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Barters N Garters Chapter Four I’d stare a lifetime into your eyes In the bedroom, though it hurt her back and put a bit of strain on her feet, she lifted each man in turn bringing him to a half sitting position. Dipping one end of the red and white straw in the broth she covered the other end with her index finger to make a vacuum. Parting Daniel’s lips with the free end of the straw she slipped it inside and took her finger off the tip, the golden broth slipped out of the straw and down his throat, she dabbed away a bit of it from the corner of his mouth. “I love you, please wake up soon. I miss you, I want to see those wonderful shining eyes of yours.” She picked up his warm but limp hand and stroked her cheek with it. “Come back to me.” With the bowl of broth empty and the men still sleeping she headed for the bathroom and that warm bath everyone seemed so keen on. Leaving the bathroom room door half open so that she could hear them if they woke or made any disturbing sounds, Calla started the water running in the tub. When it was almost full she sequestered herself way far back in the bathroom next to the toilet and behind the 2/3 wall which offered privacy to anyone sitting on it and took off Ares’ tunic. The lights in the bathroom were out so she didn’t have to worry about catching sight of herself in the mirror and if she didn’t look down then everything was all right, especially now with the lovely little painkiller Adams had given her. Calla’s head was tingly and light, soon she’d want to sleep but she could not sleep until her men woke and were once again well. No there would be no sleep, absolutely not one wink, until then. That didn’t mean she should look like a refugee when they opened their eyes. No, absolutely not, when they woke they should do so to the sight of a woman ready to greet them, one who was clean, and smelled good at least. Burying the tunic in the hamper she looked down at the tub, Adams said not to get the bandages at her feet wet. “How am I going to get in?” Standing there naked and bruised with her thumb in her mouth Calla pondered the question, finally deciding she’d just have to take the plunge butt first. Sitting precariously on the edge of the sunken Jacuzzi with her back to the tub she did just that with a great big splash! But she did managed to keep her feet over the edge of the tub where they were dry. Pushing her way in the water, her legs raised in the air, she squirmed and wriggled and struggled until she found a comfortable position. “There. Better.” She announced to no one, scooting down just a bit she submerged her head so she could wash her hair, breaking the surface she reached for the bottle of shampoo only to realize it was still on the shower bar above her head. “Oh for cryin’ out loud!” It took enough effort just to get in here and now she had to get out and get up and….the back scrubber was within reach. Using it she reached up to the shower bar and gave the bottle of shampoo a hard poke from below. It popped up in the air and then tumbled down into the water followed swiftly by the conditioner. “Nah, there.” She sassed no one and began the mundane task of cleaning up. With her hair washed and conditioned she washed the sand, sweat, sea salt and other debris from her skin. Thankfully the soap was exactly where she hoped it would be; in the soap dish at her right hand side. Before she knew it the necessity of the bath was over and Calla thought she should get out. But it had been so much work getting in! She wasn’t looking forward to putting any weight on her feet, so perhaps turning on the jets would be a good thing? Yes, perhaps it would so she did just that and they roared to life with a million bubbles. “Very nice.” Ankles over the side of the sunken tub she relaxed in the churning water. The last few days were such a blur. She hardly remembered what happened to feet never mind how she got the nasty slice on her flank or the bruises on her face, the lesser marks and bruising she didn’t even notice. However, she did hope to hide them from Daniel and his brother when they woke. If Adams gave her the go-ahead, then she would let Colleen heal her if for no other reason than making sure her Husband and Sa’Tan never found out. If the wounds were gone then there would be no reason to tell them. Everything would be fine. The lovely white pill combined with the warm bubbling water to make her head light and tingly. Calla’s tired green eyes closed and her worn muscles unknotted as she began to fall asleep. “Mom? You in there? I got your…..” On the bed Daniel started to cough. Colleen dropped the small white CVS bag with the bottle of painkillers. “Dad? Hey, Dad.” She said hopefully kneeling down by his side. Colleen’s loud and hopeful startled Calla from a daze which was well on its way to becoming a deep comfortable sleep, Calla sat up in the warm churning water. “Is he awake?” Calla called from the tub and struggled to get out of the water only to flop around like some handicapped fish. With no forethought other than for the wretched show of weakness they would cause, she didn’t think about her words before she uttered them. “I’m sorry, would you h-h-help me, Cole?” Help? Did Mom ask for help? Cole dropped her Father’s hand and went to the bathroom. “Wha’cha need old la---“ She stopped. “Oh…my… Gawd! Mom!” At first reaction to her Mother’s naked body not only frightened her but it alarmed Calla as well. The deep black comfortable sleep which was embracing her like a Lover was rudely shooed away. As always, she was fast thinking and without missing a beat Calla reached out for the thick blue towel and dropped in the tub to cover her body. “It’s all right.” She mumbled. “It’s all….all….all right? Are you crazy? What happened? Did Umpa…did Ni….” “Shhhh, you’ll wake your Father and David.” The towel now soaking wet was pulled around her as if it were dry and she just emerged from the tub. “I fell.” She explained. “From what? The top of a cliff?” “Please just help me get out of here.” Colleen bent down… “No, you can’t.” Calla muttered. “You’ll have to call for Annie.” Colleen’s expression turned from worry to anger. “Please, my darling, Daughter, you know how much I love you, I’d be devastated if anything happened to you.” “I know you like to think of me as your little girl but I’m not. I’m someone’s Mother now too…just like you. I’m smart too…just like you.” “Yes, I am very aware of all that, now please call for Annie.” “Whatever.” Colleen walked away to the top of the stairs and shouted down for her sister in-law to come up and lend a hand. “Mom needs help getting out of the tub and she won’t let me touch her, do you mind?” “No,” Annie said following Cole into the bedroom and past the sleeping men. “Mrs. J, you need help?” Colleen wanted to warn Annie and prepare her in some way for what she was about to see but the words failed her. “Oh Mrs. J!” Annie gasped wrapping her arms around her frail wet Mother in-law and hoisting her from the water with ease. “Did doc Adams see this?” Freed from the bathtub Calla tottered around to that small wall by the toilet and switched the wet towel around her torso for a dry one. “I don’t wish to discuss it.” Was all she said but the truth was not only did she not wish to discuss it, she couldn’t. It was all so hazy and detached in her mind that she couldn’t explain, discuss or tell about it if someone threatened her life. Each time she tried to see it more clearly and put the pieces together well it just made her head pound so it was best not to ponder it. “I’m going to go and check on Daniel.” On sore feet she waddled from the bathroom into the master bedroom to find Daniel waking up. “Hello, Beautiful.” She whispered in his ear. “I miss you. Come back to me, please, I need you.” Those broken toes wailed as she knelt down and for a few seconds all of her weight--unconsiderable as it was—rested on ten toes, four which were busted. Then she settled on her butt which was also sore but less so than her feet she held Daniel’s hand to cheek. “Do you think he’s hungry?” She asked Colleen without looking up. “I fed…them…not long ago but, do you think…” Colleen shook her head and reached for Calla’s bathrobe. There she was on the floor dripping wet, bruised and cut head to toe, shaking with cold and fear all Colleen could do about it was to make sure that her Mother put her robe on before her Father woke up and saw what she did. Annie, knowing how afraid her Mother in-law was of causing any harm to her Daughter merely by touching her, took the robe from Cole. Calla only dropped Daniel’s hand for a moment as she slipped into the sleeve and then she tied the sash around her waist. Taking up the discarded towel Annie dried Calla’s hair and then ran a comb through it, all the while Calla just sat there holding Daniel’s and stroking it waiting for him to open his eyes. Those beautiful baby blues did not flutter. “Come on, Mom, why don’t you lay down on the chaise by the fire? Get some rest.” “I have to stay here….” “Well, you will be here.” She reasoned as though talking to a 12 year old. “Right there.” She pointed at the comfortable piece of furniture. “If Dad wakes up you’ll be the first to know. I ‘ll even throw some more wood in the fire.” No more talk, Annie just put a hand very lightly under her Mother in-law’s elbow and guided the older woman to where she could lay down. “That’s right, take it easy.” Cole tossed the patchwork quilt over Calla who did not take her eyes off the men in the bed the whole time she was being tucked in. Colleen opened the painkillers and made sure Calla took one. “Get some rest.” After building the fire up she left the room to get a few pillows from the linen closet, Annie tucked them under Calla’s feet. “Doc said to keep them up, remember?” “Who?” Oh God. “Get some sleep Mom.” “Night Mrs. J. We’re just down the hall if you need anything.” She couldn’t help wondering if Nick had anything to do with the ugly bruises on his Mother’s body. A few nights ago she never would have thought any such thing, then again, a few nights ago she still trusted him as her lover. He’d smashed that trust and the longer he stayed away the less likely he was to regain it. Walking out into the hall the two young women left the door slightly ajar. “It’s still early.” “I know, but look, let’s lock up the house, we’ll bring the kids up here and just sorta camp out, ok?” Colleen asked trying to sound brave and as though nothing was wrong. “Yeah, no problem.” Annie agreed softly as she followed Colleen down stairs. They locked all the doors and the windows tight. They grabbed the babies, sodas and a few assorted snacks before heading back up and calling it an early night. “Is she gonna be all right?” Barring the woman who gave birth to her, Mrs. J was the closest thing Annie had to a real mom and she hated seeing her all busted up like that. “Soon as my Dad wakes up she’ll be fine.” Colleen put Lilly in her swing and Annie secured Brigid—who was wide awake and cooing to beat the band—into the bouncy chair. “What about your Uncle David?” Unlike her Brother, Colleen was not ripped off over what happened between the three of them, in fact she saw it as a very loving and even sacred act. It healed her Mother and no one got hurt. She hadn’t cheated on Dad, hadn’t gone to Uncle David or another man behind his back, Dad had been right there and given his consent (even maybe his blessing) to the threesome. It wasn’t right of Nicky to be pissed off, it just wasn’t right. He had no say in what their parents did in their personal private life. No right to get his nose all bent out of joint like that. “How about you? You ok? I know you miss him.” “If he doesn’t come home soon it’s gonna be too late.” “You sure it isn’t already too late?” Cole asked as she sat on the bed and opened her Calculus book. She had to keep her mind occupied somehow, school work was just as good as anything else. Cole who was facing the daunting task of raising her own daughter alone couldn’t help but wonder what she’d do if Sandy had done the same things Nick did. Maybe it was better to have no man than one like that, she chided herself for the thought. Nick was still her Brother and that would never change. If Daniel and David Jackson could mend fences so could Colleen and Nicholas. But that didn’t mean he could do the same with Annie. “I’ll understand if it is…I’m pretty sure Mom will too.” Annie already confessed to her what Nicholas in his anger and full of wounded false pride had done to his pretty young wife. Any other man and you’d have to call it rape but Annie refused to do that because they were married and she wouldn’t report him to the police. She wouldn’t go to the hospital and have her own bruises looked at. Cole healed those for her. Stupid Brother. In some respects she hoped he never came back and in others she prayed he wasn’t dumb enough to swallow Umpa’s lies. “I still love him.” Annie confessed. “He…it…was…just….” She shook her head with its man of blonde hair. “Everyone deserves a second chance, don’t they?” Not everyone, certainly not Umpa. “Maybe.” End Of Chapter Four This story and all stories in the Barters N Garters Library are copyrighted to Lisa Beth Darling these stories
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Sister, Sister
A Short Story
by
Moon Mistress
So that I knew you were there for me
Time after time you were there for me
Remember yesterday - walking hand in hand
Love letters in the sand - I remember you
Through the sleepless nights and every endless day
I’d wanna hear you say - I remember you
I Remember You
SkidRow
Daughter of the Gods: Sister, Sister
Continue to
Chapter Five