In the Image of Grace (15 page)

“What’s going on out there?” Helen asked.

Robert went and looked out the window. “Jesus,” he
said there’s a ton of cop cars out there. I think there’s also a
van from the TV station. I wonder what’s going on?”

Helen shrugged. “Who knows with our crazy
neighbors?”

“I’ll go check on your friend,” Robert said not
concerned about the police cars.

Helen looked at us. “If a dog barks to loud our
neighbors call the police,” she said. “They have nothing better to
do.”

As soon as Helen finished her sentence there was a
pounding on the door. A puzzled look came on her face and she went
to answer it. She opened it up and a police officer stood at the
door. He looked young and fit. He stood tall sticking his chest
out, wearing a bullet proof vest, which I thought was odd if it was
just her neighbors calling about something another neighbor
did.

“Ma'am,” he said. “May I come in?”

Helen quickly shut the door on him. “Robert,” she
called. “Robert.” She looked at us. “Why do they want to come into
our house? Do I have to let them in?”

From the other side of the door we heard, “Ma’am,
we’re coming in.” Within seconds the door exploded open and what I
assumed were swat team members invaded the house.

“Get the girls out of here,” one swat guy shouted to
another one, all garbed in the same black gear. They too had on
bullet proof vests like the cop, but they also wore helmets and
knee pads. One of them came and grabbed me right under the armpit
and quickly escorted me out of the house. I didn’t have time to
protest, or ask what was going on, or anything. All I saw was
Clarissa trying to pry her swat guy off of her and Isabelle leave
out the front door with another. Helen stood plastered up against
the wall. She looked too frightened to move. Her face was frozen in
place with her eyes bugging out and her mouth opened wide. It
looked like she was trying to scream, but nothing was coming out. I
was dragged outside where it was unexpectedly bright.

Flood lights glared in my eyes, followed by the
lights of police cars and emergency vehicles. A couple of fellow
swat team members ran up the sidewalk. They bent over me and we ran
down the sidewalk together. The only sensation I had at the moment
was one of cold. It wasn’t like they gave us time to get our
jackets or anything. Bright lights glared everywhere. Caution tape
was set up along the perimeter of the yard and swarms of people
stood on the other side of it. A news team was on the other side
with television cameras and photographers were clicking away with
their cameras. I took a quick look over my shoulder and Clarissa
was running down the front walk also protected by swat team
members. I don’t remember hearing much as it was all going on, just
a light buzz, white noise. I was pushed through the crowd.
Paramedics ran up to me and started asking me questions. I didn’t
hear or even try to respond to what they were saying. I was looking
for my sisters, Helen and Robert and Jeremy, who I last heard was
laying on the cool ceramic tiled floor of the Fernando’s bathroom,
trying to find some kind of reprieve from his stomach madness.

I looked around at all the people. Behind the yellow
tape were families and old ladies in bathrobes and a news reporter
wearing a skirt that was too tight. There were camera people
pointing their cameras in the direction of the ambulance my sisters
and I stood in front of. There were cops and swat teams members
standing around looking protective with their arms crossed across
their chests and feet in a wide sturdy stance.

Then when I looked up coming out of the house was
Jeremy with his head hung low looking at the ground, with one swat
member walking with big strides in front of him and one swat member
on either side of him, each holding onto his upper arm. Jeremy’s
hands were bound behind his back with handcuffs. He stopped walking
and the cops pulled him along. Jeremy looked at the one to his left
and said something. The swat team guy ignored him. Then Jeremy bent
over a little and when he lifted his head, vomit came out in a huge
stream hitting the back of the guy walking in front of him,
splattering everywhere. Vomit ran down the back of the swat team
guy and dripped onto the ground in clumps. The green hot dog was at
it again. Jeremy looked up and vomit clung to the stubble that
covered his chin.

I ran for Jeremy screaming, “Leave him alone!” I
didn’t get very far though. A cop very quickly caught me and
carried me back to where I belonged. I kicked my feet and squirmed
and tried to get away, but the cop’s grip was too tight. Helen and
Robert were then being escorted out of their house by the cop who
first came to the door. I screamed out Jeremy’s name. His eyes
caught mine and he mouthed, “What did I do?”

I mouthed back, “I have the slightest fuckin
idea.”

After the paramedics were done inspecting my sisters
and I, we were put in the back of a cop car.

“What in the hell is going on,” I shouted out, not
really at my sisters, just out of anger. I looked over at Clarissa
who sat in the middle of Isabelle and me. Her face was streaked
with tears. Isabelle had her head leaning up against the window
looking at the scene outside.

“Is your boyfriend like a felon or criminal or
something?” Clarissa asked.

“No,” I shouted back at her. “I don’t know what’s
going on. I have no idea why they’re arresting him.”

“Maybe it’s a crime to puke in the street in
Indiana,” Clarissa speculated.

“That’s the stupidest thing anybody had ever said in
the history of mankind,” Isabelle snipped sounding highly
irritated. “Look around. Do you honestly think this is about a
little pile of puke?”

Clarissa started crying again. I put my arm around
her shoulder.

The front doors to the police car then opened and two
officers climbed in. “We’ll get you down to the station where you
girls will be safe,” said the one behind the driver’s wheel.

“Safe from what?” Clarissa asked.

“That psycho,” the cop in the passenger seat
said.

I really couldn’t tell what they looked like from
where I where I was sitting. I just saw a couple of heads behind
that wire barrier they had in the car. Sitting in the back made me
feel like a criminal, even though I was pretty sure we weren’t the
ones in trouble, but Jeremy shouldn’t have been in trouble
either.

“Psycho,” I crowed. “My boyfriend is not a
psycho.”

“You can try to explain that to your father,” the
first cop said.

Then I knew it. I should have known from the
beginning that our father was somehow involved.

………………………………………………

At the police station my sisters and I were stuck in
a small cinder block room that was painted a very faint yellow and
smelled like mushrooms. The three of us sat there for a while
before anybody came in and said anything to us. At that point we
still had no clue to what was going on.

A female than entered the room wearing khakis and a
blue buttoned down shirt. Her hair was cut short and a reddish
color.

“I’m Detective Henson,” she said extending her hand
so we could shake it. I reached out first and pensively shook her
hand. I wasn’t sure if I should be friendly to her or not because I
didn’t know if we were in trouble for something or not.

After me, Isabelle and Clarissa shook her hand, a
silence filled the air.

“Do you girls know why you’re here?”

“We have the slightest idea, but should we be talking
to you? Don’t we need a lawyer or something or a parent present?” I
asked.

“We contacted your father. He gave us permission to
talk to you girls.”

“Talk to us about what?” I asked.

“About the abduction,” Detective Henson said looking
at me very seriously.

“But we didn’t abduct anybody,” Clarissa said.

“Do you girls know why you here?” The detective asked
again like we didn’t hear her the first time or something.

“As I said, we have the slightest idea. Why did
Jeremy get arrested?” I asked wondering how he was doing.

“He’s your boyfriend,” Detective Henson stated.

“Yes.”

“Did he threaten you?” She asked.

I scrunched up my nose. The detective seemed to of
been given some false information. “Listen,” I said. “I don’t know
who told you what, but this is what happened. My boyfriend Jeremy
drove us to Indiana to find our mother’s parents, so we could see
if they had any information on her whereabouts. On the way we
stopped for food and Jeremy got food poisoning from a green hotdog
and we got to Helen and Robert’s house and Jeremy stayed in the car
and we met Helen and Robert and then Jeremy barfed in the street
and I went outside and got him and Robert made him some tea and we
were told wonderful stories of our mother who we never met and then
the door was kicked in and we were dragged away and nobody bothered
to tell us what was going on and that is what happened. I don’t
know what my father told you, but he is a liar. He’s probably mad
because we snuck out when we were supposed to be imprisoned in our
house and we went to meet actual family members which our father
has been trying to keep us away from our whole lives. All right!” I
then let out a deep breath. I didn’t pause the whole time I was on
my rant. It left me a little breathless.

“So you girls went with Jeremy willingly and he
wasn’t armed?” Detective Henson asked.

“No, is that what our father said. Is that what this
was about? Jeremy took us against our will.”

“And stole a car,” Detective Henson said.

“That’s his mother’s car,” I snapped.

Detective Henson stood up. “Girls stay here a moment.
I’ll be back. It’ll be a bit before your father gets here.” She
then left the room.

“I can’t believe this,” I said after Detective Henson
left. “This is all our father’s fault. Why would he do this to
us?”

Isabelle shook her head. “I have the slightest idea.
How did he find out where we were or who we were with?”

“Mr. Carl,” Clarissa shouted out. “I bet he called
him after we left.”

“But why would they say that we were abducted?” I
asked truly perplexed. I drummed my fingers on the gray folding
table we sat at. “They’re up to something.”

…………………………………………………..

After a bit Detective Henson came back and led us to
a wooden bench where she said we could wait for our father. I still
had no idea what happened with Jeremy or where he even was. We sat
there for about an hour and it seemed like everybody showed up at
once. First our father came and went and talked to the detective
and a couple others. Then a brusque man showed up looking for
Jeremy.

“Where is he,” the man demanded. I was assuming it
was Jeremy’s stepdad. He was taller in height, but not as tall as
Jeremy and had a reasonable sized gut that hung over his jeans. He
had no visible hair on top of his head. He followed a police
officer down the hall and they disappeared. Then it was just my
sisters and I again. After a bit I saw Helen and Robert heading our
way.

“Are you okay girls?” Helen asked. Her face seemed to
of aged ten years since I saw her last.

“We’re fine,” I sighed.

“This all keeps getting more and more bizarre,”
Robert stated.

“You’re telling me,” Clarissa said. “Just in a week
we find out that our father is a cult leader and that we’re clones
and then supposedly our sister’s deranged boyfriend kidnapped
us!”

“I’m glad you girls are okay,” Robert said.

“I’m starting to think your father knows more about
Grace’s disappearance than he is letting on. Maybe this is all
about nobody finding out the truth. Maybe he thinks you girls are
getting to close,” Helen said quietly.

“I have the same feeling,” I said. “I’m so glad we
were at least able to meet you.”

“Me too sweetie,” Helen said embracing me in a
hug.

Over Helen’s shoulder I could see our father heading
towards us at a brisk pace.

“You leave my daughter alone,” he growled at her.

“She’s my daughter too,” Helen asserted.

“Like hell she is. Let’s go girls.”

Helen then unexpectedly lunged at my father. “Where
is Grace,” she screamed shaking his shoulders trying to reach for
his neck.

Our father tried to pry her hands off while Robert
pulled on her pleading, “Helen, please.”

“Would somebody get this crazy woman off of me?” Our
father yelled.

A couple cops appeared and separated the two of
them.

“Where is Grace,” Helen screamed while clawing the
air trying to get back to our father.

Our father then roughly grabbed Clarissa by the
shoulder. “I said let’s go girls.”

I watched Helen walk down the hall with the two
officers. It looked like they were trying to calm her down. Jeremy
then came from the back of the police station with his stepdad
trailing behind him.

He looked up and saw me. A big grin spread across his
face. “Charlotte,” he said running towards me.

The two of us met in an embrace. It felt so good to
be in his arms. “I’m so sorry,” I cried apologizing for my father’s
idiocy and dragging him into the whole mess.

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” he said holding
my face in both his hands. He bent down and kissed me. But we were
quickly drawn apart. Our short sweet kiss lingered on my lips.

I fought against my father who was pulling me by the
hand. “Let me go,” I shouted.

Jeremy’s stepdad shoved Jeremy forward, so he would
start walking. “Move it,” his stepdad yelled.

Jeremy looked up at me, right into my eyes. He said
nothing, but I felt every loving word.

The car ride home that evening nothing was said. When
we got home all of us went straight to bed. I was awoken the next
morning by Ms. Dunderfeltz tugging at my blanket.