Chapter 9
I woke up from my nap feeling well-rested. I had not slept so much in years. I really was starting to feel better although my body was still sore from all the beatings it had. I lay there, wondering if there would be long-term effects from being abused. I had no idea if I ever had any broken bones because going to the hospital or doctor was never a possibility for me.
I decided that there was nothing I could do about that right now, so I rolled over, looking at the clock. I was surprised to see that I slept the afternoon away! I decided to find something to eat for supper, as I was going to be getting my makeover soon. I was really looking forward to that. I have been forced to keep the same hairstyle the whole time I was with Allen. I was not allowed to cut or color my hair. It was very long now. I usually braided it or put it up in some way.
I went out to the kitchen, deciding today to have a bowl of soup. I found a can of beef stew in the pantry, heating it up on the stove. I took it, along with a few crackers, to the couch. I wanted to sit down to watch some news.
I figured I had better see what was going on, plus Eva had said that my husband was going to be on tonight making a plea for my ‘safe’ return. I turned the TV on, watching the end of a show right before the news. There was a knock at the door, so I went up and unlocked it, finding Eva and Lauren waiting, so I invited them in.
“We didn’t mean to bother you while you ate, but we figured you would be watching the news. Thought you might like a little company?” Lauren stated.
“I would like that,” I said. “Please sit down.”
Eva sat next to me, while Lauren sat on the other couch, saying. “Don’t let us stop you from eating. You need to keep your strength up.”
I nodded, taking another bite when the news came on. Turns out I was the top news story again. There was my face staring out at us. I had no recent picture taken of me, so the picture they were showing was from our honeymoon.
The news anchor recapped the story of my disappearance and then stated there have been some new developments. They talked about how my car had been found, but it was not in the parking lot of the grocery store where we left it. Apparently, someone saw my keys and purse lying on the seat with the doors unlocked and stole the car.
The thief drove the car to a neighboring town and then used the money he found in my purse to buy some alcohol. He then proceeded to get drunk and attempted to run from the police when they tried to pull him over for suspicion of drunk driving. A car chase started, then the police soon realized that this was the car of a missing person after running the plates. Thinking that maybe I was in the car with the thief, they backed off hoping he would slow down.
They wanted to avoid an accident if at all possible. They followed at a safe distance, calling on the state police to help. The man panicked when he saw even more police cars, even though they were not closing in on him. He picked up speed, missed a curve in the road, missed a bridge, and landed in the river.
They went live to the scene where a reporter interviewed a state patrol officer. According to him, they had not been able to get to the car as the river in that area was deep with a very fast current, as it was currently at flood stage due to recent storms. They were waiting for a special dive team to arrive even though enough time had passed that the driver and I were assumed dead, drowned in the river. In the background, I could see my husband standing there staring out at the swirling water.
Another police officer took him by the arm, turning him away. The emotion on his face was one that I was used to seeing. He was angry. There were no tears of sadness, no signs of mourning my death. He was angry that I had escaped him, even though it was through death that I had.
Lauren and Eva looked at each other, then looked at me. “This is great,” Lauren exclaimed. I looked at Lauren, but I knew what she meant by that. If I was dead, the police would stop looking for me.
The state patrol officer was talking about how they would do their best to search for the car to recover the bodies, but he stated that they may never find the bodies. The search wouldn’t start until the next morning, it was too dangerous for them to dive at night. I reached out without looking, and Eva took my hand .
“I’m free,” I said. “I can’t believe it. I am finally free.”
“Believe it,” Eva stated, squeezing my hand. “They will search for you for a few days, but I think it is over.”
“We can’t get careless though,” warned Lauren. “You can’t be seen. We still need to give you a makeover, get you out of here. We also cannot assume that he will believe you are dead. Obviously, we know they will not find your body. Who knows if he will accept the fact that you are dead or if he will continue to look for you?”
What she was saying made a lot of sense. Knowing my husband, unless he had absolute proof I was dead, he would not believe it.
“Let’s hope they can’t find the driver either.” I glanced at Eva. She said, “If they find his body but not yours, he will figure you were never in the car to begin with.”
I took my bowl and spoon to the kitchen, washing up the dishes. I knew Eva and Lauren were right. I can’t let myself get too comfortable, cannot let my guard down. I need to get out of here, I need to start a new life somewhere else. WE—I corrected myself. There were two of us now that needed to go.
The doorbell rang at that point. Eva ran up to answer it. She returned back in a few minutes with a slightly older woman who had a couple of bags with her.
“This is the young lady that needs a new look,” Lauren said, not saying names.
“Nice to meet you,” she said, sticking out her hand.
I shook it in return, “Nice to meet you also. Thank you for doing this for me.”
“I’m happy to help. Let’s have a seat and talk about what changes we should make.” Eva and Lauren said they were going to head back upstairs and would come see me when I was done. “Can I take a look at your hair?” I nodded. She undid the braid, brushing out my long hair and running her fingers through my hair. I had long blonde hair, not super thick but not fine either. “You have lovely hair, but you do have some split ends that we should take care of to start with.” She sat back down across the table from me.
“I haven’t had a haircut in over five years,” I stated. My hair was down to my waist, and I usually wore it in a braid to keep it under control .
She nodded, “I could tell it had been a long time, but it does look like you have taken very good care of it otherwise. So let’s talk length. I’m thinking we go shoulder length or shorter. What are you thinking?”
“I want to go really short,” I replied.
“I think you would look really nice with a shortcut, like a pixie cut. It would frame your face nicely. What about color? How do you feel about becoming a brunette?” I told her I approved, and she clapped her hands together, “Perfect! Let’s get started!”
She worked away, cutting my hair off, giving me a short pixie cut, then coloring it brunette. She gave me a piece of paper with the color information on it so that I could keep it up wherever I went. She took me to the mirror to show me the finished style. “What do you think?” she asked.
“I love it!” I exclaimed. “My head feels so light now, this will be so easy to take care of.”
“It looks great on you,” she said. “Now let’s have a seat to discuss makeup and how to use it to make you look a little different.” We discussed the different ways to use it to make myself appear older or younger without drawing a lot of attention to myself. Lastly, we discussed some other ways that I could change my appearance, just slightly. She explained to me that, as part of what she does to help people, she was trained in a couple of other things that we could do to make small changes to my appearance.
She could do piercings and small quick tattoos. Things that could be done quickly. I didn’t have pierced ears, so we double-pierced them and put one up at the top of my right ear, which she stated is a popular trend. She also gave me a tiny tattoo behind my ear. We decided on a butterfly, which was a symbol of new beginnings.
She sat back and looked me over. She seemed satisfied; she took me back over to the mirror. I stared at my reflection, hardly able to recognize who was looking back at me. I looked older, but only by a couple of years. I turned to her, “I love it! I can hardly recognize myself. Thank you so much!”
She smiled at me, “You are very welcome. Best of luck to you.” She grabbed all her things, leaving me some makeup and a few pairs of earrings. She also gave me instructions on how to care for everything. She headed up the stairs, opening the door, “I’ll send Lauren and Eva down to see the new you.” A couple of minutes later, Eva and her mom came down the stairs. They stopped when they saw me, staring at the new me .
“What do you think?” I asked them, taking a slow turn to give them the full effect.
“Wow!” Eva exclaimed. “You look great! I hardly recognize you.”
“I agree. Not that you weren’t pretty before, but you are stunning!” Lauren stated.
“Thank you,” I said shyly. “I feel so different. I feel like I have changed a lot in two days.”
“You definitely have,” Lauren stated, “you will have a lot of hard days ahead of you. You are getting stronger both physically and mentally, but there will definitely be days when you feel like you have lost ground. You need to remember that you are a strong person, you can change your circumstances. You are your own boss, not a prisoner anymore.”
“I know I have a long road in front of me, but for the first time in years, I feel like I do have a choice, that I have a chance at a good life. I want that so much, yet it is so hard for me to make even the simplest everyday decisions for myself.”
Eva took my hand, leading me to the couch. “We have some news about your future. Can we sit down and chat for a bit?” Sitting down, Lauren and Eva told me about the job that was being lined up for me. “That sounds like a great situation for me,” I remarked, “since most of the typing I did for Allen was all legal-related.”
“There is more good news for you, regarding your living situation. Our contacts have found you a house. They are working on your fake IDs, including a deed to the house. You will own the house outright.”
“How is that even possible? I don’t understand, your contacts bought me a house?”
“Not exactly, one of the contacts recently gave the house to our… group I guess you could say, to give to someone that really needs a safe place to live. You fit the guidelines that the person outlined for who should get the house. It is all yours, free of charge. Although going forward you will be financially responsible for all the household bills, maintenance, taxes, etc.” explained Lauren.
I sat in shock, trying to absorb all of this information. I will have my own house! This was more than I could have ever hoped for. Every minute of every day since these two wonderful women rescued me my life has gotten better. I feel now that I have been blessed somehow to be this lucky. We chatted a little bit more although they said they didn’t know the exact details—it would be something I would learn that they would not be privy to, again for all of our safety.
Lauren told me that she had asked Audra to come over tonight, so they could discuss how soon I could travel, with all the new developments, it was felt that the sooner I could start my new life, the better off we all would be. There was some more planning that was needed, so we needed to come up with a set time frame. She then took a picture of me with her phone, to send to the contact, so I could get proper IDs with my new name on them. This was all happening so fast, but I felt so ready to get my new life started.
The doorbell rang. Lauren went up to answer it. She soon came back with Audra. Audra gave me a hug, then sat down on the couch with Lauren. “You look great Mattie.” She observed. “Besides the new makeover, you look well-rested, like you are feeling better.”
“I am,” I stated. “I have been following the doctor’s orders, getting a lot of rest.”
“Good, I’m glad. Lauren and Eva said that everything is in the works for you to be moved soon.” Lauren had specifically told me not to give Audra details, other than that I need to move ASAP, to keep other information between the three of us, again for the safety of all involved.
“Yes, I guess it depends on when you say I can go,” Audra stated she wanted to give me a quick exam before we made that decision, so we went into the bedroom. We came back out after the exam, taking our seats again.
Audra looked at Lauren, “She is doing a lot better, but I would like her to rest for two more days if possible. Today is Tuesday, I would say she can plan on leaving on Friday.”
“That will be perfect,” Lauren stated. “We have a few things to finish up before everything is finalized, then she will be set.”
I looked at them, “I will never see any of you again, will I?”
“I’m afraid not,” Lauren said. “None of us can risk that.”
I nodded, I understood, but I couldn’t stop the tears. “I will miss you all. I won’t know anybody there. I’m terrified about starting over from scratch. I have a lot to learn. I am so grateful to you all. I don’t know how I will ever find words enough to thank you for all you have done for me. ”
“Just live your life, be happy. As I have mentioned before, if you get the chance to pay it forward someday to someone else in need, please do so,” Lauren said.
We sat there, chatting for a little bit about what the future could possibly look like for me. Lauren and Eva told me there was a small backpack in the closet in the bedroom I could use, giving me permission to take whatever clothes, bathroom items, etc. that I felt I needed. Audra said she needed to get going but promised to stop on Thursday to see me before I left for one last quick checkup. I thanked her, giving her a hug, which was starting to feel more natural at least with these three women.
***
Lauren walked Audra out but came back down with a box in her hands. “Eva told me that you would like to learn to crochet, so I have a surprise for you.”
Eva stood up, “We have another surprise for you too, I’ll be right back.”
Eva went up the stairs, while Lauren came to sit next to me. She handed me the box, curiously I opened it up. Inside was a tote bag. I took it out, finding to my delight that it held a book with instructions on all the different crochet stitches, along with easy patterns for beginners. There was also some yarn in pastel colors with some crochet hooks of different sizes.
“I thought you could make a baby blanket after you learn the basics. The tan yarn is for practicing with. Crocheting is fairly simple, I think you can teach yourself, but tomorrow night when I get home from work if you need some help just let me know. I can come to spend some time with you to go over things and answer your questions.”
“Thank you, Lauren,” I said. “I can’t wait to start!”
Eva walked downstairs with a present. It was wrapped in baby shower paper. She sat down, handing me the gift. “This is from Mom and I,” she said.
“You both have given me so much that I can never repay. You really didn’t need to do anymore.”
“This was fun,” Lauren said. “I enjoyed shopping for this gift for you.” She had gone on her lunch break to shop for the gift, at Eva’s suggestion.
“I can’t remember anyone ever giving me a gift. I mean we received wedding gifts, but I don’t think I have ever gotten a gift for just me before.” I took off the wrapping paper and opening the box. Inside was another tote bag. I pulled it out, seeing that it was a diaper bag.
Inside the diaper bag were diapers, pacifiers, blankets, baby clothes, and a few other practical items I would need for the baby. “This is so sweet and thoughtful,” I exclaimed. “Look at how cute these are!” I was holding up an outfit with a pair of little socks.
We examined everything in the diaper bag, talking about babies. I thanked both women for the gifts. They headed back upstairs. After locking the door behind them again, I packed everything back into the diaper bag. I took both bags into the bedroom with me, tucking the diaper bag into the closet next to the backpack I would be using.
I took the craft tote with me to the bed, making myself comfortable in bed. I opened the instruction book, thumbing through it, reading sections here and there. I found a pattern for a baby blanket that looked reasonably easy to make. I took out the tan yarn with the appropriate-sized crochet hook for the blanket pattern, then practiced the stitches until I felt comfortable with them. I then picked out the color I wanted to start with, choosing a pretty yellow, then began to make the blanket.
I sat there, crocheting with the TV on and a movie playing quietly. Pretty soon I started to feel drowsy, I was making pretty good headway on the blanket, but I figured I better get some sleep. I tucked everything away in the tote, setting it aside. I brushed my teeth and crawled back into bed, leaving the TV on. I could get very used to this life, nice, quiet and… safe.