The luggage was larger, heavier, and bulkier than her normal travel bag. It contained all of the casual clothes she had taken over to the apartment upon moving out of the house. She struggled to get it up the steps of the porch. She wished that John was there to give her a hand. She finally used brute force to pull it up the steps and onto the porch.
She tried the doorknob and found it locked. It was the first time in years that she had tried the door when it was locked. Usually the whole family was there when she came home. It took a bit of digging through her purse to locate the house key. She unlocked the door and dragged the luggage over the threshold. It seemed to her that leaving had been easier. At least, it had all been down hill.
Turning to face the living room, she froze. The room was devoid of furniture except for an entertainment center, but that wasn't what had caught her attention. All of the sexy costumes that she had bought were scattered around the room. Open mouthed, she stared at them wondering why they were there. She couldn't imagine John laying them out on the floor like that.
"You are a slut," Rose said.
"Rose!" Vicki exclaimed surprised to see her daughter standing there.
Reverend Billings had warned her not to approach Rose without support. He feared that Rose was angry enough to entertain the idea of violence and too young to have much self control. If she were to confront Rose, she was liable to find herself in a position of having grabbed a tiger by the tail. She hadn't expected to be ambushed like this.
"I knew I had proof that you are a slut the moment I found these clothes in your closet."
"What?"
Rose asked, "Have you come home to make a living as a whore?"
There was a cruel tone to her words. The sneer on her face twisted her features into something ugly.
"No," Vicki said speechless.
"Are you trying to screw your way back into Dad's heart?" Rose asked.
Vicki didn't recognize the person standing in front of her as her daughter. Rose had become some sort of twisted version of the little girl she had raised. Looking at her, and knowing that she was responsible for it, hurt worse than anything Rose could say.
"No."
Rose said, "It won't work."
"I know that," Vicki said.
"Leave now and never come back."
"No," Vicki replied ignoring Reverend Billings' warning about being alone with Rose. She felt that retreating even one step would signal another abandonment of her daughter.
"I'm warning you – leave now," Rose said.
"No."
Rose shouted, "I don't want you here!"
"I'm not leaving you again," Vicki answered.
Screaming like a banshee, the young girl threw herself at her mother with fists swinging. Six years of rage, based on an anger that had built up over half of her life, drove her to unleash blow after blow upon her mother. Half of the blows didn't even land. The majority of them that did land were not effective. A few made solid impacts that hurt.
In self defense, Vicki grabbed Rose in a hug and held tight to her. They tripped and fell to the floor. Like she was possessed by a demon, Rose bucked, wiggled, kicked, and beat frantically at her mother to break the hug. They ended up rolling around on the floor with Vicki getting the worst of the exchange.
Rose finally managed to land a blow to the temple that staggered Vicki. The stunned woman released her hold on her daughter. Rose climbed to her feet and prepared to kick her mother.
In an almost inhuman voice, she commanded, "Leave."
Still dazed by the blow, Vicki said. "If you want me out of your life, it will have to be you who walks away."
"Bitch!" Rose shouted. She kicked her mother in the stomach.
Breathing heavily, Rose stood looking down at her mother. Vicki was in sad shape. She was curled into the fetal position in an instinctual effort to protect her body from additional kicks. Her lip was split and her nose was bleeding.
"I'm never leaving you again," Vicki muttered just loud enough for Rose to hear.
Unable to continue on physically, Rose resorted to a verbal attack. She screamed out her rage. She babbled incoherently. At more lucid moments, she related incidents that had torn at the soul of a young girl. Then she would scream at the ceiling like a wounded animal.
Vicki too stunned to get off the floor. She watched Rose in horror. The thought that her actions had reduced a twelve year old child to this level nearly destroyed her. All she wanted to do was to hold her in her arms and comfort her.
Starting to run out of things to say, Rose brutally kicked Vicki in the side. She returned to spouting an incoherent stream of words. She managed to maintain the babble for two more minutes and then fell silent. She collapsed to the floor crying.
Vicki crawled over to her daughter. Hugging her with one arm, she stroked the girl's hair with her free hand. She crooned, "Hush. It'll be all right, baby. Your momma is here. It'll be all right."
Rose sobbed hysterically.
"That's a good girl. Cry away all of the pain," Vicki whispered while slowly rocking Rose.
Over the course of five minutes, Rose's sobbing slowly stopped. Vicki continued to stroke her hair thinking that she needed help with the situation. Calling John was out of the question. He would react angrily. The last thing she needed to do was make Rose think that she was going to turn her father against her as well.
Releasing Rose, Vicki fell back onto the floor. In a weak voice, she said, "Rose, please call Reverend Billings."
"Why?"
"I don't think I can get up," Vicki answered.
She was stretching the truth a little. Her shins were throbbing from where Rose had kicked them while rolling around on the floor. Her stomach hurt. Her head was spinning. Her ribs were sore. She could taste the blood from her split lip and bloody nose.
"Why him?"
"He can keep a secret," Vicki said collapsing to lie on the floor. She didn't want John to know. She didn't want the police involved.
Looking at her mother, Rose didn't argue. She knew that she had gone too far. She went to the phone and made the call to the church. It took Reverend Billings less than fifteen minutes to arrive. Rose had waited by the door to let him in the house.
Upon entering the house, Reverend Billings looked at Vicki. He could see that she was hurt, but not seriously. Rather than rush to her side, he looked over at Rose. Vicki may have been injured, but there was a soul at risk. His duty was to the soul first and body second.
In a quiet voice, he said, "Rose. Look at your mother."
"No," Rose answered unable to look at him or her mother.
"Rose, look at her!" he commanded.
"Okay," Rose said looking over at her mother. After a few seconds, she had to look away. She knew she had really hurt her mother. Her father was going to kill her.
"Are you proud of yourself?"
"No," Rose answered meekly.
"You know you really hurt her."
"I know."
"Don't you wish you could undo it?"
"Yes."
"You know that it can't be undone."
"I know," Rose said with tears welling up in her eyes.
"You'll have to live with this moment for the rest of your life," Reverend Billings said.
"I know," Rose said. The shame was almost unbearable.
In a softer voice, Reverend Billings said, "Your mother knows exactly how you feel. She feels the same shame for what she has done to you. She will have to live with it for the rest of her life."
His comment about her mother struck her like a baseball bat. It had never dawned on her that her mother could have felt shame for abandoning her.
"Why didn't she tell me?" Rose asked.
"You never gave her a chance," Reverend Billings answered softly.
"Oh."
Deciding that enough had been said about the matter, Reverend Billings said, "Let's take care of your mother."
The elderly man knelt down beside Vicki and slowly examined her. After a careful examination, he said, "No bones are broken. Your nose is okay. You'll be stiff and sore for a few days. I think you'll have a nice shiner around your left eye, but a little makeup can hide that."
"Thanks," Vicki said.
"Rose, help me get your mother to bed."
"Yes, sir."
The pair of them helped Vicki stand. They led her to the bedroom and put her on the bed. Reverend Billings went into the bathroom and wet down a towel to use in cleaning her. He came out and gently wiped away the blood on her face. Rose watched not knowing what to do.
Once he was sure that Vicki was okay, he set the towel next to the bed. Looking over at Rose, he said, "Let's get out of here so that your mother can rest."
"Yes sir," Rose said.
When Rose stepped out of the room, he whispered, "I'll talk to her."
"Thank you," Vicki said.
He returned to the living room finding Rose waiting for him. It was time to rachet down the emotional level in the room. Reverent Billings looked around the room at all of the costumes strewn around on the floor. When she noticed where he was looking, Rose turned crimson.
"I'm going to have to get a catalog or two from wherever these outfits came from," Reverend Billings said.
"What?" Rose asked in shock.
He smiled at her reaction and answered, "A lot of couples visit me because their marriages are going stale. I'm sure that a few of these outfits might put a little zing back into their relationships."
"Really?"
"It would save me from having to spout scripture at them," he said.
"Scripture, huh," Rose said at a loss for words.
"You don't know how hard it is remember all of the relevant sections of the Bible. Passing out a catalog is so much easier."
Rose asked, "Are you sure you're a reverend?"
"I'm pretty sure," he answered with a smile. "In the mean time, you might want to put those outfits somewhere where others won't see them. Not everyone is as worldly and understanding as me."
Embarrassed at being seen even holding them, Rose ran around the room picking up the outfits. She carried them off to where her room had once been and dumped them there. It took her two trips. Rose returned from her last trip to find Reverend Billings seated on the floor of the living room.
He said, "It looks like your father has moved to his country estate."
"Yes," Rose said.
"So how is it that you are here rather than there?" he asked pointedly.
"I had him drop me off at a friend's house. I told him that I was going to be there for the day," Rose said.
"So you lied to him," Reverend Billings said.
"Maybe," Rose said.
"There's no use waffling, girl. I'm not here to judge you. You know the truth. God knows the truth. That's all that matters. The only reason I listen to your answer is so that I can ask you the next question," Reverend Billings said.
Rose said, "Okay, I lied to him."
He said, "Now that you've fallen into the embrace of temptation and seen the results, have you learned anything from the experience?"
"Yes," Rose said.
"Will you judge others who've fallen into temptation harshly?"
"No," Rose answered after a moment of hesitation. The question had taken her by surprise. She had expected him to ask what she had learned from this experience.
He rose from the floor and stretched. He twisted his head from side to side as if trying to remove a crick in his neck. He did a little full body jiggle as if working the kinks out of it.
"Well, my work here is done. Your mother is resting comfortably. Your soul isn't in immediate jeopardy. I guess I should head back to the church to await the next crisis of faith," Reverend Billings said.
"What about me?" Rose asked.
"You might want to call your father to come pick you up," he replied.
"I could do that," Rose said.
She had been expecting to get a lecture about lying. It felt worse not getting it. Now it was up to her imagination to fill in the kinds of things he would have said. Unfortunately, she had an active imagination.
He walked over to the front door. He turned and said, "Ask your mom where she got those outfits. I'd really like to pick up a couple of their catalogs."
"I'll do that," Rose said frowning. She watched him leave. Puzzled by his behavior, she asked, "Is he really a reverend?"
Rose stood there thinking of the lecture he should have given her. She had stepped way over bounds and knew it. What lesson had she learned? She realized that it should have been plural. What lessons had she learned? Actions once taken can't be undone. Anger and hate only lead to violence. Pride does come before a fall. Judge others not, least you be judged and found wanting.
Rose stuck her head into her mother's bedroom. She said, "Mom?"
"Yes," Vicki answered.
"Reverend Billings is gone."
"Okay."
"I'm going over to my friend's house. I'll call Dad to come pick me up," Rose said.
"Thanks for telling me," Vicki said.
"Mom?"
"Yes?"
"Can I come by tomorrow?"
"I would like that," Vicki said.
"Okay. I'll see you later," Rose said before fleeing the house.
Staring up at the ceiling, Vicki said, "That was easy."
"Ow. That hurt. I shouldn't laugh."