Jill smiled weakly and waved as the school bus pulled off from the curb. Exhaustion and something else ate at her insides. She promised herself that she would take a nap when Britney and Ashley had theirs. She shook her head. This should have been easy. Old Hat. Instead it was eating her lunch, she thought. Three days. How the hell was she going to make three months, maybe more?
"Are you sure you're all right? Why don't I take the babies for the day? You can rest and call the damned doctor to make an appointment," Simone insisted.
She chuckled nervously. "No, really I'm fine."
Simone shook her head, "No, no, you ain't, girlfriend."
Jill frowned, "Girlfriend? Simone, when was the last time you saw Trisha?"
Simone frowned, "At your house on Monday morning, I think."
"I left a message on her voice mail yesterday morning, but I still haven't heard back from her."
The frown deepened, "I've left three. I think it's time we had us a little intervention, girlfriend."
"Intervention?" Jill questioned.
"Yeah, fancy word for ganging up on the poor girl."
Instead of turning back towards their houses, they walked ahead in silence. It was only a short walk. Most of the houses in their neighborhood looked almost identical. There were no numbers painted on the curb or on the front doors. Most of the people in this ordinary looking subdivision were military and those were just the most basic of counter measures.
Simone pounded loudly on the door. When their friend did not answer immediately, Jill rang both the home phone and Trisha's cell.
"No answer," she said as she jostled the double stroller trying to quiet the girls.
"Her car is in the drive way. Trav's truck too."
Jill nodded and fought back that uneasy feeling once more. She hated it, but it was becoming a way too common occurrence.
"You stay here with the babies. I'm going around back to look around," Simone pushed past her.
Jill hummed softly to the girls as she waited. She tried to keep the worst of the worry at bay. She knew the babies would pick up on her emotions and she did not want them upset, unnecessarily. But when the front door swung open it was Simone that stood in the doorway, not Trisha. Her eyes filled with unshed tears.
"Simone, oh god, what is it?"
Her friend shook her head. "I need you. Turn on the TV and leave the girls in the living room. Then come to the nursery."
Bile rose in Jill's throat, "Nursery, oh god, something's wrong with T.J.?"
"No, I don't think so, but she won't let me get close enough to find out."
"What?" Jill questioned as she squeezed the stroller through the front door. But Simone had already gone, disappeared back down the hallway towards the sounds of uncontrolled crying. Jill could recognize the baby's, but the screams and sobs of a woman practically drowned them out.
She turned on the large screen television. She did not even need to search for the remote as the lilting voice of Elmo boomed out of the speakers hidden in the wall next to it. It was a good thing too. Looking around the room, Jill thought that it had been hit by the proverbial tornado. It was not just the toys and clean laundry that was thrown about it, but the couch was shoved at an odd angle and the end table had been turned over.
The lamp that usually sat on it was broken into pieces on the floor. Her first thought was to pick up those pieces, they were sharp and dangerous. But the wailing down the hall seemed to be growing louder with each Nano-second. With the girls locked in their buggy, they should not be able to reach it. She shook her head at the thought, "Well, at least not in the couple of minutes it takes me to check on things with Simone."
As she padded down the hall, the sounds got louder and louder. She could not make out any words, just the heart-rending pleas of a wounded animal. When she pushed open the door to the nursery, her mouth fell open.
Only the faint light from a small crack in the Handy Manny curtains illuminated the room. But what she could see horrified her. Dirty diapers were strewn about the room. Bottles too, empty ones, half full ones and there were half a dozen more full ones lined up on the dresser, next to jars of baby food and an open box of animal crackers. The carpet was a landmine of toys everywhere. Each step must be carefully negotiated to keep from stubbing a toe or tripping.
But by far the worst was the woman, if she could be called that, sitting in the rocking chair squeezing the toddler and screaming. It was not just the shrill sounds emanating from her mouth that made Jill think of the mythological Celtic creature, a shrew. The creature was pale beyond words, well except for the dozens of dark patches that marred most of her body. Bruises were everywhere that she could see around the torn night gown that hung limply from one purplish shoulder. Jill thought she could even see the faint circle of teeth prints on the swell of that breast.
"Oh god, what happened to her?"
Simone shook her head, her eyes pleaded with Jill for help. "That's not important right now. We need to get them help. I called nine-one-one and they're sending an ambulance and the police. But we need to get her to let go of the boy before they get here," she whispered.
"Never. I have to protect him. He's coming back. He said he would. And next time he's going to take T.J. He said so," screamed the creature as she rocked the crying baby back and forth faster and faster.
Jill picked her way through the toys towards her friend. She had to fight back the nausea when she got close. The smell of human waste was almost overpowering. She put her hand across her nose and breathed through her mouth.
Tangled layers of red hair formed a half mask across the creatures face. But even through it, Jill could see the blank stare of a mad woman beneath the swollen blue tissue surrounding the normally clear green eyes.
She knelt on the floor by the rocker. She reached out to touch her friend's knee but the creature jerked back so suddenly that it almost toppled the rocker. Jill drew her hand back slowly and looked up at Simone. She shook her head as she began to sing softly the same lullaby that she did with the babies.
"Shh, Trisha, it's all right, sweetie. No one's here but me and Simone. No one's going to hurt you. I promise," she crooned as the song came to an end.
The woman shook her head violently, "No, no, you're wrong. He said he would be back. Said he was always watching me. Said he would know if," she broke down in tears once more as she clutched her son even closer. The boy let out another cry and tried to squirm away.
"Trisha, you're hurting T.J.," Simone whispered.
