Chapter 25 ~ no sex
Erin was thinking about getting ready for bed when there was a knock on the door. She had just helped her mother, who was now pouring herself another glass of wine, finish up dinner dishes . "I'll get it," Erin called out, as she was closest.
She looked through the peep hole and saw a man in a suit, and two policemen with him. She paused, unsure what to do... "Who is it?" she said. "It's the police, maam," he said holding up a badge to the peep hole. "We'd like to ask a few questions about a girl who lives in this building."
Oh, well, if they wanted me, they would have asked for me. She opened the door, and the man recognized her. "Your name is Erin, right?" he asked kindly. "May I come in, please?"
Erin panicked, she tried to close the door on them but the man in the suit caught it, and she ran to the kitchen behind her mother and stood in the corner, not sure where she was going, just knowing she had to get away.
"Who is it?" her Mom asked her, but then the men were inside and Betty could see it was the police. Betty's first thought was to think about the drugs and the burner phone in the pocket of her house coat she had stolen from the homeless shelter Amnesty Box that afternoon. "Erin, what did you do?" she asked, trying to deflect their attention away from herself.
"Maam, are you her mother?"
"Yes..."
The man in the suit took a deep breath. "A man has been arrested in this building, and I hate to put it this way, but there is evidence he has been molesting your daughter. We'd like to take her with us to answer some questions, and..." he winced... "We'd like to use a rape kit on her. We need to gather evidence as quickly as possible."
Erin shaking her head vigorously. "No! No! I wasn't raped, I swear! I love him!"
Betty started wailing. "Oh Erin.... no...."
"Ladies," raising his voice over them, "I promise you Erin is in no kind of trouble. She's actually safe now, because the man is in custody. He can't hurt you now, honey."
Erin was now in tears, "No! No, you can't take him away from me," beginning to cry. "... No, please..." and she fell to the floor, crying. Why... why can't I just be happy... as she covered her face with her hands.
Betty left the room going into her own hysterics, upset about her daughter getting in trouble with older men again. Upset that she was currently holding drugs. Upset that she really needed another shot to calm herself. It never crossed her mind that she could have been to blame for any of her 13 year old daughter's problems with intimacy.
The detective turned to the officers, softly he gave his orders, "This is getting out of control. You calm down the mother, I'll talk Erin down. We need to get them in a car and on the way to the station." The men nodded, and the detective heard them talking to Betty in the living room, "Maam, please. Everything is going to be ok... we just need you to..." but then he was in the small kitchen, kneeling next to Erin.
"Please," she looked up at him, her face streaked with tears. "Please don't arrest Steven...."
She just confirmed his name, for us.
"Please, I started it.... and I never told him about me, until... until just today... and we are in love, and I need him...."
"Honey," he said softly. He was good with the victims of statutory rape, probably because he had three teenage daughters of his own. "It's going to be ok. Why don't you come to the station with us, and we'll get this sorted out. You can tell me your side and then we'll have all the information and we'll have something to go on, and we can make good decisions from there. But I promise you, you aren't in trouble, and we only need to talk to you for an hour or two. You'll be home by 10 tonight. Really, it's going to be ok." He knew she thought she could still save Steven, so he dangled that hope in front of her without saying the actual words.
"You won't take him away from me?" she asked softly, though her tears.
"We will do what's best for you sweetheart, I promise."
Erin sniffled, "Ok," and she stood, eyes and cheeks red, always so trusting.
The two uniformed policemen had calmed down Betty who was getting over the panic that they had come for her, because of the drugs. "May I use the restroom before we go?" she asked, and they allowed it. After she had injected herself with a small dose of heroin to calm her nerves, and she stashed the drugs behind the toilet tank, she felt much more in control of this situation. She returned to the living room and grabbed her sweater, "I'm ready."
Betty sat up front with the detective in his car, and Erin sat in the back next to a uniformed officer. The detective didn't want anyone to feel like they were under arrest sitting in a marked car behind a wire screen. They were silent on the ten minute drive to the station.
They were separated, Betty was invited to the break room for coffee and kept occupied by a social worker pretending to just "pass the time" as Erin was sitting with the detective in a room with two chairs and a table, being recorded. "Honey, is this your boyfriend?" and she was shown a booking photo of Steven, making sure the bottom was covered that had all of the booking information on it.
"Yes," Erin said softly.
"And you two are in a serious relationship?"
"Yes."
"I can tell you're really in love," he said to her.
"Yes, very much," Erin said. They have to understand it isn't rape, we're a couple.
"Honey, I know this question is personal, but I need to understand all the facts... how long have you been intimate with each other?"
Erin looked at him, her cheeks were still red from crying before, otherwise she would have blushed. "About four months... but it wasn't his fault, he never forced me."
"I understand, really. I know how love can be."
Erin nodded, smiling. Maybe he did understand. Maybe this would be ok.
"How many times were you with him, like that... intimately?" he asked.
Erin looked to the side, thinking back.... "Maybe 40 times?"
The detective just looked at her across tented fingers, such a pretty, fresh, young girl. That scumbag.
He took a moment to reflect on this situation.... there was also The Circle to ask her about, but tonight was about getting Steven put away. He remembered well the circumstances around the child sex slavery ring that had been busted a year ago, he wasn't on that case personally but everyone with enough rank knew about it. He didn't remember the name 'Erin Banks' being part of it... but something about that name was actually ringing a bell. But, now that Erin was back on the radar, they knew where to find her for follow-up questioning. He'd only watched the recording of her and Steven once, so it wasn't quite all in his memory, yet. He would watch that video quite a bit over the next few weeks, looking for clues, until he had committed Erin's every look and sound of pleasure to memory. But right now, getting Steven off the street was priority one.
He knew he'd just gotten Erin's confession on video and audio, and along with the video evidence, they should have enough.
Outside, the social worker had just gotten Betty's permission to perform a rape kit on her 13 year old daughter.
Erin was calm after the interview, but when she walked into the examination room and saw the table with stirrups and was asked to undress and put on a gown, she had to be restrained as Steven's semen was extracted from her vagina. It was a nurse using the speculum and collecting the sample with a light on her forehead, and she noticed something. "Doctor, can you come look at this, please?" The doctor came over and knelt down between a humiliated Erin's thighs. The nurse shined the light on Erin's cervix, and the doctor grunted. He looked up at Erin, "Young lady, did you know you were pregnant?"
Erin's mother had been standing to the side and she started wailing again as Erin laid there with wide eyes.
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The detective escorted them home to make sure the ladies got in ok. Betty and Erin hadn't said a word to each other on the drive back and he could feel the tension. He walked them to the door of their apartment, "Erin," he said, and she looked at him. "We're going to do everything we can for Steven," to put him away for a long time. "The important thing to take away is that your mother obviously cares about you, and you two need to work this out so you can move on."
"Pssh," Erin snorted at him, and walked into the apartment. Now that there were no more secrets, Erin had decided she'd had enough.
"I'm sorry, you know how teenagers are," Betty said trying to act like she was on top of things, but the fact was she'd been craving another shot for almost an hour, now. The one before hadn't been enough. She was afraid he would see her shaking.
"Maam... try to remember what it was like when you were a teenager." It was the wrong thing to say to her, and she quietly ground her teeth. "She feels like she is in love and that is the most important thing in the world to her and we old people just don't understand. My advice is to try to be understanding of her... the past can't be changed, now. Just be here for her."
"Thank you for your parenting advice, detective," Betty said, suddenly cold.
He felt the suddenly chill attitude, and realized he'd said something wrong... but what was done was done. "You have my card if you need me, and we will be in touch soon with some follow-up questions, but I think we can do that here, you won't need to come in to the station." The Circle.... "Good evening," and he smiled, and left. He heard the door slam behind him as Betty went into the apartment to confront her daughter.
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He wrote his report that night, long after he was usually gone for dinner with his family. These statutory rape cases always bothered him, especially when the victims reminded him of his own children. He knew for a fact that teenage girls were always the victims when it came to relationships like these... when he thought of the idea of his own daughters having sexual relationships with older men, and he thought about that a lot, he just knew it wasn't something they would ever choose for themselves, so obviously the men were at fault. They had to be the victims, even if they actually thought they loved being filled with the cock of an experienced older man. He was hoping to get his report on the Chief of Police's desk before he left.... but it wouldn't matter if he didn't, Steven was already in custody and not going anywhere.... but the Chief would not be in the next day for a long weekend out in Texas, or some such thing. The report was thorough, it contained the evidence number of the recording of Steven with Erin, the chain of custody record to ensure it was good for the trial, Erin's confirmation that the man in the video was the man they had in custody, and he even mentioned her story about being part of "The Circle," asking the Chief if he should follow up on that.
He put it on the Chief's desk, but Larry had already gone home to pack. He had a 6am flight to Waco, Texas in the morning and he wouldn't see the report until he returned to work the following Tuesday.
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Betty entered the apartment and slammed the door. "ERIN!" she screamed, and soon Erin came from her room.
Erin had never heard her mother scream before.
They looked at each other across the room, and Betty asked the only question she could think of that would encompass all that she wanted to say to her daughter.... "Why?"
That was a big question to Erin, it was one she'd asked herself so much, starting when she lost John's baby. And after today's emotional trauma, and Erin's weariness of hiding the truth, it was the wrong question to ask her. "Why what, mom? Why am I pregnant? Why am I in a relationship with a married man who lives upstairs? Why is having sex with him just about the only time I feel like I'm worth anything?"
Betty started wailing again, heading for the living room couch where she sat and covered her face. "Oh Erin, I was a good mother to you, how could you?"
Erin was stunned that her mother would say that, she looked at her with wide eyes and mouth open. She collected herself, and followed her mother into the living room. "Do you really think you're a good mother to me?" she asked with deadly softness.
"I took care of you! I loved you! You never wanted for anything!"
"I WANTED PARENTS WHO WERE THERE FOR ME" Erin screamed. "I NEVER saw you. You couldn't wait to throw me at John so you and Dad could go run your little bakery. He's the only parent I remember having growing up! And at least he was there for me, until.... until...." and her own tears started, but she was still angry.
Betty took advantage of Erin's hesitation. "I knew something happened with John! I knew it! Don't you try to deny it!"
Erin laughed, "Oh, you think you know something? You think something happened? You think I will deny that, NOW? He was the love of my life! We made love every single day mom, right by his pool, and we were so happy! And he would come in my bedroom window sometimes and we'd make love in my bed, but fuck mom, we didn't even need to sneak, he could have just walked in the front door, you and dad were always up in the attic as far away from us as you could possibly get, and you didn't care."
Betty started wailing.... she realized John was over a year ago, Erin would have been 12.... younger....
But Erin wasn't done. "Ooooh, Mom, it was so good. He was so gentle with me, sex was so amazing with him, I loooved feeling him so deep inside me. And he got me pregnant when I was 10... do you remember my first period, mom? That was me losing my baby. Out of everything, I regret that the most... I wanted my baby and my life with him would have been perfect. But NO! We always had to hide because of you!" It wasn't fair, but she was lashing out.
Betty just cried on the couch, covering her face, not wanting to hear any more.
Erin suddenly remembered, and held her tummy.... she hadn't had time to process this yet... "But now.... I have Steven's baby.... and you are going to help me be with him! You are going to help me convince them to not take him away from me! We love each other and he will be so happy to hear we're having a baby together!"
Betty sobbed.... "We were there for you... we can't help that we had to work.... Reggie was a good father to you.... we.... we...." the compound, the litany....
Erin blinked. "Reggie was a good father? Mom, I can't remember a single thing he ever said to me.... he was gone to that stupid fucking bakery every day before I was awake, and when he was home he was in bed or on his chair sleeping. That's how I remember him.... asleep on his chair. I can't even remember his face, mom," and she started crying at that realization.
"No," Betty moaned, shaking her head back and forth. "You had good parents. We were always there for you."
"Mom," Erin said softly. "Why do you think your other kids are never here? They got away from you as fast as they could to start their own lives. They left you, and they left me with you. I thank god I had John, I would never have had anyone to love me without him."
"No! No!"
Softly, "Did they even come back for Dad's funeral? Why can't I remember? Oh yeah because I was in a coma because you were at the bakery instead of being home to meet me after school and give me a hug. Thank god John was always there to fuck me, instead." She looked at her mother who was weeping into her hands.
I really need a shot..... I need one so bad.... I can't do this.... I can't help her....
"By the way, mom," she asked, quietly. "How much did you pay him to watch me? How much did you pay him to fuck your 10 year old daughter every single day before and after school?"
Erin left and stormed to her room, slamming the door behind her, and she cried on her bed.... the catharsis of finally unloading everything onto her mother was tangible. There had been so many secrets, for so long. And... now she had another baby.... and that was beginning to feel more important than anything else. Erin calmed herself, calmed herself. Mom will just have to get over it. She's going to be a grandmother and I am going to be so happy with Steven, she told herself.
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Betty grabbed what she'd stashed behind the toilet and left the house. Down in a dirty restroom stall in La Mercada she gave herself a small dose of heroin to stop her shakes. She had a decision to make.... in fact, she had already made it, but some small part of her was trying to talk herself out of it.
She went to the coffee shop and sat in a booth in the corner.
She pulled the certified letter from her purse that she had received from the compound, she had been a little surprised to find out it still existed. Before she'd only used a tablet computer to shop on amazon, but during her breaks at the shelter she sometimes used the one on the director's desk. She taught herself how to use google, she learned that her old church in Oklahoma still existed and had a web page, and under an "Affiliates" tab she found a link to "Oklahoma Compound for Wayward Children." Yes, that's where I was... When she clicked on their page and saw a picture of the building again, she had a small, silent panic attack right there in the office. They even showed the hallway to the door that said "Mother" on it.
A few days after she'd heard Erin in her bedroom doing inappropriate things with those other girls, she finally worked up the courage to call them on one of the surrendered burner phones from the Amnesty Box.
She told them that she herself had been helped by them when she was young, and that she was now worried for her own daughter, "I feel like I can't reach her any more." They said they more than understood, children these days were so willful, and so prone to walk the wrong path. They said everything Betty needed to hear.
"We are not how we used to be when you were a guest," they told her. "We've updated our techniques to reflect current thinking in child psychology, I think you'd find us quite unrecognizable from even 10 years ago, much less than when you were a student here," the man on the phone told her. "But I assure you, we have a 99% success rate. Almost all of our young ladies and gentlemen leave here ready to be successful adults."
"My Erin needs that... and I don't know if I can give her that..."
"You can. Now, we are all-inclusive, everything is on-site, boarding, dietary care, medical care, training facilities. But this is expensive, one hundred thousand per year." This is where he usually lost them. "But really, can you put a price on your daughter's future?"
"That would be fine," Betty answered. "Do you accept tuition money for just one year at a time, or could I, say, pay you for two years up front?"
++++
And now she was in the coffee shop, looking at the paper with their phone number, the letter that offered a formal invitation to take in her daughter, to help her find her way. And she was remembering how Erin told her she'd never been a good mother.
"Erin, I can be there for you now.... this is the best I can do for you," she said softly to herself. She picked up the burner phone and dialed the number.
They scheduled her pickup for Sunday night. Erin never made plans on Sunday night and should be home.
After the conversation, Betty threw away the burner phone in a trash can out in the mall.
++++
Saturday night Erin Skyped with her friends all night, telling them what happened with the police.
"Erin, oh my god, is everything ok?" Lucy asked.
"Yes.... I called the detective, they still haven't told me anything about Steven. They say they are going to talk to a judge on Monday and he said they'd get it sorted out. I haven't had a chance to even tell him about our baby yet."
The girls held their silence on that score, but they were all thinking the same thing... poor Erin....
"Things have been quiet here at home... Mom is quiet, and at least we aren't fighting. I think that is going to be ok. And really it feels good to not be full of secrets now."
The girls could agree with that much, at least.... in a way, they realized, Erin was now finally out of The Circle. Her mom knew about it, and knew about John, and she could move on.
Finally it was late, they were all starting to yawn. Erin's last words to her friends were, "Bye you guys, I love you so much... let's get together next weekend." She closed her laptop and went to bed.
++++
Sunday things were still chilly between Erin and her mother, but cordial. Sunday was cleaning day, and she helped her Mom clean the entire apartment without having to be told.
++++
Sunday night, early Monday morning, really, Betty was still awake. There was a soft rap at the apartment door, and she answered it. She let in a handsome man wearing a trench coat. "Mrs. Banks, it is so nice to finally meet you. Are we on schedule?"
Betty nodded, nervously. Maybe I shouldn't....
"Do you have the sum we agreed upon?"
Betty went to the table in the foyer, there was a small tote bag that contained 2,000 $100 bills. The man examined it for a moment, and said, "Very well. Show me her room, please?"
Betty did, at the end of the hall she said, "Her room is on the right."
The man nodded. He walked back to the front door and opened it, two strong looking men were standing there, waiting. They followed the first man in, he said to them, "Down there, the door on the right."
The men went and took Erin.
++++
Erin had screamed and fought, and Betty watched the man produce a syringe from somewhere and inject it in Erin's bare thigh. She remembered when she'd gotten her own injection, in the back of a van, so long ago.
They carried a limp Erin between them in the wee hours of the morning, on the way out the man made sure to visit the security room and erase the tapes for the previous two hours, in case anyone checked. Sometimes people did.
She was placed in the back of a van, now docile with very dilated pupils, and taken to the airport. She was placed on a private plane.... there were always private jets available, owned by fathers grateful for the way the compound had helped their wayward daughters.... and Erin woke up sometime later in Oklahoma.
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Betty sat in the living room, the new silence was deafening. Suddenly she could feel Erin's absence, her empty room. She knew Erin may not ever sleep in that room again. Erin had been screaming for her as the men woke her and took her. "Moooom, mom, help me, please...." Betty had heard, Erin had been crying for her, finally, screaming to her mother for help.
And it was too late.
She was gone, and Betty knew they would help her. She knew how they would help her.
Her Erin was gone.
Betty got some more of her drug, she knew she was going to need a lot tonight. She filled the entire reservoir and injected herself with everything left in the bottle, and collapsed back on the couch with the spent syringe hanging from her arm.
Copyright 2016: "Marissa Banks." Rights reserved. Not for reuse without express written consent of the author. All content is purely fictional; any similarities to actual persons or events is pure coincidence. Reader must be of legal age in the judicial area he/she resides. Reproductions of the fiction contained herein or linked from here may not be used in whole or in part without express permission from the author.