The Unexpected Gift

“BE THERE IN 5 MINUTES”...Tammy hit the SEND button and tossed the cell phone.  It made a thud as it bounced off of the passenger seat.  She hated the feeling of things in her pockets and never used a purse.

Cruising the highway during a mild September afternoon, she felt reborn.  She turned the volume knob and let her spirit be absorbed by the increase of decibels.

The air was fresh.  There would be no more reliving that nightmare.

#

Age 9

Tammy always was a light sleeper.  Many nights her mother felt her climbing into bed to remain until morning.

A light draft grazed over her creamy-skinned face that only the youth possess.  She sat up and rubbed her eyes into a blurred focus.  She looked over at her younger sister, Sarah; the child that could sleep through an earthquake.

Like an automaton, she swung her legs to the floor to start the groggy hallway march from the girls’ back bedroom to their mother’s.

She felt the unfamiliar draft again and decided it must be coming from the kitchen, just beyond Mama’s bedroom. 

Approaching the room, her senses heightened.  As she called out, “Mama,” she was yanked through the entrance, immediately losing any remnants of slumber.

A masked man, dressed in black, held her around the waist with his left arm.  The other held a hunting knife to her throat.

A streak of light clawed its way into the room through a crack in the blinds.  It illuminated a tattoo marked on the intruder where the back of the hand meets the wrist.

Amidst the chaos, the observant child was able to focus on the beam of light.  Thanks to a gap in the cuff of his leather glove, she made a visual of the tattoo—a dagger using the blade as a banner for the name, “BROOKS”.

Tammy’s wide eyes transferred to her mother, who was pleading a bargain on behalf of her daughters. 

A swift shove to the child’s back gave as assent.

Upon receiving desperate instructions, she ran to take guard of her sister.

Standing in the darkness, Tammy was filled with hatred, not terror...a hatred that would never go away.   

Sarah slept soundly through the whole ordeal.   

#

The beat-up sedan rattled into the first rest-stop seen in ages.  Tammy parked in front of some vending machines outside the restrooms.  The deceptive fuel inside them enticed her, but she passed.

She checked her phone; there was no return text.  Then, about ten yards away, a motorcycle halted.  Its booming muffler announced a tall, natural blonde beauty as she awkwardly hopped off of the back.  With an unceremonious goodbye, the bike accelerated and was gone.

Tammy couldn’t help but smile as her long-legged sister walked over like an uncoordinated fawn.

“You still have this pile of junk?”  Sarah’s long, slender limbs made their way fully into the vehicle.  Her voice still held onto its teenage angst.

“Buy me a new one.  Who was that guy?” Tammy asked.

“Just someone,” Sarah replied in a guarded manner.

“All right,” Tammy said, plainly.  There was no judgement.  The Druery woman never made good choices when it came to romance.  The two different featured, young ladies were actually half-sisters, neither knowing their father.