Signed, Anonymous
Chapter Nine:
Finding Comfort

Ruthie pulled away from her brother and wiped her face clean. Embarrassed, she looked to the sky, busying herself with attempting to identify different constellations. Anything to avoid talking about her mangled life. She was still having a difficult time comprehending that she had just broken down. After all of her hard work to seem like her old self, happy and bubbly, she threw all of that away.

The sky was clear that night, making the stars bright and beautiful, flawless even. Had everything been back to the way it used to be, the Camden family would be sitting down to dinner, just about now, joking and laughing around a table of delicious, home-cooked food. But life wouldn't suddenly get easier, so they had to deal with the bad stuff, even if it was difficult to watch a loved one suffer through something they had known nothing about until a young man, their neighbor, brought it to their attention.

Matt studied Ruthie, and almost immediately picked up on her unwillingness to talk. Not because of all his training and education, but because of his two other younger sisters. Mary, when she was still an adolescent, wouldn't talk about anything unless you dragged it out of her. She would refuse to believe there was a problem, and when you pointed it out to her directly, she would resent you until she, herself, got over it.

Lucy, now a married woman, used to cry about everything and everything. Usually, she was open with her emotions, and showcased them dramatically. But when something heavy was happening with her, she would bottle it up until someone was willing to listen. Now, or ever since she began attending seminary classes, or perhaps whenever it was when she grew up, she is less emotional and ready to help others.

When it came to female emotions, especially his sisters', Matt was more than qualified for the job.

Ruthie was scanning the sky, her eyes darting back and forth, looking at nothing in particular, it seemed. Instead of forcing her to say anything, Matt joined her, hoping to make her feel comfortable, and to let her know that he would always be her brother, that he would always care about her, that he would always be there for her, day or night, whichever it may be, all without words. If he knew Ruthie, she would be able to pick up on this, and feel it in her heart.

Unfortunately, she said nothing too soon, causing the two of them to sit there on a bench in the park on Thanksgiving, their only source of light coming from a circular lamp behind them.

Simon, who had disappeared just after Matt had left to being his search for Ruthie, walked through the promenade. He felt too angry to stick around the house and sulk about how he never even suspected anything. His fists shoved deep into his pants pockets, he came to a group of suspicious looking boys leaning up against a wall in the alley. He gave so much as a glance as he continued to pass by, but something one of them said made him freeze.

Simon doubled back. "What did you say?" he demanded.

One of the thug-ish boys stepped forward, and Simon recognized this boy from his high school days. He was never friends with this kid, but had seen him around dealing drugs to other kids who thought it would make them cool, or to make them fit in. His name was been Jerome, or something starting with a J. Simon never really felt the need to get to know him any better.

"You heard me, Camden," he drawled, a sloppy grin appearing, bearing a few silver teeth. "I want your sister for tomorrow night at eight."

Simon resisted the urge to spit on Jerome's shoes. "You're disgusting."

Jerome put his hands to his chest, acting to be offended. "You think I'm no gentleman? I'll pay her for it." His buddies laughed and slapped hands.

Simon took a step forward to where he was almost nose to nose with Jerome. "My sister doesn't do the things you think she does. She doesn't sell herself for money. She's fourteen."

Jerome shrugged and chuckled. "The younger the better, right boys?" There was more laughter, and shouts of agreement. Jerome gave Simon a smug look.

Simon took a step back, shaking his head as if there weren't any words harsh enough to say what was on his mind. Kevin was right: people were going to believe what they wanted to believe, and there was no changing that.

"Hey, maybe your dad can pray to God so that slut don't end up in hell?" Jerome laughed, this time showing all of his capped teeth.

Simon jerked his hands out of his pockets and lunged, knocking Jerome to the ground pummeling him with his fists.

The clock in the living room chimed, announcing yet another hour had passed by in silence. Mary was home to be with her family, to catch up, and to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner. So far, she had done neither. Instead, she, and the rest of the family, had gotten an gigantic bomb dropped on them by none other than Peter Petrowski.

Mary had felt like an extremely horrible person. She hadn't a clue about what was going on at home, with Ruthie. If her family had at least called her, she could have found some way to help out. But, no. She was stuck in the dark, once again. Her past had caught up with her. Ever since she declined her credit card bills and trashed the school gym years ago, she was never again trusted with that kind of information. Often, she felt like a child stuck in a woman's body.

Mary was tired of feeling that way, tired of feeling put-down by her family. They needed to realize that she had a family of her own now, even if they weren't right by her side all the time as a reminder. She had her own life, a steady job, good pay. Everything was finally steady, and the Camdens had yet to notice.

"So." Sarah interrupted Mary's thoughts.

For a moment, she had forgotten that Sarah was even in the room with her. The two had been sitting in the living room for the past hour, just waiting for something else to happen.

"Yeah," Mary mumbled. Just about now, she would have preferred to be alone, left to dwell in her own thoughts and ramblings, but she couldn't abandon Sarah. That would be rude, and to a degree, insulting. Conversation had run dry the first five minutes of their little sit-in.

Sarah sighed. "I had no idea what had happened to Ruthie," she offered.

Mary looked to her hands that lay in her lap. "Neither did I," she scoffed. Forgetting about her need to be polite to her sister-in-law, Mary pushed herself off the couch and angrily left the room, her hair whipping out behind her.

Feeling like she had said something wrong, or hit a nerve, Sarah shut her mouth. Silently, she watched Mary leave the room. Tucking her legs underneath her body, Sarah made herself comfortable. She had a feeling she was going to be there for a while.

"Where's the fire?" the reverend asked as his oldest daughter, Mary, almost collided with him at the second-floor landing. Ignoring him, Mary increased her speed to where she was almost running up the attic stairs.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Eric asked when he appeared in the room only moments later.

Mary had allowed herself to collapse on the spare bed. She threw a cold glare at her father as he grew closer.

He took a seat on Ruthie's mattress that was opposite of Mary's. In his hands he held his eye glasses and a pad of yellow paper. Getting ready to write a sermon, probably, Mary thought as she stared at the object.

Eric set the items down. "Okay, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that you're upset with me about something...?"

Mary looked incredulous as she flung her legs over the edge to face him. "You could say that. How could you and Mom not even have the common courtesy to even give ma a little, tiny, clue as to what was going on with Ruthie?" she demanded, feeling her heart pound inside her rib cage.

Eric looked taken aback. "We didn't know anything until tonight," he explained, defending himself and his wife against Mary's accusation.

"No." Mary stood and looked down on her father. "No, you just didn't think I was responsible enough to know about that sort of thing." She pointed her index finger at him. "It's always been like this. Ever since you kicked me out three years ago!" Furiously, Mary stomped from the room and locked herself in the bathroom, emerging just seconds later. "Why is there glass on the floor?"

"Oh," Eric moaned. "Ruthie felt compelled to take some sort of vengeance on the mirror and we still haven't gotten around to cleaning it up yet."

Mary threw her hands up in the air. "Great! I don't even get enough respect to know when my own sister breaks a mirror! Thanks."

Fights and yelling were things that, as a father, he didn't miss when his older daughters moved out. Eric let himself fall back onto the bed, feeling another headache coming on.

Kevin watched out of the window at Matt and Ruthie. There was no telling how long he had been waiting for them, but somewhere deep inside of himself, he found the patience. He knew how important it was for Matt to connect with Ruthie at this time. She had been feeling so isolated for so long, and now it was finally time to feel loved once again.

A shrill ring moved the air inside of the vehicle as Kevin jumped. His cell phone was ringing. Glancing at the caller ID, he was happy for this call. It was his wife who was still at home. She was probably wondering where they were, and if they had found Ruthie yet.

"Hey, honey," Kevin greeted her.

"Where are you?" Lucy asked, skipping the 'hello's. She sounded worried and concerned. Something in her voice told him that she had made a promise to someone, and finding Ruthie was important for that promise to be true.

"We're at the park. We found Ruthie." Kevin listened to Lucy breath a sigh of relief and he smiled.

"Is she okay?" she asked.

Kevin took another look out the window at brother and sister. "If we're speaking physically, yeah, she's fine."

"Mom isn't doing too well either. She keeps saying that is was her fault, that she should have protected Ruthie like a good mother would do," Lucy explained.

Kevin sighed. "This isn't going to be an easy fix. What happened to Ruthie shook the whole family, but the fact that she didn't trust anyone of you - I'm sorry, Luce - enough to tell you about it only made it worse."

"I know."

"Everything's going to be all right, Luce. Trust me." Kevin could almost see the doubt in her expression.

"I hope you're right, Kev," she replied.

"Ruthie will get the help she needs, and in time, she'll be smiling, even laughing, again."

"Thanks. I love you." Lucy made kiss-y sounds on the other end of the phone.

Kevin smiled. "I love you, too," he said and kissed back before ending the call.

Once more, he looked out the window at Ruthie, straining to see her face. He just hoped his words were right. Ruthie was a strong young woman, but Kevin didn't know if she could ever fully recover from this tragedy.

Ruthie hadn't realized how much she missed hearing three very specific words until the were spoken to her by someone who completely meant them. Matt had told her that he loved her, and it had felt good. There was a warming sensation in her heart where, for the longest time, there had only been ice. Once again, she felt relevant to someone. For months, she had felt so alone, so isolated. But now things were finally beginning to look up. That happiness that she had thought to have been revoked from here, was finally offered through three words.

"I don't know how I even lasted this long," Ruthie said suddenly, still gazing at the stars. "I don't know why I lasted this long."

"You've lasted this long because on some level you've always known you could overcome this," Matt provided.

Ruthie shrugged. "I just felt so alone." She looked down at her shoes, tracing the laces with her eyes as she spoke. "Nothing seemed to matter anymore. Not even God," she admitted. What seemed so hard to say in her mind, came remarkably easy.

Matt took her hand. "You'll have to take up God with Dad, but, Ruthie I want you to know something. Ruthie, look me in the eye as I say this." He waited until her eyes were locked with his before continuing. "You are not alone. We all love you. Do you understand?"

Ruthie felt fresh tears stinging as they welled. She nodded.

"I love you," Matt repeated.

Ruthie fell into her brother's arms for the second time that night, only this time was different. This time, she felt comforted. And it felt good.