Everything Changes

Bedelia's Terrors

Poor Bedelia was having a terrible night.

Sleep had evading her lately, and not just because she had two very small children. What with her occasional nightmares about her attack and the events from that day, and going to therapy so she could start trying to get back to normal, as well as nannying, working on her GED, and wondering where her husband was, she was worn out and sleeping as often as she could, but it still never felt like enough.

On top of everything else, Maggie Blue's birthday was in less than twelve hours, and Bedelia was determined to throw her a birthday party. Even with their lives being as topsy-turvy as they were, Bedelia didn't want to skip her daughter's birthday because Maggie Blue deserved as much normalcy as possible.

Tonight, she'd put Leon to bed first, with Maggie Blue going down for the count a little while after him. With Maggie Blue, though, Bedelia laid with her on her bed, holding her and singing her to sleep. When the little girl was fast asleep, Bedelia removed her hearing aids and set them on the beside table before kissing her daughter on the forehead turning on her night light and exiting the bedroom for her own.

Bedelia was asleep the second her head hit the pillow.

She was awoken some time later by someone roughly shaking her awake.

To her horror, when she turned on the light, she was face-to-face with Odis Lee, and not that, but he was pointing a gun at her.

Bedelia tried not to scream. "What do you want? I don't have anything to give you!"

"I came back to talk to you about the family relocating!"

"No! We are not going back to Georgia—Maggie and Leon deserve better than Loganville!"

Odis Lee sneered at his wife. "Then we're going to up the ante since you love them so much: we're going to bring them to Junebug tonight, and then we are going to go back to Georgia, where we'll do things right, once and for all, and so I can keep an eye on you to discourage you from getting any ideas about running away again!"

"That's a terrible idea, and you need to go! Now!"

For emphasis, Bedelia spat in Odis Lee's face. After wiping away the spit, Odis Lee retaliated by clocking Bedelia on the temple with the butt of his gun.

"That will teach you! Now stay sti—"

"No!"

Bedelia lashed out and kicked her husband near his groin area.

Before Odis Lee could make another move, however, there was a sound that neither he nor Bedelia has been expecting—the sound of the bedroom door creaking further open as it was pushed by their youngest daughter. Maggie Blue had woken because she was thirsty, and she needed Bedelia's help getting water.

When she saw both of her parents, and how scared Bedelia was, she became terrified. Her first instinct was to go protect Leon, but since she couldn't hear anything, she looked to her mother for guidance.

Bedelia's heart sank when she realized what Maggie Blue was waiting for, and she turned back to her spouse.

"She can't hear us because she doesn't have her hearing aids in; don't touch her or Leon! Please!"

Odis Lee hit Bedelia with his gun again and said in her ear, "I don't want the boy, but the girl is mine, too, so I will do what I want."

The last image Bedelia had before passing out on her bed was of Odis Lee scooping Maggie Blue up in his arms and leaving the room with her. Maggie Blue was too scared to cry out.