by Sharon Sala
Married to save their families from DFCS, groom discovers after the ceremony that he married an heiress.
Frankie slapped money on the bar and ran out the front door like the cops were coming in the back. All the way back to Oneida, his head was spinning, thinking up one scenario after another and trying to figure out how he could make this work to his advantage.
That little piece from Blessings wasn’t the first girl he’d doped up and fucked. The good part about Rohypnol was the amnesia that came with it. None of them ever remembered what had happened, let alone who’d done it, so he wasn’t worried about being accused of rape. He just needed a story that would tie him to her, so he could lay claim to the kid. He could claim a prior relationship with her and say they broke up without him knowing she was pregnant. He could claim seeing her picture in the paper was the first he knew she’d had a child—maybe point out the fact that, since she was a virgin when they’d had sex, by the baby’s age alone, he suspected the child was his. The DNA test would surely prove it. By the time he reached Oneida, he had the story well rehearsed.
He knew she’d claim she didn’t know him, but that was easy to explain. They had been sneaking around behind her grandfather’s back because of the age difference, and she just didn’t want to admit what she had done. It was a risky move, but Frankie Ricks was used to taking risks. What he needed now was a lawyer.
* * *
Pansy Jones saw the headlines and the wedding picture in her sister’s morning paper and her heart stopped. They had gotten married! She had not seen that coming, and the longer she looked at the picture, the more certain she was that she would never go home again. What she had to decide was if she was going to divorce Bart and stay here with her sister or call him and give him a chance to leave with her. Finally, it was the faint memory of her own wedding vows that decided for her.
She reached for her cell phone and called home, then waited for Bart to answer. When her call went to voice mail, she started talking.
“I saw the papers. I can never come back to Blessings again. I am staying in Savannah, with or without you. If you want a divorce, all I want are my things: clothes, my car, and Mama’s crystal, china, and silver. You can have all the rest.”
Then she hung up. She’d know by the end of the day whether she was going to be starting over alone or with the yoke back around her neck.
* * *
Two days later, Peanut Butterman hung up the phone and then sat for a moment, trying to think what to do first. He’d known from the moment that stock portfolio was discovered that something like this would happen, but he wasn’t sure how Dori was going to respond. The fact that a man was coming forth claiming a relationship with Dori that resulted in a child was somewhat daunting. She had a baby and had never named the father. The man already had a lawyer, and there was a hearing scheduled in Blessings day after tomorrow at ten a.m. to present the evidence. The so-called father was asking for joint custody and a suitable monetary sum to go with it. Dori was going to be upset. Johnny Pine would be out for blood.
Still, there was no way to ignore it.
* * *
Unaware of her lawyer’s phone call, Dori was in the middle of cleaning kitchen cabinets when there was a knock at the door. She wiped her hands on her jeans and went to answer.
The man standing on the porch had a disarming smile.
“Adorable Grant Pine?” he asked.
“Yes?”
He thrust a piece of paper forward and slapped it in her hand.
“You have just been served.”
He walked away as abruptly as he came, leaving her standing on the threshold in a state of shock.
She stepped back into the house to shut the door and then opened up the summons, quickly scanned the words, and then reread them again before it hit her.
She let out a scream of rage and headed for the phone. It rang before she could pick it up, and when she saw it was Butterman, she answered, screaming in his ear.
“The son of a bitch filed for joint custody of my baby. He wants child support and my baby for raping me? I will kill him first! I swear to God, I will kill him.”
Peanut blinked. He didn’t know she had this in her.
“Dori! Dori! Stop screaming and listen to me. There is a hearing day after tomorrow at ten a.m. I need you to come in sometime today so we can go over—”
“I filed a rape report with the police department two days ago. I don’t know if this is the same man, but I will recognize him if it is.”
Peanut was impressed. “You filed a rape report?”
“Yes. I know it was late, but Johnny said the statute of limitations was not up, and now that Granddaddy was no longer around to get in trouble, I did it to protect us from this very thing. Oh my God, I cannot believe he had the gall to pull this.”
Peanut’s thoughts were turning. “I am guessing he does not know about the report, which is good. You did the right thing. I am also guessing he’s going to claim a prior relationship and that he had no knowledge that you’d become pregnant during that time.”
“He was a stranger. He drugged my drink at a school dance, dragged me out of the gym into the dark, and raped me. I barely remember any of it except for seeing his face above me and knowing what he was doing, but I couldn’t move. It all felt like a bad dream until I found out I was pregnant. I filed a report. If it’s him, they have to arrest him, right?”
“Right now, without evidence to prove otherwise, it will be your word against his. If he is the father, Luther’s DNA will prove it.”
Dori screamed again.
Peanut flinched and held the phone away from his ear until she was through.
“I will get a copy of the police report and be in touch. Stay calm. We’ll figure this out.”
She was still shouting and stomping when he hung up the phone.
She tried to call Johnny, but he didn’t answer, then she remembered he was working on a job site not far from Savannah. He was too far away to come home and hold her hand. She was a big girl. She could handle this herself. In the meantime, telling him had to wait until he got home.
When the baby started crying, she groaned. All her screaming had been a mistake. She’d just gotten him down to sleep and now he was awake. She was just full of bad decisions.
* * *
Frankie got a call from his lawyer that everyone had been notified and served, then suggested Frankie get a motel in Blessings and set up his story. He needed to appear distraught about missing out on the first six months of his son’s life and seem anxious to form a relationship with him. He said it would be vital to swaying public opinion in his favor should this come to trial.
Frankie was somewhat nervous to show up there, but he’d cooked up the scheme and now had to follow through. So he packed up a suitcase and headed for Blessings. He got a room in a local motel and then headed straight for Granny’s Country Kitchen to get some food. It was just after one o’clock. The lunch crowd should just about be gone.
* * *
Dori was sick to her stomach. Yesterday’s elation was gone, and the reality of her life was back on the ugly side. As soon as she fed Luther his dinner and got him cleaned up, she headed uptown. She needed to get tampons at the pharmacy and pick up the birth control prescription her doctor had called in. She loved Luther Joe to the moon and back, but she didn’t want another one anytime soon. She and Johnny had all they could handle right now, and he didn’t even know it.
She buckled the baby in the car seat, poked his belly just to hear him giggle, and wished to God her granddaddy was still around to hear it too. Then she shrugged off the pity party and got into the car. She needed to get her errands done before it was time to pick up the boys.
Her first stop was Phillips’ Pharmacy. She walked in with Luther on her hip and headed toward the back to pick up her prescription. Four customers s
topped her on the way—one to congratulate her on her wedding, one to fuss over the baby, and two wanting to borrow money. She gave the last two a long, silent stare. They got the message and left.
Mr. Phillips was on the phone when she walked up to the counter. He put the caller on hold.
“Afternoon, Dori. I have your prescription right here.”
“Thank you, Mr. Phillips. Have a nice day.”
“You too, honey,” he said as he waved and smiled.
He got back on the phone as she turned left at the next aisle to get tampons. LilyAnn was stocking shelves when Dori walked up.
“Hi, honey. Anything I can help you with?” LilyAnn asked.
“I need a large box of those,” she said, pointing to her brand.
LilyAnn grabbed it from the shelf.
“Are you ready to check out?” she asked.
“Yes, please,” Dori said.
“Follow me.”
Dori handed her the prescription and headed toward the front. Still holding Luther by one arm, she sat him down on the counter to dig through her purse for her wallet.
She paid for her stuff while Luther was trying to put her hair in his mouth and LilyAnn was rattling on about her baby on the way. Dori had no idea what LilyAnn was saying and hoped that she’d smiled in all the right places.
When LilyAnn began sacking up her purchases, Dori absently glanced out the window and across the street toward Granny’s Kitchen and, as she did, had a horrifying moment of déjà vu.
The man who’d raped her was walking out of the café.
“No,” she muttered. Then her voice got louder. “Hell no,” she said and set the baby in LilyAnn’s arms. “Hold him for me, please.” She ran for the exit.
She grabbed a walking cane from a display near the front door and out the door she went. Moments later, she jumped the curb and bolted across the street without looking for traffic.
One driver slammed on the brakes to keep from hitting her, then honked his disapproval, but she kept on walking, the cane clutched firmly in her fist. The sun was hot on her face, but it was nothing to the heat inside her belly. She was out for revenge and nothing was going to stop her.
A second car coming from the other direction also honked, hit the brakes, and turned sharply into a curb to keep from hitting her, but she never missed a step.
* * *
Frankie heard the first car honk and turned around to see what was going on. At the same time he saw the car, he saw the girl coming toward him, hair flying out around her face like some warrior woman from one of his video games. Before he could react, the second car honked and hit the curb, and she kept coming. After that, everything seemed to happen in slow motion.
He thought she was screaming, because her mouth was open and the rage on her face was impossible to miss, but sound was roaring in his head. He couldn’t come to himself fast enough to move. He watched her raise her arms like she was swinging a bat and then he went down like a poleaxed steer.
“Sorry son of a bitch!” Dori screamed, unaware of the gathering crowd, and swung the cane again.
People came pouring out of Granny’s, as well as stores up and down the street. By then, Frankie was rolled up in a ball, trying to protect his head and face. He was screaming for help when she swung at him again.
“Cowardly bastard! You doped my drink.”
Whack!
“You dragged me out of the gym into the dark and you raped me.”
Whack!
“You raped me and left me bleeding and never looked back.”
Whack! Whack!
“Help! Somebody help me!” Frankie shrieked.
Dori swung at him again, cracking the bridge of his nose, and when he rolled away, she swung again, right behind his knee. He shrieked when it popped.
Whack! Whack! Whack!
“Now you have the guts to think you can come in here and think you’re going to take custody of my baby just so you can get some money?”
She swung again, and just before it came down across the back of his head, someone grabbed her from behind and lifted her off her feet.
“Let me go! Let me go!” she screamed. “That’s him! That’s the man who raped me.”
The gathered crowd gasped in unison, and then the hum of their angry voices sent a cold chill up Frankie Ricks’s spine.
“Dori! Stop it!” Pittman yelled and yanked the cane from her hand before he put her back down. “I’ve got this. Do you hear me? I’ve got this.”
Dori was so angry she was shaking.
“I got a summons to go to court this morning,” Dori said. “He wants joint custody of my baby and child support to take care of him. I want him arrested for rape.”
Frankie moaned. He had not seen this coming. He scooted backward and tried to stand up, but someone in the crowd pushed him back down with their boot. He crawled toward the cop and then pulled himself up. He was bleeding from the nose. He had a cut over his eye and a bloody lip. His shirt was torn, and there was gum on the knees of his pants, not to mention a plethora of bruises he could not see.
“I did not rape this girl!” he shouted. “We had a relationship that went sour, and I’m taking her to court to—”
Officer Pittman frowned, yanked him around, and cuffed him.
“And I have a rape report that fits your description and your first name. If the DNA test I take on you matches Dori Pine’s baby, you are going to be arrested and charged with the crime of forcible rape. That’s what you’ll take to court first.”
Frankie gawked. He couldn’t believe this was happening.
“I didn’t rape you,” he said and gave Dori an imploring look as Pittman dragged him off to his cruiser, taking Frankie and Dori’s weapon to jail.
Dori was still standing in the middle of the street. Her hands were curled into fists and her body was shaking. She stood until the police cruiser disappeared, and then she turned around and walked back toward the pharmacy in a daze, oblivious to the silence of the crowd around her.
LilyAnn and Mr. Phillips were standing on the sidewalk with the baby, Dori’s purchases, and her purse. All Dori could see was her baby.
She stumbled as she reached the back end of her car and then caught herself, took a deep breath, and walked straight up to LilyAnn.
“Thank you for your help,” she said, taking the baby out of LilyAnn’s arms and buckling him into the backseat of her car. She put her purse in beside Luther, got in, and drove away.
Chapter 22
The people dispersed in a dozen different directions, each person carrying a cell phone. Once again, Dori’s life had become everyone’s business. Half of them were spreading the word; the other half had had the foresight to film the event and were uploading it to social media. It was inevitable what would happen to it next.
* * *
Dori spent the rest of the day in a daze. She did a load of laundry and cleaned out the boys’ clothes’ closet, then drove to school to pick them up. Luther was fussy and wanted out of the car seat, so she got out of the car with him to walk around.
Miss Jane was in her van, waiting for her kids, and when she saw Dori, she jumped out and waved.
“Come stand in my shade,” she cried.
Dori walked over, grateful for the offer. Luther was still fussing and rubbing his nose against Dori’s shoulder. She knew he was sleepy, but until she got the boys home, there was nothing she could do to make him better.
“What’s wrong with the boss here?” Jane asked as she patted Luther’s curly head.
“He’s sleepy and cranky,” Dori said.
“May I hold him?” Jane asked. “I haven’t held a baby in years.”
The statement struck Dori as sweet, and in that moment, some of the ugliness of seeing Frankie Ricks slipped away.
“Be my guest,” she said and
handed him over.
Luther was immediately intrigued by a new face, although there was a moment or two when it seemed he was debating as to whether he would object to the trade. And then Jane tapped her finger against his nose and smiled, and he smiled back.
“There’s my smile,” Jane crowed and kissed his cheek. “Oh my, he is such a sweetheart. He must make your days a delight.”
Dori sighed. Her priorities were slipping back into place. She ran her fingers through his curls and then rubbed the back of his head.
“You’re right. He does make my days a delight.”
“Congratulations on the wedding. I doubt you saw me, but I was there. I have to say the boys certainly added color to the event.”
Dori grinned. “Yes, they did, and they add color to my life. They are so sweet. Just last night, they decided they wanted to call me Mama, which I love.”
“That’s wonderful,” Jane said. “They certainly needed one. Oh, that’s not to say Johnny wasn’t doing a good job, because he was. But they’re so young, and every kid needs a good mother.”
Dori nodded, remembering how scared she’d been when her mother never came home.
And then the bell rang, and moments later, kids began pouring out of every exit.
“Well, here come the hooligans,” Jane said, kissing Luther’s cheek and handing him back. “Have a nice day, honey.”
Dori smiled as Luther buried his nose against her neck. “You too, Miss Jane. You too.”
She saw the boys coming and paused to wave. Then she heard them yell, “There’s Mama,” and the last of her panic slid away. It would all work out. Life wouldn’t take another thing away from her now. It wouldn’t be fair.
* * *
