Abandoned Angel (28 page)

Blaze was somewhat relieved that he would no longer have to be responsible for the future of Angelina and Justin. What could he do? He did not know exactly where Angelina headed. He had planned to get details from her at this stop. Hell, he didn’t even recall what her last name was. Blaze reassured himself that protecting Angelina was out of his hands. Instead, he would be able to protect Marge and Tiffany, and he would do unto Spike what Blaze knew he had coming.

Angelina - tired and feeling lost to the world, sat quietly in the back seat of the old gray Buick, mesmerized by the repetition of the cornfields. She was grateful that the elderly couple that offered her a ride did not ask too many questions. The woman had seen Angelina crying in the bathroom at the visitor’s station and asked if she could do anything to help. Angelina used her bruised appearance to her advantage, and created a story that would earn her a ride. She felt guilty for lying to the couple, but the lie had worked. They believed her fiancé abandoned her at the rest stop after an argument. She told them that they had been on their way to surprise her mother with a visit when the fight began. The couple bought the story, and so there she sat, in a stranger’s car, praying that she would see her son soon. Angelina, extremely grateful for the ride, had been trying to be strong and to stay optimistic, but the farther they drove away from Blaze, the less confident she felt. She was terrified over the idea of seeing Rusty, and afraid of how he would react to her showing up. To calm her nerves she broke the silence.

“I don’t know how I can ever thank you enough for helping me out,” she stated.

“No need to thank us Hun,” replied the kind woman. Light strands dusted her gray tinted hair. Angelina imagined that at one time she was a red head, and a feisty one at that.

“I am just glad to see you getting home. I know I would love for our kids to visit more often.” Angelina caught the gentle squeeze she gave her husband’s hand.

“I bet your mama is going to be so glad to see you.”

Her grin was sincere, and her eyes sparkled with youth.

Iowa people are so nice,
Angelina thought.

“I don’t think your mama will be too happy to see what that man of yours has done to you,” stated the friendly woman, shaking her head back and forth, disgusted over the obvious abuse Angelina had endured.

When they finally pulled into the tired old town, Angelina asked the couple to drop her off at an old gas station on the edge of the community. She led them to believe that her mother’s house was only a couple of blocks away, and that she wanted to freshen up before she showed up at the door unannounced. They believed the explanation and went on their way happy to have helped. Unfortunately, the reality was that Maxine’s home was about five miles out of town on a gravel road. She did not want Rusty to see the car coming and get spooked, that is why she had asked the couple to drop her off in town. She needed to be able to use the element of surprise, though she was still unsure how she was going to manage to get Justin away from Rusty. She considered hiding out until dark. Perhaps she could grab Justin after Rusty had passed out. Unfortunately, Angelina couldn’t stand to wait any longer to see her son. Besides, she has nowhere to take him, and a quick getaway was hard to do on foot. In her tired, worn out state, the thought amused her.

It had been a long time since she had visited the area, but luckily finding her way came easily. As Angelina headed down the winding dirt road, excited to see her son, she wondered if she should have called the police first, as Blaze had suggested. She also wondered how Blaze had reacted to her leaving.

------

Blaze, convinced that he had no way of finding Angelina, was ready to head back to join the rest of his bike club. Regardless as to how the club members would greet him, he was determined to find Marge and Tiffany and find out exactly what happened to Doc. With Angelina out of the way, he would be able to do what was necessary depending on who had killed his friend. With his sunglasses perched on the top of his head, Blaze revved his engine, ready to proceed. As he pulled back onto the interstate, he pictured Angelina, bruised and bloodied, sitting across from him on the hard, cold, bar stool. The first time that he and Angelina met came back to him, in full force. He recalled the terrified look she had on her broken face, as well as the inner strength she possessed as Spike harassed her. He also recalled that she had introduced herself as Angelina Hart. The name came to Blaze as soon as he quit trying to find it. He had resigned to the fact that he would be moving on without her, and then the name was suddenly back in his memory. There was no hope of him moving on after that - he had a name, so he had a way to find her. Blaze pulled his bike over onto the side of the road, frustrated with the situation, and placed a call to an old friend.

“Hey Charlie, it’s Blaze. Yeah, I know it has been a real long time. Don’t suppose I can call in a favor though?”

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By the time Angelina saw Maxine’s driveway off in the distance, the color of the day had changed. It had taken her longer than she thought it would to walk the five miles. The gravel road was uneven, and full of pebbles, which slowed her down. Her feet ached. The shadows had all but disappeared as the air cooled, and the position of the sun changed. It would be dark before long, and experience told her that was when Rusty would be at his worst. Unless things had changed, he would probably be drunk and mean by eight o’clock.

Angelina heard the sound of a car coming and hid in the ditch by the side of the road. She did not want to take any chances with Rusty seeing her before she was ready. She was relieved when the car passed the house and kept going. Angelina did not see Rusty’s old truck in the driveway and although she wanted to sprint to the house to see her precious baby boy, she was fearful, which made her cautious. The way the yard was set up she would have to be in the open while making her way up the drive. Angelina contemplated her next move when in the distance she heard a familiar voice.

“Hello there, can I help you?” ask Maxine, with a friendly echo to her tone. “Are you looking for someone?”

Maxine, a kind old woman with stern eyes and strong hands, was out back hanging clothes, when she first saw the young woman walking up the road. She watched as Angelina approached. She wondered why the stranger stood at the edge of her driveway as if she weren’t certain where she was going. It was odd enough to have a visitor, but the fact that Angelina was on foot spiked her curiosity. Since Maxine did not recognize Angelina, Angelina walked towards the mature woman without answering. She remembered how kind she had been and hoped that kindness would still be there, regardless as to what story Rusty had told his mother.

“Hi Maxine,” stated Angelina as she drew closer, trying to appear friendlier than she felt.

“I’m sorry, do I know you?” questioned Maxine, still not recognizing her daughter-in-law.

“It’s me Maxine, Angelina.” She moved closer yet.

“Angelina, is that really you?”

Maxine dropped her basket of clothes, surprised by the appearance of the woman. She stretched her arms out towards Angelina.

“Yes mam - it's me.”

The women embraced for a moment, clinging tightly to each other. Relief filled both of their hearts. Angelina was relieved about the kind welcome, and Maxine was relieved that Angelina had returned to her family.

“I've come for Justin.” Angelina finally stated with overwhelmed exhaustion. Tears filled her eyes.

When Maxine pulled back from the embrace, she noticed the bruises on Angelina’s face and around her neck.

“What happened to you - child?” Maxine asked, gently touching her daughter-in-laws bruised cheek.

“Rusty said you ran off with another man and that you deserted them. Is this true?”

Angelina shook her head no, as she searched the yard looking for Justin. Her heart raced. She had missed her son more than she thought she could ever miss anyone, and she was so close to seeing him again.

“I will explain later, but I need to see Justin, where is he?” asked Angelina, trying not to panic. She wanted to get her son and then get out of there. She had no idea where they would go, or how they would get there, but she knew that she needed to do it quickly. She was lucky that Rusty had not been home when she walked up and the old fear and feeling of helplessness that he had instilled in her was coming back.

“Where’s Justin Maxine?” she asked again, “I need to get Justin.”

“He, he isn't here Angelina,” stated Maxine, confused by Angelina’s urgency.

“Why don’t you come in the house so we can calm you down?”

Angelina, who was at this point full of panic and fear, broke into tears over the disappointment those words brought her. If he wasn’t there, what had Rusty done with him?

“He's not here?” she shrieked, “Rusty didn't bring him here? Where else would he take him?” Angelina openly sobbed, fearing she had lost her child forever.

“No, I mean he isn't here right now.” Maxine explained. “Rusty took him to town with him a couple of hours ago.” Angelina had not thought to look for him while passing through town.

Relief filled Angelina’s heart as Maxine continued.

“I don’t understand, what is going on?”

Angelina hesitated for a moment, not wanting to sound like a hurt child, but she was so overwhelmed that the words poured out quickly.

“He left me Maxine, and he took my baby from me. He hurt me and then just left me there on the side of the road. I didn’t know where I was, I didn’t know what to do. I had nothing, no money, no one to call. I, I had to find Justin, that was all I could think of.” She did not want to explain how she got there. It was a long, miserable story, and she was still hurting over what had happened to Doc because of her.

“I didn’t know if Justin was ok or not. I didn’t know if I would ever see him again.” The distraught woman sobbed into her hands, finally breaking down over her excruciating experience.

Maxine held her daughter-in-law as she wept. The thought of her own son doing this to Angelina made Maxine sick to her stomach. She wanted to hear that it wasn’t true. That she had not raised a monster.

“Is this true?” she whispered, already knowing that it was. She was appalled, but not necessarily shocked.

“Did Rusty really do this to you?” asked Maxine, more to herself than to Angelina. She knew her son had issues, but she did not want to believe that he had stooped so low. She did not want to see her husband in her son. When she buried her husband, she believed she had buried the monster within. The idea that Rusty had turned into his father broke her heart. With this realization, she knew that Angelina could not be there when Rusty returned, whether the story she told was true or not, he would be out for vengeance.

“They'll be back any moment,” stated Maxine, concern plastered across her face.

“Angelina, you have to leave. You cannot be here when he comes back. He, he just isn’t right lately.”

In the short amount of time Rusty and Justin had been at her home, Maxine could see the frustration and anger building in Rusty. She had already begun to worry for her grandchild but didn’t know what
should be done
.

“What do you mean?” ask Angelina.

“He is angry all the time, and he walks around like, well, like he has nothing left to lose.” Angelina opted not to mention that he had been like that for a long time now.

“He carries a gun in his truck,” Maxine continued, her words racing forward. “I saw it there.”

Although it broke Maxine’s heart to go against her son, she was determined to do right by her grandchild. She had failed to protect Rusty when he was growing up, but she would not fail at protecting Justin.

“You need to leave before he gets back Angelina.” Maxine now seemed to panic. The edge in her voice frightened Angelina.

“He will hurt you again, I know he will. I just know it.”

Maxine recalled the many times Rusty's father beat her, and hated him for passing the trait on to their son. Although she wanted to use every maternal instinct in her body to convince herself that he had not turned into his vicious father, she knew it to be true and that he was a lost cause. Justin, with his sweet smile and trusting demeanor, on the other hand was not.

“I am not leaving without Justin,” Angelina snapped, no longer concerned about her own safety. “I won’t do it. I’ve come all this way, and I’m taking my son back.”

The feisty woman was stronger than what Maxine had been when Rusty was a child. She would gladly take another beating if that meant Justin did not have to.

In the distance, a cloud of dust rose as a vehicle neared the farm. Neither of the women noticed it.

“He won't give him back to you. Don't you see, he isn’t going to let you take him?” Angelina understood the desperation in Maxine’s voice. She understood her unspoken words. Rusty would kill Angelina, or worse yet, their child, rather than let Justin leave with her. Maxine was pleading with her now.

“Angelina, please go, until I can figure something out. I can keep Justin safe until then. I promise you that.” She realized it was too late as she heard the familiar sound of Rusty’s old truck rounding the corner.