Family Secrets

by Ronnie Ashmore

  As bad as being his sex toy whenever he wanted, and he wanted daily it seemed, was, things got worse when he grew bored with her and started turning to Christine. That was when George Parks’ demented, evil side came to the surface. While George took his pleasure from Christine, he would force Toby to have sex with Elizabeth. Or vice versa. Often several times a day the four of them would be involved in an incestuous orgy that involved George and Toby taking turns with each of the girls. If Toby ever tried to resist, George had a broom handle that he had sawed off to about a foot long, he would use that broom handle to rape and beat Toby until he was bleeding and crying. Elizabeth could only remember Toby resisting twice, maybe. He did not want to incur the wrath of his dad and that monstrous broom handle.

  Graduation night. When Elizabeth came home after her graduation, she just wanted to leave that house and never come back. She told Christine that she could come with her, to some place else. Toby was already gone by then, and he never even called to check on the girls, but Elizabeth thought they could have a normal life if they could escape. Christine refused to leave saying daddy would never let them both go. Elizabeth went to her room and started packing her few things in a bag.

  Her dad found out she was leaving, Christine probably told him, though she wasn’t sure. He came in the room; he was mad and yelling at her and started pushing her. That night in her room was the roughest night of sex she had ever had. He hurt her in so many ways. He did everything to her that he could imagine that night. She didn’t resist, resisting only made him angrier and he would be more violent.

  He left her there in her bed, naked, crying, and covered in his semen. She collected her thoughts and began washing up, she showered slowly trying to clean all the filth off her bruised and aching body. It took her awhile to finish packing her things. Then when he was asleep and the house was quiet, she left her that house and never went back. She ended up in Lubbock and tried to make a life there.

  Her voice faded, becoming quieter until Tolliver and Mike had to strain to hear her next statement. “I got married to a good man. He knew nothing of my past, not supposed to talk to strangers about family. I couldn’t have normal relations with him. Every time we did, I would go into hysterics and cry. He never knew why. He ended up with his secretary. I feigned outrage at the affair and made out well in the divorce that followed, but inside, deep inside, I was glad I wouldn’t have to suffer from having sex with him anymore.”

  Elizabeth was silent for a long time. The two cops let the silence draw out. Mike could not believe what he had just heard. He was trying to digest it all but was having a hard time with it. He felt anger at George Parks for destroying this family. Mike realized he worked side by side with him at the hardware store and never knew this was going on or had even happened. He looked at the chief and seen him wrestling with his own anger.

  Tolliver had been around a long time and had heard many sick, twisted tales of abuse. Nothing had prepared him for what he had just heard from Elizabeth Parks. He felt speechless at this moment like he never wanted to talk again but he needed to know an answer to a question she had brought up.

  “You said Lydia was your dad’s daughter. How do you know that?” Tolliver asked, half dreading the answer.

  “She called me. I tried to stay in touch with her after I left. I tried to convince her to come to Lubbock with me. She refused to leave Colby or dad. She called and told me that she was pregnant. She said it was dad’s because she never was with anyone else. She was seventeen. Barely.” She wiped at her eyes again, though there were no fresh tears.

  “Lydia has to be his. She told me that. Who knows? Christine has never married and as far as I know she has never had a long-term boyfriend. But she has got a big drinking problem and I’m sure she uses drugs. Hell, who wouldn’t?”

  “So, you and Toby escaped, never came back from what I hear you say, and left Christine there?” Tolliver asked.

  “I wanted to take her. Tried even. Toby…That bastard never even checked on us after he left. I heard he married. Also, heard he was a drunk too. Didn’t even know I had a nephew until,” she pointed at Mike, “he showed up and said he was dead. That’s when he told me Lydia was living in that house.” She said.

  “We need you to write out a statement of what you just told us.” Mike said.

  “Why?” She asked, fear in her voice.

  “So, we can go arrest George for this cruelty. State allows for prosecution since there is no statute of limitations on this kind of crime.” Tolliver said.

  “You think this type of crime is common. He ruined everything in my life, all our lives. But you will not get me to go on the record with any of this. You find a different way to get the sonofabitch, I will not be giving a statement.” Elizabeth Parks’ anger was full force now. She stood and began collecting her things preparing to leave.

  “We can help you.” Mike said.

  “No! I will not go on the record and let the world know what he did to me. I shouldn’t have come here. I was just worried about Lydia.”

  “We will investigate and look into this. It would be a lot easier if we had you on record.” Mike said.

  “No!” She hurried out of the conference room down the hallway through the door and disappeared into the lobby as the door closed.

  “Good God Almighty!” Tolliver said, watching her leave. Mike disagreed.

  “We need to call CPS maybe?” Mike asked, as they walked back to the chief’s office.

  Child Protection Services was the regulatory agency for investigating allegation of abuse to children within the home. Sadly, they were overworked with a caseload that was never ending. They were also hamstrung by a bureaucracy that cared more, it seemed, about procedures than protecting kids. Mike hated dealing with CPS.

  “Yeah. You do that. I’m calling Morgan to come up here. We can fill him in.” Tolliver picked up the phone on his desk. It was going to be a long weekend.

  16

  After spending the better part of an hour on the phone with the CPS intake call operator and giving her all known information Mike went back to the chief’s office and joined him and Morgan, who had arrived earlier. The chief was finishing catching Morgan up to date with what Elizabeth Parks had relayed to them. Tolliver looked as if he wanted to throw up in the trash can that he kept under his desk.

  “What did CPS say?” Morgan asked, as Mike took a seat.

  “They would forward to the investigator. Intake said it wasn’t much to go on, since the outcry was so outdated.” His frustration with the call was evident. Unless the children living in the house now made an outcry, CPS would not give much priority to this case. It was now a case, Mike thought, even though the witness was not cooperative.

  “Well, the State allows us to investigate. If this happened to the kids, it just might be happening to the grandkids.” Tolliver said.

  The image of George Parks doing those things that were described by Elizabeth to her was horrible enough to imagine, but the thought of that old man doing those things to Lydia was almost too much for Mike to come to terms with. He held his emotions in check because he knew the chief would take him off this case, and this one was one he wanted to see through to the end.

  It was nearly ten o’clock on Friday night Morgan seen as he glanced at his watch. “Maybe we can catch Christine and get her permission to talk to the boy. Do we even know his name?” Mike shook his head and Morgan continued, “But Lydia is eighteen, we can talk to her.”

  “We don’t know her cognitive abilities. I’d feel better if we talked to Christine first. Then the kids.” Tolliver said.

  Morgan got up and motioned Mike to follow him. They stopped at Morgan’s office for a notebook binder that he used to take notes in then they left the station. In Morgan’s pickup Mike rode in silence as they headed in the direction to get to Christine’s house, finally he spoke.

  “You ever hear of anything like this? This is something you hear about on the news or the internet not here.�
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  “It’s here. And depending on how this case goes, you will read about it in the news and internet.”

  The rest of the ride was silent. Each lost in their own thoughts. Mike was hoping Christine would cooperate. He thought of Christine and her life she had lived to this point and he felt sad for her. He had judged her and her life on what could be seen on the surface never suspecting that she was locked in a hell that was not her choosing. How would her life had been different if she had decent parents? Mike thought of their mother then. How could she live with a monster that hurt, no, destroyed her children like that? If he came face to face with Pam Parks, he was going to be sure and ask that very question.

  His thoughts were broken by turning into the drive that lead to the single-wide trailer that Christine called home. Morgan parked and they both got out. It was pitch black out here in the yard. The dogs were back, as they came from different areas around the house and started barking. A single bare bulb porch light came on creating a hazy white glow in the yard and casting long shadows. However bad Christine’s life had been to this point Mike knew it was going to get worse after this visit.

  Christine opened the door. She didn’t appear to be drinking. She was dressed in different clothes than the last times they had visited, except the flip flops. They were still there.

  “What now?” She asked.

  Mike didn’t detect anger, just frustration that her life for the last week had involved more visits from the local police than she was accustomed to.

  “Christine, we need to talk.” Mike said.

  She stepped aside and invited them in. Mike entered first and as he walked into the kitchen, he was surprised to see that some cleaning had taken place since his last visit. The dishes that were piled in the sink were now clean and put away, the counters were clean of trash and debris. The floors had a fresh mopping and the house smelled of cleaning solution. The living room was clean and the clothes that were piled high were gone. Everything still looked worn out and old, but at least it was clean.

  “I heard what you said before, about the mess. I have been trying.” She said, seeing him look around.

  Even she looked cleaner, as he had caught a whiff of perfume as he had walked past her into the house. Mike looked back at her then looked at Morgan for guidance on how to begin this conversation.

  “Miss Parks? I’m Captain Morgan the detective for Colby PD.” He said.

  She giggled at the name a little, then said, “I know. How can I help you?”

  “We just left the office to come over here. Officer Mike and Chief Tolliver had a lengthy visit with your sister.”

  “Elizabeth is in town?”

  “She came to visit us. Elizabeth told us everything.” Mike said.

  He watched as her face went from smiling and pleasant to a worried, scared look that was hard to fight.

  “Everything about what?” She said, looking around the room anxiously, like she wanted to be anywhere but in that living room.

  “About growing up in that house.” Morgan said, leaving the implication hanging.

  “Elizabeth is prone to overreaction. You know that, right?”

  “We didn’t even tell you the details of what she said, yet.” Morgan said.

  “I can assure you Elizabeth has been gone for many years and knows nothing about anything.” She was rubbing her face now and her breathing was rapidly increasing, she was still looking around the room avoiding eye contact. Mike could tell she was under a great deal of stress.

  “Christine? She told us everything. The abuse, the whole thing. All of it.” Morgan said, calling her by her first name trying to elicit cooperation.

  “There is nothing to tell. You have no idea what kind of person Elizabeth is. I need y’all to leave now. Please!”

  Fearing that she would shut down completely, they turned to walk back out of the house. Morgan tried one more time at the doorway leading outside.

  “We need to interview Lydia and her brother, but we need your permission to do that at this point.”

  “Absolutely not. You are not interviewing those kids.” She stepped into the doorway as they made their way down the steps. “Absolutely not doing that to them. Don’t come back here again. I’ve seen enough cops lately.”

  She slammed the door. The porch light went off leaving both men in the dark.

  17

  The ride back to the station was even more awkward than the ride to Christine’s house. Both men were trying to plot the next move and neither wanted to tell the Chief that they didn’t get cooperation. They rode in silence and walked into the station still not speaking. As they entered the chief’s office he looked up.

  He knew by their demeanor that it did not go well. Tolliver, Mike thought, looked tired and worn out. Like he had been thinking of nothing else but this since hearing Elizabeth Parks’ story.

  “You know, boys, I’ve come to the conclusion that I am a damn fool.” Tolliver said, as Morgan and Mike sat down.

  “How’s that, Chief?” Morgan asked.

  “I’ve known George Parks a long time, although he is a bit older than me. He was a city councilman for a minute, belonged to civic clubs now and then when he was younger. All this time, he was doing that to them kids.

  I’m a highly trained and decorated cop, suppose to be the protector of my city and the people therein. I couldn’t see what was happening. Even worse, I missed it. Not only missed it but never even suspected something like that. What kind of damn cop am I?” He sounded weary, as if the events of this Friday night had taken away all the youth and vigor that he had felt and left him with only a tired version of himself.

  “Hell, Chief, how can we know what goes on behind closed doors. People have to report crimes before we know about them. Besides, I don’t know that this crime would be all that common.” Mike said.

  “Well, common or not we got a report now, granted from a victim that doesn’t want any part of what we are going to have to do. We still got to do our job, whether Elizabeth Parks wants us to or not.” Morgan said.

  “Let’s start fresh in the morning. I know it’s Saturday, but this can’t wait.” Tolliver said, standing up and turning off his desk lamp. The three left the building and stepped into the night knowing the same questions that they were struggling to answer now would be waiting for them in the daylight.

  Mike was exhausted. He felt as if he hadn’t slept in weeks. Elizabeth Parks story was going to haunt him for a while he thought. How could she, or rather, all three kids survive that kind of extreme abuse. Mike had answered sexual assault calls for service before involving both adults and children, but he had never heard of such barbarity in the way Elizabeth had described. No wonder her marriage hadn’t lasted, how could she trust anyone after being betrayed like her father had done.

  These thoughts were still running through his mind as he drove home from the station, made his way into his apartment, set the water then stood under the hottest shower he could tolerate. After the shower he dried off and laid down finally drifting off to sleep.

  The phone was ringing. That was Mikes’ first thought, his second was someone would answer it. He came full awake and started fumbling in the dark for the ringing cellphone when he remembered he lived alone, and no one would answer it if he didn’t. He glanced at the home screen for the time, four-fifteen in the morning. He answered the phone. The dispatcher on the other end told him to meet the Chief and Captain Morgan at the emergency room at the hospital, she didn’t know why.

  He was dressed and out the door and heading to the hospital before four thirty. He was groggy, still half asleep, and felt like his head weighed a hundred pounds. He walked into the ER waiting room of the Colby General Hospital and seen the other two sitting in chairs opposite each other holding coffee cups and waiting.

  “What’s up?” He asked, standing in the aisle in the middle of both men.

  “Got a phone call from dispatch, an hour or so ago that Christine Parks was rushed to the ER
by ambulance. I called the Sheriff’s Office and they said it was a possible suicide attempt.” Tolliver said, standing up. “I called Jim, then had dispatch call you.”

  Morgan stood too. “EMS said she was home alone. Looks like she called it in herself.”

  “Maybe a cry for help?” Mike asked.

  “Maybe. We hit her with a lot earlier tonight. Maybe she couldn’t deal with it and thought this was a solution.”

  “How?” Mike asked, meaning how did she try to kill herself.

  “Cut her wrists and sleeping pills.” Morgan said.

  “I want to talk to her as soon as they get her stable enough. They were pumping her stomach a bit ago.” Tolliver said, grimacing.

  Anyone who ever seen or worse had a stomach pump done, would grimace too, Mike thought.

  “She was angry and mad earlier, think she’ll talk?” Mike asked.

  “She was scared too. She doesn’t know what her sister told us. She doesn’t know how much she can hide.” Morgan said, sipping coffee.

  The three walked to the break room and got fresh cups of coffee. Mike felt he needed an IV bag of the stuff and jokingly thought if he should ask a doctor for a prescription. It was too early for this, he thought. They walked back to the lobby to sit down and wait.

  A little after five thirty a doctor came out and told them she was stable enough to see them for a little bit. He advised them not to stress her too much. Mike figured Christine could handle as much or more stress than any one hundred normal people. They made their way into the main emergency room.

  The smell of antiseptic and sterile cleaning solutions was permanent in the air. The fluorescent lights always seemed to be brighter in a hospital than other buildings and these were blaring. The ER had private rooms where patients could have quiet and be alone. There were ten such rooms on this side of the hallway and Mike knew there were ten more on the other side of a divider wall. All of them were empty except for one. They made their way to the door of the room where the patient was waiting, sitting up in the bed.