Chapter Two!
Ronnie woke up Friday morning, after only a short hour of sleep. She had finally dozed off the night before when she was absolutely sure her parents were asleep, but nightmares haunted her, just like they always did.
Ronnie got out of bed quietly, and got herself dressed for school. She always tried to leave quietly so that her parents wouldn't wake up. If they woke up while she was getting ready, they'd beat her, blaming her for waking them up.
She pulled on a long-sleeved sweater to hide the bruises. She had to be careful. Her parents always told her that if she ever told anyone or if anyone ever asked about it that she would be killed! Her father had a gun hidden away in a dresser in his bedroom. He often threatened to use it. Ronnie never thought he would but she lived in constant fear of her parents and obeyed every word they said.
She got out of the house as quickly and as quietly as possible. She breathed a silent prayer to God for not making her parents wake up.
"Good morning Ronnie." Jenny called from her front porch. She was getting the morning paper.
"Oh hi Jenny." Ronnie replied.
"Hey, isn't it a little bit hot to be wearing a sweater?" Jenny asked. Ronnie only shrugged.
"So Ronnie, I was wondering if maybe you'd like to come with me to church this Sunday."
"I can't!"
"Oh. Well, do you have plans?" Jenny watched as Ronnie constantly peered at her house as if expecting something to happen.
"N-no, I don't have plans. I-I just can't. Sorry Jenny. I g-gotta go." Ronnie ran off to school. Jenny was getting suspicious of Ronnie's behaviour. She was taking a psychology class at her University and recognized that Ronnie had symptoms of an abused teenager.
"No. I shouldn't just assume things. I'll keep it in mind though, just in case." She said to herself as she watched Ronnie run around the corner.
Ronnie got to school and just wanted to cry! She so desperately wanted to go to church, but her mom and dad would never let her leave the house. If it were their choice, they wouldn't even let Ronnie go to school.
Dear Lord, just please let something happen soon. I want to be happy. Forgive me Lord for being selfish, but I hate this. I want to be free. Ronnie fought back the tears and hurried off to class.
It was now Sunday morning and Eric was getting himself ready for church. He was a little less enthusiastic as he normally was, so when his daughter Mary asked him what was wrong, he only sighed.
"Mary, I'm just a little discouraged about somebody, that's all." He replied.
"Really? Mind if I ask who?" Mary asked.
"Sorry honey, I'm not allowed to break confidentiality, but let's just say that a young girl isn't going to church because her parents won't let her. She believes in God but her parents don't, so they won't let her." Eric explained, without mentioning any names.
"Oh dad, that's horrible! I'll be sure to pray for her." Mary said. Eric hugged her and continued to get ready for church.
Soon everybody was ready to go. Eric, Annie, Mary, Lucy, Simon, Ruthie and the twins piled into their minivan. (Matt always met them at church). They drove to the church and found a seat at the front while Reverend Camden greeted people. He spotted Jenny sitting alone. He approached her.
"Hi there Jenny. How are you today?" He asked. Jenny shrugged.
"Is it about that girl Ronnie?" He tried, noticing she was upset. Jenny nodded.
"I asked her to come to church and she ran off to school in a hurry. It was the strangest thing. I asked her if she had plans and she said she didn't. She only told me that she couldn't! I really just wanted her to come." She replied. Eric nodded sadly.
"Well, maybe one day she will." He tried to make light of the situation, but Jenny only sighed. He patted her shoulder and whispered a small prayer for her, as he continued to greet people.
Right before the sermon started, Eric seated himself in the pulpit. He watched as people rushed in the church, afraid of being late. Suddenly, a young girl shyly walked into the church. A newcomer, obviously. She wore torn jeans, and a blue t-shirt. She looked around, feeling very out of place, and spotted Jenny, who had already spotted her. Eric watched as the young girl joined Jenny, who only said, "Oh Ronnie." Eric smiled, as he could read her lips. He knew that Ronnie had come to church after all.
She sat through the sermon, deeply engaged and intrigued. Never had she heard such a powerful message about God and His Son Jesus Christ and the blood that was shed for all sins. Ronnie smiled throughout the entire sermon and Eric could not keep his eyes off of this young girl. Ronnie had always enjoyed Jenny's messages and Bible stories, but being in God's house with the Spirit flowing throughout it really touched Ronnie's heart. She was so glad she had finally come to church.
Eric found himself more eager to preach his message with every shy smile that crossed Ronnie's eager face. How he had prayed for this young girl to come to church and he thanked the Lord for answering.
The sermon ended with the hymn, "Amazing Grace." Eric noticed that Ronnie didn't know the words of the song, but glanced around the church, watching everybody putting their hearts into the song. The song ended and Eric dismissed the congregation with a prayer of blessing. Jenny leaned over and started talking to Ronnie. Eric smiled to himself and decided to go and meet this new girl. So he made his way down to the pews and just before he got to where Jenny and Ronnie were sitting, the church doors burst open violently, and an angry man and woman walked in, obviously furious! Eric watched fearfully as they scanned the room. Eric noticed the fear in Ronnie's eyes and wondered to himself what was going on.
"Veronica! Where are you? I know you're here!" The man bellowed! Ronnie stood up wearily and swallowed hard.
"I'm here dad." She replied quietly with her voice shaking. Her dad's eyes met hers as he stomped over to where she was standing and roughly grabbed her arm, causing her to flinch.
"What are you doing in this place?" The man screamed out, loud enough for the whole church to hear. Ronnie was crying now, as she tried to find the right answer for her angry father. She only stayed silent, with her eyes so full of fear that Eric could feel how afraid she was.
"Not gonna answer me huh? Well, I'm sick and tired of your attitude, you lowlife! I'm gonna teach you the biggest lesson of your life! Let's go!" The man pulled Ronnie out of that church so violently that church members were close to stopping him. They didn't because the man was very intimidating, larger than most of the men in the congregation. Ronnie's mother followed close behind the two, yelling at Ronnie the whole way.
Eric breathed out and told the congregation to calm down as they were all talking about the incident that had just occurred. Eric ran over to Jenny, who looked pretty shaken up.
"Jenny, what's going on? Who were those people?" He asked gently, yet pleading for an answer. Jenny sighed.
"Those were her parents. I thought something was up with them, but I never did anything about it. This is my fault!" She cried. Eric put his hand on her shoulder.
"None of this is your fault, but I need to know. Is Ronnie being abused by her parents, Jenny?" He asked.
"I never thought about it until a couple of days ago when I noticed that was she was displaying the symptoms of an abused teenager. I learned about that in my psych class. I wasn't sure, though. But seeing what I saw just now, I think she is, Reverend Camden. I think Ronnie is being abused!" Jenny lowered her head and started to cry. Eric bent down to her level to try to get some more answers. He felt it to be in his hands now, and that he had to do something about it.
"Jenny, listen to me. Where does Ronnie live? I need to know the address so I can go and see what's going on, because if she is being abused, we have to get her out of there as soon as possible." He explained. Jenny sniffled and nodded, agreeing with the Reverend.
"The Jenkins live at 54 Oakdale. Y-you don't think it's too late, d-do you? Like, what if s-something really bad happened t-to her?" Jenny's eyes pleaded for an answer. Eric beckoned his wife Annie, and she came over.
"Annie, can you try to calm Jenny down? I have to go check on this girl, okay? I'll be home later." He explained to his wife.
"Okay, I love you." Annie replied.
"I love you too." He looked at Jenny. "We'll pray for her. That's all we can do. I'll let you know what happens Jenny." With that, Eric left the church and headed toward Oakdale, afraid of what he might discover.
