Chapter 12

I stumbled out of the alley, pale and my shirt buttoned up wrong. I gave three shillings to the driver and sat into the cart next to Haley and Charlie, looking straight ahead. "Peabody." I said to him quickly.

"Wasn't so bad now, was it?" The driver said, grinning.

"F**k you." I said dully.

"Well, someone didn't have a good time with Ralph." He said.  "Why not?"

" Just get us to Peabody."  Charlie put an arm around my shoulder, but I shook him off, scared all of a sudden.

When we got there, I didn't take Haley's hand or anything, just walked to the door. "Rosaline-Your skirt." Haley whispered, pulling down the end that had tucked into my waist.

"Thanks."

"What happened?" She asked, looking up at me. I was shaking so hard it was difficult to clasp my hands together.

" Nothing happened, hun. It's fine. Let's just go inside and face Isiah, okay?" Charlie filled her in on Isiah while I was gone.

"Is he going to be mad?" She looked frightened.

"Maybe.He'll be more concerned about your health than us leaving right now."

"Okay." She smiled, and I, with shaking hands, took a shard of glass out of her hair. I didn't knock on Isiah's door, just walked right in on him pacing the kitchen with our note in his hand, Benji still asleep in his bed. 

"Where have you been? You guys are in so much tr-Oh, my god!" Isiah shouted, running over to my little sister. "What happened to her?! What happened to you?!"  He looked over at my blood-drained figure.

"Nothing. Nothing. Just take care of Haley, okay?!" I ran to my room, trying to lock the door and failing miserably. I sat on my bed, clasping and unclasping my fists, having a bit of a mental breakdown. 

"Rosaline??" Charlie whispered, walking in and shutting the door behind him. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" 

"Of course not!" I whispered, close to tears. He sat next to me on the bed and touched my shoulder. "Get off me!!" I shouted. 

"Rosaline.." He tried to hug me.

"GET OFF!" I backed away from him, frightened. What if he did to me what Ralph did!?

"Rosaline, what happened to you?" He backed off from me. "What happened in that alley?!"

"I got the money. That's it." I said, calming down a little now that he was a good five feet away from me.

"Something happened there. What was it?" 

"Nothing!! I said NOTHING happened! Okay?!" I walked out of the room, to the bathroom, where I locked the door and sat there for the longest time until Benji knocked on the door. " I need to use the bathroom!" He shouted, and I walked out so he could use it. I must've looked like a wreck, because he stared at me for the longest time before entering. 

I walked down to the kitchen and saw Isiah picking shards of glass out of Haley's head with a pair of tweezers, while she sat in a big tin bucket full of watery oatmeal. "What's with the oatmeal?"  I asked, sitting in one of the chairs.

" She has a rash.  And don't think your getting out of this one, Rosaline. You could've informed me before you left." He said sternly.

"Sorry, Isiah. I felt i needed to go right then." I muttered.

" Just let me know when you go next time, alright?" I nodded.

"So, how are you?" He asked. " You looked a little pale when you came in." 

" I'm fine." I said.

"Okay.." He murmured, taking another glass shard out. " I think that's all, darling. Do you want to wash that hair now?" 

"Yeah!" Haley said happily, dunking her hair into the water and exposing her stomach when she bent back. I could see her ribs really clearly. 

"When was the last time you ate?" I asked her.

"Communion on Sunday," She said, like it was normal for her to go two days without eating.

"My god, it's tuesday! Get her some food, Rosaline." I got her some bread and buttered it heavily. She gratefully took a bite out of it, but then stopped mid-chew. "Don't I have to share some with Grandfather?" She asked us.

"No, he's not here. Have the whole piece." Isiah said. She went wide eyed, but ate the entire piece like she hadn't eaten for weeks.

"Do you want more?" She nodded, and I got more for her to eat. What happened to my little sister I found I once knew?

As soon as it got dark, I went to bed. Haley slept in the doctors cot for tonight, but soon we'd buy her a bed to sleep in. Pulling the covers over my head, I curled up into the tightest ball I could, my thighs aching. I tried to sleep but couldn't. Somehow, I was glad I couldn't see what Ralph was doing, because instead of the visions of what happened coming back i was experiencing the feelings. I rolled over, and rolled over again, trying to shake the feelings away with no luck. Soon, I felt Charlie get into bed beside me, but he didn't try to talk to me or hold my hand. He just laid there under his own blanket and sat there for a few minutes. 

" You've got to help me." I whispered, peeking my eyes out of the blanket. He turned and faced me. 

"What happened?" He asked softly. 

" It doesn't matter. You just need to help me." I said, swallowing hard.

" Okay. How?" He asked.

"Just... I don't know. I can't shake what happened off of me, and I need it to. I need to find a way to act like it never happened."

"I can't help you with that unless you tell me what happened, Rose. Even I know that." He whispered. I sighed with defeat, knowing he was right. I'd have to tell him.

"That guy. He...Hurt me. A lot."  I said quietly, looking down.

"Did he hit you?" He asked, getting a little angry.

"No, he didn't hit me. He blindfolded me, and cuffed me, and-" I didn't go on. The feelings were coming back.

"Oh, my god, Rosaline. Did he rape you?" He whispered in horror. I nodded and started to cry into the pillow, biting the blanket to try to stop.

"We had to get home- I tried to get away but he was on top of me-and-and-" I shuddered. "Please don't touch me." I whispered.

"I won't, I won't. But how long will this no touch thing go on?" He asked.

"Long enough for me to forget," I said, and turned over so I didn't have to face him.

I would never forget.