Just a little Fruity
These good fellows don't belong to me but I promise when I'd done to pick um up, dust um off and with a kiss on the cheek return them safely home.
"No man chooses evil because it is evil; he only mistakes it for happiness, the good he seeks." Mohandas K. Gandhi.
This one is short but since we all love Karen so much I thought you would want to hear from her today ; )
Chapter 7
Roy and Kanda just looked at each other trying to figure out what the next move was. Johnny had left with Karen; someone who they now knew could not be trusted. Worst of all they knew his headache was back again. Roy looked over to the scoreboard and surmised that the game was almost over. The good thing about kid baseball, the games didn't last for hours.
"Take the kids with you to the ranch. I'll go and check on Johnny then let you know what's going on."
Kanda was at a loss for words but trusted his judgment. She was scared for her little brother at this point not knowing what games Karen was playing. As Roy headed to the parking lot Kanda gathered up their belongings and sat with Jenny while the game finished up. The waiting and not knowing was going to kill her.
Roy pulled out of the parking lot and headed to Johnny's apartment. It was a few miles away but weekend traffic was light and he made good time. Looking around the lot he didn't see Johnny's Rover anywhere but not convinced he wasn't home he parked and went up the stairs. He knocked on the door but as expected there wasn't an answer. Pulling out his spare key he entered the darkened living room and went on a room to room search for his friend. Johnny wasn't there but Maxie twirled around his ankles in full purr mode. Absently he reached down and picked up the little furr ball and placed him on the couch. Closing the door behind him he made sure it was locked and paused in the hallway. Looking at the other doors he knew there wasn't much else he could do. He had no idea where Karen lived.
Deciding on one last possibility for help he moved downstairs and over a couple of buildings to the landlady's apartment. Knocking he was disheartened to find no answer there either. Now the only thing he could do now was go home and make a couple of phone calls.
The game ended and Chris's team won so he was excited and full of energy as he ran over to her. He was trying to share every detail with her but her mind was distracted and she was just glad to be done and that they could head home. She was anxious to be near a phone as soon as possible. She quickly explained that they would be coming home with her and since they loved her and her farm there was no protesting at all.
First thing Roy did when he got home was to call Johnny. Getting no answer he next called Rampart ER to make sure they weren't there, which they weren't. Then he sat on the couch and waited impatiently for the next hour to pass. Every hour he tried to reach Johnny, to no avail. He did call Kanda and kept her posted on what was happening, or lack thereof and they tried to reassure each other that he was fine. However, both could loudly hear the hidden worry and concern that was not spoken.
It was dark now and Roy was running out of options. He couldn't call the police; Johnny was with a girlfriend, not a legitimate missing person. No matter how much he disliked her. The kids didn't have school the next day so Kanda told Roy to stay put where he was closer to Johnny and she would keep the kids for the night. He managed to distract himself enough to fix some dinner and get a shower but that only lasted a short time. By midnight he was ready to go looking again. He picked up his keys and headed to the door to make a sweep of the apartments again when he decided to try one more phone call.
"Hello," said the groggy, thick voice.
"Johnny?" It didn't even sound like him.
"Yea, what's wrong?" Johnny asked.
"You disappeared today from the ballpark. Kanda's been worried. Are you okay?"
Johnny smiled to himself; sure Kanda's the worried one. "I'm fine. We had dinner at her place then I came home and crashed. Guess I didn't hear the phone ring."
Roy paused, "Did your headache go away?"
"Yea, took some aspirin. I'm fine Roy. Man we gotta work tomorrow, go to bed."
"Okay partner. I'm home if you need anything."
"Kay, bye." Johnny waited for his good bye then hung up the phone. Within a minute he was asleep again.
Kanda stood outside the door. She had already paced at home for hours before coming to the decision that she had to face Karen and find out what game she was playing with two of the most important people in her life. A quick stop by the landlady's apartment had told her where she would find this woman.
She knocked.
Karen opened the door and the quick casual smile changed to one that sent a chill through Kanda's body. You would have been blind to have missed the change in her attitude. "What are you doing here Kanda? Johnny's at work today."
"I know. Do you mind if we sit and talk for a while?" Kanda tried to sound casual.
Karen brought a little smile to the corner of her mouth and gestured her inside. The apartment was nicely furnished with a southwestern flair that brought a lot of orange, red and browns into the decorations and furnishings. Kanda followed her into the living room and sat down as she gestured to the couch.
"I'm kinda glad you stopped by," Karen said.
"Why is that?" Kanda asked, curious.
"I'm a little worried about Johnny. He's been saying some odd things."
Kanda didn't know what to believe of course. She only thought at least she knew Johnny better than Karen realized. "Well I'd love to hear about some of them," she said.
"Well he doesn't even realize he's saying it. I hear him talking during his nightmares."
Kanda internally froze. Johnny had told her about some of those nightmares of when she left him alone. They had been her nightmares too. Unfortunately Karen saw the reaction and she leaned forward on her seat to focus on the woman in front of her. "He wakes me up with his screams."
She saw the reaction and smiled deep down inside. "He crawls under his bed to hide but his father knows where he is. He hears his footsteps coming closer and he starts to cry. I hear him calling out your name in a whisper as he tries to be still so the man won't find him." Karen paused as a shudder went through the other woman's body. "He calls over and over for you but it's when he realizes that you aren't coming that he begins to shake. He whimpers like the little boy he remembers being."
Tears begin to run down her cheeks as her body shook. Oh God Johnny what did I do to you?
Karen saw the effect and pressed on. "I have to listen to his cries for help for someone who abandoned him. His cries when his drunken father drags him out from under that little bed."
Kanda began to silently cry, why was she doing this to her?
"Do you know what he did to your little brother after you left?" Karen's voice was soft and almost musical.
Kanda couldn't speak she felt like the walls were closing in on her now. The nice wallpaper was changing to wood panels. The wood from their house was forming around her as her peripheral vision darkened. She could see Johnny's little metal bed with the bedspread hanging low so he could hide behind it. So many times she had distracted their father so Johnny could escape his anger.
She tried to focus on the voice talking to her, only able to shake her head ever so slightly.
Karen's voice got softer, "After he drug him out by his hair he tied him to the stair railing and beat him. For every time that he said your name he restarted the count. All he could do was cry for you, for the sister that left him to the mercy of that drunken angry man."
"He never told me," Kanda whispered.
"He didn't want to tell you everything instead he held it inside. To be tormented in his sleep night after night."
Kanda stood, "Stop it, just stop it." She said through her sobs.
Karen moved in for the kill. "His dreams had all but gone away …until you came back. Now every time he see's you he screams in his nightmares."
She caught her breath. No.
Without another word she ran to the door and out of it. She climbed in her car and just sobbed trying to figure out what she was going to do. She needed to see Roy. He would listen to her. He would make everything all right again. But he was at work and all she could do was go home, alone.