Miracles

by Thomas A. Watson

  Nodding slowly as she looked around the room, “Yes, I tried to tell them just let her get in trouble,” Sarah admitted.

  “Then these kids are smarter than you,” Joseph said, pissing Sarah off. “They knew what would happen to Chloe. Is that why they helped Chloe? So she wouldn’t get thrown out? No,” Joseph told her, leaning back in his chair.

  Realizing Joseph wasn’t being a smartass, Sarah looked around at the kids. “So, why help her?” she asked.

  “We didn’t want her making Pops and Momma mad. They have enough to worry about,” Kirk answered, and the others nodded.

  Understanding what Joseph was trying to make her see, Sarah turned to look at him. “I understand,” Sarah sighed. “You were right, I was wrong.”

  A sharp ‘clank’ sounded as Skannish dropped his fork on his plate. “You’ve been wrong before and we’ve proved it, but you’ve never admitted it to us,” he snapped.

  “As crazy as you two make me, just be thankful I didn’t blow up more when you proved I was wrong,” Sarah offered.

  Leaning over to Todd, “I love Skannish, but sometimes I want to punch him,” Andrea whispered, and Todd agreed with a nod.

  Coming out the back door again, this time with his arms full, Shawn stopped before letting the door close. The first time he’d run out, Wendy and Arthur were stripping Chloe down and Shawn was amazed she wasn’t fighting. Chloe was just holding her stomach, trying to curl up weakly. Arthur had shouted out for Shawn to go in and find some clothes for Chloe to wear when they dropped her off somewhere.

  Running back inside, he ran to the laundry area and just grabbed sweatpants and t-shirts, not caring whose they were. It was only as an afterthought that he grabbed towels but the only reason he did, Shawn didn’t want the Blazer to get soaked.

  Standing at the back door, he watched Arthur and Wendy use sponges and dishwashing soap to scrub Chloe down. As Arthur lathered up her hair, Wendy scrubbed her legs, and if any soap got in her eyes, Chloe never acknowledged it.

  “Hold your leg out before I break it!” Wendy shouted, and Shawn was shocked when Chloe held it up.

  All of a sudden, Shawn remembered what was on the back patio and glanced around but didn’t see Kong or the dead dog. “I wonder if Wendy would’ve made Kong attack Chloe if he was still here,” Shawn wondered out loud.

  As Arthur washed the soap from Chloe’s hair, Wendy snapped, “Other leg!” and Chloe’s left leg shot up and Wendy went to scrubbing. Seeing how hard Wendy was scrubbing with the sponge, Shawn now understood why Chloe’s skin was red.

  “I’m going to have to burn everything in your room! My God, you are one nasty ass!” Wendy shouted, still scrubbing hard.

  “I’ll wash her room down, Momma,” Shawn called out. Looking up curtly at Shawn, “You and Pops don’t need to be bothered by her anymore.”

  Since the ordeal had started with Chloe, Wendy gave her first smile to Shawn. “Shawn, that’s so sweet,” she told him. “I’ll help you.”

  “Momma, let someone else. You and Pops will need to relax after this,” Shawn offered, and wished he could get Joseph to make them go get ‘freak nasty’ again. He was too petrified about the act to even suggest it. There was no denying, after freak nasty, Arthur’s mood had improved tenfold. Wendy’s had improved a hundredfold.

  Never looking away from Shawn, Wendy’s smile grew. “Shawn, quit kissing Wendy’s ass!” Arthur barked out, lathering up Chloe’s hair again.

  The smile dropped off Wendy’s face as she spun around and punched Arthur in the arm so hard she knocked him over. Rubbing his arm, “That hurt, bitch,” he snapped.

  “Shawn was being sweet. Why don’t you take lessons, asshole?!” Wendy shouted, then went back to scrubbing but even Shawn could tell, it was nowhere near as hard as she’d been doing before.

  Watching Arthur get back to his knees and continuing to wash Chloe’s hair, Shawn gave a startle when Arthur looked at him with a grin and gave him a wink. “Oh, Pops can be a bad boy when he wants to be,” Shawn said in awe.

  “Arm,” Wendy said in a normal tone, and Chloe held out her left as her right stayed on her stomach.

  “I’m sorry,” Chloe said very clearly in a sobbing voice.

  “Oh, we are way past sorry, young lady,” Arthur said, grabbing the water hose and rinsing the soap out. “You’ll probably be dead in a few days, but the people who rape you will be thankful we washed you.” The casual tone Arthur used shocked Shawn but devastated Chloe, making her sobs louder.

  Grabbing the bottle of dishwashing soap, Wendy lathered up her sponge. “Please, the trash that’s out there now could care less if a woman is clean when they gang rape them until they die. They won’t even notice because they’ll be just as funky as she was when we started.”

  A shiver ran up Shawn’s spine hearing that from Wendy. It wasn’t what she’d said, it was the ‘I don’t give a shit’ attitude she’d stated it in. “Okay, Momma can be a very bad girl, Joseph. She doesn’t need Pops to show her how,” Shawn mumbled.

  After scrubbing her down again, Arthur and Wendy stood up. “Please don’t,” Chloe whimpered out curled up on the ground.

  Looking down at Chloe, “You only had to show a small bit of kindness,” Wendy said, shaking the water off her hands. “I don’t care how you treat me, but how you treated Arthur and the kids chapped my ass. Those same kids did your work after they did their own just so you wouldn’t get in trouble. You never once told anyone ‘thank you’ or even acknowledged that they’d tried to help you. For that reason alone, be thankful I’m not breaking your fucking legs before dropping you off. At least now you can run when a gang chases you down to rape you until you’re so useless even for your body to be raped, and then they’ll throw you away like a piece of trash so you can die alone and in pain. I want you to remember, as you lay there. It didn’t have to be this way; you could’ve been a part of this family and had others to turn to for help.”

  Thinking that was the coldest shit he had ever heard, Shawn couldn’t help but shiver. After hearing that, Shawn was having trouble ever picturing Momma as a good little Catholic school girl at one time.

  Struggling to sit up and pulling her knees to her chest, Chloe looked at both with pleading eyes. “I’m sorry, I…,” she paused. “It won’t happen again, I swear.”

  Shaking his head, “Wendy may not care how you treat her, but I sure as hell do,” Arthur said, turning off the water faucet. “Chloe, you’ve had chances every day that everyone here gave you. Why should we waste our time on another one?” Arthur shrugged. “There are other kids out there that would love to be in your place and now, we have an open spot for them. You think you’re the only person in the world who’s been hurt? Sorry, but that won’t work. I’m the only person here, probably alive, who can say he only lost friends from this flu. My wife and son survived, and I got a family I couldn’t even have dreamed of.”

  Hearing that from Arthur, Shawn stared hard into Arthur’s face. The only kids Arthur turned down were older kids; Dean didn’t count. A few kids had run off when they’d spotted one and stopped, but Arthur had never turned away a kid, especially a little kid. For the life of him, Shawn couldn’t even guess why Arthur said it.

  “I’ll be good, I swear,” Chloe pleaded.

  “You had your chance,” Arthur said, walking away. “Shawn, watch her while we change to drop her off, and let her get dressed.”

  When Wendy walked past Shawn, she gave him a small hug so she wouldn’t get him wet because she was just as soaked as Chloe. After the door closed, Shawn stepped over and held out a towel. “We tried to help, and I told you they’d throw you out,” he said.

  “Nobody’s ever helped me and not wanted something,” Chloe sniffled. “I’m sorry.”

  Getting to her feet, Shawn fought not to turn away because she was naked, but he had been told to watch her. Taking the towel, for some reason Shawn thought it was weird that Chloe wasn’t even trying to hide her naked body. Every girl over the age o
f seven he could think of would cover their private spots with their hands before they took off screaming. Yet, Chloe wasn’t.

  He was a boy, so he looked. Chloe wasn’t the first naked girl he’d ever seen. That belonged to a girlfriend he tried not to think about. After being with Arthur, Shawn analyzed the situation for answers.

  Was she doing it to gain favor with him?

  The way Chloe was standing and drying off was like anyone would do. He had showered with his girlfriend before and after she’d finished drying off, they’d ended up back in the bedroom. There wasn’t any seduction he could tell from Chloe, she was just drying off.

  Was she not hiding her body to make him feel sorry for her?

  Watching Chloe dry her hair, Shawn couldn’t even see that. She wasn’t pleading with him, but he did feel sorry for her because she’d thrown her chance away for a nice try at life after the viral misery that had racked the globe.

  Parting the towel, Chloe saw him staring at her but noticed he wasn’t ogling her. “Enjoying the show?” she asked. Shawn had to admit, not even that sounded like a smartass comment.

  “I do what I’m asked, unlike you. And for your information, my girlfriend looked a lot better naked,” Shawn told her, but the last part wasn’t true. His girlfriend had looked good but underneath all the funk and black garb, Chloe turned out to be a hottie. When she finished drying her hair, Shawn got to see her face for the first time and forced his body to show no reaction. Chloe’s face was beautiful, except for the nasty black hair.

  Biting her bottom lip, “Sorry,” Chloe mumbled, and Shawn could swear she meant it. “Did she make it somewhere else?”

  “No,” Shawn mumbled. “She died early, before we’d even heard of Rudolph. Brittany had a funeral.”

  Letting the towel drape over her shoulders, “I shouldn’t have asked, but I’m glad she had a funeral at least and you got to go,” Chloe said sincerely.

  “To be honest, I’m glad she’s not here to see this new world, and that she didn’t have to see her mom, dad, two brothers, and baby sister die.”

  “I’m glad your sister is with you,” Chloe said, and that visibly startled him.

  “How do you even know? You don’t care about anything, not even yourself,” Shawn asked, and held out the sweatpants and t-shirt.

  Taking the clothes, “Thank you,” Chloe said dropping the towel, and still made no action like she was embarrassed. “I know everyone’s name here,” she told him, pulling on the shirt. “I waited a month at that store for the Caravan Man to come back where you and Arthur found me.”

  Throwing up his hands, “Then why in the fuck did you act like a fucking bitch to everyone here?!” Shawn cried out. “The only person I can honestly say that didn’t go out of their way to try and help you is Vicki! We even went behind you on double chores!”

  “There’s no fooling Little Momma,” Chloe told him, pulling on her pants. Standing up and looking at Shawn, “Getting here, it seemed too good to be true. I was just waiting for someone to collect.”

  “Collect what, you stupid bitch?!” Shawn shouted. “We play Monopoly with real money! You work to help the family, what other kind of fucking payment is there?”

  ***

  Inside watching and listening on the security camera, Wendy shook her head. “Oh, he has so picked up your language.”

  “Shh,” Arthur hissed, watching the screen.

  ***

  For several seconds Chloe just stared at Shawn. “Sex, dumbass,” Chloe snapped.

  Taking a step back, “Are you fucking serious? There isn’t a man, boy, woman, or girl here that would’ve touched your nasty ass! I would’ve tried fucking Kong before you!” Shawn yelled, and inside Arthur busted out laughing.

  Giving a nod, “I realized that today,” Chloe admitted softly. “The Caravan Man is real, along with those with him. There is no ulterior motive. I was wrong but I never would’ve dreamed of it, and just couldn’t believe it.”

  Holding up both hands, “Stop for a second,” Shawn ordered. “You mean to tell me, after everyone here has bent over backward to try and help you, you can look me in the face and tell me you thought you would have to sleep with someone, as bad as you fucking stank? You’re either stupid or blowing smoke up my ass.”

  “You ever stop to wonder why I didn’t bathe?!” Chloe barked, with tears running down her cheeks. “I’ve found out guys don’t like funky girls!”

  Hearing that, Shawn dropped his arms in shock and stared hard into Chloe’s eyes to see if this was a line of horseshit. “You had your own room, you could lock your door. Hell, look at everyone here carrying guns, and you think girls have to give up sex as payment?” Shawn asked dumbfounded.

  “Do I have a gun?” Chloe shot back.

  “Bitch, you’re lucky they let you eat with silverware with the way you acted. I would’ve given you a goddamn plastic spork! And I would’ve only given your dumb ass one so if you broke it, you would be eating with your hands like the animal you acted like! I told you, and I know nine others told you, once you proved you can carry a gun SAFELY, you would be allowed to. We have seven-year-olds here that have fully automatic submachine guns! Girls! You can honestly say we should trust you with a fucking gun? Please,” Shawn huffed. “You couldn’t even use a bar of soap responsibly.”

  Nodding her head as she looked off, “Okay!” Chloe shouted, then lowered her voice wiping her tears away. “I see your point. That shows I wasn’t thinking.”

  “No shit,” Shawn gasped.

  Turning back to Shawn, for the first time he saw a pleading look on her face. “Shawn, will you please ask if I can stay? I swear to you, I will do what I’m asked and won’t make any trouble.”

  “Fuck that,” Shawn replied, making Chloe jump.

  “Everyone here respects you, and Arthur and Wendy love you to death,” Chloe reasoned with a steady stream of tears running from her eyes.

  “Because I do what I’m asked and help out without being told!” he shot back. “If I asked for something like that and they even allowed it, your actions would reflect on me, so suck the stinky shit from my ass, but fuck you!”

  ***

  Inside, Wendy turned to Arthur. “You have got to limit your language around Shawn. I’ve only heard you say the phrases he’s using, so I know where he got them,” Wendy grumbled.

  “He has used each one correctly and not to just be cursing, so back off,” Arthur said, and turned up the volume.

  ***

  Hearing the words from Shawn that her actions would reflect on him, for the first time in her life, Chloe understood honor and pride in oneself. “You’re right,” she said, wiping her cheeks off. “If I was you, I wouldn’t do it. But I promise you, I wouldn’t do anything to make you look bad.”

  Shocked to say the least, Shawn just stared at Chloe. If he could’ve seen inside, he would’ve seen Arthur and Wendy speechless as well.

  Crossing his arms over his chest, “What kind of guarantee could you give that you would change and not make me look bad. And I swear, I’ll fuck the Easter Bunny in the ass, if you say you’ll give me sex as proof. I’ll pull this AR from my back and shoot you in both knees,” Shawn vowed and inside, Wendy hit Arthur for the Easter Bunny comment Shawn had used. “The only reason I wouldn’t shoot you to kill is because they’re throwing you out and you have to be alive for them to do that.”

  In shock on many different levels, including the bunny vow, Chloe just stared at Shawn. “All I could give you is my word, which doesn’t mean much from how I’ve acted, I know. But that’s all I can offer you as a guarantee,” she finally got out.

  Uncrossing his arms and putting his hands on his hips, “You swear you’ll listen and if you don’t and I tell you to leave, you’ll do it, no questions asked?”

  Slowly nodding, Shawn saw hope along with a tiny spark of life in Chloe’s eyes for the very first time. “I will. I swear to you,” Chloe replied.

  “Will you go to everyone here and tell them yo
u’re sorry and will make it up to them?” Shawn asked, and Chloe nodded with a smile starting on her face. “Without sex! You don’t have to be a whore to get people to like you!” Shawn bellowed, making Chloe jump back five feet.

  “I didn’t want to have sex, goddamn it!” Chloe screamed. “When the person the state puts you with to live comes into your room, what the fuck are you supposed to do?! I didn’t want to live on the streets, asshole, because then I would’ve gotten fucked by more guys I didn’t want to fuck, and then I would’ve had to sell my body just to eat, bitch!”

  ***

  Inside, Wendy reached into her pocket and pulled out a silver dollar and handed it to a grinning Arthur. “Fuck you, asshole,” Wendy snapped as he took the payment for the bet. “You aren’t always right.”

  “Oh, but today, I am,” Arthur snickered. “You still owe me another.”

  “He hasn’t asked us yet,” Wendy popped off.

  “Out of everyone here, Shawn was the only one that could’ve gotten through to her. And he’s laying out his rules and we haven’t gone out there yet, so pay up,” Arthur said, holding out his hand.

  Digging another silver dollar out and slapping it in his hand, “Here,” Wendy snarled. “I’m just telling you, she acts like a bitch again, Chloe will disappear before Shawn asks her to leave.”

  “Have no doubt,” Arthur nodded.

  ***

  Thinking about what Chloe had screamed, “I haven’t been in your shoes, so I can’t say,” Shawn replied in a normal voice. “But here and now, you don’t act like that. If anyone here had even tried that with you, Momma and Pops would’ve tortured them for weeks on end. And just think, they don’t even like you now. Just think what they would do to someone who tried it if they liked you, and they would if you had just put forth a tiny bit of effort.”

  Realizing what she could lose, the tears streamed from Chloe’s eyes. “I know now,” she whimpered. “I am sorry, and I’ll tell them.”

  Just the fact Shawn wasn’t going over to comfort her, let Chloe know she had maybe fucked up her best chance in life. “I’ll ask, but if you burn me…” Shawn said, but left it open.