Chapter Twenty Four
Sadie
All eight of us are piled into a brand-new Escalade. We all went in together and got a vehicle we could be together in, and it’s also what I drive daily now. I don’t know why we needed something this nice, but I won’t complain. It’s comfortable. Although at this rate, we are going to need a bus.
“Home sweet home,” Dean says as we drive past the sign welcoming us into our hometown. We go to the Bed and Breakfast first, and Martha steps out to greet us.
“Sadie Graves,” she says happily, hugging me.
“Hey, Mrs. Martha,” I say sweetly.
“You look amazing,” she says, stepping back to look at me. I am wearing a form-fitting maternity dress that comes to my knees that the guys went out and bought for me last night, so I look very obviously pregnant.
“Lying doesn’t look good on you, Mrs. Martha,” I laugh, and all of the guys glare at me, making Martha laugh.
“You are living my dream, sweet girl. Eight men to take care of you? Hell, I’d give anything just to get my husband to do the dishes,” she says, and I laugh.
“I’m sure the gossip is juicy. I’d love to hear what people are saying,” I say.
“Oh, the usual. They say that you’re living in sin and acting like a harlot. Your momma would be rolling in her grave if she knew you were pregnant,” Martha says with a grin.
“Wait until they find out I don’t know who the father is,” I say with a wink.
“I’m confused,” Jake says. “Do we like Mrs. Martha?”
“Yeah,” I laugh.
“Mrs. Martha would be who Sadie could talk to when she’d get overwhelmed, and we weren’t close or available,” Dean says.
“She would also give me cake,” I laugh. “We are going to go set our stuff down so I can go see Dad. I told him I would talk to him, but that should happen before the funeral.”
“Well, good luck with that,” Martha says. “Does he know about the baby?”
“No, I only just now got to the doctor,” I say. I laugh when she narrows her eyes.
“Sadie Graves. You’d better be kidding,” Martha says.
“No, I uh… went through a lot with Paul and his family. My best friend was murdered by the same person who assaulted me, and I was terrified of being like my mom, so I ignored it. The possibility of my rapist being the biological father was terrifying. I was afraid his family would try to get custody of the baby. The guys finally got me to admit it, and I actually got my first scan yesterday,” I explain.
“I heard about Paul killing himself,” she says. “I feel like there is a lot I don’t know.”
“Uhm. Yeah… Paul assaulted me when I was eleven and again a few weeks before his death. His cousin Leo is the one who raped me and murdered our friend a few months ago,” I explain.
“Ah, Leo,” Martha sighs. “His parents mentioned someone murdered him or something.”
“Uh. Yeah,” I laugh nervously. “Something like that.”
“She beat the piss out of him with the butt of a gun,” Dean says, and Martha laughs.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t laugh about that. Leo was just a big boy,” Martha says.
“Like an angry spider monkey,” Mason chuckles.
“Anyway. I’m going to go scold my father like a child,” I smile. “Love you, Mrs. Martha.”
“Love you, too, girly. Stay out of trouble,” she says with a kind smile.
We get all our bags into the rooms and get back into the car to drive to Dad’s house. When we pull into the driveway, Dad is already on the porch.
“You ready?” Dean asks.
“Uhm… Yeah. I’m just not in the mood to be called a whore,” I say with a sigh.
“If he starts being disrespectful, we leave,” Lance says simply and opens the door. Everyone else gets out, and Dean gets to the passenger side door and opens it for me. When I step out, and Dad sees me, he smiles.
“Hey, Dad,” I say as I step onto the porch.
“Sadie,” he says with a tearful smile. When I get close enough, he puts his hands on my belly and then hugs me tightly. “You’re pregnant.”
“I am,” I say. When he pulls away, he wipes his face.
“Come in, everyone,” Dad says. “The neighbors are being nosy.”
“They’re good for that,” I say. Dad opens the door for us, and we all walk in.
“I remember some faces, but not all,” he says.
“You know Dean, Mason, and Lance, but this is Todd, Jake, Del, Ben, and Billy,” I say.
“It’s nice to meet you boys,” Dad says, and they all greet him back. I look at Dean, Lance, and Mason in confusion because I’m not used to being respected in this house.
“I figured we should talk before the funeral tomorrow,” I say.
“Right,” he says. “Sit and tell me how everything has been.”
“Not good, but also good,” I say. “It’s complicated.”
“Sadie, be honest,” Dad sighs. “I genuinely want to know, no matter how good or bad. I want to be a part of your life. I know I have a lot to make up for, so I want you to be as mad and blunt as you want.”
“Okay,” I say. “To be blunt… I was kidnapped and raped by Paul and Leo over a year ago. A few months ago, I was kidnapped with my best friend, and she was murdered after Leo raped me right beside her. I am obviously pregnant. I don’t know which of them is the biological father, but I know it’s not Leo’s from the rape.
They will all be fathers, and we all live together.
I’m obviously not married, but I basically consider all of them like a husband. ”
“That must be a big house,” Dad remarks. “I’m sorry about Paul and Leo. I did hear they are both dead.”
“Yeah. Paul died a bit after my first kidnapping. I killed Leo, though,” I say bluntly.
“Oh my. How? He’s the one who killed your friend?”
“Uh. Yeah. She died because he was trying to kill me, but she pulled me behind her and took the bullet. I kinda… lost it. He pointed the gun at me, so I ran at him and knocked him down. I beat him with the gun before lying with Stacy as she died,” I explain.
“I’m so sorry to hear about your friend, Sadie. That’s awful,” he says with a sad voice.
“Oh? Not going to tell me we tempted Leo?” I ask bitterly.
“Sadie, I am not your mother. I never thought you tempted anyone,” he says.
“Then why didn’t you protect me?” I ask, and he sighs.
“Your mother… she was…”
“A heartless cunt?” I ask, and he smiles. Not what I expected.
“Yeah,” he says. “She wore me down mentally. I was and still am so depressed that I can hardly function most days. If I kept my mouth shut, she left me alone. If I didn’t, I’d end up having to deal with the old pastor.
I can’t count how many times she sent him after me because I wasn’t doing what she wanted. ”
“I… never knew that,” I frown.
“I was able to keep you out of a lot. I managed to keep you out of a lot of the bullshit that happened at that church. I thought I did, until she sent you to that godforsaken camp,” Dad says.
“Your mother was in so deep with that church. They had her brainwashed to think that what Paul did to you was a necessity. I didn’t know until after she had to take you to the doctor that she knew all along what he was going to do to you. ”
“She planned that?” I ask.
“Apparently,” he sighs. “I was so angry, but when I tried to take you and leave, she threatened to tell the police that I did that to you.”
“Dad… I didn’t…”
“No. Don’t you do that,” Dad says sternly.
“Don’t give me an apology for something I let happen.
I don’t care how depressed I was; I should have saved you from her.
I went along with everything and let myself get brainwashed by her.
That’s on me. I am only saying this because I want you to understand the full story. ”
“How did Mom get wrapped up in the church like that?” I ask.
“Uh. Well, the pastor violently raped her when she had a counseling session with him. He told her that he had to rid her of her demons, and apparently, that can only be achieved through doing vile things to someone,” he says, rolling his eyes.
“I tried so hard to get her to go to the police. She just… shut down. She let him convince her that she had demons, so she let him keep hurting her.”
“When was this?” I ask. He looks up at me with tears in his eyes and shakes his head before dropping his gaze again.
“Oh no,” Mason says softly.
“What? What am I missing?”
“The pastor is your biological father,” Mason says. Dad looks up and nods.
“I stayed when she kept letting him hurt her because of you. I was afraid he would hurt her worse because she would be unwed. I also didn’t want anyone touching you.
I thought I was doing so well protecting you from that, but…
she sent you to that camp. I thought it was just a regular camp.
If I had known… I would have taken you and disappeared. Anything, really.”
“Mom knew?” I ask.
“Yeah. She held it over my head,” he sniffs. “She kept threatening to take my little girl and… I didn’t want you to end up like her.”
“I feel bad for hating you for so many years now,” Dean says.
“Don’t feel bad,” Dad says. “I was weak, and my baby got hurt because of it.”
“I’m glad she’s dead,” I say simply. He looks up at me and is lost in thought for a second.
“Me too, baby,” he says. “I knew something was wrong.”
“What?” I ask.
“The stroke,” he says. “I told them I was napping, but I wasn’t. I sat there and watched her suffer. I told her all the reasons I hated her and how I can’t wait to get to Hell and see how much she’s been tortured.”
“You knew she was dying and didn’t help?” I ask.
“Yeah,” he says, almost ashamed. When I burst into laughter, so does everyone else. Dad looks up at me, confused, but smiles.
“Can I tell you something?” I ask.
“Of course,” he says.
“I killed Paul,” I say, and he chuckles. “I talked to the police about the rape and kidnapping. They basically said it was my fault and wouldn’t help. I knew he’d hurt me again, so I killed him.”
“He hung himself, I thought,” Dad says.
“I knocked the chair out from under him,” I say, and he belly laughs.
“I shouldn’t be proud of you for that, Sadie… but I am,” he says.
“I’m glad you got to say your peace,” I say, and he smiles weakly.
“It was a bit rewarding to be able to watch her suffer for what she’s done to you. She caused you so much pain... I want to make up for it somehow.”