Part 2

Fifteen Year Prior

Gwendolyn knocked on the back room door and He gruffly ordered for her to enter. She walked in slowly and almost vomited on the spot from the smell. She didn't want any more reminders of what had gone on in the room, but the stink was horrible. She'd hate the smell of herself for many years to come.

"We're going to go out to dinner," Gwendolyn sounded much more confident than she really was, but He didn't need to know that. "I need money and you're going to give it to me."

"Oh yeah?" He smiled finding the teenager's attitude quite amusing. He wouldn't mind smacking the smug off her. "That's mighty brave of you to ask like that."

"I'm not asking, I'm telling." Her voice only shook a little, but that could not be helped. "I'll need forty dollars."

He laughed. "You must be crazy, girl, I'd never give you that much money. Anyway, there's food in the house; your mother went shopping. Make something to eat and make sure there's enough for me too."

"You can make your own damn food. I just want the fucking money."

She surprised Him. She surprised Him so much that He was shocked into silence.

Gwendolyn stood her ground and looked at him. She wouldn't back down and lose another battle. She had lost the one earlier that day, but she wasn't going to lose another…she just couldn't.

Finally the rage she had been expecting entered His dark blue eyes and He raised a hand as if to strike but Gwendolyn raised a fist. "If you hit me, I swear that I'm going to hit back. You get one hit each day that I won't fight back on, but you're already over your limit."

He stared at her for a very long time, hand still raised in the air. "You can't overpower me."

"Probably not, but I'd be sure that you end up in pain. Either way, I win."

He lowered his hand, but still he stared.

"I'm guessing that your wallet is in the living room somewhere. I'm only going to take forty dollars from you." Gwendolyn turned her back on him in a very deliberate gesture and walked towards the door of the room. She was almost past the threshold when she was grabbed from behind and thrown to the floor.

Present Day

I drive home, but once I am there I don't remember much of the drive. It was terribly uneventful, which was a surprise. I half expected to get in an accident myself. I arrive at my very lovely two-story house and pull into the driveway. I would have pulled into the garage, but I might have somewhere to go later.

Before I can fully get out of the car the body of a seven-year-old girl attacks me. I bend down and take Melody into my arms. I need a hug after the day I've had.

"How you doin' Mel?" I ask as she pulls a little bit away from me.

"Mom, you're late." I am late. Actually, I am very late, but it just couldn't be helped, at least not today.

"I know I am, Girlie Girl, and I'm sorry."

"You went to go see Anna, didn't you?"

The question surprises me. I know I haven't told her about her mother's accident. "Where'd you here about that?" I look directly into her eyes that remind me so much of her mother's.

"Mrs. Keyton is watching the news and Anna was on it."

Well damn. My sister is now a local hero. That's something I didn't need to deal with. "Well then yes, Girlie Girl, I went to go see Anna. She's doing fine, just a few scratches." I debate for a moment whether I want to ask her this next question, but I'll feel too damn guilty if I don't. "She wanted me to come get you to see her. Do you want to come? You don't have to if you don't want."

Melody takes a step away from me and seems to give the question a lot more thought than I would have ever expected of a seven year old, but I wasn't that surprised. Mel is a very smart child, just like her mother had been.

"She really wants me to go see her?" I can't quite read her expression, but I know that my answer will determine whether or not Anna is graced with Melody's presence. So of course, I want to scream that she really doesn't care and there's no reason why I should drive her all the way to the hospital at all, but I push away that small petty voice in the back of my mind and nod my head in lieu of an answer; my words just might have betrayed me.

"Then I'll go see her."

I was afraid that would be her answer.

"Well then we're going to have to go now, Girlie Girl. I'm sure that visiting hours at the hospital will be up pretty soon." As I speak a slightly overweight woman makes her way down the walkway from the house to the driveway. She smiles and waves at me and I only smile back. It was Mrs. Keyton, Melody's babysitter. She's a nice old lady and I know I can trust her with the care of Mel.

"How're you doin' Ms. Averson?" She asks as soon as we are only a few feet apart. "I heard about your sister. That was a very nice thing she did for that young boy." She says this as if to remind me of what it was my sister actually did. I knew what she had done. She saved some young boy's life…well big fucking deal. That didn't absolve her of anything.

"Yes it was Mrs. Keyton." I want to tell her that it really doesn't matter but Melody is climbing into the passenger seat. I look over at her and shake my head letting her know that she better get in the back instead. I did have passenger side airbags. "We're going to go see her now. Did you want me to tell her anything for you?"

Mrs. Keyton smiles knowing that I have left a lot unsaid. "No dear. I'm sure she'll hear enough from you she doesn't need to hear anymore from me."

I can't help but agree to that. I did have plenty to say.

"Well we're going to leave now, Mrs. Keyton. I'm sure that I'll see you tomorrow."

Mrs. Keyton nods at me then bends down and waves at Melody. Melody waves back from the backseat and I get in the car. Mrs. Keyton stands in the driveway as I pull out and head back in the direction of the hospital.

"You sure you want to do this Girlie Girl?" I call back to Melody. "You really don't have to do this if you don't want to. No one will hold it against you, not even Anna."

"On the TV they asked if she had any family and she told them about me."

I can't help but sigh heavily. Why wouldn't Anna just say she had a sister? Did she really need to bring Melody into this whole ordeal? Anna was a hero that was most definitely going to fall after everyone found out about her past, and there was no way that I wanted Melody to be caught in the cross fire.

"Did Anna say anything else?" I take a quick glance in rearview mirror just to make sure that Melody is doing alright.

"Not really. They talked a lot to the boy's mom though. She's some type of musician or something."

Oh well that's just fucking great. My sister saved the life of a kid whose mother was a woman that probably had some money. That would certainly be an opportunity that An won't be able ignore. I swear, if she had just died then she would have left us all in peace.

Fifteen Year Prior



Even though the floor was carpeted it still hurt when Gwendolyn fell. He had pushed her down hard and now He was mercilessly slapping her body, not aiming for any particular place to hit more than another. Gwendolyn curled up on the floor trying to fend off the slaps but her position didn't afford her much protection.

Knowing that she could either lie on the ground and wait for him to stop or try to get up she chose to get up. He would most definitely try to knock her back down, but she wasn't a small girl anymore. She was taller than him and had been for almost a year now. She wasn't quite sure who her real father was, but he must have been a big man. She fantasized that her father was a man that could beat the shit out of Him and leave Him begging and bleeding on the ground for His life.

It would never happen, though, because her father was dead. She knew that much. She couldn't quite remember his face or what he looked like. He died when she was only a baby.

Now, however, was not the time for her to fall into the back of her mind where she often went to escape the beatings. With great effort she rolled away from His swinging arms and jumped back to her feet.

He looked at her surprised.

She took advantage of His bedazzlement and lashed out at Him. She threw her own punch and connected with His jaw. It hurt her, maybe even more than a couple of slaps He had delivered, but nothing else had ever made her feel so good so she did it again and again and again. He had his arms up and was trying desperately to block her swinging fist but to His very amazement the girl was strong.

"Gwenie?" A small voice called from the backroom door tearing Gwendolyn's attention from her very satisfying task.

Gwendolyn turned and looked at Anna's small form filling the doorway. "What is it Anna?"

Anna looked at the scene in the bedroom and didn't know what to think. Her sister was beating Him up. It wasn't the other way around. It wasn't like what she had seen on hundreds of different occasions. "Are we still going to go out to eat?"

The older girl turned back around and glanced at Him. He was holding His bleeding nose and didn't seem very worried with what was going on in front of Him. He seemed more concerned with figuring out how to stop His face from bleeding so profusely.

Then, a sudden idea came to Gwen. She wondered why she hadn't thought of it before.

"Anna, Mom's not home yet is she?" Anna shook her head. "Well why don't you go outside and wait for her. I'll be out real soon then we can go get something to eat."

Anna took one more survey of the room then nodded her head and closed the door firmly behind her when she left. Gwenie was up to something, but she didn't need to know what it was. Gwenie would always take care of her and if that meant beating up on Him then that was really okay with her.

Once the door had closed Gwendolyn wasted no time to start hitting her tormentor again. He stopped trying to fend her off and finally got angry enough again to start hitting her back. This time she didn't mind because she needed Him to hurt her. She needed Him to make the marks that covered her body even more prominent.

Again, she fell to the floor. Once there she spotted an open beer bottle on one of the end tables in the room. As He rained down His fury upon her she rolled over closer and closer to the bottle. Once she was within reach she grabbed for it and hit Him in the head. The bottle broke, as she predicted it would, and then she stabbed Him with it.

He looked down at His chest where He suddenly had a little less than half a bottle sticking out of Him. Gwendolyn had barely missed His heart. He cursed her as He died and Gwendolyn did nothing but watch His blood flow in an amazing hypnotic pattern through the bottle and down onto the floor.

Present Day

Okay so I didn't want to come back to the hospital, but I was here anyway. Melody wanted to see her mother and her mother - I use that term loosely - wanted to see her. I could easily say no to my sister, because I long ago stopped caring about what she thought about anything, but for some reason I just can't refuse Melody anything.

I take Melody to Anna's room and am only mildly surprised that there are still media personnel within the area. Not a lot fazes me these days, but that really doesn't matter. It would seem that what affects me doesn't really matter, which I guess means that I don't matter.

"We've been expecting you," It's Cameron's voice that tells me this. I hardly recognize it from earlier. She's jolly.

I turn my head and give a quick glance in her general direction. She's not really important at the moment. I bend down and look straight into Melody's eyes. I need to make sure that she's not too scared. I know she'll try not to be, but I'm not going to make her suffer through anything.

"Mel, I'm just going to ask one more time, are you sure you want to do this?"

Her head tilts to the side. She looks at me perplexed. "Do you not want me to do this?"

Of course I don't want her to do this. I don't want to do this. I don't want either of us to be here. There's no point in it. There's never been any point to it. I can't really share any of this with Girlie Girl, though, so I shake my head. "That's not it. I'm just looking out for you."

Melody makes decisions and sticks by them. It's an admirable quality, especially in someone as young as her. "I kind of would like to see how she's doing and I already said I'd do it." I should be happy that I've been able to instill such values into my child, but right now it's an annoying trait. "Okay then let's just go on in there," I stand up and take her smaller hand in my own. As we move closer to the open hospital room door Melody holds onto my hand just a bit tighter. She's nervous and that's only to be expected. Anyone would be nervous approaching Anna's door if they had to live through half the shit she's put her daughter through.

Oh and there's the anger. I can feel it growing deep in my chest along with the bitterness and resentment. I really need to get it under control before I see An's face again; otherwise I might just not be able to check myself. If I don't exercise at least some control then in all likelihood I'll end up jumping onto An's hospital bed and strangle her to death. Actually, just the thought of me doing that puts a smile on my face. It's not really the healthiest of fantasies, I realize, but I've never claimed to be a very healthy person.

Cameron is waiting for us at the doorway and I just realize this fact now. It's really easy for me to block out the things that I don't deem very important. "What's going to happen once we walk through that doorway?" I ask her. Knowing An there's certainly something bound to be up. I may not be able to be surprised that easily these days, but when I am surprised I generally don't like it.

Cameron looks at me confused like she has no idea what I'm talking about. She actually probably doesn't. "Are there going to be more interviews? Is someone in that room that shouldn't be?"

A light finally goes off in those blue eyes. "Oh," she shakes her head. "No. No one's in there except Andy and Anna. Everyone else is still in the hallway if you haven't noticed." She points to a particular camera crew using the wall as a backrest. I saw all of them when I entered. There are a total of five crews resting about. Four are local the other one is national. I'm guessing it must have been a slow news day or maybe this is just their fluff story for the day; the one feel good story that they'll cover between the murders and the burning buildings.

"You left her alone with your kid," I snort. "You're a braver woman than I gave you credit for." I know I shouldn't have said that especially since Melody is right by my side but I haven't fully suppressed all that inner anger just yet.

I guess Cameron isn't quite sure how she should respond to my little comment so she chooses to just avoid the fact that I said anything at all. "I think all the attention this is getting is partly my fault."

I'm not sure if it's really her fault but if she wants to take the blame for it then that's fine by me. I certainly don't want to take anything away from her. She is supposed to be famous or something, right? I mean isn't that what Mel told me when we were in the car, musician or something. I take a good long look at her and her name comes to me, Cameron Mendoza. She's one of those singer chicks who sits on a stool and wails about her loves lost. "I'm not really all that worried about them," I don't know why I say this, but I do. Maybe I actually don't want her to feel bad. "If it's really bothersome then I can get rid of them and have the hospital arrange for a press thingy later."

"Conference?" Cameron helpfully supplies me with the proper term although I don't remember asking for it.

I just nod in response. "If you don't mind me asking how can you do that?"

Before I get a chance to answer Melody tugs on my arm and I look down at her expectant face. I realize that I haven't introduced her to the new nice lady. "I'm sorry Girlie Girl. This is Cameron Mendoza she's the mother of that little boy that Anna helped out." I then turn my attention to Cameron to finish the introductions. "Ms. Mendoza," Hey I do have the ability to show some respect, "this is my daughter Melody."
Cameron gives me that confused look again and I just know what she's thinking. "I'm the official guardian for Melody." My voice is hard, like it usually is except when I'm talking to Melody, and I'm pretty sure that Ms. Mendoza gets the hint that we're not to discuss this any further. I'm hoping that the pedestal that she's put my sister on is being torn down. No one can afford to look at Anna as anything besides a complete fuck up who really doesn't deserve that much of your time. It hurts less in the end if you think of her like that.

I take the last few steps into the hospital room with Melody's hand still fully ensconced in my own. When I walk into the room Anna looks at me with wariness but when she spots Melody her eyes light up brightly. They even twinkle a little. It's really a horrible sight to see.

"Hey Mellie," her voice is still a little rough. Now I think I can attribute this to either her swallowing tons of cold water while she was floating in a drainage system out to sea or to the over abundance of alcohol and cigarettes that she's smoked over the years. I'm pretty sure that I'll go with the latter.

"Hi Anna," This greeting certainly seems to come as a surprise to my sister. Usually Melody will actually call her biological mother 'mommy' but she gave up on doing that a while ago really. She's just stuck to calling me 'mom' and I really don't mind at all. I even encourage it swearing to her that Anna would understand.

An seems to get over the shock rather quickly and effectively hides her hurt. She holds out her arms to Melody like she actually expects the girl to come running to her. I'm thinking that she really doesn't remember what happened the last time she saw her daughter. It's a shame really because she should have nightmares about it every night until she dies. I figure that would only be fair for the nightmare she's caused Melody to have. "Aren't you going to give me a hug?" An finally asks.

Melody doesn't make one move to get closer to Anna. She actually steps closer to me and shakes her head. "I don't really want to."

I see Andy in the chair next to Anna's bed look past me to the doorway. I'm pretty sure that Cameron is motioning for him to come to her. She seems like a smart enough lady to figure out by now that things certainly aren't hunky dory in Anna's world. Andy is quite indecisive though. The kid seems to know he's about to get a good show and it seems like he's reluctant to leave his new protector alone. I respect him for his loyalty yet pity him for his judgment. I take a look over my shoulder and see Cameron mouthing Andy's name and motioning him over. She immediately stops though when she realizes that I'm looking at her like she's an idiot.

Melody only moves closer into my side. She's staring at her mother lying in the hospital bed, for what seems like the hundredth time, and I don't think that she really cares anymore. I mean, I know that Melody cares that her mother is lying in the hospital, but I don't think she's allowing herself to really care about it. She's taken on my approach to seeing Anna in the hospital, which is obviously one of absolute disregard. This simply won't do.

"Hey Andy, can you do me a favor?" The little man just looks at me suspiciously. I can understand why. "Watch over Anna for a moment will you? I need to talk to Melody for a second, but the second we get back you're going to have to promise me that you'll let her talk to Melody alone okay? They haven't been able to see each other for a while and I'm sure they'd like to be alone." So I just solved Cameron's problem of getting him out of the room because Andy nods his head reluctantly and I also solve the little man's desire to look after his protector. I'm just a regular politician.

With Melody's hand still in my own I exit the room not looking at Anna. She doesn't protest me leaving, she probably actually figures that I'm going to talk to Melody for her. Well she can think that if she wants. I'm certainly not going to argue with her about it. There's plenty of other stuff we can argue about that's oh so much more fun to argue about.

Once we're in the hallway Melody pulls me to her and hugs me. She really didn't want to be in that room. I take a look around noticing that the media people are still around. They're looking at us curiously, because I'm guessing that they smell meat: the rabid wolves. I certainly don't want Melody to be put in the middle of anything. I tighten the hold I have on her letting her release all the emotions she's feeling right now by hugging me so tightly that I almost feel the need to ask her to loosen up on her grip. I won't ask though, because I know that I'm her lifeline. I always have been ever since she was born. I've been the one there for her no matter what. I was there for her first cry, her first word, her first step, basically for her first everything.

It'd be just so much easier on us both if Anna just died.


Continued...