Had to squish several things into this chapter. The left out stuff will have to wait. Did the best I could with this, but I have to just let it go. Review it anyway. I miss reading the reviews.
"Caroline?"
After several insistent rings of the door bell, and urgent knocks at the door, Caroline wished for her gun. But after hearing who was at the door, she simply wanted to disappear.
"Caroline, it's Violet!" She called. "I just want to talk."
Caroline made a face. And since she knew the woman couldn't see her, she made a nasty face to the door, stuck out her tongue then flipped the door the bird. All things she couldn't even dream of thinking of doing in front of adults.
Violet sighed and leaned against the door jamb. She had been hoping that Caroline's sense of Southern hospitality would prevail, and if not, if the embarrassment of having a pregnant woman outside hollering for the world to hear would do the trick.
Abruptly, Caroline jerked the door open. "What?" She growled, and jerked Violet inside by her arm.
"I just,"
Caroline slammed the door shut.
"I just wanted to talk."
Caroline rolled her eyes. Violet did nothing. Caroline smiled.
"I want to talk about what happened today at the practice."
Caroline scowled and retreated to the couch, giving zero indication that Violet should follow or sit. So much for Southern hospitality, Violet thought, as she sat on the nearest chair.
"I don't." Caroline answered.
"That's perfectly understandable."
"Then why are you here?"
"Because there are some things I want to tell you."
Caroline sighed heavily. "What?" She glared with impatience and annoyance at the woman. She seemed unfazed by it, which was good, but not good enough as it did not entice her to leave.
"Cooper's on his way here, by the way- bringing something of mine over. I just thought I should come by and-
"Cooper's not coming in this house." She was indignant.
"I beg your pardon?"
"He's not setting foot in this house again."
"Does Charlotte know about that? I think she'll have a problem with it."
"She'll just have to deal with it."
The girl's voice was sharp, designed to repell. Violet wasn't falling for it. The grimace Caroline made when her aunt's name was mentioned didn't go unnoticed.
"You're defensive right now, I get that. You feel embarrassed by what happened today," she noted that Caroline;s jaw clentched and she looked as though she wanted to either kill her or simply hurl a heavy object at her. Violet conintued, "overwhelmed by an emotional response that you couldn't control."
Caroline had been about to say, "How do you know how I feel?" but suddenly seemed to lack the energy and the words. A feeble, "No I don't," was as much as she could get in response. And it wasn't very convincing sounding, even to her. It sounded weak, and babyish. And so she did the only damage control she could.
"Go away." She ordered.
Violet blinked, non-pulsed. She didn't go anywhere.
Crap.
"What do you want?"
"You've asked that question already, and I've answered it."
Caroline suddenly felt her head spinning. The woman was calm, way too calm. And didn't seem to want to leave.
"I don't know what you're"
"Then I'll talk," Violet interrupted her. "Cooper and Dr. Wilder were standing in both doorways to the kitchen, blocking your exits. Dell advanced upon you. In a situation where a woman or girl were in such a situation with strangers, one might justifiably feel threatened. Someone who has been attacked by multiple people at once, certainly would be within their rights to feel threatened even if those people were friends."
Caroline faked a yawn.
"You were attacked, raped, by your uncles and your father in your own home."
Her lips were pursed, and she was staring fixedly at the ceiling. The girl said nothing, but Violet could tell she was getting angrier by the second. And that was a good thing.
"Kid!" Charlotte King's voice and blaring car horn removed any thought of continuing this conversation further.
Alert suddenly, Caroline smiled triumphantly at Violet, then walked to and out of the door.
"Where the hell is she?" Charlotte muttered, tapping a finger on her keychain. "If she were gonna kill herself because of this mess, she'd have done it by now." She sighed, feeling re-assured by that.
Finally, her skinny crop haired niece appeared. Charlotte was out of the car by then, going around to the trunk.
"Help me with these, I can't carry them all myself." She tapped her foot with giddy impatience.
Caroline came to the back of the car and stared at the contents.
"Ya got dead bodies in there, or something?" She grimaced warily, pointed at the massive black trashbags.
Charlotte rolled her eyes, and grabbed one. "Just carry these inside. Help me. And don't look inside them."
"Violet Turner's here," she commented.
"What? Oh hell, I didn't realize that was her car."
Caroline took the covered box in her arms, and Charlotte slid another smaller bag covered box on top of that. She was about to push a third on top of that until Caroline piped up.
"I guess it's not bad enough I can't see my feet, you wanna keep me from seeing where I'm going to?" Charlotte put that one back in the trunck. Then she grabbed up two bother large boxes herself.
"I guess she wants to move in here too, or something," she muttered angrily. "It's not bad enough she has to get between Cooper and me, she now needs to put her feet up on my place."
"Huh?" Caroline stopped and stared at her.
"Just go," she ordered.
She obliged, but not before shaking her head and announcing, "I knew it. You got some crazy shit going on at that practice of yours."
Charlotte managed to snag the third box the kid had rejected, and resigned herself to having to make an extra trip back just to close the trunk door. "I heard that," she answered as she followed after her niece, thankful that the girl had kept the front door open.
"Turner," she looked the pregnant woman up and down, "I see you're still effectively knocked up, not bleeding or on fire- so what the hell are you doing here?"
Charlotte glanced at Caroline, then demanded,
"Why is her face red? What did you do to her?"
"We were just talking."
Charlotte pursed her lips, dropped the packages to the floor and made a scoffing sound.
"You were pissing her off." She looked again at her niece. "If she had her gun, you'd be dead right now."
"So much for Southern hospitality."
"We are hospitable. We don't go around provoking people. Clearly, you were provoking her."
"To get a response."
"Count your blessings, ya new-age hippie. The only response you would have gotten would be in the form of an attack."
She put down the last bag.
"She told me to leave several times, and gave me the evil eye."
Charlotte quickly glanced at Caroline who was now the picture of tranquility. She snorted and nodded her head. "You showed yourself as being subordinate to her."
"Does she look angry now?"
"No, but that doesn't mean that-"
"Oh, trust me, it does mean something," Charlotte answered quickly. For some reason she felt as though this woman were attacking her niece, her family. She was immediately more defensive. "Did she look angry before?"
"Yes."
"Don't you know anything about raising children? You have to go alpha-dog on their asses. Kids are like dogs, you train them as such." When Violet just gave her a blank stare she sighed irritated and simplified it for her. "You just showed yourself as subordinate to her."
"She doesn't look that way now because I'm here, she's sufficiently squashed her emotions in the time I've just spent talking to you, and she's good enough at it that her face is no longer red. That just took a matter of seconds. But it's expected. I wouldn't tolerate such an expression or the evil eye, it's disrespectful toward an adult."
"So children where you're from aren't allowed a normal emotional response to express"
"We don't."
Violet blinked.
Charlotte sighed in exasperation. "Turner, you need to leave."
"But I just,"
"Scoot! Can't you tell this is private time? I didn't bring all this shit in here for you. Git!"
Violet sighed audibly. "I'll be in my car," she answered seeing herself out.
As soon as the door was closed, Charlotte turned back to Caroline.
She was wearing a grin so wide it nearly cracked her face, but she couldn't help it. She was happy like a kid on Christmas day. It had been difficult to keep her mind off her happy in the presence of Violet.
Caroline dashed for the black bags.
"Wait!" Charlotte hurried to arrange the bagged boxes in order.
"Okay," she announced, smiling as though presenting the thanksgiving turkey on a platter. "Now take off the bags. Those were just a cover so you wouldn't see what was inside."
Warily, the girl untied and pushed down one of the bags. A large white box with a huge pink bow and ribbon was revealed.
"What's this?" Her voice showed no joy.
"What's it look like? A present. Now open the other ones up."
Methodically, the girl did as told, showing no surprise, no excitement or joy. The black bags revealed more gifts all wrapped ornately.
Charlotte grinned as the last bag was pushed aside. "Now you can open the gifts. I spent hours looking for the stuff. Forever at the store." She bit her lip, feeling like a child, so eager and anticipating her niece's happiness.
She sighed in relief as though she'd been holding her breath as the girl went to the white box and began to undo the pink bow and ribbon. "I figure," Charlotte continued, "I can't take away what happened to you- I can't really fix anything, even though I am a doctor. But I can make you feel better. I know you probably feel all empty inside or angry inside- and I can't maybe fix that, but I can make that spot fill up with happiness," she gushed. "I can buy you things."
The girl seemed not to hear her. She didn't respond. Charlotte waited as Caroline lifted the box lid and lifted out a shimmery blue dress.
Charlotte smiled again when she saw it. "It's for after you get that thing out of you," she explained. Probably to wear a few years from now, when you're older." Charlotte looked at Caroline's expressionless face. "Don't you like it?"
Caroline held the dress up and Charlotte held it up to the girl's neck. "I thought the shade of blue just matches your eyes. It's a gorgeous dress. None better, I made sure of that."
Caroline still hadn't responded. Must be the shock. Surely her mother didn't buy her much. Poor kid probably wasn't used to being given things. Charlotte shrugged, not about to let this phase her and brushing off the concern. "And that's not all- look in the bottom of the box."
Caroline bent down and pulled out a thin velvet box. She opened the lid just as Charlotte announced, "You can't have a gorgeous dress without jewelry to go with it."
Inside the box was a pair of diamond earrings, and a fine gold necklace with a single diamond pendant.
"They're real," she provided.
Caroline nodded numbly. What the hell was wrong with this kid? Maybe she just was too much of a tomboy. Go figure. Charlotte wasn't a mind reader after all. She sighed, but not allowing this to deter her, she went on,
"Well, open the other boxes! That's not all there is here!"
Caroline went on to reveal the only thing she seemed remotely interested in was the game of Simon which Charlotte had bought from the toy store on a whim.
Charlotte stood watching her, feeling slightly sick, as though something had gone wrong.
"This is real nice, Aunt Charlotte." The kid finally spoke up and smiled weakly. "Thank you." The conditioned response. A lie.
Charlotte was flabbergasted. "Don't you like it?"
Caroline sighed, and Charlotte knew the answer was no. She shook her head wildly. She'd failed. She'd not fixed this. Her face crumpled in disappointment.
"Tell me!" She insisted. "Tell me what you want! I want to make you feel better! Luanne, I can buy you whatever you want- whatever you want. I can make up for all this mess you're in. I can buy you things. I can make you happy. Stuff, Luanne, I can give you stuff- anything you want to make you happy."
She looked frantically at Caroline who actually seemed near tears. And suddenly she knew what her niece wanted. "You want your daddy and uncles dead, I know. I can't do that for you from this far away. But I can do other things. I can make this hurt go away." Charlotte gasped for breath. "You want to go to Disney World?" She grinned wide, trying to entice the child. "We can go. We can up and go now, if you want. I can do that for you, Luanne. I would do that for you. I love you," she continued. "I want to make you happy."
She looked frantic as Caroline's lower lip began to quiver.
"I can't go on the rides!" She wailed.
Oh shit. Charlotte let out a quick breath. Forgot about that. How can I forget something like that when she's standing pregnant right here in front of me? She put a hand to her forehead.
"I'm sorry," she answered softly, and was thrilled to see that the girl was not actually crying. "Whatever you want, just name it. Tell me what you want, and I can get it for you. Whatever it is."
She bit her lip, noticing Caroline's chest heaving. "Luanne, baby," she whispered. "Just tell me, tell me what would make you happiest. Your Aunt Charlotte can buy it for you. I may not be the most popular doctor, but doing my job has given me money. I can buy things. Contrary to poor people's beliefs, you can buy happy."
She took the girl's hands in her own, looking at her face in earnest.
Just then someone banged on the front door. "Charlotte," Cooper's voice called, "let me in! This thing is heavy."
Irritated at the sudden inopportune interruption, but still confused and curious, Charlotte glanced at the girl, then headed for the door.
She opened it and stared at the huge free standing punching bag that Cooper was currently leaning against. Must be the thing Violet was talking about.
She shoved him away from it, not wanting him or anyone else to come inside and witness her current failure.
"Gimme that thing," she hissed. "You're not coming here."
"Charlotte," Cooper's voice was low, matching hers, "I want to talk to Caroline, say I'm sorry, tell her-"
"And I want some people's heads skewered on a bastard kabob!" She answered hotly. Then she grabbed her arms around the heavy bag, and by sheer force of will, and not wanting to fail again, she dragged it inside the doorway.
"We will not talk about this now. I been with her all afternoon. I am dealing with this." And failing miserably.
She slammed the door.
Charlotte King was so busy dragging the thing across the floor she didn't notice Violet opening the unlocked door and walking back into the living room.
When she finally finished her goal, she looked up and without blinking asked Violet, "You know what we do to people like you down south?"
"Pregnant people?"
She rolled her eyes. "Trespassers." She sighed in annoyance, knowing the Violet most likely had no idea. Instead of dwelling on it, she asked, "This's yours?"
She nodded. "A good outlet for expressing anger, and a good workout."
Charlotte nodded curtly.
Violet stared at Caroline as though she were execting her to do something.
"It's a punching bag," she explained. "Here are the gloves," she held them up. "I know you're angry, so go ahead- punch it, kick it, whatever."
She wants to shoot its head off, Charlotte realized.
"Too bad it doesn't have a head," she muttered aloud.
"Here," Violet pushed the boxing gloves at Caroline.
The girl took them then stared at her blankly.
Charlotte glanced quickly at Caroline, then focused ahead again.
"I saw that," Violet replied. "This is for her to use." She looked confused, as though she couldn't understand why the girl wasn't engaging. Then Charlotte realized that Violet truly didn't.
"We don't believe in displays," she provided.
"I beg your pardon."
"You're standing here. I'm here. Where we're from you don't express unkind emotions in front of others, or not at all is the ideal. You're standing here, which to her means that she cannot and is not allowed to express herself the way she'd like."
"So what's she supposed to do?"
"Stand there silent, like a post. Just like she's doin' now."
"Then how can"
"Children are meant to be seen and not heard. Sometimes not seen at all."
Violet just raised an eyebrow, clearly not wanting to touch that particular topic.
"You can, Caroline," she smiled at her. "It's okay. I want you to go to town on this thing."
Charlotte shook her head. "Uh uh. Not gonna do it."
"So what do I have to do to get her to-"
"Leave."
"This is part of her therapy."
"I didn't know she was your shrink patient."
"Look, I appreciate what you're trying to do here, Turner, but I do know her better than you do. Let me handle this. She won't do a damn thing with you standing here staring at her."
Poor Violet actually looked crest-fallen, not unlike how Charlotte herself felt moments before. She sighed, hating having to be nice. "If it makes you feel any better, she won't do anything with me here either. Just go home. Take Cooper with you."
Violet let out a breath and looked sideward at Caroline. Charlotte held the door open. Then, when they both had their backs to the girl, she caught the expression on Caroline's face out of the corner of her eye. And at that moment, she knew that Violet had won in the giving the kid something wanted, but she also knew how to truly one-up Violet Turner. It was bad enough she had Cooper, she wasn't about to let her get the girl's affections or gratitude. Charlotte smiled. Can't believe I didn't think of it before now. Hell of a lot cheaper than all that useless crap.
She smiled and announced happily, "See you later, Turner. The kid's gonna be just fine."
K- time to type in your review. Yay to you for getting to the end of another chapter!
