Chapter Forty-One
Outside the house, Charlie, Joey, Ruby and Xavier stared at the side of Charlie's little, blue car. In yellow spray paint, the word 'dyke' had been scrawled across it. Charlie swallowed, horrified. Joey's attention had gone on studying her girlfriend's face. It felt like the world was spinning around her. The night before had been magical. Charlie had told her over and over again just how 'worth it' Joey was and how it didn't matter what they went through. Judging by the look on Charlie's face, Joey thought she would find herself single and possibly homeless soon. There was no way that Charlie would be able to bear it. She had been forced out of the closet unwillingly and Joey had no doubt in her mind that Brett was responsible for that. She didn't know what to feel first – heartbreak or fury.
"I've um... I've got to get to work. I'll call Watson and ask her to pick me up."
She hurried back into the house. Ruby and Xavier exchanged glances. Joey sat down on the grass, staring at the car again, feeling alone and fighting tears. Awkwardly, Ruby and Xavier excused themselves and headed to school. Ruby couldn't help but internally panic over what was going to be said at school that day. Many students would have passed the house and the car and seen what was written on it.
***
Inside the house, Charlie only realised that she was holding her breath when Watson answered the phone. One short conversation later, they had arranged for Watson to swing by and collect her instead of Charlie having to drive to work in her graffitied car. Picking up her bag, she headed out of the house again to wait for her colleague to arrive. Her heart sank at the sight. Suddenly the car didn't look so terrible, not compared to the beautiful but broken woman sitting on the floor beside it with her face resting on her knees. Charlie hurried over and sat beside her on the ground. Joey didn't even look up. Charlie slipped her arm around her and begged her to lift her head. When she did, she saw that she was crying. Charlie held Joey tighter and kissed the top of her head.
"Is this goodbye?" Joey asked.
"Only until I get home from work," Charlie replied.
Joey gazed at her, unsure of whether she was being honest or not. Her eyes said that she was but it was hard to believe that Charlie, the woman who had struggled so much to come to terms with loving Joey, was willing to stay with her through homophobic abuse.
"You're not leaving me?" she asked, her voice full of wonder.
"Of course I'm not," Charlie said kindly.
"I just thought..."
"Joey, I won't lie and say that I'm not stressed out by this," Charlie explained, gesturing towards the graffiti. "But it doesn't mean that I'm going to walk out on you. I couldn't do that."
Joey managed to smile.
"When I tell you that I love you, I mean it. When I make love you to with my body, I'm doing it with my soul as well," Charlie told her. "This is hard. It's harder than I think either of us expected it to be. But we'll get through it. Together."
Relief flooded Joey. Charlie's words had reassured her almost completely.
"Hey, come here," Charlie said softly.
She leant in closer and captured Joey's lips with her own. Their mouths met in tenderness, comfort, love and reassurance. Neither noticed Watson pulling up in the car until it was too late, although Charlie knew that she couldn't hide the truth anyway now that the car had been damaged.
"I've got to go but I'll call you when I can and when I get home tonight, we can have a proper talk," Charlie said, getting to her feet.
Joey got up with her and wiped her eyes. Charlie nodded at Watson, letting her know she was on her way. She said goodbye to Joey, squeezing her hands and starting to walk away. Joey gazed after her. Looking back over her shoulder, Charlie saw her stare and quickly hurried back. She kissed her one more time and then climbed in the car with Watson.
"Eventful morning?" her colleague teased.
"Something like that," Charlie replied.
She waved at Joey through the window as they pulled away.
***
Once Charlie had left, Joey set about getting a bucket and a sponge. She wanted the car to be clean by the time Charlie got home. Changing quickly into shorts and t-shirt instead of pyjamas, she sat on the floor at the side of the car and then began to scrub. She looked up nervously when she noticed a shadow fall over her.
"Brett!" she snapped, immediately angry. "Why the hell are you here?"
"I'm not leaving until you come home."
"I'm already home."
He smirked at the car.
"You did this, didn't you?" Joey accused, getting to her feet and squeezing the life out of the sponge.
"Yes, I did! The world should know what a dirty dyke she is!"
"She's not!" Joey protested. "Why can't you just leave her alone?"
"Because she's leading you astray!"
"If anyone led anyone astray, it was me, if you must know. Like I told you when all the Robbo stuff kicked off, I was gay before I met Charlie."
"You can't have been."
"Name a boyfriend I've ever had," she challenged.
He opened his mouth to speak but recalled none.
"Exactly."
"You've never acted on these feelings until now," he tried.
She laughed.
"What world have you been living in?" she asked. "I started dating girls when I was a teenager! The only reason you don't know about it is because I didn't want you to. And even then, you could have found me out at any moment if you'd wanted to."
"You've been with other girls?" he asked.
"Yes, would you like to know how many?" Joey said.
The sponge was slowly dying in her fist.
"No. I know the answer. None! You were innocent until this woman got into your head and changed you."
Joey growled in exasperation.
"For goodness sake!" she yelled. "Charlie doesn't even identify as gay, Brett. I'm her first and only girlfriend. She's not this predatory lesbian you're accusing her of being."
"Yes, she is," Brett said quietly before storming away.
Furious, Joey hurled the sponge at him. Whirling around, he lunged back at her, gripping her by the arms.
"You are going to be sorry that you ever did this, Joey. I'm going to make you come home where you belong."
She shoved her hard, letting her fall to the ground. She watched him storm away.
***
"So, you and Joey?" Watson asked. "Really?"
Watson hadn't left Charlie's office since they'd got to work, desperate to interrogate her about her new and not so secret relationship.
"I mean... you like guys!"
"I know. Or I used to know. I don't know what I am. I don't have a label to put on myself, although others obviously do. All I know is that Joey and I are in love."
"How? I mean, when?"
"We got together a few weeks ago."
"I knew you were attached to her but I thought you were just taking care of her because of what happened."
"I was. Originally. But then we became best friends and then... then we fell in love."
She couldn't help but smile as she thought about her life with Joey. Watson stopped pacing and sat down in a chair.
"I'm happy for you," she said sincerely.
They both hurried to the door when they heard shouting in reception. Charlie's heart sank when she saw Brett standing out there, arguing with their colleague. She glanced at Watson who led the way out.
"What's going on here?" Watson asked.
Their colleague looked startled and helpless.
"I'm here to make a complaint," Brett declared. "About her."
Charlie blanched as he pointed directly at her.
"She's sexually abusing my little sister."
***
Joey stepped back, pleased with herself when she looked at the car. There was now no evidence at all that Charlie's car had ever been defaced. Pleased with herself, she headed back into the house to get changed. The phone was ringing when she got in.
"Hello?" she said into the receiver.
"Hi, Joey, it's Watson."
"Is Charlie okay?" Joey asked hurriedly, immediately beginning to fret.
"We need you to come in for an interview," Watson said, frustrated that she couldn't say any more than that.
"Why?"
"We'll explain when you get here."
"Alright, but is Charlie okay?"
Watson lowered her voice.
"She will be when we sort this out," she said.
"She's not hurt or anything though?"
"No, she's perfectly healthy. If you could just get down here as soon as you can."
"I'm on my way," Joey told her, deciding to forfeit getting showered.
It sounded too important to fuss around at home.
***
Charlie sat in the interview room on the wrong side of the table while her colleagues, Watson and Constable David Lurch interrogated her. Everyone felt awkward.
"When did your relationship with Joey Collins start?" Watson asked.
"Three weeks ago," Charlie said.
"And she was in your care at the time after being raped by Robert Cruze?"
"She was living with me but our living situation had long since been about the fact that she was my friend, not that she was a victim of violence," Charlie explained.
"How did your relationship begin?"
Charlie sighed. She didn't want to air her laundry in an interview room.
"We'd been spending a lot of time together and we were getting on well. The first time it became more than that was on a day trip on a boat. We kissed. We then left it a while after that and stayed as close friends because I couldn't cope with the idea of being with a girl."
"You couldn't cope? What about Joey?"
"She wanted to pursue things but she accepted that I didn't. She was already comfortable with her sexuality."
"And her sexuality is?"
"She's gay."
"And you are?"
"I'm undecided. I've never considered women before. It was just that I fell in love with her."
"So, what happened three weeks ago to change your mind?" Watson probed.
"I gave in because I'd fallen so deeply for her," Charlie said. "It felt like the natural thing to do."
"And your relationship became sexual then?"
She watched Charlie grit her teeth. Neither of them wanted this conversation.
"Our relationship only became sexual a couple of days ago. Prior to that it had been about hugs and kisses."
"Why was that?"
"We didn't want to rush into anything. It was all new to me and she was still healing. We both needed to be in a place were we felt safe and comfortable.
"Do you feel that at any point you pressured Joey for sex?"
"No!" Charlie said desperately. "It wasn't like that. We've only ever been respectful and caring towards each other."
"And were you interested in anything romantic with her when you first met her?"
"I wanted to protect her," Charlie told them. "I wanted to help her. She was so broken and she needed care, nothing more than that. I went into shock when I realised a few weeks ago that I had feelings for her. I didn't want to have them."
***
"Could you describe the nature of your relationship with Constable Buckton?" Watson asked.
Joey blanched.
"With Charlie?" she asked, swallowing. "Well, um... we're... We're girlfriends."
Watson nodded.
"And how long has this been the case?"
"A few weeks," Joey said, terrified that she was giving the wrong answers.
"How did it happen? From the start... how did you meet, how did you come to live with her and how did you end up in a relationship? In your own words."
Joey sighed and considered what to say.
"Charlie rescued me after I was attacked by Robbo. She found me in a terrible state and she helped me to admit what happened. She supported me while I pressed charges and got checked out at the hospital. Then, when I got thrown out of my house by my brother, she took me in."
"Why did you get thrown out of home?"
"Because I told him that I was gay."
"Was this before or after you and Charlie started dating?"
"Before. Way before. It wasn't even on the cards then. To be honest, I was surprised it was ever on the cards."
"And why's that?"
"Because Charlie has never been into girls before. She's always identified as heterosexual so it really spun her out when she realised she had feelings for me."
"But you did identify as gay?"
"Yes. I've known since I was twelve. What's all this about?"
"Did you at any time feel pressured or coerced to be romantic or sexual with Charlie?"
"What? No! No, of course not. She didn't even want to be with me. She was afraid of admitting her feelings."
"And you've been dating for a few weeks. When did you become sexual with each other?"
Joey blushed crimson.
"This weekend," she said. "We went away for a couple of days and it felt like the right time."
Watson nodded.
"Look, can you please tell me what's going on?" Joey asked. "I don't understand why you're asking me these things. And why can't I see Charlie?"
"Your brother has put in a complaint against her," Watson explained.
Joey's eyes widened in alarm.
"What complaint? Why?"
"He's claiming that Charlie used her position to seduce you. He's claiming sexual abuse."
"What?" Joey exclaimed, her voice painfully shrill. "It wasn't like that at all. We just... we fell in love. It was mutual. If anything it was me who made the moves because she didn't want to be with me but I fell desperately in love with her. She hasn't done anything wrong."
"We need to go through the evidence and make our decision about whether to accept the complaint or not and then what will happen to Charlie."
Joey's heart was breaking.
"What might happen to Charlie?"
"I'm not at liberty to discuss that. But while this is being investigated, you won't be allowed to see each other."
Joey grew tearful. She shook her head.
"No, no, I have to see her. I need her. She needs me. We haven't done anything wrong. Charlie hasn't done one thing wrong. She's been nothing but kind, respectful and gentle with me. She never pressured me or forced me to do anything. She's not like that. She's not like people who... like Robbo. She's beautiful and wonderful and you need to just forget this whole thing right now. I'll bring Brett back here if you want. I can make him understand everything if you just give me a chance."
"I'm afraid it's too late for that," Watson said kindly, feeling terribly sorry both for the broken woman in front of her and for the colleague that she knew and trusted.
Joey tears flowed continuously.
"When... when will you fix this?" she asked.
"As soon as possible. Hopefully by tomorrow."
"Tomorrow? That's forever! And we live together. Where am I meant to sleep tonight?"
"I'd suggest that you check into the caravan park or stay with a friend or something."
Watson switched off the tape recorder and put her pen down, ignoring the look that her colleague gave her.
"Joey, we know Charlie hasn't abused you in any way. We'll get it cleared up immediately, okay? I'm so sorry that you're both having to go through this."
"I hate my brother," Joey said.
Watson nodded.
"We'll fix it as soon as we can."
"Thank you."
