Innocent
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Innocents Pt. 01 free porn video
Doreen left the knife behind, the one she kept under her bed within easy reach. It was a small paring knife, dull from many uses and one her mother never missed. As she threw her belongings into a cardboard box, Doreen wavered in her decision not to take the weapon with her.
She felt the knife’s pull, pictured it resting on the dingy carpet. But what if Luke saw it among her things and decided he didn’t want her living with him after all?
Besides, she told herself, Luke probably had plenty of knives at his house.
Now she sat in the passenger seat of his pickup, holding her cardboard box. Luke had tossed a garbage bag containing her clothes into the truck bed, and as he accelerated to over fifty miles an hour on the winding mountain road, Doreen kept her stare fixed on the side mirror, making sure the bag didn’t go sailing out onto the pavement.
Luke cleared his throat, drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. ‘We can go back to the hospital to see your mama later on today,’ he said.
Doreen gnawed on a ragged thumbnail. The garbage bag toppled on its side but stayed in the truck bed. ‘I don’t want to see her.’
Her uncle shifted in his seat. ‘I understand. I ain’t gonna make you see her if you don’t want to.’
‘I know she’s not going to get better.’ Doreen tasted blood and took her thumb from her lips. ‘The doctor told me she’s brain dead.’ When Luke didn’t say anything, she added, ‘I guess you’ll have to decide when to pull the plug.’
The mountains were dark. Doreen imagined them as sleeping giants, shoulder to shoulder, hemming in this godforsaken town. The early April sky threatened rain, and she wanted to get her bag out of the truck before the downpour began.
‘Tell you what, girlie,’ Luke said. His voice was a rumble low in his throat, and the sudden sound made her jump. ‘I’ll leave that decision up to you.’
Doreen looked over at her uncle. He stared ahead, his blue eyes unblinking. He was thirty-nine now, two years older than her mother. His brown hair curled over the collar of his coat, and his short beard had a lot of gray. He’d look younger if he shaved it, but it wasn’t her place to tell him that. He had a small paunch common in men his age, but the rest of his body was wiry.
‘Did the doctor talk to you about it when you came to pick me up at the hospital?’ she asked.
Luke glanced at her and held her gaze longer than was safe. ‘About turning off the life support?’ Doreen nodded, and he pressed his mouth into a hard line. ‘Yeah, he talked about it.’
She bowed her head, letting her hair shield her face. ‘He talked to me about it, too. I told him what I wanted. Now you tell him to go ahead and do it.’
***
Luke pulled into his gravel driveway and released a deep breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. The day felt more and more dreamlike to him as the hours passed. On the drive from the hospital, he’d looked over at his niece several times to convince himself she was actually sitting beside him in the truck.
It was a nurse who had called him early that morning with the news that his sister was in the ICU, and his niece was asking for him. He hadn’t known what to expect when he met the girl at the hospital, but there had been no tears, no outbursts on her part. She stayed in the waiting room while Luke went into the ICU to see his sister and discuss her condition with the doctor.
Chelsea was hooked up to monitors and machines breathing for her. The air in the room was stifling, filled with a cloying odor that lined Luke’s throat and nostrils.
‘Her brain was deprived of too much oxygen before the paramedics reached her,’ the doctor said. His words came out in a drawl, exposing him as a native of these parts. Not this town, but these mountains. ‘At this point, the machines can keep her alive, but she’ll be in a persistent vegetative state.’
Luke stared at Chelsea’s wasted body. Her face was sunken, and her lank hair, naturally dark, was dyed a peroxide blonde. If he’d passed her on the street, he wouldn’t have recognized her. He tried to speak but only made a pathetic croaking sound. Finally he managed, ‘So it was an overdose that did this to her?’
The doctor nodded. ‘She had large amounts of two opioid pain medications in her system. Either one of them could have been fatal in the dose she was taking, but together…’ He let his stare drift to the window. ‘We see it all too often in this hospital. A real shame.’
The doctor told him to talk things over with his niece.
Luke had driven Doreen to Chelsea’s house to get her things. Though he hadn’t spoken to Chelsea in years, he’d kept tabs on her whereabouts and knew she was still renting a dilapidated house ten miles east of Starkwood. As he sat in the truck and waited on Doreen, he noticed the trash in the yard and the broken window to the left of the front door. It made his stomach churn to imagine Doreen living there.
It took his niece just a few minutes to collect her belongings, and on her way out of the house, she double checked to make sure the door was locked. Then she got back in the truck and handed him the key to the place.
Now they sat in Luke’s driveway, and the girl made no move to get out of the vehicle. She was waiting on him. Luke realized she didn’t look a thing like Chelsea. Didn’t look like him, either. She must have taken after her father, whoever the hell he was. Her stick-straight hair was a lighter brown than her mother’s, and her eyes were the same color. She appeared haggard, far older than her eighteen years. Dark circles shadowed her eyes, and she was painfully thin, her skin stretched taut over her delicate wrist bones.
‘Well, let’s go on in,’ Luke told her. He retrieved her bag from the back of the truck and led her up the porch steps. She shifted the cardboard box from one arm to the other as he unlocked the front door. ‘It ain’t much, but you’ll have your own room. We can go to the market and pick up whatever food you like, and I can take you to the store for any clothes you need.’
Doreen nodded toward the bag slung over his shoulder. ‘I have clothes.’
He stepped inside the front room and placed her bag on the floor. ‘Have a seat,’ he said. ‘You want something to eat? I got bread and lunch meat, milk and eggs.’
‘Could I have a drink? My throat’s real dry.’ Doreen looked around the room, as if undecided where she should sit. She finally decided on a chair near the door. It was an uncomfortable thing, a piece of furniture Luke’s ex-wife had bought years ago and left behind when she moved out.
‘Sure,’ he said. ‘I got a few cans of pop, and water. It’s from the tap, but I bought one of those pitchers with a filter in it. Christ only knows what’s in the water around here.’
‘Just water, thanks.’ She sat clutching that cardboard box as if it would run away from her if she loosened her grip on it. From what Luke could see, it contained some battered paperbacks, a couple of notebooks, a hairbrush, and what looked to be an old doll sewn from cloth, its fabric stained and frayed. The sight of it hurt his stomach.
He went to the kitchen and poured her a glass of water. Doreen took it from him with another thank you, and he sat on the sofa to her right. Leaning forward, he clasped his hands together between his knees.
‘Okay, girlie, I figure you’ve been through enough, and I plan on giving you your space. But I want to get a few things straight.’ She was still gulping the water, but her eyes cut to him over the glass’s rim. ‘I’m happy to have you stay here, but I have a few rules. One, no stealing. Something of mine comes up missing, you’re out. Two, no drinking or drugs. Three, you will go to school regularly. You’re a senior now, right?’
Doreen nodded. ‘I’m supposed to graduate in June.’
‘If you’re living with me, you will graduate in June, no doubt about it, because that’s the only way you’ll ever get out of this go
ddamn place. And rule number four: you don’t bring anyone to this house without my permission. I don’t want to come home from work and find strangers here. Also, if you want to go somewhere, you let me know. Don’t just disappear and make me hunt you down. Now, you think those rules are fair?’
Doreen lowered the glass and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. ‘Yes.’
Luke nodded. ‘Good. I know you’re used to taking care of yourself, and I respect that. You’ve had to grow up fast, and I’m sure you want to be treated like an adult. I realize I ain’t been a part of your life for a long time.’ He rubbed at his beard, staring at the floor. ‘That’s my fault. After your grandma passed away, Chelsea couldn’t handle it. It was bad enough that our dad died when we were still in high school, but after we lost Mom, too…’ He paused and shook his head. ‘I know Chelsea started running around with some bad people. You might not remember, but I tried to come by your house when I found out your mama was using. She told me to mind my own fucking business. And then her boyfriend came swinging at me with a baseball bat.’
‘I remember him,’ Doreen said. ‘The meth head.’
Luke raised his head and locked eyes with his niece. ‘I should have done better by you, Doreen. Should have gone to social services and tried to get custody of you. But my marriage was on the rocks, and it seemed like it took all my energy trying to save it. In the end, I couldn’t, and I figured it was too late to help you. That’s a piss poor excuse, but it’s the only one I got. All I can do is help you now. You’re technically an adult, but I can give you a place to stay.’
The glass shook as she took another sip of water. ‘I appreciate you taking me in.’ Her voice was thick like she had a cold.
‘Least I can do. Now, I work security at the community college in Starkwood. I work rotating shifts there, so some days it’s eight to five, and sometimes I’m working the evening shift and weekends. If you have an emergency, you can call me at the college. Cell phone reception is shitty out here, so use the landline in the kitchen. I let my boss know what’s going on, and he gave me time off till next Monday. I’ll call your school and tell them you’ll be out until next week, unless you want to go back before then.’
For the first time, Doreen cracked a smile. ‘No, I don’t want to go back before then.’
‘I didn’t think so. Now I’ve got to head back to the hospital and talk to the doctor about your mama. You sure you don’t want to come with me?’ Doreen shook her head. ‘Okay then.’ Luke stood and beckoned to her. ‘I’ll show you your room. It’s small, but I think I can fit a desk in there so you can do your homework.’
He led her down a small hallway, pointing out the bathroom on the right. When they reached the door at the end of the hall, he flipped on the light and stepped aside so she could enter the room.
Doreen looked around at the wood paneled walls, then drifted to the single window overlooking the small back yard. ‘This is nice,’ she said. ‘Much nicer than my room at home.’
Luke leaned in the doorway, not wanting to intrude upon what was to be her space in the house. ‘This is your home now. And here’s an extra key for you.’ He dug into his jeans pocket and pulled out the house key. She hesitated before stepping toward him and holding out her hand. He dropped the key into it, and Doreen folded it into her palm. ‘Help yourself to anything you want in the kitchen. Is there anyone you want to call? A friend you want to talk to?’
Doreen sank onto the edge of the bed, still clutching the key, and shook her head. Luke noticed her ratty sneakers and made a mental note to buy her a new pair when they were in town. ‘You gonna be okay here by yourself while I’m gone?’ he asked.
She gave him another uneven smile. ‘I’ll be fine. I might lie down for a little while.’
‘You want me to pick anything up for you while I’m out?’
Doreen slipped her feet out of her shoes and placed the cardboard box on the bed beside her. ‘No, I’m good.’
‘I’ll be back soon,’ he said.
Heading back down the hall, Luke rolled his shoulders, trying to loosen the tension in his muscles. So far, the girl was making it easy on him. She didn’t require comforting or reassurance. He didn’t have to struggle for the right words to say to her. She might hate her situation, hate him, too, but she wouldn’t let on. She had smarts, another thing she must have inherited from her unknown father.
***
Doreen waited five minutes before leaving the bedroom. She walked down the hall and to the front room, parting the curtains to peer out the window and make sure he was gone. Several other houses dotted the street, clustered together along with Luke’s like so many in these unincorporated places in the mountain hollows.
She turned and took closer note of her surroundings. The sofa, an ugly moss green, came from her grandmother’s house. She remembered it from her childhood. How many times had she fallen asleep on that sofa, under the watchful eye of her grandma, while her mother worked as a checkout girl at the market?
For the first ten years of her life, Doreen remembered feeling safe, cared for. She was always well fed and clothed, kept clean and warm. She and her mother lived with her grandmother in Starkwood, and Doreen only vaguely noticed the absence of a father, like a missing tooth in the back of her mouth, a gap occasionally prodded and then passed over.
Doreen went to the sofa and plopped down on the sagging cushions. She pressed her face against the upholstery and inhaled. It no longer smelled of her grandmother’s house. It had a musty odor, like a damp basement. There was a recliner she figured Luke used all the time, and a boxy old television set. A clock on the wall ticked away the seconds. She was surprised at the cleanliness of the place, it wasn’t something she was used to.
The kitchen cabinets held a few pots and pans, some mismatched bowls, plates, and glasses, several coffee mugs. Doreen found a bottle of scotch in a cabinet next to the fridge and was tempted to take a swig, but she remembered Luke’s rules. Her uncle had no prescription pills, nothing stronger than aspirin and an over-the-counter sleep aid. She wondered if he would mind if she swiped one of those.
His bedroom was across the hall from the bathroom. The door was open a crack, and she nudged it with her foot so she could get a better look inside. She swept her gaze over the unmade bed, the pair of jeans discarded on the floor. A book whose title she couldn’t make out rested on the nightstand. From what she could see, there was no evidence of a girlfriend, and a wave of relief swept over her.
The bathroom was small and clean, the tile discolored with age. At some point, Luke had moved all of his toiletries to one side of the counter to make room for hers. Only one toothbrush in the holder. She studied his razor, the brand of deodorant he used, his mouthwash and toothpaste.
She vaguely remembered his ex-wife, Kayla. Both Chelsea and Doreen’s grandma called the woman a stuck-up bitch when Luke wasn’t around. Doreen could only recall her long blonde hair, the way her jeans hugged her hips. She never smiled and didn’t speak much when she and Luke visited. Resentment pricked Doreen’s insides when she thought of Luke choosing that sour-faced snob over his own blood.
But he’d chosen Doreen now, and that had to count for something. Despite all that had happened, she was lucky. Lucky to have an uncle who wasn’t shooting dope, wasn’t in jail, wasn’t dead. An uncle who cared enough to take her in.
Doreen was thankful she’d turned eighteen last month. She knew if she were still a minor and had no one to take her in, she could have ended up like her friend Lorna, whose mom was arrested last year for illegal possession of a controlled substance and solicitation of a cop.
One day Lorna was at school, and the next day she wasn
‘t. Word spread fast about what happened to her mom, but Lorna fell through the cracks, shuffled around various foster homes. A few months ago, Doreen got a call from her. ‘This is fucking horrible, Doreen,’ Lorna said, raising her voice to be heard over shouting in the background. It sounded like she was in a room with a dozen small children. ‘I hate my mom, but I’d go back to live with her in a second. I’d take the pill heads and pimps over this. Whatever happens, don’t let them take you away and put you in foster care.’
Doreen drifted back to her new bedroom and closed the door. It was raining, a steady drumming against the windowpane. The sound soothed her, and she thought she might be able to sleep. She climbed beneath the bedspread, between clean sheets.
Her body relaxed against the mattress, and as she stared at the ceiling, she cast her mind back to her childhood, before Luke married Kayla. He used to visit her mom and grandmother, bringing little gifts, offering his family whatever extra money he had. Doreen remembered that he brought her a chocolate bar that weighed a pound. Her grandma took it from her and rationed out the chocolate squares each day so Doreen wouldn’t make herself sick.
She didn’t think she’d ever consider this her room, her home. Aside from the few belongings she’d brought here, everything around her was loaned out, granted with conditions.
She dozed, lulled by the rain striking the roof, but each unfamiliar sound the house made drew her from sleep. A small digital clock on the dresser told her it was half past one. Doreen wondered if Luke had already made the decision to end her mother’s life. Or was her mother still trapped in limbo, anchored to this world by machines that breathed for her?
***
Luke’s eyes felt gritty, like someone had thrown sand in them. He lowered his head, shrugging off the rain as he walked to his truck in the hospital parking lot. The smell from Chelsea’s room in the ICU still clung to his clothes, and he wondered if he would ever get it out of his coat.
The doctor appeared relieved that Luke chose not to drag out Chelsea’s poor excuse for an existence any longer than necessary. ‘You and your niece are making the right decision, Mr. Cutler,’ he told Luke.
Still, as Luke stood next to his sister’s bed and held her limp fingers in his own while the doctor disconnected the machines, his shoulders heaved with sobs.
The doctor checked for vital signs and then told Luke, ‘She’s gone.’
Luke wiped his face on his sleeve and took a deep breath. He gave his sister’s hand a final squeeze and then released her. The Chelsea he’d known had died years ago, and he didn’t want to linger in that room with her body, that bleak reminder of the stranger she’d become.
The rest of the afternoon was a blur, spent filling out paperwork and deciding on a funeral home. He thought of the paltry sum in his savings account. Would it be enough to cover a simple cremation? He certainly couldn’t afford a burial. The Starkwood Funeral Home director assured him that they could discuss the details the following day.
Now he drove his Ford F-150 back toward Belmont, glad to be leaving the Starkwood town limits. He made the twenty-minute commute from Belmont to Starkwood almost every day and still found himself marveling at the contrast between the two places. Starkwood was not a bustling town, but it had schools, a community college, hospital, a couple of banks, and a grocery store. Luke had grown up there, and every street held memories for him. Belmont was an unincorporated community in a small hollow visible as a blur to travelers on the interstate, and it made Starkwood look like a metropolis.
It would have been more convenient for him to find a place to rent in Starkwood, but he’d lived out in Belmont since he and Kayla got married over ten years ago. She’d claimed rent was cheaper there than in the town, but Luke had a feeling Kayla wanted to put some distance between him and his family. She’d told him on more than one occasion that his mother interfered in their marriage, and while Luke didn’t agree, he let Kayla have her way. He’d always let her have her way, and she still ended up leaving him.
Angelica
- 11.08.2022
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