Chapter Thirty-four
“You had better do something, Theo,” June said as she rose from the table to walk him to the kitchen door. “Because this time around someone got hurt and could’ve been killed.”
Theo opened the door and placed his hat on his head. He motioned at the other officer who stood out by the cruiser that it was time to go.
“I always do my best, Mrs. Ruger. You know that.”
“I don’t know that, Theo. Not anymore.”
He pressed his lips together in a frown. “I’m sorry you feel that way.”
“Well, go and change my mind then. Punish these boys for what they done.”
“They’ll be punished, Mrs. Ruger.”
“Right. You’ve just got to find them first.” She shooed him out and closed the door behind him. The police had been there for a good hour or so, filling out a report and going out with Vaughn to inspect the tire contraption and to look at Marv’s truck and trailer. EMS came for Marv, though he protested, and took him to the hospital to check his head. The whole afternoon into evening had been shot and she had to quickly rustle up something for supper.
She opened the fridge and grabbed a container of pork chops, glad she’d thought to thaw them. She retrieved the barbecue sauce and brought it all to the counter. She was washing her hands in the sink as she spoke to Vaughn, who was sitting behind her at the kitchen table with her head in her hands.
“I don’t know why those boys are targeting us so badly,” June said, checking the oven. She’d already set it to preheat. “You’d think with the law looking for them that they’d be hiding, not still coming around here making trouble.”
“They’re not the brightest bulbs in the bunch, Gram. And Ricky, he’s vengeful. I gathered that much just from hearing things about him around town. And I reckon they’ve got it in for me because of my threats and because now the law is after them. Since I’m the one that set that in motion.”
“Well, they’d be smart to steer clear of here.”
“They would be. But like I said, they aren’t exactly smart.”
June sighed, wishing Ricky and Pedro would grow a brain, but realizing that would probably never happen. Not in this lifetime anyway. “You should go shower. It’ll make you feel better,” she said to Vaughn.
“I’m not sure anything will make me feel better right now, Gram.”
June looked out the window. “Well, how about Natalie? Will she make you feel better? Because she’s coming.”
June turned from the sink to dry her hands as Natalie lightly knocked and stepped inside.
“Hey,” she said, looking from June to Vaughn. “Saw the cops leave. Just wanted to make sure all is well.”
“It’s the best it can be, I suppose,” June said stripping open the package of pork chops.
Natalie slowly approached Vaughn and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Anything I can do? I already fed and watered Midnight and Em took care of Miracle.”
“Thank you,” Vaughn said, dropping her hands. She gave Natalie a tired-looking smile.
“No problem.” She looked to June. “Want some help with dinner?”
“I’m not going to tell you no,” June said as she placed the pork chops into a casserole dish. She walked back to the sink and washed her hands again, returned, and opened the barbecue sauce. “You can grab a bunch of potatoes and scrub them and get them ready to bake.”
“On it.” Natalie opened the pantry door and retrieved several baking potatoes and carried them to the sink. Vaughn stood from the table as June grabbed the sauce brush and began lathering the pork chops in sauce.
“I’m gonna go double-check on Midnight and Miracle,” Vaughn said, walking to the door. She was once again moving like she was in pain and June felt as helpless as ever.
“Don’t you go doing anymore work,” she said. “You let them kids handle the rest of it.”
“Yes, ma’am,” she said as she set her hat on her head and walked out the door.
“That child,” June said. “She’s going to kill herself working like she does.”
Natalie was scrubbing the potatoes. “I thought the new hires would lessen her load.”
“I thought so too. But I think we’re going to have to hire some more and even then you know she won’t stop.”
“She’s going to have to slow down,” Natalie said. “And have a doctor look at her back.”
June laughed. “Hell will freeze over first.”
“She can hardly walk, June. I think it’s time.”
“Well, maybe she’ll listen to you. You seem to have an effect on her.”
Natalie turned off the faucet and brought the potatoes to the counter. She took a knife and stabbed slits in them for better cooking.
“You ain’t gonna say nothing to that?” June asked, readying the pork chops for the oven.
“What should I say? I haven’t exactly had a good effect on her here lately.”
“Well, you’ve been down. Hell, I think we’ve all been down with all that’s going on.” She carried the dish to the oven, opened the hinged door and slid it in. She turned back to Natalie.
“We can cook those in the microwave,” she said. “Put them in for five-minute increments, turning them every time you check them.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Natalie took the potatoes to the microwave and set some of them inside before starting it up. “Anything else?”
June pointed to the fridge. “We need to steam some vegetables.”
Natalie opened the fridge and got out two heads of broccoli and some carrots. She carried them to the sink to clean them.
In the meantime, June got the yeast rolls from the freezer and readied them for the oven by spreading a little butter on top. “How you been feeling, darlin’?” she asked. “Any better? I haven’t been seeing much of you.”
“I’ve been busy with chores and working my other online jobs.”
“They must be taking up a lot of your time.”
“I haven’t blogged in quite some time, worried Allen would find me somehow. But I’m almost through what little savings I had, so I really need the money.”
“I don’t know how the whole online tracking thing works, sugar, but I doubt he’ll find you if he doesn’t know about the blogs. Is that what they’re called?”
Natalie finished cleaning the veggies and brought them over to the counter where she began pulling the broccoli apart and snapping off the lower portion of the stems. June got her a bowl to put the pieces in.
“Mm-hm. Blogs.”
“Does he know about them?”
“I’m sure he does. He’s had private investigators on me and I’m sure they’ve discovered my income. But I don’t think they can trace me here.”
“Is that why you prefer to give us cash for rent?”
“Yes. I give you the cash I brought with me. Thankfully, I thought to withdraw a big amount before I took off. I’ve been doing that for a while now because I don’t like him knowing what all I spend my money on. Just in case he has someone checking.”
“What an awful way to live.”
She sighed. “You get used to it.”
“I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, I think you should go back to the police.”
“I know you feel that way, June. And I hear you, I do. I’m considering all my options.”
“That’s good.”
“And as for how I’m feeling…” She shrugged. “I’m a little better after having apologized to Vaughn. But I’m still not my usual self.”
“Why do you think that is?” June grabbed a carrot and began slicing it.
“My childhood.”
June glanced at her. “Oh?”
“I’ve been thinking a lot about the past and I didn’t exactly have what you would call a standard childhood.” She paused as if gathering her strength. “My father died suddenly when I was thirteen and I was put into foster care.”
June stopped chopping. “Oh, child, I’m so sorry.”
Natalie reached for a carrot. But she didn’t start slicing. “It was rough.”
“Do you mind if I ask where your mother was?”
Natalie laughed. “Mother? As far as I’m concerned I never had one. She left us when I was two, ran off with some druggie. I haven’t seen her since.”
June touched her arm. Natalie continued. “It doesn’t matter though. It never did. My father was all I ever needed. And then he got sick and it happened quick. He was gone within six weeks of diagnosis.”
“And you had no one else to take you in?”
“I did not.” She finally began chopping the carrot. “So I was carted off to foster care where I suffered some more. At least at first.” She stopped and stared off into space. “I just couldn’t seem to do anything right. Not a thing. I was never good enough. Ever. And they let me know it.” She started chopping again. “But the second house wasn’t so bad. They were decent people. Unfortunately, the damage had been done and it was hard for me to overcome. I had trouble settling in, with trusting people, with school. It wasn’t a fun time.”
“How long were you at the second house?”
“About a year. They let me go because I kept getting suspended from school. They didn’t know what to do with me.”
“That’s awful.”
“I can’t really blame them. I was lost and damaged goods and I wouldn’t stop fighting at school. Wouldn’t allow the bullies to get their way.”
“Good for you.”
She laughed. “It wasn’t so good, trust me.”
“And house number three?”
“House number three was not good. The man, he liked me a little too much and I wouldn’t have it. So I hit him one night when he came in my room. I broke his nose and that was the end of house number three.”
“Oh, no.”
“Yeah,” she nodded and scooped up the bit of carrots to place in the bowl.
The kitchen began to smell of barbecue and June carried the pan of yeast rolls to the oven where she slid them in on the lower rack. Natalie opened the beeping microwave and checked the potatoes, turning them over before cooking them for another five minutes.
“I managed to stay in house number four until I graduated high school and turned eighteen. But then I was out and that meant I had nowhere to go so I really struggled for a while and I…met the wrong people and got mixed up in drugs.”
“Natalie, no.”
“’Fraid so.” She handed June the bowl of veggies and June put a pot on to boil, inserting a collapsable vegetable steamer into the pot. She poured the veggies in and put the lid on.
“But I met a really nice woman. A social worker, and she honestly saved my life. She got me into a rehab and I got cleaned up. But…that’s where I met Allen. My ex-husband.”
June opened the oven and checked the rolls. They weren’t quite done. The pork chops, however, smelled delicious.
“Tell me about him,” she said as she closed the oven door.
“There isn’t much to say. He totally swept me off my feet, June. He was handsome and successful business-wise, and he seemed to really love me. Said he wanted to give me the life I’d always deserved, full of love and acceptance and security. But it was all a farce. He wasn’t real. That person wasn’t real. The real Allen, as I soon found out, is…your worst nightmare.”
“It took me a while, but I finally managed to leave him. I had to give up everything though. Friends, finances, you name it. I was on my own once again. I slowly rebuilt a small existence, but he wouldn’t let me go. He’s never going to let me go.”
She sat at the table and stared off into space again. June came and sat next to her. She tilted her chin toward her.
“You listen here. You will have a life again. And he will leave you alone. You just have to keep fighting.”
Natalie’s gaze shifted over to hers. “I don’t know if I can, June. I feel so defeated. So unimportant in this world.”
“That’s your past haunting you. You’ve got to tell it to get lost, that you’ve already lived through it and you’ve moved on.”
“How?”
“By doing what you just did. By talking about it and facing it. By exposing it to the sunshine, instead of letting it grow and fester in the dark.”
Natalie wiped away a stray tear. “You really think that’ll work?”
“I know it will.”
The door opened and Vaughn came back in, removing her hat. She took one look at Natalie and June and asked, “Am I interrupting?”
“No.” Natalie said. “Not at all.” She smiled and wiped her eyes again.
“We’re just finishing up supper,” June said. “So have a seat.”
Vaughn hung her hat on the back of the chair and sat, keeping her eyes on Natalie. June stood to check on the rolls again and when she glanced back at the table, she saw Vaughn and Natalie holding hands.