Chapter 63

Monday I cut several classes. I knew none of my teachers would mind except Mr. Kincaid, and I didn't particularly care what he thought. I spent the first two periods talking to Miss O'Keefe, the counselor, and the next two on the phone. Mrs. Hatcher, the secretary, didn't mind. She assumed it was for some kind of class project.

When Tami and I got to gymnastics, the girls were dressed down and stretching. I walked over to Kelly and kicked her lightly. "C'mon, we got an appointment."

"We do?"

"Yep, get dressed. My mom will be here any minute."

Kelly looked confused. So did the other girls, but she ran down to the locker room and came back a couple of minutes later wearing jeans over her leotard and tennis shoes without socks. I'd already told Tami and Miss Calloway that I thought we'd be back in an hour.

Mom was waiting, and the two of us piled in the back of her van. I think she was looking forward to my new car almost as much as I was. She could resign as chauffeur.

On the other side of town we pulled up in front of a large house with a sign SARABETH WILLIAMS HOUSE. "What's this place? What are we doing here?" Kelly asked.

"This is the women's shelter. I need to interview the director for a project."

"Oh." I knew Kelly assumed I meant a school project, but I can't be responsible for what people assume, can I? "Why am I here?"

"I need a woman's point of view," I explained as I slid the door open.

"Why me?" Kelly asked, but puffed up slightly at being called a woman. I saw Mom's eyes glance at me in the rear view mirror, but couldn't read her expression.

"Well, Zoe's gone for a couple of days, Tami and I can't both miss gymnastics, and Robbie's mad at me."

"Why's Robbie mad?"

"She's a redhead. She doesn't need a reason." I got out and held out my hand for Kelly. We walked up the path toward the house.

"What about Mikee?"

I leaned down and whispered, "She's a little immature."

Kelly giggled as I straightened and knocked.

A woman with a black eye and swollen jaw answered. "Hi, I'm Tony Sims. I have an appointment with Mrs. Fletcher."

The woman nodded without speaking and closed the door in our faces. I assumed she was getting Mrs. Fletcher.

"That woman had a black..."

"I know. I leaned down until Kelly and I were eye to eye. "Do you know what a woman's shelter is?" She hesitated, not wanting to appear stupid, then shook her head. "Sometimes guys beat up on their wives or their kids. They can come here to be safe."

Kelly processed that. "Guys are jerks," she said finally.

"You got that right," I agreed as I straightened.

The door opened, and a woman stood there. She was mid twenties and could have been a model with her golden blond hair and sensational body. I guess with a name like Mrs. Fletcher, I'd been expecting an Angela Lansbury type. "Hi, I'm Kate Fletcher."

"Hi. I'm Tony Sims, and this is Kelly Temple. We talked on the phone."

"You wanted to hear my story?"

I nodded. "Please?"

She looked down at Kelly. "She's a little young," she said apprehensively.

"Kelly's very mature for her age." Without looking, I knew the twelve-year-old would be puffing up a little.

Mrs. Fletcher nodded and led us back to her office. A minute later we were sitting. She looked at Kelly. "Do you know what incest is?"

Kelly hesitated. I knew she hated admitting she didn't know something, but then, so did I. "I know it's a bad thing, but I don't really know what it is."

Mrs. Fletcher sighed, steepled her fingers and looked up at the ceiling. "Incest is sexual relations between two people who are related. Like a father and a daughter, a brother and a sister, or cousins." She was looking up and didn't see Kelly flinch when she mentioned brother and sister.

"There are a lot of people," she continued. "Who will tell you that incest is always bad, always harmful. There are some who say it's never bad, that it's natural. The truth, like usual, is somewhere in between. Part of the problem is the legal system. Incest is against the law almost everywhere, but in some states it's just parents and their children or brothers and sisters. Other places it's cousins or even second and third cousins. Some places even include steps, though, technically, they aren't related. In my case, it was my grandfather."

Kelly's eyes got real big. "You had sex with your grandfather?"

Mrs. Fletcher sighed again and looked at Kelly. "Lets just say, he had sex with me."

"But, your grandfather?"

Mrs. Fletcher nodded. "It started when I was five. Mom would leave me with him a couple a nights a week when she had to work late. It started with touching. He'd touch me in..." she hesitated, "my private place."

"Your pussy," Kelly suppled.

Now it was Mrs. Fletcher's turn to be surprised. "Yes, my pussy. And he'd want me to touch his... his cock."

Kelly nodded in understanding.

"When I was nine or ten, I told him that I didn't want to do it anymore, but he said I had to. By then he was licking me all over and wanted me to lick his cock too. I didn't want to, but he was my grandfather, and kids are supposed to do what their parents or grandparents tell them, right?"

Kelly and I both nodded.

"When I was eleven we had full sex."