The Good Samaritan

Chapter 5: Pieces

The next morning I woke earlier than normal, feeling like my insides were in a knot. This morning's assembly, was going to put me in the spotlight, front and center. I didn't think I could deal with this sort of thing. I decided the first thing to do was to take a long bath to try and relax.

I've now been Vicky for a little over 3 weeks, and except for an occasional moment or two, I felt I was pretty well acclimated to my situation. Clothes and makeup were done to my choices, that didn't quite satisfy either mom or Vic. Though mom was surprised that my new style was a little more reserved than before the rape, but she probably felt that was normal, considering.

I was feeling better, but was still thinking that maybe mom had something I could take that might settle me down a bit more. Before she could answer me, the doorbell rang.

I was closer so I went to check who it was while mom was looking in her purse to see what she had I could take. Seeing it was Bobby through the peep hole, I opened the door. "Hi Bobby, what brings you here this morning?" And let him pass.

He smiled at me, "Well, my little ray of sunshine, I thought I would give you and your mom a ride to school, since we all will need to be there. Can't have my two favorite girls late for the big day."

As mom started to hand me something to take and some apple juice, mom says, "That's sweet of you Bobby. We're both nervous about this morning. Vicky needed something to settle her nerves." Showing him what she was giving me.

He stopped her from giving me the pill, "I wouldn't advise the pill, you never know how they could affect the fetus. Better to have some soothing tea and crackers. And maybe a little meditation, chanting." He put an arm on each of us, "And I absolutely promise, that all either of you will have to do is just stand there and look beautiful. You'll have no problems. If you want to talk about anything, you can. That's your choice only!"

I felt dizzy for a second, then Bobby removed his arms. I shook my head, I felt relieved, mom said, "I don't know why I was so worried, I feel much better now."

We both thanked him for the compliments, then, "If you ladies are ready? Let's be on our way."

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The ride to school was quiet, I realized later that I had spent the time mumbling some line over and over again. I continued this right up till the time after the first period that we were entering the auditorium. Strangely, all my fears seemed as if they were nothing.

The other students were taking seats, when Bobby caught me at the door and guided me toward the stage. Still not feeling the nerves, I felt calm, 'I can do this I thought to myself!' I could feel Vic in the background, huddled in a corner with her knees drawn to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. I could almost hear her muttering, 'Not Me! Not Me!', repeatedly.

When we got to the steps beside the stage, I could see mom and the principal talking with a young woman, in her early twenties. She was dressed in Oregon state ranger greens. She had red hair closely between mine and mom's. She was very cute, though her ears had a slight point to them.

As quite a few parents took seats along the back of the room, Bobby introduced me to the lady ranger, "Vicky, I'd like you to meet a very good friend of mine. This is Miss Katherine McClintock. Katie is visiting from Eugene and we thought today would be easier with someone closer to your peers ages than from an older woman."

Katie had turned to me during the introductions. Taking her all in, she was an astounding beauty, at least in my eyes. I started to shake her hand, when she grabbed me in a big hug.

Whispering in my ear, "I'm so happy to meet you Vicky, though it had to be under these circumstances." Letting me go after a bit, she adds, "Our friend Bobby has told me great things about you!"

I'm not sure whose face was redder, mine or Bobby's, but right then, the only place I felt comfortable looking was at my shoes.

Thankfully, the principal chose that time to start the assembly. "Alright young ladies and gentlemen, and gathered parents." The noise level softened, but not enough, "OUIET, please!"

Finally, with hushed crowd, "Thank You! First, allow me to say that today's subject is both sensitive and disturbing for everyone in this room." She took a moment to let that settle in, then, "Actually, this should be important to any person of morals and honor."

After a pause, "A terrible crime has been done to one of your fellow students. A second crime took place when her school mates started spreading rumors without knowing all or any of the facts." Pause again, "We have two people here with us today, that are going to help you all to understand this horrific situation."

The room was utterly silent.

The principal says, "Detective Bobby Simone of the Tacoma Central Police Department, and Oregon State Ranger, Katie McClintock. Please welcome them!"

Bobby steps to the front of the stage, with a smile, "Hi kids, folks! Before I begin," he turned to me, "Vicky, would you like to say anything first?" Holding out his hand.

I start to shake my head, then decide, 'No, this is too important, this is for all girls in the same situation as me.' Instead, I nod and stepped up with Bobby.

I could hear whispers in the crowd, they were, "Slut... whore... trash... "

Bobby leans to me, whispers, "You're stronger than you know, you can do this!"

Looking back to mom, I can see the unconditional love there.

Softly, "Hi... " Someone yells out to speak louder, "Sorry, Hi." This time a little louder, but not enough so they had to stay quiet to hear me. "I know what people are saying and the rumors. I am pregnant, yes! But it is because I was raped... Raped by my step-father."

That caused a lot of side, whispering. I don't know how, but I kept it all in. Mom came forward to take me into the background, holding me.

The noise level rose until it was quite loud, when... Bang! It sounded almost like a gun went off. Looking up, Bobby is raising a book from the podium, and slams it down again with an even louder sound since everyone had gone quiet.

Bobby raised his voice, "I'm not much of a religious person, but the one thing I take to heart in my job and my life, is in the bible. It says, 'Let not judge thy neighbor, lest ye be judged.' Now how I take that to mean, unless you have the facts, it is best to keep your opinions to yourself."

After many moments, "It is estimated that one in five women and one in 71 men are raped in their lifetimes in the United States. Together, that's more than 23.6 million survivors. And a percentage of these horrendous acts are perpetrated by a family member."

Bobby went on, "My job is finding all the facts and weigh them and present to the DA's office so these people are put away to protect everyone from them. Fortunately, through some weird oddity of circumstance, Miss Tyler's attacker did not survive. Our findings were that she had been molested by her stepfather because being a little ahead of the rest of the girls her age."

Bobby then yielded to Katie.

It was like classic 'Good cop, bad cop'. Katie was just so nice about everything. She explained what constituted a rape and sexual offense, all done in terms that were appropriate for the childrens ages. Bobby was the shock and Katie was the awe, to inspire people to take better vigelence of their childrens lives.

Katie's final words were, "Let us leave you with this, your children are young, they will make errors, guide them and protect them, but let them be children. Adult life comes soon enough. Goddess bless you all."

Everyone started filing out. I left mom in Bobby's capable hands and joined some of my friends that had waited for me. The assembly had gone long, so it was decided to have a long lunch period.

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I was sitting in the cafeteria eating my lunch with a few (quasi) friends, you know the type, the people you hang with because no one else wants to be friends with them and you. A couple of girls from my classes come up to our table.

"Hi," says the first one. I look up at her. "I'm Clara, mind if we sit with you?" Most of my end of the table was empty anyway, so I waved my hand at the table. Clara says , "Thanks, the others are Cloe and Zoe. They're twins."

The twins looked nothing alike, different bone structure, hair and eyes. I said, "I'm Vicky, but you probably know that already after the assembly." We were all quiet for a bit, then, "You two don't look like twins." They started laughing.

Cloe said, "Yeah, we get that a lot!" Zoe nodded in agreement, her short bob of black hair with purple streaks through it adding animation to her movements. Cloe's hair was a dark strawberry blond with highlights, concidering the way it looked, I'd say it was natural.

Clara was a natural brunette color about the same length as Zoe's, where as Cloe's went down to the small of her back. All three were good looking girls, that was for sure. Though not as developed as me.

Clara spoke, "Vicky? We're really sorry about what happened to you. None of us can even imagine what that must have been like." The other two nodded. Zoe was making a motion to Clara. I looked at her, "Ah, yeah, and we're also sorry for starting those rumors, that was not fair to you!"

I said, "It's okay, really. But how did you hear about it"? Det. Bobby said that they kept it out of the news to protect me, because of my age."

Cloe says, "That's probably my fault. Our brother Marty has a friend that lives in your building. Between the three of us and them, the story got so screwed up. We should have kept our mouths shut." Zoe nodded again.

I looked carefully at the three of them, "I can understand how things can go awry." Boy, don't I. I put my hand out to each of them, and shook it, saying, "Hi, I'm Vicky, nice to me you!"

After shaking all of their hands, I add, "Does Zoe ever talk?"

They all started to giggle. When they settled down again, Clara, who seems to be the group leader says, "Only when she has something important to say!"

Looking at Zoe, she nods again and shrugs her shoulders. Shocking me, she says, "Friends!" as she comes and gives me a hug.

First bell rang. I get hugs from the other girls too. That is really nice. Comparing classes as we drop off our trays, we all have the same math class.

Now you would think that someone of my age, 60+, would have a waltz in 7th grade classes. Every student through time has asked their teachers, 'What use are these classses, it's not like we're going to need it after we are out of school', and let me just tell you right now, with the exception of math, not counting calculus and advanced theory is the only thing you need to be good at.

Fortunately for me, 7th grade math was good solid math. I wasn't a whiz or genius, but for me it was pretty easy. Today's class was giving my new friends' problems, ha ha, but after showing one of them how to look at it differently, they got the hang of it.

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Through the rest of the day, now that I had friends and could relax a little, everything became a little easier. At the end of the day as we headed out to the front of the school to the pick-up lane, we trade phone numbers and said our goodbyes.

As I walked down the sidewalk headed for home, Bobby pulled up to the curb a few blocks from school and offered a ride home. Greatly appreciating the gesture, I accepted.

The whole ride, only a few more blocks, Bobby kept me talking, asking questions and relating like information about himself. He was very entertaining. He's going to be a great catch for mom, if she can lock him down. Considering how often they talked, I'd almost say that he was in the bag.

End of Chapter 5

Thanks for Reading!

Goddess Blessings!

Mopar