Who was Matthias? Did her dad kill Joyce? Was she next? So many questions attacked her back to back. She knew something was off about her dad but this moment had confirmed everything.
Mary had been pressed so hard up against the gate, she had started to feel pain in the back of her head. Looking up to her father, he was capable of hurting Eric and he was capable of hurting these people, but he wasn’t capable of hurting her. She was his child. Getting up from the ground, she walked towards him and stared him in the face.
“No.” Staring at Eric in the corner in pain, Mary wouldn’t allow her father to bully her.
“What did you say to me?” asked Joseph. One brow was raised while he was towered over her. Mary was so much like her mother and at this very moment, it slipped his mind that she had only been a child.
“I said no. What are they doing in here? Tell me or I will tell mom what’s going on.” That had been the icing on the cake. In his mind, she was no longer his daughter. She had no more worth. Mary had become the enemy.
“If you think for one second that you’re about to ruin anything I have going on here, you’re sadly mistaken. If only you really knew how much I can and will do to you, you would’ve thought twice about threatening me. You’ll be eating those words later,” said Joseph.
The smile he had been wearing seconds after made Mary feel uneasy. But, she had refused to let him know that. Running over to Eric, she squatted down to make sure he was okay. Helping him sit up, she continued her rant.
“You’re the crazy one! How could you do this?! What did they ever do to you?!” shouted Mary.
Joseph walked over to the first cage and opened it. He stepped inside and removed the mouth covers.
“Stand up and go stand right there,” ordered Joseph. The female stood up and did exactly what was told of her. Saying nothing, she waited for her next orders.
“You see, Mary. Her hands were never tied. This gate, it was never locked. But, she knew to keep her mouthpiece on. They all know to have it on unless they are eating, drinking and talking to me.”
“They are aware of consequences. Something we failed to instill in you while you were younger. Had we done that, you wouldn’t be standing here today minding my business and you definitely wouldn’t have puffed your chest out to me just now,” said Joseph.
“Does she look sick to you? Doesn’t she look miserable?” asked Joseph. Mary said nothing and let her father continue to talk as crazy as he looked. The lady smiled so hard that her face looked as if it were paused. Joseph tapped his foot and the smile went back to a normal stare.
“What’s going on here is something you have no control over. This,” said Joseph while pointing to everything around him. “This is happening. And, you? Just be thankful I’m allowing you to step out of here tonight. Your friend? He’s staying. Let’s see what happens to him when you tell your mother.”
The fear had been written all over her face. He had threatened to do harm to the only boy she had ever liked. It was one thing to threaten her but now, she had no control over what he could or would do to Eric.
He read Mary like a book. Displaying a half grin, he handed the female back the mouth cover. Placing it back over her lips and snapping the button shut behind her head, she walked back into the cage and pulled it shut.
Mary stared at the woman as if she were an idiot.
“How can you do this?! How can any of you let him do this to you?!” screamed Mary. “SAY SOMETHING!”
“They know better and you…you don’t. But, you will,” said Joseph. He had been so focused on Mary and Eric that he failed to realize one of the 10 gates had been empty. Fear entered his body and settled into his soul.
Turning around so fast, he almost lost his balance. Where was he? Running out of the room and back into the main room, the exit door had been cracked. Opening it, he got a glimpse of his heel trying to escape.
“WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING?!” shouted Joseph. Running behind him and grabbing the boy by the ankle, Joseph drug him back down the rest of the stairs and slammed the door shut.
“SEE! Look what you’ve started, Mary! You just had to come snooping and now everyone has to suffer from your actions!” Taking the squirming boy by the back of his red hair, Joseph drug him back into the caged room.
Dragging him past Mary, she felt a pull and gravitated towards him. Leaving Eric in the corner, she banged on Joseph’s back in an attempt to free the boy.
“Let him go! He doesn’t want to be here! Let him go!” repeated Mary. Joseph pushed her down, tossed the boy into the cage, and grabbed Eric. Placing him inside with the boy, he popped open a box and pulled out handcuffs.
“No, no, no. Please, don’t. Don’t do this! I won’t tell anyone. I won’t say anything but please don’t make me stay here!” pleaded Eric.
Joseph ignored the begging and proceeded to handcuff Eric to the gate. Walking backwards out of the cage and slamming it shut, he reached into his pocket pulling out a small gold lock and placed it on the cage.
“Every once in a while, this one likes to go against the grain. It’s in his blood,” said Joseph in between Eric’s screams for help. He knew that he would have to make several calls and arrangements before things got too out of hand. Joseph had the perfect plan and was ready to put it into action.
“Eric. Listen to me. If you don’t stop screaming, you will die. Simple. Okay?” said Joseph. Eric immediately shut up and cried in silence.
“This is my last warning. If you talk about this to ANYONE, Eric will die. Do I make myself clear?” said Joseph while staring down at Mary as if she were a peasant. Nodding her head, she couldn’t believe what was happening.
“Now, get up and let’s go home. It’s late. If your mother is still sleeping, you’re lucky. If she is awake, you need to tell her that you snuck out to go hang with those little friends you made at school and that I came to find you. That’s it. Got it?” Mary nodded her head and continued to cry.
“And, stop all of that damn crying. Well, we can work with the tears, too. We’ll say I hollered at you and that’s why you cried. Stick to it or you will never see your little friend over there again,” said Joseph. “Let’s go.”
Chapter 26: Oblivious
June 17, 1989
Joseph waited until he heard Lovette go downstairs and slid into the nursery. Matthias had been napping and now had been the perfect time to execute his plan. Picking the baby up and wrapping him in the blanket, Joseph stared at the door and made a run for downstairs.
“What’s going on? What are you doing?” questioned Lovette while running after Joseph. He was trying his best to make sure she did catch up to him before he could get into the car and lock all of the doors.
“He’s not breathing! I went to check on him and he’s not breathing! Go back in the house! I’m taking him to the hospital!” shouted Joseph.
The terror written all over her had almost made him feel guilty enough to get out of the car and go back into the house. But, this had to be done. There was no turning back from there.
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE’S NOT BREATHING?! WHAT HAPPENED? I’m going with you!” shouted Lovette.
Placing Matthias in the passenger seat, he needed to leave in a hurry but Lovette had been hollering and running around the car. He didn’t want to just leave her in this state, but he had to.
“Open the damn car door! I’M GOING WITH MY CHILD!” screamed Lovette. Rolling down the window in a hurry, Joseph spoke while putting the car in drive.
“NO! I’ll call you. You just had 3 babies and don’t need to see any of this! Everything will be fine. He will be okay! Let me go get him some help, Lovette. He started breathing a little when I put him in the car. Go back in the house,” he demanded. Pressing on the gas, Joseph sped off.
Joseph pulled up to his work office and slid into the back door with Matthias. He knew that no one would be coming in today. Picking up the phone, he called Dr. Oar.
“I have him. Do your part,” sa
id Joseph.
“Are you sure you want to do this? We haven’t even gotten the results back yet. Lovette is part black. That gene could’ve carried over and made the baby’s skin complexion darker. The results will be in soon. These things can be…complicated,” said Dr. Oar.
“Are you questioning me? Because, last time I checked, you worked for me now. Doing your part isn’t an option. I’ll pick the papers up tomorrow evening,” replied Joseph. There was a few seconds of silence between the two and finally, Dr. Oar spoke.
“Everything will be in order.”
Leaving his office, Joseph headed to the shed. When he had finally made it down to the lower level, he handed the baby off to the female in the first cage.
“Nurse him. I’ll be back with some stuff,” said Joseph. Taking the mask from over her mouth, she hesitated when he handed her the baby.
“Please…no. Please, don’t make me,” she cried. Matthias started to cry and milk leaked from her chest onto the baby’s blanket.
“Do I need to teach you a lesson?” asked Joseph. Shaking her head and wiping her tears, she placed Matthias up to her breast and attempted to make him latch. After several attempts, he had refused to eat.
“Bebe know I not he mother,” said the female with a heavy accent. Taking her by the throat, Joseph squeezed tight until she was red in the face.
“Make him eat!” he demanded. Releasing his hold, she gasped for air. She tried several times to make him latch and finally, he did.
Leaving the shed and getting into his car, Joseph felt like he was way in over his head. He had violated the rules that were set in stone but this needed to be done. He was a boss, so this was an exception.
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“Pop, I have everything under control. I swear,” said Joseph. He had stopped over his parent’s house and confessed to what was going on.
“Do you realize how much you’re risking? You’re in charge now but…”
“You’re right. I am in charge now, so I need you to trust me. This will all go away and no one will ever know,” replied Joseph.
Guy trusted his son but at times, he felt like he didn’t think about how much he was putting the family business in jeopardy. This wasn’t acceptable.
“You may be the boss now but I can always come out of retirement. Don’t you ever cut me off again,” said his father.
“My apologies,” said Joseph.
“Now, what is your plan for this baby? Joyce and Mary blend in even if they come back to not be your children. Why didn’t you just kill him?” asked Guy.
Joseph loved the money from the business and in fact, he made so much money that he had to hide bank accounts from Lovette so that she wouldn’t become suspicious. He would soon get out and start legal businesses. This needed to be done.
But, one thing he couldn’t do was kill a baby. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was going to do but he knew that he wouldn’t kill Matthias. At least not yet.
“The hospital, Dr. Oar, everyone will be paid for their services. Everything is taken care of. I promise,” replied Joseph.
“Just trust him,” said Sarah. “We’re out of this and he wouldn’t do anything to get us caught up in something.”
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July 8, 1989
It had been a few weeks since Joseph had taken Matthias from the home. It hurt him to see the pain he had caused Lovette but it had been for a reason. He was sitting at his desk and continued to look over the DNA results and was in complete shock.
Peeking out of his office window, Mike had just arrived and was outside talking to Iris and Joey. This had been his son and his sister-in-law. This was his family and somehow, Mike still had his charm and it worked on everyone he came in contact with.
Joey ran into the house and upstairs into his room. Before long, Lovette invited Mike inside and he could hear everyone in the family room talking from his office. Once in a while, he would hear one of the babies fuss and Joseph knew in his gut that Mike was consoling his daughters.
He had planned to tell Lovette the results today and couldn’t wait. This would end her communication with Mike and it was long overdue. He would sit in his office and stare at the results as long as he needed until he cooled off.
“The doctor’s told Joseph that he had been gone before they arrived at the hospital. It was nothing they could do. I named him Matthias,” said Lovette.
She instantly felt overwhelmed all over again as if it were the day it happened. Not once had she ever thought about losing a child and wish she could do something to ease the pain. Lovette had shunned the thought of talking to a therapist and felt as if it would do her no good.
Mike had been holding Mary and Joyce. Placing them both in their bassinets, he felt her pain. He never got to meet Matthias but it hurt him to know she had been in pain over this loss.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be here. Believe me when I say I really wanted to be here for you but…”
“It’s okay, Mike. I know you would’ve been here if you could’ve,” said Lovette. She wasn’t sure if she fully believed the words that had come out of her mouth but she wanted to believe that he had wanted to be there.
Patting him on the knee, she went into Joseph’s office. As soon as she opened the door, he shoved some papers in his desk drawer and slammed it shut. Guilty.
“What’s up?” asked Joseph. He was nervous and knew she would ask about him pushing the papers in the drawer.
“Nothing,” said Lovette suspiciously. “Was just checking in on you. You okay? Mike is here.”
“Yea. Just need to get some air. I think I’m going to take Joey to the park just to get out of the house,” said Joseph. Pulling his keys from his pocket, he placed one inside the drawer and locked it.
“Okay. Me and Iris are gonna get started on dinner while Mike is here with the kids. Speaking of…have you heard anything back yet?” asked Lovette.
“I’ll take a stop over there and see what the holdup is,” lied Joseph. He needed more time to prepare himself for what reaction he felt he would receive from her. She would either hate him or believe him. There would be no in between.
“Okay. Well, have fun. He’s upstairs,” replied Lovette. Joseph kissed her on the cheek and went upstairs to get Joey. Within minutes, they both were back downstairs and on their way out the door.
Standing on the porch, Lovette waited until she could no longer see Joseph’s car and went into his office. Pulling apart the family picture of her, Joseph and Joey, Lovette peeled back the picture and removed the spare key her husband didn’t know she knew about. Opening the desk, Lovette pulled out the stack of papers her husband tried to hide.
The first paper had been their joint account bank statement. Nothing for him to be shoving in a desk to hide. Shuffling through several other papers, they contained receipts from work, bills, and…
The results they had been waiting on. Joseph had been sitting on the results and didn’t say a word to her. Lovette was livid.
She was hurt that her husband felt the need to hide them from her and she was confused as to how it could even be possible. She had never heard of anything like this. It had to have been an error.
Storming out of the office and into the downstairs guest bedroom, Lovette called Dr. Oar. Mike saw how furious she had walked off and left the girls with Iris to follow her.
“I’d like to speak to Dr. Oar. It’s important. I DON’T GIVE A DAMN IF HE’S WITH A PATIENT! Tell him Lovette Marks is on the line right fucking now!” screamed Lovette.
“What’s going on, Love?” asked Mike. Closing the bedroom door behind him, he waited for a response. Holding her hand up in a gesture to give her a moment, he stood there while she continued to talk on the phone.
“Yes. Do you mind telling me what the hell these results are about? Like, how is this even possible?! This has to be wrong,” sa
id Lovette.
“Believe it or not, the test were done many times just to make sure we were looking at the correct information and it’s true. Mary and Joyce’s biological father is Joseph Marks and…Matthias’s biological father is Michael O’Conner.”
“This has actually happened before. It’s not quite common but it happens. If the female party has had sexual intercourse with both male parties in a certain time frame…” Dr. Oar continued.
Lovette dropped the phone. She had been prepared for the children to belong to one or the other but not both. This had been all her fault.
“What is it, Love?! Say something already,” said Mike. He had been worried about her actions. She was just in the living room with him smiling and now, she had seemed as if the world was about to end.
Mike could hear Dr. Oar on the line constantly saying “Hello?” and when he had gotten enough, he picked up the phone and hung it up.
Lovette instantly thought about Matthias. Did Joseph kill her son? He knew that Matthias belonged to Mike and he had been in a rush to get him out of the hospital. She couldn’t believe he would do something so evil!
“Matthias is yours. The girls belong to Joseph,” said Lovette. She shoved the paper of evidence into Mike’s hands and walked out of the bedroom as if everything that had just happened had been casual.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” said Mike as he ran after Lovette. “What do you mean “he’s mine” but the girls aren’t?! Since when has shit like this happened?! Is this for real?!” he questioned.
Lovette ignored Mike and ran up to her room to change her clothes. She couldn’t sit around and wait for Joseph to come back to confront him. She was about to drive around to every park in Shawford to find him.
“Where are you going? It doesn’t even matter. I’m coming. Iris, can you um…”
Repression Page 27