Believe Like a Child (31 page)
T
he house was filled with wonderful aromas wafting out from the kitchen. The foyer was spacious, with a black and white marble floor and a sweeping stairway that gracefully curved its way up to the bedrooms above. To her left, Alessa could see a room fully furnished in oak, with well-stocked bookshelves covering an entire wall. She felt inadequate and completely out of place. About to head to the kitchen, they met Remo’s mother coming through the doorway.
“Remo!” she said cheerfully, “how are you, son? I’ve missed you so much!”
Mother and son hugged, before the she turned to look at Alessa and Lucy.
Alessa extended her hand. “Hi, I’m Alessa and this is Lucy.”
Remo’s mother was tall and thin. She had blond hair and green eyes that glittered like emeralds.
She shook Alessa’s hand and said, “I’m Hannah. Nice to meet you, Alessa. Remo has told us a lot about you. We’ve been bugging him for ages to bring you over so we could meet and we were starting to think you didn’t really exist. We thought he had just made you up to stop us from asking him when he was going to meet a nice girl and settle down.”
Alessa smiled. “No, I’m real,” she said.
You probably wouldn’t think I was a nice girl, though,
she thought.
Hannah immediately turned to Lucy. “Hi Lucy, we’ve heard a lot about you too.”
Brimming with pride, the child replied, “Did Remo tell you he painted my room purple? It’s so cool! Alessa and me, we bought all this stuff that matches and Alessa painted stars on my ceiling too!”
Hannah was pleasantly surprised by how outgoing the child was. “Come on,” she said, taking her by the hand. “Let’s go to the kitchen to meet Remo’s dad.”
Lucy fell in step with her and Remo put his arm around Alessa and followed them into the kitchen.
“Hi Dad,” he said.
Remo’s father rose from the kitchen table and walked over to them. “Son, how are you?” he asked. “You’re certainly looking well. This must be the woman who’s keeping you in line!” He turned to Alessa with a warm smile.
“I’m Alessa and this is Lucy,” she said by way of introduction. “We’re so glad to meet you.”
Patrick was smiling at the duo. “I’m Patrick, but I guess you know that already. Nice to meet you too!” he said in response. “Why don’t you come in and make yourselves comfortable? Would you two young ladies like a glass of pink lemonade?”
Alessa and Lucy both accepted the offer. They both
loved
pink lemonade. As Remo and his father fell into conversation, Alessa made her way over to the stove where Hannah was cooking.
“Is there something I can help you with?” she asked.
Remo’s mother accepted the offer willingly. “If you could clean the lettuce for our salad, that would help a bunch,” she said.
Thank God,
thought Alessa,
something I actually know how to do!
The two women chatted as they worked in the kitchen. The conversation was pleasant and superficial, dwelling on the things people yammer about when they meet for the first time.
During dinner, Hannah said, “So tell me how you two met. We weren’t able to get much out of Remo. He can be really close-mouthed when he doesn’t like us asking him too many questions.”
Alessa looked at Remo for reassurance. Then she took a deep breath and said, “Remo was my physical therapist. I broke my femur and arm and he helped put me back together again.”
“Oh, my! That’s awful!” Hannah exclaimed, shocked. “How did that happen?”
Alessa thought,
fuck, fuck, fuck,
and congratulated herself for not saying it out loud. Lucy was staring at her, waiting for the words that would follow, tense at how uncomfortable the situation was making her.
Alessa’s expression grew solemn. “I was mugged by four men near Penn’s Landing. I tried to fight them, so they got pretty angry with me.”
Hannah’s mouth dropped open. “You were mugged and beaten? Is that what you’re saying?”
Remo could see his mother was beginning to freak out. Questions were bubbling on her tongue. It was time to step in.
“Yes, Mom,” he confirmed, “that’s what she’s saying. It was pretty brutal and Alessa has managed to put it behind her. So how about changing the subject?”
Embarrassed by her involuntary outburst, Hannah said hastily, “Of course we can. Now how are you and Lucy related?”
Alessa swallowed hard. “Well, we aren’t related by blood. Lucy was abandoned by her biological parents. We met shortly after they left her and have been together ever since. Now we think of ourselves as sisters.”
Hannah’s eyes widened with alarm. She shot Remo a fiery look. There were a million questions she wanted to ask, but Patrick was giving her that look which screamed:
Don’t push it, Hannah. Our son loves them.
Remo took charge of the conversation from that point onward. He talked about his patients and Alessa getting her degree in psychology. Patrick thought Alessa was terrific. She was funny and he could tell she was warm-hearted too. She only seemed to tense up when Hannah tried to pry into her past. But overall, he thought Alessa and Lucy were delightful. Hannah wasn’t as convinced. She could tell there was a lot they didn’t know about the young woman. She also suspected that her son didn’t want them to find out.
As the evening wound down and Remo was hugging his mother goodbye, she whispered in his ear, “We need to talk, son. I have many unanswered questions.” She looked at him pleadingly as he stared at her.
Remo knew how much his parents loved him. He owed them some truth, so that at the very least, his mother would stop worrying. He knew, however, that the truth might upset her even more. Remo decided he would talk to his father first and feed him the truth in small doses. Patrick was much more open-minded than his mother, when it came to what Remo wanted in life.
Hugging his father, he said, “I’ll call you tomorrow, Dad.”
Patrick knew exactly what his son meant. “Okay, son. I’m looking forward to your call.”
Lucy hugged Hannah and Patrick goodbye and Alessa shook their hand.
When they got into the car, Remo looked at Alessa and said, “Well, what do you think?”
“I think they’re both great,” she told him. “But you know they have a lot of questions about me, especially your mom. This is exactly what I had feared. I didn’t want to cause any trouble between you and your parents.”
“Nah, I think it was fine,” he said, trying to ease her fears. “I’m sure they have some questions. Hell, you’re the first woman I’ve ever brought home. So they would have questions, no matter who you were. There is nothing to worry about, though, Alessa. I can tell they loved you.”
Lucy piped up from the backseat, “I like your dad better than your mom. I think he’s nicer, but your mom sure makes good apple cake. The best I’ve ever had!”
Alessa turned to the child in the backseat and smiled. “And probably the only apple cake you’ve ever had?”
Lucy giggled. “Yeah, that too!”
R
emo called his father the next day to answer some of the questions that discretion and courtesy had prevented his parents from posing at their dinner. He knew he would have to give Patrick enough information about Alessa to placate his mother or she would be relentless in her quest to find out more.
“Hi Dad, it’s me,” he said. “I know you guys have a lot of questions about Alessa and Lucy. Mom even whispered the warning, as I was leaving your place, that she would need answers.”
Patrick knew this wasn’t going to be easy on his son. He suspected there was a story behind the girls.
“Son,” he said gently, “you know we’re just worried about you and yes, we do have some questions. I mean, we didn’t really understand how Alessa and Lucy had met. Nor are we quite clear in our minds about how Alessa was mugged and beaten. Are you sure you can handle this?”
“I’m fine, Dad. I’m going to tell you the story, but I really need you to keep some of it to yourself. I love these two and I don’t want Mom to make this difficult for all of us. I know she only wants what’s best for me, but you both need to have faith in my judgment. Okay?”
“Sure, son,” Patrick agreed. “Tell me what’s going on.”
Remo took a deep breath. “First,” he began, “Alessa was mugged and beaten by four men, just like she told you, but she was also brutally raped. We met when she came in as a patient for physical therapy. We spent a lot of time together and over the months, we got to know each other. It was a mutual thing.”
“Jesus Christ!” Patrick whispered. “She was raped by four men? Are you sure she is capable of making the right decision about living with you? I mean, did she see a therapist after it happened? Rape can really screw up a woman. Stripped of everything she knows and cherishes, a lot of times, the experience leaves her hollow from within, like an empty shell.”
Remo expected this response. His father was right and he needed to reassure him this hadn’t been the case with Alessa.
“Dad,” he went on, “there’s a lot more to her story. Alessa was sexually abused by her uncle from the time she was seven years old. He continually raped her until she ran away from home at the age of sixteen. She fell in with the wrong crowd and was dancing at strip clubs, where there was more abuse. To cut a long story short, she wound up living on the streets to escape all this bullshit and that’s where she met Lucy. Lucy was also raped by her father and molested by her mother. They’ve been together for two years now and Alessa has raised Lucy as if she were her own. There, now you have the bigger picture.”
There was silence on the phone for what seemed an eternity.
Then Patrick said, “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me! These girls have been through hell. Your mother would have a fucking stroke, if she knew about this!”
Remo laughed. He had never heard his father use profanity before and it both shocked and amused him now. “Well, that’s why God made husbands,” he countered. “To bear the brunt of the shit their wives can’t deal with. But seriously, Dad, you have to believe me when I say that Alessa has come through all of this and remained a good and decent human being. She isn’t fucked up. I mean, she has her issues—we all do—but it’s not like she’s in meltdown. Actually, she is the strongest person I’ve ever met and I love her, Dad.”
All Patrick said was, “If you love her, then she must be worth loving.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Remo said gratefully. “You know I love you and Mom. It’s important to me that you can look beyond the shell and take the time to see what’s really inside. Both of you always taught me to be open to anything. It’s because of you that I am lucky enough to have these two girls in my life today. You’ve raised me well. Now go treat yourself to a beer.”
Patrick laughed. “Thanks, son. I think I’ll need a couple of beers to digest what you just told me. But don’t worry. I’ll handle your mother. I’ll give her an abbreviated version of what I’ve learned, excluding the go-go clubs and that bit about Alessa and Lucy living on the streets.”
They talked some more and right before they hung up the phone, Patrick said, “Remo?”
“Yeah, Dad?”
“Can you live without her?”
“I wouldn’t want to, Dad,” he answered promptly.
“Okay, then, that’s good enough for me. For the record, I did think both of them were great.”
Relieved to have his father on his side, “They are. See you soon.”
Just as Patrick had promised his son, he gave Hannah only enough information to quell her suspicions about Alessa. They were planning their annual 4
th
of July party at their house and had, as usual, invited all their neighbors and friends to join them. Remo, Alessa and Lucy were invited as well. Remo filled them in about the 4
th
of July party which, he explained, was a big event for his parents. There would be dancing, singing and even fireworks. All the regulars looked forward to it every year.
Alessa bought Lucy a pair of white pants with a red tank top and a sleeveless blue sweater. The child felt quite the patriot as she came into the living room, all ready to go to the party. They arrived an hour earlier than the guests to help Hannah and Patrick with their preparations. Lucy helped Hannah put food into bowls and Alessa found herself cleaning the lettuce—again. As she leaned over the sink to wash twelve heads of lettuce, she made a mental note about learning to cook a dish. The whole salad thing was a real, fucking drag!
When the guests began arriving, Remo introduced them to Alessa, one by one. All of them were curious about the girl who had managed to inspire deep enough feelings in the incurable bachelor for him to finally want to settle down. They were just as curious about her sister.
About an hour into the party, a middle-aged couple showed up. When the man saw Alessa, he froze in his tracks.
“What’s wrong?” she heard his wife ask.
Alessa turned to see what was going on. Then like a kid in a game of hide and seek, she suddenly ducked behind one of the thick pillars on the massive porch.
Remo, who had followed the developments, caught up with her. “Whatever just happened, Alessa, you need to relax,” he told her softly. “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost. Someone you know, no doubt.”
Shaken, Alessa looked back at him. “Oh God! Yeah, I know him,” she admitted. “I’ll tell you later.”
She pretended, as best she could, that nothing was wrong. Later in the evening, when they were getting dessert ready, Remo came in to steal Alessa from his mother.
“Okay, what’s the deal?” he asked, when he got her alone. “When my parents’ next-door neighbor walked in, he almost shit in his pants and you looked like you wanted to run too.”
“Oh fuck, Remo! This is embarrassing,” Alessa said, trying to stall.
“Don’t be embarrassed. You know how I feel about these things. I don’t give a fuck.”
Alessa laughed. “Not embarrassing for me,” she explained. “I meant, embarrassing for him. I know him from the strip club. He used to pay me for lap dances, but he was really freaky. When we went into the room, he would take off all his clothes, put an adult diaper on, hold a rattle and have me give him a lap dance. He would insist that I repeat, ‘What a bad, bad boy you are!’ He would act like a scolded child and we would just repeat the routine over and over. I didn’t have too many clients who were really freaky, but he was definitely one of them.”
She and Remo burst out laughing at the same time. Alessa was amused by the memory of the man’s fetish; Remo found the visual conjured up by her account hilarious.
“Remo, it didn’t occur to me that I would ever meet the men I had once danced for at the club,” she confessed. “It’s just like the time I saw your friend at the Irish Pub. There are so many men I’ve danced for and in front of; I could be running into them at any time, like I did here, at your parents’ party.”
“Yep, shit happens,” Remo said understandingly. “Let’s go back out to the party. They’re getting ready to set off the fireworks.”
Alessa, Remo and Lucy sat on a blanket spread over the grass and watched the fireworks. They were beautiful without being lavish. As the girls watched, their minds went back to the same occasion a year back, when Alessa had been raped and beaten.
Lucy snuggled up closer to the older girl. “You remember, right?” she whispered.
“Yeah, it’s hard not to,” Alessa admitted. “Things are different now, though.”
“I know,” Lucy said. “I love you, Alessa.”
“I love you too, Lucy.”