Chapter 2: Parental Concern

Rosa was in the kitchen when Peggy brought Kathy into the house.

"Oh, my God!" she screamed, which brought Dutch running.

It took a moment for Kathy to convince them she was not in need of serious medical attention. Peggy took advantage of the opportunity to slip away and return to her own home before more obvious questions were put to her.

Instead, Kathy was left to provide the answers when the questions arose, and she was honest at first, telling Rosa and Dutch as much as she remembered.

"That son-of-a-bitch," Dutch snarled, and his eyes were terrifying to behold. Neither of the women had ever seen him like this, and they were frightened of him until he took a deep breath and willed himself to calm down. "Who was he Kathy?" he asked, his eyes riveted on hers.

"I don't know, Daddy. Honest, I met him on the dance floor. He was a good dancer, we went off to get a drink... water. I drank water. I think he spiked it with something," she lied to protect herself. "After that things got sort of blurry, like I was back dancing, but felt different. I felt sexy and wanted to... you know?"

"Then what happened?" Dutch asked.

"We were in the parking lot... I thought we were headed for the backseat, but we never...

She halted and thought about what had happened. "We never got there."

"Go on," Rosa said, wringing her hands dejectedly.

"We... we started making out. Then he took it out and made me suck him. I didn't want to, I mean I was okay with kissing him and all, but I wasn't ready to blow him," she protested.

Rosa began to see things in a different light as she realized her daughter was lying to them. She knew that if Kathy was headed to the backseat of his car that she was going willingly, and that she fully intended to have sex with the guy. She glanced at Dutch and saw that he believed Kathy's every word.

Rosa had a sudden premonition of danger deep within her stomach. He would seek retribution, she thought. Somehow, he would find this man and have his revenge. Rosa saw her pending marriage dissolving as a result of his being caught and sent to prison and she began to cry.

Dutch's resolve to find this man intensified on seeing Rosa crying. Thus far, he accepted her story at face value. And when she related the part about having her face slammed into the hood of the car, and the brutal rape that followed, he was seething with rage.

"Then... then..." Kathy sputtered, "Peggy and a guy came running over to me."

"How did they know where you were?" Rosa asked.

"I don't know," she said and perplexed, turned to her friend, saying, "Peggy, how did..."

But all three were surprised to find Peggy gone.

"I'll call her house in a few minutes," Dutch said, and returned to his interrogation. "So they came running, then what?"

He ran away, but Rolf... that's Peggy's boyfriend, caught up with him and knocked him down." She began to snivel, and Dutch quickly handed her his handkerchief. Kathy blew her nose.

"Peggy was helping me to sit up, and I think Rolf beat him up some more, but I didn't see it.

"What's the guy's name?" Dutch asked, impatiently.

"I don't know. It never came up."

"It never came up?" Rosa said sarcastically.

She drew a warning glance from Dutch. "Sometimes, names come up after the fact," he said.

"Okay, enough talk for now," Rosa said. "Let's clean you up, and put something on those cuts and bruises, you'll look like hell tomorrow."

While Kathy and her mother went into the bathroom to tend to her wounds, Dutch quietly wandered into the bedroom and picked up the phone and called Ann Stinson's number.

Ann answered on the second ring.

"Hello?"

"Dutch," he said by way of announcement.

"Oh, hi, Dutch. This is so terrible isn't it? How is she?"

"She's all right. She has some bruises from the bastard, and there's the concern about AIDS, in that he raped her. We'll look into that in the morning."

"Have you called the police?"

"No."

"You should. They have these kits... they can get DNA and..."

"Ann, I'm..." he thought better and rephrased his statement. "We're not going there. It's a horror story the way rape is handled by the authorities. It's far worse, far more traumatic for the victim. The lawyers make the victim look like they were responsible for the crime, not the other way around. I know I've seen it time and time again at the hospital. It stinks. It really stinks, but that's what happens. The girl is tested, poked and probed. Her entire life is put under a microscope as if she wanted it to happen. And you know what?"

He didn't wait for Ann to reply, but carried on. "The judges or the juries believe that crap more than half the time. Meanwhile, everyone in town knows who the victim is and her reputation is ruined. It follows her for the rest of her life... and the guilty bastard... even if convicted, will be out in 3 to five years, looking for his next victim."

"My God," Ann said. "That's terrible."

"Yeah... but, hey, I called to ask Peggy some questions. May I speak with her? I promise to keep my cool, Ann."

"All right, just a minute. I think she's still awake."

A minute later, Peggy picked up the receiver and spoke. "Hello?"

"Peggy, it's Dutch."

"Hello, Mr. Perry."

"Look, about the incident tonight. What can you tell me?"

"Um, Rolf and me left the rave and were in the parking lot. We had looked around inside for Kathy and hadn't seen her, so we were trying outside, you know?"

Her answer didn't make a whole lot of sense to him, in fact it raised several other questions, but he held himself in check and let her continue without interruption.

"We were about to turn around and head to the other side of the lot when I saw this couple.

Well, it was Kathy and the guy, but I didn't know it right then."

"Go on," he said, patting his pocket, looking for a cigarette, although he had not smoked in over ten years.

"The couple by the car... there was some movement and I recognized Kathy. The guy was yelling at her and threw her down onto the pavement. Her dress was up... around her waist... I knew he was raping her... and when she tried to get up, he hit her. By then, we were running to help her. When he saw us, he took off. I reached Kathy and tried to help her. She was cut and bleeding. Rolf caught him and knocked him down. The guy was a coward, he curled up in a ball, never raised a hand to protect himself."

"Did you get his name... anything to help identify him?"

"Umm, wait a minute," Peggy said and put the phone down.

Dutch realized he was squeezing the receiver with all his strength and forced himself to relax a little. Then Peggy was back on the phone.

"Dutch... I mean, Mr. Perry?"

"Dutch is fine, Peggy go on."

"Rolf took his driver's license."

"Great!" he barked, "Go on."

"Um, that's all I have. I thought for a minute that Rolf had given it to me, but he must have kept it himself."

"Have you called the police?"

"I don't know," he said, then went on. "Kathy isn't feeling too well and when you do that... well they tend to make the victim feel guilty as hell. Most women who file charges like that regret it afterward. I really respect those who do, but God knows they suffer as much if not more after the fact, than before. The law sees to that."

"But perhaps I can call Rolf. Do you happen to have his number?

"Gee, no, but he has mine, and he promised to call me."

Dutch swore under his breath, knowing that more often than not, guys neglected to call, or lost the damn number after having had one too many drinks. But he retained his composure and said, "Thanks a bunch, sweetie."

"Glad to be of some help, Mr. Perry. Please tell Kathy I hope she feels better. I'll pop over tomorrow and try cheering her up."

"Do that Peggy. It would be greatly appreciated," he noticed that Peggy had brightened noticeably at his compliment and filed the thought away for future reference.

They ended the call and Dutch sat back and began thinking about what he was going to do the next day when Rosa came in and told him Kathy was sleeping, and that they had better get some sleep too.

He grunted began removing his clothing. In ten minutes he was sound asleep.

Rosa, on the other hand, laid awake the remainder of the night, wondering what role her daughter had played in this drama, and where it would lead.