Carter tucked himself down, taking short but rapid steps to the house. He was actually touching the house, trying to keep close to it at all times in order to avoid detection. He crept along the backside of the house, peeking in from the corner of a window, and then advancing to the next window until he was able to spot Brenda. He reached the part of the house that had lights on, and he could hear talking. He knew he had to be careful here as there was no room for error.
He didn’t know what he would do if anything ever happened to Brenda, and he knew that this was a very dangerous operation he was undertaking. After saying a couple of prayers to himself, he shuffled on to the next window, knowing that he could not live with himself should anything happen to her.
When he peeked into the new window, he could see Brenda sitting in a chair facing him. He could also see Reggie standing in front of her. He was speaking loudly, but Carter could not make out what it was that he was saying. When he moved to the right a little bit, Carter was able to get a clear view of Brenda. She was tied up and struggling. There was a lot of rope wrapped around her and it looked like her hands were bound from behind. Her hair was a mess and her face glistened with sweat.
Whenever it seemed like Reggie was about to turn around, Carter would have to jerk his head away from the window. He waited, and then peeked back in to survey the situation. He saw that Brenda was able to talk, since Reggie had not yet stuck a rag in her mouth or around her mouth to prevent her from talking.
Each minute that passed seemed like an eternity to him. He could only watch and try not to be detected. He needed to get into the house undetected, free Brenda, and get her out of there without Reggie’s awareness. He knew that it could very well turn physical. He also knew that Reggie was a loose cannon, not to mention a big guy. Carter got the best of him once before, but only because he was able to get the first shot in, which stunned Reggie. Then he ambushed Reggie before he even knew what was happening. He couldn’t guarantee that outcome this time around, but he would have to be the aggressor, should it come to that.
To the next window he shuffled. It was the same room, but he could see her from an angle. This window was open, so he could hear them talking. He saw Reggie bend down and whisper something to her. Brenda replied, “Nobody’s going to believe you. You’ll never get away with that.”
Reggie grabbed her cheeks between his thumb and index finger and tightened the vice. Brenda yelled out in agony until he let go.
“Stop hurting me,” she screamed. Brenda had gone through enough with this guy in the years that they were together. Unfortunately, she had to go through this torment another day until Carter could figure out what to do. He began to panic, knowing that the violence would only escalate. Brenda always spoke her mind, even when she shouldn’t, like when she is tied up by an abusive ex-boyfriend. He squeezed her cheeks again, apparently harder because of the way Brenda yelled out.
“Stop it Reggie! You’re cutting the inside of my cheeks every time you do that!”
“Then obey,” he yelled. “Stop giving me lip! You need to listen to me and that’s it. Just listen… and shut your fuckin’ mouth! That’s your problem. You never fuckin’ listen!” He then followed up with a swift forehand and a swifter backhand. Brenda’s head dropped down.
Carter could tell that Brenda wanted to bust out of that chair and knee Reggie as hard as she could in the balls. She was a sassy girl, who didn’t take shit from anybody, but at least she was playing her cards well now, and biting her tongue. She was playing along with his sick game, as a smart girl should. Emotional kneejerk reactions could result in her death, and that went for Carter just as much as it did for Brenda. He needed to play it cool too, even though Reggie was torturing Brenda.
Reggie had black sweat pants on and a black sleeveless T-shirt. He was a very dark individual with a twisted mind. Carter needed to act quickly, but he had to be smart about it. Reggie then raised his hand up in the air and smacked Brenda right across the face with his opened hand. The slap even reverberated outside into the neighborhood. It was all Carter could do to not jump through that window. Brenda screamed out and cried, but she held her tongue. Carter had to try to get into that house, and it became harder and harder for him to remain calm.
He moved further down the house to the other side and noticed a sliding glass door that led into the basement, where the yard sloped downhill. He knew Reggie’s location and was able to get to the door undetected, aware that he could not be seen. He just needed to be silent. He grabbed the door handle and gently slid it open. Thank God, he said to himself. It was pretty dark down there, but light enough to see where he was walking, assisted by the sunrise.
After sliding the door closed ever so gently, he inched his way toward steps leading upstairs. As he made his way to the staircase, he heard a noise, and stopped. He turned and looked around, but saw nothing. As he began to get back to his business at hand, he again heard a noise, but louder. It sounded like a groan. Then he heard a series of groans. He thought it was coming from under the stairs. When he walked over to look under the staircase, he saw a girl tied up with a rag binding her mouth. She was lying on her side on blankets underneath the basement staircase.
“What the… ” Carter rushed to her and dropped to his knees. He was looking at a girl who appeared to be in her early twenties. Her face was swollen, one eye was completely shut, and both were black and blue. She had cuts all over her face, as if she had been put through a meat grinder. She was wearing only panties and a light blue T-shirt that was covered with dried blood. She perked up when she saw Carter. He needed to at least get her mouth untied, so that he could communicate with her and get some information.
He could not untie the knot, so he fumbled around the basement until he came upon a tool bench. There, he found a box cutter, returned to the girl, and with his thumb, pushed on the lever that extracted the blade. He carefully stuck the box cutter blade inside her mouth and pulled towards him, cutting the cloth and freeing her mouth.
“Who are you?” Carter whispered.
“I’m Brenda,” she said.
Carter looked at her in disbelief. In a way, she resembled his Brenda with her long, silky black hair, but he had to wonder if Reggie’s fixation was with the name. This girl was very petite, though, and almost emaciated. His Brenda had a little more meat on her bones. It had to be the name, he thought, but he didn’t really have time to think about it any more than that.
“How did you get here?” he asked.
“I live here with my boyfriend, Reggie. I’ve been living here for over a year now, and then one day he flipped out on me.”
“Yeah, and let me guess… he’s into Buddhism and stuff like that.”
The girl looked at Carter, stunned. “Yeah… do you know him?”
“Let’s just say Reggie has a pattern. He did the same thing to my Brenda, who is currently in the hot seat upstairs, and he’s beating the shit out of her as we speak. I need to get to her without him knowing.”
“Oh my God!” she said. “I thought I could hear something up there. The staircase here leads to the den, so you can go upstairs without him knowing because it sounds to me like he’s in the kitchen.”
“How long have you been down here?” asked Carter.
“Almost a week. We had a fight one night, and he told me that I didn’t know shit and he was gonna put an end to my craziness. He forced me down here and tied me up. He said that nobody would ever know that I was down here. He feeds me and beats me… that’s about it. If I get to that son of a bitch, I’ll feed him… a knife.”
Carter grabbed her bound wrists and cut the cloth that held her hands together. She was rendered useless down here, and it was just the way Reggie liked it. He not only despised women, but he despised women named Brenda. As Carter
was freeing the girl, he was thinking of a way that she could help him. In other words, this Brenda could help him get that Brenda. She knew the lay of the land and his habits. She was in bad shape, but well enough to follow him up the stairs and maybe kick Reggie in the head, if Carter could restrain him in a headlock. Maybe she could feed him that knife.
There was a lot that Carter wanted to do to Reggie, and taking him out to lunch was not on that list. He could hear them upstairs having a conversation, so Carter felt he could prepare the Basement Brenda for battle during this lull.
He helped Basement Brenda to her feet and held her head in his hands. She was in very bad shape, but she didn’t appear useless after all that she’d been through. “We need to make our way upstairs quietly,” Carter explained to her. “If we can get to Brenda and free her, then we’ll have a three on one advantage. Does he have any weapons?”
“He has a gun,” said Brenda. She sounded like she had marbles in her mouth or missing teeth, probably from taking too many blows from Reggie. He didn’t want to get into that right now.
“When we get to the top of the stairs, what should we do?” asked Carter.
“I can hear Reggie in the kitchen,” she said. “They’re talking now. If we were to make it to the top of the staircase, we would not be seen by Reggie. From there, we can make our way through the living room, but that’s where it might get tricky. The living room leads to the kitchen, but if he’s where I think he is… near the kitchen table, then we’ll be okay, but there’s really no way to be sure… by the time we make it to the top and open the cellar door.”
“Let’s do it now then,” said Carter. “Let me find something like a stick or a hammer or anything I can use to knock him into next week. I have to make it swift and it has to be a solid blow. Where does he keep his tools?”
“I don’t know,” said Basement Brenda. “The basement was off limits to me. It always was off limits, and I’m not sure why. It’s like he was hiding something from me. Now look at me. I’m finally here and it’s the last place I wanna be.”
“I’ll get you out of here,” Carter promised. “I just need something solid to use for offense and defense.” Carter tip-toed his way through the basement, so he would not blow his cover with any sort of sounds. He found a hard rubber mallet on the work bench, and handed it to Brenda. “Here, this will be your line of defense.”
He checked the corners of the basement and found nothing but old two-by-fours and shelves of paint. There was a door that looked like a closet. It was difficult to open at first, so he gave it a good tug. When the door opened, a nauseating stench smacked his nose as another girl plummeted out and down to his feet, collapsing with dead weight. The stench made him gag.
Carter bent down and saw that she was dead, but he wasn’t sure for how long. He noticed a sealant around the door, which was probably used to keep the smell from seeping into the basement and then up through the house. That’s why the door was difficult to open.
“Jesus Christ,” he said. “This guy is sick! Did you know this girl was in here?”
“I’ve never seen her in my life,” said Basement Brenda. “Now I know why he didn’t want me down here.”
“That’s a very good reason.” Carter looked at the dead girl. She appeared to be about 20 years old. She was bloated, and her name was probably Brenda, too. Then he thought about Reggie’s plans for his Brenda, and he had to take action right away. There was nothing he could do for this girl. She was as dead as could be… perhaps a week, Carter thought, but he was not an expert. He could only assume that she had been killed prior to the time Brenda was put in the basement.
The smell of a dead body wreaked havoc on his nostrils, and he did all he could do not to puke. They needed to escape from the cellar quickly, but he needed to think hard about how to save the two Brendas. He looked back at the dead girl as he walked toward the stairs. There was nothing he could do for her, except get retribution. He grabbed a short solid board, and worked his way to the top of the stairs.
“I can hear him talking. I believe he’s in the kitchen,” she whispered from behind.
Carter slowly turned the knob on the door, and opened it only an inch. There were no signs of people, and the talking volume increased from the other room. Inch by inch, he opened the door and peeked. There was a slight squeak at first, but it subsided the wider the door opened. He didn’t want to push it, though, so he only opened it far enough for them to get out. They were soon standing in the living room trying to figure out what they were going to do.
“He’s got a bad left shoulder,” whispered Brenda. “If you hit him there it might disable him. His left eye is bad too. He can’t see to the left side with it… some degenerative disorder.”
Carter raised his board up in front of him as he carefully made his way through the living room with Brenda in tow. He made it to the door leading to the kitchen. Reggie and Brenda were still talking. Reggie was loud and threatening, and Brenda sounded like she was playing it right. He could hear her submissive answers, so as not to rile this crazed man.
He wrapped his body around the wall as he looked into the kitchen with one eye. Pulling his head back into the living room, he thought about what he might do, and backtracked. He put the wood down and picked up a solid wooden barstool that matched the ones in the kitchen. Carter thought it was solid enough to knock Reggie out. He needed to make one shot count, and he prepared himself for battle. Grabbing the stool firmly with both hands, Carter looked around the corner again, trying to gain the confidence to make the charge.
Carter’s mind descended to the dead girl in the basement. He needed to make a stand for her. He also needed to make a stand for Basement Brenda, and for his Brenda, who was sitting in the kitchen awaiting her fate. She was playing Reggie’s game, biding her time, and she did not even know that Carter was there trying to save her.
He wondered what she was thinking. He wondered if Reggie had raped her or done other bad things to her. He even thought it possible that on some level she enjoyed it. After all, she had to have enjoyed it at one time, since he was her ex. Maybe somehow, or on some level, her feelings were renewed during this experience. The thought made him sick to his stomach, so he moved on. This present condition was so horrific that it was fucking up his mind in a way that made him produce such demented thoughts.
Reggie was standing in front of Brenda when Carter peeked around the corner. Her eyes turned towards him, but so did Reggie’s. He noticed her looking behind him and followed suit. As soon as their eyes met, Carter made a dash for Reggie with bar stool in hand. He got in front of Reggie and took a hard swing at him with the stool, cracking it over his head and knocking him on his ass. The force with which Carter swung the stool had momentum that carried him to the ground as well.
Reggie picked his head off the floor, and slowly got to his feet. He then ran at Carter, just as he was making it to his feet, and the force of the collision smashed Carter’s back into the wall. Reggie then followed up with a right uppercut to his midsection that lifted Carter’s body up a bit, before he plummeted to the ground. Carter eyed his surroundings carefully. He saw that Reggie was tired and worn out, and struggling to breathe. He saw Brenda still tied up in the chair, but she was routing Carter on. Basement Brenda stood back in the doorway, hiding her secret weapon behind her back. They did not want Reggie to know that she was armed with a mallet.
Carter made it back to his feet and took a couple of steps toward Reggie. It was a small kitchen with barstools at the island. Carter then lunged at Reggie, jumping up and planting his shit-kicker into his chest. The hard sole was enough to knock the remaining wind out of Reggie, who crumbled to the ground and was slow to get up. Carter would have liked to finish off the job, but he was just as worn out as Reggie. He rolled his eyes when he saw Reggie som
ehow manage to get to his feet again. He was even more shocked when Reggie came at him with pretty good gusto, especially because he didn’t have a lot of defense in the tank himself.
He needed another minute or two to catch his breath, but he didn’t get it, and found himself collapsing to the ground with a return kick from Reggie’s sneakers. However, Reggie went up too high with the kick, and both of them ended up landing hard on the ground. Neither of them got up right away, much like a prized heavyweight fight. The first one to get up would likely win, but that’s how spent they both were.
Reggie was the first one to try to get to his feet, but this is where Basement Brenda came in. She revealed her secret weapon, sneaking over and knocked him out with a mallet blow to the head. It was as simple as snuffing out the life of a wounded fly using a swatter, or shooting fish in a barrel, but that was Reggie’s specialty. He wasn’t even moving after she made use of her secret weapon. Carter could now get to his feet without being charged by Reggie, who was pretty much out of the picture.
Carter slowly untied the linen holding Brenda down. His facial contortions revealed his intense pain.
“Thank God you came here,” said Brenda.
“Thank God you’re alive,” said Carter.
He gave Brenda a big hug, and then completed cutting all ties to the chair. “Let’s get you out of here,” he said.
Desert Son Trilogy: Desert Son, Wayward Soul, Spiritual Intervention (Books 1-3) Page 42
