Title: Romance and Mysteries
Authors: Deadpoet, gayguysaboudhere, Ishafel,
Authors' Note: As you can see, this fic is the work of many people. It's a running story where each person posts part of it and leaves it unfinished so that the next person can play along. The story is currently being worked on at televisionwithoutpity.com, so feel free to come on over and add your own piece.
Disclaimer: We don't own the characters or anything else (Brenda Hampton, et al do), but if we did, things might be better…
*********
Chapter 5
Looking in the rearview mirror, Ruthie saw Annie's eyes narrow. "What is it Ruthie?" she asked, with an edge to her voice.
Ruthie's mind raced. She was afraid, really afraid, of her mother for the first time in her life. She didn't want to push her too far. She quickly came up with an excuse, so it wouldn't seem like she was defying her mother. "Umm...I have to go to the bathroom," she said. "Really bad."
Please let her stop, Ruthie thought. Let her stop and I can go get help.
Annie sighed. "Ok. We'll stop at this rest stop. But we are leaving right after you're done going bathroom. No delays. Understand?"
Ruthie nodded.
They parked at the rest stop, and the van's passengers all climbed out, stretching and heading for the restrooms.
As Ruthie walked into the restroom, she entered one of the stalls and relieved herself. Then, she sat and waited. She didn't know how long she stayed there, but knew she had to stay long enough for her mother and the others to leave without her. After what seemed like an hour, but perhaps was only minutes, she quietly exited the stall, and then the bathroom.
When she came outside in the bright air, she scanned the parking lot. The van was nowhere in sight. Ruthie sighed with relief.
As she stood in the parking lot, squinting up at the sun, Ruthie wondered, really wondered, what kind of woman would do a thing like this. What was wrong with her mother? It was not only the strangeness of the whole unexplained trip. What kind of mother would drive off without her 11-year old daughter? Would Annie even notice she was gone?
She dug into her pocket for change, eyeing the pay phone in front of the gas station. The person she wanted to talk to more than anyone in the world was Robbie, but would he be home? She slunk toward the pay phone, trying to avoid the curious gaze of the cashier, who might wonder why she wasn't in school.
Lucy sat in the car, holding a tissue to her bleeding nose. Her mother, her own mother, had actually hit her. She'd tried to stop her from leaving Ruthie, but Annie had seemed in a panic.
"There's no time!" she had said. "Get in the car now!" And when Lucy had resisted, Annie had slapped her across the face, giving her a bloody nose.
"Lucy." Annie's voice dragged Lucy back to the present. "I'm sorry I hit you, but you must learn that I am your mother and I know best." Lucy just nodded, wondering when Annie had become so controlling and abusive, wondering when she had finally just given in and given up her dreams to be the "woman" her parents expected her to be. Most of all, she wondered what would happen to Ruthie.
****
Eric didn't know how he knew Annie was heading for the airport, but after passing her on the road, he knew that's where she was going. His only hope was to beat her there, and stop her before she could leave with his family.
Together, Simon and Eric combed the airport, looking for any sign of Annie, the girls, and the twins. "Dad!" Simon yelled, "there they are!" Eric had to squint to see what gate they were headed toward.
"Why on earth are they going to-" he started, but was cut off by Simon.
"Dad? Where's Ruthie?"
Doing a double take, Eric scanned the crowd again and found no sign of his youngest daughter.
*****
At the gas station, Ruthie dialed the number for her house, but hung up before the phone could ring. She was terrified Matt would answer--she knew that somehow he had to be involved in all of this. Just then a shiny navy blue Cadillac sedan pulled into the parking lot. Ruthie gasped as she recognized the man behind the wheel. It was Rabbi Richard, the father of her brother's estranged wife. She froze, not sure if he had seen her, but it was too late.
"Why, Ruthie Camden," he said jovially. "What are you doing way out here?"
"I...was waiting for...a friend. But I guess she's not coming," she stammered. Lying went against everything she had been taught, but she couldn't bear to tell the truth.
"Well, hop in, I'll run you home, the rabbi smirked. "I've been meaning to talk to you anyway."
Hesitantly Ruthie climbed in, sinking into the Cadillac's leather seat. "What did you want to talk to me about, sir?"
"I'd like to tell you a story," the rabbi answered. He met Ruthie's curious gaze. "You see, a few years ago, oh, say twelve years, I met a beautiful woman and fell in love with her. Both of us were married, and I knew our love could never be. But we were weak, Ruthie, weak as only two people in love could be. One day, while my wife and child were in New York visiting family, she came to me and we consummated our love. From our love, a child was conceived, and because she believed that divorce was unlawful, she bore that child in secret. Her husband never knew the blood that ran in the veins of his young daughter... You, Ruthie, are that child, born of the love Annie and I shared."
He braked the car smoothly to a stop. "Well, Ruthie, here you are. I only hope that we can be friends, hmm?"
Looking at this man who claimed to be her father, Ruthie began to cry. Even volcanoes would have been better than this.
Authors: Deadpoet, gayguysaboudhere, Ishafel,
Authors' Note: As you can see, this fic is the work of many people. It's a running story where each person posts part of it and leaves it unfinished so that the next person can play along. The story is currently being worked on at televisionwithoutpity.com, so feel free to come on over and add your own piece.
Disclaimer: We don't own the characters or anything else (Brenda Hampton, et al do), but if we did, things might be better…
*********
Chapter 5
Looking in the rearview mirror, Ruthie saw Annie's eyes narrow. "What is it Ruthie?" she asked, with an edge to her voice.
Ruthie's mind raced. She was afraid, really afraid, of her mother for the first time in her life. She didn't want to push her too far. She quickly came up with an excuse, so it wouldn't seem like she was defying her mother. "Umm...I have to go to the bathroom," she said. "Really bad."
Please let her stop, Ruthie thought. Let her stop and I can go get help.
Annie sighed. "Ok. We'll stop at this rest stop. But we are leaving right after you're done going bathroom. No delays. Understand?"
Ruthie nodded.
They parked at the rest stop, and the van's passengers all climbed out, stretching and heading for the restrooms.
As Ruthie walked into the restroom, she entered one of the stalls and relieved herself. Then, she sat and waited. She didn't know how long she stayed there, but knew she had to stay long enough for her mother and the others to leave without her. After what seemed like an hour, but perhaps was only minutes, she quietly exited the stall, and then the bathroom.
When she came outside in the bright air, she scanned the parking lot. The van was nowhere in sight. Ruthie sighed with relief.
As she stood in the parking lot, squinting up at the sun, Ruthie wondered, really wondered, what kind of woman would do a thing like this. What was wrong with her mother? It was not only the strangeness of the whole unexplained trip. What kind of mother would drive off without her 11-year old daughter? Would Annie even notice she was gone?
She dug into her pocket for change, eyeing the pay phone in front of the gas station. The person she wanted to talk to more than anyone in the world was Robbie, but would he be home? She slunk toward the pay phone, trying to avoid the curious gaze of the cashier, who might wonder why she wasn't in school.
Lucy sat in the car, holding a tissue to her bleeding nose. Her mother, her own mother, had actually hit her. She'd tried to stop her from leaving Ruthie, but Annie had seemed in a panic.
"There's no time!" she had said. "Get in the car now!" And when Lucy had resisted, Annie had slapped her across the face, giving her a bloody nose.
"Lucy." Annie's voice dragged Lucy back to the present. "I'm sorry I hit you, but you must learn that I am your mother and I know best." Lucy just nodded, wondering when Annie had become so controlling and abusive, wondering when she had finally just given in and given up her dreams to be the "woman" her parents expected her to be. Most of all, she wondered what would happen to Ruthie.
****
Eric didn't know how he knew Annie was heading for the airport, but after passing her on the road, he knew that's where she was going. His only hope was to beat her there, and stop her before she could leave with his family.
Together, Simon and Eric combed the airport, looking for any sign of Annie, the girls, and the twins. "Dad!" Simon yelled, "there they are!" Eric had to squint to see what gate they were headed toward.
"Why on earth are they going to-" he started, but was cut off by Simon.
"Dad? Where's Ruthie?"
Doing a double take, Eric scanned the crowd again and found no sign of his youngest daughter.
*****
At the gas station, Ruthie dialed the number for her house, but hung up before the phone could ring. She was terrified Matt would answer--she knew that somehow he had to be involved in all of this. Just then a shiny navy blue Cadillac sedan pulled into the parking lot. Ruthie gasped as she recognized the man behind the wheel. It was Rabbi Richard, the father of her brother's estranged wife. She froze, not sure if he had seen her, but it was too late.
"Why, Ruthie Camden," he said jovially. "What are you doing way out here?"
"I...was waiting for...a friend. But I guess she's not coming," she stammered. Lying went against everything she had been taught, but she couldn't bear to tell the truth.
"Well, hop in, I'll run you home, the rabbi smirked. "I've been meaning to talk to you anyway."
Hesitantly Ruthie climbed in, sinking into the Cadillac's leather seat. "What did you want to talk to me about, sir?"
"I'd like to tell you a story," the rabbi answered. He met Ruthie's curious gaze. "You see, a few years ago, oh, say twelve years, I met a beautiful woman and fell in love with her. Both of us were married, and I knew our love could never be. But we were weak, Ruthie, weak as only two people in love could be. One day, while my wife and child were in New York visiting family, she came to me and we consummated our love. From our love, a child was conceived, and because she believed that divorce was unlawful, she bore that child in secret. Her husband never knew the blood that ran in the veins of his young daughter... You, Ruthie, are that child, born of the love Annie and I shared."
He braked the car smoothly to a stop. "Well, Ruthie, here you are. I only hope that we can be friends, hmm?"
Looking at this man who claimed to be her father, Ruthie began to cry. Even volcanoes would have been better than this.