Who We Are (38 page)

He stood tall in front of her and undid his belt. He unbuttoned his denims and unzipped them. He pulled his pants down enough to expose himself and she looked down. She was sobbing now, but didn’t dare say anything.

“I want you to look up at me and ask me to fuck you. In fact, I want you on your knees and beg me to fuck you.”

She looked up at him but didn’t say anything. He grabbed her hair and yanked her onto her knees. She screamed out a little, but caught herself and quieted up. On her knees and trembling, he put the knife to her other cheek. “Bitch, I want you to beg me to fuck you. Do you understand?” Just as she opened her mouth to follow his orders, they heard the front door open.

“Desire? Are you home, sweetheart? I came home early and would love some coffee.”

It was Papa. Nathaniel quickly pulled his pants up and uttered, “Fuck.” He leaned down and whispered in her ear, “Now, you be a good girl and go fix your Papa some coffee, And don’t worry I will be back to finish what we started.” He licked the side of her face shooed her away.

She didn’t think she could hide her emotion from Papa. She was shaking terribly and tears were still running down her cheek. She wiped her eyes on her sleeve and tried to compose herself.

When she entered the kitchen, she did not see Papa and she started to panic thinking that maybe he had left when she did not respond right away.

“Papa?” She called out to him and prayed to God that he was still here. At least until nighttime, he seemed to be pretty safe.

“I am in my office, Desire. You can bring me my coffee here.”

Relief flooded her. “Yes Papa.”

Still shaken, she went over to the stove to start brewing some coffee. She kept her head down to avoid the all-seeing eyes noticing the cut on her face.

As she waited for the coffee to finish, there was a knock at the front door. She went over to answer it, and it was Johnny. When she opened the door and he saw her, he uttered the words, “Oh Jesus.” Just seeing him made her cry and she turned around.

“Papa, Johnny is here to see you. The coffee is brewing and I have to go upstairs to finish some chores.” She turned and ran upstairs. Knowing she was about to lose it, she couldn’t let Papa see that.

She ran into her bathroom and looked in the mirror. On her cheek there was a shallow vertical cut about two inches long. It was no longer bleeding, but there were streaks of dry blood running down the side of her face. Her eyes were all red and blotchy from crying. She looked horrible.

She crumpled to the floor, stifling tears. They only had a couple of days left to get through, but every day seemed harder and harder! Everywhere she turned now, there was danger or something to be feared. She wrapped her arms around her knees and pulled them close to her body. She felt tears welling up, but mustered up the strength to refuse them.
No. There’s no time for tears! He will not defeat me! Not Nathaniel, not Papa, not anyone! I will get my life back! I have to stay strong.
She got up from the floor and stood over the sink to wash her face. The cut stung a little but seemed like nothing compared to what might have happened if Papa hadn’t come home.

Nathaniel was so determined to hurt her. Why on earth had he targeted her? Was he hurting other girls in the community too?

Now that Johnny had seen her, he knew something had happened. She was so afraid that his temper would get the better of him and he might do something to Nathaniel. Not that she didn’t want to see him suffer, she just didn’t want Johnny to risk anything before they escaped. Not to mention, Johnny may have a bad temper, but she was pretty sure that Nathaniel was a little psychotic—maybe even a robot like Papa—and she felt sure that he could seriously hurt or even kill Johnny given the chance.

Once she felt as composed as she could manage, she headed back downstairs. Johnny and Papa were sitting at the table drinking coffee.

“Desire, Johnny has come over here to extend an invitation to have dinner with his family tonight. If you could warm me up a plate of food and leave it in the oven I don’t see why you shouldn’t go. Will do you some good to get out.” He turned to Johnny. “Now you be sure walk her home no later than one hour past dark. And If you like, we can have a drink on the porch before you go back home.”

Johnny nodded and finished his coffee while Desire prepared a supper plate for Papa and left it in the oven.

Desire put a large sunhat on and wrapped a shawl around her shoulders. She and Johnny walked in silence toward the workshop and although he kept looking over at her, she would not look at him. She stared straight ahead. She knew if she looked at him she would break down and she just wanted to make it back to his workshop.

When they arrived at the workshop, he opened the door and escorted her in. They scooted quickly into the workshop and back into his secret room. Once safely inside her put his hands on her shoulder and looked her in the eye. “Darby, what the hell happened to you?”

She told him. Aedan took her in his arms and hugged her tight. He walked her over to the couch where they sat down together. After she spent a considerable amount of time convincing Aedan not to confront Nathaniel, they came up with a plan to keep her as safe as possible for the next two days. Tomorrow and Friday she would go to the Hall early and spend the day with the other church ladies decorating and completing final jobs for the Celebration. At night, she would either be invited back to “Johnny’s” for dinner or she would invite him over to dinner. Their plan had many objectives: keep her safe and away from Nathaniel, and keep her safe from Papa throughout the night.

“Desire” would go to bed, but first “Johnny” planned to put a locking mechanism on the inside of her bedroom door and would nail her windows shut. With Papa passed out, he could also nail the sewing room windows shut. Then he would go to the cellar and nail the door from the cellar to the backyard closed.

If he could do that, he felt sure that Nathaniel would not be able to sneak back into the house, and Papa would not be able to sneak into “Desire’s” room at night.

As dusk approached Aedan took Darby out to the forest behind the workshop. He wanted to show her how he had marked their path. There was always a possibility that they could get separated so she needed to know how to get on the path where they would reunite.

Although they didn’t have time to travel to the tree shelter, he described it to her in detail so that she would know what to look for.

Right before he made his way to the Celebration, he would put their bags in a crate right inside the back door of the workshop. She would have to quickly change and then throw her party dress into his wood stove to burn them up. If her clothes were left behind that would definitely raise suspicion. He too would burn his common suit.

Once he had reviewed all the details with her, they went back to the workshop. Although he tried to put it out of his mind, he kept picturing Nathaniel threatening her and trying to assault her again. The cut on her cheek was just a reminder to him that she really was in grave danger. He thought about just running off tonight, but that would be reckless and would surely get them caught before they even made it halfway out of the forest. He had to keep his cool for a couple more days. It felt like an eternity!

He had done all he could to prepare their escape in the forest, so he could actually focus on watching over her to make sure she was safe for the next forty-eight hours. By the time they returned to the workshop the sun had started to set. They went inside and Desire heated them up a tin of soup quickly and warmed some bread. They ate mostly in silence. It has been another long and exhausting day and as the time neared to go home, anxiety began to mount inside of Darby. Sensing this, Aedan reached over and put his hand over hers. “It is going to be okay. We will take all the measures we talked about after Papa is passed out.”

She smiled up at him. Much as he tried she knew that as long as they were still here there was no way he could keep her safe 100% of the time. She closed her eyes.
Just two more days. We can make it for two more days.
She opened her eyes and smiled back at him. “Just two more days and we get our chance.”

He remembered something he had wanted to ask her. “Desire I got your sac under the bushes. Good thinking to bring some seeds and small garden tools, but where on earth did you find the jewelry? I have never seen anything quite like it. It looks very valuable, although the designs and symbols look very unusual.”

“I found them in a big trunk in the basement between some old dishes and old blankets. They were in a beautiful ornate box just stuffed in the middle of a bunch of junk. It’s just a hunch, but I suspect Mama hid them there.”

“Wow, when I said to search your for house for valuables, I thought if we were lucky you might find some Sunday silverware in hopes that it was real, but I think you hit the jackpot there!”

She smiled at him and after quickly tidying up their dishes he escorted her back to her house. When they arrived, they found Papa, clearly drowsy, sitting at the table nodding off between bites of food. He raised his head slightly when they came in.

“Hello, you two.” His words were slightly slurred and it was apparent the sedatives in his dinner plate were taking effect. Desire went over to the stove and boiled some water to fix him some tea. She slipped in another sedative pill and brought it to him.

“Papa, you are so sleepy. Here is some nice hot tea to perk you up. Come, let’s go sit in the front room and you can visit with Johnny.

He followed her into the front room stumbling a little bit. “Tea sounds nice, I don’t understand why I am so sleepy. Long day, I guess.”

Johnny visited only for a few moments and then bid them good night. She walked him to the front door and thanked him for a lovely evening. Once he was gone, she went into the family room where Papa was nodding off.

“Come on Papa, you look sleepy. Let’s get you up to bed.” She helped him up the stairs and led him into his room. She barely got him to the bed before he passed out cold. Checking to be sure he was asleep, she ran down the stairs to the back door. She left the lights off to avoid being watched. Johnny was waiting at the back door and she let him in. He quickly slipped into the sewing room and nailed all the windows shut while she watched. Next they snuck upstairs into her room. He fumbled around in the dark, but managed to nail her bedroom windows shut as well. Next, he pulled two hooks and latches from his pocket. He fastened one set to the top of the door inside her bedroom and one to the very bottom. Once inside she could secure the door shut.

When he was done he touched her cheeks with his hands. He planted a kiss on each cheek and an extra kiss on the cut on her cheek.

“This will hopefully make you feel a little safer, but know that it will keep everyone out, including me.”

That part she wasn’t crazy about, but she knew there was only two days left.

“Johnny, please help me get Papa’s clothes off and his pajamas on. If he wakes up across his bed with his clothes on, he may get suspicious.”

As they changed Papa’s clothes, he grumbled a few incoherent sounds, but otherwise didn’t stir. They laid him the proper way in the bed and pulled the covers up over him. When they were done and about to leave, Desire held Johnny’s arm and she pointed down at Papa

“Take a close look at him. He can’t be more than 25 years old. I never noticed that before.”

Johnny took a good look. “Well I’ll be damned. I never really noticed before either, but now that you point it out, you are right. Poor guy, just another pawn in this crazy place. Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

He took her by the hand and led her into her bedroom. He left her there to run her a bath. As the tub filled, he came back into her room and undressed her in the dark. He led her, naked, into the bathroom and closed the door. After he helped her into the tub, he used the sponge to squeeze hot water all over her upper body and back. He lathered the sponged and gently bathed her from head to toe. They did not speak at all. Desire closed her eyes and relaxed as Johnny gently pampered her. God, how she loved him. He always knew just what to do to make her feel better.

When he finished, he helped to stand and step out of the tub. He dried her off with the softest touch then led her back into her room. He slipped a nightgown over her head. He leaned down and kissed her gently on her lips. “My Darby. How I love you.” He peeled back the blankets and sheet and helped her into bed. She waited as he undressed and secured the latches on the door. He slipped into bed and gathered her up in his arms. “I guess those latches can keep me in as well,” he said, smiling. She kissed him and then lay her head on his chest and fell asleep within minutes.

Aedan slept intermittently throughout the night. Visions of all that Darby had been through since she came here and mostly by how Nathaniel had continued to terrorize her plagued him. Imagining Nathaniel attacking his precious girl almost drove him to the brink of insanity. He closed his eyes and tried to calm the storm inside his head, but found himself unable to relax completely. He dozed, barely.

A couple hours before sunrise, he shook Desire lightly and whispered in her ear for her to wake up. Half asleep, she looked up at him and smiled.

“You must get up. I have to leave and I want you to latch the back door after I leave. Then come back up and lock your bedroom door.”