Chapter 3
He pulled out of the parking lot of the motel and headed for the Interstate. The road had been cleared by the snowplows overnight and the roads looked like it had just rained. Lara was quiet as he headed back to Utica.
After he had taken the exit ramp he asked Lara to give him directions to her house. She had him drive through Poland and showed him a road on the outskirts of town where she lived. He pulled in front of the house and stopped. There was no other car in front of the house or in the driveway.
Lara sat with her hands in her lap and had a terrified look on her face, "Come on Lara. I know this isn't pleasant but it has to be done. You didn't do anything wrong so don't go beating yourself up for it."
Roger got out of the truck and walked around to her side. He opened the door and let her out. As they walked up the sidewalk he saw a pretty woman standing on the porch crying. As Lara got close the woman ran down to meet her and threw her arms around her and kissed her and cried harder.
"Lara, why did you run away? I've been worried sick about you."
"Mrs. Barback, can we go inside? I don't think we should talk about this out here."
Barbara looked at him and then turned with her arm around her daughter and walked into the house. She sat down with Lara on the couch and motioned for him to sit in a chair opposite them.
"Where's Henry?" he asked.
She looked at him strangely, wondering how he knew about Henry. She looked at Lara searching for a sign of what was happening.
"Henry went to the store. He had to pick up a few things. Why do you ask about him?"
Roger looked at Lara, "Tell your mother why you ran away from home. Don't leave anything out."
Lara told her the whole story adding a few things that she hadn't told Roger about. Barbara got a look on her face of shock, which quickly turned to anger and then to rage.
"Why didn't you tell me? I would have thrown him out long ago. I would never have allowed something like that to happen to you."
Barbara held her daughter and they both cried for a long time. After they had calmed down a little she turned to him.
"Thank you for bringing my daughter home safely. I was out of my mind worrying about her."
"What about Henry?" he asked.
"He's gone. If he ever comes around here again I'll have him thrown in jail."
"Lara tells me that he can get violent at times."
She looked down at the floor and nodded her head slowly. The front door opened and A man walked in with clothes on that had been worn several days. He hadn't shaved in days either. He was at least fifty pounds over weight and it looked like the only exercise that he got with lifting beer cans. Under his arm was a case of beer.
"Well, the little bitch comes home. Where you been girl?"
Lara cowered on the couch with her mother's arm around her. Roger could see that both of them were terrified of him.
Henry noticed Roger sitting in the chair, "Who the hell are you, her boyfriend?"
Barbara jumped up and ran at Henry, "You son-of-a-bitch he brought her home. She told me about you trying to fondle her, that's why she ran away. Get out now or I'm calling the police."
Henry pushed her away from him and took the beer into the kitchen. When he came back he looked at each of them menacingly.
"Lying little bitch. I never laid a hand on you. Maybe you're trying to cover for your boyfriend here. Did you two have fun last night?"
Barbara ran at him again and he hit her in the back of the head and she fell on to the couch on top of Lara.
Roger stood up, "I don't think that you'd better hit her again. If I were you, I'd pack my things and get out of here before Lara's mother calls the police. I guess you've heard what inmates do to child molesters."
Henry glared at him, "You troublemaker. How about I tear your head off."
Roger smiled at him, which made Henry madder, "How about we talk about this outside. You're scaring the ladies."
Henry looked at Lara and her mother and sneered. Roger walked to the door and opened it. He saw that Henry was going to follow him and he walked outside.
As he walked down the sidewalk, he heard Henry running up behind him. He stepped out of the way at the last minute and Henry went running past him, struggling to remain on his feet.
"You think you're funny. I'm going to make you sorry you ever put your nose into something that don't concern you."
Roger held up his hand, "I don't think that you really want to do this. Why don't you just get your things and get out of here?"
Henry ran at him. Roger sidestepped his charge and hit him in the back as you was propelled down the sidewalk. Henry ran at him again with the same result. A third try netted him the same treatment except this time he landed on his knees. The man shook his head and picked up a brick from the edging next to the sidewalk and got to his feet. He slowly approached Roger searching for an opening so that he could slam the brick into Roger's head.
"I think you'd better put that brick down. I forgot to tell you that I'm a black belt in karate. If you attack me with that brick I have the right to use whatever force I feel is necessary to protect myself."
Henry looked at him thinking that he was telling him a lie. Slowly it dawned on him that Roger was telling him the truth. He hadn't laid a hand on him yet and he had two banged up knees to show for his efforts so far. He dropped the brick, still looking at Roger, hoping for an opening.
"Let it be Henry. I'll have Barbara get your things and set them on the porch. If you ever come around here bothering either of them again, I'm sure that Barbara will call the cops. Remember what I told you about what happens to child molesters in prison."
Roger walked back into the house carefully. He kept an eye on Henry until he was in the house.
"Barbara, get all of Henry's things and put them on the porch. He's going to be moving out."
Lara broke into a big grin and ran to her mother's bedroom and started throwing Henry's things on the floor. Barbara went to the kitchen and got several trash bags and started throwing his things into the trash bags. She took them on the front porch and dropped them. Henry was standing on the lawn glaring at her.
When she had put the last of his things on the porch she told him to get away from her and Lara and that she would call the cops if he ever came around her again. Henry took a long time to load his things in the car. He watched the house as if he was trying to find a way back in.
When he pulled away in his old car Lara ran to him and threw her arms around his neck. She was squeezing so tight that he tried to pry her off of him but couldn't. Barbara came over and rescued him.
"I'm glad he's gone. I hope he stays gone. I hope he doesn't cause us any trouble."
"Do you have any idea where he'll go?"
"He'll probably go to his sister's place. She's an alcoholic and they'll just sit around all day and drink."
She invited him to sit down and have a cup of coffee, "No thanks. I'm about coffeed out. I would like to hang around a while and make sure that Henry doesn't come back."
He saw her get a relieved look on her face. She sat down next to Lara and put her arm around her daughter.
"Barbara, I know I don't have any right asking this, but why did you put up with Henry so long?"
"I was going with him for a week or so and we had an argument. He shoved me down the steps and I broke my leg. I couldn't work and the bills started to pile up and he moved in one day when I was at the doctor's. When I got home, he said that he was moving in to help me out. Like a fool I agreed. I thought that maybe the money would help me catch up on my bills."
"Did he give you any money?"
She laughed, "He gave me twenty dollars a couple of times. Mainly he used this place as his own personal bar. He works part-time as a forklift driver. He could have a full time job if he wanted it, but it would cut into his drinking time. If I had known that he wasn't going to help with the bills, I wouldn't have let him move in."
"How about Lara's father? Doesn't he pay child support?"
Barbara snorted, "He hasn't paid any child support in over five years. He's an airline pilot and he has to keep his girlfriends happy."
"In this day and age, the State takes a dim view of dead-beat dads. Why don't you go to court and force him to pay?"
"Like I said, he's an airline pilot. I'd have to hire someone to serve him the papers. With his schedule, it might be months before they caught up with him. By that time I would owe the person that I got to serve the papers more than I would get from him."
"I know that I'm asking some personal questions, but please bear with me. Lara told me that you needed Henry to take you to work because you don't have a car. How are you going to get to work now?"
"I'll try to find a ride with somebody that works at the hospital. I don't know if anybody from the hospital lives around here but I'll have to ask. I won't be able to afford a car for a few months yet."
"When's the next time you have to work?"
"I had to call in sick because of Lara. We work four tens and then off three days. I have the next three days off."
"How about you and Lara coming with me and we'll go into Utica?'
"What do you want to do?"
He smiled, "It's been almost three hours since Lara ate. I'm sure she's getting hungry."
Lara jumped up from the couch and ran and got her mother's coat,
Lara still hadn't taken her coat off. Barbara pressed him to find out
why he needed to go into Utica and he wouldn't tell her. Each time she
asked he turned and talked to Lara.