Cassia lay in her bed, softly crying. That in itself was nothing new; her life was one of torment and self incrimination. She had been a bright bubbly teenager, then at 18 she became as she was now. That was when she had been brutally beaten, raped repeatedly and beaten until she almost died. After they were finished with her they had tried to kill her, and it might have been more merciful if they had succeeded. The men responsible had been caught, tried and put in prison. That was their punishment; hers was never being able to forget. She just had to close her eyes, and she would relive that terrible day, she could see them, hear them, and what was worse, she could feel them.
Her friends couldn't handle her pain and had deserted her. She couldn't bear to sleep alone so her mom and dad had let her sleep with them thinking she would get over it, she hadn't. When the doctor told her that the she could never have children, her mother blamed Cassia. Her mom and dad had terrible fights about her and her mom had finally just left.
The psychiatrist she had been seeing said she would get over it, but she still cried all of the time. Her red hair wasn't as shiny, her blue eyes not as bright. The only person she could count on was her dad; he alone still stood by her. Other than to see the doctor she hadn't left the house in a long time. She had no outside contact except the television. She wouldn't answer the phone or the door. If she needed anything she had her dad get it and bring it home.
The door opened, and her dad walked in. They didn't even pretend she had her own bedroom anymore. She watched as her dad sat down on the bed next to her, he had a strange look, "Dad?"
"I've decided to change how I've been treating you. Because of the doctors, I've been using kid gloves. Being as you're not getting better, I think it's time for something else."
"Like what?" Her eyes bulged out of her head, she felt him grab her and the tickling began. She screamed, laughed and pleaded trying to get away from his fingers. By the time he stopped she had tears of a different kind.
He smiled down at her, "That's the first time I've heard you laugh in a long, long time. I like hearing that."
Cassia frowned and looked away, "I'm sorry you're ashamed of me."
"Where in the world did you get the idea I was ashamed of you?" She started to choke up again, and he fussed at her, "Don't start crying again."
She shook her head, "All right," and took a deep breath, "It's my fault I got raped."
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Cassia stared at him in shock; her dad had never cussed at her before. "If I remember correctly, you were where you were supposed to be, doing what you were supposed to be doing. Exactly how is it your fault?"
"Well...ah...oh, I don't know, it just is."
"You're so full of shit your eyes are brown."
She gave him a half smile, "My eyes are blue."
He smiled back, "That just means you're a quart low." Cassia started giggling. "I love to hear you do that."
She got sad again, "Mom left because of me."
"That is so much crap. Your mother and I were headed for splitting up long before anything happened to you, young lady."
Cassia got a look of astonishment, "I didn't know, you two never said anything."
"The children are not usually consulted when the marriage is breaking down. You're mother didn't leave because of you, she left because of me."
Cassia watched her dad get up and go over to the dresser. He picked up her hair brush; making her sit up, he sat back down on the bed behind her. She felt him start to brush her hair. She had never had a guy do that, the last time she had actually gone to a beauty parlor, her beautician was a woman. It felt wonderful and she started to relax immediately. They didn't talk. She knew her dad was simply trying to make her feel better. Even if it didn't actually help, it felt great. Not having been to the beauty parlor in years, she would have her dad help her cut off the split ends and her hair was down to her waist. He had to make long strokes to brush it.
"Did mom let you do this to her?" She felt him stiffen, he never talked about her.
He let out a sigh, "Not really, I tried it once but she felt it was strange," then he whispered, "She thought I was strange."
Cassia had closed her eyes and was thoroughly enjoying herself. She mumbled under her breath, "Mom was an idiot." Her dad always tried to help; he never pushed or got mad, and was always gentle." What her dad was doing made it impossible for her to cry, but that didn't mean the hurt wasn't there, "I know she blamed me for what happened. She was disappointed in me when she found out I can't have children."
"Cassia, what did I get off of the dresser?"
"You got my hair brush."
"So it was just minding its own business. It was where it was supposed to be, doing what it was supposed to be doing, and it had no control if I picked it up or not?"
"No."
"I'm brushing your hair with it, but if I beat it up and threw it across the room is it the brushes fault or mine?"
"It's yours. Look dad, I see what you're getting at, and I know all of that, but I just can't seem to stop thinking about it." They sat in silence, him brushing her hair, her enjoying it. "Dad, if everything you are saying is true, what did mom want that she didn't have with us?
He put the brush down, and reached around his daughter to hug her. He just held her, and buried his face in her hair, "She wanted a man."
Cassia was bewildered, because several things had happened at the same time.
First, her dad's hand had scraped across her breasts when he reached around to hug her. She knew he hadn't meant anything by it and should ignore it, except that it had felt good. Her nipples had reacted to that brief touch. It was a shock, because it was the first time she had felt pleasure like that in a long time. She hadn't even touched herself since the rape.
Second, he had just told her that he was in as much pain as she was. All of this time he had been trying to be strong for her, even though he had no one.
The third thing tore at her heart, his face was buried in her hair and he was crying. That was something she had never known him to do. Even when she had been raped, his reaction was blind anger against the men. Her dad didn't want those men in prison, he had wanted them dead.
Cassia felt guilty, her dad had been in pain and she had not loved him enough to even notice. "I'm sorry dad."
His muffled voice was heard, "Why should you be sorry?"
"I should have been there for you when you split up with mom."
"No baby girl, it wasn't your responsibility to make sure I was all right. As a matter of fact, you were the one bright spot in my life. You were the only thing that made me happy and I didn't know what to do about it." There was a smothering silence in the room, not like before, this was uncomfortable, "Cassia, I'm so sorry I wasn't there to stop them."
Had she really heard him say that, "Daddy?"
"They hurt my baby girl, and I wasn't there for you." His sobs filled the room.
She turned and saw her dad crying, the tears streaming down his face. "Oh my God, all of this time you blamed yourself." She held him and they both cried, but this time her tears were for him. Cassia thought her mom was not only an idiot for leaving him, but that she didn't deserve him in the first place.
After that night, Cassia didn't hurt as much. Somehow, knowing that her dad was in pain and needed her had helped her to start healing. She started wearing a smile for him at meals. Her days weren't spent crying any more. She had started dressing in brighter clothes, even though all of her tops were his shirts. Without realizing it, her efforts at trying to make his pain go away, was doing the same thing for her.
About a week later, she had on a blouse that was a too small for her. She had wanted to dress up in something feminine for her dad at supper, but she had been in the dumps for so long that her old clothes didn't fit anymore. Her breasts had gotten larger and she was forced to leave a couple of buttons open if she wanted to wear it.
She was busy with the last minute details of fixing the meal when her dad got home from work. He walked into the kitchen, "Hi, baby girl, mmm something smells good," and sat down at the table.
She turned around and smiled at him, "Thanks," and saw him watching her.
He swallowed his throat suddenly dry, "You seem to be showing a lot of tit.
Cassia blushed from her head to her feet, "My clothes don't fit anymore and mom didn't leave anything." She looked at him just sitting and staring, "You aren't supposed to be looking at me like that, dad. Now come over here and help me."
"I'm sorry, but I can't."