Chapter 3

I laughed. She giggled. “No, nothing like that. Charlie told me some of the story about the past, and since that was many, many, moons ago, I, personally, was hoping the animosity may have moved on as well.”

Cheryl became quite somber. “I never had any animosity toward him. That was all my mother, God rest her soul. I didn’t quite know what was going on, as most kids don’t. I was quite young at the time. I know my mother never said a kind word about Charlie’s father, but Charlie, from everything I’ve seen and read is a wonderful person and quite a guy.”

“Very true. And unless I misunderstood, I’m sorry for your loss. My mother was everything to me until I met Charlie. I’ve only known him for a few years, and only been married to him for several months, but I can attest to him being a peach. My world is certainly a better place with him in it. Question. Are you still in the San Diego area, and are you going to be around during the Thanksgiving weekend?”

“Yes, and yes. I’m working Thanksgiving Day at the restaurant but am off Friday and Saturday in return.”

“What restaurant, if you don’t mind me asking. We’re looking for a decent meal that day and are at loose ends.”

“I can help with that. Stay at the Fairmont at Grand Del Mar. I work at Addison and I can get you in there or Club M, or more probably the Clubhouse Grill for Thanksgiving dinner of some sort. I only live about a half mile from here, so it would be convenient for me to visit. I’m currently without a vehicle, but there is a bus that runs right from my house to work, and the other two places are within a stone’s throw.”

“OK. We’re going fishing, probably Friday and Saturday. Any interest in that?”

“Yes, I think so. I’ve been before. A couple times. With ... Never mind. I’ve been and I enjoy it. Yes, I’d like that. Is it a day boat you have planned? Half day? I need to tell you, upfront ... Francie, right?”

“Uh huh”, I grunted as a yes.

“Honestly, Francie, I’m kinda broke right now. That’s why I don’t have a car. I had something break in the motor and it was too much, so I can’t pick it up for two more weeks. Two paydays and some good tips, and I should have it covered. In any case, I don’t have any money to blow, even though I’m sure it would be fun.”

“Wow. That sucks. What kind of car do you have and where is it?”

“It’s an Accord. Del Mar Car Care has it. Carmel Valley Road. They were the only ones available to take it to. It won’t be long. It’s fixed, and they know I’m good for it, plus I’ve given them some money, so I’m not going to short them. In any case, I’m very happy that you called. I would like to meet with Charlie and at least say hello. We have so very little in common. A few strands of DNA, but still, he is blood. Family.”

“Yes, Cheryl, he is. Oh, and the money thing. Don’t worry, we’ll cover your portion and your permit. It will be fun. A nice outing. Don’t worry about a thing. You take care. I will call for more details, but keep Friday and Saturday open, just in case you have fun on Friday. We’ll be in touch. OK?”

“OK, Francie. Thank you for calling. Can’t wait to meet you. You sound like a very sweet woman.”

“Thanks, Cheryl. Talk later. Bye.” I closed the call. Damn. It’s Sunday. Tomorrow morning I’m getting her car out of hock.

I told Charlie about the conversation and that the woman who was his father’s nemesis, and sperm receptacle, was deceased. He got a thoughtful look on his face.

“Don’t go there. This is my chicken to fry. You just hold the neck for a second. I’ll take care of the rest.” I laughed. He got a weird look on his face. “I’m getting her car out of hock tomorrow and having it delivered to her, either at work, or at home. I’m going to talk to her again, but she’s setting us up with a meal on Thanksgiving at one of the places near where she works. Addison.” I was tapping on my iPad. “Wow. Nice place. Ickkk, French. I’ll have her set us up at that Clubhouse Grill. It looks good, too, and is more our style.”

“You know my opinion on planning anything, baby. You are it. You are the master planner. About the car. You think that’s the right answer?”

“This time. We’ll see. I’ll ask when her birthday is and use it for that if possible. I was going to have the garage tell her there was a mistake on the bill and she had already covered it, with a thirty-dollar refund, or something to make it look good. I know I’m on soft ground here, but I have a feeling after talking to her. How old was she when all that bad stuff happened?

“If she’s two years older than me, it would have been about one. It was before me, and I think she’s 37? I’m 35, for a while anyway. She may be 38 by now.”

“OK. Anyway, I have a feeling. I don’t think she’s bad people.”

The next morning, I called the car place. I’d looked it up and was expecting the worst. Nice place. Looked upper end, anyway. I told them my plan, and they went along with it. The gentleman I spoke to knew Cheryl from the restaurant she used to work at and was eager to help. They put thirty-two hundred on my card, and processed her work order as just the timing chain without the camshaft breaking and ruining the engine. Allowing for a thirty-dollar refund for that legit illusion, that did it. Her eight hundred dollars down covered it. He told me he’d take it to her today as a favor, no charge, but thanked me for the offer. He told me, “I’ll be honest with you, lady. We need the room, but I was getting scared Miss Rawlins wouldn’t come back for the car. Her world ain’t been that rosy lately.” He said he couldn’t say much, because he didn’t know much, but, “suffice to say that lady could use some help about now, and it was nice of you to do this for her.”

I googled all I could, but nothing showed up, and her mother’s name was different, so without calling her, I had nowhere to look.

The next morning, about eight o’clock, the phone rang. It was Cheryl. I said hello. “So, one day a lady calls me up to introduce herself, and the next day my car bill is a fourth of what it was and I have thirty dollars for gas. You gots some splainin’ to do, Francie. Believe it or not, Missus Rawlins, I know that timing chains don’t let antifreeze out of an engine block. Downside of your little scheme was that I’m not a dumb blonde. Even though this is my real hair color. Talk!”

“I was in a good mood, so I conspired with other people to lie, cheat, and steal, and get your car out of hock so you could drive it. I know that makes me a bad person, but, well, actually I am bad, but I don’t care. I’m good at it. Cheryl, it was not my intention to offend. I was going to call it a birthday present, but I have no idea when your birthday is, or how old you are. It’s not polite to ask the last one, and until you know me, I don’t want to sound like I’m prying.”

“Fifteen January. 25 months older than your husband. I’ll be thirty-eight, then he’ll be thirty-six.”

“OK, it’s a two-month early birthday present.”

“Two and a half,” she threw in, a little sharply.

“Oh, a math major,” I said with a little snark.

“Sorry. I’m being defensive. I’m not used to anything good happening for me or to me. It’s been a long time. Plus, I don’t want you spending Charlie’s money on my problems.”

“Cheryl, we’ll talk. I have my own money, but Charlie let me do this.”

“Oh, one of those kind, huh? Does Charlie ‘LET’ you do things?” There was anger in her voice.

“Cheryl, like I said, we’ll talk. You don’t know Charlie’s ‘KIND’. There’s no one else in his ‘KIND’. He does let me do things. He lets me soar. The more you know about us, the better, but that man is the best thing that ever happened to me. He’s the best thing that COULD have happened to me. In time you’ll understand, but in the meantime, please don’t presuppose anything about your brother. You will never meet a nicer, better man than Charlie Rawlins. Guaranteed. This isn’t about him. If you want to beat me up after school for paying for your replacement motor, it’s me you want to fight with. What will it be? Fisticuffs now, or wait ‘til Thanksgiving and give us a chance. As family.”

“Bitch! I wanted to be mad at you, but it’s pretty hard to be with that much sweetness dripping off your tongue.” She giggled. “OK, I’ll give you a chance. What was this about after school? Aren’t we a little old for that joke now?”

“You may be, Cheryl. But I’m not. I’m only seventeen.” I heard her gasp again. “I’m a senior. Before you say anything, we’ve known each other for years. He was a friend of my mother’s, before she died. It’s a long, convoluted story, that you will hear, but not now. Maybe on the boat while Prince Charles is busy finding fish. We got married on July sixth. Anyway, it’s all good. You’ll see. Now, honest question, and I really want an honest answer. Are you OK? Financially? Physically? Any other way a sister-in-law might care about?”

“I’ll be fine now that my savings aren’t going to Del Mar Car Care. I’ll be able to buy gas, groceries and medicine now, so I’ll be fine. We’ll talk more when you get here.”

“Medicine?”

“We’ll talk more when you get here. I still need to pay you back, too. I hope I can do it a little at a time.”

“We’ll talk more when I get there. Don’t you dare try to pay it back until after that. We’ll be fine. I may have deserved the ‘Bitch’ nomenclature, earlier, but I don’t want you to see me like that,” I told her. “I just want to be your sister-in-law. That’s my goal.”

“OK. Thank you for paying for the car. We’ll talk about it on Thanksgiving then. I’m getting you reservations. Any preference?

“The Clubhouse Grill. More our style.”

“I’m glad to hear that. I’ll let you know, but I’m shooting for four o’clock for you, then I get off at five and we can chat a while. They know me. I used to work there.”

“Cheryl, no, set it for five-thirty, if you can, or when we can be together all three of us. It is just the three of us, right?”

“Yeah. No kids to drag along. I’ll explain then.”

“Good. OK. You and I, we’re OK?”

“Yes, Francie, I think so. Talk soon.” She hung up.

When Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, came, we were packed and ready. School let out at noon, and we were on the way from there. Charlie had dropped me off, then picked me up since it was on the way to the airport and saved quite a bit of time. We landed in San Diego, at Signature, where they had a National rental car waiting for us. A Challenger. I thought they looked nice. Charlie admitted he’d always admired them and agreed to forgo his normal high-end rental for a sports car. He was glad. This was not a super-duper pony car, but it was a V8 model, and it moved when you pushed the pedal down. Quickly. I did drive it a couple times, and was impressed. I doubt I’m trading Mom’s Lexus in for one, but who knows. My saving grace is we only have a three-car garage. No more vehicles.

We went to the Fairmont Grand Del Mar Hotel, checked in, then walked to the Addison to see if Cheryl was working. We asked if we could see her for a couple seconds just to let her know we were in town, and the person in charge of seating us smiled and asked us to wait for a bit.

She came back out of the kitchen with a striking blonde woman, with a killer figure, in a black miniskirt, white uniform shirt, black hose and conservative three-inch pumps. The first thing we heard from her was “FRANCIE?” Everyone in the place looked over. I nodded and had this very beautiful, but obviously beaten woman pawing all over me.

“Cheryl, this is your brother Charlie. You both have the same last name, so I won’t waste my time.” They hugged.

Cheryl said, “Finally. Francie, he’s cute. You caught a nice one.” We giggled at that. Charlie was turning beet red.

“Cheryl, we’re going over to the Clubhouse Grill for a bite. What time do you get off?” I asked her.

“Four. I had lunch today. Same as tomorrow, except five instead of four because of the holiday. I’m rambling. In an hour.”

“We’ll be in there waiting. Go back to work before they fire you for goofing off. Cheryl, you’re gorgeous. You’re almost as pretty as your brother.” The hostess smiled, just barely withholding a giggle as we hugged and separated. I took my man for a bite to eat. We got the white shrimp quesadillas and the Baja Fish Tacos to share. He got a big beer that I pulled a few sips of, and we just waited. A little after five, she walked in. I stood and hugged her. So did Charlie. She looked at me and apologized for being late. (WHAT??)

“Cheryl, you’re not ... Never mind. How was work today?” She told us it was busy, but that was always good as long as the kitchen kept up. Tips were nice for a lunch shift.

This was a very haggard, as in tired looking, beautiful, amazingly attractive blonde woman. Beautiful hair, legs longer than mine. She was probably five-six, about two inches taller than me. I’m not sure yet, but I need to ask Charlie if he noticed what she did when she came to us. She submissively demurred to me. I’m a seventeen-year-old senior in high school. This woman was looking to me for leadership. Oh, Shit. (Sorry.) She really was, too, so I tried to lead the conversation.

Her mother had recently passed away. Nothing but bills left behind. No life insurance, save the $255 for burial. I’m pretty sure she was drifting a little bit without her mother. I started asking pointed questions. Schooling. High school and one year of college. Her mother pulled her back home to take care of her. “What was the problem?” Cheryl looked down.

“Cheryl. You need to tell me, sweetie,” I said, as compassionate as I could be.

“She was an alcoholic. Drunk all the time. Couldn’t keep a job. Married men to live. Always bad men, the kind you don’t want to be around. Her second or third husband raped me and beat me.” She started crying so I moved to hold her. “Not here. Let’s go outside.” I nodded to the check and Charlie nodded at me, motioning me to take her to the room.

I got her to our room and once there, I sat on the bed next to her and rocked her. “I’m OK. I used to work there. They don’t need to know my business. Mother’s second or third husband beat me and raped me.” Charlie walked in with a little bag. Three beers and three waters. “That’s why no kids. Barren. No man will be around me. Not with my mother and the animals she kept. I was used and abused, and didn’t know what to do, so I wound up doing nothing. I’m finally free, and I’m so lonely I just work all the time. Paying off her bills. Then the car blew up. I almost ended it. Then you called. I felt like the sun came up. I looked in the mirror the day after you called. I looked like shit. I felt like shit. Better now, but I need to get out from under her debts and start over.”

“Will you be OK tomorrow and then with us Friday and Saturday, so we can all talk and get to know each other?” She nodded. “Cheryl, you are a beautiful girl, and I think we can help you get back on your feet. Let me ask you this. If her problems were gone. Taken care of, would you be OK?”

“Yes, and no. I make good money. I can afford my house and my car, but I’m so lonely. I’m not a lesbian, I don’t think, I don’t know, but I don’t want men touching me anymore. I just need someone to talk to once in a while.”

“Spend the weekend with us and we’ll work something out, OK? Will you be OK tonight? Do you want to stay with us?”

“No. I’m fine. I work at eight in the morning. You guys have breakfast at Amaya. Then find something to do. We’ll be together at five-thirty for dinner in the Clubhouse where you were. We can talk and then Friday and Saturday I’ll spend with you all. Please, remember, and I’m not begging here, but whatever we do, I really need to watch my money.”

“No worries, sweetie,” I told her. “I’ll take care of everything. I mean that. I’ll take care of you now.”

My husband looked at me, wondering what I was doing, but I mouthed ‘Later’. We stood. I hugged her and kissed her cheeks. She smiled. “Kiss your brother goodnight and go get some rest. And, Cheryl, stop worrying. You’re OK now. I meant what I said. I’ll take care of you now.” She nodded, hugged and kissed Charlie a peck on the lips, gave me one, then left. And left an impression as she walked out. She was an amazingly gorgeous woman. How the hell did she wind up so damaged and alone?

“I’ve always wanted a pet. I guess you can see, I have one if I want one,” I smiled at him.

“I was afraid that’s where this was headed.”

I told him, “I have an idea first. Tomorrow night we go to her house and get a list of these bills. If we can ditch them, we do. Tell the creditors to take a hike. Get a lawyer if it would be cheaper. We pay the rest of them off, like her mother’s estate would have, and should have, then we let your sister start from scratch. We take her fishing for a couple days and see if she’s mentally competent. Enough to live alone and not get into trouble. That beautiful woman is about my age, mentally. I wouldn’t want to be alone at my age, either.

“If she’s OK, we are brother and sister-in-law, phone calls, vacations, etcetera. If not, we come get her and take her home. There is no one out here to take care of her.” He nodded with a bit of a frown. “Charlie, if I told her to pack her things and turn in her notice, she’d go home with us Sunday. She has nothing else here but work and bad memories. I’ll bet you a dollar. No, I’ll go big. I’ll bet you five bucks she doesn’t have a friend, male OR female, she’s been out with in the last month. She probably hasn’t been shopping for anything but basic food items since her mother died. She eats around here mostly, I bet. We’ll see, but this could be touchy. If she has a breakdown, like she was getting close to, we are not going to feel good about not helping.” He nodded again.

“How’d you get so damned smart?” he asked and reached for my hand.

“Not a clue. Osmosis from you? Osmosis. How did I know to use that word? Oh, AP Biology. Last year. Maybe I did learn something.” We laughed, and I jumped in his lap for a hug. “Babe, I’m scared for her, but to be honest I’m scared for me for her. What am I going to do with a submissive sister-in-law?” I saw his grin and a twinkle in his eye. “Dirty old man!” I slapped his shoulder then hugged and kissed him.

“She’s a beautiful woman, Francie. You could do much worse as pets go. I hope she’s OK, though. We’ll see. You’d send her back to school, wouldn’t you?”

I thought about that, and I had to nod. “Yeah. That’s a consideration. She’d be good at a lot of things with your Dad’s brain genes, even if she doesn’t grow out of the submissive thing. As long as we were there for her, she’d be fine. She obviously has taken to us. Yeah. Let’s think on that.” We pondered all kinds of possibilities then fell asleep, spooned, with his manhood weaponry between my legs, neither of us with enough energy to do anything with it.

The morning found us smiling at each other. A bit of a morning breath kiss and a race to the bathroom. I don’t always win. I climbed into the shower, starting it and letting go of my morning fullness. As I turned around, he was there with me, putting his hand over my clittie and letting the pee run onto it, then down my leg. I got a little hard from his actions. Just a little. Not much there to work with, but then, I didn’t need it. I held him by his penis and asked him if turnabout was fair play. He said yes, that he had gotten in before he peed when he saw what I was doing. I pulled him to my front, pulled his dick up between us and told him anytime he wanted to go, just do it. He did. We were bathed in the warmth for quite a time as it squirted up between my breasts then back down around his now hardening erection, our crotches and down our legs. An extremely erotic thing to do. That was HOT!

We played with each other a bit before it got to be too much for him. He started working his big fingers into my butthole. That feels sooo good when he does it slowly. This was a slow morning. Then, when he was ready, I could tell he was coming in, so I pointed him in, pushed, and took his cock all the way up my soapy butthole. He was soapy. I was soapy. The motion between us was soapy. Call me ‘Bubbles’. I was loving it. His big cock felt so good. Filling. Each vein, the head on my prostate, sooo good. “Ungghhhh, ohhm, FUCKKKKK MEEEEE LOOOVVVVVE!” He held me when I slumped. I was really hanging on his erection by my asshole. That was his cue. Hands around my waist and fucked into me like a ragdoll until he came, which wasn’t really that long. He held me up and back against his chest, pulling my face to his, kissing, rubbing my breasts with soapy hands. I was in heaven. Absolute unmitigated heaven.

We finally got me, and my mess, cleaned off of him, one more little stop for me in the side room in the bathroom, back into the shower for a second, then we got our teeth brushed, looking decent, and dressed for the morning. Yep, me in blue suede hot pants and matching heels with blue sheer to waist hose, a long sleeve off white drop neck T with my emeralds. A ponytail kept it casual. He was doing the golf shirt, Callaway this time, blue shorts and boat shoes. We had a nice breakfast then just walked around for a bit. He said what the hell and we ran up to Ocean Beach to check on the boat. We had absolutely nothing else to do.

The Challenger was a nice idea. It’s really a comfortable car. There’s also plenty of room in the back to stash a sister-in-law. A lot more room than the Lexus. More than the Maserati, too, I’m sure. We only had a thirty-minute drive up Interstate Five and we were there.

His boat is nice. Really nice. It’s a Wellcraft thirty-three-foot 330 coastal fishing boat, and it’s really pretty. He took me and put me on it, helping me a lot. Marinas, docks, boats and heels don’t necessarily go all that well together. His was easy to get to though. It was part of a charter place. He explained how they used his boat and in turn, they took care of it, paid all the dock fees and all and he still got a few bucks out of it, plus, he could use it anytime he wanted. Any time they had a charter very far in advance, they let him know before they approved of the dates to the customer. Sounded like a winner to me, but I’m a girl, sooooo. And, this was where we were going to spend the next couple of days. I like that idea. He even told me if I was a good little girl tonight, he’d let me drive it. HAH! He trusts me with a ten-million-dollar airplane but I have to be a ‘good little girl’ to drive the boat. I called bull crap. He’s just making excuses to get a blow job. But I DID want to drive the boat. Decisions, decisions.

He showed me down below, and I had to admit, this thing had been taken care of. There were little tiny cracks here and there in the fiberglass from stress, probably, but it was really nice. The bed looked big, too. I don’t know. I could see flying out here and staying on the boat for a few nights. Really. I could. When I shared that with him, he told me he usually did that, and now what we would probably think about doing is coming straight here from the airport, then fishing a couple days and spending the night before we fly back in a hotel in the city, or, if it was OK with me, just forgetting the hotels and staying here. He admitted, the planes he’d rented were never as fast as ours, so we really had a lot of flexibility. Even leaving after school someday and getting here an hour later, in effect. Three-hour trip, gaining two hours. Net, one hour. We’ll see, but if we bring our stuff, sheets and all, in a duffle, strip it all and take it home, it would be pretty easy, and no elevator rides. I don’t know why I said that, other than it would be nice to be just here and the airport. Sounded good to me. He checked in at the charter office on the way in then did on the way out, at well. They let us buy the permits for the two of us girls for the two days. Charlie had some longer arrangement, yearly or something. He told us a day pass here is almost three times what a yearlong fishing license is at home. Ridiculous. Sorry. We got our little papers and took off. The poles and such we needed were Charlie’s and in a locker behind the building. We’d get them in the morning, then stop for bait fish, he said and head out. He was really eager to get on the water. I could tell. He was getting that little boy thing that I think is so cute. It makes him more lovable. We headed back to the hotel, windows open, enjoying the weather. It was pretty cold back home. Funny, it was almost the same here in November as it was in May and June back home.

After showering together, not without event, again, and changing into more dressy attire we got ready to go down to the Grill for dinner. He was in a sport coat, open collared button up, slacks, and his good French Shriners. He loved those shoes. I had my basic LBD from Mom, conservatively sexy, ass cheek high teak thigh high stockings with black strappy four-inch platform sandals. Even though I had a black lace ribbon bow hairband, I left my hair in a ponytail to keep the casual working in dressy casual. He wasn’t wearing a tie, so this was my counterpoint. I felt worthy of his arm tonight. I felt good.

We checked in with Cheryl at about four-thirty letting her know we were just relaxing in the lounge and to take her time. Then in the Lobby Lounge, we took a seat at the bar. I had noticed that I was turning into a very defensive person. Any time a man, or woman Charlie’s age or younger, got close to us, my left hand would tend to somehow rise, showing my ring. I did it to keep men from talking to me, but I also did it to mark my territory. Much easier than peeing on him, most of the time, and I didn’t have to clean him up after. Kidding. Sorry. I noticed I did it at least twice that evening. Before Cheryl got off work. I don’t think Charlie noticed, but I’d talk to him about it to see if I was being a dweeb or something.

Cheryl walked in, and straight over to us, looking like a million bucks. She had obviously taken a few minutes to fix her face. She was wearing her signature short black skirt and white work shirt but had put on a blue vest that made the whole thing look like an outfit. She looked good in it. Her hose and heels, too, were understated and elegant. Charlie’s sister was a fox. No two ways about it.

She opened with a bang. A nervous bang. I could tell she was afraid of disappointing us. “Sorry, I’m late. I thought I should clean up a little for you. My boss told me to wear this,” she thumbed the vest, “so I wouldn’t look like the help.”

I stood. I took her in my arms and hugged her. I looked up and very sternly told her. “Cheryl, I told you yesterday to stop worrying. You are not late. You look like a million bucks, and as far as the vest, you rock the vest, but without it would own the help.” I pulled a big old padded red barstool over between Charlie’s and mine while he was busy hugging her and rubbing her back, trying to get her to settle down a little. Good. He noticed it, too. “Sit. Cheryl, you’re gorgeous. Question. Can we go home with you tonight and look at all the bills you got left with? I’m thinking there may be some we can do away with or something, and I want to help.” She hemmed and hawed for a second. “Cheryl, we’re coming home with you after dinner. We’re going to help.”

“OK.”

“That’s better. We’re here to help, sweetie. Your brother and his wife. We’re here to help. I promise.”

“Yes, Ma’am. I’ll do better.” I reached out and squeezed her hand. “Francie, Ma’am, I told them you were having the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. I hope that was OK. It sounded like that would be something my family would enjoy.”

“You did good. That’s really what we were looking for. Tell you what. If we’re not out here next Thanksgiving, you’ll be with us making a home cooked version. What do you say to that?”

“I’d like that, Francie. I really would.”

We were seated, the staff treating Cheryl as good as us. Or vice versa. She was acknowledged by name by everyone waiting on us or working around us. When she was talking to them, she seemed almost normal, but to her supervisor, and to us, it was back to being second. Submissive. We needed to try being her equals. Maybe that would help her. Maybe.

Dinner was great. Their turkey moist, green bean casserole not runny, icckkk, stuffing and potatoes both homemade. It’s easy to tell, and the gravy was to die for. Desert was pie and ice cream. Oink! And that is all I have to say about that! Thankfully my metabolism is still sky high.

We stayed and talked for a few minutes before following her home, the half mile up the hill into an older housing area that was built up as farm housing back in the fifties or sixties. She let us in, to what appeared to be an organized mess. As I walked around, I noticed some pictures up, two in the bathroom on the mirror, several on the mirror in a bedroom. There was a small box on the dresser under the mirror, full of pictures and clippings, in the smaller bedroom. Hers, no doubt. There was also one on the refrigerator freezer door, held up by magnets. Nice pictures of a man in uniform, by a fighter jet, in a suit, in a football uniform. Pictures of my husband. I went back out to where they were, keeping my discovery to myself.

“I’m still going through things. If it’s important I’m keeping it, but if not, I’m throwing it away or giving it away. If it’s valuable, and I could sell it, I’m putting it over there.” I looked over where she pointed and immediately told Charlie to go take a look. Two pistols were laying by a jewelry box. He picked them up and put them on the table by themselves. “Charlie, the bullets are in that box next to them. Those belonged to the man that beat me. He’s in jail now. There’s another one in my room. It’s loaded. Just in case he comes back.”