25. Family Ties

A darkness from Chrissy's past is revealed.

Warning:  strong language and references to rape!

Ian had made dinner that night, so Chrissy started cleaning up the dinner dishes while he went into the living room to relax. He had just sat down with his novel when the door bell rang. A well dressed woman in her mid to late thirties was standing on their front step when he opened the door. She had a briefcase with her.

“Good evening. I'm so sorry to bother you.” She spoke with a thick accent. Ian thought he recognized it as French-Canadian. She handed him an ID card. “My name is Jeanne Dupont. I am with the Montreal, Quebec prosecutor's office. I am looking for a Christelle Alaigne, aka Chrissy Allen. Does she live here?” Ian studied her ID card, then regarded her suspiciously. He didn't say anything right away. The woman smiled slightly. “She's not in any trouble,” she said, “I just want to talk to her about something.”

Ian stepped back to let her in. “Yeah, she lives here. I'm her husband, Ian Stewart. Please come in. Let me get her for you.” He went into the kitchen and quickly returned with Chrissy.

“Hello. I am Jeanne Dupont with the Montreal, Quebec prosecutor's office,” she said to Chrissy, handing her ID card to her, “I was wondering if I could have a word with you.”

“What about?” replied Chrissy, studying the woman's ID card carefully.

“I really think it would be best if we all sat down,” Dupont responded with a serious face.

Ian and Chrissy looked at each other, then Ian motioned toward the kitchen. “We can sit at the kitchen table.”

They all went into the kitchen and sat down at their tiny kitchen table. “Can I get you a cup of coffee or a glass of water?” asked Ian.

“A glass of water would be nice, thank you,” she answered.

He looked at Chrissy. “You?”

Chrissy just shook her head and stared at Dupont.

Dupont opened her briefcase and took out a small laptop and turned it on. While it booted up, she looked at Chrissy and said, “First of all, I want to make sure that I have the right person.” Chrissy continued to stare at her intently while she spoke. “Are you Chrissy Allen, aka Christelle Alaigne, formerly of Gatineau, Quebec?”

Chrissy nodded, still staring. “My name was legally changed years ago,” she replied.

“I understand,” Dupont continued, “And you have an uncle named Bernard Rodrique?” `

Chrissy didn't move or change her expression. But Ian saw something in her eyes - a flash of surprise, and something else... hatred! After several moments she hissed, “Yes.” His brow furrowed. She had always told him that she had no family.

Dupont hesitated. She looked uncomfortable and not sure how to proceed. Finally she said, “Your Uncle Bernard has been charged with assault and sexual assault of a thirteen-year-old girl. He is accused of raping her and beating her so badly that she spent two days in hospital.” Chrissy closed her eyes as if in pain, but didn't act surprised. Dupont continued, “Since the allegation was made, another girl, a seventeen-year-old, has come forward to say that he raped her when she was fourteen.” Chrissy still sat with her eyes closed, but Ian could see that her teeth were clenched. After a short pause, Dupont said, “Chrissy, I think you know why I'm here.”

Ian gave Dupont a perplexed look. How could she possibly think that Chrissy had anything to do with a couple of rapes that happened in Montreal?! He looked at Chrissy and then back at Dupont again. Then it hit him like a runaway freight train! He turned to Chrissy and inadvertently muttered aloud, “Oh, Jesus! Chrissy!”

Chrissy ignored him. “Who told you?” she asked in a low voice, her eyes still closed.

“Your cousin, Andre,” answered Dupont.

Chrissy opened her eyes. “So, after thirteen years they finally believe me?!” she said caustically.

Dupont shook her head. “Only Andre,” she answered, “The rest of the family still stands with Bernard.”

“A******s!” spat Chrissy. She looked down and stared at the table for what seemed like an eternity.

Ian grew uncomfortable. He finally spoke. “Do... do you want me to leave the room?” he asked.

“NO!” she said so vehemently that he flinched. Then her face and her voice softened just a little and she added, “Stay!” She continued staring at the table for a while longer before she finally said in a low, icy voice, “I was thirteen when that m**********r raped me!” She paused for several moments, then continued, “I told my mom and she confronted him. Naturally, he denied it. Called me a liar and a trouble-maker. The rest of the family believed him!” She looked up at both of them. “Why would I make something like that up?!” She looked down at the table again and continued, “I told Mom I didn't want to report it. It was stupid, I know! But I just wanted it to all be over! I just wanted to go home! We never had anything to do with them after that. As far as I'm concerned, they don't even exist!”

“I'm so sorry to dredge all of this up again, Chrissy,” Dupont said in a sympathetic voice, “But... well, a statement from you would really help us in our case against him in the other two rapes. That's why I'm here.”

Still staring down at the table, Chrissy nodded. Dupont turned to her laptop and began typing. Then she turned to Chrissy and said, “Whenever you're ready.”

Dupont typed as Chrissy spoke. She spoke without emotion, almost in a monotone. She told how she and her mother had traveled to Montreal to spend the Christmas holiday with the family there. How they had all decided to go downtown to Christmas shop, but Chrissy had stayed behind with a bad headache. How her uncle had come into her room soon after the family had left. Then she told in lurid detail what he had done to her. Listening to her tell her story was the hardest thing that Ian had ever had to endure, though he knew it was nothing compared to what Chrissy was going through telling it. He held her hand the entire time and didn't make a sound when she unconsciously dug her nails into him during the most difficult parts of her statement. He ran the gamut of emotions; pain and sympathy for her, and rage and hatred for a man that he hadn't even known existed a half hour before. When she was finally done, she finished with, “A merry f*****g Christmas that was!”

He was reminded of the time she had told him about her fourteenth Christmas and how her mother had saved up to buy her an expensive, ten-speed bicycle. He realized now that it had probably been an attempt by her mother to make up for the previous Christmas. Chrissy hadn't even had the bike for two weeks before it was stolen.

Dupont printed the statement out on a portable printer and gave it to Chrissy to read over before she signed it. As she put it and the laptop back into the briefcase, she said, “Thank you so much, Chrissy. I can only imagine how hard this has been for you. Our goal is to present him with such overwhelming evidence that he pleads guilty. This statement will really help with that. But... if this case should go to trial, would you be willing to come to Montreal to testify?”

Chrissy looked at her and answered with such a cold, icy voice that it gave Ian a chill, “I'll crawl there on my hands and knees if it'll help put that b*****d behind bars!” Then she added, “You tell him I said that!”

Dupont nodded and replied, “I will.” She stood up but hesitated a few moments as if there were something else on her mind. Finally she said, “Andre asked me to tell you that he's sorry.”

“Yeah, well, he can go to f*****g hell with the rest of them!” Chrissy snarled.

Dupont nodded again and said, “Goodbye, Chrissy. I hope we never have to meet again.”

Chrissy nodded silently to her. Ian walked her to the front door.

“I'm really sorry to have put her through all this. This is the part of my job that I hate the most! But I'll get a certain amount of satisfaction when I see the look on Bernard Rodrique's face as I tell him that I had a little chat with his niece,” she said to him.

After she was gone, Ian went back into the kitchen. Chrissy was still sitting in her chair staring at the table. “Of all my cousins, I was closest to Andre,” she said, “It was such a betrayal when he sided with them against me.” She sighed. “I realize he probably felt pressured and trapped by them.” She looked up at Ian and shrugged. “So be it!” she said matter-of-factly, “He made his choice thirteen years ago.” She got up and went to the sink and resumed washing the dishes.

And that was that! Bury it! Forget about it! Move on! It was the way she dealt with things. He knew better than to try to talk to her about it. He knew it would only lead to a fight. All he could do was be there if she did want to talk. He grabbed a dish towel and started drying the dishes and putting them away as she washed them. They finished in silence.

They went into the living room and spent the rest of the evening silently reading or on their computers. They barely spoke to each other. Chrissy was more taciturn than usual. Ian could hardly blame her. But he wished she would open up. Talk about it. That wasn't her way, though.

He hardly paid any attention to the novel he was reading. He couldn't get his mind off of Chrissy. He realized there were a lot of things about her childhood and youth that he didn't know. The few things that she had told him, well... sucked! He wanted more than anything to make it all go away for her. But he didn't know how to do that. The best he could do was to make the rest of her life as pleasant as he could.

They watched the news and got ready for bed. Ian was already in bed when she came in from the bathroom, turned out the light and crawled in with him. She kissed him goodnight and lay down next to him.

After several minutes she asked, “Ian, would you hold me?”

It was a rare request and one that he was happy to comply with. He rolled onto his side and loosely put his arms around her. Always loosely! So that she didn't feel claustrophobic. He was finally beginning to understand why. She nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck.

“If I'd gone to the cops, those two girls wouldn't have been raped,” she said quietly.

“You don't know that!” he answered her, “It might not have made any difference!”

“But it probably would have.”

“Maybe. We all make decisions in life that we regret later. You can't go back and change it. But remember, you're not the bad guy here, Chrissy, you're the victim!”

She sighed and grew silent. He knew she was still blaming herself. He kissed the top of her head. “I love you, Bittersweet,” he said softly.

“I know you do. And I'm glad,” she answered. It was the best he would get from her. But he knew she loved him back, even if she never said it.

They lay quietly together. Eventually Ian's breathing became regular. When he started snoring softly, she whispered, “I love you, too, Ian.”

Author's Note

She never had the nightmare again.

Reviews

[Barbara Walker]

Just minding your own business and the past comes back to haunt you again. I hope someday she will be able to tell Ian that she loves him when he can hear it. She's had reasons to build a hard outer shell, though. This was an intense chapter. Believable dialogue. Kudos!

[Craig2591]

Thank you, Barb.

[John Lauterbach]

I'm enjoying the departure from the misanthropic comedy Chrissy usually provides. Also, tying all those little details from other chapters together is big craft-points.

[Craig2591]

Thank you.

[Faith]

I knew it! Ian handled it perfectly. After the letter to the "house" and no bat, she is growing to really trust Ian. Again shows how she is growing. And he is understanding.

[Craig2591]

Thanks. I'm glad you're enjoying it.

[Kaya]

this is sucha hard one to review. For me, favorite characters become like friends, and chrissey's news was hearbreaking. I agree with everyone else, I hope she can say it to his face soon and i hope her uncle burns in hell!!

[Craig2591]

As hard as it is to read, it was just as hard to write - for the same reasons you state. When I first conceived Chrissy's character I decided that this was going to be part of her past. But as I got to know her, I almost decided to leave it out. But I decided that that would be a cop-out and that it should be faced, not cut.

[Kaya]

Hard as it was from both sides, I think you made the right decision. Horrible as it is, it explains alot about her personality.

[Tina Kline]

This is a hard hitting emotional chapter. I couldn't help but feel her pain at having to confront something again so many years later. It just shows we can't leave our past behind. I hope this gives her some healing.

[Craig2591]

Thank you. It was a difficult chapter to write.

[Tina Kline]

You did a great job!

[Tabitha t]

this was a very powerful chapter. it definetly makes a lot of things add up when it comes to chrissy... I also love that she asks him to hold her. She always is so strong but this shows that she has a vulnerable side. Great job

[Craig2591]

Thank you.