Page 6 of Ayden (House of Frazier #3)
Donna hid as best she could in the trash area in the back of the restaurant. She’d been hiding out for days now, and she was no closer to being out of town than she’d been all those weeks ago. Having an abusive husband wasn’t what she wanted in life. In fact, what she wanted was someone to love her and to take care of her needs. Instead of her taking care of everyone else’s needs.
Hearing the man from the place bringing out the trash for the night, she stayed as still as she could. He’d been good to her so far, bringing her out food that he’d made rather than her having to dig around in the trash. When he lit a cigarette, she waited for him to speak. He did this nightly, telling her what he’d brought her to eat.
“There is a phone number that I left you in the bag. There is a phone too, as you said you didn’t have one.” She watched him, barely breathing so she’d not miss what he was saying. “There is a place too that you can get help. It’s all on the paper that I put there for you. A man came in looking for you today, and nobody said where you were.”
Someone other than him knew that she was around? It made her sick to think that she might well end up back at Donnie’s house. The man was a terror to her, and she didn’t want to ever have to be back in that house again.
When they married three years ago, she thought him the best person in the world. He’d had a good job and a nice car, and he even had a couple of credit cards that he’d given her to use for groceries and stuff. Her job of being a dental assistant had dried up when the doctor she’d been working for was charged with sexual deviancy. He’d not bothered her, but she did read in the paper that he’d been fondling little kids when he’d put them under for teeth being pulled. She’d also heard that he had done the same thing to other men, and she was glad to be out of there. Then Donnie lost his job.
Things had been all right for a little while. They’d had a savings account that had held them over until one of them got another job. But then she began hearing things about Donnie and what he had been caught doing on the job. The man had been selling drugs to kids around the neighborhood.
Once he’d been arrested, never believing that he’d do such a thing, she stood beside her man while she waited tables in the local pizza joint. Then, one night, out of the blue, he’d knocked her around when she’d come home with fewer tips than she had the night before. It had taken her nearly a week to be able to go back to her job, where everyone warned her that Donnie had a temper and she might be better off leaving him.
It was the first time that he’d hit her, and she didn’t want to make a snap judgement about him for that. There had been a great deal of stress in the household, and he was having trouble getting even a first interview for another job. When he did start to work, the man at the gas station had hired him until he found out that the rumors were true, that Donnie had been selling the drugs to the kids, and that he hadn’t stopped.
It nearly cost her life when she asked him about it. As it was now, she was having trouble seeing out of one eye and had a hearing problem with certain high-pitched sounds. As soon as she was out of the hospital, she packed up her things while he was in jail and left. That had been three months ago, and he’d brought her back twice now and beaten her again.
She needed to get away, and the only way that she knew how to do it was to depend on others. But the issue with that was that they all believed him when he told them that she was a part of the drugs being sold as well.
“Also, I’ve spoken to Mr. Fraizer. He’s the one that is running the charity place. He said to tell you that if you want out of town, all you need to do is meet him at the place at midnight tonight, and he’ll make sure you can have enough to start over.” She wanted to ask him if he trusted him, but she couldn’t speak. Fear made her mute when she needed answers, and she was out in the open like she was right now. “He said that you’d be safe if you came around as his brothers were there as well. You know that they’re wolves, right?”
Again, she didn’t answer him. It was bad enough that all she had for company was herself, but talking to a stranger that she didn’t even know his name was terrible, too. Wiping at the tears that had done her no good so far, she said ‘yes’ to his queries for the first time since she’d been hiding out.
It was nearly eleven when she made her way to the charity place. It was well-lit, something else that she was afraid of, and there didn’t seem to be anyone around. As she was staying to the edges of the house, she heard a low growl and looked in the direction she thought it had come from.
There standing there was a great gray wolf. He lay down when she leapt back against the building, but he didn’t say anything. It wasn’t until someone, another man, came out of the darkness that she felt like she might be able to make it. He told her his name was Ayden, and the wolf with him was his brother Guy.
“We have a ticket for you for the bus station. There are some things too that you can put on so that no one recognizes you.” She took the bag that he told her was beside her. “I’ll take you to the station, not the one here in town but across the county, and help you get on it. The ticket is for a round trip to the furthest end of the line, but you get off at Pillsbury Station. Once there, there will be someone there that will meet you and get you further downstate.”
“I don’t have any identification.” He said that it was taken care of and that no one would know she was on the bus so long as she didn’t cause trouble. “I won’t. I promise you.”
After getting all the instructions that she was going to need, a big car pulled up, and she was asked to get into it. That was something that she’d only just realized. No one had ordered her to do anything but had been polite in asking her to do what was needed.
By the time the car pulled out of the lot, she was dressed in baggy clothing, a wig on her head, and a nice warm coat that she’d missed having. Getting her food situated in her new ‘purse,’ she was ready to go when the car pulled up in front of the station house. Christ, she was terrified, but so far things had gone—
“Don’t move.” She didn’t even blink or breathe when the man stopped in front of her. “Your husband is over there, see him?”
She whimpered when she saw him and the man told her that he had her. Ayden assured her that he’d not get to her, and Guy took off as his wolf again to chase him away. It might well have been funny, but she was terrified out of her mind.
Getting on the bus an hour later, she had a newspaper to read, several puzzle books as well as another change of clothing. Donna had lost so much weight that she was afraid that a good wind would blow her over, but for the first time in months, she felt like she might be able to survive her leaving her husband.
The bus seemed to be traveling forever. It was warm on the thing, and she found herself dozing a bit off and on. The big man, the wolf Guy, had followed her onto the bus, but he didn’t sit with her. As she became more sleepy and more exhausted, she found herself feeling safe for the longest time.
When the bus pulled into the Pillsbury Station, she waited until everyone got off before she did. Guy got off after she did and when she went into the station house, there was a note on her luggage. There was another hundred dollars for her to take a hotel room in the name of Brandy Fraizer, and she was to meet up with someone in the morning who would take her the rest of the way.
Nerves got the better of her, and she sat in the hotel room, waiting for someone to break the door down and come after her. She wanted a bath and a soak in a tub but was afraid of that as well. Everything seemed to scare the shit out of her. When the phone beside her chirped, she nearly had herself a heart attack before she could answer it.
“It’s Guy. I’m going to take you to dinner. I have your husband’s scent now, so he’s not around. Meet me in the dining room.” She told him that he didn’t have to do that. “I don’t have to do a lot of things, but I want to do this. You need some normal in your life, and I’m going to give it to you the best that I can. Also, I have pictures of the people that you’re meeting tomorrow, and I thought that would be easier on you.”
She met him there and was glad when he made it seem like it was old friends having a meal. It was the first one that she’d had in a while, and she was determined to enjoy every minute of it.
By the time he was walking her to her door, the burger and fries being divine, telling her that she’d be all right, not only did she have pictures of the people who were going to help her, but he’d given her two credit cards that she could use with her name on them. Also, an identification card with a picture that looked enough like her that it would pass as being her.
Taking a bath, she felt like a new person. Her body was clean, and her hair was soft. Everything about this was going to get her out of harm’s way. As soon as she lay down on the bed, the hotel was going to call her when she was to get up. Donna fell into a deep sleep and didn’t wake up once, not even to go to the bathroom.
The people met her in the dining room again and hugged her like they were old friends. She enjoyed their company and was glad that they didn’t mention her leaving. It was a short visit with them, and she was happy for the friendship that they were making.
“I’m to tell you that your husband is in jail. He’s going to be there for the next couple of days, for as long as they can hold him for breaking and entering. You’ll be settled into your own home by then and starting your new job.” She said that she didn’t have any experience at anything just yet. “You’ll be fine. Also, there are several numbers that you can call if you need anything, but the Fraizers are finished, all right?”
Telling them yes, she was asked what she’d change about their involvement on the way she was getting out. It took her a few minutes to figure out anything that had been done wrong, and all she could think about and it wasn’t really anything wrong, but she thought that they needed better wigs. It was all that she had for them.
“I’ll let them know.” The three of them laughed. “I thought you’d say something like it needed more money or something like that.”
“They gave me five hundred dollars the first night and gave me a ticket to get out of town. I think it’s more money than I’ve had in a while, and I was actually nervous about spending it. Waiting for the other shoe to drop, I guess.” Peggy, the woman with the man named David, told her that they tried very hard not to have that much cash on them, so when an emergency came up, they weren’t able to supply them with much. “I have enough to get food in the house, and that’s all I can think about right now.”
The ride to the next town was quiet. Peggy gave her advice on things that she was to do. Told her about her job and what was going to be expected of her. She wasn’t to take on a job that she had before, as that would give Donnie a clue as to where she was.
By that evening, exhausted again, she was in her new place. It was furnished and had a lot of touches that made her feel like it was a real home for her so that she was comfortable by the time she was ready for bed. Someone had even put up a little tree and put gifts under it for her, but she didn’t open them. Life, she decided, was going to be much better than it was now, and she was going to make sure that she didn’t let things jade her, what Peggy had told her because not everyone was like her soon-to-be ex-husband.
When she got up the next day, the first day of her new life she was calling it, Donna went to her job with a new attitude on not just life but everything in her life now.
~*~
Summer was at the auction when she heard from Guy about the woman that they were helping. She’d made it to her home and had started her new job just this morning. Summer decided that she was going to pick up clothing from garage sales this summer and keep a supply of wigs and purses for women and children.
The idea had come from Mac’s brothers. They had been moving people around for years and had never once been caught at it. They didn’t use wigs and such. They just picked the person up that their grandmother wanted them to kill, took them someplace else, and handed them money to get them a new start. They, however, were in a network of people that helped them, and it was working out better, she thought, with getting them as far away as they could.
“Mom, there is a ghost in the room with you.” Stopping what she was doing in favor of seeing to her daughter, she asked her who it was. “I don’t know. They want me to talk to you about something.”
“Okay. But just so you know, I don’t know all that many people that are dead.” She told her that she knew that, too. As soon as Selma sat down with Harley, she had a feeling that the two of them were ganging up on her about something. “What’s going on?”
“This person has been gone for a very long time. You need to know that right up front.” She nodded, unsure where this was going. “He used to live here in this house, at least a part of it, a long time ago and wants you to understand that the things he left behind are for you. For helping the people that need to get away.”
“Is he related to the person that we just helped?” It was Harley who answered yes. “I see. I don’t really, but I’m beginning to understand. This man, whoever he is, wants us to use his, for lack of a better term, treasures to help fund the helping of people get out of bad situations. Is that about right?” Harley nodded.
“His name isn’t important.” She said that it might be. But Harley again said that he didn’t want his name associated so that no one tried to name things for him. “Okay now?”
“Yes. Okay, you’ve given me the pre-information. Tell me what he has to say.” Selma told her about the man and his treasures and where they were. Before she could change her mind, the three of them went looking for one of them in the basement. She found it before Ayden got home and was looking for the second one after dinner. They were making it a family project.
The first one was nothing more than a leather bag full of silverware. It was beautifully decorated, and he had asked that they sell it for something for the charity. By the time they were able to find a few more items, Ayden had said that they’d have to make sure that no one claimed the money from it. That is just what the man didn’t want to happen.
“He’s related to Donnie.” Oh well, that made things different. She could understand now why he didn’t want anyone to know. After doing a little digging, the man who had lived here when the first part of the house was built had been the great too many to count grandfather of Donnie, and he was almost as bad as his grandson back when he’d been alive. That was why he wanted to make amends. Because he’d been a bastard all his life as well.
“I don’t know that we can do this without causing trouble.” She didn’t want things to come back and bite them in the ass, so they contacted an attorney to help them out. As it was now, they had thousands of dollars worth of silver, gold, and gems that looked to be diamonds. After consulting the man, it was discovered that he’d stolen the stuff in the house before he’d died.
“This is more and more complicated. It’s stolen goods, and until we find the rightful owner, then we can’t use them. You have to see where this would get us into trouble.” Selma told them that he seemed like a nice man. “Of course, he does now. He’s making amends, like he said. I would imagine that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree when it comes to Donnie and his distant relatives.”
“I’m so sorry. He was so nice to me.” Ayden asked her if any of the ghosts were mean to her, and it took Harley to get her to tell the truth. “What do you do to them when they get nasty with you?”
Her daughter had two bruises on her shoulder and one on her back from one of the ghosts. It was frightening for her to think of her child as being hurt by the dead, but Selma said she was handling it by sending them away. She told them that Harley was there to protect her, and that was when she found out that while she couldn’t see the ghosts, she was intimidating enough that she could send them away when they didn’t realize she wasn’t supposed to be able to do that. It was in their mind that she could, and they believed her.
Putting all the things in a box in the garage, they decided that they weren’t going to look for any more of them until they heard from an attorney. The things weren’t bothering anyone where they were, and the man was just going to have to get over the fact that he couldn’t help, for now, at least. They were doing the best they could right now in figuring things out. Even Selma seemed to be a little upset that the things were to be used to help the people being displaced.
“I wanted to help. I guess I’m not as useful as I thought we’d be.” Summer asked her what she meant. “I want to be able to help the people like we were when Gilbert was around. I mean, wouldn’t it have been nice to be able to start over in a new place? I know we might not have met Dad in the process, but you guys are doing so much, and me and Harley want to be a part of it.”
“You can.” She asked her how. “You’ll need to help me with the children. I know what you guys are thinking and doing, but I don’t know other kids. They might trust you more if you were to find out they needed help. You do understand that we’re going to be working with children, too, to get them in a better place. We might not be able to send them away like we can the parents, but we can get them help if they’re not having a good home life. And sometimes, that might even mean that they need food or some help with bills. You guys are going to be our ears and eyes on that.”
“You think so?” Ayden told their daughters that he knew so. “I’ve been keeping an eye on this little boy at school. I mean, his parents are wolves and all, but they don’t treat him right.” Ayden asked what she had seen. “He’s supposed to be getting hurt when he plays in the schoolyard. But he’s so sore all the time. All he does is sit on the bench and wait for us to go back inside. Then he has no food for his meals either. Harley and I have been packing him things that he could put in his cubie hole, but it’s not enough on account of him having a little brother at home, too.”
“What’s his last name?” Summer hadn’t realized that Lica and Brandy would need to know this because they were in charge of the pack, and if a child was being abused, he would see to it that he was in a better position to be cared for. As soon as he had the last name, Ayden changed the subject, and she knew he was talking to his older brother. “You guys have any ideas on how we can make it so that less kids go hungry? We’re trying to get more jobs for people, but it’s been difficult to get things moving. Brandy had three offers of people coming to put in places to work. But with the mayor having his own crises, it’s been stalled.”
The four of them talked throughout dinner and clean up. They did have a cook, but tonight was his night off, and they were having dinner on the grill. It was very cold out, with it only being a few days until Christmas, but it was nice to have a nice hotdog with potato salad for dinner.
“Hello, the house.” Lica showed up about the time they were having graham cracker applesauce cake for dessert. “I’ve just been out and about in the pack, and I was thinking that I need you girls to help me with a few projects. Not just with what you told your dad but more things like that. Are kids getting enough food at school and home? Do they have the supplies that they need to get their work done or even started? Things that would make it easier for the kids to be able to study and do better in school.”
“No one has any supplies but us, and we share.” Lica told them that there was money to supply supplies for the kids in the classroom. “They’re not getting them then.” Harley looked at her sister, and when she nodded, she looked at Lica. “The teacher we have has a new car. I heard her telling someone that she got it with the supply money because no one ever checks to see if they use it for. And she said that she has her kids in her classroom not saying anything, or she’ll give them failing grades. I don’t care if I get failing grades. I want them to have what Selma and I have all the time.”
“What about the lunch program? Is it working?” Harley said that as far as she knew, everyone had to bring their lunches because there was nothing to cook. “Are you saying that there aren’t any hot meals at the pack house?”
“There isn’t even any cold food. And the milk that they give us when it’s break time is warm and yucky. Selma and me, we bring in what we can, but it’s not enough.” He asked them why they didn’t say anything earlier. “I’m not a wolf, and I didn’t know that stuff was around.”
“Okay, that’s my problem. Thank you. I’ll look into this tomorrow.” Selma asked him why he wasn’t looking into it tonight. “The school isn’t open.”
“So? That would be the best time if you asked me. There isn’t going to be anyone asking you what you’re doing there if they—if they know you’re coming, we’ll suddenly have hot food and stuff. You need to have a look around—don’t you know how to be sneaky? Sheesh, Uncle Lica, even as a kid, I know that people will only let you see what they want you to see if they know that you’re coming.” He asked her when she’d gotten so smart. All she did was roll her eyes at him, and it made her laugh hard. “The teacher who has the new car doesn’t even come in until lunchtime. Then she sits around, making us read a book until it’s time to go home. There are other teachers too. Mrs. Solo teaches math, and she’s only teaching us stuff like one plus one. It’s so easy, but she said it’s because she doesn’t want to waste her time grading papers and hearing how her students are failing. Also, there is a Mr. Breman. He’s…you know what? All the teachers need a good swift kick in the butt. We’re only doing well in class because we were taught before coming here. It’s just too boring for us, and we’re not even the smartest kids in the class.”
“Why didn’t someone say something before?” She asked him if some kid came to him that wasn’t related to him would he believe him if he said that the classes are too easy? “You might be right on that, too. Maybe I should have come to you guys earlier. I just heard that the classes were doing really well, and I never thought to have a look around.”
“On account of you just hearing what they wanted you to hear.” Lica looked at his brother and then at her. “You don’t have to believe us or not, Uncle Lica, but I want you to know that I’m not going to get into college knowing every day that one plus one is two.”
“No, I don’t suppose you will.” He laughed. “All right. I’ll go over there tonight. What is it that I’m looking for? You said all the teachers, but going over there on a Sunday night, what do you want me to look for?”
They handed him a list. Like at some point, they expected him to be able to get his head out of his bottom, not her words, and get this taken care of. In addition to the teachers’ names on the list, there was the breakfast program, lunch programs as well as a couple of other things that she’d not heard mentioned. They had a list of after-school projects that had been left undone, as well as some things that the school kids did for the community that hadn’t been touched in over five years. Her little girls had been busy.
“The school nurse is a joke. She’s not been there since we’ve been there, and when one of the kids is hurt on the playground, they’re told to not say anything, or they’ll fail them. They have a real prison-like thing going on if you ask me.” Lica laughed, but not for long. Harley took him to task. “You might think this is funny, but without good teachers and food, some of the kids are really falling behind. There is this one kid in the class, his name is Buck, the teachers stand him in the corner from the time he gets there until it’s time to leave. It’s because he wanted them to let him go to the library. And don’t even get me started on the ‘library.’ There isn’t a book there that is younger than me. And a lot of what mom calls smut books for the teachers. Also, there is a really expensive coffee machine in there that the teachers all use. I hate to say this, Uncle Lica, but I’m not very proud of you.”
She thought that it hurt him to the core to be told that, especially from Harley. Selma agreed with her sister, but the words had come from Harley, who rarely had anything to say about anything. As he was gathering up the things that they’d given him, it was Ayden who went to the school with him. He said that he was going to ask Harley to be his second in things like this, but he was afraid of disappointing her again.
Lica would take care of this if only to get back in the good graces of her children. He looked crestfallen that he’d failed them so much. As soon as they were out the door, Lica and Ayden, the girls asked her if he was mad at them.
“No, not at you, but he is at himself. Like you pointed out, he was lacking in getting even the basics for the school taken care of. I think you did right in talking to him.” Selma asked if he’d tell on them for talking. “No, he’d never do that. He is a good man, but I think he was handed things that weren’t up to par as he’d been told they were. Yes, the school is doing well, but at what cost is it taking from the kids. No, he’s going to thank you for helping him soon. I’m betting that he’s feeling bad about it already for not thanking you before he left.”
At least, she hoped so. She would hate to have to go and tell him that he disappointed her too about her kids. She’d tell Brandy about it, and the man would have hell to pay.