Come Back To Me (6 page)

“We’re going to take this slow,” he said. “I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do, but you need to get over him.”

“I-I can’t,” Cara replied, her voice shaking. “Whenever anyone touches me, it’s his touch I feel and I get sick.”

“That’s because he wasn’t supposed to do that to you. I mean, maybe old guys think about it doing it with young girls but they’re not supposed to do it.”

Cara blurted out the whole story. Rick listened to her in silence.

“I didn’t want him to. I tried to stop him. I tried to get him to leave me alone, but he wouldn’t. I know everyone thinks I just let him, that I let him do whatever he wanted, especially after what happened to Connie. But it wasn’t my choice. I didn’t have a choice. Even my parents think I let him. Rick, I didn’t even know what he was doing to me.”

“I’m not him,” Rick said. “It’s okay when you do it with me. Really Cara, it’s okay with me. I’ll explain everything to you. Anything you want to know, anything you don’t understand, I’ll explain, and if you’ll let me, I’ll show you. Really, honey, you are the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen, and I can fix this for you. It will feel good with me. I swear to you, it will feel good with me.”

Cara didn’t know whether to believe him or not, but when he spoke to her in that soft, smoky voice and he used words like “sexiest thing I’ve ever seen”, Cara felt an odd clench in her stomach and she found herself wanting to trust him, wanting to do exactly what he wanted her to do.

Rick was right. It did feel good with him. Rick’s touch was nothing whatsoever like Mr. Walker’s.

When he was at her home, Rick behaved like the perfect gentleman. He watched the network news with her father, joined them for supper, showed off his impeccable table manners, and always remembered to bring flowers for her mother.

As the months passed, Cara came to realize Rick was a real pro when it came to reading people. He took great care, spinning charming webs of nearly invisible silk, catching whatever he wanted with a minimum of trouble. Despite knowing that, she was stuck fast. He had set the perfect trap. Rick Shea wanted her and he got her. He touched her, she quivered. He kissed her, she burned. Their relationship was the talk of the school. Everyone who had ignored Cara for two years treated her with a newfound respect, even awe. After all, she was Rick Shea’s girlfriend.

∗    ∗    ∗

When Rick told her he’d planned something special for her birthday, she knew it would be spectacular. He instructed her to make up some reason to stay out all night. She just had to let him know where to pick her up.

After convincing one of Karen’s former cheerleader friends to cover for her, Cara told her parents she’d been invited to a slumber party. Her mother was excited about the invitation, even offering to bring by a midnight pizza. Cara declined, saying that everything had already been arranged.

She packed up her pajamas and toothbrush, and grabbed a sleeping bag. Her dad volunteered to drive her to the party.

“You don’t have to pick me up. I’ll walk home in the morning,” Cara said.

“Call in the morning and we can decide,” said her dad.

“Okay. See you tomorrow.”

“Have fun.” Her father drove off.

She waved until he’d vanished around the corner. A few minutes later Rick showed up on his Harley. He kissed her. Cara could feel his eagerness in his kiss. He tossed her things into the woods across the street. “We’ll get them in the morning,” he said.

Cara climbed onto the back of his Harley and they headed out of town.

The sun was low in the sky by the time they reached their destination, a pond in the middle of nowhere. Rick had already set up a large tent stuffed with blankets and fluffy pillows. A fire burned in a fire pit and he’d stuck a bottle of champagne on ice. Cara had never tasted champagne.

A cooler sat nearby. It held two rib eye steaks, cooked green beans, enough salad for two and gooey chocolate brownies, Cara’s favorite. Cara blinked back tears. No one had ever before gone to so much trouble for her. For the first time in her life, she felt beloved.

Rick covered a space for them on the grass with a blanket, inviting her to sit, while he took charge of preparing her birthday dinner. The champagne bottle opened with a pop and he poured her a glass. Cara held it, admiring the bubbles. He’d even brought glass champagne flutes.

“Take a sip.”

It was cold and crisp, fruity and slightly bittersweet on her tongue. It tasted nothing like her dad’s martinis. She sipped, cautious, watching Rick grill the steaks. She’d heard that if a person drank too much, she got sick. The last thing she wanted to be tonight was sick.

Rick knelt before her, offering her a plate. Together they reclined on the blanket, feeding each other morsels of food. Cara couldn’t imagine a more romantic evening.

After dinner, the two sat arm in arm, watching the vibrant pink light of the setting sun fade from the sky. When darkness had fallen and the crickets began to chirp, Rick led her to the tent. They had the entire night together. For the first time since they’d been together, Rick spoke the words she’d been waiting to hear. “I love you, Cara.”

Cara shattered. She clung to him, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks. “I love you too. An entire night spent in Rick’s arms was heaven.

The next day was something more akin to hell.

C
ara snuggled against Rick on the Harley, brushing her lips over his back as they rode into town. She felt like she was a part of him, something she’d never felt with another human being. He turned to wink at her, tucking her arms even tighter around his waist. Cara turned to press her cheek against his sun-warmed leather jacket, comforted by his gesture. There was no need for words. His actions said it all.

They rounded the corner near Amy’s house. Rick planned to drop her off so she could gather her things and walk home. They rode directly into two police cars and her parents. Cara felt Rick’s muscles tense. She sensed he was about to turn the bike around and flee.

“Don’t,” she whispered. A move like that could get them both in a lot more trouble than they were in right now. Cara knew Rick’s parents wouldn’t be angry with him, but her parents could ruin his life.

“Stop,” she said. “Stop here and let me off. Don’t say a word. Let me handle it. Please.”

Cara didn’t know what her parents had in store for Rick, but he didn’t deserve to be punished. Her father was powerful enough to run his family out of town on a rail. She couldn’t let that happen. Rick sat frozen while she unwrapped herself from his body and slid off the bike. As Cara approached the two police officers and her parents, she decided that the best defense was a good offense. Her mother stood half hidden behind her father’s bulk, arms crossed over her chest, a smirk on her face.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Cara stared at her mother, mustering all her strength.

Her father’s voice rumbled, ominously low. “Shut your mouth and get over here young lady.”

“No,” shouted Cara. “I won’t go home with you. I hate you! I hate you both!”

Her mother stepped around her father. She slapped Cara, knocking her back a step. “Why you filthy little liar . . . How dare you?”

Cara’s face flamed. Refusing to look back at Rick, she sprinted down the sidewalk, hoping for nothing more than to get away from her parents. Within seconds she heard pounding feet behind her and she was tackled, knocked to the ground. Cara threw her arms in front of her face to shield her head, but her right arm hit the pavement at an odd angle. She felt the bone snap with a cracking sound.

Cara tried to roll from out from beneath the policeman, but she was caught in his grip, in pain and struggling for breath. He hauled her to her feet. He wasn’t gentle about it.

He dragged her back to her parents. “Take your medicine like a good girl.”

Holding her limp right arm with her left hand, Cara felt the blood drain from her face. She stole a brief glance at Rick, catching the horror and the humiliation in his eyes. He was as white as a sheet. He climbed off his bike, shaking, and he took a step in her direction.

Cara’s father said, “If I were you, young man, I’d climb back on that machine and get the hell out of here. I never want to see your face or hear a word about you. If you call my home, if you ever try to see my daughter again, I will have you thrown in jail.”

Rick stood where he was, indecisive. She looked into his eyes. “I’ll be all right,” she said, her voice trembling. She knew he was lost to her forever. “Go.”

Cara climbed into the back seat of her parents’ car and they drove her to the hospital. She shed silent tears, all the while her mother screamed at her. Cara tuned out the words. There was no reason to listen. She’d just said goodbye to the only good thing in her life.

∗    ∗    ∗

Dr. Emmett, their new neighbor, met them in the emergency room. Cara assumed her parents called him, asking him for a favor because they didn’t want to be embarrassed. He set her arm without saying a word, refusing to provide her with any medication for the pain. When he finished he escorted her from the curtained cubicle. Cara looked around for her parents, assuming she’d go home and face their wrath. To her great surprise, they were nowhere to be seen. Dr. Emmett walked on ahead.

“Where are my parents?”

“Just follow me. There’s something else we need to do.”

He and Cara entered an elevator, riding it to the fourth floor. When the elevator doors opened, two burly male hospital attendants stepped inside. Cara’s heart began to pound and she backed against the elevator wall. She clutched Dr. Emmett’s jacket with her free hand.

“What are you doing? What’s going on?”

He didn’t reply. The men flanked her, one on either side.

“Watch the arm,” Dr. Emmett said.

“No.” Cara let out a scream. “No!”

Desperate, she fought the two men as they dragged her from the elevator, knowing it was futile. Each man weighed a good two hundred pounds or more and both were solid muscle. But a cornered animal will fight back, and Cara was a cornered animal. The two men dragged her, kicking and screaming, down the hallway to a set of locked metal doors. One of the men held her in some kind of stranglehold while the other pulled out a collection of keys. He unlocked the door and pushed it open, holding it while Cara was hauled inside. The sight that greeted her was terrifying. When she heard the door clang shut behind her, she fought even harder, knowing it was futile.

∗    ∗    ∗

Her parents had sent her to a locked mental ward. The residents shuffled around in filthy, ragged pajamas, their hair hanging in greasy strings around gray, vacant faces. Many had feces or vomit smeared on their clothing, their hands, and their bare feet. When they heard Cara’s screams, many became agitated and began to yell right along with her.

“Shut her up,” ordered a nurse, and one of the men obediently put a heavy hand over Cara’s mouth.

Cara gagged. The stench of the place was enough to make her vomit. She felt relief when the two men half-carried her to a small room adjacent to the main room, but that sense of relief vanished when the men shut the door behind her. Under the direction of the same nurse, they began to tug at her clothing.

“No!” Cara fought with all her strength, but she was no match for the two men as they removed her clothing.

She tried to cover her nakedness, but it was impossible with her right arm in a cast and one of the men holding her left arm. She was reduced to begging and pleading with the nurse who supervised, stone-faced, immobile.

The two men lifted Cara, stretching her out on a bare mattress. As one man held her down, lying on top of her, forcing the breath from her lungs, the other pulled up metal rails, one on each side of the bed. Cara felt them tug on her legs and her left arm. Her legs were spread and a leather restraint closed upon each ankle. She felt the straps tighten as her legs were tied to the bed. The same thing was done with her left wrist. The nurse wrapped the restraint around her right upper arm and made sure the binding was short enough that Cara could not reach across her body.

She asked the men to hold Cara’s left leg. Cara tried to jerk it out of their grasp, but she could barely move. She felt a needle pierce the big muscle in her thigh. Then the three of them moved away from her and left the room, shutting the door and locking it behind them.

Cara gazed around in a state of utter despair. The walls were white, padded. The padded door was topped with a tiny barred window. To Cara’s right, beside the bed, was another barred window. The glass was opaque and was filthy. A muted sun was the only light source. There was nothing in the room aside from the bed with its bare mattress and Cara.

At that moment, she prayed for death. She prayed for someone, anyone to take her out of her body: an angel, God, or even the devil himself. She was not crazy, but she knew if they left her like this for long she would be.

Cara turned her head and stared out the small window beside the bed. She pretended she could see a hint of blue sky. She focused all her attention on that, digging deep, calling upon every single ounce of strength, every tiny bit of reserve she had, in an attempt to shut the room and her helpless condition out of her conscious mind.