robyn said, scanning the restaurant.

  “Actually we’ll be wanting a table for three,” Mickey announced and a proud grin spread all over his face.

  “Stop saying that, we shouldn’t tempt fate,” Sarah replied with a giggle.

  “Is there something I should know?” Robyn asked diplomatically.

  “We’re having a baby!” Mickey exclaimed, and he let out a loud wolf howl that made some of the other diners look around in surprise.

  “Mickey stop it! People are trying to eat!” Sarah exclaimed in horror.

  “Having a baby, holding hands…does this mean you two are back together the way nature intended?” Robyn asked.

  “Yes. And we’re getting married,” Sarah announced with a blush and she extended her hand to Robyn.

  “Oh, Sarah, it’s beautiful. Hey mister, about time, too, huh? And who knew you had such excellent taste? It’s gorgeous,” Robyn said, admiring the delicate emerald and diamond ring.

  “I know I said I didn’t think I wanted to, but he turned up with the ring, got down on one knee, and cried and everything, and that was before I told him about the baby,” Sarah explained.

  “I’m really pleased for you,” Robyn said, smiling at her friend.

  “So, look at this place! It’s amazing, Robyn. It looks fantastic and it’s packed,” Sarah exclaimed, looking around at the buzzing roadhouse.