"Look!" Matt's arm showed me where to look. He pointed out to his right along the side of the country road we were on. Tied to a telephone pole was a woman! I couldn't tell how old or much about her except she was badly beaten, bloody and naked! I stopped and backed up to her.
"What do we do?" Matt asked. Matt is my youngest brother. He was seventeen that morning, anxiously waiting for the next day when he would leave seventeen behind. Just like me, he had lived on the family farm all his life. Went to school in the small town near the farm, where all twelve grades met in six classrooms. His graduating class was two people bigger than mine. I graduated with Frank Stevens and Paul Benedict. He graduated in a class of five. Three girls, my brother Matt and Frank Steven's younger brother Carl.
"We untie her, get her in here and maybe save her life."
I got my K-bar from under the seat and got out. There was nothing around us for at least a quarter of a mile. No trees, bushes, side roads, shacks, houses, barns, people or vehicles. Matt got the blanket out of the cargo area of the SUV. He wrapped her in it and I cut the rope that held her wrists high above her head.
She was limp, unconscious and cold. We got her inside, onto the backseat. We got back in and I started down the road with the heater on. Half an hour and twenty-five miles later she moaned and Matt asked, "What next?"
"We could stop in the next town and see if a doctor can help her."
"Nooo." It wasn't loud but it was her. "He's the one who did this."
I drove through town, obeying the speed limit as if our lives suddenly depended on it. South of town, I used another road to get me back to the main interstate. Two hours later we were no longer in that state. She moaned a little louder and Matt turned and asked her if she was thirsty.
"I'm thirsty, hungry and filthy. I hurt in places I didn't know I could hurt two days ago." The words came out slowly, softly and the pain was in every syllable. While Matt helped her with a bottle of water I kept driving. I was getting hungry and Matt is always hungry so I looked for a fast food place.
I saw a sign that three miles ahead there were three fast food places. I asked, "Could you eat something if we get it for you?"
She sat partially up and saw what was ahead. "Yes. I'm sore but I need some food. Anything you get, I'll eat." She slumped back down and covered herself with the blanket.
"Matt, toss our jackets over the top of the blanket, sort of hap-hazardly so it looks like we just have stuff back there, not a woman." He did it. I pulled to the drive-through ordering station and ordered three hamburgers, a grilled cheese sandwich, three fries, two large beverages and one of their t-shirts. The girl inside asked what size. Matt said, "Extra large."
I paid and she handed over a big bag of food and two huge drinks. I asked for extra napkins. She put them in the second bag which had the t-shirt in it. We drove farther south and stopped in a Wal-Mart parking lot to eat. Matt gave her the t-shirt first. He didn't want to give it to her and he wanted her covered. Didn't want to because she was the first live, adult, naked female he'd ever seen, close up. Wanted her covered because she looked like we beat her more than half to death.
We wolfed down our burgers while she slowly bit and chewed her sandwich. The progress she made on the fries was faster. I ate a burger, Matt ate two. After we ate I sent Matt inside to get two bottles of water and two towels. As soon as he left I turned and we talked.
"You want to tell me what happened?"
"I owe you that much, and more."
"You don't owe us anything. We wouldn't be the men our parents raised if we left you back there. Just help me understand. Please."
"I arrived in town two months ago, by bus. The diner had a sign in the window that advertised for a waitress. I needed a job and they gave me one. I got a room in a boarding house and started to get to know folks. Long story short I went to the roadhouse east of town a few times and someone got me drunk enough to take them home with me. Last week I took one of those pee-on-it pregnancy tests and it said I was pregnant." She paused and took a drink of the diet Coke I offered.
"I knew I couldn't be far along. I also knew I didn't want a kid, so I went to the doctor and asked for an abortion. He acted sympathetic and asked me to come back last evening and he'd do it there in his office, rather than twenty miles away at the hospital. When I came back he and two other men yelled at me for a while about being a whore and a murderer. Then the doctor decided if they disfigured me I'd never get pregnant again. All three beat me, raped me and eventually tied me to the pole to die."
She paused again. I waited.
She looked at me and said, "They beat me some more. I prayed to die. Then I woke up in your truck."
"Any family or friends we should notify that you're alive?"
"Nope. Parents are gone. No brothers or sisters."
"You do anything beside waitressing?"
"I grew up on a farm till I was twelve. Learned to type in high school. When I ran away from home I started waitressing and selling booze in a few clubs. Did a little bookkeeping for one of the clubs where I worked."
"Ok. Matt and I are on our way to Orlando. He starts college there next week. You're going with us, unless you choose something else. I'm prepared to trust you, a little. I'll spring for some clothes and I'll feed you for the week. Matt doesn't need the whole story. Just tell him some men beat you up and left you to die. Ok?"
"Ok."
I got out a small notepad and pen. "Tell me your sizes. I'll go in and get you some clothes." She told me and I wrote. Matt came back. He closed the door and handed me the water and towels. I handed them to her, realizing we didn't even know her name.
"I'm Pete and this is Matt."
"I'm Mira. Mira Fiorino. Very glad to meet you."
I looked at Matt and said, "I'm going in and get a few things. You stay here with Mira. If trouble comes looking for you, run, don't fight. If I come out and you're gone I'll expect you back on the hour."
I turned and faced Mira and said, "The water is for you. You can wash a little, drink a little, whatever. I think it would be wise for you to get back under the blanket and sleep. I shouldn't be gone long."
As I got out I saw her cover up. Three steps after I closed the door I heard Matt lock the doors.
I bought her two outfits, comfortable, not fashionable. I bought some bandages and Neosporin too. At the check out I saw a bottle of Tylenol. I got it. I was gone less than twenty minutes. Matt unlocked the doors and I got in. The SUV started and we headed farther south.
"Can I sit up?" She asked.
A quick check of the mirrors told me no one was following us. "Sure. How are you feeling?"
"Like I went three rounds with Hulk Hogan."
"Sorry." Matt said.
"What's next?"
"We're going to stop for the night. One room, two beds. You'll get cleaned up and doctored, then we all get a good night's sleep."
"Ok." She looked out the window and I glanced back at her in the mirror. When I turned into the parking for a nice hotel her eyebrows went up, for a second. I went inside. The room I got was near the back of the hotel, away from the highway. I had Matt drive to the back and park near the back door. I went through the hotel and opened the back door. We brought in a suitcase, the Wal-Mart bag and Mira.
When the door to our room closed I locked it. We sent Mira into the bathroom. I told her to get cleaned up and ready for bed. I gave her both our dop kits and said she could use anything she found useful. She went in, closed the door and came right back out.
She motioned us to sit on one of the beds. We did. She stood in front of us.
"You said go in and get ready for bed. I want to know what that means. Which of you am I sleeping with? Is the price of food and clothes and a ride out of Alabama that I get fucked all the time we're together?"
