Sisters Chapter 3
It was a few days later when Mary met Stephen at a local coffee shop. Per Stephanie's request, her hair had been put in a braid. She wore a knee length skirt, a cute blouse, and some fresh-faced makeup. Although Mary had been sexually assaulted several times since she'd been asked out, the improvement in Mary's life had been night and day. For one, this had given Stephanie something to take her mind off Mary's unknown situation. She was doing better in school, and was no longer depressed. And because Stephanie was happy, Mary was happier. It didn't hurt that she had gotten a date with an incredibly handsome man.
As she entered the coffee shop, Stephen sat at a table with two coffee cups. She walked over and hugged him. "I'm going to order my coffee." She broke the hug. "Do you want a muffin?"
He motioned her to sit down and handed her one of the cups. "Hot caramel mocha with two shots of cane sugar." He shrugged with a grin. "Just a shot in the dark on what you'd like."
Mary cocked an eyebrow. "And how, may I ask, did you know my exact coffee order?"
He tapped his fingers together, his back almost in a hunch as though he were some sort of evil genius. "I threw an ice cream party for the class. I offered your sister three extra scoops of chocolate brownie fudge if she would tell me your coffee order."
Mary couldn't help but laugh. "My own sister betrayed my deepest secrets for three extra scoops of brownie ice cream? That little gossiping bitch!"
"And what kind of woman..." Stephen continued. "...wouldn't want to be with a man who would manipulate a child to earn credit with that kid's older sister?"
But the jokes aside, Mary definitely enjoyed the man's company. He was easy to talk to, and it didn't take long for Mary to fall deeply in love with him. So much so, in fact, that when Stephanie came home from school a few days later with a rose and a note inviting Mary to dinner and a movie, Mary jumped at the chance. Mary only asked that her younger sister could come 'as a chaperone.'
The truth is that Mary would love to spend time alone with him, but that would mean that Stephanie would be alone with Uncle Frank. Uncle Frank had never given any indication that he would even consider harming Stephanie, but it was a chance Mary would never even consider taking. Mary felt guilty that her heart belonged to Stephen, but her body belonged to her uncle. Oddly enough, though, her chance to have some alone time with her new boyfriend presented itself in the strangest of ways.
Though very tomboyish and rugged, Stephanie was very popular at school. She was on the girl's soccer team and was friends with every girl on the team as well as most of the boys on the boy's team. The two teams often practiced together and scrimmaged against each other, given the small size of the school. Stephanie had two close male friends. Tyler was a popular boy on the boy's team. Though not a bad kid, as Mary got to know him he seemed a little...full of himself. In fact, he was a bit of a douche. Stephanie's other guy friend her age was Damien. Damien was not a soccer player. While not wholly out of shape, Damien was a little heavier. The kid wasn't popular at all, and Mary got the impression that Stephanie was one of his only friends. Stephanie texted both boys constantly, and when Mary pointed out that both boys might be a little smitten with her, the girl laughed it off.
But Mary was shown to be correct when Tyler asked Stephanie out on a date. The two went on several outings, and Stephanie wasn't shy in reporting that the two had grown very close. Mary gathered that Stephanie liked Tyler for the butterflies he put in her stomach. Damien had obviously taken it hard, but Tyler asked her out and Damien had never gathered up the courage himself. One night at dinner, Stephanie told Stephen that she was aware of Damien's crush on her. "He's my friend though. I don't like him like that."
To this comment Stephen eased back in his chair. "So instead, you're dating Tyler. I hate that fucking douche."
Mary grinned. "Could it be that over these last few months you've grown to see Stephanie as something of a daughter and maybe you're just a bit over protective of her?"
Stephen shook his head. "No. It's more that he's just a fucking douche. That's what I don't like about him."
Stephanie punched Stephen in the shoulder. "Well, you're going to have to deal with him, because you two are coming with Tyler, Damien, and I to the zoo. Double date and Damien is coming too. It'll be fun. We'll go see the Christmas lights. Who knows, maybe you two will get to kiss under a twinkling arch of Christmas lights."
Mary nodded. "It's true, babe. You're coming."
Stephen couldn't help but chuckle. "How long have you two been planning this?"
It was ironic to Mary, though, that she felt Stephanie was better off with her 13-year-old boyfriend than with her uncle. The truth was, however, that Stephanie loved spending time with Mary and Stephen just as much as with Tyler or Damien. Mary knew this was because she was Stephanie's last true family. She knew because Mary felt the same way.
The zoo was magical later on that night. Damien seemed to toady along behind Stephanie. Tyler walked beside the girl, his arm draped over her shoulder, her head on his chest where practical. The three made idle chit chat. Stephen and Mary hung a few steps back. Mary kissed him on the cheek. "Cheer up, babe. It's Christmas!"
He sighed, looking at the back of Zack's head. "You ever notice how he takes her out on all these little dates, and yet I'm the one paying for everything? Have I mentioned that I hate that fucking douche?"
Mary kissed him again, on the lips this time. "It's come up." Her mind suddenly envisioned disgusting nights she'd had with her uncle. She shuddered.
Stephen furrowed his brow. "What's wrong Mary?"
She regained her composure and shook her head. "It's nothing. Just got lost in thought for a moment."
Stephen stopped walking and sighed. "Mary, it's been a couple of months now. I know something's going on. Tell me what it is. We can work through this together. We're a couple. Let me help you." Mary seriously doubted that, but thought about it for a moment. She was interrupted, however, by a man grabbing Stephanie and holding a knife to her throat.
"No screams kid. Don't say a word."
Stephen released Mary and walked slowly toward them. He spoke to the man holding the knife. "Hey man...relax. Everything's cool. I'm not a rich man, but there's a bank card in my wallet, we'll go to the ATM and pull out every nickel I own. Okay? Let the kids go..." But Stephen didn't get a chance to finish that sentence.
Tyler ran as fast as he could away from the group and out of the darker part of the zoo. Stephanie, still with a knife to her throat, watched her boyfriend bail on their predicament and gasped. "TYLER! Are you fucking kidding me!?" Damien, on the other hand, used Tyler's running away as a chance to grab the arm with the knife and wrench it away. His grabbing on the mugger allowed Stephanie to get back to Stephen and Mary, but a scuffle ensued. By the time the mugger released the knife and ran away, Damien had been stabbed several times. Stephanie immediately ran to the boy, holding pressure on a wound on his chest while Stephen quickly called for an ambulance. "I'm right here Damien..." She gazed into her classmate's eyes, her own welling with tears. "We're going to get you to the hospital."
Just then Tyler walked back with a zookeeper. "I brought help!" His date for the evening didn't look up from Damien's eyes. The zookeeper got on the radio and called for medical personnel to come to his location. Luckily, it would seem, there was a veterinary team not far from them. He put a hand on Stephanie's shoulder. "How's he..."
She immediately turned, her words practically spitting out of her mouth. "DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME!" She turned back to Damien as he released her. She took Damien's hand in her own, tears now openly coming down her cheeks as a veterinarian arrived with a medical bag.
Two days passed. Mary visited Stephen at work. She walked up to her boyfriend and kissed him. "Hey sweetie. I'm here to get any work Stephanie and Damien missed."
Stephen nodded. "How's Damien doing?"
Mary sighed. "He's been in and out of surgery. His lung isn't collapsed anymore. His wounds are starting to heal too. He had a fever this morning but they got it down with acetaminophen. He's pretty much been in a coma too. He opens his eyes every few hours, sometimes he looks around, but then he goes back to sleep."
There was a pause. "And has Stephanie left his side?"
Mary shook her head from side to side. "Not even to take a shower. She just keeps saying 'he didn't leave me and I'm not leaving him.' Poor kid is miserable. I think she agrees with you, though. I'm pretty sure she considers Tyler a douche."
There was something else on Mary's mind as she entered the hospital. Uncle Frank had been giving Mary a cream pie every night for the last two months. She couldn't explain why, but no provider or pharmacist would even consider giving her birth control or emergency contraceptive. She had a dark feeling it had to do with Uncle Frank. Uncle Frank was loaded. More than he would admit to. One day, Mary did a little snooping to find out where all this money was coming from. According to paperwork she found in a safe she managed to open, he owned entire hospital chains, sold weapon systems to various militaries, and was a key investor in many pharmaceutical ventures. She came to realize that there wasn't a cop, judge, or social worker in the state that wasn't in his pocket.
On the elevator to Damien's hospital room she began to wonder. Her father took meticulous care of his car, yet one night his brakes just magically gave out. And then her mother. No doctor could explain what was wrong with her. But she was in the hospital for most of Stephanie's life. Why had her father REALLY kept his family away from Frank?
She walked into Damien's hospital room. Damien slept as Stephanie sat by his bedside dutifully holding his hand. Stephanie had barely spoken a word since the incident. "Where's his parents?"
She looked over to Mary. "They asked me if they could go downstairs to the cafeteria and grab a bite to eat. They're going to get some to go trays and bring them back up. They're getting me one too."
Mary wondered how to tactfully approach her sister taking a break.
"Stephanie...sweetie...maybe when they come back up you should come home with me. This is a family matter. His parents will be here when he wakes up. And then when he can have friends over, I'll bring you to visit him. I promise."
There was something dry and mirthless in her voice. "This boy was in love with me. I knew it. I just didn't care because Tyler was...on the soccer team...and more popular. When there was something on my mind, Tyler usually didn't give a shit. But Damien? I could talk to Damien for hours. About anything. Nothing was too stupid to bug him over. And then when my life was in danger..."
She looked at Damien's face. "This boy is my prince charming. This boy is my knight in shining armor. And I'm not leaving his side." Mary walked over behind her and wrapped her arms around her kid sister.
Damien stirred in bed and slowly opened his eyes. He looked around the room. Stephanie smiled at him. "Damien...how do you feel?"
Damien returned the smile, looking at the two sisters. "Ugh...my chest hurts. Was everyone okay?"
