Mirror – Chapter 6
Rick waited patiently in the prison visitor's room for Abe to come in. While he was there Rick's mind wondered to the woman that fled from the support clinic. Just over one week has passed since that day and he have thought about her every day. He wanted to help her. He needed to help her.
The story Carol told him about her own experience dealing with a case as severe as this frightened him. He didn't want no-one to die...not on his watch. He was tired of all the death and pain and sorrow. He thought about his own loss, his own pain, his own sorrow…how it nearly completely destroyed him and how it caused his best friend to end up in a cage.
Rick heard the door buzzer and turned around to see Abe walking towards him smiling, chess board game in hand. Both he and Abe look forward to these almost weekly visits. Its how they stay in touch…connected and no amount of steel bars could stop that. Rick took the board from him and began setting up for their game.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Abe watched, arms folded across his chest as Rick set up the board for their first match. He noticed that although Rick is physically here, his psyche is elsewhere. He was distracted.
"Stop."
Rick glanced up at Abe briefly but he continued to put the chess pieces on place.
"What? Why?"
"Because if I play I wanna beat you fair and square. No excuses."
Rick looked at him confused.
"What are you taking about?"
"You're not here."
"What do you mean I'm not here?"
"You're here...physically but you're not here here."
Putting down the rest of the chess pieces, Rick slowly leaned back into his chair.
"Twenty years of friendship Rick. Twenty years. Talk to me."
Rick looked at his friend. Here it is he's worried about a stranger while his friend is locked up and still he wants to hear his problems.
"Spill it!"
Rick let out a chuckle.
"A few days ago this woman came to the clinic and when I got there Rosita told me that she have been sitting in the waiting area for three hours. So when I approached her she just ran Abe! Straight out of the building! I was so shocked! I've never seen anything like it."
Abe sat up straight to get a better feel of the story.
"What did you do Rick? Did you follow her?"
"Not really but I should have! I should have followed her until I caught up with her." Rick semi yelled at Abe.
The prison guard in the room glared at Rick and he gestured an apology with his hands. Abe saw the look on Rick face and he knew that there was more.
"Go on." Abe encouraged.
"When I went back to where she was sitting, there was an application form and it was soaked through."
"What do you mean soaked through?"
Rick facial expression told him all.
"Oh….tears. She was crying." Abe said softly.
"Yes Abe. And to make matters worse Carol told me of a similar experience with a case she had some years ago."
"And?"
Rick swallowed hard.
"The woman killed herself."
"Well you know what you have to do Rick. Find her."
"How? We don't use surveillance tapes on the floor we are on because I want to maintain confidentiality. We don't actually know who she is. All we could do is hope and pray that she comes back before she's too overwhelmed and ends it all."
"All that doesn't matter Rick. You have to find her. We both know from experience what unchecked and unbridled grief can do. Don't let Carol's experience become yours. Find…her."
Rick knew Abe was right. They do know from experience what grief is and what it does. Suddenly there was loud blaring of alarms in the prison and dozens of guards were seen rushing down the corridor. Five came into the visiting room and began ushering all visitors out.
"Visitation is over!" one of them barked.
"What's going on?" one prisoner asked.
"You all are going back to your cells…NOW!"
The sound of men shouting expletives and things being thrown around can be heard elsewhere in the building.
"Is that a riot?"
"Yeah...mostly likely in the lunch room."
"You!" a guard barked at Rick. "You need to leave!"
Rick was already being shoved halfway out the door. He gave Abe a simple wave and followed the other visitors out the prison to safety.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As Rick drove down the highway, he tried to compare the different timelines in his life. The life he had when Carl was alive and well…the life he had when Carl died and the life he now has as he has coped with his death. He still thinks about Carl everyday especially when he sees a boy who is the age that Carl would have been if he was alive today. A small tear escaped his eyes as the raw pain of five years ago came whooshing back.
Five years ago…..
"Jesus Christ! Where is this woman?" Abe exclaimed to Rick's amusement. "Sasha!"
"I'm coming!" Sasha screamed from the top bedroom window.
A minute later, Abe's and Sasha's 8 year old son Dylan came running out of the house and straight towards the car where Simone was waiting in the driver's seat. Rick's 8 year old son Carl and Simone's 7 year old sister Ellie was also in the car with her.
Simone was 18 years old and the full time nanny for the Fords and the Grimes family. Since today is Saturday, it means that it was tennis lessons for the children in the morning after which Simone takes them to her soap making class which she takes in the evening. The children are always excited for Saturdays.
"Hey Carl! Hey Ellie!" Dylan said as he climbed into the car.
"Hey Dylan!" they answered in unison. Sasha came walking down the footpath towards them.
"You know your son is a handful! You should be helping me! Why were you rushing me?"
"Because you are late. You're always late!"
Sasha rolled and cut her eyes at her husband, ignoring his comment. She walked up to the car.
"Hi Simone!"
"Hi Mrs Ford."
"Can we go now?" Dylan asked impatiently.
Sasha gave him the eye and Carl and Ellie giggled at him.
"I want you guys to behave yourselves and don't give Simone any grief. Ok?"
All three children nodded their heads. Sasha knows that they are well behaved children and Simone have been with them since she was 15 years old. They practically see her as their big sister. When Simone turned eighteen, she offered to continue to babysit for both families and they were happy to accept.
Of course she asked for a raise in her pay which they willing agreed to…no questions asked. She was a God sent for the children and they trusted her with them. After the children hugged and kissed their parents, Sasha, Abe and Rick watched as Simone drove off down the street to the days planned activities.
"Gotta run babe!" Abe said as he smacked Sasha's butt and pulled her in for a kiss.
Rick just shook his head and began walking to Abe's car. Embarrassed by what Abe just did in front of Rick, she turned her lips away from Abe's. Not one to be deterred, Abe buried his face into Sasha's neck causing her to giggle like a teenager because his beard was tickling her.
"Stop!" Sasha squealed.
He gave her butt a little pinch.
"Just a taste of what you're gonna be getting tonight."
They started to kiss deeply as Rick looked on. Rick was jealous of his friend but in a good way. Abe was fortunate to find a woman who loves him, supports him, encourages him as well as call him out on his bullsh*t when she has to. All he has ever gotten from Lori from the moment they began dating till the day they got divorced three years ago was criticism and condemnation on everything. She still criticize and condemn him on his parenting of Carl even now.
He could never say the right things or do the right things and she always compared him to her other friends' husbands. There was one particular night the argument got so bad that he told her that if she was so unhappy, she should find someone else. That's exactly what she did. She had an affair with a co-worker.
She carried on the affair for months and if it wasn't for Sasha, who saw her publicly holding hands with the man and after telling Abe, insisted on Abe telling him. He will admit that when Abe first told him, he didn't believe him. He always knew Abe didn't like Lori and had told him point blank to him face same.
It caused a rift between him and Abe...albeit a temporary one. Rick loved Lori unconditionally and refused to believe that she would do such a thing to him and to their marriage. However when Abe told him that it was Sasha who saw her and told him, he immediately apologized to Abe and confronted Lori.
Lori willingly admitted to the affair and Rick was stunned when Lori blamed him directly for her behaviour. Her direct words were:
'You told me if I wasn't happy I should find someone else and I did."
Whatever love, forgiveness or empathy he had or wanted to give to Lori dried up that day. He didn't hate her but if he saw her walking towards a cliff he wouldn't have stopped her. He just stopped caring. His hate for Lori came much much later when she blamed him for their son's death. When Abe finally managed to pry himself from his wife they got into the car and left for the self-defense classes that they teach at the local YMCA.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Rick was in the middle of demonstrating a tactical move when he glanced over at his phone briefly for the second time it rang. He nodded at Abe who answered it. It was when Abe roared into the phone that Rick immediately stopped what he was doing. He stared at Abe and saw him turned white as a sheet. A knot formed in his stomach.
"What is it Abe?!"
He saw Abe was gasping to breathe…struggling to form the words… to talk.
"Abe!"
"There…there…there was an accident!" He finally croaked.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When Abe and Rick reached at the Savona intersection there was already a massive crowd of people being held back by almost about a dozen officers. They jumped out of the vehicle and pushed their way through the crowd. There were three emergency ambulances there as well.
The first thing Rick saw was the tiny feet of a child's body sticking out from under a white sheet on the ground. Rick's knees buckled under him and he began crawling towards the crash but was stopped by another officer.
"You can't go in there sir!" the officer said blocking him.
The next thing Rick saw was Abe pushing pass him in a rage and slugged the officer. Rick shot to his feet and they both ran over. There they saw Rick's mangled car which he had lent Simone to take the kids to tennis practice.
Both men started screaming as other officers who also just arrived on the scene tackled them to the ground. They saw blood was slowly pooling on the ground around the wreckage.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Michonne have been lying down in bed for the past three days. She hasn't eaten since then; she didn't answer any of the dozen phone calls, listened to the voice messages or read any text for the past three days. The conversation she overheard between Officer Walsh and the others wounded her deeply.
They had given up on her daughter…on her. They thought she was hopeless and not worth their time and energy. Tears began swelling in her eyes as she curled herself up in a balled position. She pushed her face into her pillow to stifle her screams and to drown out the growls of her stomach.
She's not going to give up like they have. Cayla is her daughter and in her heart she still believes that she is alive. She has to. It's the only thing she has left. She reached over to her purse on the floor and took out a crumpled flyer. Creasing it out, she read it slowly.
Child Victims Of Crime
Support Group
#16 Busby Street,
Newtown
Tel: 555-0931
Michonne closed her eyes and counted to ten. Then willfully and forcefully she threw her legs over the side of the bed and pushed herself to sit up. She looked at the flyer again and kissed it. This was the only chance she has. It was her last chance...her last hope ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The loud blaring of a horn cut through Rick's private thoughts causing him to swerve off the road and stopped abruptly unto the shoulder of the road. A large lorry truck sped passed him. He closed his eyes to clear his mind and steady his thoughts.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Michonne looked at the building that housed the CVOC support group. The building looked intimidating and she was starting to get cold feet. Going to this group means exposing herself…her pain infront of total strangers and she doesn't know if she is ready for that.
She watched for several minutes as persons come and go in and out trying to figure out which ones came from the CVOC or from other companies that were located inside there. Before she completely lost her nerve, Michonne briskly walked across the street and marched into the building.
After passing through the security scanners in the lobby she walked up the flight of stairs and straight up to the receptionist desk. The young woman, who was there, back was turned towards her as she packed some files in the shelf behind her.
"Can I have an application form please?" Michonne asked as confidently and calmly as possible.
"Just one minute please." The woman responded politely while continuing to do what she was doing.
Michonne looked around as she shifted uncomfortably on her feet. The urge to bolt again was building up inside of her. She was also scared of seeing the man who almost chased after her the first time she came here. He frightened her. Looking back at the young lady still packing her shelf Michonne tapped her fingers on the edge of the reception counter...waiting patiently.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Rosita heard the drumming of the fingers behind her and turned around to see who it was. She instantly froze on seeing that face again but she quickly composed herself. She picked up a form and walking around her work station Rosita handed it to the woman. She ushered the woman inside of the CVOC hall immediately instead of the reception area.
"Please have a seat in here. Someone will be there with you shortly."
"Aren't I suppose to wait in the reception area first?"
"Generally yes but not today. You need to sit in the CVOC hall."
"Ok." Michonne said reluctantly as she allowed Rosita to guide her to the hall.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Still parked at the side of the road Rick glanced at his phone and picked it up on the first ring when he recognized it as one of CVOC numbers. Before he could even speak the voice spoke hurriedly.
"Rick! She's here! The woman is here! She's back! Where are you?!"
"On my way!" Rick said and he slammed his foot on the gas pedal and sped off the shoulder and bolted down the highway. "Call Carol and Karen now!"
"Ok."
"And Rosita…whatever you do…don't let her leave."
"Trust me Rick. I wouldn't let that happen again."~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~