Read The Boarding House Online
Authors: Sharon Sala
Once again, Ellie nodded, but kept staring at her book. The sympathy was getting to her. If she wasn’t careful, she just might cry, and she’d made a decision years ago that she wasn’t wasting tears unless it was for something that really mattered. She should be able to handle a little sympathy, even if it was unexpected.
All through the day, people she only knew by name kept coming up to her, or stopping her in the hall to speak. She’d expected ridicule, not this. It was ironic that she’d spent all these years in school without being noticed, and now everyone was being nice. It made her bitter. It shouldn’t have taken being raped and beaten to have someone get the manners to just freakin’ say hello.
When school was over, she raced home and then met Sophie in the hall.
Sophie grabbed her heart. “Ellie. Dear child. What on earth happened to you?”
Ellie sighed. “I fell in the shower last night. I’m going to be okay. I promise.”
Sophie was in tears. “I’m so sorry. Bless your heart, I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do? Do you need help getting your clothes off?”
Ellie could only imagine what Sophie would have to say about the bite marks on her breasts, so she quickly rejected the offer. “No, really. I can handle it,” she said. “I don’t have much time before I’m due at work, so I have to hurry. See you later.”
She left Sophie in tears. She hated lying, but if she’d wanted the police in her business, she would have gone to them herself. She knew how it would work. She wasn’t eighteen until next month. The court would take her out of her home and put her in foster care. She’d have to start a new school—the whole shebang. It was better just to let it go, because as soon as she graduated, she was gone.
After changing into her uniform, she headed to Franklin’s Ice Cream Parlor. She worked until closing tonight, which was fine with her. The less time she spent at home, the better.
As soon as she got to work, she approached Randy, the manager. Like everyone else who’d seen her today, he was shocked.
“Hey kid, what the hell happened to you?”
“It’s a long, ugly story that you don’t want to hear, believe me.”
“Are you sure you’re up to working? I can call someone to fill in for you?”
“No, no. I’m fine. Just maybe keep me off the register for a while until the worst of this goes away. I don’t see so great out of my swollen eye. I’d be more comfortable filling the orders, if it’s alright with you.”
“You got it, kid.” He started to say more, then looked away, unwilling to get involved in her business.
Satisfied that she wouldn’t have to face too many curious eyes, she put on an apron and got to work.
Tessa came to work an hour later and once again, Ellie had to go through the whole discussion.
“Dang girl, what happened to you?”
Ellie shrugged. “Nothing good.”
Tess frowned. “My face looked like that once. My old man caught me smoking a joint and beat the crap out of me.”
Ellie eyed Tessa curiously. On the outside, they couldn’t have been more different, but it appeared they had more in common than she would have thought. “Really?”
Tessa nodded. “I told him if he ever did it again, I would shoot him dead.”
Ellie shrugged. “It’s a good thing I didn’t have a gun, or I might have used it.”
Tessa was quiet for a bit as she began filling syrup bottles and getting out new paper cups and bowls. When there was a lull in business she sidled up close to Ellie and whispered, “If you’re interested, I know where you can get a gun. Cheap.”
Ellie’s heart skipped a beat. “Where?”
Tessa lowered her voice even more. “This guy I know.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know
. . .
maybe a hundred dollars.”
Ellie had that and more. “I don’t know how to shoot a gun.”
“He’d show you.”
It was worth considering. She needed backup, and everyone she’d thought she could depend on had let her down. A gun would definitely even the odds. “I might be interested.”
“Do you work Friday night?” Tessa asked.
“I work from three thirty to six.”
“He might be stopping by around six, if you want to hang around a little longer.”
Ellie’s heart raced. This was a scary thing she was doing, but her life was scary. What was the difference?
“I could do that,” she said.
“I’ll tell him.”
Then Ellie added. “Tell him I don’t want anything complicated, and it needs to be small enough that I can carry it home in my purse.”
“Okay,” Tessa said.
Now that the deal was done, they were both a little ill at ease.
“Oops, another order coming up. Better get busy,” Ellie said.
“Right. Busy,” Tessa echoed, and the evening passed.
Wyatt showed up for supper just after Ellie got home. She was in the bathroom when she heard him going into his room. There was a moment of panic, wondering how he would react when he saw her, but she was still hurt that he hadn’t been here when she needed him. If things had gone a little differently, she’d be dead and there would be no way of finding him to let him know.
She hated that he’d removed himself from the house without giving her well-being a second thought. Besides that, she didn’t need Wyatt fighting her battles after the war was over. She was going to get a gun and take care of it herself.
Wyatt was gone by the time Ellie came out of the bathroom, but when she walked into the kitchen, he was there.
He heard her footsteps and looked up to say hello, then forgot to breathe.
Ellie glared. She wouldn’t let herself be swayed by the sudden tears in his eyes.
“Ellie. My God.”
“She fell in the shower,” Sophie said, as she walked around the table laying place settings of their everyday cutlery.
Ellie knew he didn’t buy that but now was not the time to elaborate—and then Daddy walked in.
Wyatt felt Ellie’s instant disgust, which answered his question. She hadn’t fallen anywhere except into their father’s clutches.
Wyatt grabbed Garrett by the arm. He knew Ellie didn’t want Sophie alerted, but he couldn’t just ignore it. “If you ever touch her again, I will kill you.”
Garrett blinked. “You’re about a day late and a dollar short. And by the way, Ellie’s version was more original.”
Wyatt didn’t know what that meant and there was no way to ask without giving themselves away.
Sophie continued to set the table and Wyatt continued to glare. Garrett stood in the doorway, watching the people Ellie had drawn into her world and wishing there was a do-over button to life.
It wasn’t until the meal was over and Ellie was back in her bedroom that Wyatt confronted her.
“Is this door new?” he asked, as he shut and locked it behind him.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“That would be because he kicked the other one in.”
Wyatt shuddered. The matter-of-fact tone in her voice was the exact opposite to what she must have felt when it happened.
“I don’t get it. You were still letting him
. . .
I mean you guys were still
. . .
” He sighed. “Why did he freak out?”
Ellie was so mad she was shaking. “Seriously? You’re asking
me
that question? You know how it works.”
“But he never
. . .
I mean, it wasn’t
. . .
”
When he reached toward her, she stepped back. “If you were ever here anymore, you’d know that he’s getting more and more paranoid about graduation. He’s trying to keep me here when he knows I don’t want to stay.”
Wyatt touched the side of Ellie’s face with the tip of his finger. “But why hurt you?”
She pushed him away. “I had a flat, Wyatt. I got raped and beaten because two guys stopped and changed it for me before he got there. He assumed I paid them with sex.”
Wyatt felt sick. He’d let his personal feelings interfere with his duty to protect her, and Ellie had suffered the consequences. “I’m so sorry.”
“So am I.”
She turned her back on him and went into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. The distance between them was too great to bridge now. All her focus was on getting through the next six weeks of school, and then getting the hell out of Memphis.
Ellie was a bundle of nerves
by the time Friday arrived. She went to work after school with a hundred dollars in cash, telling herself she was doing the right thing.
Tessa was already at work when Ellie arrived and instantly gave her a questioning look.
Ellie nodded.
Tessa gave her a thumbs-up.
Ellie felt stupid—like they were playing spies or something, only this wasn’t a game and by buying this gun, she was committing a crime. It wasn’t what she’d ever expected to do when she’d gone to work in an ice cream shop.
She worked with one eye on the clock and the other on the computer screen, making sundaes and malts and dipping cones in all flavors and sizes.
Tessa seemed energized by the drama and actually worked at a decent pace. They stayed busy until Ellie’s quitting time. She was hanging up her apron in back when Tessa popped in the doorway and gave Ellie the word.
“He’s out back in the alley—skinny white guy driving a red Dodge truck.”
“You swear he’s okay? That he won’t try to hurt me?”
Tessa eyed Ellie’s face then shook her head. “He’s a business man, not a hood, and anyway, Honey, someone else has already done that, remember?”
Ellie was nervous as she slipped out the back door, her purse clutched against her breasts.
“Damn, bitch. Someone did a number on you.”
Ellie blinked. If the kid standing in front of her was old enough to drive, then she was a virgin and she didn’t like his attitude.
“Do I look like a dumb-ass?”
The kid frowned. “You look like shit, that’s for sure.”
“I already know that, but if you think I’m gonna stand here and let you call me a bitch and then give you money, you’re dumber than you look.”
The kid shifted nervously, moving back and forth on his feet like he was trying to dance. “Whatever
. . .
do you want it or not?”
“Do you want my money?”
He glared. “You got the dough?”
Ellie nodded. “She said you would show me how it worked.”
He frowned. “I didn’t sign up to give no lessons. Besides, it’s a .38 Special. You don’t need lessons. You just point and shoot.”
“Show me.”
He glanced around the alley, then opened the truck door, got a sack out of the console and dumped the contents onto the seat.
Ellie picked it up. It fit the palm of her hand. “Is it loaded?”
“No, but I’ll load the cylinder for free. Holds five rounds.”