Salvaged (10 page)

"Great movie, kids." Mr. Bennett stood, stretched, and let out a
large yawn. Riley and I looked at each other and rolled our eyes.

"Old folks," Riley chided while pointing his thumb toward his
father.

"Hey now, no making fun of the senior citizen in the room," Mr.
Bennett teased. "It's way past my bedtime, and I've got to get some
sleep. See you guys in the morning, and don't forget about church
tomorrow."

"All right. Good night, Dad."

"Good night, Pops," I added.

Mr. Bennett stopped and turned around to face us. "Pops?"

"Pops, that's my new name for you."

"Pops," he repeated as he tried to decide if he liked my new
name for him. He smiled and nodded his head. "I like that. I sound young and cool, not old and out of touch. Yeah, that's a cool name.
Okay, good night, kids."

Riley and I slowly made our way up the stairs. I knew that we
were both afraid of what the night might bring, and once we made
it to the top landing, we stopped outside Melody's room to contemplate the unknown.

As I took a deep breath and began to walk into the room, Riley
put his hand on my shoulder and turned me toward him. "Look, you
don't have to do this alone." He looked frightened for me. It was
sweet.

"Riley, this isn't your burden. I've got to do this."

"I don't know."

"What?" I winked at him. "Are you going to sleep on my floor
every night for the rest of your life?"

He gave me a sly grin. "Don't even go there. You might be afraid
of my answer."

I chuckled at his sarcasm.

His face turned somber. "We can give it more time, Charlie. I
can stay with you until you don't need me anymore."

"Let me try. I'll be okay." I tried to sound confident and reassuring. "If I need you, I'll come get you."

He glanced into Melody's room and grimaced. "You promise
you'll come get me? I don't want you to hurt anymore."

"I know you don't."

I patted his shoulder before walking backwards into the bedroom. I was trying to be funny, but he didn't find it the least bit
amusing. Giving him one last small smile, I closed the door and
continued to walk backwards until I could see the crack under the
door. I stood waiting for several minutes until Riley's shadow finally
walked away.

I slowly turned to face the night alone, and like Legend did in
the movie, I tried to prepare myself to face the monsters when they
came out of hiding.

(Riley)

Wanting to make sure that I woke up to check on Attie a few
times during the night, I set my alarm for three hours later, but when
the alarm went off at one o'clock, my eyes were still wide open. I'd
never fallen asleep.

After getting out of bed I crept toward her room and saw light
escaping from under the door. Slowly, so as not to make any noise, I
opened the door and looked in.

My heart stopped beating.

I didn't see her anywhere. She wasn't on the floor or in the bed.
I turned to go check downstairs but caught a glimpse of her red
toenails peeking out from beside Melody's dresser. Walking into the
room and setting my eyes on Attie, my heart broke. She'd crouched
herself in a corner between the dresser and the wall. Her legs were
pulled up to her chest, and her head rested on her arms, which were
draped across her knees. Her body trembled, and as I moved slightly
closer, she startled.

"It's okay, Charlie." My hands were shaking as I reached out to
her.

"Riley?" She sounded exhausted.

I moved closer to her. "Yes, I'm here." Stroking her hair with
my hand, my trembling stopped as she laid her head back against
the wall, looked at me with heavy eyes, and tried to give me a small
smirk. "I guess I'm not as brave as I thought."

"Why didn't you come get me?" I whispered. "Silly girl, I told
you to come get me if you needed me."

She now gave a small, tired laugh. "Good grief, Riley, you need
your sleep."

I moved my hand to her cheek. "You thought I was sleeping?"

"Weren't you?"

"Not a chance."

She tilted her head so that it rested in the palm of my hand, and
her eyes slowly shut.

I didn't want to rouse her, but I needed to remove her from the
corner. "Charlie?"

"Hmm?"

"Wait right here. I'll be right back."

She opened her eyes. They were full of fear.

"I'll be right back. I'll only be a minute. I'm not leaving you
alone, Charlie. I'll be right back."

After she nodded at me, I ran into my room, dug through my
closet, yanked out two sleeping bags, and laid them out on the floor
before returning to her as fast as I could.

I knelt down and touched her face. "Come on, come with me."

She was wedged so tightly into the corner that I was forced to
pull her up by the arms to release her from the grip of her hiding
place. Grabbing her hand in one hand and her pillow in the other, I
led her to my bedroom.

"Riley, I-"

Assuming that she was about to try to talk me out of watching
over her for the night, I didn't let her get another word out. "This
isn't a debatable issue. I don't wanna hear it. I'm not letting you torture yourself anymore."

Attie nodded and then without any warning walked up to me
and put her forehead on my chest. She was beyond the point of
exhaustion.

"Thank you, Riley. I don't think I can fight the monsters alone."

I wrapped my arms around her and kissed the top of her head.
"You aren't alone. I'm right here. I'll keep fighting the monsters with
you.

She sighed as her small frame melted perfectly into my welcoming body. After only a few moments, she relaxed, and her breathing
became soft.

"Charlie?"

There was no response.

"Charlie?"

She didn't answer; she'd fallen asleep standing up. I drew her in
closer to my body and whispered into her ear, "Wake up, and let's get
you in the sleeping bag."

"Sleeping bag?" she mumbled. Her face nuzzled into my chest.
"No, I'll sleep right here."

I let out a small laugh. "No, you can't sleep standing up; you need
to lie down."

Slowly and wobbly she pulled away from me, but rather than get
into the sleeping bag, she climbed into my bed.

"Charlie? That's my bed. We need to sleep on the floor."

It was useless; she was already asleep.

Making myself comfortable on the floor, I listened to her breathing until I drifted off to sleep.

I was near, and no more monsters would come for her tonight.

(Attie)

"It's not like that."

"This is inappropriate. You're seventeen, Riley. Sleeping with
Attie next to you every night is asking for trouble."

"Dad, you have no idea what you're talking about."

"Don't tell me that I don't know what I'm talkin' about."

"You're right; I'm sorry. But I don't think you understand."

"Son-"

"You don't see it; you don't see the terror she lives through at
night. I feel compelled to help her. She needs me. Nothing's gonna
happen. Trust me, please."

"I don't know, Riley."

"She needs someone to pull her out of the nightmares. It's torture for her. I'm just trying to help. There are no ulterior motives
here. I swear, and she certainly doesn't have any romantic feelings
toward me. Really, you don't need to worry."

"Okay, son, but you watch yourself."

It was silent for a few moments.

"You do know that she's eventually gonna have to face this alone?"

"I realize that, Dad, but don't you think she should have the chance
to get some counseling done first, start working through it all?"

"Maybe you're right."

"Please trust me. I need to help her walk through this. I know
it sounds extreme, but I believe that's why she's here. I believe God brought her here this summer-because she needs me." His voice
was tender.

"You're taking on a lot here, Riley. She's got a lot to process, and
you still haven't finished walking through your own grief."

"I know."

"Well, do you also know that your mom's gonna kill me if she
finds out that I allowed this? She could have a heart attack right on
the spot." Pops was almost joking.

"I know."

"And Eddie, what in God's name am I gonna say to him? `Uh,
hello, Eddie, uh, I just thought you might wanna know that while
your sixteen-year-old daughter is living with us I'm letting her sleep
with my seventeen-year-old son."

"Well, when you say it like that-"

"Not a word of this to your mother, do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir."

"If you get caught, I didn't know a thing."

"I understand."

"You better be a gentleman."

will.

"I swear, Riley, you lay one finger on that girl and-"

"Dad, seriously, trust me."

I could hear Pops begin walking back down the stairs. "The door
stays open at all times. You hear me?"

"Yes, sir."

A few moments later Riley was back in his room.

I looked at him apologetically. "I got you in trouble, didn't I? I'm
so sorry.

"Nah, he's fine now." He shrugged. "He came upstairs to wake
us up for church and there you were in my bed. I think his imagination went a little wild."

"Oh yes, I guess that would be quite a shock."

He smiled encouragingly at me. "I explained everything to him,
and he's fine now. Really, don't worry about a thing."

"Okay." I lay in bed and watched him start to roll up the sleeping
bags, but I didn't move. "You know, you can be sweet when you want."

He rolled his eyes. "Do me a favor, and don't tell a soul. I'd never
hear the end of it from the guys."

I nodded at him. "Deal. I'm sorry I fell asleep in your bed. I don't
know how that happened."

"You're one stubborn girl, Charlie, even when you're asleep."

"So I've heard."

He cocked his head as his eyes squinted slightly.

"Nobody has told me I'm stubborn in my sleep, just that I'm
stubborn," I clarified. "Trust me. I've never slept in a bed with someone before."

"Me either."

"No?"

"No. Now get out of my room." He winked at me. "You don't
live in here for cryin' out loud."

After everyone finished getting ready, we all piled out of the
house and headed off for church.

"I'm gonna take Attie in my car with me."

"Riley," Pops said sternly. "Remember our talk?" Although he
thought that he was talking cryptically, I heard an accusation in the
tone of his voice.

"Dad, settle down. It's no big deal. Some of the kids usually get
together for lunch after church. I was hoping that I could take Attie
and she could get to know some people."

Pops nodded. "All right, I guess."

Riley merely snickered at him as he opened the car door for me
and I climbed in.

As he walked around the front of the car on his way to the
driver's side, he looked at me through the windshield and gave a
big grin. My eyes followed him until he climbed into the car and
buckled up.

"Are you a good driver?"

"I'm an excellent driver," he said in a strange voice.

"Pardon?"

"Oh, come on!" He was shocked that I didn't understand the
joke. "Rainman? The movie Rainman?" His eyebrows rose.

I shook my head.

"Don't tell me you've never seen Rainman. Dustin Hoffman and
Tom Cruise? Gosh, we've got to rent that movie. You'll love it."

"I'm not a Tom Cruise fan. I think he's a little strange."

Come to think of it, I wasn't one to talk.

"Yeah, I know, but this was pre-Oprah freak-out. You know, Top
Gun days."

I remained silent.

"Seriously, you haven't seen Top Gun either?"

"No, sorry." I felt bad about it for some reason.

"What am I gonna do with you? I mean, all those nights of staying awake and you didn't bother to watch any classic movies?"

"Are movies from the eighties considered classics?"

"To me they are."

"I'll give it a better effort." I laughed. "I promise."