Child of Darkness (Gemini 3)

"I don't know if we can keep this quiet," she said, pacing and thinking. "He's been taken to the hospital. There'll be questions and questions. Some nasty gossip mongers, jealous bitches, will probably say I was a bad influence on you or something stupid like that. They just love making trouble for people who outshine them. You know what I'm talking about. I'm sure it's happened to you repeatedly at the orphanage. . . jealous girls making up stories about you. It's dreadful. What to do, what to do," she muttered, still pacing.

Suddenly she stopped and looked at me, her eyes filling with an idea that excited her.

"What?" I asked.

"No one has to know he actually got into your room. He could have fallen off trying. That's it. That's the story I'll give out and the story you'll support when the other students at the school ask you about it, which they're bound to do. I'll even tell that to Wade. He doesn't know the full story yet. Trevor was just moaning and groaning."

She pointed her right forefinger at me.

"And you had better not say anything

different," she warned. "If you do, your only defense will be to accuse him of rape, just like I said."

"I wouldn't do that."

"I have no idea what Wade would do if he knew the whole truth," she added, not really listening to me. "He'd probably want me to send you right back to the orphanage, even if we did accuse Trevor of breaking in and raping you. Wade is not capable of handling domestic problems, only business

problems," she said.

I looked at her with skepticism. My impression of Wade was that he could deal with family issues far better than she could, and he should know the truth.

"He puts on a good act," she said, seeing my doubts. "You have to remember what his youth was like, how Basil treated him and still treats him. In many ways Wade is immature. That's right, immature. He's socially immature. Just take my word for it. He might not show it to you, but if he learned all of this, he would be in a panic, worrying it would somehow impact on his precious plumbing business, and I'd hear about it behind closed doors. Can you listen to me and do what I ask finally?" she nearly screamed.

I nodded and looked away.

"Good. Now as soon as you're finished in here, go to sleep and leave the rest to me," she said. "We'll have a quiet sisterly talk about all this tomorrow."

She approached the bathtub and put her hand on my head, caressing me softly. Surprised, I looked up at her and saw her smile.

"I'm not blaming you as much as you think, Celeste. I know how conniving and clever men are. I knew from the very beginning that you would be a target. You're so beautiful. I probably should have put bars on your windows," she said. "I'm sorry we don't utilize chastity belts anymore. Some social progress for women has only made them more vulnerable and left them with more disadvantage."

When I looked up at her, I saw she was dead serious.

"Just try to get some rest," she added, and leaned down to kiss the top of my head before leaving. "In the morning after breakfast, you and I will have a real sisterly heart-to-heart talk."

Try to get some rest? What an impossible request that was, I thought, rose from my bath, dried myself, put on a different nightgown, and crawled back into the bed. The new sheets smelled starchy, but I also detected the faint aroma of something else. I sniffed and recoiled.

Garlic again! What had she done, filled the sheet with it before bringing it up here? How could I sleep with that in my nostrils? And yet how could I complain?

I heard a knock at my door. Ami wasn't going to knock first anymore, I thought. I was sure it was Wade, or perhaps Mrs. McAlister, sent up with a cup of some herbal tea.

"Come in," I called, and Wade opened the door. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay," I said. How could I mention the sheet without revealing what really happened in here? I thought.

"Teenagers. It's a form of insanity," he said, shaking his head. "I had to call Chris Foley and tell him what happened to his son. The irony is, he'll probably sue me. Did you see Trevor fall?"

"Yes," I admitted. Was he going to ask me more and force me to tell him the whole story?

"He's lucky he didn't get even more damaged. I found this on him," he said, holding up the silver whiskey flask. "I thought it would be better if I was the one to find it. I'll have to tell his father, though," he added. "Maybe that will keep him from starting any sort of stupid legal action."

"I'm sorry about it all. I didn't tell him to come here," I said, which was true.

"Hey, young love. We'll get over it. Ami will calm down. I'll handle the Foleys. Don't worry. One of these days, we'll all actually laugh about it," he said.

Just as I had thought, he was taking it all far better than Anti.

"I'm sorry," I said again.