7.

D UB

“I have no idea how you got here or what to do with you now that you are,” I heard Elizabeth say, but it sounded like she was across the room from the heavenly cloud where I was resting. I was still trying to make my mouth cooperate and form the words to ask her where I was when she said, “I googled and found out that I have to feed you something other than apples and carrots, which is a good thing because I’m all out of those, big guy. Let me see what google says about leftovers. Do you like lasagna? If you’ll let me feed you with a spoon, I’ve got some leftover chicken and rice you might like. Rice is a grain, isn’t it? I should probably call Charlotte because they’re all gonna shit when they figure out you’re missing.”

I opened my eyes and slowly turned my head, surprised that it didn’t feel like it was going to explode for the first time in days. It probably didn’t feel that way because it was no longer connected to my body. Or because I’d somehow become paralyzed since I didn’t seem to be able to lift my hand.

“Don’t look at me like I’m neglecting you, Charlie. You’re the one who refused the carrot, and don’t think I didn’t see you drop that apple slice over there by the trash can. That was disrespectful and completely ungrateful. There are dogs out there who’d give their left nut for the stuff I feed you.”

When she started humming that song from the animal rescue commercials, I bit back a smile. I could only turn my head a little because there was something bulky and cold on it that got in the way, but I moved it enough so that I could see Elizabeth perched on a stool next to the window, absentmindedly scratching Hercules’s cheek since his head was resting on her shoulder.

Obviously, this was a drug-induced dream or else I’d finally kicked the bucket and was now hanging out in purgatory because there could be no other explanation as to why my horse was sticking his head through her window or why she was talking to him about lasagna.

She was holding her phone as she intently studied the screen, and I took the opportunity to study her face while she didn’t know she was being watched. She wasn’t classically beautiful - at least by Hollywood and media standards. Her strong jawline and high cheekbones gave her an angular facial structure, but the sparkle of her dark eyes with the softly-shaped brows above them softened it somewhat.

Her skin glowed as if it had been recently sunkissed, and the light coming through the window gave her black hair a sheen. She curved her arm around Hercules’s muzzle and swept a stray lock of hair behind her ear. It was just then that I realized she wasn’t wearing the leather cuffs on her wrist that I’d never seen her without.

Everything else about her looked almost the same as usual except that she’d changed out of the jeans and T-shirt she was wearing when she picked me up this morning. Now she had on a pair of those tight shorts I’d come to love, and her bare legs were crossed at the knee, the top one swaying back and forth as if it were a beacon calling me to inspect her all the way down to her toes.

I let my gaze roam down her muscular leg but stopped short when I saw the scar above her ankle. It was a dark, angry red, and from this angle, it looked like it went all the way around. I glanced at her other ankle and found a matching scar. I wondered why I hadn’t noticed them before and remembered that she’d always had on socks that covered her ankles . . . just like she always wore the leather cuffs over her wrists.

I looked back at her hands again and paid more attention this time. I could see the same ligature marks around her wrists. Someone had tightly bound her hands and feet and left them tied long enough to create wounds deep enough to leave lasting scars.

No wonder Elizabeth had attacked me when I approached her blind side and she hadn’t heard me coming.

“Google is absolutely no help right now, so I’m going to go with no, you can’t eat lasagna or chicken and rice. That makes sense since I don’t give Charlie food like that unless it’s a special occasion.” I heard a whine right before Elizabeth said, “Don’t try and guilt me into giving you lasagna, Charlie. If you get the shits, I’m the one who has to clean it up.”

When Hercules jerked his head and bumped her shoulder, Elizabeth reached up and started scratching his cheek again. She rested her phone on her leg before she lifted her other hand and brushed his forelock out of his eyes. “You need a hairstyle, buddy. I know how annoying it is when your hair keeps falling into your eyes. Want me to fix that for you?”

My eyes felt so heavy that it was difficult to keep them open, which was an issue because I really needed to warn Elizabeth that Hercules didn’t like people to mess with his mane. The last thing I heard before sleep pulled me under was, “Let me get a brush and some hair ties, and I’ll see what I can do.”

◆◆◆

I took a deep breath and moved my jaw and was surprised to find that it didn’t hurt nearly as bad as before. I had a hazy memory of Elizabeth walking beside me with her arm around my waist as she led me to the bathroom and then another of her holding a spoon out toward me before she handed me a pill and gave me a sip of water.

I wasn’t sure how long I’d been here but remembered a conversation with Elizabeth where she explained that I was asleep in her bedroom and my family knew that she was taking care of me. I knew I should get up as the urge to pee had become almost painful, but I was worried that my limbs wouldn’t work.

A vision of Elizabeth sitting next to Hercules came to me, and I wondered what sort of shit the dentist had given me. It wasn’t hard to figure out why some people found solace in narcotics. I had never taken an illicit drug in my life and had only tried beer once but found I hated the taste. Since then, I’d never had another sip and had no plans to.

I was happy to find that I had control of my limbs when I was able to move my foot and lift my hand, so I knew I’d be able to make my way to the bathroom on my own. Getting out of bed was a slow process because I felt as weak as a newborn kitten, but I was finally able to get to the toilet and relieve myself. I stared at my reflection in the mirror and saw that my hair was a tangled mess, I had dark circles under my eyes, and drool on both sides of my mouth.

I slowly worked my jaw back and forth and then opened my mouth and leaned closer to the mirror so I could see what damage the dentist had caused. As I studied my teeth, I moved my tongue around and touched the empty spaces where the teeth that had given me the most pain had been. There were dark areas on four of my lower teeth and two of my upper ones that I didn’t recognize, but when I ran my tongue over them they were smooth as if they’d always been there.

I ran my tongue over my front teeth and was surprised at their smoothness, and when I smiled at my reflection, I saw thin gaps between them that hadn’t been there before.

I wasn’t sure what sort of miracles the dentist had performed, but I had to give the man credit. In the short time I’d been asleep in his chair after he gave me the magical gas, he had fixed me right up. That was the opposite of what the prison dentist had done when he ignored my pain and yanked out four of my teeth before he sent me on my way with nothing but Tylenol and the helpful advice to avoid anything crunchy for a while.

As I stood there looking at myself, I realized that I felt sticky and gross, so I stripped down to nothing and stepped into the shower. Once the water was hot enough to melt my skin, I stood beneath the spray and worked the kinks out of my joints and muscles before I shampooed my hair twice and then used some girly smelling conditioner on it that I knew would help me work out the tangles.

When the water started to cool, I turned it off and stepped out onto the bath mat and reached for a fluffy towel hanging on the rack nearby. When I bent to dry my legs, I saw my duffel bag in the corner next to the open closet door and realized that someone had gone to my house and packed clean clothes for me.

I was sure that it had to be Charlotte, or at least, I hoped it was because I couldn’t imagine what Mary and Laura would choose for me to wear. Luckily, when I opened the bag, I found at least a week’s worth of clean underwear, a dozen pairs of socks, some soft T-shirts and a few pairs of basketball shorts that I usually wore to bed. My deodorant and toothbrush were in the bag as well as the lotion I always used. I carefully brushed my teeth and then swished the water around a few times to rinse my mouth before I put on my deodorant and lotion. Once I was dressed in clean clothes, I realized that I felt like an entirely new person - not only because I’d showered but because my mouth didn’t hurt for the first time in years.

At all.

It was such a foreign feeling that I moved my jaw around a few times just to see if it might come back.

I was still marveling at the lack of pain in my mouth as I walked out into the bedroom and it registered that I was hungry. Not just hungry, but ravenous - a feeling I hadn’t experienced since childhood when I was too young to know how to take care of myself. I’d learned earlier than most children because it wasn’t just me that needed food, but a passel of siblings that continued to grow exponentially as my father married again and again.

I decided to explore Elizabeth’s house, namely her refrigerator and pantry, to see if I could find something to eat that wouldn’t irritate the new holes in my mouth when I opened the door and heard her voice.

But Elizabeth wasn’t alone. Laura and Mary were with her and talking a mile a minute as if they had a million-word story to tell and a short amount of time to tell it.

“I’m so glad you are letting us stay here. Aleta was all over us about our clothes and our hair. She just wouldn’t stop, but Charlotte’s house is filled with all of our stinky brothers, so we didn’t want to go there,” Mary said in disgust.

“They still think farts are funny, and they are not, ” Laura tattled.

“They kind of are, but not when there are a bunch of them happening at the same time, which is what I imagine it’s like living with that many boys in the house.”

I had to agree with Elizabeth. I still giggled when the ketchup bottle made fart noises, but I hadn’t been nearly as amused when I was locked in a building with hundreds of men who didn’t think anything of letting one rip no matter where they were or who was around.

“Charlotte won’t make anything with beans in it because she said she’s trying to save the environment a little bit at a time,” Laura explained. “I’m not sure how but . . .”

“She said that the last time she served beans with dinner, a bunch of environmentalists started picketing on her lawn because of the greenhouse gasses.”

I smiled at the memory of hearing that tall tale and heard Elizabeth laugh. “I guess with that many boys in the house that’s a distinct possibility.”

“Why are you taking care of Dub?” Mary asked suddenly.

“Because he needs someone to look after him while he’s recovering from all of that dental work.”

“Yeah, but Charlotte is usually the only one who tries to take care of us.”

“I think Charlotte’s got enough on her plate right now, don’t you?”

I had to agree. I’d tried more than once to get Charlotte to let some of the boys move into my house to lessen her load, but she insisted that they were fine living with her and Si. As a matter of fact, she had urged me to move Laura and Mary into her house, too, just to get them out from under Aleta’s thumb.

“Why don’t you have any kids?” Laura asked, blunt as usual.

“When I was younger, I didn’t want children because I had big plans for my future but then . . .” There was a long pause before Elizabeth continued, “Something happened that threw me off course. After that, I needed some time alone to get back on track, but my priorities had changed by then, and the plan I had when I was younger seemed frivolous in the grand scheme of things.”

“What was your original plan?”

“I wanted to finish college, get my degree in veterinary medicine, and then take a few years to explore the world.”

“The world?” Laura asked.

“I wanted to see kangaroos in Australia and lions roaming the savanna in Africa,” Elizabeth said wistfully. “I had this notion that I would travel alone to all of the places I’d read about, but then things happened and I focused on taking care of myself instead.”

“What happened to change your mind?”

Elizabeth suddenly changed the subject and gave me insight into what might have happened to her, especially when I remembered the scars I’d seen on her wrists and ankles. I realized now that they were unfortunately not part of my narcotic-induced dream.

“I heard your brother and sister talking about Aleta’s plans to take you away and . . . make you live with a man.”

“She’s gonna marry us off,” Laura said sadly.

“Charlotte and Dub won’t let that happen,” Mary said with conviction that made me proud.

“Girls, I want you to listen to me, okay? You never have to accept a man - or anyone - putting their hands on you without your permission. I don’t care what they call themself - your friend, your husband, your boyfriend - whatever. Nobody, man or woman, is allowed to touch you in a way that makes you uncomfortable no matter who says it’s okay.”

“But if we’re married . . .”

“It doesn’t matter how old you are or what the relationship is called. Your body is yours, and it’s your decision who gets to touch you. If someone tries to hug you and you’re not comfortable, you have a right to say no. That is even more true when it’s something sexual.”

“I don’t want to go away with Aleta,” Mary said so quietly that I almost didn’t hear her.

“I’m sure Dub and Charlotte are working together to make sure you don’t have to.”

“What if they can’t? What if they’re not home when Aleta tries to take us away? What if . . .”

“You can always come to me. If I’m not here, find a place to hide until I get here, and I’ll take care of the problem.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“I think you should have had kids. You’d make a great mom.”

Elizabeth laughed softly before she said, “Thanks, Mary. That really means a lot.”

Laura chimed in cheerfully and said, “You could be our mom, Elizabeth!”

“That would be awesome!” Mary agreed.

“Well, I can’t be your mom since you’ve already got one, but I can be your friend, and in my experience, that’s sometimes even better than dealing with the one you’ve got.”

“Are you Dub’s girlfriend now?” Laura asked.

“No,” Elizabeth said hesitantly. “Your brother and I are just friends.”

“But if you marry him and live with us, then you could act like you’re our mom,” Laura argued.

“Are you finished peeling the carrots? I need to put them in the soup,” Elizabeth said, changing the subject again.

“It’s warm outside. Why are you cooking chicken and dumplings?”

“Because your brother needs to eat something substantial. It’s been three days since his procedure, and he needs to get his strength back.”

Three days? I’d been asleep for three days? Holy shit.

More shocking was the fact that I’d been sleeping at Elizabeth’s house, a woman who had only known me for a week, and she’d been taking care of me night and day. I wondered just how much she’d had to do and prayed to God that I hadn’t embarrassed myself.

“Can we go play with the dogs?”

“You can go into the pen but stay away from the kennels. There are some new boarders that I don’t know very well yet, and I’m not sure how they’ll react to people they don’t know.”

“What do I say to stop the dogs from jumping on me?” Laura asked.

“Pa’ means down.”

“And to get them to sit I say ‘ba!’ and do this . . .” I couldn’t see her but I knew she was doing the hand motion I’d seen Elizabeth use before.

“Charlie, attend.GolIy'a'!”

I heard Charlie’s nails on the tile, and then the door opened as Mary and Laura’s voices faded away. I gave up my spot against the doorframe and used what little energy I had left to walk into the kitchen toward the aroma that had my mouth watering.

“You’re awake!” Elizabeth said as she rushed around the counter toward me. She lifted my arm up over her shoulder and wrapped her arm around my waist as if she was going to hold me up, which I had no doubt she’d try to do even though I was six inches taller and outweighed her by at least a hundred pounds. “Let’s get you settled at the counter while I finish dinner. How are you feeling? It’s almost time for another pill.”

“I feel good,” I croaked out, my voice raspy after so long without speaking. “I’m hungry.”

“Let me get you some more yogurt.”

“Dumplings?” I asked as I sat down on a stool and leaned my arms against the counter. “No yogurt.”

“It’s what I’ve been feeding you for a few days now. I added protein powder to it, but I’m making you some real food right now.”

“I’ve been here three days?”

“You have,” Elizabeth said as she patted my shoulder. “Let me get your pill.”

“No more,” I argued as I shook my head.

“I’m weaning you off the painkillers, but you still need to take the antibiotics.”

“Why?”

“You had an infection, and I had to beg the dentist to treat you, Dub. He gave you some IV antibiotics and put you on a high dosage of pills for the next two weeks.”

“What will the antibiotics do?”

“They kill the infection,” Elizabeth said slowly. “You’ve never taken antibiotics?”

“I’ve never actually been to a doctor before,” I admitted. “Not even in prison.”

Elizabeth tilted her head and asked, “What do you do when you’re sick?”

“Get better,” I said, not intending my answer to be quite as sarcastic as it sounded. “What do you do?”

“I go to the doctor, get meds, and get better within a few days. I also see the dentist regularly. How have you managed the pain for this long? He said it was obvious you’ve had dental issues for months, if not years.”

“I have a plant that makes it better.”

“A plant?”

“It’s a toothache plant. I’ve got it growing with some other medicinal herbs in a terrarium on the windowsill of my workroom.”

“You’re kidding. Instead of going to the dentist, you’ve been chewing on a plant? ”

“What do you think people did before there were dentists, Karen?”

“Well, Kevin, the mortality rate back then was through the roof.”

I nodded in agreement but then smiled before I said, “It’s worked for me so far.”

Elizabeth shook her head and let out a long sigh as she walked over to the refrigerator and opened the door. She pulled out a container and set it on the bar before she grabbed a bowl out of the cabinet and a spoon from the holder on the countertop. Before she turned around, she picked up a basket full of prescription bottles.

She opened one and handed me a large pill and then opened another and shook one out into her hand.

“No more drugs, Elizabeth.”

“You’re taking ‘em if I have to put you in a chokehold and flick them down your throat,” Elizabeth threatened.

“I mean no more narcotics. I’m not hurting.”

“Because you had half of one three hours ago. I’ll give you a quarter of one this time and see how that works.”

“I don’t remember anything, and I don’t like it,” I admitted.

“You’ve been asleep most of the time, but that’s one of the side effects. If we half the dose you got before, it won’t affect you as much. At this point, you should be mostly healed, especially since you’ve taken it easy, but I’d hate for you to be in pain and have to wait for the meds to kick in to relieve it.”

“I’ve been in pain for years, Elizabeth. I think I can handle a little bit more.”

Elizabeth gave me what could only be described as a ‘mom look’ and said, “I told you I’d take care of you, and I can’t do that unless you let me. You’ll take a quarter of the pill and smile while you do it.”

I couldn’t suppress my chuckle, and she glared at me. I held my hand out for the pill she’d just broken and said, “Yes, ma’am.”

I couldn’t be positive, but I was almost sure I heard her mumble “That’s what I fucking thought,” as she turned around to get me a bottle of water.

That was too much for me, and I burst out laughing which earned me another glare as she handed me the water. “Dinner won’t be finished for a while, so take a few bites of yogurt so the pills don't make you sick.”

“Yes, ma’am.”