Chapter 3

The social worker called Mike from her car to give him a heads up that they were almost back. He met them at the door, taking Sally's bags from. Police evidence trash bags, literally. Sally walked past Mike without speaking, or even looking at him, and collapsed into an easy chair. Sam smiled grimly at Mike.

"I will be in contact, Dr. Davis. There will be a required examination by a court appointed psychiatrist on Tuesday. I can pick Sally up for that, since you will be at work. I will call you when I have the time confirmed. Thank you again, Doctor."

"Thank you, Ms. Johnson. I will be sure to point out your professionalism to your colleagues and superiors, as I have dealings with them. You have worked wonders in a very difficult situation, in helping this child." The ugly little woman glowed at the praise. Mike hadn't worked 25 years in public institutions without finding out what it took to get these little people doing what he wanted them to.

She swallowed, a bit embarrassed, smiling shyly. "Thank you again Doctor. I will call when I have the confirmation." As she left, Mike watching her walk to the street. If she was really on his side, she'd look back with a smile as she got into her car. He wanted to catch that, so he could smile again and wave. She unlocked the car, and opened the door. Mike was worried she wasn't going to look back, but she did. Mike gave her a warm smile, projecting as much power and confidence as he could. She smiled back, and he gave her a bit of a wave, not too much. She caught her breath as she got into the car; Mike knew he was way up the totem pole from most of the people she dealt with, and getting up that pole was the biggest driving force in the woman's life. She backed her car out, and pleased Mike greatly by looking back again with a smile as she pulled into the street. Mike smiled at her, deciding not to wave since that would be a bit too much; he wanted her to know he had the power, not her.

Mike walked back in. Sally was slouched in his best chair, staring at the wall. He put his hand on her shoulder. "How are you, Sally?"

She didn't look up, or even answer. Mike got the two yellow plastic evidence bags, and took them to the laundry room. One bag was clothes, one some teddy bears and stuff. He dumped the clothes into the washer and started it. He then returned to the living room. "OK, lets try this again." He put his hand on her shoulder. "How are you, Sally?"

Still no response; she just sat there staring at the wall. Mike moved over in front of her, knelt down to get at eye level. "What's wrong? You were happy to be moving out of there a couple hours ago."

"I have never been so creeped out in my life. I didn't know it was possible to be this creeped out."

"What happened?"

"I was not allowed to bring out my dirty clothes, since some of them contained, as they put it, DNA evidence. I had to explain to them that Stan must have been jacking off in my panties, he wasn't actually fucking me. Now I've got to see this nice shrink lady Tuesday so they can be sure." Mike had been in front of her for some time, but now she focused on him, almost shouting.

"He was jacking off in my panties! Oh. My. God. How fucking creepy is that? "She got much quieter, almost a whisper. "And mom did the laundry, so she'd know all about it." Sally shuddered.

"I mean, he was always looking at me, trying to peek down my shirt. But that's like most guys. And I knew Carol was blowing him, but she'd happily blow anyone that asked her. So, now I find out he's been video taping me playing with myself, posting that on the internet, and jacking off in my panties. Holy shit."

Mike looked at her, completely lost as what to do or say. Part of him was saying that he decided to foster her so he could fuck the little girl, and eventually she's going to feel this way about him. Part of him said that wasn't true, she feels violated because she didn't want Stan to do that. She's ok with her step dad and her sister doing it, since her sister was ok with it.

The silence was dragging out, and Mike felt the need to say something.

"Uh. Sally, I won't say I know what you feel like, because of course I can't. I, uh, I just want to be sure that you won't feel this way about me in 6 months."

Sally sat there motionless for at least a minute. All of a sudden a light clicked on, as she realized what he was saying. She exploded out of the chair, jumping on Mike, almost knocking him down, hugging him and sobbing. "No! Mike, no! It's that he was a creep and did these things to me. I love you Mike, I want you to love me back, and that's what I want! Please! Don't think that!"

Mike held her as the sobs got stronger. He lifted the little girl up, and moved into the chair himself, holding her in his lap. Emotion and sobs poured out from her, Mike just held her, stroking her hair, letting it flow. This was part of why he kept chicks away, he felt so helpless when they got all emotional, he didn't know what to do. Her sobs slowed after a few minutes; the clock on the home theatre console showed him how long this was taking, ticking the minutes off slowly. He didn't know what to do, but thought he shouldn't stop her from getting this pain out. She seemed ok with him just being quiet and holding her, snuggling deeper into his arms and chest.

After almost 15 minutes, she said "I've got to talk to the shrink so she is sure Stan wasn't fucking me. And they want me to watch the videos he made, because they aren't really that bad and they think me seeing them will take some of the fear away. Sam showed me where the camera in my bedroom was; it wasn't really pointed at the bed, mostly set up to catch me changing at the dresser." She shuddered again.

"I'm sorry, Mike, but I'm not feeling like making love to you tonight."

Mike chuckled. "I'm creeped out too, baby. That's ok."

She looked up at him, smiling, but her cheeks wet, tears on his shirt too. "It's ok if you want to call Angel or Ginger."

"Well, Angel left me her number, but I gave my office number to Ginger and don't know hers. But I don't think I will call Angel yet."

"Need to keep her waiting, right? Don't appear to eager?"

Mike smiled at her and chuckled, but didn't answer.

"She took some money from your wallet, I saw."

"I told her to, to get cab fare."

"How much did she take?"

"I had 3 $20s. She took one, and left her number in a note in the wallet. Very reasonable."

"So what other chick you gonna call? I know you got some you can call on short notice. Kara at the zoo? The one working with the leopard cub? She wants you in the worst way."

"I don't do people from the zoo. Never mix business and pleasure."

She giggled. "You mix business and pleasure at the club."

Mike chuckled. "That's part of the business, part of the pay."

"So who are you calling for tonight? I will be going to bed early anyway. I'm really wasted after all this."

"Well, there's this certain girl that I really like. I want to spend some time with her. She's even girl friend material, which is pretty rare for me to admit."

Sally looked down, deflated. "Girl friend material? I mean, that's ok and all. She must be pretty special to be snagging you."

Mike stroked her hair. "She's special all right. Only known her a couple days. Haven't even made love to her yet, and she's got hooks set in my heart."

Sally shrank down, and spoke in a small voice. "Oh. I see."

Mike smiled down at her, moving the hand that was stroking her hair, to her cheek. "She's a very special girl, Sally. I don't really know how she's done it. I have girls all the time, and always for a couple months at most. This girl, though, I find myself looking longer term. A few years anyway. At least until she's ready to leave for college."

She sat there a few moments, and then her face popped up, unbelief on it. "Me?"

Mike smiled, leaned his head down as far as he could, and kissed her forehead. He leaned back in the chair, stroking her cheek with his finger tips. "Yes, baby, you."

The unbelief slowly changed to joy. She blinked a couple times, then said quietly "I'm in the mood now."

Mike laughed, long and hearty. "No, you're still too tired, precious. Lets get a bite to eat, then come back home. I saw you watched National Velvet on DVD last night. I've got Black Beauty, too. Want to watch it with me?"

She sank her head back into Mike's chest, crying again.

Kara was pleased to take Sally into the program, as a junior councilor since she was 3 years older than the next oldest. Mike did tell her privately that he was fostering Sally, the niece thing was because she was embarrassed about the abuse.

"Mike, I knew you weren't the cold hearted lady killer they say you are."

"Me? A lady killer maybe, but I'm not cold hearted."

Kara laughed. "I knew you were a softy under there somewhere." Her smiled turned a bit sly, and she put her hand on his arm. "I sometimes wish you weren't my boss, you know?"

Mike laughed. "Well, you've got what? Two more semesters until your DVM? Then back here next summer for some post doc work. After that, you aren't my employee anymore."

"Oh, so I'd need to choose between a two month fling with you, and applying for a permanent job here? That's a tough choice Mike." She squeezed his arm, and walked back to the waiting children.

The day past quickly for Mike. He told most of the other staff that needed to know that he was fostering Sally. They were all pleased, if a bit surprised. A couple of them kidded him about her cramping his style. His boss though, Dr. Fletcher, a very sharp lady of 60, had the other impression. "You're 45, Mike. This will be a good thing for you, to have a girl around. She might convince you families aren't so scary. You might even get married one day, although I doubt I will live to see it." She paused, frowning. "I read about this is the paper today, the arrests. They didn't publish the names of course, but the story matches yours. This is very sad. Sadder when we realize there are thousands of children like her in the city."

Mike nodded sadly. "Triage, doctor. Not only does she need help, but she is willing and able to make the most of it. I met the sister too, briefly. I don't think any amount of help would help her mind recover. Sally though, hasn't been too brutalized."

"Yes, and she wants to be a vet. Just like 99% of the other smart girls her age. Who knows, I wanted to be one also, and here I am. It is much easier for girls today, of course. Mike, this program she's in lasts just this week. Bring her up next week too. Kara will be an excellent role model, as will Dr. Anderson. We can work together to find care for her until school starts again. She will do much better here that alone at your house watching TV. This class repeats every two weeks all summer. She will be of some help herding the children this week, but she's clever enough to be helping more by summer's end. If we can reduce the need for one of the adult grad students, we could even compensate her some. That will help her self esteem even more than your pocket book."

"Well, thank you Dr. Fletcher. Actually, the court is giving me some money as well. I will admit to having no idea to what children cost, but it seems ample."

The older woman laughed. "If it were ample, it wouldn't be so hard to find foster parents, Mike. You mentioned you were going to buy Sally some more suitable clothing tonight? Don't be surprised that getting her enough clothes to do laundry only once a week spends this month's allotment. I spent $80 on some jeans for my granddaughter's birthday last month." She chuckled before turning serious. "She will be in a new school this fall Mike. We live in a wealthy part of town, and the children's dress reflects that. Clothing is very important for girls her age.

You might bring Kara along for the back to school shopping with that gets closer."

His phone rang about 2pm. "Yes, this is Dr. Davis."

"Oh, Hi Mike, this is Michelle? You know, Ginger? From Saturday at the club?"

"Oh sure, hang on a sec." Mike got up, closed his office door and returned to the phone. "Hi baby"

"Remember me? I was the red head you had so nicely during the first set break?" She laughed. "I'm sure you had others during the other breaks, and found that special lady to take home too."

"Well, I managed to find someone, baby, but I was still wishing it was you. I can't get over how great a woman you are. I was serious about the afternoon in the park. We don't even have to get busy afterwards. I'd just like to be with you for a while."

He heard her breathing, but she didn't answer. Mike smiled, waiting, forcing her to respond. Finally she spoke. "I'd like that too. I'd like it a lot."

"Well, what's your schedule then? Really nice, if a bit hot this week. I can take off whenever, when would you have time?"

"Well, that's just it Mike. I told you I don't want to get serious."

Mike smiled as he spoke on the telephone. "Who's getting serious, baby. I'm just talking about rolling in the grass, eating a picnic lunch, tossing some bread to the ducks." Feeding those nasty ducks had to be the most stupid thing in the world, as far as Mike was concerned. But girls ate it up, just like the ducks chasing the bread did.

"Well. I will think about that. I did decide to accept your offer of actually getting in bed with you, though."

"Oh, that's really nice baby. Are you sure that's all I can have? You are so sweet I'd love to spend an afternoon with you."

She was quiet again, breathing hard. Putty. "Yes. You said you can get away from work in the mornings?"

"Sure baby, when are you free?"

"Either Tuesday or Thursday. I could spend from 9 to noon."

"Wow, baby, 3 hours? That's excellent. Lets shoot for Tuesday, in case we decide we want to do Thursday too." She giggled, and Mike sunk the harpoon. "Or, maybe we could just hang out Thursday. Do the park thing, maybe let me show you around the zoo? Just chill and let me know you better?"

Mike heard a sharp intake of breath, and a swallow. "That would be great, but I don't think it would be good, you know? Tuesday then, and maybe Thursday. But in bed, not in the park."

Mike's lips curled in a smile. "What's wrong, Michelle? What's wrong with me showing you around the zoo?"

Another deep breath, and swallow. "I'm married Mike. Just the good fucking you promised, ok? I've got kids, and I don't want to break up my marriage by doing something stupid, like falling in love with you."

Mike's voice oozed disappointment, a smile on his lips. "It may be too late for me, Michelle. But I will keep my promise to you."

Mike gave her his address, and got back to work, whistling.

Mike was done at 4, and went looking for Kara and Sally. He found them cleaning the stalls in the large animal clinic. "Well, I see Kara found a suitable use for you."

"Very funny. You were right though about not being squeamish." She raised the shovel, her face as green as the half liquid manure in it. "This one had the runs. And weighed 800lbs. 800lb antelopes shit a lot."

"Cleaning stables is honest labor, Sally. You work, you get dirty, you clean up. That's how life is. Kara, do you have plans for the evening?"

"Oh, Mike darling, I thought you'd never ask!" She was smiling, but mockingly, knowing full well he wasn't asking for a date. Sally's eyes got huge, not catching it.

"Well, I have a very special mission for you. One you are free to reject. Actually, I have to rehearse with the band tonight, and I promised Sally some new clothes. Dr. Fletcher commented on how nice you dressed, and said you'd be a good person to help her. I have no idea what the girls are wearing these days."

She laughed. "You don't know what the nice girls wear, anyway. This is cool, I love to buy clothes and I love to spend other people's money." She put her hand on Sally's shoulder. "This will be even more fun than a date, Mike. Thanks!"

He handed her a debit card. "There's about a thousand on that, but don't spend it all. Dr. Flecther said jeans are $80? I pay $12 at Walmart for mine."

"$80 is high, we can find some bargains."

"Well $400 then? Some jeans, some shirts, maybe even a cute skirt?"

"Sure! We will get a weeks worth of casual clothes. Party clothes come later. Come on Sally, get the shit shoveled so we can get out of here."

"Oh, and Kara, Sally has a key to my house. I should be back at 9 or so, but who knows. Put dinner on the card too, and pick up a movie to watch if you want."

"Mike, we're going to be shopping till they run us out of the stores at 10. I'm sure you will beat us home. See ya'"

Rehearsal went very well. Ken's new song had a very good vocal hook at the end of the chorus, and they came up with a very danceable beat for it. Mike really appreciated how the guys got after it, got the work done, and got out of there. Professionalism isn't that common in bar bands, even ones that play regularly at 2000 seat venues. They spent some time working so good grooves into some of the existing songs, and Jim had a couple covers he wanted them to learn, that would fit the new sound he was pushing them all to.

Mike got back home about 9:30, and saw a car parked out front, likely Kara's. He went in from the garage. They were sitting on the couch together, Sally leaning on the young woman's shoulder, a box on Kleenex in their laps. They were watching a chick flick, both of them crying.

That was another thing Mike had never understood. Watching movies just to be sad was pretty stupid from his standpoint. He poured himself a drink, and after waving at them, walked to his home office to check the news on the computer. He found the story in the local paper Dr. Fletcher mentioned. It was obviously about Sally, although they left out details about the hidden camera, the jacking off in her panties, and so forth. Pretty much that her mom violated her parole, the step dad violated the then underage sister, and the younger daughter was in foster care. Mike guessed that's all that was important. Anyone that knew Sally would know it was her, and the other details weren't their business.

Kara poked her head in, smiling, eyes red from the tears. "Movie's done, you can come out now. You don't have to be afraid of having a non-sexual emotion, Mike."

Mike looked at her. "You know, corporal punishment is still on the zoo charter, dating from our founding in 1871."

She laughed gaily. "Oh, Mike. You don't even know me. I might like that!" They both laughed, and she got more serious and walked into the room with him. "Listen, I know you like to play the field, have several girl friends at the same time. Same bed, even. But Sally? She adores you Mike. Adores you."