by A. R. Braun
He ambled back to the couch. Kevin had never forgotten the night of his first date with his high school sweetheart, Stacey Alley, and how her foster father had followed them and watched from afar.
Thanks to this memory, Kevin never let the kids out of his sight.
He picked up his pipe and lit it again, then choked on the smoke as a news report came on that would change his life forever. Kevin picked up the remote and turned up the volume.
“Dick Alley, local landlord and realtor, is charged with raping his foster daughter Stacey every three days after imprisoning her in his man-made dungeon inside the apartment and warehouse next to his expensive home in Mowquakwa for almost fifteen years.”
The pipe fell out his Kevin’s mouth. It bonked on the carpet while tendrils of smoke climbed into the air. Kevin’s eyes goggled, and he trembled; at first, he didn’t notice he’d crunched up the newspaper in his hands.
“… and hopefully a soon-to-be felon. The sick man fathered six girls through his foster daughter and kept three of his daughters in the dungeon. Police have arrested him for child abuse, rape, and kidnapping. He’s being held without bail. His arraignment is set for ten-thirty this morning. The judge will announce the trial date then. Police are also questioning his wife, Marie, attempting to find out if she knew about the atrocity. Stacey and her six daughters have been taken to the Clarksville clinic, an upscale psychiatric hospital, and the staff and the family have declined to comment. They’ve not left the hospital since they arrived and…”
Kevin rose to his feet, his fists clenched, his muscles tensed. His brain was alive with terror, anger, and excitement, all at the same time. “I knew it! I knew he was hurting her!”
Darlene bounded through the door. “What are you yelling about?”
“I knew she didn’t run away with some cult! Goddamn that son of a bitch!”
Darlene’s hair brushed his leg. “Damn it, babe, you burnt the carpet with your pipe.”
He looked down at her, tempted to step on her brain and crush it like a piece of squash. “Fuck the carpet! Don’t you know how important this is?”
She rose, looking him in the eye. “How important what is?”
Kevin hissed while he made his way toward the carpeted stairwell. “I’ve got to get dressed and get to the courthouse.”
He heard the TV news team now reporting that a greasy-looking, bald man had raped a twelve-year-old girl on a playground in Mowquakwa, threatening her life with a gun. Kevin hissed again.
“Honey,” Darlene cried. “What are you talking about? Don’t walk away from me!”
Kevin shrugged as he pulled his bailiff uniform on.
Second thing on the agenda is a divorce.
<^^>
Stacey and her daughters sat in the waiting room of the doctor’s office after being given detailed physicals, including eye exams. The mother of six had flinched and complained when the female doctor examined her, not ever wanting to be touched down there again.
At least they’d been able to get out of the hospital, but that had been ruined by the barrage of the press, asking Stacey and the kids stupid questions like “How does it feel to be locked up and robbed of your life?” as well as “Are you going to sue the government like Jaycee Lee Dugard?” That had almost driven her nuts. She was sure the children felt the same way.
They’d already been to the optometrist at Clarksville Psychiatric Hospital, who’d told them they’d have to wear sunglasses for a short while because they weren’t used to bright light after being cooped-up in the dungeon. Amanda had stopped at a gas station and bought them sunglasses, which Stacey and her oldest children now wore.
Her youngest daughters ran around the waiting room, and the oldest were fidgety, kicking their legs.
“Girls,” Stacey said, “don’t run in the doctor’s office.”
Amanda sat reading an issue of some boring health magazine. The orderlies sat next to her, talking about how they were going to get over a hundred dollars of booze and invite the girls who worked at the beauty college slash barber shop next-door to a party.
Devon turned to Stacey. “When do we get to go outside, Mom?”
Therese leaned forward. “Yeah, this is fucked.”
“Watch your language,” Stacey said, pointing at her.
Sam got up and kneeled, hugging Stacey’s legs and putting her head in her lap. “Leave Mom alone.”
Bobbi, Kyra, and Louisa came over, looking Stacey over.
“I wanna go outside again,” Bobbi cried.
“Me too!” Kyra and Louisa echoed.
Stacey sighed. “Kids,” she almost growled, “sit down and be quiet.”
Devon took hold of Stacey’s arm and shook it. “Why did those reporters flip out like that? That was creepy.”
“I don’t know. We’re news, I guess.”
The nurse frowned at them as she attempted to get some paperwork done. “The doctor will be out soon, Mrs. Alley.”
Oh god, she thinks I’m a “Mrs.” I never even got to be young. God, I’ve never had sex with anyone except my foster father.
Doctor Corso, the gray-haired, elderly woman who’d examined her, stepped through the door. “Miss Alley, can I talk to you?”
Stacey nodded, getting up and flashing a look of scorn at the nurse because the doctor had gotten her title right. She pointed at the kids. “You behave.”
“I’ll watch them,” the nurse chimed in.
Devon scowled at the nurse. “We’ll watch them, Mom.”
“Okay,” Stacey sighed. She followed the doctor into the examination room. Stacey sat down. “Why can’t you talk to me in front of the kids?”
Doctor Corso gazed at the floor, then back at her. “I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news. You and your oldest daughters being cooped-up in that dungeon has brought on anemia, an oxygen deprivation illness, and a Vitamin D deficiency.”
“Oh god.” Stacey put her face in her hands.
The doctor bent down to her. “Now, don’t panic. It’s nothing we can’t treat.”
Stacey looked up, feeling her lips tremble and tears forming. Her nerves were like frayed wires. “I… think I’m going to have… a nervous breakdown.”
Doctor Corso stood up. “Let’s get you back to the hospital, then. Can you stand?”
Stacey nodded and got up on shaky legs. She felt as if she’d faint. The doctor led her back into the waiting room.
Her littlest ones were crying.
“Why can’t we go outside again?” Bobbi cried.
“I wanna go outside!” Kyra echoed.
“Me too!” Louisa chimed in.
Stacey put her hand over her mouth. “Oh god.”
Doctor Corso looked at Amanda, who rose. “She needs to be taken back to the hospital right away.”
<^^>
In the hospital hallway, after another vicious attack of the press, Stacey backed up against the wall. She bawled.
Sam ran over and hugged her, as did Therese and Devon.
“Oh Momma,” Sam said.
The two handsome male orderlies walked over. Stacey eyed them suspiciously.
They’re just like Dick, talking about scoring with college girls. Men are all perverts.
“Are you ready to go back?” Zander asked.
Stacey shook her head and broke free from the kids. “I… don’t think I can… take anything anymore.”
“Let’s get you back right now,” Wesley said.
Stacey followed, stepping ahead of her kids. They cried out as they were separated from her. Zander rounded up the children back to take them back to their ward. Stacey turned to Wesley, walking alongside of him.
Therese, Devon, and Sam broke off from Zander and ran toward their mother to say goodbye.
“Are you sure you’re okay, Mom?” Devon asked.
Therese and Sam echoed that sentiment.
“Kids,” Stacey answered. “Not now.”
Her teen and tweens just stared.
“I want
to see Amanda,” Stacey said with a trembling voice. “Why did she leave us?”
“She had an emergency,” Wesley answered. “Didn’t you hear the announcement over the intercom?”
She hadn’t; she was that perturbed. It had been just background noise to her panic.
“We had a code red, a patient going off or trying to escape.”
“I’m on the verge of a nervous breakdown,” Stacey whispered in his ear. “I think I’m going to go crazy. I need to see her right now!”
He patted her shoulder. “All right.”
Stacey knocked him off her. “Get your hand off me!” Her voice was rough and strangely masculine.
He stopped, moving away from her. “I’m… sorry.”
Devon came forward. “Mom, don’t spaz, okay?”
Stacey smacked her hands against her ears. “I can’t take this anymore!” She walked ahead of everyone, the orderly endeavoring to keep up.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Stacey sat across from Amanda in her office, a drab-looking little room with a picture window, white walls, and pictures of her hubby and kids.
Must be nice to have a normal life and be sane.
Stacey bawled.
Amanda handed her a tissue box. “I know, Stacey, I know,” she almost whispered.
“No you don’t,” Stacey cried, then lowered her head and dabbed her eyes.
Amanda flinched. She waited for Stacey to speak, but she couldn’t talk, just cried and shook, shook and cried.
“I’m about to take you to see the doctor so she can prescribe you some medication,” Amanda said. “It’ll help you feel better. Why don’t I walk you to the cafeteria so you can eat with your kids and relax?”
“No!” Stacey said.
Amanda’s eyes looked sad. She raised her eyebrows. “The medicine won’t hurt you.”
Stacey shook her head. “You don’t understand. I can’t take those kids anymore… not for a while. When do we get to go outside? When do we get out of here? I can’t stand it.”
“What’s wrong? Besides the obvious.”
Stacey looked up at her, thinking Amanda’s last comment tactless. “We’re anemic, have an oxygen deprivation illness, and a vitamin D deficiency. I don’t think I’ll ever trust a man again.” Stacey’s bosom heaved as she sobbed and struggled to breathe.
“Take it easy, honey. You’re going to be all right. The doctor said you and your oldest kids will have to take a vitamin supplement, eat foods high in carbohydrates, maintain good posture, do yoga for thirty minutes every day, and avoid smoking, that’s all.”
Stacey looked up, then at the door, and at the window to make sure no one else was looking. “I think… I’m a… lesbian.” Stacey bawled again.
Amanda came around the desk and knelt before her. “Well, who could blame you after what you’ve been through?”
“I’m having thoughts about women.” Stacey wiped the rest of the tears away, finally halting the crying. “God help me, I want the nurses to climb in bed with me.” Stacey shivered as if she were in below-zero weather. “It’s cold in here. It was always cold in that dungeon.” She turned away, ashamed to look Amanda in the face. “I freaked out on an orderly for touching me.”
“Well, he shouldn’t have done that. I’ll tell the orderlies to keep their paws off you.”
Stacey covered her mouth with her hand and anxiety ran rampant in her mind. Leaking tears, she looked at Amanda again.
“What?” Amanda asked. “What’s wrong?”
“I thought… I thought…” Stacey bawled again.
“Yes?”
“… about beating up my daughters, the way Dick beat me when I was a kid. They’re driving me up the wall.” Stacey got up to pace, feeling like a wreck, her anxiety threatening to send her into total panic. “I’m just like Dick!”
Amanda stood. “Stacey. That’s not true. It’s actually a normal symptom of someone who’s been abused as a child. All I can tell you is that through therapy, you can resist it.”
Stacey paced back and forth, faster and faster.
“It’s unprofessional to say this, but fuck it.” Amanda got up and took hold of her arms.
Stacey cowered, not able to look her in the eyes.
“It’s a lie of the devil,” Amanda said. “You don’t really want to do that.”
Stacey nodded. “God… got… us… out… of… there,” she sobbed.
Amanda stroked her arms. “You’re a good mother.”
Stacey’s eyes widened. “Let go of me, please.”
Amanda let go and stepped back. “Remember how I said you’d need years of therapy? This is what I meant.”
“I’m not crazy?”
Amanda shook her head. “Dick and Marie Alley are crazy. They don’t know right from wrong… or they don’t care.”
Stacey went back over and used up the rest of the box of tissues to dry her eyes and face. “I don’t think I can be around the kids for a while.”
“That’s fine. But, like I said, you’re a good mother. I know you’re not going to hurt them.”
Stacey sat, staring at her. “I know. I just can’t take their constant questions right now.”
Amanda put her finger on her lips. “Anemia, eye strain, oxygen deprivation, and a vitamin D deficiency, plus emotional problems, are all things we can treat. You’ll get through this. And your kids need you. But if you don’t feel like you can handle it for a day or two, that’s fine.”
“Will I have to go to a rubber room?”
“Where did you hear about a rubber room?”
“On TV.”
Amanda stepped over and knelt before her again. “Not unless you’re a danger to yourself or others.” She stood. “Come on, let’s get you to the doctor so she can prescribe some medicine.”
Stacey forced herself up. “She’s going to make me into a zombie, isn’t she?”
Amanda looked like she’d cry. “No. No. A lot of people on medication live full, productive lives.”
“Really?”
“Really. Now let’s get you your meds so you can calm down.”
Stacey followed her, feeling as if she could go crazy at any minute.
I’m probably lucky I haven’t gone insane already.
<^^>
Kevin arrived at the courthouse and clocked in just as the police were leading Dick up the stairs after he got out of the police cruiser. In typical I-got-caught style, Dick looked downward as he trudged up the landing, shielding his face from the camera flashes of the press. They walked the rapist into the building.
Kevin, feeling a blast of winter wind, watched while standing by the payphone. He scowled. “You piece of shit! I knew you were hurting her!”
Dick looked up at Kevin and seemed to remember him. He furrowed his brow, but his eyes looked terrified.
Willy Johnson, an African-American bailiff, walked up and stood by Kevin. “What the hell you doin, man?”
Hardening his face, Kevin looked Willy over. “That’s the guy that imprisoned and raped his foster daughter, which just happened to be my high school sweetheart.”
Willy’s eyes widened and his mouth formed an o. “God… I’m so sorry.”
“Not as sorry as he’s going to be.” Kevin walked toward the courtroom. “Come on, it’s time for the arraignment.”
Willy’s footfalls sounded behind his own, but he couldn’t keep up with him. Kevin walked at a fever pitch.
“Hold up, man,” Willy cried.
“I want to see the look on his face when the trial date’s set,” Kevin said. “And I want to be on duty that day.”
Willy finally caught up with him. “I’ll bet.”
Right before they walked into the courtroom, Kevin turned to lock eyes with Willy. “Let’s see how he likes living in hell.”
<^^>
Therese was worried. Plus, she felt a little sick. Something was wrong with her mother.
The orderlies let Stacey’s children into their ward, where they sat an
d watched the other kids play. Amanda walked up to them.
Oh boy, here comes the verdict. God help me.
Devon hopped off her seat and put her hands on her hips. “Why wasn’t Mom at lunch?”
Amanda looked like she forced a smile. “You’ll see your mother pretty soon.”
Devon stomped her foot. “When?”
Therese rose to help Devon gang up on her. “Yeah, where is she?”
Amanda said, “Your mother is very upset right now.”
“Uh!” Devon answered. “Like we’re not!”
The triplets couldn’t resist the urge to run over and play with the other children, immediately stuffing building blocks into gaps.
Sam got up and stood by Devon. “Is Mom okay?”
“She’s kind of hanging by a thread right now,” Amanda answered, “but she’ll be all right.”
Devon gaped. “What?”
Therese looked at Devon and mouthed the words what the fuck?
“I have to tell you a couple of things,” Amanda continued. “First, the results from your physicals turned up a few problems. We’re going to have to treat you three big girls and your mom for anemia, an oxygen deprivation illness, and a vitamin D deficiency. You’ll need a vitamin supplement. I’ll have to tell the activity director to teach yoga a half hour day. You’ll need to eat food high in carbohydrates and sit up and stand up straight. Posture’s very important now. And when you get out of here, you can’t let peer pressure at school goad you into smoking, not with your illnesses. It’s too dangerous. It’s because you didn’t have sunlight and fresh air in that dungeon.”
Therese gasped and looked away while Devon’s eyebrows raised and her eyes grew wide. Sam put her hand on her forehead and looked about ready to faint.
The triplets ran to the wall window and stared out as if it were utopia.
“We can treat your maladies,” Amanda assured. “As far as your mother’s concerned, her head is just a bit overloaded right now.”
Devon scowled. “What do you mean? I can’t see my mom?”
Amanda smiled. Again, it looked forced. “She just needs a little time.”