C I N: "Lynn, Lynn, the city of sin. You never come out the way you went in." (The C I N Series) (21 page)

Suddenly, a horrible thought came to me. Frank and I were the only ones who had purple eyes. Frank had black hair just like I used to. And I was able to feel Alex’s pain
before
I was struck because; it was very possible that Frank was my father.

My head spun. That was why Pig refused to let me touch him. I couldn’t handle this! I had another thought: Alex only took away things that we couldn’t handle.
Michael
. Did he take away his pain? Was
I
his pain?

I ran back to Rat. Ally and Pig glanced up at me. “I have another question for you, Rat. What happened between Michael and Alex this morning?”

Alex opened his door, but Michael shoved him back inside. Pig looked up and growled. “I want Pig to end my pain. I don’t want to live anymore. You’ve taken the woman I love away from me!” Michael wailed, falling onto the floor. “Please, have Pig touch me.”

“I can’t let him do that,” Alex said. He took deep breaths. “Please, Michael, I’ve never had anyone. You’ve been with every girl here, and during the summers you and Reginald always sleep around with the townsfolk. Why can’t I have her?”

“I’m in love with her! She’s different. I haven’t fooled around since I picked her up at the train station. She’s been the only woman on my mind.”

“You can stay away for a little while, if that will help.”

“No, I want you to kill me.”

“Can’t I just take your memory of her away?”

“There’s nothing you can do to erase her from my heart.”

Alex placed his hands on Michael. Little zaps of electricity left Alex and transferred to Michael. He twitched and then shook his head.

“What am I doing in your room?” Michael asked.

“I dunno.” Alex scratched his head, “You came in here and then you just passed out on the floor. Are you eating right, Michael?”

“I eat whatever Pete and Marie give me.”

“I’ll talk to them about putting more vegetables in your diet. I don’t want you fainting again.”

I let go of Rat. Alex didn’t take away Michael’s memory to be mean. He took it away as the only alternative. Michael would’ve tried to touch Pig.

I got up and walked back towards school, or at least my pretend school. I needed to talk to Alex. He wasn’t the villain I made him out to be. He loved me. Why he loved me--I didn’t know but I knew for certain that I was the only one he’d ever cared about in this way. I turned around. Pig and Rat followed close behind with Ally.

“I, um, wanted to ask you a question,” Ally stammered. “Did you learn the truth about your secret? I wanted to make sure before I took Rat and Pig back to the house with me.”

“No, I learned who Frank is.” I frowned.

“Frank?” Ally seemed confused. Did she not know he raped my mother? If that wasn’t my secret, what was?

“What question should I ask?”

“Ask Rat why your mom hasn’t come back for you yet.”

“What do you mean, Ally?” I climbed down the steps, inches from her face. “Did you and Alex do something?”

“Yes, and I’m sorry.”

I picked up Rat in my arms. Before I ever even asked, I was in a Denny’s with Alex, Ally and
my mom
. Amber had come for me! She came back!

My mom placed her hand on Alex’s arm. He saw the rape. His face burned and all he thought about was me and my safety. He was really going to let me go home with her until he realized that I was her problem. My mom was never going to get better as long as she was with me.
 
He stood up and grabbed his chair.

“Alex,” I screamed.

He put down the chair.

I breathed heavily. “Mom, don’t touch Alex, he doesn’t like it.”

“Uh, I can see that.”

Alex nodded and scooted back to the table.

Our waitress inched her way over with a look of horror on her face. “I-Is everything all right here?”

Ally smiled. “Yes, of course. We’re just very hungry.”

“I’ll ask the kitchen staff to push your order,” The waitress said, backing away from the table slowly.

Ally nodded. “That’s a very wise idea.”

My mom grabbed my hand. “So, Lisa I thought we could leave for home today. I figured since you have your permit you could drive until it gets dark. I would have some time to rest up from my drive here and we could stay in some cheap hotel for the night.”

“Sounds good to me.” I hooted, raising my fist in the air.

Alex narrowed his eyes at Amber. “Why would you want to take her with you? Do you have a place to live? Aren’t you still sick?”

Amber stood her ground. “Leaving my daughter here isn’t going to help make me better.”

“I’m afraid
she is your
problem.” Alex crossed his arms and leaned them on the table. “Isn’t that right, Amber? It’s hard to look at her now that she’s older and looks so much like
him
?”

“Lisa, let’s get out of here. This kid is scaring me. I’m sorry I left you with these freaks.”

I obeyed, pushing my chair away from the table. Ally grabbed my shirt and jerked me backwards. “What’s happening?” Her eyes watered. “Alex, what’s going on? I don’t understand.”

Alex folded his arms across his chest. “Nothing, don’t worry, Ally. Amber isn’t taking Lisa anywhere.”

Amber grabbed my arm and tugged. She led me out the front door.

“Get in the car, Lisa. Those kids are crazy. That boy is going to kill someone one day. He’s like the next Ted Bundy or something.”

She started the car.

Alex and Ally raced out of Denny’s and stood on the sidewalk. “What did you see, Alex?” Ally whimpered. “I don’t want Lisa to leave. I like having her here.”

“She’s a child of rape. Her mother hates her,” Alex exclaimed. “
Hates
her!”

“Make her stay!” Ally cried, hitting him in the shoulder.

My mom put the car in drive and hit the gas. We merged onto the highway. My mom blasted the radio and began singing. It was an old song by Cyndi Lauper;
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
.
 

We merged into traffic.
 
Alex and Ally still stood in front of Denny’s. “Now, Alex!” Ally tugged on his shirt. “Or else I will!”

“Fine! I’ll stop them,” he shouted. Electricity emanated from his fingertips.

“We’re almost out of Lynn,” my mom squealed. “Almost free!”

I grabbed the dash and my mom clutched the steering wheel.

She hit her brakes and the car spun in a circle.

A bolt of lightning from Alex’s fingertips hit the roadway; splitting the Lynn, Massachusetts sign in two.

Hurry on home.

Alex said it. I reached over and grabbed my mother’s hand. We looked at the sky. It was clear; not a rain cloud in sight.

“Start the car,” I demanded, “I want to get out of here.”

My mom turned the ignition but the car stalled. She tried again.

Nothing…

Finally, the engine purred and my mom inched forward. She went around another car that had skidded to a stop as well.

Amber hit the breaks.

The road had a big hole in the center of it. There wasn’t any way out; at least not this way. “Find another exit.” I bit my fingernails.

“Did Millie tell you something?” Amber asked, backing out of the debris.
 

 
“About the night you were conceived?” Amber glanced at me. “Alex knew about it and I don’t remember telling Millie anything about it;
ever
.”

“What are you talking about?” My hands trembled.

“Good, it’s better that you never know.”

“Know what?” I screeched. “Stop the car!”

My mom hit the brakes. We were half on the sidewalk, trying to get out of the mess of vehicles backed up because of the lightning strike.

“Really, Lisa, it’s not a big deal.” She wouldn’t look at me. “It’s something that only concerns me.”

“Mother…”

“Lisa.”

“If you don’t tell me, then I’m going to get out and go find Alex. He’ll tell me for sure!”

My mother hid her face in her hands. “Jimmy, well, he’s not your real father.”

I blinked. “Who’s my father, then?”

“I don’t know.” She wiped the tears from her eyes. “I came home after a long night of working; I went to the bathroom to take a shower because I was so dirty from running around at a catering party. When I close my eyes I can still smell the chocolate fondue that spilled all over me.”
 

Amber opened her mouth but nothing came out.

“What happened, mom?”

“Some man, with eyes just like yours, stepped into the shower.”

“Mom?” My lips trembled.

“He slammed me into t h e
  
w a l l, and then he—”

“Stop, I don’t want to hear anymore.”

“I can’t be near you, Lisa, without thinking about that night, but, another part of me cannot be
away
from you, either.”

“Is that why you sent me away; because you didn’t want to face me anymore?”

“Millie never responded to any of my calls in the past. I always got her voicemail, then a few days later after I’d had one of my episodes; I was fine and didn’t want you to leave. But, out of the blue, Millie called me back two weeks ago. She said she’d help me out just this once. It was very out of character for Millie to do this. She’s never been a very good sister-in-law to me. But, I thought maybe if I had a little break to clear my head that maybe, just maybe I could see
you
for you and not
him
.”

“So, what do you want to do now?”

“I want to get you out of Lynn, That’s what I want to do right now.”

She hugged me. “I’m so sorry I told you.”

“Me, too.”

Amber and I got out of the car and took the sidewalk.

“I could get contacts. That might make it easier for you to look at me,” I said.

“We’re going to get some counseling together. That would probably be the best thing.”

We crossed the street.

The sky darkened.

Alex and Ally stood a few feet away, hidden behind some trees. “You do it, now, Alex!” Ally pounded her fists into his shoulders. “She’s leaving.
Leaving!
Do you even hear me?”

“Lisa, I forgot my phone. I’ll be right back.” Amber ran back to the car. I stood inches away from the broken “Welcome to Lynn” sign.

Thunder rolled above us and ambulances and police cars finally arrived from Lynn and the surrounding city. People climbed out of their cars, shouting and cursing filled my ears and I sat on part of the “Lynn” sign.

Droplets of rain pelted me in the forehead. My mom had been detained. A policeman had stopped to question her.