Chapter 12

The luggage was larger, heavier, and bulkier than her normal travel bag. It contained all of the casual clothes she had taken over to the apartment upon moving out of the house. She struggled to get it up the steps of the porch. She wished that John was there to give her a hand. She finally used brute force to pull it up the steps and onto the porch.

She tried the doorknob and found it locked. It was the first time in years that she had tried the door when it was locked. Usually the whole family was there when she came home. It took a bit of digging through her purse to locate the house key. She unlocked the door and dragged the luggage over the threshold. It seemed to her that leaving had been easier. At least, it had all been down hill.

Turning to face the living room, she froze. The room was devoid of furniture except for an entertainment center, but that wasn't what had caught her attention. All of the sexy costumes that she had bought were scattered around the room. Open mouthed, she stared at them wondering why they were there. She couldn't imagine John laying them out on the floor like that.

"You are a slut," Rose said.

"Rose!" Vicki exclaimed surprised to see her daughter standing there.

Reverend Billings had warned her not to approach Rose without support. He feared that Rose was angry enough to entertain the idea of violence and too young to have much self control. If she were to confront Rose, she was liable to find herself in a position of having grabbed a tiger by the tail. She hadn't expected to be ambushed like this.

"I knew I had proof that you are a slut the moment I found these clothes in your closet."

"What?"

Rose asked, "Have you come home to make a living as a whore?"

There was a cruel tone to her words. The sneer on her face twisted her features into something ugly.

"No," Vicki said speechless.

"Are you trying to screw your way back into Dad's heart?" Rose asked.

Vicki didn't recognize the person standing in front of her as her daughter. Rose had become some sort of twisted version of the little girl she had raised. Looking at her, and knowing that she was responsible for it, hurt worse than anything Rose could say.

"No."

Rose said, "It won't work."

"I know that," Vicki said.

"Leave now and never come back."

"No," Vicki replied ignoring Reverend Billings' warning about being alone with Rose. She felt that retreating even one step would signal another abandonment of her daughter.

"I'm warning you – leave now," Rose said.

"No."

Rose shouted, "I don't want you here!"

"I'm not leaving you again," Vicki answered.

Screaming like a banshee, the young girl threw herself at her mother with fists swinging. Six years of rage, based on an anger that had built up over half of her life, drove her to unleash blow after blow upon her mother. Half of the blows didn't even land. The majority of them that did land were not effective. A few made solid impacts that hurt.

In self defense, Vicki grabbed Rose in a hug and held tight to her. They tripped and fell to the floor. Like she was possessed by a demon, Rose bucked, wiggled, kicked, and beat frantically at her mother to break the hug. They ended up rolling around on the floor with Vicki getting the worst of the exchange.

Rose finally managed to land a blow to the temple that staggered Vicki. The stunned woman released her hold on her daughter. Rose climbed to her feet and prepared to kick her mother.

In an almost inhuman voice, she commanded, "Leave."

Still dazed by the blow, Vicki said. "If you want me out of your life, it will have to be you who walks away."

"Bitch!" Rose shouted. She kicked her mother in the stomach.

Breathing heavily, Rose stood looking down at her mother. Vicki was in sad shape. She was curled into the fetal position in an instinctual effort to protect her body from additional kicks. Her lip was split and her nose was bleeding.

"I'm never leaving you again," Vicki muttered just loud enough for Rose to hear.

Unable to continue on physically, Rose resorted to a verbal attack. She screamed out her rage. She babbled incoherently. At more lucid moments, she related incidents that had torn at the soul of a young girl. Then she would scream at the ceiling like a wounded animal.

Vicki too stunned to get off the floor. She watched Rose in horror. The thought that her actions had reduced a twelve year old child to this level nearly destroyed her. All she wanted to do was to hold her in her arms and comfort her.

Starting to run out of things to say, Rose brutally kicked Vicki in the side. She returned to spouting an incoherent stream of words. She managed to maintain the babble for two more minutes and then fell silent. She collapsed to the floor crying.

Vicki crawled over to her daughter. Hugging her with one arm, she stroked the girl's hair with her free hand. She crooned, "Hush. It'll be all right, baby. Your momma is here. It'll be all right."

Rose sobbed hysterically.

"That's a good girl. Cry away all of the pain," Vicki whispered while slowly rocking Rose.

Over the course of five minutes, Rose's sobbing slowly stopped. Vicki continued to stroke her hair thinking that she needed help with the situation. Calling John was out of the question. He would react angrily. The last thing she needed to do was make Rose think that she was going to turn her father against her as well.

Releasing Rose, Vicki fell back onto the floor. In a weak voice, she said, "Rose, please call Reverend Billings."

"Why?"

"I don't think I can get up," Vicki answered.

She was stretching the truth a little. Her shins were throbbing from where Rose had kicked them while rolling around on the floor. Her stomach hurt. Her head was spinning. Her ribs were sore. She could taste the blood from her split lip and bloody nose.

"Why him?"

"He can keep a secret," Vicki said collapsing to lie on the floor. She didn't want John to know. She didn't want the police involved.

Looking at her mother, Rose didn't argue. She knew that she had gone too far. She went to the phone and made the call to the church. It took Reverend Billings less than fifteen minutes to arrive. Rose had waited by the door to let him in the house.

Upon entering the house, Reverend Billings looked at Vicki. He could see that she was hurt, but not seriously. Rather than rush to her side, he looked over at Rose. Vicki may have been injured, but there was a soul at risk. His duty was to the soul first and body second.

In a quiet voice, he said, "Rose. Look at your mother."

"No," Rose answered unable to look at him or her mother.