Chapter 11

Chapter

Eleven

February 17th

12:40 P.M.

"Five minutes," Jimmy growled as he stalked up and down across the living room.

Ruthie cowered in the rocking chair in the corner of the room, making her as far away as she could get from the scary man while still doing what he'd told her to do.

If she didn"t obey him he got angry.

When he got angry, he screamed so loud it hurt her ears.

When he got real angry he punished her.

Sometimes, he wouldn't give her any dinner. Sometimes, he'd leave her alone in the room he told her was going to be her new bedroom for days and days without letting her out, not even to watch TV or play in the backyard. And sometimes, he spanked her.

Her mommy never spanked her.

Not ever.

Not even one time.

Not even when Ruthie knew she was being naughty but did whatever she wanted anyway. Her mommy's punishments didn"t hurt, but Jimmy's did.

She didn"t know why they"d come back home. Ruthie had been away from her mommy for a long time. It was hard to keep count even though math was one of her favorite subjects at school and she could count real high—all the way to one thousand—because sometimes he put her in the basement and there were no windows down there.

How could she count the days when she didn"t know when it was morning and when it was night?

Every day, she'd wished she could come back home. When he kept her in the bedroom upstairs she would wait by her window every night for the stars to come out so she could make a wish.

Starlight, star bright, first star I see tonight. Wish I may, wish I might, grant the wish I wish tonight.

Sometimes she and Mommy would play that game, but when she made those wishes they were just for toys, or treats, or things she wanted to do with her mom.

They weren"t real important.

But this was.

This wish was the most important one she'd ever wished in her life.

Ruthie missed her house, she missed her backyard, and her bedroom with her white princess bed. She missed her toys, especially her very special teddy bear that her mom had given her when she was first born.

Most of all, she missed her mom.

Now that they were home, her mommy wasn't here, and she'd heard Jimmy on the phone tell mom that if she didn"t come home he was going to kill her.

Would Jimmy kill her?

She thought he would.

She didn"t want to be dead. Being dead was for old people like grandmas and grandpas. Only Ruthie knew that wasn't always true. She'd had a friend in kindergarten who got really sick and died, and they were only five. Now she was seven, seven was bigger than five, which meant she could die.

A surprised squeak came out of her when Jimmy stopped right in front of her. She knew better than to speak to him if he didn"t ask her a question. He didn"t like little girls and had told her lots of times that children should be seen and not heard. At first, she would speak to him anyway, beg him to take her home to her mommy, but after enough punishments she learned.

Only this time, she'd forgotten.

Shrinking into the rocking chair, she wished she could turn invisible so he wouldn't see her.

"One minute. If your mother isn't here in one minute I"m going to kill you," Jimmy snarled down at her.

Even though she knew he didn"t like crying, Ruthie couldn't stop a couple of tears from rolling down her cheeks. The man was scary, and she knew she'd made a mistake going to him that day. Only he worked with her mom, and she thought it would be okay. When he appeared at the side gate and said her mom wasn't answering the door and could she give her the files, she'd said yes.

It was her fault he'd gotten her.

She'd opened the gate to get the files he said he had, and that was how he'd grabbed her.

Ruthie hadn"t even understood what was happening until it was too late. Until she was in the back of his van and he held something that smelled sweet up to her face. The next thing she knew, she was waking up in a bedroom that looked like her room, only it wasn't and her mom wasn't there.

"I want my mommy," she whimpered, too close to full-on crying.

When he reached out to wrap his large hand around her neck, Ruthie cried louder and harder, trying to pull his much bigger hand away. "I want your mommy, too, but it seems she doesn't want you, doesn't it now? I told her what would happen if she wasn't here in one hour and she didn"t show up."

Her mommy loved her. Ruthie knew that. Her daddy wasn't around, he had left her and her mom when she was a baby, but she didn"t need a dad, her mom was enough. Her mom was everything. She cooked and cleaned, worked real hard, and still ensured she always had time for Ruthie. They played dolls, tea parties, and fairies. They drew pictures, and colored, and did crafts. Every night before bed, her mom would read her the best stories and make such funny voices.

"My mommy loves me," she said, a bit of anger coming through all the sad and scared. Jimmy was mean, and she was scared of him, but he didn"t get to say her mommy didn"t love her. That was a lie and her mommy said it was wrong to lie. Ruthie tried her best not to tell fibs, but sometimes she couldn't help it. If she didn"t want to get into trouble, she sometimes said things that weren"t true.

But she wasn't going to let this man say things that weren"t true about her mom.

Her mom was the very best mom in the whole entire world.

In the whole entire universe.

"Your mommy doesn't love you, if she did, she'd be here. But she's not. Time is up. That means you die."

The hand wrapped around her neck started to tighten. It hurt, and she couldn't breathe.

Her fingers clawed at the man's hand, but it was too big, he was too big, and she knew she couldn't make him let go of her.

Tears continued to fall down her cheeks, but it got harder and harder to scratch at the hand around her neck.

Like someone had switched out all the lights, her eyes started to darken.

"Ruthie!"

The sound of her name being screamed made the world a little lighter again, or maybe it was because the hand around her neck suddenly wasn't squeezing so tight.

"Let go of my baby!"

Mommy.

That was Mommy's voice.

She was here, she'd come. Ruthie had told Jimmy that her mommy loved her.

Something crashed into Jimmy, and he let go of her neck, swatting at something that had grabbed onto his back like you swatted at a fly.

No, it wasn't something it was her mom.

Mom was holding onto Jimmy's back, her arms around his neck, and he was jumping about trying to throw her off.

But her mommy wasn't letting go.

"Ruthie, run!"

That was the voice her mom used when she expected Ruthie to obey without arguing, only this time it also sounded scared.

The only time she'd ever seen or heard her mommy be scared was when Jimmy made her call mommy's cell phone. Jimmy had been so mad at her after the call because she hadn"t said the things he wanted her to say. He'd spanked her so hard her butt had hurt for days.

Scrambling to her feet, she scurried toward the front door while Mommy fought Jimmy.

Her hand was on the door handle when she heard a thump and a cry of pain.

Even though she knew she shouldn't, Ruthie stopped and turned around, saw her mommy lying on her back trying to push herself up off the floor. There was something red on her mom's cheek.

Blood.

"You walk out that door, Ruthie, and I'll hurt your mom," Jimmy warned, and she knew he meant it.

Crying, she ran toward her mom, throwing herself into Mom's arms. "Mommy," she cried.

"I"m here, my baby girl. I"m right here. Oh, my baby. My baby. I thought I was never going to see you again." Mommy was crying, too, as she crushed Ruthie in a hug that hurt, but even though it hurt she didn"t want her mom to let go.

Didn"t want her mom to ever let go of her again.

Not ever.

No matter how big she got.

She wanted to stay here in Mom's arms forever.

"Finally." Jimmy smiled as he stood over them. Bloody scratches were on his arms and face, but he didn"t seem to care. "We're all here together. A family. Now the three of us can be together forever."

That forever scared her and Ruthie curled deeper into her mom's hug. She was a big enough girl to know that even though her mom was here, that didn"t make everything okay this time.

Mommy couldn't save them from Jimmy.

Nobody could.