“The whole thing was humiliating and degrading,” my mom said. “There was a trial and I had to testify and everything.”
“Where was I?” My mind was scanning back to when I was about 8 years old.
“You spent a lot of time with your Aunt Linda that summer. Remember?”
Oh my god, I remembered.
“Then, if that weren’t bad enough, about six weeks later I found out I was pregnant.”
“What? You got pregnant from the rape?” How awful! I had no idea my mother had gone through any of this. “What happened to the bab…”
Then it clicked. The timing of everything. “Bailey. Bailey is that baby.”
They both nodded. “We never wanted to tell her. But, god forbid, something should happen to her tonight, you should know. There have been too many secrets in this family.” She put her face in her hands and started crying.
For the first time in my life, I saw my mother as a woman. Not as an authority figure or someone to judge me, but as a person.
I finally understood where I got the calling to help women came from. Even though I wasn’t consciously aware of it, somehow I’d known that this issue was close to home.
* * *
The text messagesound came from inside my purse, on my bed. I almost didn’t hear it, but my mom looked at me and said, “Is that your phone?”
“Yeah. It could be Bailey,” I said, walking to the bedroom door.Or Ryder.It was Ryder.
How’s it going?
Weird. This has been a really strange night. Any word on the girls?
No. They were supposed to meet up with someone at the Point but never showed.
I had an instant flash of anger. They were supposed to meet someone at the Point? No, they were supposed to meet Ryder at Starbucks. It got me wondering about Lily and what kind of person she really was. No offense to Ryder, but Bailey didn’t do shit like this.
Then again, how could I be sure? She snuck out of the house and got drunk at a party. Lord only knows what else she’d done that I didn’t know about.
Hell, I didn’t even know who her real father was until about ten minutes ago.
So we still don’t know where they are?
No, but I’ll keep you updated. Try and get some rest?
I don’t think I’d be able to sleep. Besides, my parents are still here.
Go back home with them? I promise to let you know as soon as there’s news.
I’ll think about it. Thank you, Ryder. I appreciate everything you’re doing.
YW
I wasn’t surprised he just responded with “You’re welcome.” It was true, though. I really did appreciate the fact that he was out there looking for them. I had other things to deal with, namely my parents.
Putting the phone back in the charger, I grabbed the box of tissues I’d set by my bed when I’d fantasized about having sex with Ryder earlier. Was it really just earlier tonight?
I walked into the living room and saw my mom sitting on the couch with her head in her hands. “Hey. Here are some tissues.”
She looked up and I saw mascara stains running down her cheeks as she took the box from me. “Thank you.”
I sat down next to her, not really sure what to say.
