Now alone with Trista crying in her arms, Amber gazed out the front window at the cold, gray, overcast, outside world. It was winter in Sillmac with dangerous temperatures; roads that could suddenly ice before salt trucks arrived.
Mother was such an evil woman! How Amber hated lying, especially when crafted to manipulate people's lives. Mother had been an expert of doing this as long as Amber could remember. Why were such wicked people permitted to act out their harmful deeds without consequence? And how many more times would Amber need to suffer at the hands of her over-controlling mother?
If only there was a way for Mother to finally be punished for her years of mental abuse and her inability to allow Amber to live her own life.
Trista continued cry out for Grandma.
“Trista, baby, what's wrong with you?” This was very, unusual behavior from the child. She and Amber had a close bond, and Trista was always happy and cheerful while in the Dickly castle. “Trista, that's enough. Grandma just went home. You'll see her again.”
But Trista only cried all the louder. Amber had no choice but to give the child some time out in her crib. As she ascended the staircase with the screaming child in her arms, the heat and frustration of the past hour suddenly poured out of Amber's head. Damn that woman!—Mother. Her invasion definitely ruined the morning, and she knew exactly how to spoil an environment! How could Father have remained married to her all those years?
Amber closed the door behind her once setting Trista in her crib. The child screamed like never before. And in those moments, time froze for Amber as a surge of rage like never before felt as though it cracked the very world around her.
Such cold, foggy, windy roads; bridges that freeze and create unexpected black ice: Amber was in this landscape for a brief moment, feeling the deathly winter that howled it's fury from every direction. One could freeze to death if left injured, immobilized and isolated for many hours. Amber's rage in that moment fueled her ability to dream and fantasize the most horrible wish against Mother.
As she descended the staircase and pulled out of the daydream, Mother was alone and several miles down the rural highway. The officer had previously turned onto an intersecting road once satisfied that the woman would not return to the Dickly Castle. Mother was about to pass over a bridge with a rocky slope to a large stream below. Bridges freeze before roads. A large patch of black ice caused Mother to lose control. At 55 MPH, she slid to the right side of the highway and through a previously-damaged section of the guardrail. If there was anything fortunate that came out of this catastrophe, it was the fact that Mother didn't go over the guardrail and into water. Instead, this damaged section was at the rocky slope of the enormous ravine with the bank of the large stream below. Her car dove down the rocky slope, somersaulted a few times until the roof landed hard on the bank of the stream.
Although Mother wore her seatbelt and survived the upside-down landing, her collar bone and two arms had been badly broken. There was no way she could have pulled herself out of the driver seat and escaped through the broken, driver-side window. All she could do was lay there in excruciating pain while enduring the cold air that began to circulate in the car.
“Somebody help me! Please, somebody help me!”
In the minutes that passed, a few cars passed the area of damaged guardrail. But since the guardrail had previously been damaged, nothing appeared out of the ordinary. The overturned car, some one-hundred feet below, was unnoticeable by passing vehicles.
Back at the warm and cozy Dickly castle, Amber walked into the family room and approached Paulette. “I'm so sorry about what happened here. I'm going to let your father know about what happened once he calls. And I promise you that my mother will not be allowed in this house again; not after the trouble she caused.” Amber stroked Paulette's face, “You were so brave answering that police officer's questions.” She would have liked to have said, “Thank you for sticking up for me.” But Paulette was only telling the truth.
“Are you okay, Honey?”
Paulette nodded her head, yes.
“Well, let's not allow my mother to ruin the plans we had for today. Trista seems to be calming down. Let me get her, and we'll put up the holiday decorations.”
And so the remainder of the morning was spent as Amber wheeled out the enormous Christmas tree and placed it at the front window. By noon; mangers, Christmas angels, Santa Clause figurines, holiday candle centerpieces and even a miniature winter town that was set up under the tree all illuminated the Dickly castle and restored a sense of peace. The stereo receiver was turned to the station that played Christmas music all season long. Christmas was definitely here, and would greet Michael when he finally came home.
But several miles away, Amber's mother remained buckled in her seatbelt and upside-down in total agony from her broken bones. She shivered from the brutal cold that rushed in the broken window. And for the first time, she looked at the white-padded ceiling and noticed a pool of blood that accumulated in large drops. Somehow she had injured her head in the fall. How much blood would be lost?
“Oh my God; somebody, please help me!” Being upside-down, calling out only caused a headache.
By 1:30 in the afternoon, Amber began to think about tea for Linsey. Tea was served every day at two o'clock. Amber fit this in her mentally, auto-programmed schedule throughout week. But there was no way she would light a candle and serve tea to the statue-head; not with Michael gone! Amber wasn't particularly fond of the idol, and had no intention of adoring it when she didn't have to.
But Paulette was downstairs, and would surely take notice that the daily ritual wasn't followed. This might be communicated to Michael upon his return. It was best that Amber make afternoon tea and share some with Linsey.
By ten minutes to two o'clock, Amber lit Linsey's devotional candle. Paulette took notice of the precursor to having tea with Mother. Did Amber really have to follow this disturbing ritual? Father was gone, but Paulette would continue to endure these daily teatimes with Mother. Amber only did this to mentally torture her. This is what Paulette truly believed. Perhaps she should have told the police officer a different story that morning.
The tray with cups and teapot were brought into the living room. The first cup was poured and set beside Linsey.
Then the telephone rang.
Amber dashed over to answer it, “Hello…? Hi! You landed safely…?” Amber lifted the phone from her head and mentioned to Paulette, “Your father landed.”
Then Amber carried the phone into the kitchen to continue speaking to Michael. Through the Christmas music, Paulette could pick up fragments of the phone conversation. Amber was telling Father about the morning's ordeal while apologizing.
Then several minutes later, Amber returned to the family room while continuing to talk. “Yes, I made tea. We were just going to sit down and enjoy some with Linsey.”
Well that explained Amber's persistence in following the disturbing ritual
“Okay… Love you too… Call me tonight…”
After the phone call, Amber and Paulette sat in the family room while drinking tea with Linsey. Of course it was necessary for Amber to hold the cup before Paulette's lips. In these moments, she mentioned the plans for tomorrow's adventure. The family would venture to downtown Sillmac for lunch and to enjoy the Christmas lights throughout town. Sillmac lit a Christmas tree in the middle of town each year, along with a magical wonderland display of elves, Santa Clause and forest creatures. Tomorrow would be a fun outing, indeed.
But in that moment there was nothing fun at the bank of the stream, one-hundred feet below the damaged guardrail. The scene grew increasingly horrific as Amber's mother slipped in and out of consciousness. Her hands were becoming frostbitten and her body was hypothermic. The bleeding stopped from Mother's head, but this was due to a large bloodsicle that hung from her head. It managed to block the flow of blood and allow coagulation. Had it not been from the extremely freezing temperatures, Mother would have lost a great
deal of blood. Darkness would fall in only a few hours. If left undiscovered overnight, surely Mother would die.
Snow in the early evening was predicted for the region of Mapleview and Sillmac. Because of this, salt trucks were dispersed along various highways and roads. And it was a driver of one of these trucks who passed along the highway near the damaged guardrail and deliberately looked over to the bank of the large stream. In milder times of the year, he often fished at that bank. But while looking over, he noticed something that certainly didn't belong there. A car was smashed up and lying overturned near the water. How long had it been there, and did someone report it? The driver of the salt truck radioed the discovery. Finally, there was some hope for Mother.
Although completely irrational, from that day forward, Mother developed an extreme fear of her daughter, Amber!
Chapter Eleven
As you know, Michael left on the 1st of December for a week's worth of business travel. But it was just one of several business trips to be had throughout December and January. And during this time, there would be some interesting activity in the Dickly castle that would remain shrouded from Michael. This interesting and shrouded activity was something that any parent should have been aware of, especially a parent of a teenage girl. Had Michael been there, he would have surely put a stop to it. But this was the first time Paulette experience a certain sense of freedom, being that she was alone with a young woman who supported her throughout the endeavor.
But for now, it was only Friday; twenty four hours after Amber's mother invaded the Dickly castle. Today was the day that Amber and her two daughters, Trista and Paulette, would spend the afternoon in downtown Sillmac.
They left the house at eleven o'clock, precisely. Paulette was bundled up warm and covered in a blanket for when she was wheeled outdoors. Little Trista wore a snowsuit, mittens and hat. She would sit on Paulette's lap, under the blanket, when going from store-to-store.
At the cafe for lunch, Amber had no problem controlling little Trista while feeding Paulette and eating her own meal. In the center of town, the three enjoyed the Christmas wonderland. Little Trista was given a chance to ride on the miniature Christmas train with all the other toddlers and small children. Of course that may have been a slight mistake. All children scream and cry when it's time to leave the ride!
That Friday afternoon was the first time Paulette had been shopping since late summer when Mother relapsed and turned deathly ill. Today, Amber stacked up a collection of the latest music CDs for Paulette, and some recent videos (DVDs didn't appear until 1995). And of course, being that Paulette was to be taken care of while Michael was gone, Amber helped her browse for some threads to add to the winter wardrobe.
The end of the outing was marked by a visit to a coffeehouse. Amber asked Paulette, “What do you usually like; mocha, cappuccino or just a plain coffee?”
Paulette shook her head, no, at each suggestion.
“Did you ever have coffee?”
Again, Paulette shook her head, no.
“Never had coffee? Oh, Honey; you need to at least try it once in your life! Let's start off with a simple cup of coffee. You don't want anything iced for today. It's too cold out.”
Paulette was ordered a large mocha with plenty of sugar. “And could you put a few ice cubes in it to cool it down.”
The clerk was baffled, “Ice cubes? You want ice cubes in the hot coffee?”
“Yeah, I don't want to burn her mouth and tongue!”
The clerk was still baffled as to why one would put ice cubes in coffee. It's amazing how stupid people can be at times! But he did as requested while shaking his head and mumbling all sorts of incomprehensible things that surely spoke of how weird Amber was.
When Paulette finally took her first sip, ever, of coffee; she immediately fell in love with the flavor that offered a hint of sweet chocolate. Paulette always enjoyed the smell of fresh coffee that had been brewed. She imagined it tasting absolutely wonderful. Her assumption was correct.
* * *
Coffee has a tendency to enhance our social instincts, especially for women. Back at the Dickly castle, after Friday's outing in downtown Sillmac, the sudden increase of social energy could be felt as Amber began to talk like never before. Soon she was talking about her relationship with Trista's father and how they met. “And we got along so great! He was such sweet guy, and I thought it would last forever. Well… I missed my time of the month and took a pregnancy test. The result was positive. I don't know if you know this, but you can get a false negative, but never a false positive. So I was pregnant, no doubt. I called Matt, maybe just a little nervous about how he would react. You know, even though the news might have taken him by surprise, I really think he could have been a little more supportive in that moment. He was like, 'Pregnant? Oh no? What are we going to do?' Hello? We've been going out for over a year! You love me! We talk about getting married! Maybe we do what everyone else does and have the baby and get married?”
Paulette nodded as-if in complete understanding and agreement with Amber.
Amber continued, "Well, after about a day he was more supportive and talked about getting married… maybe after the baby was born. That was fine with me; as long as he wasn't being like some of the other jerks that just leave, you know?
Well, a couple months before Trista was born, he tells me one day, 'I'm playing hockey this season.' He and his buddies usually put together a team each year and play other amateur teams throughout the area. I had a little problem with this. While he would be running around with his friends, playing hockey, our baby was going to be born. I needed him to be around, be a father, support us and stuff. Not that there's anything wrong with playing hockey, but I needed him to grow up at that moment and not play that season."
Amber sighed before continuing, "Towards the end of the pregnancy I was seeing him less and less. A couple days would go by without a phone call. I knew something was up. Sure enough, I hear that he's got some girlfriend out there. I asked him about it, but he denied it. 'Where have you been these past couple days?' 'Oh, I've just been busy with work and playing hockey and stuff.' Yeah, right; don't give me your crap!
He never actually broke up with me. He came to the hospital after I delivered, congratulated me and said he had to get to work and would visit later. But I never saw him after that.”
Couldn't Mother and Father have encouraged Amber to pursue child support from her boyfriend?
Suddenly, Amber realized that Paulette could have never had a boyfriend. Outside of immediate family and friends, the poor girl never experienced love or the ups and downs of dating. “Listen to me, complaining about my past love life! You probably never had the chance to go out on a date. Have you ever had a boyfriend?”
Paulette shook her head, no, with a disappointed look.
“Awe, I'm sorry, Honey! I wonder if there's a way to get you hooked up with someone.”
In the present day, television commercials boast highly successful websites that bring lovers together. In fact, statistics demonstrate that the percentage of marriages brought about by online dating is steadily increasing. Throughout the 90s, however, finding a lover on the computer was an activity not to be proud of. It was similar to browsing personal ads, except worse! People looking for a relationship online were believed to be losers, nerds, ugly people, handicapped; or people who were alone for good reason and hid behind the computer screen. This wasn't entirely true, of course! But it was the common belief in the early 90s.
Amber was an intelligent, young woman. She felt that although no “decent catch” could be found online, she believed that such interaction for Paulette would fuel and spark the necessary fantasies for her to have some experience with romance. What harm could it have done to give a sixteen-year-old, paralyzed girl a long-distance boyfriend? If all went well, she could read love letters from her long distance romance on the computer screen, and peck out her replies with pencil in mouth. It was harmless from what Amber believed.
“Paulette, I've heard about people who find a relationship online; with the computer, you know?”
Paulette maintained her usual, blank stare; but with a hint of confusion. What on Earth could Amber have been suggesting?
“I've never been online, myself; but I hear that people can hook up for love and dating. It's usually long distance, and the communication is done over email. What if we found you a nice boyfriend?”
Paulette smiled and began to giggle. Just as with crying, vocal words are not necessary for laughter as the reaction is instinctive.
This surprised Amber, “You're laughing! You can laugh?”
Paulette nodded while her giggle toned down to a wide smile.
Amber continued with her suggestion, “Seriously, we can get a nice picture of you sitting on the couch. You're very pretty, just like your mother. We can write up a nice ad for you, saying that you're a lonely girl looking for friendship and someone to talk to. But we better say that you're eighteen. There might be some legal issues if you are a minor. What do you say?”
Paulette beamed from ear-to-ear while nodding, yes.
And so on that afternoon, Paulette was dolled up extra pretty with makeup to accentuate her already beautiful features that resembled her mother's. Her hair was styled with a slight curl. She sat propped up on the sofa while Amber took a photo with Michael's expensive, digital camera that provided a means to upload photos onto the computer. This was cutting edge in 1994, and very expensive!
In the distance on one of the side tables, Linsey observed a situation that could easily harm Paulette. What was Amber doing?
The two young women returned to Paulette's bedroom and dialed up online. Remember the tones and the annoying squeals as a computer would connect to the Internet? Limited to a collection of icons such as news, shopping, business and entertainment; Amber searched until finding a section called Personals/Dating.
The Death Mask Page 9
