God Don't Make No Mistakes (32 page)

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Authors: Mary Monroe

BOOK: God Don't Make No Mistakes
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CHAPTER 63
W
HAT I HAD JUST HEARD OUT OF MY DAUGHTER'S MOUTH MADE
my ears ache. Her words broke my heart because what she had just said was true. Oh, I had my work cut out for me. Now I not only had to work on being a good wife, I had to work on being a good mother! I knew that I had been a much better wife and mother than a lot of women, but that didn't make me feel any better.
“Well, we are goin' to fix that. Me and your mama are goin' to find out everything we need to know about what's goin' on with you. Now go on and finish tellin' us your story,” Pee Wee said.
Charlotte let out her breath and then sucked in some air. She looked from me to Pee Wee before she continued. “Anyway, the next day after I tried to talk to that reporter on the telephone, a better idea came to me. I got it from that old Morgan Freeman movie that I wasn't supposed to watch... .” Charlotte confessed.
Pee Wee and I looked at each other again. “What Morgan Freeman movie?” I asked.
“
The Shawshank Redemption
. Morgan Freeman's friend broke out of prison and then he sent a package to a reporter that told everything that mean warden and his guards were up to. I took some pictures with my cell phone and I downloaded them on my computer. I printed out a lot, but I only sent that reporter the ones that Harrietta was in. She used to get so confused, she couldn't keep things straight. I typed up a four-page letter to go with the pictures. I had my mittens on so I wouldn't leave my fingerprints on anything. Then I sealed up the letter and the pictures in a big brown envelope, and I sent the package to that reporter by registered mail. I put a fake name and address on the return address.”
I was stunned to say the least. Who would have thought that a Morgan Freeman movie would turn out to be so important in this mess?
“But if you did all that, why did you still run away?” I asked.
“I sent that package two weeks ago and when nothing happened, I didn't think it would. That's why I ran away.”
“Well, I hope you never run away again. You pretty much was jumping from a frying pan into a fire. Harrietta and Hollywood are two of a kind,” Pee Wee pointed out. “What did you think Hollywood was goin' to do for you?”
Charlotte rolled her eyes, not the way she usually did, but in a gentler manner. It was so subtle that Pee Wee didn't even notice, but I sure did. A stern look from me brought her back down to earth. There was a contrite look on her face. By her blinking her eyes, which had tears in them now, I decided that this gesture was part of her apologetic position.
“I didn't plan on hooking up with Hollywood. I was just going to hang out for a while until I figured out what else to do.” Charlotte scratched her arm and sniffed. “I ... one other thing is ... uh ... I want y'all to know that ... um ... I'm still a virgin. Hollywood was going to give me a week to get myself ready to make him some money,” Charlotte said quickly. “I know y'all might not believe me, but you can have a doctor check me out.”
“We know. One of the investigators told us you'd been examined,” Pee Wee said.
“The important thing now is that you are all right,” I told her, squeezing her hand and then patting the side of her head.
“All I had to do for Harrietta was help her take those nasty pictures and hold the video camera when she ... you know ... filmed the kids doing nasty stuff,” Charlotte said, looking at the floor. “She said I was too old to do most of the stuff she made the other kids do. She said her Internet clients liked real, real young kids the most.” At this point Charlotte paused and a very angry look crossed her face. “Mama, she even showed us some video somebody sent to her of real little kids in Asia talking about how they enjoyed doing nasty stuff! She kept telling us that the whole world had gone sex crazy—even President Clinton. She said that the sooner we learned about sex, the better prepared we'd be to deal with it when we got older!”
Pee Wee and I looked at one another at the same time. I could see my reflection in his eyes. I never felt or looked so helpless and hurt before in my life.
“Oh my God!” Pee Wee yelled, clenching his fists. “Do you mean to tell me that there is pictures of
you
doin'
God knows what
that some sick bastards are gettin' their freak on over? And some of them pictures might even be on the Internet for the whole world to see?”
“NO! I wouldn't let her take no pictures of me. She made me take pictures of some of the real young kids, doing all kinds of nasty stuff with their fingers and those fake, uh, penis things. By me taking the pictures, she said I was as guilty as she was, so that's another reason I was scared to tell on her.”
“What about Hollywood? Did he ... what all did he ...” I couldn't even finish the sentence. If my daughter had lost her innocence before her time the way I had, I didn't think I could stand to hear that and not lose my mind.
I could tell that my daughter was uncomfortable talking about what she'd been through, but I wanted it all out in the open as soon as possible. I wanted her to know that no matter how ugly something was, she should still talk to me about it.
“All Hollywood did was kiss me and play with my titties. That's all Harrietta did to me too. But Hollywood did say that he would have to do the nasty to me before I ... you know ... got with my first man,” Charlotte managed.
I didn't know how much more I could stand to hear without throwing up. I was amazed that I hadn't already done that by now.
“Lizel told me she saw you on the stroll with Hollywood,” I told her, massaging the tsunami taking place in my stomach.
“I know. I seen her spying on me. Hollywood took me out that night so I could see where I'd be working. Then he took me to McDonald's to get a Happy Meal. Just before the cops busted down his front door, he was getting ready to, uh, test me, he called it. He said he had to see how much I was worth.” Charlotte paused again. “Before we did it, he was going to take a bath after I took one. I was going to sneak out while he was in the tub. I wasn't going to let him do nothing nasty to me. Honest to God.”
“That cheesy-ass son of a bitch! If that nigger ever walks the streets of this town again, I am goin' to kill him with my bare hands!” Pee Wee threatened.
“Pee Wee, let's try to be calm about this.”
“Calm my ass! My daughter has been violated by two grown-ass people! And I don't know which one was worse! If I ever see Hollywood or that bitch Harrietta on the street again, I am goin' to go to jail for homicide!” I had known Pee Wee for over thirty-five years. This was the first time I'd seen him this angry.
“Well, it's all over now. Let's keep things in perspective so that something like this will never happen again,” I advised.
“You damn right nothin' like this is ever goin' to happen again! Not to my child! I am goin' to be watchin' her like a hawk from now on!”
“Does that mean you're moving back home, Daddy?” Charlotte asked, smiling and blinking with hopeful anticipation.
I didn't wait long enough for Pee Wee to respond. “Charlotte, are you sure Harrietta didn't do anything to you except make you take pictures of those other kids? You have to tell us everything. There are not going to be any more secrets in this family.”
“She used to feel up and down my titties and squeeze and rub my butt, but that's all; honest to God,” Charlotte admitted, hunching her shoulders. “Every time I threatened to tell on her, she said nobody would believe me. She said that sooner or later she'd make me do more stuff ... be in the pictures doing all kinds of nasty things with some of the other kids, and even to myself so she would have something to hold over me and keep me in line. Am I in trouble?”
Pee Wee and I gasped at the same time. “No, you ain't in trouble, baby. If anything, you're a hero. If you hadn't done what you did, there is just no tellin' how far Harrietta would have gone with this mess!”
“It was wrong for you to run away, Charlotte. That's why you are in here. And I want you to know that I was the one who told them to bring you here.”
“You wanted me to go to jail?” Charlotte whispered, her voice as weak as a newborn kitten's.
“I wanted you to see what it's like for kids who break the law. Running away from home is a crime. I hope you never do anything else to wind up back in a place like this,” I said. “If being in here doesn't scare you straight, nothing will.”
“And I couldn't agree with your mama more,” Pee Wee added.
CHAPTER 64
F
ROM THE WAY THAT CHARLOTTE'S FACE SCREWED UP INTO AN
extreme pout, I could see that she didn't like what her daddy and I had just said.
“Can I come back home, or do I have to go to live with foster folks or something, or Hollywood? When he picked me up on the street that night I left home, he told me that from now on he was going to be my daddy, because y'all didn't want me anyway. He even took me to the video arcade so I could play games while he talked to me.”
“That mangy dog is in jail, and will be for a while! You're comin' home after we finish up with that social worker and do whatever else we need to do. I've already set us up for our first meetin' with a family counselor.” Pee Wee paused and gave me a pitiful look. “We all need some professional help. The sooner we get it, the better off this family will be.”
All I could do was nod, but I managed a weak smile too.
“The trustee told me the news about Harrietta and how her bail was set so high even God couldn't afford to bail her out. But ... what about Hollywood? Did they set a real high bail for him too? He was real mad when the cops kicked down his door. I hope he don't bail out and come to our house to start some mess,” Charlotte said in a low, worried tone of voice.
“With his long criminal record, they ain't even set his bail yet. You don't have to worry about Hollywood comin' to that house. If he ever does, it'll be the last time he makes a house call!” Pee Wee boomed. “Like Harrietta, he's got enough charges against him, they might put him
up under
the jailhouse, let alone set him a bail he can afford. But you have to be strong, baby girl. If you have to testify, you can't let his ugly face or threats stop you from tellin' the law what he tried to make you do. Did he give you anything illegal?”
“You mean like beer?”
“Yeah, that too. But I meant somethin' stronger.”
Charlotte shook her head. “No, he didn't give me nothing stronger than beer. All he would give me and the other girl that he had picked up was a few puffs on a joint, that's all.”
I hadn't eaten since the news about Harrietta broke. My stomach felt like somebody had vacuumed out all of my insides. But after what Charlotte had just revealed, yet another knot suddenly formed in my tortured stomach. I had to bend over and grab my knees to keep from throwing up my intestines.
“You see what you've done to your mama,” Pee Wee said, rubbing my back.
“I am so sorry for causing all this mess. I will be good from now on. I want people to be proud of me. I don't want to be another Jade... .” Charlotte wiped a tear from her cheek. “I never thought Jade would be stupid enough to come over to that tent revival and act a fool like she did that day.”
I looked up, blinking so hard my eyes felt like somebody had splashed some bleach in them. “Well, now Jade is where she needs to be.”
“Huh?”
“You don't know about the mess she's in now?” Pee Wee asked.
Charlotte shook her head again and rolled her eyes from Pee Wee's face to mine. “Uh-uh. What did Jade do? Where is she at?”
“She's in jail too. But she is in a worse place than you're in, and for a far more serious crime,” I said. Charlotte stared in slack-jawed amazement as I told her about Jade's arrest for smuggling drugs. “If you don't straighten up and fly right, you
will
be where Jade is,” I warned. I don't know why I added, “And I will make sure of that.” Yes, I was willing to do what Rhoda had done to Jade if I ever felt that jail was the only way to save my child.
 
It was another Friday, a few days after we had first visited Charlotte. And black Friday in my life. Lillimae had taken Daddy to see his doctor. Charlotte was still in custody. Pee Wee and I had visited her again the evening before. She had practically foamed at the mouth because she was so anxious to get back home. But Pee Wee and I agreed with the social worker that a few more days in custody might send a very strong message to Charlotte. One thing I was convinced of was that once she got home, she would walk a chalk line and be as pliable as a pile of Silly Putty until she was old enough to get a job and move out on her own.
Even though it was just past noon, the sky was almost pitch-black. We were in the middle of one of the worst thunderstorms that season and it seemed to fit everybody's mood. Muh'Dear was at the house when the same two male investigators came to talk to me again so that they could finalize their investigation. She eyed them with contempt and hovered over them like vultures, clucking and mumbling stuff under her breath, shaking her head in disgust, and rolling her eyes. She caused so much tension that the investigators rushed through their final meeting with me and practically left my house running.
As soon as the investigators drove off, Muh'Dear broke loose. “I don't trust none of them folks,” she complained. “If that anonymous person hadn't blew the whistle on Harrietta, there is just no tellin' how far that wench would have gone.” Muh'Dear paused and gave me a puzzled look. “You reckon the tipster was one of them kids?”
I gasped and shook my head. There was no way I was going to tell my mother, Lillimae, or anybody else, other than Rhoda, that Charlotte was the one who had broken the case wide open. I didn't want this situation to be drawn out any more. If Harrietta changed her plea and hired a lawyer, I didn't want some sharp-talking fool yelling and screaming at my child, making her feel like a criminal, the way some defense attorneys did.
“The investigators are pretty sure that it was one of the folks who bought pictures and videos from Harrietta,” I said.
“Hmmm, huh. You probably right. That just goes to show you, there ain't no honor among thieves. Maybe she took somebody's money and didn't send them the right nasty pictures of whatever the hell it was they wanted. My Lord! Only demons would find a child sexy!” Muh'Dear sucked in a deep breath and began to rub circles on her chest. Suddenly, she gasped and covered her mouth. Then she gave me a pitiful look. “Good God! This must bring back all kinds of memories to you about that dog Boatwright and what he done to you when you was a young'un!” Muh'Dear shuffled across the room and joined me on the couch. She wrapped both arms around me and hugged me so tightly I could hardly breathe.
I squeezed her hand and offered her a tight smile. “I've pretty much forgotten all about the things Mr. Boatwright did to me,” I said, and it was true. I could barely remember my ordeal. “Thank God it didn't get that far with Charlotte.”
Muh'Dear sniffed and mopped sweat off her forehead with the tail of her blouse. “When you get that little devil home, I'll hold her while you whup her rump 'til it's mincemeat!”
“I don't think a whuppin' is what Charlotte needs right now,” Lillimae said, entering the house, bless her heart. “She's scared and confused. She's been victimized, and the last thing she needs now is a whuppin' from the folks she thought would protect her.”
“There won't be any more whuppings in this house,” I stated firmly. “But I do want Charlotte to learn from this. And I want to make it clear to her that she can come to me and her daddy and talk to us about anything. I don't care if the Devil is threatening her; she can still come to us.”
“The Devil
was
threatening her, Annette, and you wasn't listenin',” Lillimae pointed out.
“Well, from now on, I will be listening to my child,” I vowed.

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