Chapter 2

 

-1-

The receptionist seemed to be staring me down as I carefully signed my signature on the sign-in  sheet at Dr. Channing’s front desk. Maybe she was surprised I was early for a change. I dotted the the i  in my name and set the pen back on her desk.

“Your father is not here today ?” she asked

I shook my head. Dad had been up early this morning to deal with the Social Security office and I knew he wanted to spend the rest of the day making sure Tessa was  getting settled in to our tiny apartment. When I first heard she was moving I was afraid this meant I would have to move out but, the subject never came up.  The space was limited but, they didn’t seem to have much anyway. Everything Tessa and Hayley owned was stuffed in 3 garbage bags.

As I prepared to leave this morning I was surprised to see Tessa was awake and she had made breakfast for me. She was sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee with a place set out for me. I decided not to be rude so, I sat down at the table with her. While she was busy looking at the paper I observed her ;  she was defiantly younger than my mother and she did smile more than mom. I could see why dad liked her, she was very pretty.

“I know you are upset with me,” she said putting the paper down

I had been but, I knew I was being selfish.

“You have your reasons, I know.” She said, “But,  I had more in United Light than I did my whole life and  after the raid, I had nowhere to go and I had a 2-year-old. I just want things to be right, you know ?,”

 I noticed she had left the easel in the middle of the table but, I honestly had nothing to say to her.

“Your father has been a godsend since he first recruited me into United Light from that god damn battered women’s shelter in New Orleans,” she said, “It says something when someone who doesn’t have much can still give to someone else,”

I knew my father was fundamentally a good person, I didn’t need her to tell me that.

“ I see the way you dress and look at yourself,” she said, “Sometimes  being just a girl . . . just a women-- it’s just not  very fair,”

I was surprised by how much she had gotten from me in just the day I had known her. I had not told my father about what Caine did to me so, I knew he had not told her.

I was not much of a cook and we had lived mostly on cereal and sandwiches this past few months so, it was a nice change to have food that was cooked.

 “Ms. Reese ?”

I looked up from my seat in Dr. Channing’s waiting room to see a woman in a black suit and knee high stiletto boots looking down on me.  Her lips were in a straight red line and everyone of her brunette strands was in a curiously neat straight line.

I walked up to her cautiously, I had never seen her in the therapist office before.  I followed her into the back into one of the empty offices where she turned around and took  my hand.

“Hello, my name is Jennifer,” she said shaking my hand, “I’m an attorney for Simon Caine,”

I nearly fell out of my chair trying to get to the door

“Please,” she begged, “ I understand your fear but,  I have a job to do. I know you got your summons to testify against Caine the other day.  I’m in town subpoenaing some stuff and wanted to introduce myself. You will meet the rest of my legal team in Florida,”

Team ?

“ I wanted to see you to remind you that you don’t have to do any of this-- if you think yourself incompetent. I promise my firm will compensate you for this,”

This again. Did he still think I could be bribed ? I wanted Caine to get what he deserved.  I kept walking towards the door but, she was right behind me.  She stepped in front of me and handed me a card.

“Please, e-mail, call or contact me any time of day if you change your mind,” she said,” If not we will meet again in Florida . . . if we must go through this trial.” 

She  walked  in front of me and  out the door.

I looked at the card

Bendini, Lambert & Locke

Jennifer M Caine, Attorney at Law

I looked up just to see her pull off in a red Lexus.

 

----Rhett----

-2-

“And the speed limit on the highway ?” she asked gripping the keys just out of my reach

“I don’t know . . . 75 ?”

“Clark,” she scolded me

“You know back home we just drive as fast as we want cause the police are asleep half the time ,”

“Clark,” she crossed her arms

“I’m just kiddin',” I said, “55 miles per hour, right ma’am ?”

She seemed marginally pleased

“You must really like this girl,” she smiled

“It ain’t like that,” I said, “You know how she is . .  I had no idea how hurt she was. She ain’t got many friends and besides she needed my help with somethin'.”

”It’s a noble thing,” Dr. Murray said loosening her grip on the keys,”Be back before it gets dark,”

“Yes, ma’am”

I took the keys and grabbing my backpack started Dr. Murray’s sedan and headed  for the interstate.

I  thought Dr. Murray  had taken a special interest in me during my therapy but, I had figured it was just her job or the fact I had been in a cult that fascinated her. After the Academy finally believed I was  fine and  told me I didn’t have to see her anymore  I thought that would be the last I saw of her. I had been proven wrong though-- because the next day, she told me she wanted to sponsor me and become my mentor.

 I was allowed off campus to stay with her and her husband  in their house over the weekends and they treated me like family. It was nice to have a place to go where I felt like I wasn’t in the military, it  kinda felt like home.  Dr. Murray was even more of a hard ass than my own mother and seemed to know everything I was  ( and wasn’t) doing.

Even though Juliana still couldn’t  speak to me it didn’t really bother me all that much, I guess I felt like I had an obligation to her, like I still had to protect her.

I was surprised to get a letter from her last week with the photocopy of a lawyers card and a summons. The entire thing had a question mark drawn over it.

Even when she wasn’t talking she still never said enough.

I had gotten a similar summons a w eek ago.

Judging by the last name on the business card I assumed she wanted me to find some information about the woman, Jennifer Caine. I told her I would try and agreed to meet her in a week. I knew I was testing my bounds borrowing Dr. Murray’s car but she said she trusted me.

I pulled into Hartford and made my way to Asylum Hill  parallel parking ( extremely carefully) and walked around until I found the The Asylum Bakery. It was a little shop so small I nearly missed it if not for the bright awning. The  tables and chairs outside were covered in snow.

I walked inside and my eyes went right to  a girl sitting in one of the booths her  deep brown eyes were content and her  blonde hair  spread over her shoulders as she went between scribbling in a notebook and eating a lemon square. I looked away from the girl to Juliana who was sitting next to the little girl, her eyes downcast  with headphones in her ears,  picking the colorful candies out of a cookie.

“You ain’t tell me you had a sister,” I joked taking a seat across from her.

The little girl kept her eyes on Juliana who simply handed me a piece of paper  with a note pre-written on it.  I guess she had this conversation planned out.

My dad is out with Tessa Mitchell, his new fiancé.  She has a 2 year old daughter. Hayley.

“No shit,”  I said, ”For a second I thought—“

Just out of Hayley's eye line Juliana tapped her right wrist with two left fingers and let them slid across the back of her hand rolling her eyes towards Hayley shaking her head.

I guess she wasn’t wondering what I was wondering.

She knew.

 “Hi, Hayley” I said noticing she was stealing glances at me,” My name is Rhett”

“Hi,” she said and went back to scribbling in her coloring book

Juliana pushed Jennifer Caine’s card in front of me.

“Well, damn can’t I at least get some coffee or somethin’ first ?”

She crossed her arms and stared me down.

Women.

“Right,” I said taking out the printed pages out of my bookbag , “So, it looks like she is Caine’s neice. Her dad is Caine’s half-brother Martin Caine and get this, he is the attorney general of Florida. I found her graduation announcement, articles about her dad and a pretty boring Myspace profile . She  doesn’t seem to have much contact with Caine or United Light. I think she’s legit,”

Juliana took the papers from me and  exchanged them with a printed plane ticket  confirmation with a  post it with a question mark attached to it.

“I’m not going to Florida,” I told her

I saw some slight disappointment on face and she traced the question mark.

“I got a summons too ,and all but, I don’t have to go until I am on break.  They said they’d come to me . . . I’m in school and all,”

She silently took it in.

“Your daddy not goin’ with you ?” I asked

She shrugged her shoulders and I  noticed the confirmation was for one ticket.

“I’m sure it will be okay,” I told her, “They got to protect you and  and I’m sure he is in jail and all,”

She nodded her head.

I reached over to pick up one of the candies she had taken out of her cookie but she quickly moved my hand out of the way and gave me a death stare.

“Oh come on  you weren’t going to fuckin’ eat them,” I laughed

She just came close to smiling but,   rolled her eyes and as quickly as her smile was there it was gone. 

She was staring at something behind me and leaned in her seat like she was observing someone. She snapped back up and scribbled down a note and putting one finger in my face she walked towards the counter . I watched where she was walking and saw she was approaching that guy she had met at that frat house. I would remember that smug ass face anywhere.

He was standing at the counter with 2 other guys who looked just a douchey as he did looking into the display case.

I watched her but seeing her with that douchebag pissed me off for some reason. I turned back around and saw Hayley staring at me. The resemblance was undeniable, but she seemed like a nice girl. She kind of reminded me of Savannah a little bit when she was younger.

“So, hey Hayley,”  I said rolling one of the crayons against the table, “Do you like Juliana ?”

She nodded her head

“Does she talk to you ?”

“No,” the girl smiled

I knew I was probably pushing the limits with what I said next but, Dr. Murray always said if you need answers sometimes you have to ask.

“Does she cry a lot ?”

“Mommy doesn’t cry nomore ,” she said, “Mommy smiles more,”

 That wasn’t what I was expecting at all but, Hayley  didn’t seem to see the significance in what she said.  I had no response for that so I just turned back around and watched Juliana

 

--Juliana---

It had been 3 months and I knew I had been lucky not running into Cortland. After all  he went to school just a few minutes down the road. I knew we were in two different spheres but, I still had to get my assurances. I was nervous but, I walked up to him and handed him the note. He took the paper but, he was looking at my face. I could see it was taking time to recognize who I was.

I guess he wasn’t use to looking at my face.

I’m sick and can’t speak. My dad doesn’t know about you so if you see me with him pretend like you don’t know me. His name is Daniel Reese

“Julie, is that you ?” he finally asked glimpsing at the note for a second,” You live here, now ?”

I nodded my head as the women behind the counter rang and bell and he took a sheet cake and passed it off to one of his friends who I did not recognize.

“Hey we’re having this party tonight,” he said “You should come,”

I took the note out of his hand and put it in his face and he studied it for a while.

“You don’t have to talk,” he laughed giving the woman his credit card

I have no idea why I ever thought I had a friend in Cortland, he was in fact still immature.

I just wasn’t ready for my father to know about my past relationships because they had all been pretty bad.

I waved good-bye to Cortland and walking back to the table I placed my cookie back in it’s bag and taking Rhett and Hayley’s hands led them out the store and  down the street towards the apartment.

-3-

As we neared the apartment complex Hayley broke away from me and ran for the front yard of the complex lying down in the snow making a snow angel.

I  wasn’t sure what to think of Hayley, yet.  In one sense I was jealous  that she could do the talking I could not but,  I knew she like me couldn’t help she existed. I also knew the last time I had left the commune before I got married was 2 years ago when Mom and I went on the trip to Cleveland.  Dad stayed behind because he was  helping with recruiting new members in the city. They were going into  soup kitchens, group homes and women’s shelters .

As I headed for the stairs I felt  Rhett tug on my arm. I looked behind me to see Hayley sitting in the snow content in making a mini snowman, she seemed so pre-occupied by the snow. I looked at Rhett who was just smiling at her.

“I don’t mind sittin’ out here,” he said

Leaving him I went inside the empty apartment and stirred together two cups of hot chocolate and bringing them outside I took a seat next to him on the stoop.  I watched the marshmallows in my hot chocolate spinning into smaller and smaller pieces.

“Hey, Juliana,” Rhett said

I looked to see he had a mischievous grin on his face.

“What’s the difference between snowmen and snowwomen ?,”

I had no idea

“Snowballs,” he laughed

Turning away from him I readjusted my hat making sure every strand was still under it.. Maybe it wasn’t just Cortland maybe all teenage boys  were immature.

“Sorry, I was just tryn’ to see if you could still laugh,” he said,” I don’t think I’ve ever heard you laugh,”

I shrugged my shoulders, I wasn’t sure if I could laugh and if a sound would  even come out. Rhett took the hot chocolate out of my hands and pushing me off the stoop into the snow he started tickling me. I started pulling him off me but, he was stronger than me so  I reached over and pulled off his shoe and threw it towards the road.

"Fuck, you play dirty," he said spraying some snow in my face.  When he went his the shoe I  jumped on to his back, bringing him down in to the snow and getting on top of him s and I started tickling him back. I knew I was smiling and my mouth was open but, no sound was coming out.

***

I wrapped a blanket around myself and opened the door for him. Even though our conversations were nonexistent and the time we spent together was brief it was nice to have someone to just listen to music with. For the last few minutes Rhett had been looking out the window as the sun started to slowly set in the sky. I stuck my foot inbetween the door and hinge to keep the door slightly ajar as we stood outside.

 “I know you leaving next week and you may be gone for a while dealin’ with all that shit in Florida but, I can’t really come up next weekend.” He admitted ,”I got this damn C in fucking ethics,”

I nodded my head, I hadn't inteded on seeing him this much.

“I’ll be down there soon enough sticking it to Caine, though” he said  as I wrapped the blanket tighter around myself, " We can spend some actual time together down there though, I'll be on break. You can take me to the beach or somethin' "

I agreed that did sound really nice.

He turned slightly like he was about to walk away and I reached up to him and initiated a hug , he wrapped his arms around me in a full embrace pushing me closer to him.

“Be safe, dahlin’,” he said as he pulled away from me.

I  stood at the door and watched as he walked down the steps and down the road until he was out of sight.

 - 4-

“I think they’ve set up a hotel and everything for you,” Dad said as we neared the gate, “That’s nice,”

I nodded my head as we stood at the gate entrance.

“I guess this is as far as I go,” Dad said,” Do you need anything at all ?”

He put a hand on my shoulder as I headed off towards the gate. When I made it to the other side I looked to see Dad and Tessa waving to me, Tessa’s arms on Dad’s shoulders. I turned around and headed into the plane.

It was terrible but, leaving Rhett was harder than leaving my dad. Tessa had been kind enough but I had not come around to her just yet.  Seeing her kissing my dad just sent shivers down my spine. I had never even seen my parents  so much as touch.

I boarded the plane and picking a window seat I sat quietly, watching my view  until I saw the sun shining and the Atlantic ocean coming into view. 

When I got  off the plane the warm weather was a shock to my body. The airport terminal  was much more crowded than the one in Connecticut and I was once again accosted by all things Florida. The sunshine, people and colors.

Other than the lawyer, I hadn’t told anyone I was coming in but as I made it out of the terminal I saw Sawyer and Elisa waiting for me with smiles on their faces.