Sweet Magnolias Autumn

5:50 PM

Dana Sue 

'How am I going to tell Ronnie?' was the only thought running through my head as I packed my suitcase. Of the two of us, I was the more emotional one, except when it came to Annie. Most of the time, he was laid-back about Annie, what happened on Saturday, and the car accident, but when someone purposely set out to hurt her, as Cathy did at Annie's 16th birthday party, well, no one was safe from his fury—not even me. 

One time, when Annie was little, she had fallen asleep in the car on a lovely spring day, and I didn't want to move her, so I went about bringing the groceries in the house, unloading them and so on. I could see the car the whole time, and Serenity was safe, but when Ronnie came home furious that I had left her in the car, saying anyone could have stolen her. 

Ronnie is going to be full-on murderous when I tell this. Maybe I could tell him in parts, first that Annie was hurt, then that Jackson did it and finished it off with the kit. I couldn't stop the tears this time. My daughter...My sweet girl had to do an assault kit, and I wasn't there for her. I was hours away. What kind of mother was I? I should have made us go home after Jackson showed up the first time. 

"Darling, Dinner Ready," Ronnie said as he walked in the door. He turned and took me in as I stood in front of the dresser with tears in my eyes, my cheeks wet, and a frown on my lips. "What's wrong, darling?" Ronnie came up and wrapped his arms around me. Ronnie just held me and let me cry until I stopped; he walked me over to the bed and helped me sit on the bed before kneeling in front of me. 

"Talk to me, Darling," Ronnie pleads after I started to calm down. 

I search his eyes, looking for something I'm not sure what but after a moment, I see something that calms my nerves about telling him about dealing with this situation alone because this time I'm not alone, he will be here. So I hold out my hands for him, hoping that the contact will help in this situation. He grabs my hands and kisses the back of my left hand, right under my wedding ring. 

"Maddie and Helen called; Annie was with them. She barely spoke. Don't be upset, but she asked me not to get you," I told him. 

"What happened," he says through gritted teeth. 

"I need to listen until I'm done and not do anything crazy."I tell him when he doesn't respond in any way, I push "Promise." 

Ronnie slowly nods his head before I continue. 

"Jackson showed up again. Annie was walking back to Maddie's after school, but there was almost no one around; it was very empty, the school and the streets." I take a breath before continuing with the piece of the story I got from Maddie, Helen and Annie. "Jackson got out of his car and started walking towards Annie; she turned, fled, and ran back into the school. She called Ty, and he ran back to find her." I stop because I feel the tears coming again. Ronnie squeezes my hands to keep going. 

"Jackson found her first and held her against the wall so hard she had a buckle fracture in her wrist. Jackson was kissing her neck; Annie kneed him and ran. Thank god. Maddie and Helen took her to the doctor, and she had to do an assault kit." I finish and wait for Ronnie to say something and do something, and then slowly, his face morphs into one of rage and anger. 

"He. Assault. Her." He bites out, and I nod my head, "How?" he questions before I see the fear take over his face, his eyes almost bugging out of his head. "Did he, he Didn't?" Ronnie was too scared even to ask the questions. 

"No, Thank God No." I rush to tell him. "The doctor wanted to be on the safe side, so she did the kit in case we wanted to press charges or the Lewis try anything stupid." 

"He Didn't?" Ronnie asks, fixing in on the worst-case scenario, one I was terrified of happening after I heard about the baseball fundraiser. 

"He Didn't," I tell Ronnie with as much confidence as I can muster. "She is at Maddie's; she is safe now." 

I see it in his eyes as those words sink, as he registers everything I told him, and then a single tear falls from his eyes. I let go of his hands and hugged him tight because I didn't know what else there was to do other than to hold him like he had held me when he found me earlier. 

After a few moments or maybe more, I don't really know how much time has passed since we finally pulled apart, Ronnie glances around the room. 

"You pack, I'll clean, and we can probably be out of here in 45 minutes," Ronnie says before he tries to walk around me, but I grab his hand. 

"No," I tell him as I shake my head. "That's not the plan." 

"What do you mean?" he asks. 

"Maddie, Helen, and I talked. I think it best we leave early in the morning," I tell him. Annie is overwhelmed; she barely speaks on the phone call. By the time we make it home, she will likely be asleep. Why wake up after the day she had? Ms. Paula has Kyle and Katie for the night and will get them off to school in the morning. Maddie offered to stay home with Annie, and Helen offered to have Annie come over to her place tomorrow in case Jackson showed up again. Plus, she is going to see what she can do to protect Annie, get a restraining order, or whatever we need."

"But we should be there." He argues. 

"I know we should, but after the storm that came through today and the hour, do you really think it best to rush home? Let's wait until morning and then leave first thing when it will be safer to be on the road. Besides, Annie usually needs time to process, so we might freak her out even more if we rush home. She didn't even want to tell us and risk us coming home early from our trip." I tell him using some of the reasons Maddie and Helen gave me. Because right now, the two of us are running off emotion, and we need to be clear head when we see Annie, not add to her emotions. 

"I don't like this; I want to be with her," Ronnie says as he starts to pace. 

"I know, but we need to be clear and level-headed when we deal with this. If we run in there and  process, speak or voice all of our emotions, I think that will only make the situation worse." I tell him, and then he laughs. 

"What is so Funny Ronald Sullivan?" I asked, placing my hand on my hips. 

"Nothing baby, it just, not that long ago you would have run in there hot-headed and in a haze of anger; now you are thinking before acting it odd. That's all." He tells me, and I just roll my eyes at him. 

"Well, last time, I may have taken that approach, and it did not go well. So this time, I am being more careful because this is a lot worse than last time," I tell him truthfully. 

"Last time?" He asks. I guess I failed to mention the baseball fundraiser to him. 

Crap.