The next day at breakfast Cam found it hard to get his thoughts off Amy and the little one. He sat around for what seemed like hours, just playing around with the marble Blanche had given to him. And he still couldn't see why her mother was having so much trouble talking about the girl's father. Perhaps it was because he had hurt her real badly. But what about Blanche's story? What if it was true and she…
"Hey Cam, what's up?" Sam Carter's voice startled him from his thoughts. She put her tray down next to him, giving him a gentle nudge as he didn't even bother looking up.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine", he sighed at last, pretending to show some interest in his long cold scrambled eggs.
"Oh, come on, you can't fool me, Cam. What's going on with you?"
It seemed like there was no way of fending her off right now. Maybe he could just as well share things with his teammate. "Okay, I had a strange meeting yesterday. You remember Amy Vandenberg?"
Sam nodded, "You mentioned her once."
"Well, thing is, I found myself dropping by at her house after having saved her kid from some rowdy boys. And 'cause the two of them are living alone I started wondering about the girl's father. That was a big mistake, for Amy was suddenly getting really pissed at me. And after she'd practically thrown me out her girl came running after me and guess what she told me?"
"What?" Carter wasn't really looking intrigued right now.
"She said her father probably wasn't on the same planet with us anymore."
Still, Sam didn't find it striking, "Maybe she meant he was dead."
"Hell, no", Cam rolled his eyes, "It just didn't sound like that. I even asked her why she had said it and she told me she didn't know."
"Really?" it was then Sam got interested, "This could be a problem."
"Pretty much. And you know what? I actually tend to believe her. You haven't seen her, but she seemed a little suspicious."
The way his colleague eyed him now made him stop in his tracks. Perhaps it was best if he went on a little more carefully: "Not in a bad way. It's just that she's very mature for her four years and way too clever…"
For a moment she was quiet, mulling things over in her mind. Finally she concluded. "You should better check things out before jumping to any rash conclusions, here. If you need any help, don't hesitate to ask, okay?"
"Okay, thanks", Cam gave her a grateful look, but also put a warning finger to his lips, "But not a word to anyone; not yet."
Sam nodded understandingly and their conversation was over, for the moment.
xxxxx
To Blanche's relief Cam didn't need much time coming back to her. Her heart leapt with joy the moment she saw him pull into the school's parking lot on his bike. The moment the bell rang she was out of the door to meet him, sniggering delightfully as she saw the boys cringing away on his approach.
"Hey little one", he greeted her with a smile.
"Hi Cam", she beamed, leading him over to sit on the front steps with her "I was hoping you'd come back."
"Did you really think I wouldn't?" he frowned with playful disappointment.
"Of course not", she gave him a slight punch. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
He looked at her as though he was feeling a little guilty about what he wanted to know. "Actually, yeah. Do you know how much your mom knows about your dad? Does she have any pictures of him or something?"
Blanche pondered for a moment, "No, not that I know of. The thing she's always trying to tell me is that their affair was very brief and he was long gone when I was born. Aside from that she claims that she doesn't know how to contact him or something…"
"That's weird", Cam's expression darkened somewhat as he heard this, "And she didn't tell you his name, either?"
Blanche creased her brows, "Not that I can remember."
He was growing very quiet now, probably disappointed with what she had just told him. "I'm sorry if I couldn't help you."
"Nah, it's okay, kiddo. I think it's time your mom and I have a serious little talk together. But not right now." He got up, "Do you need a lift home?"
"No, I think I'm fine", slowly she rose as well, seeing her new friend back to his motorcycle. After he had driven off she walked home straight away. Her mom didn't have to know that she had seen him again; it'd only freak her out.
xxxxx
The moment Cameron got back to base the solution of the problem hit him out of nothing: Amy had always tried not to lie about things, if she could help it. So, what if she didn't know the father herself and saw no point in telling her daughter any make-believe stories?
Suddenly Cam felt the urge to get to his office and call her. There was nothing that could hold him off now, not even her obvious reluctance to exchange another word with him ever again…
xxxxx
On her way home the boys were stalking Blanche again. At first she tried to look away, pretending not to see them. Sadly this didn't do her any good. As she passed a small side street, two of them suddenly appeared in front of her. She tried to turn and run away, but the rest of them had already assembled in a semicircle right behind her, blocking her only escape.
"Hey wiseass", their leader smirked at her, "Now your friend can't help you, anymore. Or did you really think you could get away from us for long?"
Blanche merely glared at them, yelling, "Leave me be, all of you!"
"Or what?" another one sneered, "Do you plan to throw your text books at us or something?"
At once the boy's hand was on her, pushing her into the rest of the gang who boxed and pushed her back, right into his arms. Suddenly she felt intimidated and silent tears were rushing into her eyes.
"Look, she's crying again. Do you want more, eh?" one of them started dodging her right towards the curbstone. At this moment a strange feeling was taking hold of Blanche: Without thinking she flung herself at the guy and a second later she was pushing him against a wall, her hands clutching his throat. "Don't you dare touch me", she growled, totally out of mind, "You're unworthy to even look at me." Before she could seriously hurt him, she pulled herself together again. Pale and shaking the boy moved away from her, running after his friends who had long hurried away, totally scared out of their wits.
As they were out of sight Blanche sank against the wall, staring at her hands in absolute disbelief. This hadn't been the first time she had felt like this. But until now, the horrible feeling hadn't broken out in public. She felt ashamed of herself, ashamed that she was capable of doing such a thing, ashamed that she could not control it better. Biting her lip Blanche took a moment to unwind. Before she got up and went home, she made herself promise that she would not allow herself such a mistake ever again...
xxxxx
After Cameron had dialed the number, he expected Amy to slam down the receiver, once she knew it was him on the other end of the line. He had already laid out some plans to keep her talking. But to his surprise he didn't need any of them:
"Hi Amy, it's me, Cam. We've gotta talk."
"-What the hell do you still want?" she sounded annoyed, but didn't hang up right away.
"There's one thing I need to know. It's very important", carefully he tried to soothe her some more before asking, "Listen, nobody's blaming you for anything. It's just that…"
To his surprise she interrupted him, "-What is it?"
Sighing Cam asked the question, "Do you know Blanche's father or don't you?"
"-I don't. And now leave us alone." Her reaction came quickly, but without much anger.
"I'll try." Sighing he put down the receiver. At least he was getting somewhere now.
xxxxx
Cam's sudden call had stirred many unwanted thoughts with Amy, but strangely she didn't blame him; he couldn't know. There was a lot she could not tell him and actually she hated herself for it, more than she would have thought. All of a sudden she felt overwhelmed by powerlessness. After getting herself a glass of water, she sat down on the sofa. Once she allowed herself to relax a bit, the shreds of what had happened came floating back into her head:
She had been to a party in the neighborhood. Perhaps she had had one too many, but she was still feeling clear enough to walk home alone. Suddenly she had the impression of being watched. The next moment everything around her changed…
Amy remembered waking in her bedroom the next morning. She had no idea how she had gotten there, strongly suspecting that she had had a blackout after all. The strange, groggy feeling enveloping her strongly confirmed that notion.
As she went to see a doctor some weeks later, she was told about the pregnancy. And even though she had no idea who the father might be, she decided to have the baby. There was no need she'd sacrifice its life for her ignorance. So Blanche was born and Amy had never felt any remorse or doubt about this decision. Until now...
"Mom?"
Startled she blinked into the broad daylight surrounding her. Where was she? A moment later Amy realized that she was still sitting on the living-room sofa. She must have dozed off for some seconds. Now Blanche was standing in front of her. The little one's clothes were rugged and she was looking devastated. A strange air of contempt was surrounding her daughter. Something had to be clearly wrong with her, but what?
To be continued…