All characters depicted in this story are fictional and over the age of 18.
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The pain on Bel's face stabbed me in the heart. I took her in my arms and she began wailing. I just held her. That's when I took notice of the other young lady on the porch. I had seen her, but Bel's distress had focused all my attention on her.
Leslie Roark, one of my daughter's friends from band. Leslie had stayed over a few times when I'd had Bel for the weekend. She was a good friend to my little girl. Also, a bit of a mentor. Leslie was a senior, making her college plans. Well, she had been making college plans. I had given her some advice off and on for the past year in that regard. Both of her parents had been to college, but they had gotten Ag degrees and Leslie was intent on network and cybersecurity, so she came to me for a STEM perspective.
Her parents thriving chicken farm gave them the wherewithal to support her endeavors more than most parents could. Her dedication and their money meant she already had entry-level certifications in her field. Some folks had suggested she get an IT job right out of high school. She said no. She was aiming for a high position, and wanted to get a Master's degree before taking a full time job.
The scraggly look of Leslie's wet, strawberry blonde hair sticking to her face, neck, and shoulders jolted me back to immediate needs. "Come inside you two." I held Bel by her shoulders and led her to the couch. I sat on one end, Bel beside me. Leslie took the other end. Jess took one look at Bel's and Leslie's faces and immediately knew what ever was about to be discussed would be too much for the kids. She shooed them upstairs, probably to open a box of toys for them to amuse themselves with.
I put one bent finger under Belinda's chin to lift her face to look at me. When I asked her what happened, she just let out another cry and dove her head into my chest. I stroked her hair for a bit, then raised my gaze to Leslie.
"Les, can you fill me in here?"
Leslie looked around the room, uncertain. Sarah, Jennifer, and Constance had all settled into chairs, waiting to be helpful, ready to lend moral support.
"It's ok, Leslie. They can hear whatever you are going to say."
"Beth killed herself. Bel found the body."
My eyes closed. Aside from a few months of bitterness, I held no ill will towards my ex. My baby girl surely deserved better than to walk into her own home to find her mother dead by her own hand. What a fucked up world. And just when I was beginning to like it. "She can stay here. I'll settle her into the downstairs bedroom. Are you going to be okay to drive back in this?" The weather had picked up beyond simple rain. It was falling in sheets now, lit by frequent lightning strikes and constant peals of thunder.
"Actually, I'd like to stay, please. To help Bel. There's something else I'd like to ask of you, but after we get Bel taken care of." Leslie looked nervously towards the other ladies, and back to me. I was about to ask her for clarification, but Bel started yawning between snuffles. She was leaning heavily against me. She was not going to make the walk to the room. Feeling flashbacks from a decade back, I slipped one arm under her knees and adjusted the arm at her back, lifting her as I stood. It was more work than it had been, but my baby Bel was a slender girl. I carried her to the room with Leslie trailing behind. She pulled the comforter and sheets back and I gently laid my daughter in the bed. She was snoring by now.
"I'll get her dressed a bit more comfortably, and then come out to talk, ok?"
Jessica was seated on one end of the couch when I returned to the living room. Well, seated, until all the ladies rose to hug me when I entered. Jessica introduced herself to the other three once we were seated again. They shared things about themselves as well. I just sat there, staring silently into nothing. My mind was spinning out of control. My ex-wife's suicide. My daughter's trauma at the event, compounded by discovering the body herself. A bit of guilt, knowing I should be involved in the discussion I barely registered as background noise. Curiosity - what else did Leslie have to discuss?
"I have a few bags with things I grabbed quickly before getting her out of there. Could someone help me get them?" All four of them leapt to their feet. They looked at each other and laughed, Les included. "Well, you all are well-suited to Mr. Ansen." Les said through her chuckling.
"Huh?" I asked.
"Oh, you are the first person to volunteer to help and you always go the extra mile for people."
"Damn, Kev, this girl knows you," said Sarah. "Come on, I'll go with."
Sarah and Leslie disappeared into the rain, coming back a few minutes later with two gym bags and two instrument cases. "One is her clothes, the other is my clothes that I had at her place, plus toiletries and prescriptions."
"Along with her clarinet and your violin?"
Leslie nodded affirmative to my inquiry. "I left the bass out there. It's raining too hard and I don't have the case with me."
"Wait, you play bass and violin?" Sarah asked.
"Not symphonic bass, electric bass. For jazz band."
Connie, smiling, piped up "So you're a bad ass rock chick huh?"
Leslie rolled her eyes. "That might be overstating it a bit. But I do enjoy both styles."
"HHHmmm.
Both
styles huh?" Connie snickered at Sarah's implication. Leslie looked blank for a moment, then blushed. "Um, I don't know?"
"Sarah, maybe let's hold off on the recruiting drive? I think she's been through enough tonight. Thank you so much for all your help Les. You've got to be a bit wiped yourself after all this. We can setup a place for you to sleep in my office if you like. Or we can fix up the couch."
"Oh, I thought I'd just share Bel's bed. Wouldn't be the first time." A chorus of 'OOOOOooohh's' rang out. "Not like that, we've never done anything like that!" Leslie blushed fiercely and looked like she might have a heart attack.
"We all know what you meant Les, they're just being rotten."
"Another way in which they match well with you."
