Entombed in His Desire

Chapter 20

(I do not own the images to these stories)
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Robert came home as he wondered how it could have happened. How did Mark and Karen get six girls to falsely accuse him of such heinous acts of abuse?  He had no idea who the six girls even were. Needless to say, after everything that had transpired, he had a splitting headache.  It was one of those migraines that was so bad; he wished he was dead. He was angry, as he considered ramming his fist through a wall. No! Save it for that bastard who's behind all of this!

Irritated, he went into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of aspirin from the cabinet.  As he grabbed a glass of water, and swallowed the pills, the phone rang. Robert sighed and ran his fingers through his hair as he headed towards the phone. The pain kept lingering as he could hear how awful he felt while he answered it. "Hello?"

"Robert? It's James!  What the hell is going on?" His brother asked.  "Everyone has been calling Esther and me for the past couple of hours.  They claim that you were fired for acting inappropriately towards some of the girls at the school. I just can't believe it."

Robert sighed; he knew that it would get out. He just didn't think it would happen so quickly. "I see good news travels fast."

"This isn't a joke, Robert." James snapped.

"Does it sound like I'm laughing?" Robert snapped back.

"What am I supposed to tell people?" James asked.

"Tell them the truth." Robert answered. "That these are all lies that are being told about me, and that I am completely innocent."

There was a long pause, as James remained silent. Every single second of silence began to build up even more tension. "You do believe I'm innocent, right James?"

"Well of course I know you're innocent." James replied. "But I have already been telling everyone that. It's just that they comeback with questions like, 'do you know for sure? Is it safe for my daughter to hang out with Amanda knowing that your brother might be around her?  Is Amanda safe around him?'"

"Either tell them you know me better than that or unplug your phone." Robert replied. "I really don't give a flying f--"

It was at that moment when Robert realized what the last question about Amanda really meant. "James? Are you afraid that I am going to act inappropriately towards Amanda?"

"No, of course not." James answered. "It's just that you aren't the only one who has had a rough time with this. Our phone has been ringing off the hook all day because of it. My daughter has been in the hospital for the past couple of weeks and—"

"I know she's been in the hospital for the past couple of weeks." Robert interjected. "I was taking turns with you and Ester, visiting with her and waiting for her to wake up. Remember?"

"Let me finish." James sighed. "Amanda is coming home tomorrow, and I don't want anything to upset her. I think it might be best if you stay away from us for a while, until everything eventually blows over."

"You can't be serious!" Robert exclaimed. "James! You, Ester, and Amanda are all that I have got!"

"I know." James replied. "And I am sorry, but Amanda has been through a lot the last couple of weeks. I think it's best that she doesn't know anything about any of this."

"Well I wasn't exactly in a hurry to tell her." Robert said.

"I realize that." James said. "But even if we don't tell her anything, and you are around, she is going to be able to tell that something is bothering you."