Blood Wrong

Tom had just returned from a delivery and was walking around the counter from the back room when he looked up to see Addy pressed against the front window. He was out the door and had her cradled in his arms in less time than it takes to tell it. Addy was whimpering and sobbing so much she was unintelligible. Tom pulled her blouse and sweatshirt down to cover her modesty and picked her up to carry her inside. Shouting for someone to call for an ambulance.

Once inside, Tom laid Addy on the old sofa in the back office and untied her bra from her hands freeing them. Addy brought her hands to her face as if to hide from the world. Tom knelt on the floor beside her stroking her hair and murmuring trying to soothe her, to calm her down. He himself was wound up tighter than a spring though. Seeing Addy this way was like a knife in his heart and he desperately wanted, no... needed... to do something... to lash out or strike back.

"Addy... who... who did this to you?" Tom asked softly in her ear as he continued to try to comfort her.

"Delbert..." Addy said in a meek voice so quietly that it was hardly more than a whisper and so full of hurt and shame that it sent another dagger of pain through Tom's heart.

Addy lay curled into a fetal position on that old couch and shook with her sobs. Tears flowed from her eyes and ran down her cheeks through the dirt on her cheeks. Tears also clouded Tom's vision but not nearly as much as the blood red rage that grew from his gut. How could anyone be so cruel he wondered. He silently vowed that he would make Delbert pay for this if it was the last thing he ever did.

Richard and Teresa arrived at the hardware store about the same time as the ambulance did. The EMTs did a quick evaluation before gently transferring Addy to their gurney and taking her out to the ambulance. Teresa rode in the ambulance with Addy on the trip to the hospital in Kansas City, Richard followed in his truck. Tom said he would follow along shortly, he had to do something first.

Tom watched the ambulance drive off with lights and siren blaring, Richard in his truck close behind it. The fire in his gut raged as the hatred for Delbert grew from contempt to an all-consuming obsession. He stuck his hands in his pockets and traced Addy's steps backwards from the hardware store to where her books had fallen on the sidewalk a block and a half away. He followed the drag marks into the alley to where the vile act had taken place. The scuffed earth and smell of urine only served to fan the flames of hatred in his heart.

With hooded eyes, Tom turned and walked back out of the alley to collect Addy's books and things that she had dropped. There, on the edge or the sidewalk were Addy's glasses. He carried her things to the hardware store and put them in his pickup truck. I climbed into the cab and sat behind the wheel and leaned forward to rest his forehead on the steering wheel as his hand gripped it in a deathlike hold. The rage in his soul fought with the searing pain that he felt for his defiled precious Addy. The light of his life, the one person he loved in this life more than anything in the world. Tom wept.

That evening, late, the doctors had examined Addy and found only superficial wounds, bruises mostly and a slight tearing of her vaginal opening. They followed procedure and completed a rape kit for law enforcement if it were to be requested. She was cleaned up and given a hospital gown to wear home as her own clothing was soiled and smelled of urine. After discharge, Addy was wheeled out to the front of the hospital where she was loaded into Richard and Teresa's pickup truck. Tom followed them home in his own truck.

Once back home, on the farm, Teresa walked Addy to the bathroom where she helped her draw a bath. She soaked and scrubbed and cried until she could cry no more. Richard and Tom sat silently at the kitchen table, each lost in their own thoughts. Richard was as worried about Tom as he was his own flesh and blood daughter. He knew that the two were very close and this was hurting the boy, the young man, as much as any of them. Tom was stoic, sitting there with his arms hanging at his sides, a faraway look in his eyes as he stared at the table top. Richard could almost hear the gears turning in his mind. There was a storm rising.

After Teresa got Abby dressed and tucked into bed she came downstairs to the kitchen. Her eyes were red rimmed from crying and the hurt was all over her face. She rested her hand on Richard's shoulder briefly before walking around to do the same with Tom. Tom finally looked up and turned to glance at Teresa. Teresa swallowed and cleared her throat before speaking.

"Tommy... Addy wants you... she wants you to come be with her, like when you were younger. She said she needs you. Be gentle Tommy, she's been hurt bad..." Teresa told Tom in a voice that sounded as much as pleading as it did instruction.

Tom stood slowly and Teresa Wrapped her arms around him and hugged him fiercely. Tom stood rigidly for a moment then returned the hug briefly before heading off to go upstairs to Addy. At the bottom of the staircase, he paused. His left hand on the banister, his right running through his hair as he looked down at his feet. Gathering his thoughts and separating the raging hate that was boiling just under the surface, from the love that he had for his dear Addy. He didn't want to bring any more hurt to her than she had already experienced. With a deep breath he climbed the stairs.

Tom took his boots off outside her bedroom door before slowly opening the door and letting himself in. Addy was curled once more in a fetal position, her back to the door as she faced the window beside her bed. The low light from her bedside lamp giving the room a warm glow. Hearing the door open then close, Addy rolled over enough to see who it was. Upon seeing Tommy, she sobbed and opened her arms beckoning him to her. Tom's heart melted just a little more as his vision grew blurry from his own tears.

Tom lay in the bed next to Addy and enveloped her in his arms, her head nestled into the crook of his neck and shoulder as she shuddered and shook with silent sobs. Tom stroked her back and murmured reassurances into her hair. After some time, she calmed and began to breathe steadily and fell asleep. Tom continued to hold her as she slept. Again, he vowed to God and himself that Delbert would pay and pay dearly. After some time, he wasn't sure just how long, lost in his own thoughts as he was, Addy stirred.

"I'm so sorry Tommy..." She whimpered into his chest, her words slightly muffled by the heavy flannel shirt he still wore.

"Why are you sorry Addy?" Tom asked in a low but confused voice, perplexed by her words.

"I... I'm not clean anymore... I'm ruined." She said sadly as she sniffed and coughed a choking sob into his shirt.

"Shhhhhhh... baby, you're not ruined. You are not dirty, not by any stretch of the imagination. What he... what he did was wrong. It was horrible, but you are better than that. Not even he can ruin you Addy. He's a pig... he's shit. Wash him off of you and hold your head up high. He's not worth your spit." Tom growled even as he stroked the back of her head gently.

"I'm so ashamed... I just want to hide away from the world." Addy sputtered softly.

"It's okay, Addy, you're safe now, nobody can hurt you. I'm here. I'll always be here for you." He told her gently.

"I... I love you Tommy..." Addy cried in a quiet sad voice, as she snuggled in closer to him still.

"I love you too, Addy. I always have, and I always will baby. Now hush and rest. Go to sleep Addy. I'll stay right here with you." Tom promised her softly.

Addy shook softly for a while longer but finally stilled to where her chest slowly rose and fell with her relaxed breathing. She had drifted off to sleep again, wrapped in Tom's arms.

Tom was awakened by a hand gently shaking his shoulder. In the in the light cast by the open bedroom door from the hallway, Tom realized it was Richard. Addy was sleeping soundly her back to Tom as she had spooned up next to him in her sleep. Tom eased himself up and away from her and then pulled her blankets up around her shoulders and kissed her gently on her exposed right cheek. He turned and walked softly out of the room and closed the door quietly behind himself and Richard.

"I figured I should wake you up so you wouldn't be late for work. I'm sure Teresa's folks would be understanding but they are pretty dependent on you son. You go get cleaned up and have a bite to eat before you go. Addy will be fine here at home, her momma will be here with her and I'll be close on the farm if she needs anything." Richard spoke quietly to Tom in his gravelly deep voice. Tom was sure he heard heavy emotion in that same voice this morning, he knew that Richard too seethed with anger and pain over what had happened to Addy.

Tom raised his hands to his face and then ran them both back through his hair before taking a deep breath and lowering his arms. He looked Richard in the eyes, the old man's were as red and his own.

"She told me who did it..." Tom growled quietly. "The son of a bitch will pay for it!" He spat with venom.

"Tommy... Tom... Son. I feel the same way, but it's not for us to do. I'm going to talk to the county Sheriff this morning. The little bastard will pay, but let the law handle it." Richard spoke rumbled with his gravelly voice, one hand on Tom's shoulder.

"I can't make any promises... but I'll wait and see what happens... for a while." Tom vowed with a steady gaze into the old man's eyes.

Richard nodded sagely and gave Tom's shoulder a brief squeeze before releasing him. Tom turned and headed down the hall to his own room. He stretched then took off the clothes that he had put on about this time the day before, and ended up sleeping in. He went down the hall to the bathroom and showered quickly. Back in his room he dressed in clean work clothes. All but his boots, they were still outside of Addy's door.

As he walked in his sock covered feet down the hall Tom heard murmuring coming from Addy's room. He saw through the gap where the door was only partially closed, that Richard was on his hands and knees beside Addy's bed. His hands clasped together and his elbows on Addy's bed with his head bowed. The old man was praying softly for healing for his only daughter, and for patience for his boy. Tom felt his heart do a little flip in his chest. Silently he bent over and picked up his boots and then carried them quietly down the hall then down the stairs. Sitting on the bottom stair he put them on and tied them.

"Coffee will be ready in a minute Tommy, sit down and eat." Teresa told Tom as he entered the kitchen. She set a plate on the table before him with bacon and eggs and a couple of biscuits. Tom bowed his head and said a quick prayer of thanks silently... then thinking of Richard praying at Addy's bedside, he added a prayer for Addy as well. Tom picked up his fork and ate mechanically, not really tasting the food as his mind was preoccupied with how he would track down Delbert Evans. The boy was still in school, the same senior class as Addy at the High School. Maybe after school, the punk liked to hang out around the school. Yeah, Tom was distracted.

"Tommy? Did you hear me?" Teresa asked with a hint of concern as she touched the tips of her fingers to his left that was balled up into a fist on the table to the left of his plate.

"I'm sorry, I'm a little foggy this morning... worrying about Addy..." Tom apologized to Teresa.

"I can tell, we all are. Tom, you and Addy are close. Closer than most brother and sister. She looks up to you. Be careful how you deal with this, please. It's hard for us, but it's even harder for her." Teresa said softly as she patted Tom's left hand before standing back up to fix a plate for Richard as he walked into the kitchen.

Tom wiped his mouth with his napkin then pushed his chair back to stand. He let his hands lay flat on the table on either side of his plate. Looking to Richard's face as he sat down across the table, Tom asked him.

"You'll call and let me know what you find out... from the Sheriff?"

"If I find out anything, yes, I'll call. Tom?" The old man began to question.

"I know... be patient..." He sighed and bowed his head breaking eye contact briefly before standing up straight and leaving the table to find his jacket and hat.

Teresa met him at the back door and handed him a brown paper bag with a sandwich for his lunch. Tom accepted it and told her thanks, then turned and went out the door. The sky was just beginning to lighten with the coming dawn. Tom's old pickup creaked as he opened the door and climbed into the driver's seat. Glancing up to the window over the front porch, Addy's room, he said another silent prayer for his little sister before starting his engine and driving off.

The day went by almost unnoticed, Tom was in a fog his thoughts and worries for Addy mixed with a seething hatred for the bastard that did that to her. Teresa's grandparents were understanding that he was hurt and upset and so overlooked some mistakes that he made, like taking deliveries to the wrong addresses. Tom snapped out of it enough to correct the mistakes, but he was still distracted. There weren't many deliveries that day so by three o'clock that afternoon the old man told him he could knock off for the day. Tom thanked him and promised that he would do better tomorrow. Before he left the hardware store he asked if Richard had called while he was out. He learned that there had been no phone call. Tom hung his head and then went out the door and climbed into his old pickup truck.

Sitting behind the wheel again, Tom let his mind wander. Where would that prick Delbert Evans be on a day like today? It was cloudy all day and threatening to rain, but as of yet there hadn't been a drop to fall from the skies. In the end, Tom started his truck and drove off towards the high school. Maybe he would get lucky and find him at or around the school.

As Tom was crossing the outskirts of town, he spotted a group of guys sitting on an old propane tank next to a closed and abandoned gas station. He recognized one of them instantly even though the last time he had seen the guy he had two black eyes and swollen lips. Ryan Betts. Tom slowed the truck and turned into the gravel parking lot and pulled up to the pump island that still had two broken gas pumps on it. The weeds were grown up around it and in several spots around the parking lot. The guys were all just sitting there on the propane tank drinking beers and smoking, trying to look tough or something. Ryan almost choked on his beer as he recognized Tom when he opened the door and climbed out of the truck. Ryan's face went pale but he sat still on the tank trying to act cool... and failing miserably.

Tom walked slowly across the parking lot towards the tank with an expressionless face. His eyes were cold as he stared a hole through Ryan though. A couple of the guys recognized Tom as well as he got closer and raised their beer bottles in salute, all smiles. They might not have been drunk, but hey were buzzed and feeling no pain all the same. Ryan, however, had sobered up very quickly. His heart was racing in his chest.

"Hi guys." Tom spoke in greeting, sounding infinitely calmer than how he felt inside. The smile on his face was on his lips only.

"Hey Tom! How's it goin' man?" One of the boys sitting next to Ryan asked.

"Oh, not bad I guess..." Tom replied as he stepped a little closer, sliding his hands into his front pockets of his jeans as if he were bored.

"Say, have you guys seen Delbert Evans around today?" Tom asked, glancing at the other guys but locking eyes on Ryan.

"Oh man! That guy is so full of shit! He's been bragging all day today at school about fucking some slut yesterday... he just wouldn't shut up about it." The guy to Ryan's left spoke up and chuckled before taking another swig from his bottle.

"Yeah... He's probably tryin' to git some more of that this afternoon." The guy to Ryan's right chimed in and laughed.

Ryan didn't think that his day could get any worse, but the fire he saw in Tom's eyes made him nearly wet his pants. Tom, somehow, some way, managed to keep his voice even and calm, almost as if he were bored.

"Yeah, he's a lot of talk, isn't he? Say, Ryan... could you come over here to my truck for a minute? I need to ask you something in private?" Tom asked and tossed his head over his shoulder towards his truck. "Thanks guys." He said to the three other boys sitting on the tank.

Ryan swallowed and saw his life flash before his eyes, it only took a moment, he was only 18 years old after all. With a deathly white face, he slid off the tank and nearly crumpled to his knees into the gravel as his shaky legs nearly buckled. He dropped his beer bottle and the lit cigarette fell from his lips as he stumbled along in a dead man's gate just a few steps behind Tom towards the pump island and Tom's truck. At the truck Tom turned and leaned his back against the side of the bed and crossed his arms as if in a friendly conversation. Ryan stopped a hesitant step or two away from Tom.

"Ryan... Do you know anything more about what your buddy Delbert did yesterday?" Tom asked in a low voice that rumbled like distant thunder in Ryan's ears.

"He's not my buddy... anymore." Ryan nearly whimpered and then swallowed. His eyes were huge and frightened.

"So, you finally wised up to the fact that he's no good... that's good Ryan... but you didn't answer my question... did you? I'll ask you again, please think very hard and tell me the truth... okay? Do you know anything more about what Delbert did yesterday?" Tom asked quietly and jutted his head slightly forward and raised one eyebrow before tilting his head a bit towards his right shoulder.

Again, Ryan swallowed. His bottom lip was trembling as his fight or flight instincts were screaming at him to run to RUN LIKE HELL. In the end though, he swallowed again and took a deep breath and bowed his head in defeat.

"I overheard him tell a girl that he was trying to hit on that he fucked... uh... had sex with... your... with Addy." Ryan whimpered again and figured he was about to be pummeled. When it didn't happen, he looked up to see what was going on.

"Do you believe him Ryan?" Tom asked in a voice that cracked but was still soft and quiet.

"I... I... I don't... know man... Tommy I swear! I didn't have anything to do with it man! I don't hang around with him anymore... he's bad news." Ryan sputtered nervously.

"Yeah, he's bad news alright. Listen Ryan, buddy... Delbert hurt my sister yesterday, really bad. You didn't have anything to do with that so relax." Tom said almost affably. It might have been thought of as friendly if it weren't for the cold look in Tom's eyes.

"Is... is she okay... Addy?" Ryan asked meekly with a nervous voice.

"She will be, Ryan. She will be. I can't say the same for Delbert though." Tom said with venom dripping from every word.

He smiled again at Ryan and unfolded his arms and reached over and patted Ryan on his right shoulder. He leaned forward and away from his truck and turned to get in. Ryan was rooted where he stood, he damned near wet his pants with relief as Tom started the truck and put it in gear and drove off. The other guys on the propane tank, still clueless as to what was said all raised their beers and saluted Tom as he drove away.

Having spoken with Ryan and hearing what the other guys had said had only soured Tom's mood all that much more. It was only fitting that the skies finally opened up and it started raining as he drove home to the farm. Yes, Delbert Evans would get what's coming to him, one way or another. Tom had made a promise to Richard to wait and hear what the Sherriff might have to say about the situation first. That was a hard pill to swallow but he had done it. Now, though, it was time to be with Addy. His sweet precious Addy, the light of his life.