CHARLIE'S LITTLE DEMON Chapter TWO

The beeping of the answer machine took precedence of all the questions swirling through Charlie's mind, "Lynda". She rushed to the machine while giving her healed hand a query look. There was one saved message, "Hi, Selena and Charlie. This is Ron I was hoping Charlie could come over tomorrow and help me dig up my septic tanks. I have an appointment to have them pumped around four in the afternoon, so if you can it would be best to start around nine. I think I have a shovel or two. I will pay you the usual twenty dollars an hour. The work on my hot water tank and panel box is still wonderful. Anyhow, give me a call if you can't do this, otherwise I will see you in the morning. Have a good evening."

Putting aside her wonder to why an Angel would show up on her door step, Charlie called her father and left a message about her concerns over Lynda and then she called Bobby who answered his phone, "Lynda… Hello… Who is this"?

"Oh, sorry Bobby this is Charlie, my dad gave me a cell phone for graduation. From the way you answered I would have to say you haven't heard from Lynda." Charlie was now in her room looking out the window for any signs of her missing friend.

Bobby was standing on the bank of the river, "cool! A cell phone, it's about time. I am checking around town and I can't find her. We were supposed to meet at the bowling alley after she finished with the squad, but she never showed or called." Bobby was almost in tears as he talked, "I know the girl is good for disappearing, but she always calls." Bobby headed back to his blue two door falcon to continue searching, "Hey, I'm going to swing by the park once more and then head over to her house. I am sure if she isn't hiding in her room then her mom has got to be loosing her cool. Will you come with me?"

Before she could answer yes Charlie turned to see her mother leaning against her bedroom door. "What!" Selena swayed her way across the room, stumbling over a pair of boots neatly place at the end of Charlie's bed. This did not stop her as she forged on fighting the drunkenness to reach the cancer causing stick her daughter now held away from her head, with Bobby still on the other end, "Give me that evil thing, I told you NO CELL PHONES," Her voice filled with loud anger. "This is my house and I am your mother, how dare you go against me." The young strong woman now cowered in the face of Alcohol, Drugs and physical abuse her mother afflicted on her for years. Selena grabbed the cell phone and managed to throw it out the unopened window, then began to lay all of her own self inflicted troubles on Charlie's face, sides and anywhere else she could find to strike.

Once satisfied and with no words, Selena brushed her hair back and went to leave. She stopped at the door and turned, "Oh, darling would you like eggs with pancakes tomorrow. I think that will make a wonderful Saturday morning meal, I love you baby doll." It was like watching multiple of characters in flash mode and all Charlie had to do was wait for her mother to become the primary resident

Taking a breath Charlie felt relief that her mother didn't let Mary Polly Ann come out to play, that she really couldn't handle. Life wasn't always like this. The personality changes started years ago when her mother hooked up with some looser from Milwaukee. Selena's drinking became a twenty-four-seven lifestyle along with assorted drugs. Seeing this at the young age of seven, how drugs and alcohol can make you the number one fan of the liquor store and lounges formed Charlie's stand against drinking, drugs and dating. When her mother is at her worst Charlie prays for the day to come when the evilness the creepy man brought into their once happy home would be gone forever.

Hearing the falcon outside Charlie quietly peered into the master bedroom where her mother laid sleeping, then she hurried down the stairs out the front door and climbed into the passenger seat, "Don't say anything Bobby, You weren't suppose to hear any of that, just get us to Lynda's house" With that they headed to the other side of town.

They pulled quietly into the small mobile home park, the rumble of the engine echoing off the laundry room building. Lynda's house was a stick built rambler with a two car garage. Back in the early fifties her great-great grandfather built the house as a small cabin which was remodeled and added onto through the years. At a quick glance you would think someone was home with all the lights on. but there was no cars and Lynda's blue Nova was not in its usual spot.

Using the hidden key to get in Charlie ran to the far back room and found it empty. "Damn it, Bobby we have to go to Tammy's and find out what happened." They headed back to the car after locking up. "My gut is telling me something big is wrong. Lynda should have called one of us by now." Looking at the car clock, "Oh hell, it's one in the morning. Nobody's going to be awake." Before pulling out onto the main road they decided to swing by Tammy's, hoping to at least see Lynda's car.

About a mile out of town they turned into what looked like a mansion surrounded by hedge fencing and a perfectly manicured front yard with foot lights showing the long driveway. They stopped within the opened entry gates. The lights at the main house were on and they could see three patrol cars parked strategically between the house, garage and shop buildings. They also saw Lynda's parent's two cars and other vehicles. "Looks like nobody's sleeping tonight," Bobby slowly drove to the main house.

The cheer squad stood huddled around the handsome dark haired Officer Drew while Lynda's family stood with another officer just below the front steps to the main house. After parking along the oval driveway with a clear shot of escape should they need one, Charlie and Bobby walked towards Suanne, Lynda's mom who appeared to be crying. "Hey you two, what are you doing here?" The voice caught their attention. It was Tammy who had barreled her way through the cheer team when she saw Bobby's car pull in, "We don't need you here, Lynda told us what you did." Tammy stood two feet from Charlie who was confused over the disappointed look Suanne had given her. Tammy pushed against her shoulder. "You heard me I need you two to leave… now!" The Officer at the front porch joined them along with Cheryl.

Reluctantly Bobby followed Cheryl who had a firm pulling grip on his arm. "So, you think playing stupid here is the way to go. We know about you and Charlie going behind Lynda's back. I mean who can blame you Charlie is good looking, small built but muscular, the perfect little tom boy!" Bobby started to walk away, "Hey, I don't care what you three do. I mean you have had a crush on Charlie since kindergarten and no one is surprised you followed her to College. We know… WE all know! And growing up next door to her, playing in her backyard all of it." Bobby didn't want to listen to her girl gossip but felt he could get some insight into Lynda's flight.

"We may be cheerleaders, but we're not blind. We know Charlie had something to do with her mother's attempted suicide. How Charlie has been locked up several times for crazy talk and trying to commit suicide herself. You can cover up the truth with lies about her sleep walking or running from monsters in her sleep. Get real Bobby." Cheryl suddenly became passive, moving closer to Bobby. "When you hooked up with Lynda two years ago we thought your thing for Charlie was over and decided you were no longer a fagot, but now look at the mess your in." Cheryl popped a piece of gum in her mouth and began chewing like a cow. Without her saying any specifics Bobby knew what she was signifying and felt it was time to make scarce.

From the shop area Drew called Officer Harris away giving Tammy open range to belittle Charlie in a way they were both accustomed to since High School. But this wasn't those days anymore and Charlie was not some teenager afraid of the dark. The night terrors and the flip switch of her mother's sanity hardened her soul. When Tammy called her mother a whore who needs to be leashed before the strays start barking at her front door no longer fazed her. What made the pot boil was Tammy calling Charlie the worse friend anyone could have and that she was nothing more then a lesbian grease monkey. "That's enough Tammy, we are out of here." Charlie didn't want to leave instead she wanted to punch the girl's lights out. But Bobby gave her a good tug and nodded his head for her to move it. Tammy's own self-importance never gave her the chance to tell Charlie the reason Lynda drove away and knowing what he knew Bobby felt this was a good thing.

With temper stewing Charlie got into to the car and slammed the door. "What the hell! Did you hear her… what she called me, what she said about my mom. Why didn't you let me stomp that pom-pom shaker into the ground? I would have given her a beating that would be etched in her mind forever… Definitely better then what I did in middle school… Dam it Bobby you are a butt-head." The car pulled away from the drive and headed back towards town.

Behind them one of the patrol cars pulled out. "Better not look behind us I think we just grew a tail. Maybe we should try to ditch the pig?" Bobby noticed the car wasn't catching up or backing off. "Why is he following us? We don't have Lynda, she took off." Bobby looked over at Charlie who was pressed against the back of her seat looking through the side door mirror. "Alright what is up with you, first it's tough girl Charlie with I am going to put Tammy's head up her ass to I am a locked door don't bother knocking… Come on Charlie talk to me." After turning off the main drag Bobby gave his rear view mirror a glance. The patrol car was still behind them.

Sitting up in her seat Charlie could still feel the anger hot inside her. "Alright Mr. I am going to enjoy a high speed chase…." Charlie stepped on her pretend accelerator pedal and moved her invisible floor shifter then made sounds of a roaring engine. When Bobby pulled into his driveway Charlie gave one long squeal of the breaks, "Way to go Dick Tracy, you lost the ugly mug on the turn pike, now let's make a break for it before those hound sniffing coppers pick up our trail." They looked at each other and laughed.

The laugh was short as the humor turned quickly back into concern. Before Charlie headed across the yard to her house Bobby gave her his thoughts, "I think I know where Lynda went." Charlie turned to Bobby as he spoke, "she's at the cabin or she will be there sometime tomorrow." Having those words to go by brought some comfort. "I don't think she is going to talk to us right now, but when she gets back we should all just sit down and figure out what happened tonight." Bobby gave a glance down the street and saw the parked Patrol car. He kept this too himself, "Good night-morning Charlie." Bobby hollered.

Without turning back Charlie responded, "Tomorrow I want to know what you and Cheryl spoke about." Instead of using the front door Charlie went around back and found her cell phone busted into many pieces and glass from her window everywhere. Picking up what remained of her Graduation gift Charlie carried it carefully to the garage.

She placed the broken phone in the glove box of her early production Barracuda with a built date of November sixty-eight and the original three-eighteen under the hood. And though it was very faded you could still see the Dark Rosewood color of the body. Charlie retired herself to the passenger bucket seat for a moment to catch up with the happenings of the day and to put her emotions on the back burner. Sleep tried to grab her but she shook it away then went to putting on her tool belt. Along with a ladder and a few other necessary items she would have to fix the window before her mother saw what she would not believe she had done.

More glass to pick up, this time Charlie wore gloves and did not cut herself. She then set out to do the task of cleaning the window frame of broken pieces and putty. Between cleaning up and replacing the window time just seemed too disappear. It was seven in the morning before Charlie finally entered the house but instead of getting some much needed sleep she started a pot of coffee then proceeded upstairs where she found her mother still in the same spot.

Entering her room she went over to the replaced window and examined her work. It looked good enough to hold for a few hundred years or until the house fell to the ground due to the lack of needed attention. Charlie did what she could. Last summer she put new supports under the back porch and replaced rotted floor boards that were broken apart or would sway under weight. But there was a lot more that needed to be done and it would take more then one person to accomplish.

Like her mother said it was her house so Charlie quit thinking about the things that needed to be done and headed off to the shower. The hot water splashed down on her face and shoulders taking away the tension. It did little for the lack of sleep and when done, Charlie was dressed in her blue jeans, blue corduroy shirt, timberland boots and blue jean jacket heading to the kitchen for her first cup of coffee and cigarette. She sat on the back porch enjoying her addictions watching the suns morning rays creep slowly across the back yard. By eight thirty she was pouring her third cup of coffee.

With the nicotine fix of a second cigarette Charlie sat back to enjoy the remaining drops of coffee. A commotion came from inside and Charlie knew her mother was on the wake. "Oh what joy," she thought and took her cup inside to put with the other dirty dishes that hid the double kitchen sink. It was hard to imagine how one drunken woman could make so many dishes in a day but her mother could and these ones would have to wait until Charlie had time or until the real Selena made an appearance. Hearing the shower upstairs was Charlie's pandemonium warning to make tracks. The last thing she needed was babysitting or just plan being bored to death by having to watch her mother drink her breakfast.

With shovel in hand Charlie headed over to Ron's house and started digging. For an hour she dug before Ron stepped out his back door, "Good morning Charlie, I see you have been hard at work. Would you care for a cup of coffee?" Ron peered from his back porch at the hole in his yard. "You look like you could use a break?" That sounded welcoming and Charlie stuck her shovel in the dirt before climbing out of the hole where she and her father had dug years ago.

Ron stepped back into the house and Charlie settled in a lounge chair on the back deck. When he returned he carried a cup of coffee and a large book. "Here is your coffee and a little gift for all the help you have given me." Ron handed Charlie the book with its leather cover and set her coffee on the table next to her then he settled himself down in another chair. "Don't worry I am not going to deduct the book from your pay, it is just a little gift to say how grateful I am for all the times you and your father have helped me out." Many of the things that he couldn't do was not because he was lazy, he was actually a genius and worked for a very prestigious computer program company. You could say Ron is a full blue color long tie worker in his mid fifties and married to the job.

Working on her fourth cup of coffee Charlie did not feel like she was going to start floating away like people say. "You know how I like my coffee- Thank you and I really don't have a use for this book not to mention you gave me a lap top last year for Christmas, which was more then generous. I love my little Joey" Charlie paused to take another drink of coffee while she glided her hand across the very soft face of the book.

"There is no need to define I enjoy giving you gifts for your hard work. I realize the money is great but it does not show my gratitude."

Sliding the book towards Ron, "I know and I do appreciate it, but I can't take this. It looks very old and I wouldn't know what to write in it. I really am not into that diary thing." Charlie put her gloves back on and went back into the hole. The shovel hit rocks causing sparks and Charlie worked the shovel around to keep digging. After another half hour of digging with about two feet to go before the lids could be revealed there was more sparks. This time it wasn't a rock that the shovel tip hit. On the side wall Charlie dug exposing a circular object stuck in the dirt. "I think I found…" Charlie was surprised to find Ron standing at the edge of the hole, "Oh, I found something, just… a… second." The ground broke loose and Charlie pulled the large round object attached to a very long chain. "OK... What do you think this thing is?" Charlie held it out of the hole for Ron to see.

Giving the object a quick glance Ron found he had no use for it and told Charlie she could keep it. "What am I suppose to do with this? You should take this I mean it is in your hole not mine." That didn't sound right which made both of them feel a little uncomfortable. Charlie placed the object on the ground and went back to completing the job. Once she had the lids cleared of dirt she opened them up and found no reason for his tanks to be pumped.

The hole was deep and only standing five-two Charlie stuck her shovel in the ground next to the dirt wall and used it to get out. She was done until the septic man arrived and did his job. On the table Charlie found the book with five twenties sticking out of the pages, "boy, he really wants me to have that book." The money told her Ron was busy inside and didn't want to be disturbed but she knocked. After a few minutes he answered and she tried to give the book and chain back but he insisted she keep them or sell them if she wanted. "Not to change the subject I thought I would also let you know the tanks are open and they are empty, are you sure you need them pumped?" Ron told her he was told they should be pumped every other year and he was a few years late. Then he bid Charlie a good day.

His disconnected attachment to the conversation was not uncommon. Ron's social skills sat in the dusty attic of his mind when the cobweb sparked his imagination to be intuitive for whatever project he was working on. Then the world became a huge black curtain all around leaving just the project and him to work out their indifferences towards success of a new program or enhancement of an old one.

Putting the money in her back pocket Charlie left the book and chain on the back steps then took her shovel and headed home. There sitting on her front porch was Luna. "What are you doing here? Waiting for a thank you?" Charlie leaned against her shovel. "Don't you have some vagrant to save from richness or something?" With all that was happening having an Angel barking at you and showing up out of the blue was the last thing anyone needed.

Luna joined Charlie on the lawn, "I am sorry for the way I introduced myself. I wanted to tell you at the restaurant but you were so busy with your friend and father I didn't want to spoil the reunion."

"Well if you are such an all mighty being can you find Lynda for me? She took off and I think she is in trouble." Charlie twirled her shovel making a small dip in the grass.

"Lynda is doing fine. She needs a little guidance and she will get that soon enough. I have been given orders from God to employ your service. We need you." Luna looked into Charlie's eyes, "I have been told you are the only one who can help. You are the only one who can save the world from the big evil that is coming." Charlie began to laugh at the ridiculous and idiotic idea that she could do any such thing. This upset Luna, "Please, Charlie this is important and try as you may to not take on what God ask of you will only make your life miserable."

Charlie headed up the front steps then turned to Luna, "I am sorry, really I am". Her voice echoed with sarcasm, "You need some super hero to do what? Oh ya, to save the World from the big bad wolf. Well, I am not that girl. I have College to finish and then I have a restaurant to run. In the mean time I have a mother I wouldn't wish on hell itself. I do not have time to save the world let alone save myself."

Before Charlie could reach the front door Luna grabbed her arm firmly, "Charlie, Wake up. Wake up now before it's too late.

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