Azalea

'Hi! I don't know if you remember me; Julie Suzanne. I used sit right behind you in Ms. Farr's class,' he sent.

'Oh yes, how have you been?' was the reply.

Billy then knew it was their father, checking up on Sarah's Facebook page. Ms. Farr had been the cafeteria worker; she had not taught any classes. To keep Sarah out of trouble, Billy "Julie" continued with an innocuous conversation. Then, "Julie" confessed that her boyfriend had been pressuring her to 'go all the way' and "Julie" just knew she wasn't ready for that.

What followed was several Biblical quotes, so Billy knew for certain it was their father, and not Sarah.

*

Jerry's face was twisted in rage

Blood. There was so much blood. Blood was everywhere.

*

At Christmas, Billy put a crisp one hundred dollar bill into a Christmas card and mailed it to Michelle. Inside the card he wrote to Michelle to please use the money to buy something for Sarah. Inside another card he sent Sarah a one hundred dollar bill and asked her to please use it to get something for Michelle.

'Can I keep the change?' Sarah asked on her Facebook page.

'I don't know. CAN you?' Billy typed.

'Whatever' was her response. 'Mom says she loves you.'

'Tell her I love her too,' Billy typed.

The only Christmas card Billy received was from Toni Delacroix, his boss at the soap factory. Inside was a bonus check for two hundred and fifty dollars.

Cheryl Goodwin's attitude had softened somewhat and she did invite Billy to her trailer for Christmas dinner. Billy was polite, but firm in his refusal of Cheryl's invitation.

Babette gifted Billy with a fifth of St. Elizabeth's whiskey and Billy spent Christmas Eve getting good and sloppy drunk. He spent Christmas day nursing the mother of all hangovers.

*

Jerry's face was twisted in rage.

Blood. There was so much blood. Blood was everywhere.

*

A & A Soaps had a representative of Thibodeaux Investments come out and talk with the employees about Four Oh One K investments. Toni like said for every dollar they like invested, she would like put in like fifty cents. So, like if you put in like ten percent? And that was like three hundred? A & A Soaps would like put in like one hundred and fifty dollars into the employee 4O1K Plan.

Billy smiled, seeing the look of irritation on the Thibodeaux Investments representative's face as Toni spoke. He did invest ten percent of his paycheck into the plan and Toni smiled as she pledged five percent.

Yes, her speech pattern was annoying, but Toni Delacroix was a genuinely good person, a genuinely good boss. Billy had actually been a little dismayed to find out that Toni Delacroix was a lesbian, and was married to a stunning Latin woman; he had a bit of a crush on the beautiful blonde.

Shortly after Sarah's eighteenth birthday, she posted on her Facebook page that she would be going to her senior prom with Mark Atchensen. Billy was shocked that Reverend Jerry Stevens would be allowing Sarah to go to the prom; he'd not been allowed to go to his own prom.

'Hi, it's Julie. I sat right behind you in Ms. Farr's class,' Billy typed.

'Ms. Farr was the cafeteria lunch lady,' Sarah replied.

Sarah told Billy that Mark was the son of one of their father's volunteers and his mother and father had donated nearly three thousand dollars to Holy Redemption Church. So, when Mark had asked her to go to the prom with him, their father was hardly in a position to refuse.

Her Facebook page soon had a few photographs of her in her prom dress. As Billy had expected, the dress was nearly gothic in style. Not an inch of flesh was exposed, except for Sarah's beautiful face and her small hands. There was a picture of Michelle and Sarah together; Sarah easily a half foot taller than Michelle. There was also one with their father. Billy smirked at the snow white teeth the Reverend sported; most likely dentures.

The Sunday morning after the prom, Sarah sent a message to Billy.

'Billy, I need you' she typed.

Billy happened to be on his computer when the message came through and immediately sent her his cell phone number. He remembered to include the area code with the message.

"Billy, he, he, oh God, Billy," Sarah sobbed piteously.

Through her sobs and snuffles, Billy got the story. Mark had been a real gentleman in front of Michelle and Jerry. He'd taken Sarah to the Olive Garden in Lowenburg for supper, and then from there, they'd gone to the prom.

Once at the prom, Mark began to drink. Once the alcohol entered Mark's body, he had changed. No longer polite and attentive, he became verbally abusive. When Sarah asked him to take her home, he had agreed. Then, in his car, Mark had driven them to the football field, the local make out spot. Sarah again demanded that he take her home, but instead Mark ripped the front of Sarah's dress, exposing her breasts.

Another schoolmate had seen the incident and tried to help. She hammered on the car window and Sarah tried to open the door, but Mark had locked her in.

The schoolmate's date, a young man that had graduated the year before, picked up a rock and smashed the car window. They managed to open the door and get Sarah out of there.

Once home, instead of being comforted, instead of escaping the horrible ordeal, Sarah's nightmare became even more horrific. Michelle wanted to call the police. Jerry slapped Michelle, quite hard, knocking her to the floor. Then he marched Sarah to her bedroom, calling her 'whore' and 'slut' as he dragged her, stumbling and staggering in her high heels.

In her bedroom, Jerry pulled Sarah's dress from her body. He grabbed and ripped her plain white cotton panties off, then shoved her to fall across her bed.

When she had clawed at his face, Jerry had punched Sarah, face twisted in rage. Then he had thrust himself into her.

Afterward, Michelle had helped the sobbing girl into a quite hot bubble bath. Then Michelle had stripped and climbed into the hot, soothing water with her daughter.

"Got this big old black eye; why I'm not in church," Sarah concluded her tale of woe.

Billy had already sprinted down the stairs to his car when Sarah told him of their father slapping Michelle, knocking Michelle to the floor. As he drove east on Highway 52, Billy ordered Sarah to pack what she had, what she wanted to take with her.

Billy wanted to push the accelerator to the floorboard. Billy wanted to push the automobile to its limits. But he knew he'd not escape the numerous speed traps on 52 or 467.

Outside of Stepping Stone, Louisiana, the connection was dropped. Billy dropped the cell phone into the cup holder and concentrated on driving.

Fortunately for Billy, fortunately for Sarah, when Billy screeched to a stop in front of the home, the Reverend Jerry Stevens was at the home of Mrs. Lowry. Mrs. Lowry was ninety six years old, and was in poor health. It was rumored that she was quite wealthy; her dearly departed husband having been in the stock market before a heart attack took him from Mrs. Lowry forty two years earlier.

Jerry was just making sure that Holy Redemption Church and Jerry Stevens got what part of Mrs. Lowry's estate he could siphon from her pocketbook. The large home had already been bequeathed to Susan Lowry, the unmarried daughter of Mrs. Lowry. But if there was anything left, Jerry wanted it for himself, for his church.

Billy's heart broke when he saw his sweet, beautiful sister, saw the split lip, the black eye. Billy hugged Sarah tightly and kissed her cheek softly.

Then he posed her in front of the family portrait they'd taken six years earlier. The portrait hung in the living room, was the first thing people saw when they entered the home through the front door. They saw a happy family.

Billy used his cell phone and took a few pictures of Sarah's face, making sure to get the portrait in the frame. He made sure to get the black eye, the split lip in the picture.

Billy did want to take Sarah to the police but he knew it would be an exercise in futility. For one thing, in the eyes of the police, it would be the word of an eighteen year old girl against a well-respected man, a man of God. The fact that she would be in the company of her brother, and it was already well known that there was much bad blood between Billy and the Reverend Stevens, the police would be even less inclined to believe Sarah's story. For another, the hot, soothing bubble bath had washed away any evidence of the abuse.

Billy did not want to believe it, but he had a sinking suspicion that Michelle had known that the bubble bath would wash Jerry's semen from Sarah's pussy. The sudsy water would wash away Jerry's pubic hair, any trace evidence.

Sarah left a simple note on the table that announced she would not stay in a house where her father felt it appropriate to fuck his own daughter and her mother looked the other way. Billy smiled at her wording; Reverend Jerry Stevens would be hard pressed to show that note to the police, would be hard pressed to adequately explain his own daughter's words. Without the note as evidence of Sarah leaving the house, Jerry would have to wait at least twenty four hours before reporting his daughter missing.

As they crossed the Arkansas-Louisiana border, Sarah sent a simple 'Good Bye' text message to Michelle's cell phone. Then she lowered the window and flung the cell phone out of the car.

For the first two hours, Sarah nervously checked the side mirror, checked the highway behind them. Occasionally, she would twist in her seat and glance through the rear window.

Billy drove in silence. He knew they were beyond Jerry's grasp; they were in Louisiana. But he also knew, Sarah had to accept that fact on her own, on her own time table.

"So, tell me. What's Kimble like?" Sarah asked.

"Honestly? It's a lot like Oldenburg. A lot of nothing," Billy admitted. "But it's got one giant, huge advantage. No Jerry."

"What kind of father does that?" Sarah snarled bitterly.

"You kidding, right?" Billy asked his little sister. "Daughter of the almighty Reverend Stevens and you don't know that? It's Biblical."

"What? Fucking your own, it is not," Sarah argued.

"Oh, yes ma'am, in Genesis. Story of Sodom and Here Today, Gone Tomorrow or something like that," Billy smiled.

Sarah actually giggled, "I think you mean 'Gomorrah,' huh?"

"Anyway, Abraham heard that God had the total red ass with Sodom and Gomorrah and planned to do some major casualties to the two towns. He was going to show them what PMS really looked like. And Abraham said, 'Hey, Big Guy in the Sky, I uh, listen up, suppose I can find, um, fifty guys ain't doing shit, minding they own bidness, you know, they cool, they cool, just hanging. You still going put the big hurt on them?' And God did sayeth unto Abraham, 'yeah, fine me fifty? I let them slide, I let your boys slide.'"

"God sounds like that, huh?" Sarah giggled.

"Well, uh, yeah, He all that," Billy smiled. "And Abraham, he just got keep jacking God, jacking Him down to just ten homeys ain't bothering nobody. And God sent two angels and Lot, Abraham's homeboy sees them and says, 'Yo, yo, yo, y'all need chill at my place, got some bad ass frankincense and myrrh, fuck y'all all up, know what I'm saying?' And the angels did say unto Lot, 'Shit yeah! Aw yeah, you my boy, you my boy!' But the booty rangers seen these fine ass boys with Lot and they come by and said, 'Uh, hey? Uh? Ain't going share? Tell you what, let us tap them fine ass mo-fos and we turn you on little our bitches.' And Lot did say unto them, 'Jesus! Look, here, here, take my two daughters, shit! They driving me crazy here. Oh, Daddy, I can't cook, I'm cramping here. No shit you cramping, you cramping my life here. Not a fucking moment of peace. Your worthless mother. Oh, don't worry about using a condom, Lot, I'm on the pill. The pill my ass she's on the pill. God damned pill ain't been invented another sixty seven hundred damned years, I'm on the pill. But shit, huh, condom ain't been invented another sixty five hundred years and it's not a hundred percent either. Why'd I do it? Huh? I tell you why I did it. Bitch could suck a brick through a papyrus reed, that's why. Oh! But of course? Minute ring's on her fat ass? Suck? Suck that? Oh good girls don't do that. What good girl, huh? When I met your ass you were dancing down at the Noah's Ark, you worthless skank. No, no, you pole smokers, you take these two daughters I got,'"

"Billy! That's, that's blasphemy!" Sarah laughed.

"Uh huh, but the boys in the 'hood sayeth unto Lot, 'Uh, no, no, think we pass on them girls, know what I'm saying? We still wanting corn hole them boys you hanging with.' And the angels, they had them enough this shit and blinded them punk asses. And then they did sayeth unto Lot, 'Uh, yo, yo, need do some real foot action, get your asses the fuck on out this place, feel me? And, uh, don't be looking back, uh 'cause, ain't none yo bidness, feel me?' And Lot and his two daughters and his wife, they did flee into the mountains. And they did hear some major shit going down, I mean, it's happening, it's happening and Lot's wife did say, Out on the road today, saw a Dead Head sticker on a Cadillac, little voice inside my head said don't look back you can never look back... But I must, I just must.' And she did look back and she did say 'Oh my! That is some heavy duty all time major shit! God is not fucking around! But, huh? I, I'm feeling kind of like the bottom of a bag of pretzels here...oh my!' And so it did come to pass that she did turn into a pillar of salt. And Lot did sayeth unto his wife, "Good! Bitch was bleeding my ass dry, hear me? You were bleeding my ass dry! Fifty three mites for a manicure? Who the hell spends fifty three mites on a manicure? And then, of course, can't do any damned housework, just had my nails done. Stay there, you pillar of salt,'" Billy said and put his blinker on to turn right.

"Why didn't we stop at that Stepping Stone Diner?" Sarah asked, looking over her shoulder at the cinderblock building.

"Because I love you, wouldn't feed that shit to a dog," Billy said. "There's a place in Alec, got the best ham and cheese sammiches ever stuffed in yo face."

"Oh," Sarah said.

"Anyway, Lot and his two daughters, they did find them a nice cave, not too ostentatious, not too pretentious, but you know, not too small, kind of what you'd call 'quaint' to settle down, chill," Billy continued with his narrative. "And the oldest daughter, her name was Arielle..."

"The Bible doesn't name them," Sarah argued.

"...and she was known as Airy. And she was called Airy with the cherry," Billy continued. "And Airy with the cherry sayeth unto the younger daughter, Terri, who was known as Terri with the cherry 'Hey! I'm sick and tired of being Airy with the cherry. And I know you sick of being Terri with the cherry. I mean, one more cock sucker asks me if I'm a rug muncher, I'm going go camel shit on they asses.' And Terri with the cherry did say unto her sister, 'Uh, yeah? Uh, look around? They's you, and they's me, and they's Dad.' And Airy with the cherry did sayeth unto her sister, Terri with the cherry, 'Uh, yeah, we going get him all kind fucked up, got a little sandalwood, a little E, then I'll shake it like a polaroid in his face, I'll tell him pound my ass like a veal cutlet, wax it like Rain Dance, use me like a two shekel myrrh whore.' And so it did come to pass that Airy with the cherry did do a couple lines of sandalwood with Lot. And he knew not that his own daughter, Airy did bounce on him like a pogo stick, did bump ugly unto him, did playeth hide the salami. And in the morning, Terri with the cherry did ask Airy 'So? How was it?'"

"Wait, just Airy, not Airy with the cherry?" Sarah asked, giggling.

"Uh? Just did the big nasty with Daddy? Airy with the cherry is now Airy that's right that's right I did it I did it.' And Terri with the cherry did ask Airy that's right that's right I did it I did it 'so? How was it?' And Airy that's right that's right I did it I did it did say unto her sister, Terri with the cherry 'Eh. It was all right. Did it like a bowling ball, all three holes. Dick kind of tasted like shit. 'Course, I did go ass to mouth; you might want do it other way, know what I'm saying? Go mouth to ass."

"Ew! Oh! God, I just vomited in my mouth. Billy, that's disgusting!" Sarah squealed.

"And Lot did wake and did say unto his daughters, 'What the fuck? You two sitting around running your damned mouths? None you know how maybe make a little breakfast here? Oh! That's right, you waiting for ME to do all the work. Miserable damned princesses. If your mother was here, I'd throw a bucket of water on her sodium chloride ass, melt that saline bitch right there, I swear to God.' But he did make them breakfast. And that night, Terri with the cherry did do a few lines of sandalwood with Lot, dropped a little E. And in the morning, Terri aw yeah how you like me now did say unto her sister Airy that's right that's right I did it I did it that really, I shaved my legs for this? And in time, it did come that Airy that's right that's right I did it I did it and Terri aw yeah how you like me now became heavy with child. And they left the cave and headed to Miami and as they came unto a town, some of the bitches ain't got nothing better do stand around talking shit 'bout other people did see this old man, miserable looking as all shit and they did say unto one another, 'Uh huh, uh huh, look at that Sugar Daddy with them two bitches young enough be his daughters, mm-hmm.' And Airy that's right that's right I did it I did it and Terri aw yeah how you like me now did say unto them bitches 'Uh huh, we got us a Sugar Daddy, uh huh, and, and, and, we got us a Salty Momma, so deal with that, bitches,'" Billy said.

"Uh huh," Sarah smirked.

"So, yeah, in dear old Dad's fucked up head? What he did to you? Perfectly right, perfectly acceptable; we just don't talk about it," Billy declared.

Walking into the small restaurant, Sarah clung onto Billy's arm. Billy looked down at Sarah as she glared around the restaurant, even glaring at the middle aged woman that told them to sit anywhere.

They ordered the sandwiches, ordered two cans of Coke, which was a treat for Sarah. The Reverend Jerry Stevens did believe that sodas were detrimental to healthy bodies and minds. Sarah had to agree, after she'd peeled the two tomato slices off of her sandwich, it was indeed the best ham and cheese sandwich she ever had stuffed in her face.

Once in the car again, Billy did ask Sarah about her behavior in the restaurant. At first she denied knowing anything about it.

"Sarah! Come on, huh? Glaring at everybody in there?" Billy laughed. "Hanging all over me?"

"Just marking my territory; how far 'til Kimble?" Sarah asked.

"Marking your territory? What's that mean, 'marking...'" Billy asked.

"Letting them know you're mine," Sarah declared, gripping his bicep.

"Letting them..." Billy repeated.

"Oh, I can learn to drive?" Sarah suddenly blurted out.

"Oh God, that's right. The Reverend Jerry Stevens doesn't believe that women should drive," Billy said. "Yeah, we'll work on that."

At the apartment, Sarah nodded in approval at Billy's furniture. She did, however insist that he was not sleeping on the love seat sofa.

"Billy! Really? My first night here and you going make me sleep by myself?" Sarah cried out.

"Sarah, huh? You're my sister," Billy stated.

"Exactly. We're brother and sister," Sarah said, poking him in his chest.

"And anyway," she said smugly, face millimeters from his. "We're only half-brother and sister."

They put Sarah's things into drawers, hung some things in Billy's neatly arranged closet. Sarah found many reasons to touch Billy, to rub against him, to hug him.

When he had lived at home, Sarah had loved Billy. He never doubted her love of him. But Sarah had never been one to physically demonstrate her love.