Chapter 126
Sunday, July 25, 2004
1230 EST
Boone home
McLean, Virginia
That morning when Krystal had gotten up to go to the bathroom, Tom had quickly stripped the bed and hid the bloodstained sheet until he could get it in the wash. Tom and Krystal arrived at AJ's house right on time Sunday. The two newlywed couples had decided to have lunch together and discuss the wedding and the plans for the coming week. Everyone was nervous about the girl's visit to Krista's doctor the next day.
Leaving their brides in the kitchen to work on lunch preparations, AJ and Tom went out onto the back patio to grill steaks for everyone but Krista. When they were alone and out of earshot from the twins, Tom said, "You know, I didn't expect any of us to get much sleep last night, but after that call from Krista, it took some time to settle back down. Did the two of you recover enough to have a good wedding night?"
"Yeah, but I found out why Krista is afraid of men in uniforms, Mess Dress especially," AJ told his friend keeping his eyes on the steaks he was arranging on the grill.
"Well, we guessed it had to do with their father abusing them. What happened?"
"I came into a dark room and put my arms around her."
"And?"
"She freaked, Tom! She thought I was her father!" AJ heard Tom curse, but was so focused on what he was telling him that he didn't think anymore of it. "Krista pushed me away and begged me not to hurt her. When I tried to calm her by offering to call Krystal, she begged me to do whatever I wanted to her as long as I left Krys alone!"
"Krystal told me she took beatings for Krista too. That man was sick, playing them against each other like that!"
"Sicker than you can imagine, Tom. Beatings were not the only thing that Krista was protecting Krystal from!"
"Oh, god! Not her too! Krystal thought that she was keeping Krista safe from the sexual abuse!"
"How can that be, Tom? Krystal herself told me she was a virgin."
"She was until last night, I can assure you of that! He made her…them I guess…give him oral sex."
AJ looked at his friend and Tom saw sadness and defeat there, as well as a rage he could do nothing about. "Tom, that bastard raped Krista when she was thirteen."
Tom's knees gave out as he heard this and he sank into a patio chair. "Oh god, AJ, I'm sorry! I had no idea and I'm sure that Krystal doesn't know either."
"And you say that he forced Krystal to perform orally? I know Krista doesn't know about that."
"No, and she never wanted her to, she thought she was protecting her from her father. The night before the wedding I was trying to convince Krystal that…well never mind I took her into my bed and loved her while leaving her a virgin. She wanted to do the same for me, and was doing a damn fine job until I called her 'baby'. AJ, she jumped out of bed and the terror in her eyes made me sick. When I mentioned calling Krista to calm her down, she came back to me
and 'told daddy she would do anything he wanted if he wouldn't hurt, Kris.' The man was a bastard and I wish he were alive so I could kill him."
"We need to get the girls to talk about these things to each other. It is only hurting both of them to keep them all bottled up like this!" AJ told his friend.
"Do you think they will? They have kept the secret for so long."
"They have to talk to someone and I think the first step is each other. Believe me I think it'll hurt like
hell, but what are we going to do sweep it all under a rug and pretend it didn't happen?" AJ's tormented eyes stared at Tom's. "They need professional help Tom, but first they need to come face to face with this together."
"I agree, and they have talked about going to a counselor. I think that is a great step. Now do we dive into this before or after we eat? I doubt there will be much eating once this gets started and Krista needs to keep her strength up."
To be continued…