Chapter 7

"What day is this," I asked. Tracy was feeding me jello and soup, which was closer to flavored water. After thinking about it, I was thankful because the stitches made it impossible for me to take a normal dump.

"You asked the same question yesterday and it was Wednesday."

"Is today Thursday?" I asked, because I wasn't positive. I was having trouble remembering many things. My head hurt, however it was not as bad as I remembered the day before. If it became unbearable, I would need to ask for a pain reliever and I didn't like them. Each time I took one I would sleep, and the dreams were bad.

"Yes, it's Thursday."

When she put the spoon to my mouth, I could see tears were falling from her cheeks. "Do I look that bad, that you cry when you look at me." I was trying to make a joke, however my voice changed and it didn't come out the way I meant to sound.

Shaking her head, she said, "No that's not the reason." She wiped her eyes on the napkin and looked at me, her eyes penetrating. "Archer told Erica and I we are going home Sunday, and I don't want to leave you."

"But you have to go home. You have your friends and family and everyone will be happy to see you. Besides, I will be going home soon; we will keep in touch."

She started crying again, this time much harder. She reached for the spoon, and I heard it fall into the floor. Mumbling something unintelligible, she stood very carefully, the pain showing in her face. She walked out of sight, crying still.

I lay in the bed staring at the ceiling. I was hungry and pulled the soup bowl close to the edge of the tray. I managed to grip it with my hand and tipped the bowl to my lips. I drank every drop, except the small amount that ran down my cheeks.

I must have dozed again because I heard Dawn speaking softly, "Your jello has melted, do you want more?"

I saw her face was tear stained and asked, "Why have you been crying, do you feel okay?"

The tears welled in her eyes as she nodded, "Hal, you need to talk to Tracy and Erica. They are afraid to go home."

"Why?"

"You should hear it from them, I can't tell you, I promised."

"Where are they and are they hurt bad, is that why?"

Dawn looked at me, her face was puffy, and her eyes were reddened. "They are okay, they are improving. We are going home Sunday, but that is not the problem."

"What is the problem, and why did Tracy leave so quickly? Call her, please." Dawn called Tracy; however, she finally had to go for her. It was almost an hour before they returned and I heard them talking all the while; Dawn continually pleading with the twins.

I listened to the twins, hearing an unbelievable story. The three girls were crying when Tracy finished and I looked at Dawn, "Archer is still here isn't he?"

"He was earlier; he and Mr. Hiram were at the pool."

"That's great! Dawn, would you please call one of the staff, I would like to speak to our host, as well as Archer."

A dead silence came over the room and the girls turned pale. Tracy's mouth dropped and I saw Erica begin to tremble. I interjected quickly, "Wait, it's not what you think. Look, I know Archer pretty well, and I remember his discussion with me yesterday, I felt the same way you do. I thought about it last night, one of the few times my head stopped pounding, and I could see his point. I am here because this is strictly business. Archer had a difficult time explaining it to me, rather he had a difficult time convincing me."

I could see I wasn't very convincing, the girls were sitting, as if they were frozen.

"Dawn, you can explain it, you asked to come in place of your mother. Am I correct?"

She nodded slowly, however her lips were firmly shut, and her jaw was set.

I directed my next remarks to Erica and Tracy. "Frank, Dawn's father, had to make a decision, bring his wife, who recently had surgery and is not well, or he could bring his daughter. Personally, I don't believe I could have made the decision. It was Dawn who convinced her father she was more than willing to stand in for her ailing mother. Dawn was only partially prepared, we learned too late. Frank and Dawn understood the reason and it was strictly business. Ida, Dawn's mother wanted to spare her daughter, and was willing to come, even though it could have been life threatening to her. That is a mother's love. That should be a mother's love."

I moved my eyes from Tracy, to Erica, and back to Tracey. I felt I was beginning to get my point across, each was nodding, however slight.

"My belief is your parents sacrificed you, and that is why we are going to explain this to Hiram and Archer."

I knew they were not fully convinced, and they would forever hate Hiram, however I couldn't blame them. I held a hatred for him also.

Hiram and Archer visited us later and I persuaded Tracy and Erica to explain their present, and past, situations to the two, our host and my sponsor.

Erica began, "Mom and dad left us with an aunt when we started school. They were out of work and traveled, city to city, odd jobs. At the time, they were alcoholics. Two years later, when we were almost nine, mom, and dad came back and stayed a few weeks. We lived with them for about a month, and we came home from school one day and they were gone again. We moved back with our aunt.

"Two weeks ago, our parents came for another visit. Our aunt refused to allow them to stay at her house and they stayed in a hotel for a week. We saw them every day. They wanted us to accompany them on vacation, however, our aunt opposed it. After finally convincing her, dad brought us here. Mom was to come the next day."

Tracy looked at her sister and tears were in her eyes. "Our aunt is a puritan and when she learns what happened to us, she will become upset, and turn us over to foster care.

It was the following morning and Tracy was feeding me jello. She brought the spoon to my mouth and I asked, "What day is this?" I meant it to be a comical comment, however the look on her face changed and I knew she didn't take it that way. Her face became long.

"It's Friday," she said, her voice breaking.

"I know, I just wanted to see if you remembered," I smiled, and after a moments pause, she smiled back, finally understanding I was clowning. The more I was around her, the more I saw to like. Although she was only 13, she was much older in thought. I assumed it to be from the cards she had been dealt, and she needed to make each play count.

"You sacred me, I thought you might actually be forgetting."

"No, I'm sorry, I know it was mean. I'll stop doing things like that. But please, don't drip my soup today, move closer."

The chair possibly moved three inches, and when she leaned in with the next bite I loosened one button on her blouse. She stopped abruptly, and looked down when she felt my touch. She gave a 'what the hell are you doing look' and refilled the spoon. Leaning once again, and spooning another bite to my mouth, I reached and loosened a second button. There were still five untouched.

I reached for another button, before she raised the spoon and she pulled back from my reach. "Please, no." Her eyes were beginning to tear and I heard Erica speaking, softly and barely above a whisper.

"Anything he wants us to do for him, remember."

I wasn't aware Erica was near and I am certain Tracy wasn't, the shocked look she gave her sister was surprise and fear combined. The sisters stared at each other for a long while and Erica finally broke the silence, "Remember your promise."

They continued staring into each other's eyes and there was the barest of movement to her head, before she moved closer. Reaching for my hand, she placed it on her buttoned blouse, her eyes remained fixed on her sister.

I loosened the remaining buttons quickly, before she reconsidered. Pulling the blouse back to reveal a breast, I received the shock of my life; she had welts across her breasts and chest, deep, the skin broken and cut in many places. I opened her blouse further, and saw they continued below her waistline. I looked in Erica's direction and shouted, "SHOW ME!"

Erica timidly and slowly, opened her blouse and I saw the same marks. I shouted for Dawn, and she stepped from behind a partition. She was shaking her head and I motioned for her to open her blouse. She wasn't beaten like Tracy, Erica, and I was. I knew I had been beaten, however I never thought about the girls being treated the same. I saw red and my face became livid.

I made it to the door and managed to open it, before the pain was severe enough to drop me to my knees. I shouted at the top of my lungs, "H-I-R-A-M, Y-O-U S-O-N O-F A B-I-T-C-H! Y-O-U A-R-E A D-E-A-D M-A-N."

Within seconds, two giants came running toward me, each carrying a drawn pistol. I looked up at them and I classified them as thugs immediately.

"Don't touch him!" a loud shout came from farther down the hallway. I turned to see Archer rushing to us. The men stepped back and when Archer reached us, he knelt beside me and asked, "What are you doing out of bed? You are going to tear your stitches and you will be in worse pain."

"THAT SON-OF-A-BITCH IS DEAD!" I shouted. "Did you see the marks on Tracy and Erica? "He is a dead man!" I remarked to Archer.

"You don't know the whole story," he said as he tried lifting me gingerly. His arms touched sore places and I moaned, screamed out with pain would be a better description.

He looked up to the two men, "Get him back in his bed."