Bases Loaded (9 page)

“She said she’ll be here at one. Will you be
here to watch the kids while Connie visits with me?”

“
Yes, I will be here.”

“I’m not asking you to act like you love me or anything. I just don’t want Connie to know about us
or our problems.”

“Fine,
I’m asking you not to attempt to manipulate me in any way. I wouldn’t like that.”

My words pissed Tess off. She was holding her coffee mug so tight it was shaking in her grip.

“If you’re thinking about throwing your hot coffee on me, you better think again.” I was threatening her. I refuse to live in fear anymore. I’m tired of being worried she’s going to flip out and do something rash, like hurt my kids.

“I would never burn your face. I’m sure that’s what your girlfriend loves about you.”

I smirked. “You would think that.” I chuckled to myself. I know Kari would take my big cock over my looks any day. Tess is clueless. “I will play along with your little charade but this marriage is over. You can file for divorce if you like just to beat me to the punch but make no mistake I will do it.”

Tess’ anger turned to despair. My words hit her hard in the chest and knocked a tear from her eyes.
Now I feel terrible. Why am I such a fucking prick?

She took another sip of her coffee. “One o’clock.” Tess turned away and left me sitting at the table alone. I heard her footsteps as they went up the back staircase. 

Tess stayed away from me and I had no problem staying away from her.
Later I made lunch for my kids and we walked to Sunset Park. That’s the park I held my past little league practices. I had good memories at that park. Kari was in some of them. I returned home with my kids at two. Tess’ sister was still here. Her car was parked in the driveway. It was time for me to play nice. It wouldn’t be hard if Tess didn’t make it unbearable. I actually liked Connie. I just rarely saw her. Tess was distant from her family and I didn’t interfere when Tess was so stubborn.

My
kids ran inside and went upstairs to their rooms. I went into the kitchen for a glass of water, tap water. Shit, I ran right into Connie and Tess. I believe I ran right into a fight. What the hell are they doing in here?

Tess was swinging wildly into the air. Connie’s face was bleeding. Blood was on her forehead and cheek.

Tess caught a glimpse of me. “Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!” Tess wailed like she was dying. Her fist flew in the direction of Connie who was doing a terrible job of blocking the erratic frenzy of blows.

“Tess! Tess! Tess! Calm down! Tess!”
Connie was begging Tess to stop. Some of Tess’ balled fists were landing on Connie.

I was lost and confused and somehow I was stuck in the entryway of the kitchen.
Tess was like the cartoon Tasmanian devil. She was tearing up things in her wake. She grabbed a Teflon skillet off the stove and she started wielding it like it was a baseball bat. What the fuck?

I catapulted myself into the action.
“What the fuck is going on?” Is Connie going to clue me in?

Connie’s eyes shot
over to me as if seeing me for the first time. “Mason just help me with her.” Connie asked. “Grab her.” She ordered.

I le
apt to the opposite side of the of the kitchen table. Connie and I had Tess boxed in. I reached out for Tess and she swung the skillet at me and almost took out my elbow. Damn, that was close. I was trying to find a way to take Tess down. My eyes were scanning my environment. I noticed there were chunks of hair in the kitchen floor.

Tess was moving side to side. Her eyes were glazed over. I had never seen her this way.
I had seen something similar that day at the hotel parking lot, similar but not quite the same. I jumped forward and reached for the skillet. I snatched it from her hands. I turned to check Connie’s proximity. Where the hell was Connie? She left me alone in the kitchen with Tess. I took my eyes off Tess for a second to search for Connie. Tess’ eyes were examining the room like she was being attacked by some hokey invisible entity. Tess was shaking so bad. Her entire body was trembling in a way I had never seen.

Connie was back. “Mason, grab her.” She yelled.

When Tess turned her attention to Connie I seized the opportunity to subdue Tess. I charged toward her and grabbed her up with both hands and lifted her off her feet. Tess was thrashing and I was just holding her completely unaware of what brought about this fit.

Connie ran over to us and she injected Tess with something. There was a syringe in Connie’s hand. Where the fuck did that come from? What the fuck? In two seconds Tess went limp in my arms.

“Take her upstairs to bed.” Connie ordered as she backed away and took a breath. She was winded and I was puzzled.

“What was that? What did you give her?”
WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?

What the fuck is happening? “Take her upstairs!”
Connie waved to me.

I tossed Tess up into m
y arms capturing her legs. I rushed up the stairs. What the fuck is going on? Connie was right behind me. I put Tess in bed. I couldn’t get the image of Tess uncontrollably shaking out of my head. She looked like she was having a seizure. Does she have seizures? I pulled back the sheets and covered Tess’ peaceful sleeping body.

I looked across the bed at my sister-in-law. I had a definite scowl plastered across my face. I needed answers right now. I air gestured for Connie to follow me out to the hall. I moved first and Connie followed me out. She pulled the bedroom door shut.

“What the fuck?” I whispered.

Hannah peeked her head out of her bedroom door. “Is everything okay out here?”

“Yeah ladybug. Mommy’s sleeping so keep it down. She needs her rest.”

“Okay dad.” Hannah ducked her head back into her
bedroom.

“Let’s go downstairs.” I said and Connie followed me downstairs. We went through the kitchen to the living room. I turned o
n the TV just in case one of my kids came down the stairs.

“Connie.” I placed my hands on my waist. I had enough of whatever this was. I was getting madder by the second. I was confused and just all around pissed the fuck off.

“I swore to my sister that I would never tell.”

“Tell what?”

“I can’t do this all by myself.”

“Do what?”

“Care for her.”

“What
the fuck are you talking about?”

“Mason, shit this is hard.”

“Would you just tell me what the fuck is going on around here?” My voice was a mix of anger and frustration.

“When Tess and I were teenagers
there was this family secret that we held for years.”

“Secret?”

“Yeah Mason, it’s not the kind of thing you tell people. Our parents don’t even know. When Tess was about the same age as Hannah she was molested by a family member.”

I almost smiled but caught myself. I thought it to be
a lie but the more I looked at Connie the more I believed her words. “Molested?”

“That’s not really accurate. Tess
was repeatedly raped from the age of eight to sixteen. I didn’t find out until years later. I found out when I was in college.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Why do you think Tess lived with me in Indiana? She didn’t move back to Illinois until she went to college. She moved away from him. I never knew what was happening. He never touched me. I think he messed with Tess because she was shy. I was a big mouth rowdy kid. He knew I would never keep my mouth shut.”

“Who is he? Who is this family member?”

“It’s our uncle, our father’s brother.”

“What’s his name?”

“Jimmy Cooper, James Cooper.”

“I got therapy for Tess but she made me promise to never tell our parents. I wanted to tell but any mention of it, him
, the terrible things that happened, sent her over the edge. The therapy and medicine only helped a little. She only really got better when he went to jail.”

“
He went to jail for it?” I was trying to control my anger.

“No, not exactl
y. He went to jail for raping a ten year old girl he lured from a park. Tess would never come forward, press charges. If you would have seen her at that time then you would understand. She wasn’t strong enough. There is no way she could testify in court. She is terrified of him. It’s pretty clear she still is terrified of him.”

“Why. He’s in jail?”

“No, he just got out of prison. I didn’t really have a choice. I had to tell her. What if he shows up at our parents’ house? I had to warn her that he is walking the streets. I didn’t think she would react this way but I was prepared just in case.”

“Connie your face is bleeding.”

Connie wiped her cheek and realized that in fact she had been scratched. I needed a sit down. This information was enough to knock me off my feet.

“I’m going to check my face.” Connie rushed away
and ducked into the guest bathroom. I heard the door close behind her.

There was so much I didn’t know. Tess was secretive with her family but I never imagined she was hiding crucial pieces of her childhood from me. I wonder why she felt she couldn’t share them with me. Was I a terrible husband for not probing into why she acted the way she
did? My thoughts were running rabid in my brain. But one thought prevailed. I wanted to kill that son-of-a-bitch James Cooper. I looked down at the carpet and realized my leg was shaking all by itself. I grabbed my knee and stopped the shaking. I palmed my fist in my hand. I wanted to hit someone, something, no someone.

There was absolutely no way I could forgive or forget her uncle’s actions. I needed to sleep off this rage, this hate, this urge to blow his fa
ce off his body with my Glock.

My cell
phone vibrated in my pocket. I grabbed it.

“Hey.” It was Kari, terrible timing, not her fault.

“Hey, what time should I be at the hotel?”

“Oh shit, I’
m sorry Kari. Something has come up. I’m not going to be able to make it to the hotel.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I think so. Tim is sick with a fever. You know he has bad allergies. I need to watch him closely.” Shit! I don’t why I lied to her.

“Okay, I understand.” I heard the disappointment in her voice.
“Are you sure you’re okay? You sound a little strange.”

Damn, Kari knows me too well. “No, I’m cool.”

“I hope he feels better.”

“I ga
ve him some meds. He should be alright. I just want to monitor him.” Shit! Another fucking lie. What the fuck is wrong with me?

“Okay, text me later and tell me how he’s doing.”

“I will. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Later.”

Connie returned just as I was slipping my phone back into my pocket.

“You okay.” I asked.

“Yeah, it’s just a few scratches. Tess freaked out as soon as I mentioned his name. I never been raped so I don’t understand all this panic and rage but I know
it’s real. I know my sister tried to kill herself once right after Jimmy showed up at our parents’ house unannounced. She would never tell me exactly what he did but I know it was bad. I supported her wish to keep this between me and her but it’s a lot for me. I have a family of my own now. I need help with her. Is she even going to a therapist?”

“She was
at one time but not anymore.” Connie didn’t know anything about Tess’ recent suicide attempt. I didn’t know she tried this before.

“She needs help and medication. That was one of the worse panic attacks I’ve ever seen. She was actually violent. She can’t be violent around the kids.”

“I know. I will get her help.”

“The day that asshole was convicted and sentence
d was the happiest day of my life. Tess got so much better after that.”

“How long ago?”

“He did fifteen years. He is a registered sex offender.”

“Your
parents don’t know any of this?”

“Well they
know he went to prison and what he was accused and convicted of. Our parents stood by him. They even helped pay for his lawyer. But they don’t know about Tess. She would die if they found out. She thinks they will blame her and with our mother, anything is possible.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t know any of this.”

“How could you? Tess builds layers and layers of amour around her. She doesn’t let people in. She doesn’t have friends. She has always been to herself. That asshole made her that way. He threatened to kill her friends so she made sure she didn’t have any.”

“That’s sick and twisted.”

Connie took a seat on the couch next to me. “Mason, don’t look so down. Tess is my sister. I love her just as much as you do. I’m going to help her. I will never let that bastard win. I wish he would’ve just died in prison. If someone could’ve just killed him, shank him or shiv him, whatever they do in prison. Uncle Jimmy being out is the worst thing that could have happened to my sister.”

Connie’s words stabbed me and sliced at my heart. Maybe things would be different if I had loved Tess more. Did I remind her of her repulsive Uncle Jimmy? Did the sexual things I partook in remind her of the man that raped her? This thought made me sick to my stomach. I know now that she faked it. She probably loved me but the sex was something she could do without.
I had something to do with her illness, her body image and her need to conceal things from me and the others around her.

I was so busy in my world. I was so busy trying to be successful in my business that I neglected to see things that were staring me right in the face under my roof.

I talked to Connie for hours. She told me about the allegations, the little girl’s testimony and a host of revolting and utterly disturbing information.

We came up with a plan to help Tess. We decided she should go into a mental health facility for a brief period so she could get aggressive intensive care. Connie assured me that she would get Tess’ consent. I didn’t think Tess would agree but much to my surprise Connie talked Tess into checking herself into a mental health facility with minimal security. She made it seem like a vacation for mental clarity. That’s actually what she called it.

Tess was embarrassed that I knew the truth. I told her it wasn’t her fault and she had nothing to be ashamed of but somehow I don’t think she believed me. In this brief time Connie and Tess were together they seemed close. I didn’t know why Tess stayed away from Connie. Seeing them together now made me question a lot of things about Tess. Connie had a gentle way about her and Tess listened to Connie.

Tess was only going away for a month.
I couldn’t leave her now. I couldn’t file for divorce while my wife was in a mental institution. It seemed heartless and mean. I wouldn’t kick her when she was down. I couldn’t add to her heartache and pain. What kind of man would I be? What kind of father would I be?

How the hell am I going to break it to Kari that yet again there is a bump in our road to happiness? I know that I will spare her the gory details. Tess would never want anyone to know. Throughout our marriage she didn’t even want me to know. I don’t agree with that but I can respect it. Some
things are better left buried deep within. I understand her reasons for keeping these horrific acts to herself.  The things she endured in her childhood are horrific. I have never experienced anything that comes remotely close to that.

The only real secret I ever
kept from my childhood was that Jeremy Mendoza had a crush on me in junior high and all the way up until senior year of high school. He hid his homosexuality really well. I think I was the only guy that knew he was gay. I don’t know why I didn’t kick his ass. I would fight anyone for any reason. There didn’t have to be a good reason for me to brawl. Instead I ignored Jeremy’s little teary eyed speech about liking me. I keep him close and when we got to high school I let him watch me have sex with girls. It was sick shit I know and something I don’t want anyone to know about. But if Jeremy learned anything from me, he learned to fuck. So I’m sure all his little gay boyfriends were satisfied.

Shit! I did have one more secret. I fucked Jeremy’s mother. He didn’t know about it. Shit! I was a fucked up teenager.

CHAPTER 5

MASON

I had learned a lot pertinent information from my sister-in-law Connie. Most of it made me mad, some of it almost bought tears to my eyes. Tess’ uncle was a monster. I had to see this child molesting rapist with my own eyes. I had to see evil in the face.

I drove the forty miles to Long Grove. I had the address
and the phone number. I got the details off the internet. I checked the Illinois Sex Offender Registry and there was a photo of that motherfucker with all his convictions listed along with his parole date. I decided that I wouldn’t involve Connie in anything I was doing. My plan was just to see this man. I needed to asset the threat. I had a daughter of my own, a daughter that I cherished. The thought of any man touching her, violating her and stealing her innocence made the bile rise to my throat. I couldn’t sleep knowing James Milton Cooper may be preying on defenseless little girls.

I p
ulled across the street from his shabby decrepit wood framed home. The yard, the house and the fence were in ill repair. I had never met this uncle. He was in jail at the time I had married Tess. My investigation turned up a wife. This bastard had the nerve to be married. He got out of jail and went back to the waiting arms of his wife. Connie said they called him Uncle Jimmy. He had two sons, both are losers. One son is a drunk and the other son is in prison.

I wanted to hurt this
old man I had never met, this sixty-three year old freak. The fifteen years he spent in prison weren’t enough. He should burn for what he did to Tess and what I suspect he’s done to other young girls.

It was my lucky day I suppose because after only twenty minutes of staking out his house, he
emerged from the front door. His face was old and hardened. I’m sure from his stint in prison but he was in shape. He wasn’t a feeble old man. He had time to hit the weights in prison. I could see that much. That didn’t matter to me. I would put that old pervert on his ass.

Jimmy
had all his hair but was completely gray. He was dressed like any old man. It was s disguise to look normal, less threatening, less menacing. I could see through it. I wasn’t fooled into thinking he was reformed. There was something deeply disturbed about a man who was attracted to little girls.

The sexual deviant was sick in the head. There was no cure
for that kind of sickness. Jimmy hobbled his ass down the porch steps and down the cracked cement walkway. He went out the front chain length fence and started walking east down the sidewalk.

I thought about following him on foot but it was clear I didn’t fit in this rundown neighborhood.
I would have stood out like a sore thumb. My clothes were sporty but they looked too new. The common folks around here looked tired and worn out. Their clothes looked the same. Not a diss just a realistic observation.

I waited a few seconds and cranked up the old Maxima. A Range Rover in this neighborhood would stick out like a sore thumb.
I made a U-turn in the middle of the street. I had to see where this bastard was headed. Uncle Jimmy never looked back. He seemed to be on a mission. After following him for eight blocks, it was clear he walked all this way to gawk at the children playing in the school yard. It must be recess. Jimmy thought he was clever. He pretended to just be taking a leisure stroll but he slowed down when he got the sidewalk attached to the school. He also crossed the street to be on the same side as the elementary school. He did this for no apparent reason that I could see. There was absolutely nothing on that side of the street but the school.

Motherfucker! This is not going to work. I can’t watch shit like this. My heart rate sped up and I got agitated beyond beli
ef. I wondered if I would feel this way if I didn’t have a daughter of my own.

I’m no expert but it seemed like this old dog was up to his same old tricks. I cannot allow another little girl to get hurt. I know I’m not the law. I’m no vigilante but
this was beyond my scope of reasoning.

My mind was routed with ways to cause this sexual deviant pain. I made sure that Uncle Jimmy found his way back home without committing any crimes or harming anyone.
I could sleep okay tonight.

Tess was safe and sound in a mental health facility that Connie picked. We both visited with Tess e
very day that we were allowed. Tess had a long way to go. But I was hopeful that she would recover. This time the doctors were aware of her childhood trauma. I didn’t know she wasn’t even sharing her past sexual assault details with her psychiatrist. That was the bad thing about Tess. She was secretive and ashamed of things that she shouldn’t be ashamed of. Tess had three more weeks in the hospital.

I was not acting like a sane man myself. I was watching Jimmy Cooper like it was my job. I was like this robot that couldn’t stop. I followed him to Tess’ parents’ house. I followed him to a park where he watched children play.
I watched him peruse the local Wal-Mart. I was obsessed with him. I hadn’t caught him doing anything but I knew he would. I would bet my business that he would rape again. I sat in the shadows and wondered if he ever killed a child. I mean some people commit murder and get away with it. Killing a child would have to be one of the easiest things to get away with. Who the hell killed Jon Benet Ramsey?

I had tw
o separate lives, one where I was a normal guy and the other where I hunted a child rapist. Jimmy had never touched a kid from what I could tell but I caught him following a kid, a little boy that was about eleven. This is confusing to me but I don’t think I had the capacity to understand the mind of such a vile man.

Kari was unaware of my new obsession. It wasn’t the kind of thing you share with your
girlfriend. I hated to bring anyone else into it but I told RJ. Once I wanted RJ to watch the house while I attended to business at one of the work sites. I told him the backstory and he was cool with it.