Chapter 4

The three mouseketeers went to Lennie's house. They were in the basement, where there was a computer, and were having a 'high five' party, congratulating themselves about what they'd done, and how cool it was.

They were in the midst of that, when Paula, Lennie's sister, a few years older than all three of them, and a student at the local community college, overheard them talking. She was the one 'in charge', when their mom was out, as she was just then. She'd been going to kid them about all the noise they were making but then heard them talking.

Paula, athletic but built well, was a kind of action person. She always thought that her jock brother, Lennie, thought too much with his muscles and never quite enough with his head. She made it a habit to watch out for him, especially when he was with the other two, the pervs, as she called them. It seemed to her that their brain power decreased by one full third with the addition of each member of their small group.

She was stunned, when she heard them giggling and then heard what they were giggling about.

The three guys were in the middle of their congratulatory party, when Paula descended on them like the fury of a tornado:

"You little assholes! What did you do to that poor teacher?"

"Hey," Lennie said, "It was Cat Anderson, and besides it's none of your business."

"None of my business, when you three dorks are buying a one way ticket to either juvi or, if your not lucky, prison?"

"Bullshit!" Ray said.

"So, Ray, it's bullshit is it?" she shouted, "Look at those fucking pictures! Look! It is so obvious that the woman has been beaten up!"

She hesitated and said:

"And best case scenario, you don't go to jail, know what my three jock friends, any and all chances of playing ball in college are gone, poof, just gone! You three have just written yourselves one way tickets to a miserable life of failure. You went out there and thought with your dicks instead of your brains."

They looked at one another, realizing that the horrible things she was saying were true, too true.

Lennie broke the silence: "What shalll we ... uh ... do?"

"You three? Nothing of course! I'm going to go out there and bail your asses out of this, and if anything like this happens with this woman again, I'll let you go to jail and I will, by god, be a witness against you. Now give me that god damned card and erase those pictures this instant."

They hesitated and she yelled: "Now!!!!!!"

They sprung into action and did exactly as she told them, giving her the camera card and, as she watched, trashing and erasing the pictures.

"I'm going now and you had better, by god, hope that I'm successful, and you two," she said pointing at Charlie and Ray, "Go home now! NOW!" she screamed at them and they moved then with alacrity.

On the way to Carol Anne Anderson's house, Paula was worried that she didn't know how she was going to accomplish this, didn't know at all. She even found herself practicing some opening lines to get on a good enough side of Carol Anne Anderson to see if she could do some good. She just hoped that the police had not already been called.

She, herself, never really had any problems with Carol Anne Anderson. They had a kind of grudging respect for each other, when Paula was in school and had her. Nor did Carol Anne then seem as bitchy as the boys said that she was. But she knew that those three could try the patience of a saint.

She also thought in a very, very closely guarded section of her mind that Carol Anne Anderson was probably a beaut, without her clothes. These were Paula's private thoughts, ones that were only, thus far, for her. She hid those kinds of thoughts by being as 'normal' as possible. But she knew that the thoughts were never really very far away. Her one real savior with this issue was the internet, where she was free to roam and look and talk to her heart's content, which she did.

She broke herself from the reverie, as she pulled into the driveway. The garage door was open but no sign of a person. She went to the front door and rang the bell. The lights were on but again no one answered.

"What have those three little fucks done?" she said to herself, deciding to go around the back, and try that door.

That's when she came upon Carol Anne lying in a kind of rolled ball, on the back lawn, fast asleep. Paula stopped and sucked in a great breath, when she saw the checkerboard pattern of welts and bruises that covered Carol Anne Anderson's body.

She stopped long enough to simply look; she walked around to see the recumbent teacher from all sides and whispered to herself that she'd been right about Carol Anne being a proper fox beneath the baggy stuff that she wore. She shook off this kind of thinking and was awash with concern for the beaten up teacher.

She knelt down and lifted Carol Anne's head and put it in her lap. Carol Anne Anderson simply sighed and snuggled into Paula's lap. The change was enough to start to bring Carol Anne around. As Paula watched her closely, slowly her eyes fluttered and opened.

Carol Anne Anderson looked up still thoroughly bleary eyed, and tried to focus on Paula, who was holding her. It felt so good to be held, was the first thought that went through Carol Anne's mind but then she made an effort to focus on Paula again.

"You?" she said softly, "Who are you?"

"I'm Paula Wilson," Paula said.

"You're..." Carol Anne struggled to say.

"Yes, Ms Anderson," Paula began, "I'm Lennie's sister."

Then Carol Anne looked around wild eyed for a few seconds and said, rather furtively:

"Are they ... are they gone?"

"Yes," Paula said, and then continued: "Oh, Ms Anderson, what, oh what did they do to you? I will by god kill the little perverts!"

Carol Anne struggled with her tears but managed to say: "No, please, all of this stops right now. Please ... right now."

"Oh, Ms Anderson," Paula began softly, but Carol Anne, from some unknown well of either propriety or longing for familiarity interrupted her with the words:

"It's not Ms Anderson to you, Paula, it's Carol Anne."

"Thank you, Carol Anne," Paula said.

"No, thank you," Carol Anne continued, "You're my knight, my angel, shining knight!"

Then she began to cry again. Paula held her and rocked back and forth with her. Carol Anne's response was to kind of climb up Paula's body a bit so that she could have Paula's arms around her, and be rocked.

Paula, showing, voicing her concern, asked:

"Do you want to get up and go in, Carol Anne?"

Carol Anne Anderson looked up at Paula with eyes that brimmed with appreciation and said softly:

"Not just yet, please; not just yet; can you hold me just a little more?"

"Of course, girl!" Paula said with care in her voice.

"Nice, nice to be called that, huh!" Carol Anne said, almost to herself, "Girl, huh!"

Paula rolled Carol Anne up a little tighter and rocked her back and forth, letting her just continue to cry.

Carol Anne, remembering now said softly to Paula:

"I'm so sorry; the way I smell! Need a bath, a bath. They, uh, you know, ... they, uh, peed on me! Sorry!"

"No 'sorry' is needed from you, girl," Paula said, "When you're ready it's up we get for us and then I'll take you to the showers."

Carol Anne's head ratcheted around to look at Paula and said:

"You mean? ... you will? ... you'll, uh, stay and..."

"Yes," Paula said, "It'll be only us girls in the showers."

At that Carol Anne Anderson, the famous Cat the Bitch giggled, she actually giggled.

"Ohhh," Carol Anne moaned, "What they did..."

"No," Paula said with a firm voice, "Not now; when we're all clean then there's time enough to talk, time enough."

"Time enough," Carol Anne repeated, fully willing at that point to leave the decisions to this wonderful woman who was still holding her.

"Up now?" Paula said.

"Up now!" Carol Anne answered, then said: "They left my night gown back a little father in the yard."

"Are you alright here for just a bit, if I go get it?" Paula asked.

"Yes, alright," Carol Anne said, "As long as you come back, please."

"I'll be right back, girl," Paula said, realizing that she was actually liking this woman, whose reputation was so fierce. She also realized how much in shock Carol Anne seemed to be and wondered a bit what would happen, when the shock wore off. But she certainly needed tending to in the mean time. She fetched the nightgown and went back to where Carol Anne waited for her, still seated in the grass.