Free Letter to Belinda by Tim Tingle Page B

crazy, she was so scared! She said she would rather be dead, than go back to his house!”
    “Why?”
    “She said that her Dad used to rape her all the time, when she was a teenager!”
    “Bob used to do that?”
    “That’s just one of the shocking bombshells she dropped on me this morning. Another one is that her Dad is also Jessica’s father! He got her pregnant one of those times he raped her! She said even Herbert doesn’t know about that. Jessica was almost three when she met Herbert, and she never told him who the real father was.”
    “Wow, that would mean that Jessica and her mother are also sisters?”
    “That’s right. And the reason she wants to go back to Herbert is because for years, Bob has been trying to get Herbert to let Jessica come stay with him, and Penelope knows the reason he’s doing that is to try to get at Jessica, so he can rape her too.”
    “And Herbert doesn’t know about this?”
    “Penelope tried to tell him about her Dad’s deeds, but he refuses to believe it. He and Bob are good friends. Bob gave him and Penelope several acres of land when they got married, so it’s like, Herbert just looks the other way. He thinks that Penelope is lying about it all. Apparently she has told him quite a few lies after her addiction started, and he thought this was just another one.”
    “So what do you think? Do you think she could be lying to you?”
    “I think she’s telling the truth. Know why? When I suggested that she go live with her Dad, she was so upset that she peed all over your truck seat!”
    “Aw man! So I guess my truck stinks now, huh?”
    “I’ll get something to clean your seat. But that’s why I think she’s telling the truth. Why else would she be so terrified at the mere suggestion of her dad?”
    “That’s a good point, but not conclusive. So why did you bring her here?”
    “Where else could I take her? I told her she could come here and take a shower and get cleaned up, so that when Herbert gets home from work today, I’ll take her over there to talk to him in person. She thinks she can persuade him to let her stay there.”
    “And if not? Where will she go then?”
    “I don’t know. I don’t want her staying here, but I can’t just put her out on the street! But then you chime in and offer to let her stay here! Travis Lee, you stupid ass-hole! If I wanted that woman staying in my home for any length of time, I would have invited her myself, which I had no intention of doing!”
    “So just tell her to leave.”
    “How can I do that, after you so graciously offered to let her stay here? Thanks a lot, Travis!”
    “Well, I’ll just un-invite her, how about that?”
    “Oooh! What a mess!”
    “She may have to go back to her boyfriend in Arlington.”
    “No, she said she would never go back there. She hates him! She said he kept her there like a sex slave for the past two years. He kept her on drugs so that she couldn’t leave. She was like a prisoner. The drugs were the ‘chains’ that kept her from running away.”
    “She sounds like one really messed up woman! You picked a good one to try to help, Dear!”
    “I know, it’s my fault, and I’ll deal with it. I’ll find somewhere she can stay, if I have to take her to some kind of hospital. Maybe some kind of half-way house for recovering alcoholics. She is suicidal too! I’ll bet she said a dozen times that she ought to just kill herself, and save everyone the trouble!”
    “There are a lot of church-run programs to deal with people like her. We’ll just have to find one that will take her in.”
    They heard glass shatter.
    “Oh goodness! What now? I’d better go check on her!”
    Travis listened from his study, as Janice entered the bathroom. There was a blood-curdling scream, and then angry voices, as Janice and Penelope got into an argument, and then Janice cried out for help. Travis bolted for the door, and went into the bathroom, where he saw Janice wrestling with Penelope over the