Chapter 4

As I passed through Gallup, I turned north off of 40 and took 264 west instead, wanting to see a bit more than I had been seeing from the freeway. I took a short break to check out Window Rock. The billboards all said it was spectacular and you know what? It really is.

Let me give you a hint. If you ever get the urge to get lost, I mean, really, really lost, get on State Road 264 through Arizona. I am so very glad I had snacks, water and two five-gallon gas cans in my truck. If it wasn’t for the fact that I was driving on a man-made road, I would have sworn I was where no white man had ever trod before.

However, if you like the desert, it is a paradise out there and the scenery is out of this world. Of course, the road actual dead ends in Tuba City, Arizona and you know what is in Tuba City, Arizona? Surprisingly, more schools than you can shake a stick at.

It is on the Navajo reservation and has a boarding school, several academy schools, a bunch of regular schools, some magnet schools, a couple of vocational schools and I think there is an ASU satellite campus too. There is a school for about every hundred townies.

Of course, being on the border of the Grand Canyon National Park means they get some tourist dollars too, so that’s nice. They need some damn restaurants though.

On the way into town, I saw just about every fast food place you can imagine and one, one restaurant. Hogan Family Restaurant is in a tourist trap though, so it’s got that going for it. Food wasn’t bad and it wasn’t McDonald’s.

I was just finished with lunch, contemplating whether or not I wanted to find a place to stay here or what would probably be a more expensive place closer to the canyons, when my plans changed a bit.

Outside the glass window next to my table I saw an old truck pull in. The man who got out was, as we would have put it back home, a little shy of respectable. He was about five nine or ten, maybe a buck forty and bald as a cue ball.

He was wearing a filthy wife-beater, some even dirtier bib overalls and had a big ol’ dip of tobacco in his lip. The first thing he did when he got out, well, after scratching his groin, was to spit a long stream of tobacco juice on the Lexus SUV parked in the next slot.

With a grin on his face, he turned and banged on the back door of his four-door truck and yelled something.

The other three doors of the truck opened and a woman who probably weighed every bit of three hundred pounds levered herself out of the front seat. I could actually see the front of the truck rise on its springs!

From the back seat on the man’s side came a younger, stouter version. The young man, slightly cleaner than his father, took after his mother. He was a good two-fifty on a five-foot, ten-inch frame and, frankly, looked none too smart.

From the other side, behind the mother, came a pair of young girls. They were wearing rag dresses, neither of them very clean, but they had tried a bit. They had put their hair in ponytails and were, other than the clothes, mostly respectable.

It was obvious that they were cowed by the others and the bruises I could see on their arms and legs probably explained why.

When momma grabbed one by the hair and got real close, saying something hateful by her expression, the other girl pretended to be tying her shoes. As the group turned to head into the restaurant, girl number two beat feet!

I tossed a twenty on the table and made my way outside, passing the group coming in. I was glad I was done eating, the stench rolling off these people would have ruined my appetite.

Outside, I looked around casually and could see the girl who had run off, hiding behind some cars at the rear of the parking lot. She looked afraid and confused, not sure what to do now that she had, temporarily anyway, gotten free.

I had taken a few steps towards that part of the lot when a commotion behind me caused me to look back. Pappa and his big momma had dragged the kids out and pappa looked pissed!

“You better find that little slut sister of yours! I will pound your skinny ass so hard you bleed and then let junior have you, do you hear me?” he growled, shaking the little girl like a terrier shaking a rat.

“My baby won’t touch those little skanks no how.” Momma said, obviously not concerned at all about people overhearing. I mean, I was a pretty good-sized guy and totally not invisible, I swear!

“My baby likes a real woman, ain’t that right, Trevor?” Mamma continued, hefting one of her massive udders in a manner I am sure she thought was suggestive. Me, I felt my lunch try to come back up.

Damn, damn, damn! I wasn’t sure what to do here. I had a feeling that these folks were not above knifing a nosy stranger, but these folks turned my stomach and if what Pappa said was real...

I am not sure what came over me, but I spun around and approached the group. I looked Pappa in the eye but laid my hand on Mamma’s elbow.

“You looking for a little girl, looks a lot like this one?” I asked, moving my head towards the remaining, cowering, little girl.

“What’s it to you?” Pappa asked belligerently.

“Oh, she got into a police car just a minute ago, so maybe you can call the cops, they know where she is.” If I hadn’t been so busy, I would have laughed at the expression on his face.

Instead, I had dived deep into Mama, seeing a dozen different red flags, a couple of small cancer issues and what I came hoping to find, so many clogged arteries that I was flabbergasted she was still standing.

It didn’t take much to get her body to throw a fat embolism and I watched it with half an eye as it made its way up to ... yep. Strokesville, USA, population, You.

She went down like she was poleaxed, her bulk taking junior with her. Junior was crying and screaming, rocking his Momma and Pappa was pacing, yelling, cursing and otherwise occupied.

I took the opportunity to quietly tell sister number two that her twin was hiding across the lot, behind that big white pickup with the green trailer. If she hurried, she could get there before the rest of the family even noticed.

Me? I pretended to be calling for an ambulance and wandered off. I felt a little guilty about that, about using my gift to harm someone like that, but not enough to go back and fix it. She was an abomination and she deserved what she had gotten.

I started my truck and, just on the off chance they were still there, I drove around the lot to the far side. Those two twits were still waiting there, watching! It was shady, but still. Shady in hundred-degree temps is not shady at eighty, it was still a hundred!

I stopped the truck for a moment, my head on the steering wheel, and cursed. Then, I did what I knew I would and leaned over to open the passenger door.

“If you ladies want a ride out of here, away from them, I’ll give you a ride down the road a bit,” I called out, almost hoping they said no.

Yeah, like that was going to happen. Gawd almighty, they stank!

Okay, change of plans. I couldn’t leave them in town and there were only two motels in town, both within spitting distance of the restaurant. The next closest were over at the canyons, damn it!

With the windows rolled down and my head hanging half way out, swearing silently at the thought of having to have my truck fumigated, I hauled ass and, less than an hour later, was paying for a room at the Red Feather Lodge, a no-tell motel near the canyon.

I pulled the truck through to the rear and parked it in front of the room I had rented.

The two girls, neither of them had said a word yet, followed my instructions to the T and climbed out of the truck, into the room and into the shower first thing.

While they got clean, I cleaned out my truck, spraying some Windex, since it was all I had, on the seat and door to get the filth and smell off. I know, I know I sound heartless, but they stank something fierce!

Once the truck was as bearable as I could make it, since I had to lock it up or risk thieves, went back into the room to find the two huddled on one of the two twin beds, each in a clean robe.

I sat down on the other bed and smiled at them, which made them cringe even more.

Okay, now I felt bad.

“Ladies, I am sorry if I frighten you, I don’t mean to. It was just that you smelled really bad and I just wanted to get you away from those animals and someplace safe.”

They exchanged looks for a moment before turning back to me.

“Now, I am going to go and buy you some clean clothes, but I need to know your sizes. I’ll get you some food as well, as that whole mess made you miss lunch, right?”

They did that thing again, looking at each other but not talking. One of them nodded, looking distinctly unhappy, and stood up. She dropped her robe and I couldn’t help but groan.

She was covered in bruises, scabs, half-healed stripes from something sharp. I could see at least one broken bone that healed badly. Her genitals were raw and red, and I was sure I could see something moving there.

She seemed dejected, but she spread her legs, as if she was offering herself.

She was! She was offering herself! But why? In payment for the room? I think I wanted to cry at that point. I mean, this child. This girl, so beaten down, thought an act of kindness was a ploy to get sex?

When I didn’t move towards her, she looked at her twin again and the second girl stood up, letting her robe drop as well.

I took a deep breath, trying to remain calm, and in as calm a voice as I could manage, I asked them to put their robes back on.

“I am not here to abuse you. I will not be having sex with you, or hitting you, or anything else. I just wanted to help.”

They cowered together on the bed, hiding behind the robes but not fully putting them on.

“Please, can one of you tell me what sizes you wear?”

They both shrugged, exchanging another look, but it was readily apparent that they had no clue.

“Okay, just relax, watch TV or something. I am getting rid of those filthy rags you were wearing and I will be back in a little bit, okay? If you have any friends or relatives that you truely like, you can call them while I am gone.”

Using a plastic bag over my hand to keep from actually touching their discarded clothing, I picked them up and bagged them. Holding them out the open window to keep that stench from getting back in the truck, I stopped at the dumpsters long enough to toss the bag.

There was nothing in this little postage stamp town but a small general store, but it had some western wear for tourists and some flip flops, so that would have to do for now. I picked up four sets of shorts and tourist t-shirts, two sets of flip-flops in medium and headed to the drug store. I found the stuff for crabs, some industrial bug spray for my seat, plus toiletries and even some sanitary napkins. And Hallelujah, they had that Febreze stuff!

I stopped into Pizza Hut Express and got two ready-to-go pizzas, one with ham and pineapple and a meat lover’s.

Back at the Red Feather, I knocked at the door before I opened it. When I didn’t hear anything, I eased the door open and found them either back on the bed or never having left the bed in the first place.

First thing’s first, as skinny as these girls were, food would go a long way to settling them down.

“Ladies, I brought two kinds of pizza and I brought Coke and Seven-Up, not sure which you like.” I laid the pizzas on their bed and set the cold sodas down on the little table between the beds.

They were watching me like a hawk, though both were throwing looks at the pizza boxes and their nostrils were flaring.

“Please, eat! Do you want me to leave? Okay, I can do that. In these bags,” I told them, pointing to the bags by the door, “are some clothes for you. Not much, but they didn’t have much of a choice in this tourist trap. Before you get dressed, you need to use the special soap in there to scrub your privates. It would be best if you shaved the hair off first, then scrubbed.”

They looked at each other, then back and me and damn it, I got mad.

“Don’t you dare look at me like that! You have crabs. Those are little bugs that live in your pubic hair. I could see them when you stood up! That soap will kill them. I sure as hell wouldn’t touch either of you, even if you were not all beat up and skin and bones. I am trying to help. Would you rather I turn you over to the cops? It would make my life a lot easier.”

The both shook their heads, looking more scared of that than they were of me, I guess. Maybe they thought the cops would turn them over to Pappa and Momma again. Hell, they might be right!

“Eat, shave, shower, wash, get dressed, okay? I will be back later.”

I grabbed the industrial strength spray and left the room, closing the door securely behind me and letting out a big sigh.

Why hadn’t I turned them over to the police right away? Now it was going to look like I kidnapped them or something!

I sprayed the hell out of my seat and laid plastic down on top of it, hoping to seal the pesticide in. Stopping by the front desk, I rented two more rooms, claiming my sisters were fighting and I wasn’t going to put up with them all week long.

I wanted to move them to a clean room once I was sure they were not infested, and I wanted my own room, away from them!

I walked the block and a half to a coffee shop and had an omelet and some hash browns for dinner, taking my time and reading the paper so the girls wouldn’t feel rushed.

Almost exactly an hour after I left, I tapped on the door and was surprised when it creeped open, to the limit of the security chain anyway. It immediately closed again and I could hear them dropping the chain before the door opened again.

They both were standing there, faint, hopeful smiles on their faces, dressed in the new clothes. Once I was in the room and the door was closed, they both dropped their shorts and showed me their freshly shaved beavers.

Oh Lord.

I waved them off, gesturing for them to pull their shorts up.

“Okay, if you are sure no more bugs exist down there, have you checked for head lice too?”

They did that thing.

“Okay, that needs to happen. One should check the other. Use a comb from the bag and make sure the teeth drag along the scalp, okay? Look real close to see if you can find anything moving.”

Both of them looked totally freaked out and moved towards me, their heads bowed, hands waving.

“Stop!” I called, backing up.

“Grab that chair, sit by the light, one at a time.” I told them, directing them to the light that was on an adjustable arm over the bed. One of the twins sat, her leg jiggling nervously, while her twin watched my every move.

Moving slowly, I did exactly what I had instructed them to do and was gratified to find nothing scary in their short hair. Since they both had hacked off boy style cuts, it was easy to finish one and do the other.

Okay!

“Now, gather your gear from the bathroom, shampoo, toothbrushes and so on. We are moving to another room. I don’t even want to touch that bed where you were earlier and the robes are probably infested too.

Both girls looked horrified at the thought and embarrassed that they had been infested in the first place. They scurried around, gathering their gear in the bags from the store.

We left together, moving down two doors to another room that I opened and then handed them the key.

“This is your room. You decide who comes in and who doesn’t. No one can order you to let them in except the police, understand? Not me, not your folks, not your brother and not the hotel owner. I am next door if you need anything.”

When I turned to go, one of them spoke the first word I had heard from them all day.

“Please... ?”

I turned back, surprised. “What can I do to help you, ladies?”

They did the thing and one of them shrugged. The other looked at me instead of the floor. “Please, we are afraid.”

“Of me? Of those people you were with? What are you afraid of?” I asked gently, trying to project calm and peacefulness.

“Everything!” the other one said, then started crying. Tears were rolling down her cheeks but her sobs were silent.

“Will you tell me your story? I will tell you all about me.” I asked and was gratified when they backed away from the door, waving me inside. They took their spot on the far bed and I grabbed a chair and put it as far away as I could without blocking the door.

It seemed to have an effect as they both scooted to the nearer edge of the bed to close the distance a little.

“My name is Luke. What should I call you two?”

That started a long night of twenty questions. It was like pulling teeth but, as I learned more, it made more sense.

The two girls, named Tuesday and Wednesday, were the children of a couple who were, for lack of a better term, cultists. There was tiny group in South Dakota who claimed to trace their roots back to the Rigdonites, one of the original splinter groups that left the Latter Day Saints (Mormon Church) after the death of Joseph Smith in 1844.

Women were less than second class citizens in this sect, being forbidden to speak in public and forbidden to speak to any male not of their family. Public beatings and even rapes were not uncommon for infractions.

When the girls were eight, they were betrothed to the leader, Father Alpheus, and would be married on their tenth birthday. The parents objected, deciding that ten was just too young, and fled the group, taking the girls with them. They hid with his brother, the man I called Pappa.

It turns out Pappa wanted the girls for himself and when he told the girls that their parents had an ‘accident’ and packed them off in his truck in the middle of the night, he became the new male figure in their lives. Pappa quickly showed the girls how he expected his ‘daughters’ to behave and it was not all that different from how they were raised at the cult.

They had been sex slaves ever since, raped repeatedly by Pappa and even shared with his friends. That had been going on for six years now. They were fifteen.

I told them my story, how my father wasn’t a child molester, just a thief, a conman and a bully. I told them about my sister, the light of my life, and how she died alongside her tormenters.

By the time we hammered all of this out, it was damn near daylight again. I gave them the choice of waiting here while I went for some breakfast to bring back or, if they felt up to it, we could all go to the coffee shop and eat there.

They took a bit, but they wanted to walk around with me.

At first it was a bit comical. They didn’t want to be touched but were afraid to be more than a few inches away, so they were kind of orbiting me as we walked across the parking lot.

They were damn near feral and it about broke my heart.

Breakfast was a silent affair and no matter how much I tried to draw them out, they would not speak in public.