Meggie
Emergency lights bounced off the surroundings on the night-darkened street in a dizzying pattern that hurt Meggie’s eyes. Blue. Red. Blue. Red. The colors flickered endlessly from the three patrol cars that had responded to her ‘911’ call.
Her shoulder throbbed. Thomas’s hit had been particularly vicious tonight.
Blinking, Meggie stared at the sky, missing the neighborhood she’d grown up in, with its swath of trees and simple beauty. Still, she was able to pick out Venus, the brightest star in the heavens. For some reason, the memory of Dinah singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star swirled in Meggie’s head.
They’d been so happy then. Her daddy had visited more often. Dinah had smiled all the time. Meggie had felt protected and loved. She’d had dreams.
Earlier, when she’d been out with her friends, enjoying the 4th of July celebrations, she’d somehow pretended her life was still good. She’d pushed away the relief and despair that mingled together whenever she sank a razor or a blade into her flesh, stealing a semblance of control in her own way, while the world around her went mad. She’d felt normal because she’d been allowed to spend a day out with her best friends. Most of the time, she could only spend a night out for a sleepover at Lacey or Farrah’s house, and that after strict assurances by their parents there would be no excursions away from the home.
This morning, Megan had awakened with such hope. So stupid on her part. But today was her father’s birthday. When she’d acknowledged it with a text and much love expressed in heart emojis, she’d thought he would’ve responded. He had last year. But it had been months since he’d texted back. He hadn’t even contacted her for any of the past holidays. If she thought hard, she didn’t believe she’d heard from him since her last birthday.
Before that…had he contacted her for her sixteenth birthday? She couldn’t remember. She only knew between her fifteenth and sixteenth birthdays, Dinah had gotten the courage to leave Thomas a second time. Meggie had wanted her mother to go to Big Joe for help. She’d refused.
What else was new? Dinah had the unerring ability to ignore every suggestion Meggie made that might see them to safety and then lean on Meggie to patch her back together after one of Thomas’s violent rages.
Her mother brushed past her, opened the door and leaned inside. A moment later, the porch light came on before Dinah returned to the officer she’d been talking to.
This was the third time in the last month Meggie had called for help. It seemed as if this response would go much the same as the others.
Her burning, thumping scalp reminded her how Thomas had grabbed a fistful of her hair and dragged her down the hall and back to the living room. The moment she’d walked into the house, she’d heard Thomas screaming at her mother and she’d only wanted to get to her room before he saw her.
She hadn’t succeeded.
The porch light worsened Meggie’s headache, a glaring testament to a scene too often repeated. Her mom standing on the second step, speaking in measured tones, a smile plastered on her face. Her stepfather off to the side, affable and laughing, talking to the two male police officers who’d pulled him to the side.
The coolness of the evening washed over Meggie’s face. If she’d still been crying, the breeze might have dried her tears. But nothing could calm her fears. No one cared anymore. The neighbors no longer bothered to come outside when the cruisers swerved up.
“I’m so sorry, Officer Landry,” Dinah said in a calm, self-assured tone, so far from the truth of her personality that Meggie sometimes wondered if her mother had a split personality. “Girls my daughter’s age are so emotional.” She trilled laughter.
Meggie flinched at the high-pitched sound.
“I’m around them all day, five days a week during the school year.”
Officer Landry returned Dinah’s driver’s license. “You’re a schoolteacher?” she asked.
Dinah nodded, stuffing her ID into the pocket of her modest skirt. “An assistant principal.”
A burst of male laughter rose into the air, momentarily drowning out Dinah and Officer Landry’s conversation. Meggie tuned into her stepfather’s words.
“The more her mother and me try to rein her in, the wilder she runs,” Thomas Nicholls said. Affable. Convincing.
Lying.
Why hadn’t she slept at Farrah’s house again?
“She snuck off to some 4th of July event after we told her she couldn’t go.” He glanced over his shoulder, glaring in Meggie’s direction. “She comes home spoiling for a fight because her good-for-nothing father hasn’t called her. My poor wife bends over backward for her. We give her everything.”
Anger surged through Meggie. She’d heard enough. She’d had enough.
A small sound escaped her, because suddenly everyone fell silent. “He’s lying,” she said, not caring how angry her mother got. One day, Dinah would thank Meggie. Thomas would end up killing them.
“That’s enough, Megan Foy,” Dinah said in the stern voice she used on her students.
Meggie should know. She attended the same high school that Dinah served as assistant principal, next door to the middle school where Thomas taught math.
“Momma, enough—”
Dinah caught Meggie’s arm. “May I take my daughter aside for a moment, Officer?”
“I don’t want to listen to you,” Meggie snapped before anyone spoke again.
“Do you see how disrespectful she is to her own mother?” Thomas lamented.
“Die,” Meggie snarled.
“I’ll have you know, young lady, calling ‘911’ with a false report is a crime,” one of the cops who’d been talking to Thomas said. “If I talked to my stepfather the way you’re talking to this fine man, my mother would’ve tanned my hide.”
“You don’t understand. It isn’t false—”
“Meggie! Enough,” Dinah said sharply. “Officer Landry, is it okay—”
“She’s your kid, Dinah,” Officer Landry said, eyeing Meggie with disgust.
“We’re going to test your urine, miss,” Thomas told her. “Make sure you don’t have any more drugs in your system.”
“Drugs?” Meggie gasped, so stunned by her stepfather’s accusation that her muscles loosened and allowed Dinah to push her out of earshot.
“Please, Meggie?” Momma whispered, her eyes no longer lively but frantic and dull. Her lips trembled. “Don’t do this.”
“You stay,” Meggie returned, her voice as low as her mother’s. But she was shaking from anger and humiliation. She’d never touched drugs a day in her life. “I have to go. I can’t stay here anymore with Thomas. You’re letting him malign me. You know I’m not a drug addict. I don’t smoke. I don’t drink. I hadn’t been home ten minutes before he hit me and continued beating you. He’s your husband, not mine.”
“Meggie, please. Don’t leave me.”
“Then leave with me.”
“We’ve left twice. You know that. He found us both times.”
The beating after their second escape attempt had been much more severe than the first.
“Don’t ask me to do this.”
“We’re a team, you and me. I won’t survive if you aren’t here to put me back together.”
Tears rushed to Meggie’s eyes. “This is so unfair,” she cried. “Why are you doing this to me?”
“You’re my beautiful girl,” Dinah whispered, no longer the self-assured woman she’d exhibited just minutes before. Fear wafted from her like steam from boiling water. She brushed strands of Meggie’s hair aside. “You’d never forgive yourself if you convinced them to take you and something happened to me.”
A sob broke free from Meggie.
“And suppose you are believed? What happens then? Thomas would be taken into custody. Possibly lose his teaching position. I would suffer untold humiliation. You’d be removed. Put in foster care. You’re still three months from eighteen and we have no family to take you in.”
Swiping at the tears falling down her cheeks, Meggie sniffled and lifted her chin. “I have Daddy.”
“Big Joe?” Dinah scoffed. “We haven’t heard from him in months.”
“I wonder why,” Meggie said with sarcasm. “You’ve barred him from visiting me more times than I can count. You sold the house he’d given us—”
“My allegiance is to Thomas, Meggie,” Dinah spat. “I’m Mrs. Nicholls, not Mrs. Foy. Thomas didn’t want to live in a house another man purchased for me.”
“Daddy purchased that house for me, and you know it,” Meggie blazed, hating Dinah the tiniest bit just then. Overwhelming guilt hit her, and she hung her head. “It doesn’t matter, Momma. You gave Thomas the money from the sale, and he gambled it all away.”
Dinah kissed Meggie’s forehead. “I love you, Meggie. So very much. I’d be so lost without you.” She shifted her weight. “W-wouldn’t you miss me?”
“Of course!” Meggie said fiercely, the truth. She loved her mother so much. She just wished Dinah found the courage to break free of Thomas Nicholls.
“I’m going to send the officers away,” Dinah said quietly, then turned away before Meggie responded.
Trembling, she stumbled to the edge of the porch to listen as Dinah fed Officer Landry a convincing lie. She wrapped her arms around her waist to keep from throwing up. She wanted to escape so badly, but what would happen to Dinah if she left? For that matter, would she end up in foster care?
“Meggie!”
She jumped at the sound of her momma’s voice.
“The nice officer asked you a question.”
“I’m sorry,” Meggie said hoarsely, gritting her teeth at her trembling tone. “Can you repeat what you said, ma’am?”
The officer smiled, her face full of kindness. Meggie wondered what Dinah had said to change Officer Landry’s attitude.
“Let me speak to you and your daughter a moment, Dinah,” she said.
Meggie followed Dinah and Officer Landry to the same spot she’d spoken to her mother minutes ago.
“I understand if you don’t feel safe enough to tell the truth within earshot of Mr. Nicholls,” Officer Landry started, glancing between Meggie and Dinah. “Tell me now if there’s cause to take him in, and we’ll remove him from the premises.”
Dinah placed a hand on her chest. “Michelle, your concern overwhelms me. I can’t thank you enough for your interest, but I assure you we are fine. My husband is a big teddy bear. What happened tonight was just a misunderstanding. Meggie’s angry at me because she thinks I’m keeping her father away. This was just her way of acting out.”
Officer Landry folded her arms. “You’re going to be a senior this year, Meggie?”
Meggie nodded.
“Any plans for college?”
“Yes, ma’am.” She swallowed, not wanting to think about her mother’s anger the time she’d confessed she wished for something completely different than a career.
“She wants to be a meteorologist,” Dinah put in.
“Impressive,” Officer Landry said, sounding as if she spoke the truth.
She dug in her shirt pocket, then handed Meggie a business card. “If you want to talk to me about anything—anything at all—give me a call.”
Meggie glanced at the card, only then realizing the blue and red lights continued to swirl; all her aches and pain still beat against her nerve endings. Anger and determination had blotted both. Now, as her despair and hopelessness returned, so too did her awareness. She nodded to the officer. “Thank you,” she said softly, offering a tremulous smile. “May I go inside? I’m very tired.”
“Wait for me in the living room,” Dinah instructed.
“Okay, Momma.” She walked inside. Not having the energy to defy Dinah, Meggie veered into the living room instead of continuing down the hall and waited, forcing all thought from her head.
Why think about it when she knew what to expect?
Within five minutes, Dinah and Thomas joined Meggie in the living room.
Thomas snatched Officer Landry’s business card from Meggie’s hand and ripped it up.
“You little cunt,” he snarled.
She’d forgotten to hide another razor blade underneath the sofa cushion. Why hadn’t she remembered?
“Do you hear me talking to you, bitch?”
Peeking at Dinah, Meggie felt the plea in her expression. The need for Dinah to do something, say something, rose swift and hot inside her.
He glared at Dinah. “You never fucking learn, do you?”
“I’m sorry,” Dinah blurted, tears already in her eyes. “But what did we do? We sent them away, so—”
Thomas struck Dinah across the face.
Meggie cringed, and still she waited for her turn.
“Shut your fucking mouth,” Thomas yelled, hitting Dinah again, this time so hard she fell to the floor, where she stayed and sobbed.
“You think you’re better than me, Meggie?” he asked.
Not answering, Meggie stared at Dinah, not truly seeing her, but unable not to see her.
He grabbed Meggie by the throat, then shoved her in the direction of the sofa. She landed nearby. Hearing Thomas unfastening his belt, she scrambled to her feet. If he began wielding that leather while she was on the floor, he might strike her face. As it was, the licks caught her back and legs. The T-shirt absorbed some of the blows, but her thighs and legs were exposed in the shorts she wore.
Ten heavy-handed hits later, Meggie curled in a heap, near where her mother still lay—still in tears.
Thomas dragged Dinah to her feet.
“No! Stop,” she cried. “Meggie won’t do it again. You’ve beaten her already. Please leave me be.”
“Weak bitch,” Thomas muttered in disgust, punching Dinah in her belly and watching as she fell to the floor again.
“It hurts, Meggie,” Dinah whimpered. “It hurts.”
Meggie blinked at the ceiling. “It’ll be fine, Momma. I’ll get you water and a pain reliever.”
“Hurry.”
“You don’t need that,” Thomas said, his voice changing to a disgusting croon. “Keep your daughter in line, Dinah. For now, I’ve taken care of her. Let me make you feel better.”
“I-I’ll feel better if you let me suck you. I know you’ll feel good, my love.”
Refusing to stay for the next sad act in this tragic play, Meggie crawled to her hands and knees, and willed herself to stand. She stumbled toward the hallway, just as Thomas dropped his pants and his pasty white butt cheeks bid her farewell.
(c)2022 Misled by Kathryn C. Kelly
