The Truth Shall Set Us Free
"Your father saved a young woman's life that night." She looked him in the eye and spoke directly to her husband. A rare
occurrence between these two. "Your father is a hero. Not only did he rescue that young woman from being killed and took her place with the thugs who were doing it, but he gave her the keys to his car to insure her escape. They beat you nearly to death, Garrett." Her eyes watering as she remembered her terror the moment she saw him lying on that hospital bed, with his face swollen to the size of a pumpkin covered in bandages.
"Yeah, but I asked them to save you the last shot." He teased lightly.
"Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you clear yourself?" Her voice filled with emotion.
"Would you have believed me?"
"I might...no, but I'm sorry about that."
"It's all right."
"No, it isn't. You deserved better."
"No, I didn't."
"No, you didn't. But I'm sorry anyway."
"Chloe said it had to go that way."
The others all exchanged glances and shrugged shoulders. Who's Chloe? Conrad mouthed to his sisters. They both shook their heads.
"I know, I know. Still. I didn't believe you'd been with a hooker. You've been a lot of things and pissed me off in ways that amaze me to this day, but I know you've never been with another woman."
"I only have eyes for you."
"You're lucky you still have eyes. I knew you were in trouble, and I never forgave myself not coming after you."
"Things had to go-"
"Yes, I know, the way they had to go in order for things to turn out they way they have. I know. If the story had been different, we never would have moved to Oregon, Chloe wouldn't have come to tell us about Sedona and -"
In impatient unison, all three Mason children said loudly, "Who's Chloe!?"
Garrett replied as though the answer were obvious, "The hooker."
"Oh." Jesse said, pretending it was.
"The hooker?" Conrad asked.
"Yes. She came to see us last year to thank your father for saving her life, and that's when I learned the truth. Well, had it confirmed. She's really lovely. She did my chart, Jessica, and I am a
Pisces; I think she's pretty good." For years, Jesse tried to convince her mom that while she was born on the cusp of Aquarius and Pisces, she was indeed a Pisces. True to Neptunian form, Claire created her own version of reality and preferred to consider herself an Aquarian.
"Right. Sure. The hooker. Chloe's the hooker. Sure, because she had to tell you the story that you wouldn't have believed from your husband seventeen years ago, but you believed from her today because she's Chloe. The hooker that Dad saved." Julia was not taking this well.
"Well, Julianna, when you say it like that it does sound a little odd."
"Ya, think, mom?"
"She's the one who convinced me about our being angels. She knew so much, and I just loved sitting with her talking abou-"
"How come I spent most of my childhood trying to tell you that, and one day a hooker shows up, tells you the same thing, and in one day you believe her?"
"Well, Conrad, she hardly just showed up. She had a divine appointment. Anyway, it took more than one day." Their mom's matter-of-fact tone, and new age vocabulary surprised the three siblings, and for several moments there was silence while everyone tried to process this information.
"So, why did you really leave Oregon? That's one of your questions, isn't it Jules?" Jesse asked.
Julia nodded, too dumbstruck to speak.
"She was cold." Garrett said looking tenderly at his wife.
"He needed a real garden." Claire said, looking back.
He was behind the counter in the store looking for a piece of wire in the hutch that was filled with junk boxes.
"Hello. Are you Mr. Mason?" Her thick Southern drawl was coated in sticky sweet honey, and you wanted her to talk just so you could listen to her pour out words like they were going into a fine crystal goblet. Her wispy, shoulder length blonde hair danced around her pretty face when she spoke. When he looked into her dark brown eyes, he felt like he'd been socked in the chest, and he caught his breath and coughed a little. Damned cancer sticks, he thought to himself.
"Yep, that's me. What can I do for you?" Garrett asked.
"Oh, God, I'm so glad you're...to finally meet you. Well, uh, actually..." She took a deep breath and thought she heard someone coming in the room, but no one did so she went on. "Let me start over. I'm a little nervous. Okay. Mr. Mason, do you remember me?" She tilted her head ever so slightly, and it reminded Garrett of a gesture his youngest daughter uses when she's nervous.
"Nope, 'fraid I don't. Should I?" There was something familiar about this young woman. Her eyes.
"Well, um, God, this is harder than I thought it would be." She took a breath. "Mr. Mason, I came here today to thank you for saving my life. Seventeen years ago on this very day, you rescued me from three men who was, er, were, beating me to death, and you tossed me your car keys. By the way, what ever possessed you to do that? Anyways, you saved my life that night, and everyday since that night I have prayed for you and your family, and hoped someday I'd get a chance to thank you. There. God, this was so hard. You okay, Mr. Mason, you wanta sit down or something?" Garrett's face turned ashen, and he felt light headed, so he kept his hand on the counter to steady himself.
They were going to kill her, and she knew it. She had tried to hustle them one time too many, and they dragged her outside, and no one would have known. She heard a man yelling something, and then he threw something at her. Keys. He had thrown her the keys to his car and told her to run away. She did.
As she fled down the alley, she realized she couldn't possibly figure out which car was his, and these guys would surely be coming for her any second. She circled back around the block to the direction from which he had come, shivering from the fear and cold. The bar on the corner had a small parking lot with only a dozen or so cars, and the only light came from the street lamp. Trembling, she began trying the locks on each car. On full alert listening for sounds of footsteps, her hands shook so badly she could barely get the key into the locks. She knew they would be coming for her, and swore under her breath that she should just get the hell out of here and forget the car. The door of the bar opened, and a couple staggered out and headed for the parking lot where Chloe struggled to find the right car. She dropped to the ground when she saw the pair coming toward her, and rolled underneath the nearest car, surprising herself by praying to God it wasn't theirs. On the other side of the lot, she heard drunken giggling, then an engine start, and breathed a sigh of relief. Not forgetting her manners even under these tense circumstances, she thanked God.
She waited until they left, and as she started to get back up, heard footsteps coming from the alley behind the lot. It's them! She panicked and quick rolled back under the car. She heard their voices swearing about her, and they got louder as they neared. She stopped breathing, but thought for sure they'd hear the pounding of her heart beating wildly against her chest as if trying to escape. As their footsteps pounded the pavement, she closed her eyes preparing to be finished off. Their voices trailed off with their footsteps as they continued down the alley. Still under the car, she flashed back to a memory that had been entombed along with her childhood, underneath the rubbish of consciousness in which her mind now resided. She put the keys between both of her hands and closed her eyes. A moment later, she rolled out from underneath the car, got to her feet and set her eyes on the green Impala a few cars over. Screeching out onto the wet pavement, she drove several blocks before slamming on the brakes yelling, "Shit, that guy!" She drove to the end of the block, rolled down the window, blaring the horn and screaming for all she was worth. "Call the police! Help! Someone call the police!" She screamed until a couple of guys came out from a nightclub and yelled at them to call the police because there was a man getting beat up back there in the alley next to Gus'. Then she took off. She was crying so hard she could barely see the road, her tears black from the mascara that came with them onto her second hand slut gown, as she called it.
Why had that man let her have his car? What an ....oh my God, she thought.
An angel. He was an angel. Her daddy must be lookin' out for her and sent that man. As her hysteria quieted down, her thoughts grew calmer and she realized her life had been spared, but for what reason she could not imagine. She prayed to God that man had not given his own for hers. She looked around the car and saw no physical evidence, but knew he was married, kids, probably a house in suburbia, maybe even a swimming pool. She thought about how she had called on her powers after all this time, and they weren't rusty at all. Not bad for a witch, huh mama? This made her cry again, softly this time, the emotions draining from her. She made a promise that night while she drove Garrett Mason's car.
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