She flipped the phone open and speed dialed the twins. Her father would be asleep in his easy chair. The twins were her best hope.
“Conrad?” Decky said excitedly into the phone, when one of the boys answered.
“No, Travis.”
“Whichever one you are, listen to me. Something’s wrong at the cottage.” Decky wanted his full attention.
“The one we moved the math teacher into?”
“Yes! Get my dad! Go over there and wake him up if you have to!”
“Where are you?”
“I’m pulling into the drive now. Move it!”
She slammed the phone closed and threw it on the passenger seat. Decky hit the ruts in the driveway going full bore. She and Dixie bounced around in the cab of the SUV like rag dolls, but somehow Decky hung onto the wheel. She had not bothered with the seatbelt so was unhindered when she threw open the door and leapt out, Dixie hot on her heels. There was Charlie’s car. No lights were visible on the property except for the streetlight at the back of the lot. It was on a line that ran from the road.
Something was definitely wrong. It was too quiet. The audible alarm was not sounding; the interior strobes were not flashing. The alarm had been disabled. Decky ran up the steps as fast as she could. The boot was heavy and each step sent a stab of pain through Decky, which under normal circumstances would have stopped her. Decky ignored the pain and pumped up the steps with all her resolve.
Reaching the front door, she turned the handle. It was locked.
“Charlie, are you in there? Are you all right?” Decky was frantic now.
No sounds came from inside the cottage. No lights shown except for slivers of light from the streetlight slicing through the blinds and the almost full moon. Decky walked around the deck peeking in the windows. Calling Charlie’s name in the painful realization, that something was terribly wrong here. When she arrived at the back door, she tried the handle, again locked. Why hadn’t she brought the spare keys? Why hadn’t she brought a flashlight?
She peered in the little windows on the back door. The curtain Charlie had added made it hard to see. Decky looked at the kitchen floor shining in the beam of light coming through the door of the bedroom. The window curtains must be open in there. She was just turning to go look through the bedroom windows, when her eye followed the beam of light toward the corner cabinets. She saw her feet first.
Charlie was on the floor, sitting tightly up against the cabinets in the corner. Decky could barely see her. Charlie saw Decky. She leaned forward, more into the light. It was then that Decky saw the white gag across Charlie’s face… and the blood. Charlie’s hands were tied behind her back, her feet tied at the ankles. Her blouse was torn and streaked with blood. She wasn’t wearing any pants. Her eyes were wide with fear. She was trying to tell Decky something, but Decky didn’t wait to figure out what was happening.
Decky pulled the pistol out of the waistband of her pants. She shattered the window by the lock, stuck her arm in through the hanging shards of glass, and turned the lock. She pulled her now bleeding arm out of the window, and burst into the cottage. She stopped with her back to the bedroom door, which blocked the light from Charlie. She was trying to see Charlie again in the dark, when she saw her, struggling to get up on her knees.
“Oh God. Charlie. Oh my God.” Decky tried willing herself to move, but she just stood there with her arms out to her sides, the gun hanging loosely in her right hand. Suddenly, her knees gave out. Her whole world came crashing in around her. Slowly she came toward Charlie, sliding across the floor on her shins. Her survival instincts left her. She set the gun down and with trembling hands reached to untie the gag on Charlie’s mouth. She never made it.
The blow to the back of her head wasn’t enough to knock her out, but it did knock her down. She tried to reach for the gun, but it was too late. A large male hand, holding her gun, disappeared out of view just as she reached for it. Decky was sick with dizziness, she couldn’t make out the face of the man standing over her. It was too dark. The man backed up in front of the open back door, his face still in shadow. Decky thought for a second he was going to run, but then he started to laugh.
“Welcome to the party, Decky. Now it’s everyman’s wet dream, two women at the same time. Although it would be nice if you’d cooperate a little better than your friend here, I just got done tying her up when you pulled up. She’s a feisty little critter.”
Decky’s eyes were still swimming in her head. The ringing in her ears sounded like a train’s whistle. She couldn’t tell who this was, but she thought she recognized the voice; the part of his voice she could still hear, while the train passed through the station in her head.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Decky was trying desperately to regain her footing. The boot made it all that much harder.
The man laughed again. “I thought I made that quite clear. I intend to fuck the queer right out of both of you.”
Decky regained her senses all at once. Not quite all at once, but quick enough to have caught that last sentence in full volume. Decky rose off the floor with some unknown strength. A noise from the back door startled the man. He turned his head to see what the noise was. It was then that Decky saw his face in the moonlight. It was the man from the boat. The one she hadn’t known, the one egging Tommy on. He kept the gun on Decky as he scanned the darkness outside the door.
The man reached out to shut the door, taking his eyes away from outside and back onto Decky. He should have looked a little longer. Dixie dove at the door, knocking the man back against the frame of the bedroom door. Decky made her move. She ran at the man as hard as she could.
They bounced off the frame of the bedroom door and fell toward the main room. The gun flew from the man’s hand skidding across the linoleum floor toward the middle of the room. This guy was big and strong. He threw Decky off of him with no real problem. He was actually enjoying this. He turned toward the gun and started to crawl after it. Dixie clamped onto one of the man’s arms. She was determined not to let go, until the man managed to kick her in the ribs. Dixie whelped in pain as she hit the floor.
Decky once again lunged at the man, landing on her chest instead of his back. He quickly stood up, scooping the gun up as he did. He aimed the gun at Dixie, who was preparing another attack.
Decky screamed, “No, Dixie! Come here.”
Dixie obeyed. The man followed Dixie with the gun. Decky sat up on her knees, as Dixie approached limping. Decky patted her on the head. “Good girl, now go around there with Charlie…that’s a good girl.”
Dixie did as she was told. Decky waited until she heard Dixie’s claws over near where she assumed Charlie still was. She wasn’t sure anymore.
“If you think for one goddamned minute that I am going to let you hurt Charlie anymore, you had better go ahead and kill me.”
“Oh Decky, I’m going to kill you… but first, you are going to suck my dick, while your girlfriend there watches. And if I feel one sliver of a tooth, I will blow your head off, and then fuck your girl until I get tired. Then I am going to kill her and your goddamned dog.” He had Decky by the hair, on her knees in front of him. The other hand had the pistol stuck in Decky’s temple.
“Kill me now then motherfucker. Will that make you a man?” Decky was in an unfathomable rage. “Kill me now you low life piece of shit!”
Decky was spraying blood from a punch she’d taken, as she spoke.
“No, I’m going to play with you first. I have the gun, my rules.” He let go of Decky’s hair and undid his jeans with one hand. He took his dick in his hand. “Yeah, a little bit of this will straighten you girls right on out. You’ll probably thank me when we get done.”
“Shoot me! You limp dick asshole. I bet you need that gun to get it up?” Decky spit blood on the hand holding his limp member.
Something flashed across the man’s face in the dark. He slapped Decky and put the gun under chin. He reached for his dick.
At that moment,
the sharp report of a rifle exploded in the air. Glass went everywhere. The picture window shattered to reveal R.C., still holding the rifle on the man. It wasn’t necessary. The shot had penetrated the man’s brain and killed him instantly. He crumpled to the floor in front of Decky. Dixie limped out from behind the counter and lay down next to Decky. Decky kissed Dixie, whispering, “Thank you.”
It wasn’t until R.C. climbed through the window that Decky got up. She swayed on her feet, but made her way around the counter to where the terrified Charlie waited, not knowing what had happened. When she saw Decky, she began to sob uncontrollably. So did Decky. She removed the bindings from Charlie’s hands and feet along with the bloody gag. Charlie’s left eye was swelling shut, her cheek already beginning to change color. Her lips were cut and bruised. Blood trickled from her nose. She’d had the holy shit beaten out of her.
Neither of them said anything. They just sat there on the cold linoleum holding each other, while Dixie watched over them. R.C. had come around the counter and seen the carnage. He said to someone, “Call an ambulance, call two. Get the sheriff. Don’t stand there, do it now!”
Decky’s father was suddenly all over them. He took Charlie from Decky. He laid her down on a blanket he had grabbed off the bed. He hovered over Charlie, all the time talking to both women.
“Decky… Rebecca! Are you okay? Where are you hurt?”
Decky didn’t hurt. She was numb. She could only stare at her father as he worked on Charlie. He checked her pulse. He listened to her chest. He checked her eyes and spoke gently to her. “I’m Decky’s father. You’re going to be okay. The ambulance is coming.” When he pulled her shirt open, he tried to hide the grimace.
Charlie managed a painful crooked smile, “Getting a little fresh there aren’t you, R.C.”
“I suppose that’s some of that Midwestern sense of humor my daughter is so fond of. I’m going to put this comforter on you so you don’t go into shock. You have to stay awake for me, okay. Decky talk to her.”
Decky didn’t move. She couldn’t. She had nothing left.
R. C. covered Charlie up and turned his attentions to Decky. He checked her all over for injuries, feeling the bump on the back of her head. He looked around and saw a softball bat on the floor by the door. “Good thing you have such a hard head.”
He checked her pupils. Then taking her face in both of his hands, he pulled her face up to his and looked into her eyes.
“Decky I just saw you fight for this woman, and for yourself. You have to dig deep now. If she’s worth dying for, you have to help her now. Love’s a powerful thing honey. You got to wake up now. She needs you.”
Decky came around. Slowly at first, then more quickly. She started talking to Charlie. She made Charlie tell her about all her brother’s and sister’s. Even though it hurt to talk, Charlie answered all of Decky’s questions, until the first ambulance squad arrived. These were local volunteers, but highly skilled. They only paused briefly over the dead man lying in the floor. Assessing the victims, they chose to take Charlie, which was the right decision. Decky stood up as the stretcher sprang up from the floor. She kissed Charlie on the forehead, on the only place that didn’t look injured.
“I’m right behind you. Stay awake. I’m right behind you.” Decky’s heart cracked in two when Charlie’s fingertips left hers. How did this happen? All she did was fall in love with a person, not a woman, not a thing to be hated. Why had this happened to them? They were so happy. Why couldn’t everyone just leave them alone?
The sheriff’s cars arrived in mass. A few stragglers came later, but the majority of the sheriff’s department arrived at the same time as the sheriff. A dead man in a lesbian’s cottage was evidently the biggest crime of all of their careers. They set about marking off the crime scene, taking pictures and questioning the witnesses. Satisfied for the time being that R. C. and Decky posed no threat to anyone else, they let Decky go with the second ambulance squad.
Decky leaned on R. C. coming down the steps, because she refused to let them put her on a stretcher. Her father told her he would wake up the vet to look at Dixie and keep her with him over night. The hunky ambulance driver was carrying the princess down the steps. Dixie looked at everyone, as if they should pet the conquering hero, and of course, they did.
It wasn’t until Decky reached the ground that she saw her. There was Lizzie talking to one of the deputies. R.C. didn’t react quickly enough to stop Decky from heading for Lizzie with a head of steam.
“Are you satisfied now? Are you happy? Did you see what he did to her? Is that what you wanted?”
R.C. came up behind Decky and grabbed her by the waist. He couldn’t hold her, as she continued toward Lizzie. Lizzie was frozen to the ground. The deputy took a step back from Lizzie as Decky drew within inches of her.
“You did this, you meddling old witch. You and your goddamned pride! Stay away from me, stay away from us. You did this and I will never forgive you!”
As R.C. and the hunky ambulance driver tackled Decky and put her in the ambulance, Decky screamed at her mother, “Why couldn’t you just let me be happy? Why did you have to make this about you?”
Decky was played out. She fell back on the stretcher sobbing and finally let the worried EMT look at her wounds. R. C. said he would call Chip and Brenda to go to the hospital, while he took care of Dixie. Decky closed her eyes and tried to see Charlie, Charlie before the man had found her here, alone. How could Decky have let this happen to Charlie? Would she ever forgive her? Would she ever feel safe with Decky again? Then everything went black.
PART III
In front of god and everybody…
Chapter Eleven
Decky regained consciousness in the emergency room entrance, when the big doors swooshed open. The excited noise inside contradicted the singing rain frogs, on the grounds outside. She had people’s hands all over her, all talking at once. Her eyes were being probed with light. She tried to find Charlie with her eyes, but she couldn’t focus. She tried to say her name, but no one was listening.
Decky was rushed off for a CT scan. She fell asleep again in the machine. When she awoke, she was in a hospital gown, in a bed, with her ankle in a cast and her head throbbing so intensely that she quickly closed her eyes again. What had Charlie said, she needed fresh air and… Charlie! Where was Charlie? How was Charlie? She opened her eyes, ignoring the pain, searching for the call button. Finding it down by her hand, she picked it up and held the button down until someone came to the side of her bed.
A nurse, Decky recognized as a player on one of the local teams, answered her page. “I’m glad to see you’re awake. You had us worried there for a while. Turns out, your head is pretty thick where he hit you with that bat.”
“Where is the woman who came in with me? Charlie… Charlene Warren, where is she?”
Decky grabbed the sides of her head. It hurt to talk.
“Let me get you something for that headache. I can’t give you much though, you have a concussion.”
Decky let go of her head. She looked at the nurse, reaching out to stop her hand from straightening the sheet and blanket, lying on Decky.
“Charlene Warren, is she okay? I have to know, now! Please.” Decky stared at the nurse as tears welled up in her eyes.
“Decky, I heard what you did. Those deputies down the hall don’t know how you two women and a dog fought that man off until your daddy got there. You’re not next of kin, but if you’re willing to die for her, then I reckon I can go find out how she is.”
“Thank you,” Decky sighed in relief.
The nurse left with a promise to come back soon, bringing news of Charlie’s condition and pain meds for Decky’s ankle and head. Decky wasn’t sure why her ankle was in a cast, but she knew it was beginning to come back to life from the local anesthetic someone obviously used. She must have been really out of it. The evening flashed by, on the viewer behind Decky’s eyes. She settled on the look of terror on Charlie’s face.
“I heard what Tommy’s friend did to you and that other woman. I’m sorry, Decky. I wish I could take it all back. You have the right to love anybody you want to. I just wanted to let you know how sorry I am.”
Alan Jr. didn’t wait for a response from Decky. He just turned around and left. Decky was still staring out the door when Brenda’s face popped into the doorframe.
“They told me you were awake. Are you okay? Do you need anything?” Brenda wanted to hug Decky, but refrained when Decky waved her off. Decky didn’t want to know how many other places hurt. Her head and ankle were enough. Decky wanted only one thing from Brenda.
“How’s Charlie? Where is she?”
Out on the Sound Page 23
