RoxanneA Story by Maria Story of a mother and child, struggling to love each other, and abuse the child suffered at her moms lover. Confronting a past, she never knew, and opening a new door.
The Beginning
No, not again, please stop! Weeping into the night, no one could hear, the cries, of little Roxanne. Not even her mother that was in the kitchen, cleaning up the mess left from dinner. And the neighbors, would not even dare, say a thing because they did not want to be on the bad side of Larry, Melissa's newest lover. So little Roxanne would find herself all alone and abandoned by all, whom she thought would come to her aide, especially her mom. She is barely 3 years old, and her moms newest boyfriend, told her from the start, that he teach her to be a woman. She did not understand or know what he meant, until that very first night, in which she was left all alone with him. Her mother worked at Abby's Cafe, down two blocks, from there shabby old house. And ever since she met Larry, he had been staying with them, and never once did her mother complain. She had never met her dad, nor would her mom bring up that subject, as it was forbidden to ask any questions. Her Grammy kept on asking to have Roxanne be with her, but her mom kept on saying no, she could manage. And Roxanne loved her mom, but ever since Larry came, all she wanted was to move out of this house. And so her life remained as so, up until she turned 10 years of age. Larry died of a heart attack, and her mother blamed it on her. .......................................................... Present Roxanne! Hurry up! you are going to be late again, so get moving! Melissa hurried to gather her things, and start the car, as she had to drop off Roxanne first before heading to the cafe. Meanwhile, upstairs, Roxanne stood in front of her mirror, and kept on looking at herself, wondering if she would ever fit in at school. Her dress was new, green and yellow flowers all along the skirt. And she wore her new, white sandals as well. Her hair had grown some, and it was wavy, brown, with a hint of dirty blond. Why should I even care, geesh. Roxanne!! Come down right this minute or else!!!, or else what mother? she mutters to herself. She grabs her book bag and runs downstairs, Here I am Mom. Can you please stop yelling at me. Melissa runs out the door and Roxanne follows, and as they get inside the car, a cruiser pulls on up the driveway, blocking Melissa's car. Now what, Melissa exclaims, as she gets out of the car. Two young policemen get out and walk towards Melissa. The senior officer, by the name of Tom, gets to her first. Good morning, Maam, our apologies, but we need to talk to you about a delicate matter, can we please go inside your house? Roxanne, gets out and decides she will just walk herself to school, while her mom, sorts stuff out with the cops. Officer Jesse, calls out to her, Hey, stop right there and get on inside your house, please Missy. Roxanne turns and flicks him off, and says, screw you, your not my dad, plus I am going to expelled from school if I do not show up on time. Jesse looks at his superior, and Tom tells him to take her to school and come on back. So Roxanne gets inside the cruiser, and stares out the window, not even wanting to look at Jesse at all. Officer Jesse, gets in and tells her to put on her seat belt, and off they go. He asks which school she goes to and she gives the name of Roosevelt Middle School. And just before they arrive to the school, he asks her, Have you heard from your father as of late, or seen him around? Melissa is shocked at this line of questioning, and says no I have no idea who he even is. Why? Officer Jesse looks away, and says, I cannot tell you much, but if you see anyone acting suspiciously, make sure to call 911, OK? Alright, fine with me, and off she goes to school. The bell rings as she gets in, and off she runs to find her locker and get out her books for first period. As she makes her way to her classroom, she runs into Mrs. Robinson, the coordinator for 8th grade. Running a bit late, are we now? Melissa does not say a thing, and just goes her way. As she nears her classroom, she wonders why the officer would ask her about her dad. Her mom has never said a thing to her about him, yet she noticed how pale her mom got when the other guy told her it was a delicate matter. Oh well, no time to worry about that now. She gets inside and looks for the farthest seat, all the way in the back. Luckily, everyone is still settling down, so the teacher does not notice her arrival. As she sits down, Tommy leans towards her and says, Julie says your mom a criminal. Melissa ignores this and looks up towards where the teacher is. He pokes her with his pencil and she pushes him away from her side. He moves away. This is just the start of things. Julie looks at her and gives her a cold smile, and then turns towards Clarisse and they both start pointing and whispering about Roxanne. She ignores them as she has always done and starts taking down notes of this and that. Bell ring and she gets up to go to her next class and so the day goes. Roxanne is used to the whispering and questions people have asked her repeatedly, mainly about her mom whom they state is a known burglar, but got off from jail, because of Roxanne. ........................................................ She takes her time walking home, cause she hates being stuck inside that house. Larry is gone but she still shivers each time she walks by his room. So she goes by the park and takes the long way home instead. As she is reaching a hidden trail, within Oakley Park, she notices a man, standing beyond, looking towards the houses, that can be seen on this side. He looks pale, and somewhat skinny. Tall, and tanned, and has a few tattoos here and there. His hair is brown, and he is smoking a cigar. He is wearing some sort of jump suit, orange in color, and no shoes. What the hell? She wants to ask him what he is doing but knows better and goes off on the hidden trail she and a few others know about, without making a sound. Finally, she gets home, and drags her things up the stairs and calls out, Mom I am home!, and goes to her room to change her clothes. She finds a note in the kitchen, telling her that there is food in the fridge and that her mom is working late, yet again. So she takes out the plate, and warms it up and sits down to eat, when she sees, the same man, walking up and down, the hill that is right behind their home. She does not know what to think, and gets up to lock all doors and closes the curtains, so he cannot see her inside the home. She finished her homework, and called up her mom, to let her know that she was going to bed in case she got home early. .................................................. Its close to midnight and Melissa is still at the cafe. She is a wreck. Ever since Officer Tom told her the news, she could not believe it! And Roxanne has no idea! What should she do? Even now, as she knows that Roxanne is home alone, she wonders, if she is safe enough to be alone? So be it. If she sees that low scumbag around the house, she will definitely keep him away from Roxanne. I know, I will get a dog, a good dog, that can bark if someone is near the house, and trained. So with that thought she goes back to attend the late night customers and offer them some food. ................................................................ Meanwhile, Roxanne is at home, sleeping profoundly, without any care or worry, and everything is quiet inside the house. Yet, someone is still waiting outside in the woods. The man she saw earlier, is still there, bidding his time and waiting for Melissa to appear. He must know what she did with the money they robbed over 10 years ago. Damn her! She got away with only 6 months in juvi cause she was supposedly pregnant! Well, I will show her. He no longer has any more cigarettes and sits on top of a trunk, looking here and there. And there he stays until finally, he sees a small figure walking up the hill. Could it be? _It must be her! He sits and waits to see which house she goes to. .............................................................. Melissa hurries up the hill in order to get into the house without being seen by no one. Oh stop being silly, she says to herself, he would never make her out, here of all places. Stop worrying yourself for nothing, girl! As she nears her home, she suddenly, is more aware of her surroundings and is not sure, why, but feels as if there is someone out there, watching, and in the end, she follows her gut and goes by her house, and walks down to the other side, and looks into getting inside her friends Betty house, and stay there. Sadly, Betty is not home so she continues onward, and that sensation never leaves her. She finally reaches Josephs home and rings the bell. She can hear a muffled yell and footsteps approaching the front door. The door opens slightly and he looks out, Yes, why Melissa, are you OK? What is wrong? She walks in and closes the door. Please get Nina, and let me tell you a secret I have been hiding all these years, and if anything happens to me, make sure Roxanne goes live with my momma. Joseph and Nina make coffee and sit down, and listen to all Melissa has to say, and in the end, they agree to make sure Roxanne is kept safe by not telling her a thing and will only contact the police if necessary. ................................................................. Roxanne wakes up and notices how quiet the house is, and she goes to see if her mom is already home. The bed is empty and she sees no note, so she sits and wonders where can she be? Unsure of what to do, she gets ready for school, and makes some toast to eat with jelly. The phone rings and she picks up, its Joseph, saying he will take her to school, and for her to not leave the house until he is outside. She gets ready and waits inside the living room. What is going on? Where is my mom, she wonders, just as she sees his car pulling up. She gets out and locks the door and gets inside the van. Morning Joe, what up? have you seen my mom? She is alright. For now she is at our house, let me take you to school and I will pick you up and take you to our house in the afternoon, OK? Sure, she says, unsure what could be happening, and yet she ponders, does this have anything to do with what everyone keeps on saying, that her mom is some sort of criminal? She gets to school and goes to her homeroom class. As the day goes by she tries to think, what could make my mom so jumpy? Larry is dead, but she never cared, so what can it be? Is it me or my dad? ............................................................ A few weeks later, as she is getting home from school, she notices the same man she had seen a few weeks ago, standing close to their home. He looks dirty and shabby. So she keeps on walking towards Josephs house. The man looks up and sees her and shakes his head and walks away. A few days later, she sees him once again, close to Josephs house, looking here and there. Her mom had already left for work, at 4am. She gets out to take the garbage bin to the driveway, and catches him looking at her from the other end. He squints and looks and walks away. She tells Nina about the man and Nina calls the police. By the time they get there, he had already left. She has tried asking her mom what is going on, but she just tells her to keep quiet and not ask any questions. So one day she goes the library and asks for old newspapers from 1999, and onward, which was a year or so before she was born. And she skims through each article, and is unsure of what she should be looking for but than she gets to the month of July and the front page is covered in big letters,¨Bank robbed of millions in gold!!¨. And she starts reading about a heist that was almost successful with the exception that a man had been caught and he claimed that his partner, Melissa Sinclair, had taken off with the gold, and he had nothing to do with the heist. She goes back and reads that once again, Melissa Sinclair!! No way, could it be? but her moms last name was Mistletoe, or so she had been told. This cannot be, so she reads on to see what they say of this man. Enrique Hernandez, 20 years of age, has been indicted in this crime of major proportions as the bank clerk was shot at a short range and killed in cold blood. She turns the page and sees a picture of a very young man, with dark brown hair, and a deep frown. Skinny and pale. His eyes, are big and wide. She tries to see if there is a picture of Melissa Sinclair, but there is only a sketch to her likeness, and well except for the nose, it looked lots like her mom!!! .............................................................. Enrique has had it, Melissa keeps on getting away, but no more. Tonight, I will go and find her at that cafe and take her out and have her show me where the gold is! Meanwhile, Melissa, has been holed up at Jospehs house for a week, before venturing to go back to work. Nina goes with her, just to keep her company. So far, Roxanne has not suspected a thing but has been asking too many questions. Tonight she would go out to the barn and collect the gold that is left, to get tickets and leave the country for good. Roxanne has been taken home with her new dog, Ruffles. He is a Siberian Mix 6 month old pup, and very cute and fluffy. She gets him some food and settles down to watch tv. Its a Friday night so there is no curfew. And she ends up falling asleep with Ruffles right beside her. A scream, pounding at the door! Roxanne awakes, with her heart slamming against her chest. What was that noise? Did I dream it¡ Bang, bang, bang! Open this door! She gets up and Ruffles keeps on barking. Unsure of what to do, she looks out the window, and sees her mom being held by gun point, and she runs to the phone and starts dialing 911 when the door is shattered by an explosion, and she drops the phone, as it starts ringing and hides beneath the kitchen cabinet. Melissa screams and keeps on saying, No, not here, not like this! Please she has no clue, stop this madness! Enrique walks in and calls off the dog, and threatens to kill it if Roxanne does not come out. She slowly gets up and grabs Ruffles and wraps him in her arms. We are going for a ride, little girl, come! And Melissa stays quiet. Roxanne goes and gets into her moms car, and Melissa is put inside the trunk. Do you know who I am? he asks in a rough, deep voice. No I have no idea. And he looks at her, and says, your momma says you are my girl. But you look more like her than me. She took something away from me many years ago, and let me take the fall, so I have come to collect, and you will come with me as well. Roxanne looked at him, and says, No, I will not go with you, I will stay here in Oaksville. You cannot make me go. And with that, Enrique drives on quietly. They reach some farm, and go into a barn, and her mother is dragged out and he tells her to point and she keeps on saying no, and finally he threatens to kill Roxanne, and Melissa finally says, up on the loft, that loft! So he tells Roxanne to get on up and look for a large bag and throw it at him. She gets on up and see a green, old duffel bag and opens it up and see lots of gold! she takes a few bricks out and then throws the bag down to him. He laughs and shoots her mom, and tells her to come with him, and she says no! and so he starts climbing up and without thinking, she throw a gold brick and hits him on the head, as he falls down, he takes aim and shoots Roxanne. She is hit on the right shoulder, and screams in pain. ............................................................. Epilogue Roxanne is out in the backyard, sitting on the swing. Her shoulder is much better and yet she still misses her mom. Its been 3 months since it all went down, and the police arrested Enrique, and he claimed to being her daddy. But she could not believe him, no never... She is with her granny now, and she is so happy, and making sure she is has everything she needs and Ruffles is with her. She looks out yonder, into the apple trees, her granny has, and wonders, how will she be able to get back into that loft and collect the bars she hid inside that hole up in the rafters. She would worry about that later and concentrate on healing, for finally, someone told her that what Larry did to her was never her fault. So, she hops on off and goes inside the ranch, and looks for her granny to go out to eat. And she will close the door to her past, as she looks onward to whatever life has for her still. The End. © 2017 MariaReviews
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MariaFairfax, VAAboutI write from my heart, soul and mind. Sharing both past and present trials, that I have faced and or am facing. I believe strongly in God and the Bible, yet I respect everyone's views. I myself am no.. more..Writing
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