Stained Page 2

  “It was not necessary; there was nothing on the website. It was a false…” the attorney began.

  Eli stood up, and the school’s attorney stopped talking. Eli’s assistant, walked around the table handing out reports.

  “We had a forensic computer investigator look into these allegations. We found that they were in fact truths not lies. Open to page two and you’ll see Maddox Hines private file was in fact pulled up and posted on the school’s main web page. It was then deleted two hours later. But there was time for it to be posted on several Student’s social media pages. Open to pages three through twelve. They were deleted also. The password used to enter the school’s site is on page thirteen. I am sure we know who it belongs to. So here is what we are going to do, Maddox will be back in school tomorrow, he will be treated well. He will in fact graduate in May and you will drop all charges.”

  “He broke my son’s nose and then his father…” Richard senior began.

  “Shut up, Dick,” Brody growled, “My son is a minor, he has been through hell, and he comes to this fucking place only to be tormented by a couple of dicks!”

  “I did nothing!” Richard senior snapped, “I will not drop charges!”

  “Well I think you will once you and I have spoken, come with me,” Eli walked to the door, “Or we can do this here?”

  They left the room for a few minutes and returned.

  “You ready?” Eli smiled at the Hines crew. “We will see you in the morning, Dick.”

  Brody and Emma sat with Maddox at the table after the girls were in bed.

  “We want to give you the option of whether or not to return. You should look at this report so that you know what you may be up against. If you don’t feel that you can handle what kids may say to you, we want you to be honest with us, and we will hire a tutor,” Brody pushed the file across the table to Maddox.

  Maddox opened the file and began to read. The first part was all typical academic information. His test scores, grades, schedule and behavior report. Maddox had been in thirty physical altercations over the past thirty-six weeks he had attended school. The next page was notes written by the school psychologist. In his notes there were several different diagnosis for Maddox.

  Maddox chuckled, “Stockholm syndrome? I didn’t leave or try to because I feared for the safety of others. Not because I had any delusional need to stay with the pigs. Bipolar, not me either. Besides by definition, it sounds a lot like most teenagers going through hormone changes, no offense Mom, but girls are crazy emotional. Separation anxiety, the closest I had come to those feelings were when I was being cuffed and when Dad went to England to confront Uncle Bo. Oh and attachment disorder, attached to FUCKING WHAT?”

  “He has had enough, Brody,” Emma began to shake.

  “Fuck that I am just getting started,” Maddox grabbed the paper and continued to read, “Emotionally disturbed, that’s a fucking joke. Who the fuck isn’t emotionally disturbed? What a bunch of shit!”

  “Brody please,” Emma whispered choking back tears as Maddox sprung to his feet and paced the floor.

  “I was raised by a bunch of scum for fifteen and a half fucking years. I was beat and shoved in a fucking closet. Some piece of shit shoved fingers up my ass! I was starved and abused for all but the past eleven months of my life. So I hit a few douche bags who don’t know what the fucking word NO means, oh well the piece of shit deserved it. They are lucky to be breathing!” Maddox sat back down and opened the next page, “Sexual deviant, well no shit? But the funny thing is I’m a virgin by choice! I had ample opportunity to fuck any number of girls, even women, but I pushed them off me. Waking up to getting sucked off and saying no because it’s fucking dirty and I am a sexual deviant? Un. Fucking. Believable! Oh and a cutter, well no other mother fucker got cut I would say I am pretty well fucking adjusted considering. Fuck!” Maddox stood again and paced.

  “Maddox, I am so sorry,” Emma stood to hug him.

  “Not now, please. Not now,” Maddox walked out the door and paced back and forth in the lawn cursing.

  “Brody, do something he is hurting!” Emma began to sob.

  “He is finally breaking down, Em.” Brody hugged her.

  Maddox came storming in the door and froze when he saw Emma crying, “I am sorry it’s just…damn it. I know all that shit I lived in was wrong, I chose different. I chose! I had no one to be accountable to and I chose! This psychobabble bullshit is a fucking excuse for shit behavior. Shrinks preach it giving every damaged person an excuse for their shitbag decisions. I mean honest to God, it didn’t feel good to be abused. It felt good to read to the kids and let them escape the hell even if just for a fucking minute! It felt good to smile at them and make them forget all of that shit. But you give someone like me who…oh my God.” Maddox stopped and scrunched his eyes together.

  “What is it son?” Brody asked softly.

  “Fucking Elizabeth. I knew it wasn’t okay to be beat because of fucking Elizabeth,” Maddox’s body trembled slightly, and he looked at Brody. “She taught me that.”

  “She did,” Brody swallowed hard.

  “So why the fuck…damn it!” Maddox squatted down again and shook violently.

  “Some people don’t know any better Maddox. Some people think its normal behavior. Until someone shows them or tells them differently,” Emma knelt down in front of them. “Elizabeth, your mother and my sister, knew that. She was kidnapped at five years old. She knew the basic rights and wrongs.”

  “Why didn’t she get help? She drove to visit me and pay the pigs. She could have escaped!” Maddox stopped and looked up at Emma seeking answers.

  “I assume she was terrified, Maddox. She had a pretty perfect first five years of life. They could have told her anything. It is even possible that they told her my parents sold her. We really don’t know. What we do know is she loved you the best she could in the situation she was in. And we know she died trying to save you, she so loved you, Maddox,” Emma hugged him. “You chose because you were taught. Psychology isn’t bullshit. People however, can use whatever excuse they can get their hands on for poor behavior. You chose not to, that’s what a psychologist’s job is. They give the seeker an answer to why. It is then in their hands to decide if they change it or not. Unfortunately, most don’t. You Maddox, are so strong and smart, you chose right, and we are so proud of you.”

  “Mommy?” London cried walking in the room, “Maddox don’t be sad. It’s all better now right?” London hugged him tightly.

  “Yes London, I will be fine,” Maddox returned her hug.

  Brody sat on Maddox’s bed waiting for him to finish showering and trying to figure out what to say to him. Emma walked in and hugged him pulling his head into her embrace.

  “Thanks Love, I needed that,” he smiled gently and rubbed the side of his head against her chest as she held him and kissed the top of his head.

  “It will be okay,” Emma said softly.

  Maddox scowled and looked down as he entered his room and saw them.

  “You okay?”

  “Wonderful,” Maddox said as he walked in his closet and changed into his pajamas.

  “I will leave you two alone.”

  “So let's talk,” Brody patted the bed.

  “I feel like I have done enough of that tonight,” Maddox flipped on the computer and sat to look at the missing children’s database.

  “Maddox, maybe you need to stop doing this every night. It has to hurt like hell,” Brody stood next to him.

  “Most things do,” Maddox said expressionless as he scrolled through the page slowly.

  “Okay I get it,” Brody began.

  “No Dad, I don’t think you do. I watch you and her wrapped around each other all the time. Then I watch kids at school groping each other. Then I look at these pictures and think of what they have…what we have endured because of dirty desires,” Maddox sneered.

  “Maddox it’s different, so different. It’s not dirty desires with Emma, it’
s love. Wow Maddox, I think we need to have the sex talk,” Brody chuckled nervously.

  “No, I don’t think we do,” Maddox’s face turned red.

  “Maddox, you kissed Harper correct?” Brody asked. Maddox looked up at him and scowled, “Did that feel dirty?”

  “YES,” Maddox snapped, “No…I don’t know.”

  Brody pulled a chair up beside him, “Give me your attention for ten minutes Maddox, and then you can go through this again.”

  Maddox sat back and looked at him.

  “Between two consenting adults, two people who are both willing, sex is a beautiful thing. It’s not supposed to be impressed upon someone. Two people who make a commitment to care for each other, mind, body, and soul take pleasure in adoring each other’s…”

  “Okay, okay,” Maddox covered his ears as his face turned beet red.

  Brody smiled, “It bothered you that Emma and I were hugging?”

  “It bothered me that your head was squished into her tits on my bed in front of me,” Maddox said in disgust.

  “Emma knew I was struggling tonight. She hugged me, and I rested my head against her heart. Taking comfort in her act of love,” Brody explained, “Her heart just happens to be beneath her tits.”

  Maddox tried not to laugh, “I get it, fine, I get it.”

  “Maddox even before Emma, sex was enjoyable. Maybe not while being held captive and beat; you know what that’s not true. Your body responds to touch. It feels good to be touched. I was disgusted with myself when I saw the tapes. I should not have…it feels good to be touched, our bodies are built to enjoy the pleasure. In that way sometimes, our bodies defy our minds, and that can cause confusion. You spoke about girls coming into your room who eventually began touching you. Did you enjoy that?”

  “NO! How could I?” Maddox snapped

  “Okay but they craved you. They wanted to take comfort in you. They didn’t know any better. Their bodies betrayed them. Your mind tells you it’s dirty and that’s okay. They knew that they can receive enjoyment from that act. They didn’t know any better. Those girls, I pray to God have received counseling, Maddox because they may think that they were immoral because it was pleasurable at times. I almost guarantee that’s what Elizabeth thought. So you are on the complete opposite side of the spectrum.”

  “I heard them cry, Dad,” Maddox’s voice was barely a whisper, “In fear and in pain. I know what each sounds like. The cry of fear is a quivering in the throat, a low rumbling sound mixed with soft pleas. Pain is that times a million except it’s not quiet it’s loud and filled with horror. It’s still the quiver but the rumble is gone, and it’s like a fucking bomb is exploding in your ears and in your heart. It brings you to your knees in desperation, and you cover your ears hoping it stops for them and then selfishly you hope it stops for you,” Maddox’s eyes were closed tight as he slowly rocked himself back and forth, “The longer those cries went on the worse they sounded the longer they lasted. When the pain and horror sounds left, the cries of disgust or self-loathing began. They didn’t last that long. Then I would hear the pig shut the door and walk into the bathroom.”

  Brody was horrified, but made himself let Maddox talk. Maddox needed to get this shit out, he told himself.

  “One of the older girls used to go in the room when called. She didn’t cry out in fear or pain. She made low little moaning sounds. The pig didn’t stay in there long at all,” Maddox wiped his eyes and looked up at Brody, “I asked her if she was okay once and she scowled at me. The next time I asked her she looked at me in disgust. I avoided her at all costs. One night, the night Lucy was brought to the house, the pig was taking one of them in the room. Fucking dragging this girl by her hair. I saw the horror in that girl’s eyes, and I snapped. I ran at him and punched him until he let go of the girl’s hair and he grabbed his belt and beat me with it. He shoved me in the closet and locked me in. I was wild; I beat the door and screamed. I have no idea how the neighbors heard none of this! Lucy started screaming and then she stopped. I was so afraid he was hurting her. The older girl hit the door and hissed SHUT THE FUCK UP. I heard her trying to comfort Lucy she just kept repeating Shh Shh Shh over and over again, until Lucy stopped crying. Then I heard her telling Lucy that “If he takes you in there, don’t you cry. He likes that, and it hurts longer, don’t you cry, Lucy,” Maddox covered his ears and again closed his eyes, he brought is knees to his chest and continued

  “Shh, shhh, shhh. She said it over and over again. I don’t know how long I was in there but when I came out I was filthy. She opened the door when I was showering and put a towel on the sink and walked out. She came to my room that night; I had not eaten in days. She brought me bread and apples. We heard Lucy…I tried to open the door, but it was locked. She covered my mouth when I tried to scream and …Shh Shhh Shh…. I threw up everything I ate, and she fucking cleaned it up. She told me he was drunk, and he would pass out. After the pig unlocked the door she snuck out while he was in the bathroom. She got Lucy cleaned up and brought her into my room after he passed out. We all laid in my bed, and I read to them, the Velveteen Rabbit, why do I remember that?” he finally looked up at Brody.

  “Does she have a name?” Brody asked quietly.

  “She called herself Jane…Jane Doe. I found out she was sold by her family to the pig. She was not a virgin when she came. She put herself…God Dad, she was…I need to find her. She was a beautiful soul even though she did not think so. What she did…she vied for his attention. She said she liked it, she was the first one that came to me, and I told her no. She kept many nights quiet. But it made me just as sick. I need to find her,” Maddox stood up and walked to the computer.

  “Maddox it’s late. You have had a rough night,” Brody tried to stop him.

  “NO! I NEED TO FUCKING FIND HER!” Maddox yelled.

  “Maddox, you need to breathe and calm down,” Brody didn’t move out of his way.

  Maddox’s face was red and veins bulged in his neck. He did not get into bed he stared at Brody challenging him: angry and emotionally destroyed.

  “Maddox, it’s time for bed.”

  Maddox’s breaths began to hasten and sweat glistened on his brow. He clenched his jaw and his fists.

  “You pissed Maddox?” Brody crossed his arms over his chest taking a non-defensive stance.

  “I want to break something,” he growled.

  “I know the feeling,” Brody walked around him and pulled the covers down, “Get in bed, I will grab the IPad we will look together for ten minutes, then its lights out. You and I are getting up early in the morning and run. Tomorrow after school we hit the gym-- you and I are going to work out. Release some of this anger.”

  Brody left the room and walked into his bedroom, and Emma sat on the bed and quickly wiped her tears, “Come here Em, what all did you hear?”

  “Everything, Brody,” Emma sobbed quietly into his shirt, “God, what more is he hiding?”

  Brody hugged her and kissed her head, “I hope he will trust us enough to tell us eventually.”

  “You better go,” Emma wiped her face on his shirt, “Oh sorry.”

  He smiled, “That alright, love. Will you be alright?” he wiped her tears and kissed her on the nose she nodded her head yes, “Get some sleep?”

  “Yes, go take care of him.” Emma hugged him tight and stepped away. “He needs you more than I do right now, go.”

  Brody ran his hands through his hair and scrunched his eyes together, “Alright.”

  Maddox read the text message he received from Harper.

  Thinking about you, I hope ur alright…HA

  Maddox didn’t reply

  Maddox tell me you are okay, I saw the post…HA

  I am fine leave it alone Harper…MH

  I am sorry you are going through this again…HA

  What part of leave it alone do you not fucking get Harper, goodnight…MH

  He threw his phone on the floor and laid down.

  Maddox and Brody ran e
very morning before anyone else was out of bed and they hit the gym after school. Maddox always ended his time at a punching bag.

  Brody stood and watched him before walking to the front desk, “Do you offer private boxing lessons?”

  “Yes, we do, Mr. Hines. Would you like me to set that up for you?” the receptionist was nervous and fumbling trying to find the information for them behind the desk.

  “A phone number would be greatly appreciated. By the way I am just a normal guy like everyone else in here,” Brody smiled.

  “Thanks, it’s just…do you know who you are?” she laughed.

  “I do.”

  She handed him the paper with a name and number on it, “He is the best. He has not been taking on new clients, but I think he would make an exception.”

  Harper had few friends that truly knew her. She and her family had traveled since she could remember to faraway places helping to build communities in areas all over the world. Not just the typical construction of buildings, but village communities in impoverished areas.

  Her father Collin would send in teams that would secure the areas near cities run by drug lords and guerrilla armies. To places that women and children were brutalized every day by boys and men who knew no different in their way of life. When it was secured, the team would bring in some of those men and boys to help build up the complexes. Turning it into a safe place to walk outside their homes. Places they could receive medical attention. They learned to grow their own food, take care of their bodies, be taught to read and write. Little things that we all take for granted every day.

  Harper’s mother, Tessa¸ was a nurse practitioner. Tessa was in charge of the medical clinics ensuring that they were supplied and manned. She typically hand-picked three younger women to teach them all she knew. Wound care, immunizations, delivering children, amongst other medically necessary tasks. She also taught them how to take care of their homes, children, bodies and minds.

  It was truly a family business. Harper’s only living grandparents, John and Maggie, spent time with them. Maggie was also a nurse and John a farmer. They helped out everywhere. So did her aunts and uncles, cousins and some close family friends. These people did not spend nearly as much time as Harper’s immediate family did when they came to help, but when they did come; Harper enjoyed watching them give of themselves selflessly.