Ding Dong!! Is She Dead? (2 page)

Today, no exception: the high school band teacher and the English teacher had been caught doing it in the storage closet. Their punishment from the school administration was that they were to have a wedding in the near future, preferably before the band trip which was in three weeks. The band director could still chaperone the trip as long as he and the other teacher were married beforehand.

Allie used this opportunity to sell each of the three beauticians a bottle of the new perfume that they could wear to the upcoming ceremony. Hopefully the perfume would allow them to snag their own man after the wedding. She assured them that it would be delivered in time for the festivities.

Allie headed to Megan’s house, who had quickly become her best friend the few weeks they had known each other. Allie hadn’t made many friends since she moved to Texas. She and Megan hadn’t known each other very long, but she had come in to buy soccer shoes for her daughter’s first game. They had hit it off instantly. Allie was lucky to be able to deliver her friend’s order in time for them to eat lunch together. It was such a trial to take a lunch break at her “normal” friend’s house in a day filled with such unique individuals.

When Allie got to Megan’s house, she hopped out to grab her bag of goodies and locked her car. The habit was ingrained from her big- city ways. As she turned toward the house, she noticed the door hanging off the hinges and partially open.

Chapter 2

“What the hell is going on?” She muttered as she approached.

Allie called out, “Hello, Megan? Are you here?”

Torn between finding Megan and calling 911, Allie heard a whimper and pushed the door open to follow the sound. She stepped through the broken front door and into the living room, which was a mess. The coffee table was bashed in. The cushions were pulled off the couch; there were signs of a struggle.

Spotting blood on the carpet, Allie walked cautiously through the house hoping that whoever had done this was long gone. Continuing toward the sound, she discovered Megan in the bathroom. She was sitting on the floor, curled up next to the bathtub, holding a towel to her head over what looked like a nasty wound.

“Oh, Megan, what happened?” Allie leaned toward her friend, but Megan flinched, moaning as Allie put her hand on her arm.

“I’m here, Megan,” she said quietly. “No one can hurt you now. We will call the police and figure out how to keep you safe.”

Megan looked up at Allie and finally focused on who was there. Realizing who Allie was, Megan bursting into sobs; thankful that it wasn’t her attacker. Megan reached out and grabbed Allie’s hand.

“Mike got drunk last night. When he woke up this morning he was pissed and started chasing me. He threw me onto the coffee table and kept hitting me until I passed out. I guess he showered and left for work after that. I crawled in here and I don’t remember much after that.”

“Where would he go after something like this?” Allie was concerned that he might return before they could call the police.

“I think he showered, because the towel was wet when I got in here. He must have gone to work knowing that he didn’t want to get fired.” Megan answered.

“Oh, sweetie,” Allie sighed, feeling overwhelmed that anyone could do harm to someone and leave them in pain.

“We need to call the police and get you to the hospital. I’m pretty sure you will need stitches in your head, and you may have a concussion. There could be internal injuries from your ribs being broken.”

Megan reacted as Allie’s words sank in. “No, if Mike comes home and finds me gone then I’ll get a lot worse next time. It would look bad for his job image with his coworkers. We can’t call the police because Mike works for the county Sheriff’s office and they monitor all city calls as well in case they are needed for backup.”

Allie tilted Megan’s head and looked directly at her. “Megan, you have two choices. Leave now and make sure that you and Sally are safe, or stay here and next time I come to see you, you could be dead. Worse than that, he might hurt Sally.”

“While you think that you can take everything he dishes out, what happens when he starts taking it out on Sally because she spills her cup of juice? Plus, this will give her the idea that people can just bully you and beat up on you and nobody will care.”

“Megan, I care. I don’t want to lose you, but this is your decision. I will respect whatever you decide.”

Sensing Allie was concerned things were going to continue getting worse. Megan nodded. Just that small motion made her head start pounding horribly again. It increased from a quiet drum beat to a loud jackhammer and she started to feel nauseous. Realizing that she was much worse off than she had thought, Megan closed her eyes and spoke softly.

“Yes, we can leave now. I have suitcases in the front closet that are packed. This has been going on for years now, and I really thought this was the end for me. I have them ready, we just need to get my purse and add a few things from Sally’s room that she might miss.”

Allie went to the living room and took out her camera to video document the trashed room and the broken door. She followed the blood trail to the bathroom, taking in Megan’s crouched position on the floor. Then she took still shots of each room just in case the officers misplaced the evidence when they got involved. There was no guarantee they wouldn’t change things to go in Mike’s favor.

Pulling out the suitcases, she set them by the front door. Having been to Megan’s house several times, she knew there were some boxes on the back porch that she could use to pack things. Allie took as much as she could out of Sally and Megan’s closet, knowing first hand that it was not fun to replace your entire wardrobe.

It took four boxes to get all the clothes and shoes from both rooms. As she finished carrying them to the front door, she went back to check on Megan making sure that she was still conscious.

“What else do you want so that you don’t have to worry about coming back to this house or him destroying things that you really love?” Allie was trying to think of what she had needed when she left home.

“Um, did you get Sally’s baby doll and her blanket? Also, the photo albums in the living room and my computer on my bedside table would be great. I should really help you with all this.” Making a move to rise, Allie caught her and helped her back to the floor.

“Absolutely not, I have it under control! When I get it all in the car, I will come and get you so you don’t pass out on me. I can handle it. I’m not the one who has a bloody head and is about to pass out.”

Allie headed toward Megan’s room for the computer. Looking around she didn’t see anything else that she might need in there. Grabbing the photo albums and the address books from the desk, Allie remembered that Megan might need birth certificates and other important documents in the coming days. “Where do you keep Sally’s birth certificate and other stuff?”

Megan was caught off guard because she had not thought about needing things like that.

“They are in the filing cabinet; the first three files in the drawer should have all the stuff that we need.”

Breathing a sigh of relief that it was all together, she felt better knowing her friend had her taken care of for whatever she might need in the days ahead.

Allie packed the car and made a final sweep to see if there was anything else. Spotting the DVDs that Sally would miss, Allie grabbed some to keep Sally occupied in the next few days. She went back to the bathroom for Megan and she realized they had forgotten the bathroom toiletries. She grabbed a sheet from the cabinet and filled it with all of Megan’s stuff.

Placing all of that in the car, she left the front passenger side door open for Megan. Balancing Megan’s body weight, Allie practically carried her to the car, hoping she wouldn’t hurt her worse. Megan winced as they passed the doorway.

“Seeing that, I realize how angry he really was, I think this was the right choice. It’s a good thing Sally was already at school. Who knows how that might have turned out?”

Realizing Megan would be at the hospital when Sally got out, Allie handed Megan her phone. “Call the school and let them know I’ll be picking Sally up today.”

“Where’s my phone?” Megan asked, but didn’t have the energy left to look for it.

“It was sitting on the table with the glass all smashed in with the hammer lying right next to it. I took pictures of it and put it in a baggie just in case we can save the sim card for another phone.”

Allie looked up the number for the school and handed her the phone.

“Hi, Ms. Judy, this is Megan Butts and I needed to let you know that Sally will be picked up today by my friend Allie Foster.”

“Is everything okay dear? You have never had someone pick Sally up before.” Ms. Judy asked with concern in her voice.

“Well, there was an accident, I fell and hit my head. I’m okay, but I will have to get some stitches. I’m sure that they will give me some good medicine and I don’t want to take a chance on driving with pain killers.”

Megan had grown used to covering up what her husband did to her; it was second nature to make up a plausible story so Mike wouldn’t get mad.

“You just take care of yourself and I will send the papers with you so you can add Allie Foster to the list in case you don’t feel well enough tomorrow as well.”

Ms. Judy knew more than she let on, but Megan had no idea that others saw through her excuses to the truth she tried so hard to cover up.

“Thank you Ms. Judy. That is so thoughtful of you, and I really hope to be better tomorrow, but better safe than sorry, right?”

Megan was relieved that Sally would be taken care of. Allie started the car and drove away, leaving the front door hanging open.

Chapter 3

At the hospital, Allie drove straight to the ER, and a team came rushing out to meet them. She left Megan in their capable hands and went to park the car. She hurried in and stayed by her side. She filled them in with what little she knew about what happened. Megan had passed out before they could ask her any questions. It was no small miracle that she had stayed conscious for that long considering that she had a concussion.

In the triage room, they started asking Allie questions, “What happened? Was she in an accident?” She answered as honestly as possible. Allie was hoping that the privacy laws would prevent them from giving out any information that could lead her husband to them; Megan should be safe for a while.

“From what I understand, her husband was drunk and started chasing her. He started hitting her until she passed out. He left for work, leaving her there unconscious.”

Allie tried to convey the urgency of the situation, “you can’t put her information in the police report because her husband works for the county sheriff’s office. Also to protect her, could you alert the local police without saying her name or age? I’m afraid of what he will do to her once he finds out that she is filing a police report.”

“Oh, my gracious, I’m so sorry about this and we will do everything to get her well. I’ll go ahead and call the police about a suspicious abuse case involving children and that way he won’t even think about it. I have to report it, but at least we don’t have to give all the details out over the phone. ”

Megan had not regained consciousness yet. They took her straight up for a C.A.T. scan and to do x-rays on her ribs hoping to discover if anything else had been harmed internally. It was only noon although the hours had gone by much slower than Allie would have thought considering what they had accomplished.

Allie went ahead and asked the nurse if there was a local shelter. Since she had explained the situation, they gave her the information and the name of a good lawyer without her asking. Allie hoped that it they would be able to get a good lawyer who would work out the protection details when Megan was up to it.

Allie called the numbers that they gave her from a phone in the x-ray waiting room. The Umbrella Shelter lady said, that once the police had assessed the situation, they would send someone out. Allie suggested that they come that afternoon about four p.m. so that she would be back from picking Sally up. That way they could work out a plan of action that would keep Megan and Sally safe. Allie wanted to be available in case Megan needed her to run errands or stay with Sally since she would probably be in the hospital overnight.

Once, the police arrived, Allie spent the next hour answering questions about what had happened.

“Ms. Foster, were you there at the time of the incident?” The policeman asked rather gruffly.