by Iris Taylor
I raised an eyebrow and smacked his arm, hard. "Really, Simon? Alcohol in the middle of the day?"
He shrugged. "Some days just call for it." I almost nodded in agreement. I still had Sam at home, likely waiting to pounce on me. A little liquid courage wouldn't hurt.
"Have you heard from Kitty?" I asked. He shook his head. "Don't worry about her. She's a whiz at these things. She'll get it done."
I wasn't worried about her ability to take the videos down. What worried me was what would keep her motivated enough to help me when she obviously didn't need to.
As if he understood my concerns, Simon said, “She’s a really good friend of mine, and she owes me one. She’ll get it done.” His confidence reassured me.
I got myself a club sandwich and ate it as fast as I could, wanting to be away from everyone’s whispers and stares. My head was pounding, and all I wanted was to curl up in bed and wake up when this was all over.
After the last of the day’s classes ended, with me barely able to focus in class giving my pounding headache, Simon gave me a ride back home, but declined my invitation to go inside as he had yet another hot date with Connor. I figured I couldn’t coax him out of it, so I didn’t try. I steeled myself when I entered the house knowing Sam was most likely there and my mom was still at work for a few hours yet.
The house was quiet, and the kitchen and TV rooms were empty. I got myself a bowl of cereal and padded quietly up to my room. It was too eerily silent, and I braced myself for the worst. Looking around, I could see he wasn’t in my bedroom either, and I turned the lock and checked it to make sure it worked. I planned to take some Advil and hit the bed. I could feel the flu coming on, my muscles ached everywhere.
Changing out of my uniform and into a pair of tights and an oversized t-shirt, I wondered if Suzy would let me pick up extra shifts at the bookstore this week. It would probably reduce my study time but since the tutoring sessions with Victor were no longer happening anymore, I had more time on my hands, which was a bad thing if Sam were to stay for any duration of time.
The sound of rustling behind me made me jump. I turned and felt my heart sink. Sam was standing there, looking at me with lust-filled eyes, his pants down, stroking his half-mast member languidly. Had he been hiding behind my clothes rack?
A bubble of nausea rose up my throat and pooled there. My eyes followed his up-and-down hand movement and a wave of giddiness overcame me. I felt my palms sweat and my fingers begin to tingle. This can't be happening again. Please, God, no.
"Angel, my Angel. I've missed you so bad." His voice was gruff, saturated with lust and raw hunger.
I slowly took a few steps backwards towards my bedroom door, willing my brain to stay with me and my impending panic attack to go away.
"You've grown into such a gorgeous, young woman. Such a beautiful body. Those tits..."
I bolted. Turning around, I grabbed the doorknob and felt it slip from my hands in my hurry. I heard him growl in anger and grab me by the waist.
"No! Uncle Sam, no!"
I forced myself forwards and managed to break free of his hold. Unlocking the door properly this time, I rushed out and ran down the stairs as fast as I could.
"Angel!" Sam roared. I ran into the kitchen to head towards the porch door. I stopped when I saw a guy open the door, the house key in his hand. Sam brought a friend? I wasn't going to win this one. I started shouting hysterically and turned to see Sam stumble heavily into the kitchen, his legs and groin bare.
"You ungrateful bitch!" He stopped when he saw we weren’t alone and looked behind me.
"What is this?" The newcomer asked. I turned to see him look at us both, sizing up the situation.
"Angel, right? Who's this guy?" He narrowed his eyes. "You're Sam?"
Within a split second everything happened at once. Sam lunged for the guy who easily sidestepped and wrapped his arm around Sam's neck. Sam, despite being tall and heavy, was caught off-guard. He tried to pry the guy’s arms off him, to no avail. He managed to push himself backwards, bringing the guy with him, and they both fell onto the floor. I cried out, and ran outside through the porch door. Noticing Julian's car out front, I ran towards it with a sense of overpowering relief. I yelped when I saw that it was empty, and tried the passenger door to find that it was locked. Our garage was still empty, too. Where on earth is Julian?
"Angel."
I turned with a start, frightened. The guy earlier, who looked to be in his twenties, sprinted towards me, an object in his hand. My heart leapt into my throat and I motioned for him to stay away from me. "Come any closer and I'll scream!"
"Call the police. Now. He's gonna come to in a few minutes."
I saw that he was holding out a cellphone. Taking it with shaking hands, I dialed the emergency number and croaked, "Please, help me."
I kept a close eye on the guy whilst answering the operator's questions as calmly as I could. He was tall and lean, with dark brown hair and deep brown eyes. He looked like a college guy. How did he know me? Why did he have the house key?
After giving my address to the woman on the line, I hung up and handed the guy back his phone.
"Thanks," I said warily. I still didn’t know who he was, but it didn’t look like he was one of Sam’s cronies.
His eyes narrowed as he looked at me up and down. "Does your mom know?"
Chapter Four
His tone was fierce and confrontational, his eyes blazing with anger. "Does your mom know?"
I rubbed the goosebumps on my arms. "Who are you?" I couldn't place him and he was being so familiar, it was unsettling.
"Brody. Julian's son. Your mom gave me the house key.” At my raised eyebrow, he explained further. “She left some office documents on the kitchen table and wanted me to fetch them. She’s held up at work. Now, tell me, does your mom know?"
His piercing gaze, coupled with the insistent tone and the feeling of being stripped of my shield of secrets and lies, left me feeling horribly vulnerable. I had never had to face this situation before. Now my secret had a real-time witness.
I shook my head. "No one knew...until recently."
He grabbed my wrist and half-dragged me towards the house. Despite his rough demeanor with me, I felt safe. He had saved me from another attack. I felt strangely calm after my confession. It was like a burden had been lifted from my shoulders, one I had no right to carry alone all this time.
He brought me back through the porch doors and my heart jumped at the sight of a knocked-out Sam sprawled on the floor, his nose bleeding. He otherwise looked unscathed. I wished Brody had roughed him up more. He certainly more than deserved it. Brody cast him a quick glance before sitting me down on a chair.
"Talk."
Knowing I had to recount everything to the police later, I summarized what I could without breaking down.
"He...has been raping me since my dad died. When I was thirteen. Him...and his friends. It's the reason I applied to move to Ravenshaw Falls. Sam had a plan to bring me away with him once I turned eighteen."
The expletives that escaped his lips made me cringe.
"They...they took videos. Somehow, the kids at school found them online and have been using them to harass me."
I stopped there. He didn't need to know all the gory details. I wasn’t even sure why I had to tell him about the bullying. Sam raping me was a big enough deal. But deep down, I knew it was because I couldn’t do it by myself anymore. I was unravelling, a taut, brittle string that was about to snap in half. This was the time to unload it all. It was time to let it all out and have someone else to carry the burden with me.
"Okay, Angel. The police are here. You tell them all they need to know. I'll talk to your mom." He paused. "I'll break it to her gently."
The soft change in his voice warmed me. There was no blame, and no judgment. He didn't seem to think I was stupid for not reporting this earlier. His rage seemed purely directed towards Sam and what he had done to me.
Half an hour later, after watching Sa
m being brought away, still in a state of undress, I continued to answer the policewoman's questions. She was kind, but her questions were hard to answer. I had to pause a few times to think about what I wanted to say, but I vowed to let everything out. It was over. Things were going to be okay now. At least, it was what I wanted to believe. I told them about my past, the countless occasions I had been defiled, and by whom. I showed them the websites where the videos were posted, and told them about what the kids at school had done with them. I told them about my stolen phone, the attempted attack at the party, and the locker incident. I told them that I had already reported it all to the school principal. It was obvious to me that this was the first time the police had heard about my being harassed at school. I vowed to find out what sorts of things had been kept under wraps in the school with Miss Marshall on the elites’ payroll.
The sight of my grief-stricken mom rushing through the kitchen door, her eyes red and brimming with tears, made my heart crack. She suddenly looked a decade older, her petite figure appearing fragile and liable to break. She had been the unwitting victim in all of this. She was going to blame herself for sure, and I wasn’t sure how to comfort her and convince her otherwise.
“Angel, baby, oh my god...” She held out her arms and hugged me, her fingers digging into my back tightly. “I am so, so sorry, my baby girl...” Her tears flowed freely and wet my shirt as her sobs grew into low, anguished wails. Somehow, I felt sorrier for her at that moment than I did for myself. Sam’s ill-treatment of me was a fact of life that I had gotten adjusted to for almost five years now, but it was a bomb that had freshly dropped onto my mom’s lap. One that had detonated and destroyed her only child a while back, but only now was being sprung upon her. She now had to pick up the pieces whilst being broken herself. I held her as shudders racked her slim frame, and it was a long while before her sobs subsided.
“I didn’t know,” she whispered, her eyes swollen now. “Baby girl, if I knew, I would’ve done something...your father would never forgive me...oh my god...what have I done...”
I hugged her again. She didn’t need to go through this. “It’s not your fault ma, stop saying that. I’ve been keeping it from you on purpose because I was worried about you. Look at me – I’m okay. Ma, I’m okay.”
Her watery eyes did look at me then, but I knew she couldn’t see it yet. The news was too fresh.
“Angel. How could anyone do that to you? No – how could Sam do that to you? He’s my brother! He watched you grow up. Oh my god, he watched you grow up...that’s so sick that he did that...”
She had questions, ones whose answers would hurt her, but I knew I had to answer because she needed to know. When, where, how? How many times? How did she miss the signs all along? Where was everyone? Where was Martha? Did she know?
In the end, I was truly drained. I suspected she would have more questions in the following days, and all I wanted was some peace and time to myself.
The police had left us alone earlier, having set up an appointment to meet me. I was to report to the local hospital for a checkup right away. It was evident to everyone that my mother was not in a state to be the one to accompany me.
“I’ll bring Angel,” Brody offered, looking between the two of us. “That is, if she’s okay with it?”
I nodded. Pecking my mom on the forehead, I asked that Brody send a text to Julian to see if he could be with her right away. By the time I had finished changing and managed to force down a sandwich, Julian was already by her side. His kind eyes looked at me with an emotion I didn’t like – pity. It was something I didn’t need nor seek, and did very much to avoid.
Giving him a wan smile, I gave my mom another hug before saying goodbye. “Take care of her,” I mouthed. He nodded.
The ride to the hospital made me jittery. Being questioned by the police was one thing, but being physically examined by a stranger was another. What were they going to find? The last time anything had happened was months ago – the week before I left Winsley for good. The attack at the party hadn’t left any marks down there. Were they going to reprimand me for not having myself checked up earlier?
The police had, it seemed, alerted the hospital in advance, and a woman with a kind smile who appeared to be in her forties came to meet me quite quickly and introduced herself as Dr. Alice. She explained that she was going to make everything as quick and painless as possible. After a brief but thorough examination, with swabs taken from down below and my blood taken for further testing, I was free to go.
“We will be in touch with the results,” she promised. It hadn’t occurred to me earlier that what Sam and his friends did to me could cause any problems with my health, but I was glad I hadn’t thought of it before. The torment of having any of their filth on me and potential STIs would have probably weighed me down and hindered my plans to move away. Now I only had to wait a few days. I shuddered at the thought of being tested positive for something. It was one thing to have avoided pregnancy – Sam had never been careful, it was most likely his dream come true to have claimed me that way – and another to carry his disgusting germs. I had done all I could with morning-after pills and douching myself – for whatever it was worth.
I must have been lost in thought because I forgot Brody was next to me. “Would you like the heater on?” he asked, rubbing his hands together as he sat in the driver’s seat next to me. I nodded. It was getting chilly. The day’s events were also not helping, and I felt myself shiver and feel nauseous at the same time.
“You know, you’re taking it quite well for someone who has been through a lot.” The way he said it made me turn to look at him in the eye, but there was no trace of disbelief or judgment on his face. Instead, he looked thoughtful, like he was seeing me in a new light. Was that a glimmer of respect that I could see in his eyes?
I shrugged. “I’ve had time to deal with it.”
He looked far ahead in the distance, his hands on the wheel. We were still fifteen minutes away from home, and I was getting worn-out from everything. Stifling a yawn, I added, “It’s also not the bigger problem I’m dealing with right now.”
When he looked to me for clarification, I replied, “The bullying is worse.”
At my words, his hands reached for mine, startling me. He squeezed it hard and with a solemn voice, said, “Too much. Far too much for someone your age to handle.”
For some reason, I prickled at his words. “My age? You’re what, a year older than me?”
He shrugged. “And I’ve never had to deal with even a quarter of what you’ve been through.”
I looked away from his pitying, prying look. I didn't need his sympathy. Right now, my focus had shifted from my dark past with Sam to my even darker present. The videos that I was sure were going viral as we spoke, destroying my reputation like a fire guts a gasoline-infused, rickety, wooden house. As empty and dilapidated as what I felt like at the moment. It wasn't just my reputation. No one should be privy to my pain, and certainly no one should see those painful moments where I was defiled for the umpteenth time. In spite of myself and my opinion that I shouldn’t give a damn about what others thought of me, I wondered. Would my classmates be shocked to see those clips? Or did some of them enjoy watching them, thinking it was a voluntary act on my side? The more depraved ones probably wouldn't care if I wasn't a willing participant. Did Adrienne and Co. enjoy them?
A flash of Victor's face ran through my mind, as did an image of his hand in Jessica's. I clenched my jaw and forced myself to think of my next steps. I wondered what progress Kitty had made. Was it too much to expect her to be able to take down all the videos from those many sites? Powering on my dinosaur of a phone, I saw that I had several unread messages. One was from my mother. It read, Hope the hospital check went okay. I should have gone with you. Sorry for being such a terrible mother. Will you forgive me?
I quickly replied her with: There is nothing to forgive. It went well, will get the results soon.
I could foresee anothe
r downward spiral in my mom's mood. I just hoped it wouldn't happen, or be less pronounced compared to the last time, because I couldn’t deal with that on top of everything else. It was selfish of me to think that, but I just couldn’t. I was hopeful she would stay okay and be strong for my sake. Julian was here to comfort her and it wasn’t like I had died – unlike what had happened with my dad. I quickly snapped myself out of it. My macabre thoughts would comfort only me. I was sure everyone else would have some adjusting to do in the face of the news of my past five years that had dropped into their laps without notice. I wondered how Martha would receive the news of her pedophilic, rapist husband. Winsley was such a small community I was sure it would destroy them and their entire livelihood there.
The next message was from Lucia. It was an apology for ignoring me for the past few days.
I know I’ve left you at your lowest moments. I just didn’t know what to think when I saw those pictures of you. Now I know what really happened – I met Simon today – and I feel like the worst person ever. I’m so sorry. I really am. I don’t expect you to want to speak to me again ever, but I want you to know that you are not alone and I will also help Simon and Kitty with what I can. Those bitches can’t keep on doing this to you – or anyone else. They will come down, mark my words.
I smiled in spite of myself. Lucia wasn’t as scary as she sometimes thought herself to be, but I wasn’t going to be the one to tell her that. I wondered how she could be of any help. Maybe Simon would know. I realized that none of them knew about what had just happened to me with Sam today. I badly missed both her and April now and replied her text. I have more news. Meet me tonight?
I figured I couldn’t stand sticking around at home, scared that Sam was still hiding, lurking in the shadows, waiting to pounce on me in my room. I wondered if Julian wouldn’t mind staying over to keep my mother company.
“Earth to Angel.”
I gritted my teeth. “Call me Cara.”
Brody shrugged. Turning into the driveway that led to the house, he said, “Listen. I know you don’t know me from the next guy but I’ve heard a lot about you since our parents started dating. I just wanted to say that if you need anything, any help at all, you can always ask me.”
