Dark Angels

Chapter Two-1

Chapter Two

The furious pounding at the front door was all out of proportion to the strength and size of the rakish little girl who was doing the pounding.

Lee checked the peephole then swung back the door. Her niece, a dove-like creature, stood on the other side of the glass.

Mindy, not yet a woman, but poised on the threshold and ready to take those first tentative steps into a mature relationship; to feel a man softly moving inside her body, was not about to be afforded the luxury. She, instead, had the disheveled look of a girl who’d had s*x forced upon her. Mindy stood trembling uncontrollably and the fearful tears that rolled down her cheeks glistened in the porch-light. Her platinum hair that she so proudly wore like a mantle about her shoulders, looked like a rat’s nest; rummaged and dirty. Mindy’s blouse was torn at the sleeve and buttons were missing, forcing her to clutch at the fabric to keep it closed about her tiny breasts. She looked like a bundle of old rags.

“Mindy? Sweet Mother of Mary, whatever’s happened?”

Mindy threw herself straight into the older women’s arms. “Oh Auntie Leanne,” she sobbed into Lee’s neck, her body racked with convulsions. “It was so awful. Oh Jesus. I can’t believe this has happened to me.”

Lee, struck with horror, fought to steady her voice. “What dear? What was so awful?”

The question had to be asked but Lee was already sure of the answer, but still, she hoped. Lee held her niece tightly in her arms and stroked the back of the girl’s head. Trying as best she could to comfort her.

Mindy took a moment to gather herself. “I’ve been raped.”

“Raped!” Lee felt the outrage rise in her chest. Why couldn’t it have been an auto wreck? She pulled back to look into Mindy’s eyes. “Raped? What boy did this to you?”

Mindy couldn’t meet the weight of Lee’s penetrating glare. She let out a strangled wail and turned to the wall; leaning heavily for support with a cheek against the cool plaster. “It wasn’t a boy,” Mindy seemed to disintegrate and cried bitterly. “And there were three of them. Three men.”

“Three.” Lee felt her heart pitch and stepped closer, placing a hand between the girl’s shoulder blades. “Three men did this to you?” Lee turned her head to look into the street, expecting to see a stranger’s car; leering faces at the windows. But there was nothing but the swirl of darkness among the streetlamps; the moisture clinging to the grass.

“I’m not a virgin,” Mindy started sliding towards the floor, “not now. Not anymore.”

Lee caught her niece under the arms and pressed her into the wall. “Did they hurt you?” Lee’s jaw hardened. It was a stupid question and she felt inept. “Do you need the hospital?” she tried.

Mindy groaned painfully. “I need the f*****g morgue.”

Lee had never heard her niece swear before. It was out of character for the sweet girl and the sharp hatefulness took Lee by surprise. She rallied: “Look Mindy. I need to know. Did they c*m inside you? Any one of them?”

Mindy shuddered violently, like the men still had her. “Oh Jesus,” she faultered. “Two of them did me in my mouth. I had to...” She was on the verge of collapse. “I had to...”

“And the other man?” Lee pushed.

“Oh Lord... He... He... Oh, I can’t.”

“Mindy. Listen now. This is important. Did he c*m in you?”

“No.”

“So you can’t be pregnant.”

“Oh Auntie Leanne,” Mindy turned back into Lee’s arms, sobbing. “I don’t know... they all did me. All of them were inside. I couldn’t stop them. Don’t you understand?”

Lee kissed her niece on the side of the neck. “You did the right thing by coming to me, pumpkin. It’s okay now. You’re safe.”

“I couldn’t go home; mom would call the police. Everyone in town would find out.”

Lee held Mindy closer; nuzzled her neck and was aware of a void opening in her loins. The girl’s breath was sour and Lee closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Her body jolted and her breasts felt heavy and swollen. Her n*****s ached. Her niece had been raped and she should have been horrified. But all Lee felt was this unmistakable heat; and she was burning-up with curiosity.

“Come into the kitchen and I’ll fix us a drink. After, I’ll call your mother; tell her you’re with me and planning to spend the night. We’ll make a nice dinner and talk things through. Figure out what’s best.”

Mindy threw her arms around Lee’s neck. “Thank you Auntie Leanne. I can’t tell you how much I love you.” The sense of relief was evident in the young girl’s voice. Her aunt would make things right again.

“Everything’s going to be okay, pumpkin, you’re with me now.” Lee slipped an arm around the girl’s waist and guided her to the kitchen. “I nice glass of whiskey, Bushmills. You’ll feel better. Trust me.”

It wasn’t until Lee was seated across from Mindy that she realized that her niece had been terribly beaten. In the harsh florescent lights she saw the swelling on the side of Mindy’s jaw and a vicious bite mark on her neck was still oozing. There was a smudge of blood on the girl’s collar.

It was like a knife to her own heart. “Pumpkin.” Lee touched Mindy’s face and found herself moved by an unexpected emotional rush. “What have they done to you? Are you sure you’re okay? I could call my doctor. She’s very discrete.”

“No. Please don’t. I’m fine. Really... It’s just that I fought in the beginning; and I shouldn’t have. I should have just let them have what they wanted. But I couldn’t; not at first. And then they started hitting me...”

Lee poured an ounce of whiskey into a small snifter and slid it across. “Drink that down. All of it. There was three of them?”

Mindy was too young to be much of a drinker but she swallowed the whiskey in two gulps and gagged on the burn. “Yes. Oh Christ... three. Two of them made me. And the other one… Oh Auntie Leanne, it was so disgusting.”

Lee poured herself an Irish whiskey and squirmed. “Three of them...” She reached across with the bottle and recharged Mindy’s glass. “And you haven’t told anyone, besides me, I mean.”

Mindy took another mouthful of whiskey. “I couldn’t go home,” she repeated.

“So what did they do to you?” Lee asked expectantly, and she tried desperately hard to mask her ill-conceived curiosity. “Did it hurt?”

Mindy abruptly buried her face in her hands. “It was just too awful, Auntie Leanne. I can never tell. Not to nobody.” She choked on tears. “I’d rather die.”

Lee fell back in her chair, disappointed and touched with a sense of shame. “Okay. Take it easy now. Everything will be fine. You’re with me. Finish your whiskey and then I’ll run you a hot bath, you can soak. I’ll call your mother and let her know you’re staying over. After, we’ll make ourselves dinner.”

Mindy quickly tilted her glass. She got to her feet, came around the end of the table and threw arms around Lee’s neck: “You’re the best, ever. I’m so sorry I brought this down on you but thank you for being here for me.”

“Nonsense, child.” And Lee lifted her face to kiss Mindy on the cheek. “You’re the sweetest niece anyone could ask for; heavens, like my own child. You stay here with me for as long as you need to. Now let’s see about getting you into a tub of water.”

Lee ran the bath and watched her niece loosen her blouse. There was a second bite mark on the girl’s shoulder, just by her bra strap and when Lee saw the swelling and the purplish bruising, she experienced a lonely gnawing in her chest and couldn’t explain the tinge of excitement she felt lower down. “You’d better let me tend to those cuts after you bathe.” She left Mindy with fresh towels and her spare robe.

“Mindy stopped by and we’re making dinner,” Lee explained to her older sister over the phone. “We’re planning on watching a Bogie film later. I’ve got popcorn. It’ll be late so I’ll put her up in the guest room.”

“Are you sure, sis? I don’t want her to put you out any.”

“Don’t be silly, I live alone, remember,” she chided her sister. Lee, thirty-four years old, had never married. “I could stand the company,” Lee continued. “It will be a sleep-over; like in high school, you know?”

“Sure, I remember... remember drinking gin until I threw up on the grass.”

“Well you were always the wild one. Now you and Don have yourselves a nice evening. Go out to dinner, for heaven’s sake. Or take in a movie. I’ll babysit. Settled?”

“Settled. And thanks. It’ll be a nice change for us.”

“I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Ciao Bella.”

Lee hung up the telephone and listened for a moment. There was the happy sound of moving water and the squeak of skin on enamel. Lee imagined her niece leaning back and soaking within the steamy confines of the bathtub; the frothy bubbles about her neck. She imagined the bruised and torn flesh and once again fought down the craving. She had never experienced anything like those kinds of feelings before. Lee felt a pang of guilt but it was quickly overridden by a lusty shudder when she thought of her niece surrounded by three men. Lee needed to know what had happened; wanted all the delectable details.

Lee got up from the kitchen table and checked the fridge. She was well stocked with beer and there was a bottle of white wine. If she had to, she would get the little bugger drunk.

From the freezer compartment, she removed a casserole.

When Lee made a chicken divan, she always made a double batch; generous chunks of chicken-meat layered with broccoli, cheese, and mushroom soup from the tin. It was one of those silly recipes that shouldn’t taste nearly so good, considering the simplicity of the ingredients. Maybe it was the pinch of curry powder she added. And she always sprinkled on the rye breadcrumbs to make a crusty topping. Then Lee would freeze half for a quick dinner on those occasions, like tonight, when someone showed at her door, unannounced.

Lee put the casserole into the microwave to defrost and she pulled egg noodles from the cupboard. She turned up the oven and put water on to boil.

“Something smells wonderful.” Mindy shuffled through the swinging door and breathed deeply. Lee’s floor-length bathrobe dragged on the tiles about the girl’s feet and was tightly belted around narrow hips. With her hair in damp ringlets, Mindy looked like a kid; a kid on Christmas morning.

Lee poured icy Chardonnay and passed it across. “I’m glad you approve. The noodles are draining so sit and enjoy your wine.” Lee peered through the oven door; the chicken divan was bubbling. She removed it from the rack and placed it on top of the stove, then picked up her tongs.

Lee set down two plates heaped with steaming noodles smothered in creamy chicken sauce. The fragrance of curry hung about the table. Lee got seated across from her niece and watched the girl twirl noodles onto her fork. Mindy was eighteen, just, but with her small physical frame and the damp pageboy bangs hanging in her eyes, she looked so much younger. So innocent. When Mindy lifted the fork to her mouth, Lee noticed the stiffness in the jaw and the girl chewed tentatively.

Lee sipped wine. “That’s a nasty looking bite mark on your neck. There are others?”

Mindy humped her shoulders. “A few,” she confessed. “On my breasts. And lower. I’ll be okay.”

“I’ve got antiseptic cream. I think it would be a good idea if later I...”

Mindy flinched and quickly cut off Lee’s suggestion: “This is delicious, Auntie Leanne. I must get your recipe.”

“It’s on the back of the soup tin.”

The women fell into an uneasy truce; Lee watching carefully. She saw Mindy shudder once or twice and knew the girl was reliving the shattering experience of having her virginity torn away. Lee couldn’t help but wonder what that would be like: To be surrounded by three men who only had one thing on their minds. And were prepared to take it if it wasn’t offered up.