*Author's Note: Any persons engaging in any sexual acts are at least eighteen years of age.

Chapter 51

Paul smiled as he walked back to the car after dropping off the room key. Through the rear window, he could see that Cindy and Candy were sound asleep. He couldn't see Pam, but was sure that she too was sound asleep.

When he opened the car door, he saw Pam, curled up in Candy's lap, and yes, she was sound asleep.

"Hmm?" Cindy stirred slightly, then leaned against him.

"I love you so much," she murmured and was asleep again before he could respond.

Paul braked to let an ambulance scream past them. The ambulance slowed only slightly before turning into the wide driveway of University Medical Center.

Paul shuddered slightly. He remembered, fifteen years ago, riding in an ambulance. His mother wanted him to hold her hand as they raced to the same University Medical Center. He misted up slightly as he looked at the brown brick building.

Behind him, someone tapped a car horn and he snapped out of his reverie and pushed down on the accelerator.

----

"Caucasian female, name unknown, no ID, approximate age, eighteen years, severe trauma to head, chest, upper extremities, blood pressure unstable," the paramedic said as the two nurses ran outside to begin pulling the gurney toward the Emergency Triage area.

"Pupil constricted, non-responsive in right eye," the senior nurse said as she flashed the small light in Elaine's eye. "Left eye, oh Jesus Christ!"

The left eye socket was vacant; Bill's class ring had torn the cornea open. Repeated blows to that area of her face had ruptured the eyeball, and then caused it to burst.

"Honey stay with us," the nurse urged as Elaine again submerged into blackness.

"Help me," Elaine begged silently.

----

Ed Baggett smiled wearily as his son stomped into the house.

"Hey Bill, had a good time?" Ed asked.

"No," Bill said darkly.

The fact that his sister, his beautiful sister was in a seedy motel, fucking that scrawny little puke, Teddy Lemoine, was eating his guts alive.

"No?" Ed asked in surprise.

"No, Elaine was a total bitch all night, whining about stupid shit and Elizabeth and that little ass wipe, what's his name were all over each other, practically doing it right there in front of everybody," Bill said.

Ed pursed his lips; he did not like for his children to use profanity.

"Since I did not receive a phone call from Brother Dominick regarding Elizabeth's behavior," he said. "I sincerely doubt that Elizabeth and Teddy were acting out of line."

"Yeah, whatever," Bill said and took his jacket off.

"What the... What happened to your sleeve?" Ed asked, noticing that the sleeves, almost down to Bill's elbows, were dark red.

"What?" Bill asked, looking at his sleeves. "Beats the shit out of me."

He did remember hitting Elaine, giving her a much needed and much deserved attitude adjustment. He did not think that this might be the source of the blood.

"Son, that looks like blood," Ed said, standing and looking closer at the sleeves.

"Where the hell did that come from?" Bill asked, also looking at the sleeves.

"You didn't hit Elizabeth's boyfriend, did you?" Ed asked sharply.

No, but he should have. Just thinking about that little bastard entering Elizabeth's pussy, thrusting in and out of her hot, sweet, tight pussy made his blood boil. It also made his cock swell, thinking of her pussy, with it's dark curls and her sweet breasts, almost as big as Elaine's, and her sweet tight ass.

Her lips, so pouting and kissable; Bill thought of her lips sliding over his cock; he just knew she'd be a much better cocksucker than Elaine. And Elaine was a top-notch cocksucker. Right now, Teddy was probably pumping a load down Elizabeth's throat. Then he'd slap her, make her cry, then slap her again for crying and push her onto her back.

Teddy wouldn't use a condom; he didn't care if Elizabeth got knocked up with his bastard. As soon as Elizabeth's belly began to swell, Teddy would beat her for being stupid enough to get her pregnant, and then he'd dump her.

Bill's erection was painful as he thought of Elizabeth's belly all swollen, her tits filling with milk. He dangled the tuxedo jacket in front of himself.

"That's going to have to be dry-cleaned," Ed said.

Uh huh," Bill said and went upstairs to his room.

----

"Love you so much," Elizabeth repeated as Teddy drove toward Bender.

"Love you too," he assured her.

"I guess you think I'm a total slut, huh?" she teased and poked him in the ribs with her finger.

"No, not a 'Total' slut," he smiled and laughed as she gasped and slapped him.

"No, Baby, I don't think you're a slut," he assured her.

"Wonder what that ambulance was doing there," Elizabeth mused aloud.

"Don't know; that maid wasn't much help, huh?" Teddy said.

"Do you still love me?" Elizabeth asked, suddenly concerned.

"Yes, Baby, I still love you," he assured her.

"You better," she warned.

----

"Scan shows severe subdural hematoma," the doctor in residency said. "Any idea that she is?"

"No, and she's not responding," the nurse said.

"Well, by the time we get permission, she'll be dead," he said. "Prep her."

"Yes sir," she said, making sure to note that it was Dr. Charles Lapointe that had made the decision, should there be any legal repercussions later on.

Elaine would have been mortified as her blonde hair was shaved and more so as her skull was opened with a saw. Using irrigation and suction, Dr. Charles Lapointe removed the life-threatening blood clots, then crossed his fingers and hoped for the swelling to go down.

"Such a pretty girl," he said. "Honey, I hope you'll be all right."

The nurse looked at him oddly. Elaine did not look very pretty; the left side of her face was a mixture of swelling and indentures. Both eyes were blackened, her nose severely smashed.

"I see what WAS, not what IS," he told the nurse, sighed, them pulled his mask off.

"Call me if there's any increase in swelling, or if she comes to," Dr. Lapointe said and hastened off to answer a Code Blue page.

----

Cindy stood on tiptoes and kissed Paul good night. She let herself into the house and clutched the vase of flowers to her small chest.

"Oh, what lovely flowers," Emily Broussard said and Cindy shrieked in surprise, then laughed.

"He's the best," Cindy said and Emily smiled.

"Look, look," Cindy squealed and showed her mother the photographs of her and Paul, and her and Candy and Pam, and her and Paul and Candy and Pam.

"Quiet," her mother hissed, but smiled. "Your father's asleep."

"No, I'm not," Bill Broussard said. "You know I can't sleep unless you're in bed."

"Look, look," Cindy demanded.

Bill looked at the three photographs, shook his head sadly; his little girl was a young woman.

"No, those are for y'all," Cindy said. "I got my own."

"God, you're so beautiful," Bill said, kissed his daughter good night, then stumbled off to bed.

"You are growing more and more beautiful every day," Emily concurred, kissed her daughter good night, and followed her husband to their bedroom.

Alone in her bedroom, Cindy slipped out of the gown and draped it over the chair of her desk. She unhooked her strapless bra and let it fall to the floor. Shoes, garter belt and stockings also fell to the floor. She began to slide her thong panties down but turned and looked at herself in the mirror that hung on her closet door. She had to admit, she looked sexy.

Paul had certainly thought so.

Candy had thought so, and Pam did too.

Her pussy began to moisten at the thought of the four of them on that large bed. She'd sucked Paul's dick, and he'd put her on her knees and put his dick in her pussy from behind. She'd tasted Candy's pussy, licked and sucked at Candy's pussy. And she'd licked and sucked at Pam's pussy too. And sucked on Candy's nipples as well as Pam's nipples.

She'd been afraid that Candy and Pam would be repulsed, even call her a lesbian. But the three of them had all kissed good night and told one another that they loved each other.

And Paul had kissed her good night, and told her that he loved her, and that she was beautiful.

She turned off the light and fell into bed. She slipped her fingers inside of the waistband of her panties and began to rub her pussy lips, separating them, looking for her clitoris.

-----

Pam looked again at the pictures. Paul had bought her pictures of them together. Paul had bought her pictures of him and her, and of her and Candy and Cindy, and of him with her and Candy and Cindy. But the one of just her and him, he'd bought her three copies.

"One for your mom and one for Miss Bobbi and Mr. Jake,, and one for you," he said to her.

She looked again at the picture of her and Candy and Cindy, her two best friends.

Her lovers.

The door opened and Pam looked over her shoulder. Candy smiled and closed the door. She walked over to the bed and knelt down to say her prayers.

Pam turned off the desk lamp and joined Candy by the side of the bed.

"I love you," Candy whispered.

In answer, Pam leaned against Candy.

----

Carmen Simone jerked awake and looked at the grandfather clock.

Five twenty three in the morning. Just who did that girl think she was?

"Young lady, I will kill you," Carmen vowed.

Chapter 52

Cindy Jensen's lip curled up in anger. Who in the hell would be calling her at seven o'clock in the morning on a Sunday?

"What?" she hissed into the phone.

"Cindy?" the harsh voice snapped. "This is Carmen Simone, Elaine's mother."

Carmen's lip tightened in distaste. She did not like the haughty girl, thought Cindy Jensen was a bitch and thought her daughter had extremely poor judgment in friends.

"No, how would I know where she is?" Cindy answered, a little more civilly.

"Well, she hasn't come home yet, and I'm getting worried," Carmen said.

Cindy looked up Bill Baggett's phone number and gave it to Carmen.

----

Ed answered the phone after checking the caller ID box; his wife had been calling nearly non-stop, screaming, drunken rampages and pleas for forgiveness and promises of newfound love, depending on how drunk she was. He did not recognize the phone number.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Mr. Baggett?" Carmen asked, growing more frantic as each moment passed.

"Yes?" he answered.

"Mr. Baggett, this is Carmen Simone, Elaine's mother. Your son and my daughter went to the Sweetheart Dance last night," Carmen explained.

"Yes, yes, such a lovely girl," he said.

Bill groaned. Someone was pounding on his door, demanding that he open the door right now.

"Where the hell is Elaine?" Ed yelled when he opened the door.

"Shit, how the fuck should I know?" bill mumbled and scratched his balls.

Bill was startled wide-awake when Ed backhanded him across his profane lips.

"Elaine never made it home last night; her mother is worried sick," Ed snarled. "I'm going to ask you one more time, where is Elaine?"

"I don't know!" Bill protested.

"Well, what time did you bring her home?" Ed demanded.

"I didn't," Bill said. "I stopped at the motel to see where Elizabeth was..."

He would have smirked as Ed's face lost all color, but Ed was quick to recover.

"And when I got back to the car, she was gone, so I left," Bill finished.

"What motel?" Ed asked.

----

Carlos gave the caller what information he knew; some girl was in an automobile accident and staggered into the office, and they'd called an ambulance for her.

"UMC, the one in Lafayette," Carlos told the man.

"Thank you," Ed said and hung up.

He put on his robe and padded outside and looked at his son's car. The smudges of blood were visible on the passenger window.

He walked back inside and called the police.

----

"Still no change," the nurse said as Charles stuck his head in.

"Come on, sweetheart," he muttered.

The monitor showed a slight rise in her blood pressure, but it dipped down again.

"Might have an epidural hematoma," Dr. Moore house suggested as he looked at the chart.

"No sign of arterial damage," Dr. Lapointe mused.

"CAT Scan and MRI don't show any?" Dr. Moorehead asked.

"It may have developed post-op," Dr. Lapointe acquiesced.

"Clear it with Accounting," Dr. Moore house said.

"She'll die before those jackasses will give permission," Dr. Lapointe grimaced.

"Okay, I told you I was going to submit it, you told me you were going to submit it, we forgot," Dr. Moore house smiled.

"Good one, think it'll work?" Dr. Lapointe asked.

"No, but it'll keep us from being suspended," Dr. Moore house smiled.

"Swelling's going down, blood pressure's stabilizing," the nurse happily told Charles as he came into the ward.

"Oh, thank you, sweetheart," he said and squeezed Elaine's hand.

The blood pressure monitor shot up and Dr. Lapointe looked again at the girl's fingers.

"God damn!" he yelled. "The girl's got broken fingers and no one noticed?"

"Doctor, we were more concerned if she was going to live or not," the senior nurse tersely replied.

"You're right, I apologize," he said and asked the senior nurse to have x-rays done.

"Why you so quick to do what Dr. Lapointe want done?" Eddie asked Yolanda Garcia.

"'Cause when he's wrong, he admits it," she snapped. "Why you so quick to worry about what I do?"

----

"Wake up, get dressed," Ed snapped.

"God damn, come on, Dad," Bill grumbled.

"The police are on their way," Ed screamed into Bill's ear. "You killed Elaine, you son of a bitch!"

----

"On a Sunday?" Bob Robichaux grumbled as Marie quickly got into a pants suit.

"Hey, wish my clients would kill their girlfriends Monday through Friday," she joked tightly.

She paused and looked at the photographs on the table. Her step-son (she already thought of him as her step-son) and his three girlfriends beamed up at her. She shook her head slowly. According to Ed Baggett, her client, there was another eighteen year old, lying on a cold slab in the morgue in Lafayette.

"Objection," she said aloud. "Facts not in evidence."

----

Carmen numbly waited until eight o'clock, then woke Elise up.

"Come on," she said flatly. "We're going to get your sister."

"What?" Elise complained. "Why? Where is the big butt hole?"

"Hospital," Carmen said, still unable to comprehend it herself.

Elise scrambled into jeans and sweatshirt and followed Carmen out to the car.

"What happened? Was she in an accident?" Elise asked, upset but intrigued.

"I don't know," Carmen said. "Ed thinks she might be dead.

Carmen drove the forty miles on autopilot, numb to all external stimuli, including Elise's anguished sobs.

----

Paul stretched and groaned, then looked at the bedside clock. Nine thirteen. He had time to grab a shower, shave, then go to eleven o'clock Mass.

His erection was standing up proud as he thought of the girls and thought of what he'd like to do with them after Mass.

----He'd love to go down on them again. The three of them each had their own unique tastes and smells and he liked it. He'd like to have Candy suck his cock; Pam and Cindy had done that, but she had not. He'd like to have Pam squat over his erection; they'd run out of time before he had a chance to make love to her.

"Hey sport, just you and me for church this morning; Marie's down at the station," Bob muttered as Paul staggered down the hall to the bathroom.

"Why, what'd she do?" Paul teased.

"Nothing, smart ass," Bob smiled and sipped his coffee. "Client of hers."

----

Candy lightly kissed Pam's ear, then began tickling the smaller girl.

"Stop it," Pam giggled.

"Come on, time to get up; church today," Candy said.

"Whew, go brush your teeth!" Pam complained.

In answer Candy exhaled noisily and both she and Pam giggled.

Bobbi smiled as they bounded into the kitchen, ready for breakfast.

"I love my photographs," she said. "Thank you."

"Nun uh," Pam argued. "Thank Paul; he's the one bought them."

"Okay, I will," Bobbi smiled. "How you like your eggs?"

"Scrambled," Pam decided.

"Ooh, that's easy," Bobbi smiled.

"Um, poached, in a light hollandaise sauce," Candy said, affecting a haughty tone.

"Um, you're getting scrambled," Bobbi said and Candy stuck her tongue out at her mother.

"Hey!" Candy squealed as Bobbi popped her on her rear with the plastic spatula.

"What?" Pam giggled. "What'd she do?"

"She hit me!" Candy complained, rubbing her rear.

"Stick your tongue out at me again, see what happens," Bobbi playfully warned.

"Mmm," Jake said, sticking his tongue out at his wife.

"Careful, buddy," Bobbi threatened, holding up the spatula. "I'm not afraid to use this."

Jake laughed and sat down at the table. Looking at the photographs, his eyes began to water again.

"Baby, you're growing up to be such a beautiful young woman," he told Candy and blew his nose.

"Don't you start that again," Bobbi demanded as she put his plate in front of him.

----

Cindy Broussard pulled her robe on over her nude body and staggered into the bathroom. The water woke her up and woke her up to the fact that she had to pee. She prepared to shut of the taps and get out when she shrugged her shoulders, spread her legs apart, and peed standing up.

"Cindy, you nasty girl," she giggled as she strained to get the last few drops out.

"Boys do it all the time," she justified, then finished showering and got out.

Chapter 53

Bill Baggett was both embarrassed and enraged that the two police officers handcuffed him, right in front of Elizabeth. They read him his rights, as if he were a common criminal, then led him out to their squad car and made him get in the back. Two other police officers were taking pictures of his car.

"A lawyer will meet you down at the station," his dad said. "Keep your mouth shut, do what she tells you to do, you hear?"

"But I didn't do nothing!" Bill protested.

"Do you hear me?" Ed screamed. "Keep your mouth shut! Do what she tells you to do! Do you understand?"

"Yeah, yeah, all right," Bill whined.

And Elizabeth stood there in her robe, looking so beautiful, so perfect, so worried.

----

Carmen filled out the paperwork while Yolanda paged Dr. Charles Lapointe. The news that her daughter was still alive slowly seeped in and she finally allowed herself tears.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Lapointe," the young man smiled tiredly. "Well, I'm glad to finally have a name for her. Here's what I do know..."

Carmen listened without comprehending what the very young looking man was telling her. His long blonde hair and mustache and goatee were a distraction; he looked more like a thug than a doctor. His two earrings in his left earlobe didn't help her perception of him either. Finally, Yolanda guided them to the room.

"This is a joke, right?" Elise said as she looked at Elaine. "This has got to be a joke. That's not Elaine."

Her voice grew hysterical.

"That's not my sister! My sister's beautiful!" she screamed. "My sister doesn't look like that!"

"Be quiet!" Carmen demanded.

"But Mom," Elise sobbed. "That's not Elaine! That's not her! She doesn't look like that! Where's her hair?"

----

Teddy strutted into the kitchen and smirked at Matt, Jimmy, Billy and his dad.

"Uh huh," Billy laughed and clapped his hands. "Who's the man? Huh? Who's the man?"

:That's right, bitch," Teddy said

"She's a beautiful young lady," his father said, picking up the photograph of Elizabeth and Teddy.

"Yeah, she is," Teddy said, losing all swagger and bravado. "She really, really is.

"Yeah," Billy agreed, looking at the picture. "Too bad you're in the picture, screwing it all up."

"Shut up," Teddy snapped, forcing Billy, Matt, and Jimmy to laugh at him.

"Aw, don't worry," Matt said. "Next time, maybe you can wear the dress, okay?"
"Shut up, weenie," Teddy demanded.

"Boys, boys, May I remind y'all that y'all are getting ready to go to church?" their father said and looked again at the photograph.

----

Cindy looked around the church for Elaine, or for Bill Baggett. She didn't see them, nor did she see Ed Baggett or Carmen and Elise Simone.

It wasn't that Cindy was concerned for Elaine's well being; she just wanted some juicy gossip, some salacious tidbit. She wanted to hear that Elaine was grounded from now until Armageddon, or better yet, that Carmen had caught her and Bill having sex in the back seat of Bill's car.

Her mood darkened slightly; Candy and Cindy Broussard and that shrill midget, Pam came into the church. She scowled at them but they ignored her and found an empty pew to sit in. Their parents followed shortly aft ward and joined the three on the pew.

Every now and then one or the other, or the third would glance over their shoulder at the doors, obviously looking for Paul.

Cindy Jensen remembered when she and Paul would sit together at Mass. Wherever they sat, Cindy and Candy Broussard would sneak looks at him, look with envy at her.

----

"Fine, fine, use your mother's car," Ed tiredly said. "Since when is it so damned important to you?"

"Dad," Elizabeth giggled. "Church is ALWAYS important!"

"Teddy Lemoine?" Ed asked and Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders.

"Have fun at the Acadiana Motel last night?" Ed asked and almost began to cry as his daughter, his sweet, innocent daughter looked up, fear in her eyes.

"Yes sir," she whispered, knowing that lying would do no good.

"Why, Baby?" Ed asked and did begin to cry. "Why, Elizabeth? Why'd you do it?"

"Daddy, I love him," Elizabeth said, also beginning to cry.

"But there's so much... You don't have to... Oh God, I hope you used protection, I told your mother we needed to get you on the pill, oh Baby Girl," Ed sobbed.

"I'm sorry Daddy," she said and hugged him tightly. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry."

----

Marie looked at the frightened youth, a classmate of Paul's and fought the urge to let her distaste show. It was a lot different when the scumbag was your client; your job was to protect him, not convict him.

The medical report had been faxed over from University Medical Center. She understood the majority of the medical terminology and had to stifle her gasp. The girl had suffered such severe trauma that the medical staff had believed the girl to be in an automobile accident.

"You have any idea what you did to your girlfriend, Mr. Baggett?" she finally asked.

"Yeah, the stupid bitch wouldn't shut the fuck up," bill said, trying to adopt a tough guy persona.

""Well, you shut her up all right," Marie said and flipped the report to her client. "Damned near killed her. She's still in the ICU ward at University Medical Center, in critical condition."

"I just hit her a couple of times," Bill whined.

"So you admit that you did hit her?" Marie asked.

"Well, yeah, like I said, she wouldn't shut up," Bill defended.

Marie had to remind herself again that this was her client, not someone she was trying to convict.

"Okay, okay, Mr. Baggett, tell me how it happened," Marie sighed.

The more she listened, the more she had to remind herself that Bill Baggett was her client.

"Okay, okay," she said. "You're going to be arraigned tomorrow morning; I'll see you at the courthouse."

"Okay, so when do I get out of here?" Bill demanded.

"Like I said, your arraignment is tomorrow, bail will be set at that time," she said tersely.

"You mean I got to stay in here until tomorrow morning?" Bill said, horrified.

"Yes, Mr. Baggett," she snapped.

Dick Davis shrugged and promised Marie he would keep Bill in a cell by himself. It wouldn't do to have the son of Ed Baggett wind up stabbed to death or gang raped in his jail.

"Thanks, Sheriff," Marie smiled tightly.

"How's Bob?" Dick smiled.

"Bob's good, Bob's good," Marie smiled. "He said I was to give you the finger, but I told him I couldn't do that when I'm here on business."

"Consider me fingered," Dick laughed. "Give him the same for me. No, better yet, give him two for me."

----

Paul strolled into church and smiled widely as he spotted the Broussard Sisters. Three faces lit up and his smile grew wider. With nods of greeting to Jake, Bobbi, Emily, and Bill, he took his place between Cindy and Candy.

Mass was hard to pay attention to; whenever he looked at Pam, or Candy, or Cindy, all he could see was their naked bodies. All he could see was Pam's lips stretched wide to accommodate his cock. All he could see was Cindy's lightly freckled ass as he plunged his cock into her from behind. All he could see was Candy lapping hungrily at Pam's furry pussy while Pam sucked and chewed on Cindy's pussy lips and Cindy slurped at Candy's lightly covered slit.

Finally Mass was over and Paul smiled and accepted the thanks of Bobbi and Emily for the photographs from the Sweetheart Dance.

"Don't forget; I want copies of the pictures y'all took too," he reminded them.

"Where we going?" Pam demanded as they clambered into the front seat of the Impala.

"Where would you like to go?" Paul asked.

"I want to, you didn't make love to me last night," Pam whispered, causing Cindy and Candy to blush and giggle.

"I um, I meant to eat," Paul blushed. "You hungry?"

"Oh yeah!" Pam exclaimed and the four teenagers burst into laughter.

"Bombay," Cindy and Candy announced.

"But we just ate there," Paul smiled.

"So?" Candy, Cindy, and Pam demanded.

----

Hashim smiled widely as Bob and Marie entered the restaurant. Both returned his genuine smile and reminded him that Paul would be joining them.

"Hmph, him," Hashim joked. "He sit outside next to dumpster."

"And his girlfriends?" Marie laughed.

"Oh, them? They sit anywhere they want," he smiled. "I even make you two get out, they want me to."

He showed an older couple to another table and peered through the glass doors for Mr. Paul and his beautiful girls.

----

She talked with him, she told him about her daddy crying and Teddy shed a few tears of his own.

She told him about Bill's arrest and the fear she felt. He held her hand, giving her security.

She leaned against him, comforted in his embrace. His lips touched her ear and she felt the familiar want beginning to build up inside of her.

"Let's go," she whispered.

But the police were at the Acadiana Motel, questioning Carlos and a very frightened looking Latina woman. The Dew Drop Inn's proprietor refused to rent the teenagers a room.

"I is a Christian woman," she snarled at Elizabeth. "I don't run me a place like that."

Elizabeth did not miss the fact that there were only three cars in the parking lot.

Finally, the two went to the Basin and contented themselves with sharing Teddy's semen back and forth.

----

"Hello, this is Sheriff Dick Davis, who is this please?" he answered Elaine's cell phone.

"Um, sorry, wrong number," Cindy Jensen said and quickly hung up.

What was a cop doing with Elaine's cell phone?, Cindy wondered.

Her phone rang; it was Elaine's number.

"Hello?" she answered cautiously.

," the harsh male voice snapped. "I asked you who you are."

"Cindy Jensen," she tremulously said.

"Thank you. Now, why are you calling Elaine Simone's phone?" he asked.

"'Cause she's my friend," Cindy said nervously.

"Thank you," Dick said again. "That will be all."

"Wait, wait, what're you doing with her phone?" Cindy demanded.

"I am sorry ma'am, I cannot discuss an on-going investigation," Dick said and hung up.

Chapter 54

"Help me," Elaine prayed.

Blackness was all around her, no matter where she looked. She could hear voices, but couldn't tell where they were, what they were saying.

A burst of bright light, bright color and she frantically sought to see it again. A burst of harsh noise made her whirl around to find its source.

Whispering again, whispering all around her in the inky blackness.

Her mind was whirling with fear, absolute terror. She would have run, but she didn't know where she was, where she could run to get away from the whispering voices. It was cold, ice cold in the darkness. She would have screamed, but was too afraid that if she screamed, the whispering voices would hear her, would know where she was and would grab her.

Another burst of brightness and color and she frantically tried to see. Another loud burst of sound nearly crippled her.

"Baby, please," Carmen murmured to her daughter. "Please wake up."

Dr. Lapointe checked her vital signs and touched her right cheek softly.

"Come on, sweetheart," he said. "You can do it."

Elaine felt one of the voices touch her right cheek and whispered loudly in her ear.

"No!" she screamed aloud. "Oh, God! God! Please help me!"

Dr. Lapointe and Carmen heard Elaine gurgle and grunt. Dr. Lapointe looked over at the brain scan and could see the activity rising.

"I think she's coming to," he said and touched her cheek again.

"God, please!" Elaine screamed. "Please, help me!"

Fie minutes passed but there was no more physical response.

"Okay, sweetheart," he finally said. "I'll check on you at the end of my shift."

He looked over at Mrs. Simone. The woman looked absolutely haggard.

"You eat today?" he asked.

"Yeah, yeah, when I fixed Elise breakfast," she mumbled.

"Mrs. Simone, it's four thirty, you need to get something to eat," he said sympathetically.

"Not really all that hungry," she said and waved him away.

Yolanda shrugged her shoulders and pursed her lips as Dr. Lapointe asked for her assistance, but did agree that, if Elaine Simone were awake, they'd be bringing her food, so bringing her tray wasn't too much out of the ordinary. And if her mother happened to eat it instead, who would be the wiser?

----

Jamie looked at her son. Her pathetic, whining, self-centered son. Seated next to her, her husband also looked at her son.

She thought briefly of running with him to Mexico, or Canada. After all, it was Ed, that son of a bitch that had put his money on the line to bail the boy out.

"That bitch lawyer don't know shit," Bill finally said.

"And you know more than her?" Ed sneered.

"I mean, all she's talking about is making a deal to get me a reduced sentence, she ain't even talking about getting me out of this stupid shit," Bill yelled.

"Son, you beat a girl, almost to death," Ed strangled out, trying hard not to strike the kid. "She hasn't regained consciousness, she still might die."

Jamie had to agree with her husband. Bill didn't seem to grasp the seriousness of the situation.

"Where'd you find this lawyer anyway?" she asked Ed.

"Not now," Ed growled at her.

He smiled inwardly. Jamie was starting to see that she held none of the cards. Joseph Marcoloni had not returned any of her phone calls; it was lonely in the apartment that Ed had rented for her.

Joseph had his own troubles to deal with. The mattress factory had suddenly withdrawn its entire account from Community Savings and Loan, switching instead to First Union. Ed Baggett had closed all of his personal accounts as well. In fact, there was a long line of the mattress factory's employees demanding that their accounts be closed.

And Amanda had thrown her scalding hot bowl of oatmeal into his face that morning. That stupid bitch Jamie had broken their ironclad rule; never call the other at their home. Instead of being shocked, instead of coming to his aid, his daughter just looked at him with her unreadable bland face. Sometimes he thought the girl was autistic.

"SO, had anything to drink today?" Ed asked as he poured himself a whiskey over ice.

"No," Jamie lied.

"Really?" he smirked. Then I'd change the brand of shampoo you use; smells just like gin."

She bit back her retort and focused her attention on Bill again.

"How?" she asked the same question that Ed had wanted to ask. "How could you do this? Granted, she was a little gutter tramp, but she didn't deserve this."

"I don't know," Bill mumbled. "She was just going on and on and whining and just wouldn't shut up so..."

"Gutter tramp?" Ed seethed at his wife. "If that isn't the pot calling the kettle black."

----

Pam dropped the envelope in the mailbox, then climbed back into the Impala. Cindy hugged the girl to her, then buckled them up.

"Thank you again," Pam said to Paul. "I bet my momma likes the picture."

"You're welcome again," he said. "Don't know if she will like it; I know I like it."

"Candy leaned her head against his shoulder. She loved him more and more every day.

"Okay, visiting hours are from five until nine," Paul said. "I don't know how many of us can go in, but at least we can try."

"And you said there's a deli right down the street?" Pam asked.

"Yeah," Paul laughed and reached over and rubbed her belly. "Wouldn't want you starving to death."

"Shut up," Pam protested and pinched his forearm.

Candy looked down; Cindy's hand rested on her upper thigh. She looked over, Cindy's other hand rested on Pam's upper thigh. She felt Cindy playfully tug at the skirt, pulling her school uniform up.

"Stop that, you big old whore!" Candy hissed in Cindy's ear, then kissed her best friend's ear.

"No, you big old lez," Cindy whispered back and kissed Candy's ear.

"Takes one to know one," Candy hissed back.

"Uh huh, and who called me a whore?" Cindy hissed in response.

"Cindy!" Candy yelled and slapped Cindy's hand.

The whole time she and Cindy had been playfully fussing back and forth, Cindy had been pulling at the hem of Candy's skirt, exposing Candy's white cotton briefs. Candy yanked it back down and slapped Cindy's hand again.

"What?" Pam asked. "What'd you do?"

"This," Cindy said and raised Pam's skirt up to her waist, exposing her own white cotton briefs.

"Oh," Pam said, but made no move to pull her skirt back down.

"Pam," Candy chided and pulled her skirt down.

"Stop," "," Paul ordered. "Y'all just stop. Hard enough to drive without a boner getting in the way."

"We're giving you a boner?" Candy teased.

"Just thinking of y'all gives me a boner," he admitted and blushed even more as they giggled and squealed.

"Thinking of you gives me a 'boner' too," Candy admitted and squeezed his arm.

----

Elise sullenly did her homework at the kitchen table. Mom had that crazy old black woman from across the street watching her. The old bat treated her like she was in kindergarten, for God's sake.

"Thought you might want a snack," Miss Brown said and entered the house.

Elise's stomach growled at the smell of the chocolate chip cookies, still warm from the oven.

"Thanks, Miss Brown," Elise said.

"You welcome, sweetie pie," Miss Brown cackled.

"Talked with your momma a few minutes ago, I was just getting them cookies out the hotbox and the phone rings," Miss Brown said. And helped herself to a cookie. "She said it looked like your sister was trying to get better, that poor girl, she always so sweet, always had a wave for me, or a 'Hi Miss Brown, how you doing?'"

"Elaine woke up?" Elise asked, hopeful.

"No, no, look like she tried real hard to wake up but didn't," Miss Brown said.

"Oh," Elise said, then felt the tears begin to flow.

All those mean little tricks she played on Elaine, giving her the finger when she knew it hurt her feelings, all those times she called her 'fat' or 'retard,' she would do anything she could to take them all back.

"Oh, baby, baby, don't cry," Miss Brown soothed. "The good Lord taking care of your sister. HE got her in His hands, then she get all better, you just wait and see."

----

The fact that Elaine might want to see her, have her friend come visit her never entered Cindy Jensen's mind. The fact that if the tables were turned, Elaine would be right there at her bedside never entered Cindy Jensen's mind.

The fact that the tables could have very easily been turned, that if she had been dating Bill Baggett and had gone to the Sweetheart Dance with him never entered her mind.

The fact that Paul Robichaux and the Broussard Sisters and Pam Ham were going to see Elaine right after school had been discussed. She could have hitched a ride with them, but didn't think about it. She could have written out a little note and asked Paul, or Candy, or Cindy to take it to Elaine, but didn't think about it.

"Hey, heard about your little friend," Doug Jensen said as his daughter made a rare appearance outside of her room.

"Yeah," she agreed.

"That was the blonde, right? The one with the nice ass?" Doug asked.

"She was blonde," Cindy grumbled. "I don't have any clue how nice her ass was."

"Damned shame," Doug said and sipped his coffee. "She was cute."

"What?" Cindy snapped. "It wouldn't be a shame if she was just some ugly bitch?"

"Yeah," J.R. said. "But if she was some ugly bitch, no one would give a shit."

"You're all disgusting pigs," Cindy declared and prowled around in the pantry for something to eat.

----

"What?" Carmen asked as the nurse's aide brought in the tray. "Are y'all idiots?"

"What?" the young girl asked.

"She's in a coma!" Carmen said. "How's she supposed to eat that?"

"Oh," the nurse's aide said and made a show of checking the clipboard. "Well, this room's on my list and I can't take it back or I'll get in trouble.

She looked at Carmen.

You eat yet?" she asked.

"What? NO, but I'm not..." Carmen said.

"Look, why don't you eat this?" the nurse's aid said and put the tray on the low table. "It'll just go to waste if you don't."

"Fine, fine, leave it," Carmen grumbled.

She'd taken three bites before she realized Dr. Lapointe had orchestrated that whole scenario. She shook her head.

Earlier, Yolanda had talked with her and told her just how lucky Elaine had been that the surgeon happened to be the one doing duty in the Emergency Room Saturday night. Any other doctor would not have realized that she was suffering from a subdural hematoma, or would not have reacted quickly enough.

"As it is," Yolanda said and playfully pinched Elaine's big toe. "It might not have been enough. But, he's the best one here."

The lights and flashes of color were becoming more and more frequent, made all the more frightening by the harsh sounds all around her.

"Help me, Lord Jesus Christ," Elaine begged.

"Thank you," Carmen said and pointed to the tray.

"Hmm?" Dr. Lapointe said and looked at the latest vital signs that Yolanda had scribbled down. "For what? I don't work in the cafeteria."

"Uh huh," Carmen smirked.

"But glad you got something to eat, don't need two Simones in the hospital," he smiled and looked again at her monitor again.

"Come on, Honey, come on," he said and touched her cheek.

A voice touched her right cheek again and she screamed in terror.

"Please, please," she screamed. "Please, God, I'm begging you! Somebody, please help me!"

----

Two people per room. That was the rule of the hospital's ICU ward. With Carmen already in the room, only one of the foursome should be allowed in.

Yolanda shrugged her shoulders and ushered them all in. Let Dr. Moore house scream about how important rules and regulations were; two visitors or two hundred visitors weren't going to make the poor girl any sicker.

"Hi, Mrs. Simone?" Paul asked the haggard looking woman. "Hi, I'm Paul Robichaux, We go to school with Elaine."

"I'm Candy Broussard and this is Cindy Broussard, and Pam..."

"Broussard," Pam declared.

"How sweet of you to visit," Carmen smiled, a genuinely happy smile.

The noise, the whispering was becoming more frenzied. They were coming closer and closer. The terror had her absolutely unable to breathe, unable to think. Every now and then a voice would touch her, but never managed to grab her, never managed to get a firm grip, never managed to drag her down to Hell with them.
----

"And I been so mean to her," Elise sobbed.

"Shh shh," Miss Brown soothed. "She forgive you, the Lord forgive you."

"And I just want her to know how much I love her," Elise sobbed, heartbroken.

"She know that, Sweetie, She know that," Miss brown soothed.

Chapter 55

The new girl was still young, still pretty.

And still shy, still embarrassed. Patsy ignored her; it was hard enough getting a trick without some stupid kid taking her johns away.

Sophia's boyfriend came down the street and Patsy looked the other way; he was mean and crazy. She'd done him once and he'd paid her by pushing a knife into her belly and telling her he wanted to kill her, wanted to feel her blood pour all over his cock while he fucked her freak body. She got the hell out of his car quick.

He grabbed Sophia and pushed her into the alley.

Patsy smiled as a car slowed down, shutting out the sounds of the slapping and Sophia's crying.

----

"Broussard?" Candy asked Pam as they snuggled down in bed.

"Huh?" Pam asked.

"You told Elaine's mom your last name is Broussard," Candy reminded the girl.

"'Cause I wish it was," Pam admitted.

"I wish it was too," Candy whispered in Pam's ear, and kissed her cheek.

"Love you," Pam said a snuggled tighter against Candy.

"Love you too." Candy said and turned off the light.

----

"There has got to be something wrong with me," Paul said as he felt yet another erection building up.

He'd already masturbated three times that night, thinking about sex with Cindy and with Pam and with Candy, and with Cindy. Slowly but surely, the quietest one of the bunch was becoming his biggest infatuation.

Even though Candy was the most vocal, Cindy was the most adventurous, the most playful, and the most sexual.

Sighing, he smiled and picked up a wad of tissues.

-----

Bill Thought about committing suicide. He'd slit his wrists and slowly bleed to death.

That would make his dad sorry for how shitty he was treating him. That would make his mom sorry for that look she'd given him.

That's make Elizabeth realize how much she loved him, how she was wrong for letting Teddy fuck her, instead of giving herself to her twin brother. That'd make Elizabeth sorry for that look she'd given him at the dinner table tonight. Make her sorry for ignoring him, for not coming to see him and see how he was doing.

It'd also make Elaine sorry for not listening to him, for not hearing him out, instead of telling him he was sick for loving his sister.

But cutting himself would hurt. Maybe sleeping pills. He could swallow a whole bunch of them and go to sleep and never wake up. That wouldn't hurt

But Dad had thrown out all of Mom's old medication bottles this last time she went into treatment.

And Dad was right; Mom smelled and looked like she'd been drinking.

Dad, and that ugly bitch lawyer both said he needed to go to school tomorrow and just keep going to school until the trial. That would show the judge and the District Attorney that he was a good kid, just made this one mistake.

----

Cindy Broussard stretched out in her bed, face down. Slowly, she rubbed her pussy against the teddy bear that Candy had given her for Christmas last year. She smiled; she and Candy had given each other the same thing without even knowing that the other had gotten the silly bear. But they both picked it up because it was blue, their favorite color.

The feeling welled up inside of her and she reached behind her and slowly inserted a finger into her rectum. Paul kept doing that to her, kept sticking his finger in her butt when they made love.

"Uh," she grunted in orgasm, then rolled over onto her back.

She wondered if Candy and Pam ever made love without her. Did they kiss each other, did they touch each other's breasts, suck on each other's breasts. Did they touch each other's pussies, kiss each other's pussies. Did they whisper words of love to each other, did they cuddle in the afterglow of lovemaking?

"You're being stupid," she chided herself and rolled onto her side to try to get some sleep.

----

"You are not sleeping in here tonight," Amanda hissed bitterly as Joseph came into the bedroom.

"But, what? Where am I supposed to sleep?" he asked.

"Why don't you go sleep with your little whore?" she spat and threw his favorite pillow at him.

"Never again," he thought as he tried to make himself comfortable on the couch.

And that hateful cat of Amanda's kept trying to snuggle up with imp; he was sleeping where the cat normally slept.

----

"Graduate tomorrow," Tammy reminded Cathy Hernandez.

"Yeah," Cathy mumbled.

"Nervous?" Tammy asked.

"Yeah, Tammy, I don't have nowhere to go," Cathy said. "I was only a month behind on my rent, now I'm two months; Mr. Hayes probably already dumped all my stuff out on the street."

"What about Ray?" Tammy asked.

""I don't know," Cathy said. "We never even talked about it."

----

Elise squinted in the semi-dark room. Momma looked so old as she sat there, sleeping in the chair. The girl that lay in the bed, head swathed in bandages barely resembled her beautiful sister. She walked over to the girl that lay in the bed.

"Hey," she said softly to Elaine. "It's me, Elise."

"Go on, tell her," Miss Brown encouraged.

"I want you to know, I hope you can hear me, I want you to know how much I love you and how much I miss you and I keep hoping and praying this is just a real bad dream and I'll wake up and you'll be there," Elise said .

Carmen heard her daughter and woke up. She listened as her daughter poured her heart out to her sister, but didn't say anything, just let the girl cry it all out.

The lights and colors were all around her; she was dizzy from all of them. They kept rushing at her, threatening her. The whispering was growing louder, angrier.

"Help me," Elaine mumbled.

"What?" Elise asked, incredulous.

"Please help me," Elaine begged.

"Oh my God!" Elise shouted, then fainted.

The lights and colors were blinding and the whispering voices had ceased whispering; they were screaming and screaming so loudly the words were incomprehensible to her.

Yolanda was bustling to the room; she'd heard Elise shout. They she heard a scream of absolute terror and agony and her blood ran cold.

She'd heard that scream one other time; they had a burn victim come in with third and fourth degree burns to over eighty percent of his body. The pain had been so great the patient screamed out loud and died. Eddie, that religious nut case of an orderly had told her 'That's the sound Jesus Christ made when they crucified Him.'

She prepared herself for the worse and ran into the room.

Elaine was thrashing violently, mumbling and spitting, flailing her casts weakly.

Yolanda hit the intercom button and forced herself to keep her voice steady and calm as she paged for the resident on duty.

"Shh, shh, come on, sweetie," she urged and tried to lightly restrain Elaine so the girl wouldn't hurt herself even worse.

Elaine's eye opened up and Yolanda's blood ran cold a second time. The eye was that of a wounded animal; the terror raw and evident.

----

"Thank you, thank you so much, Yolanda," Charles said as he swung his legs out of bed.

He gargled with mouthwash while he looked for a clean pair of slacks in the dwindling pile of clean clothes he had. Rather than spit the mouthwash out, he simply swallowed it, made sure he had his keys and ID badge and left the apartment.

Normally he just jogged to the hospital; he lived around the corner at the Whispering Oaks complex, but there was a real need for speed, so he jumped into his one luxury, a Porsche, and raced off to the hospital.

Chapter 56

He was livid and threatened the resident on duty with both suspension; complete removal if he had anything to do with it, and with bodily harm.

"Who in the fuck gives a comatose brain injury patient an injection of Phenobarbital?" he screamed.

"She was going into seizures," Dr. Huang whined.

"Well killing her will take care of that!" he screamed.

"Come on, come on," Yolanda ordered and pulled the enraged Charles Lapointe to the nurse's station. "Screaming at him isn't going to change the situation. Here, have a cup of coffee."

"I don't want a cup of coffee," he snarled.

"Didn't ask you if you wanted it," she said. "Take it and suck on it."

'She was going into seizures,' Dr. Huang had said.

Yolanda had said the girl was thrashing violently and mumbling and spitting.

Perhaps it was an epidural hematoma, whether pre-pre-op or post-p[ was unimportant at this time. He sipped some more of the coffee and paced the hall.

"Good night, Dr. Lapointe," Yolanda said as she passed him in the hall.

"I need to open her cranium again," Dr. Lapointe told her.

"I think that's an excellent idea," she agreed and punched out.

----

You want grits or oatmeal?" Miss Brown asked as she tucked Elise in bed.

"Miss Brown, you don't have to fix me breakfast," Elise argued.

"Oh? You a grown woman now?" Miss Brown asked.

"Well, I am fifteen, almost," Elise said.

"Well, then, you want grits or oatmeal for breakfast tomorrow?" Miss Brown asked. "When you married and have children of your own, then you can fix your own breakfast."

"Grits," Elise said.

"Oh, good, grits is easy," Miss Brown smiled and left the room.

"You need the door open or closed?" she asked.

"I don't care," Elise answered.

----

Bill Baggett couldn't sleep. They were talking about serious jail time, and they weren't talking about sitting in Bender's small jail. They were talking about sending him to Dequincy, or Lafayette Correctional. Or possibly Angola, if Elaine died.

Why'd that stupid bitch have to go and get hurt so bad? Marie had smirked when he suggested that maybe, when she got out of his car, someone else had run over her with his or her car.

The amount of blood on your sleeves and the amount of blood found inside of your car suggests that you and you alone cause the full extent of her injuries, Mr. Baggett," she said.

And she kept insisting on calling him 'Mr. Baggett,' because he was an adult.

He didn't feel like and adult. He felt like crying. Adults don't cry.

----

Carmen listened as Dr. Lapointe explained the procedure, explained why he wanted to do it, and signed the necessary papers.

Her opinion of him had changed in the seventy-two hours she'd been at her daughter's bedside. He seemed to genuinely care about her daughter, not just as a patient, but also as a person, as a young woman still very much in the beginning of her life. Yes, he was young, yes, he looked more like one of the musicians her daughters ranted and raved about than a brilliant (according to Yolanda and Eddie and Dr. Moorehead) surgeon.

If he thought it was what needed to be done, she agreed wholeheartedly. He discussed the dangers; there were always danger when operating on the brain. She knew that he would do all in his power to help her daughter.

"Checked your schedule," Dr. Moore house stuck his head in to the scrub room. "You're not even supposed to be here."

"Then you didn't see me," Dr. Lapointe said.

"That's right, I didn't see you; God be with you, God guide your hands," Dr. Moore house said and left the room.

The voices were screaming again and every now and then, there'd be a flash of light.

A flash of light and she saw her daddy. He was leaving her and her mommy and baby sister. He was leaving her again, when he needed him most.

Another flash of light and she saw her grandmother's casket. She had adored the woman she was named after. Why was her grandmother leaving her again?

Another flash of light and she saw her daddy and his new wife getting married. Daddy wouldn't pay any attention to her, wouldn't dance with her. She wore a beautiful new dress and he didn't even notice.

Another flash of light and she saw Bill Baggett, face twisted in rage. He was beating her again

"No, no, sweetheart, don't cry," the nurse said as she handed Dr. Lapointe the arterial clamp.

"And there the mother fucker is," he said and sutured the bleeding artery, then suctioned out the blood that had been pressing against Elaine's frontal lobes.

"Thank you, God," he smiled from behind the mask, checked his work, then began the laborious task of closing her again.

----

The inky blackness wrapped her and held her, safe and secure. Slowly , the icy cold began to slip away. She lay down, finally able to sleep.

"No, no, Elaine, don't sleep," a voice called out to her.

"But why?" Elaine asked, trying to see the source of the voice in the darkness.

"It's not time yet," and the voice was gone.

----

"Wait, Momma's grits don't taste like this," Elise commented. "How'd you get them to taste like this?"

Bacon grease and you grate up some cheese," Miss Brown smiled and spooned herself a bowl. "Ain't nothing like a got hot breakfast get your day started right."

Elise decided that, even if the old bat did treat her like a five year old, instead of like an almost fifteen year old, it was pretty nice having her around.

----

Bill Baggett tried to sit, tried to concentrate, but could feel the accusing, hateful stares of his classmates boring into him.

Elizabeth, sweet, beautiful Elizabeth called Teddy and begged him to come take her to school, instead of riding in with him. She wouldn't sit anywhere near him, preferring to be with Teddy.

He probably made her suck his cock, payment for driving her to school. Made her suck him, while he grabbed and squeezed her breasts or finger fucked her pussy.

----

"Momma," Elaine gurgled, trying to talk, unaware that her jaw was shattered and that several of her teeth were missing.

"Oh my God!" Carmen praised. "Yes, baby, I'm here."

"Where am I?" Elaine tried to ask, grew frustrated at her inability to do more than grunt and gurgle and tried to sit up. Her arms wouldn't work. That was a shame; she wanted to brush her hair out of her eyes; she couldn't even see out of her left eye.

----

"Thank you, Eddie," Charles laughed into the telephone. "And keep that little mother fucker Huang away from her!"

----

"Oh, thank the good Lord," Miss Brown enthused into the telephone. "Oh, no, it ain't no trouble, I go get her right now."

----

Elise feared the worse when Miss Ormond paged her to the office. She just knew that Elaine had died, had left her before she could tell her again how much she loved her. She was sobbing in earnest by the time she reached Brother Dominick's office.

Miss Brown's smiling face was the first thing she saw when she pushed the office door open.----

Brother Dominick made the official announcement over the school's PA system; Elaine was no longer in a coma. There was no prognosis at this time, but of course all were encouraged to continue their prayers; obviously they were working a medical miracle.

"Fucking lucky for you, Baggett," Teddy hissed.

And Elizabeth looked at him, those accusing eyes.

Chapter 57

Everyone was smiling and talking and laughing and she just wanted to go home, crawl into her bed, and go to sleep.

Some hot looking guy was smiling at her and touching her and talking with Momma. Bill Baggett could go to Hell; this guy was so fine! She tried real hard to smile at him and his eyes lit up. Oh yeah, Bill Baggett was definitely history.

And her sister was there, with that crazy old woman that lived across the street. That crazy old woman was always waving and smiling and saying stupid things. But Elaine remembered when she was younger, Miss Brown had always been so nice and sweet, and could cook real well. So when the crazy old woman waved, Elaine waved back.

And Elise was smiling and crying and smiling; what was her problem?

She listened, but did not comprehend. Something had happened to her and she was in the hospital. And they were asking her what had happened.

"Okay, Dr. Lapointe said as he filled out all the forms to request another MRI for Elaine Simone.

"She got insurance?" Lynne snapped.

"Beats the shit out of me," Dr. Lapointe shrugged. "I think she does; her mother filled out all the intake forms; should be in your system by now."

Lynne typed rapidly on her keyboard, looked at the screen and let a rare smile curl her lips.

"Blue Cross," she said.

"Then it's cleared?" Dr. Lapointe asked.

"Yeah, the first one is, but no more, you did one yesterday? That's all they'll pay for," Lynne said and took the forms from him.

"But I need to do a follow up," he argued.

"Get Blue Cross to approve it," she shrugged, the conversation over as far as she was concerned.

That's why she was so good at this job; she had absolutely no regard for anyone at all. She could walk right through the Emergency Room, hear the anguished wails of loved ones, hear the groans and cries of the wounded and dying, and would be unaffected. Her husband's funeral had irritated her; he had died, she was convinced, just to inconvenience her.

"I hope I'm not the resident on duty if you ever need help," Dr. Lapointe hissed at her.

"Uh huh," she sneered and showed him her wrists, scarred from when she tried to commit suicide. He unbuttoned her smock and showed him the bullet hole from when she tried a second time.

"If I couldn't do it, what the fuck makes you think you can?" she asked and went back to entering another case.

----

Bill couldn't believe it; the little bitch woke up and they were still talking about pressing charges, and because he was eighteen, they were going to try him as an adult.

"But she woke up," he whined to Marie.

"That's wonderful," she said dryly. "All that means, Mr. Baggett, is that you will not be charged with second degree murder, or manslaughter. We still have the battery charges, with grievous bodily harm."

Grievous bodily harm?" he asked.

"Mr. Baggett, she lost an eye. They are prepping her for oral surgery to replace her shattered jaw, along with partial bridgework. She is also going to have reconstruction done on her nose. In short, extensive and expensive facial reconstruction, along with weeks, possibly months of psychological therapy." She said and made a note to bill Ed Baggett one hour for every fifteen minutes she had to talk to this pathetic child of his.

"Now, now you're thinking like a lawyer," Donald Pelechet had laughed when she told him of her plans.

----

"Rules are rules, no more than four visitors, and there's already three visitors in her room," Yolanda said and looked around.

Neither Dr. Neither Moore house, nor any of his little snitches were anywhere in sight so she bustled them into the room and clicked the door shut.

"Hey, we heard you were awake," Paul smiled widely.

She was happy to see them, but kind of embarrassed as well. "She would have been horrified had anyone told her that her head, where it was not wrapped in bandages, was bald. That her smile was almost toothless, that her nose was broken.

"Hey, what are y'all doing here?" she mumbled in her incomprehensible gibberish.

----

Cathy looked at him incredulously.

"Really?" she finally asked. "Live with you?"

"Yeah, why not?" he smiled. "I love you, you love me, and you ain't all that bad in bed, you know?"

"Yeah?" she smiled. "You ain't all that bad either."

"Well, then it's settled," he said and smiled.

"Not really, Ray," she said and sat down.

"What you mean?" he asked.

"Ray, I got three kids, and they ain't the best kids in the world," she said.

"I know, I've heard," he shrugged.

"Yeah, well," she said and smiled. "But, bad or not, they're mine.

"Okay, so we'll cross that bridge when we get to it," he said and took her pudgy little hand in his. "WE'LL cross that bridge."

----

Madison looked at him with her blank stare as they ate a silent, uncomfortable meal.
"This is good," he forced a cheerfulness that he did not feel.

Amanda looked at him with as much hatefulness as she could muster then went back to eating in silence.

Madison finished her meal and got up from the table. She put the into the dishwasher and left the room without saying a word.

"She worries me," Joseph said and Amanda slammed her fork down.

"Hard enough to eat, hard enough to sit in the same God damned room with you," she hissed angrily. "Do you have to open your fucking mouth?"

Joseph Marcoloni was stunned; his wife did not curse. He had never heard her say 'fuck,' in the twenty nine years they'd known each other, in the twenty two years they'd been married, he'd never heard her use the Lord's name in vain.

He looked at her, mouth open in shock.

She was beautiful. Her blonde hair, he knew, was touched up to hide the gray, but blonde was the natural color of her hair; Madison shared the same color hair. Her breasts were nonexistent; even pregnancy hadn't given her any breasts, but she was still quite feminine all the same. Her waist was still narrow, and her rear, even though it was a little softer now, was still quite attractive.

Jamie's voluptuous body was what had gotten his attention. And the fact that she liked to talk dirty when fucking. He'd never kidded himself; to him it was just a fuck. He wasn't in love with Jamie Baggett. He was, however, in love with Amanda Lynne Boudreaux Marcoloni.

Right now, her brown eyes held his, unblinking, and radiated all the anger and bitterness and hurt. Finally, he lowered his head and tried to resume eating.

She got to her feet and hurled his plate to the floor and left the kitchen.

"Leave it," she screamed at him when he bent to clean it up. "I'll get it when I'm damned good and ready."

Madison did her homework as she always did; mp3 player blaring Tool at an unbearable volume into her headphones. Absently, she tapped her foot in time with the music and scribbled out the answers to the algebra homework. It always amused Sister Andrea that she did her Algebra in pen instead of pencil. She never Sister Andrew asked her why she did that, she would just shrug her shoulders.

----

Jamie was trying her best to get on Ed's good side. Less than a week ago, she thought she had it all, had her husband well in line, and had her lover well in line.

Her husband had let her know he wasn't the fool she thought he was, nor would he be willing to be a cuckold. And Joey had told her, in crystal clear language, it wasn't love, had never been love, and as far as he was concerned, whatever it was, was over.

"Save it," Ed finally grumbled. "Save it, okay?"

"Hey, hey, just trying to let you know I'm sorry," she mumbled.

"Sorry for what?" he spat. "Sorry for fucking around for twenty years? Sorry for sneaking around behind my back and lying to me, and buying Joey Marcoloni expensive gifts with my money, yes, Jamie, I know who he is, or are you sorry that I put an end to it? Huh?"

Their children, her children, looked at her, the disgust evident in Elizabeth's face, the shock etched on Bill's face.

"Could we not talk about this in front of our children?" she hissed.

"Huh? What exactly are you sorry for, Jamie?" he asked loudly.

"I'm sorry, all right?" she screamed at him. "I'm sorry I had an affair, all right!"

"An affair?" he screamed back. "You fucked him for over twenty years, Jamie! You been fucking him almost as long was we've been married! That's not an affair, Jamie, that's being a low life, conniving whore!"

"And I'm sorry!" Jamie screamed and burst into tears.

"Way too late for sorry," Ed said and picked up his plate.

"Madison's dad?" Bill finally asked.

"You know any other Joey Marcoloni?" Elizabeth spat, her disgust of him quite evident.

"She's weird," Bill declared.

"Whatever," Elizabeth sneered.

"At least she doesn't beat people up," Elizabeth thought.

Chapter 58

Cindy Jensen did wonder, briefly, if she should call Mrs. Simone, just to see how Elaine was doing.

She decided that Elaine would call her sooner or later.

She was glad that Elaine was out of the coma, she'd even said a quick prayer for her the other day.

Again, it never occurred to Cindy Jensen that Elaine might appreciate a visit, or even a simple 'Get-Well-Soon' card.

----

Patsy smiled sympathetically at the fat lip that Sophia sported. She'd had her fair share of them in her years on the streets. Sometimes Jashawn would give her one. Sometimes it was a sick motherfucker like Sophia's boyfriend, Gary. Sometimes it was a cop. Sometimes it was another girl.

It didn't matter where they came from, really. They came, they went, and you got over it.

"Got my money, bitch?" she heard Gary hiss and her blood ran cold.

The tone of voice was the same one he'd used when he told her he wanted to gut her like a pig while he fucked her. This Gary was big, mean, and dangerous.

"No, Gary, nobody's been by yet," Sophia whined.

"You ain't trying hard enough, you stupid fucking cunt, huh?" he said and slapped her, hard. "are you?"

"She's telling the truth," Patsy bravely said. "I been here all day, and nobody been by."

"Shut up, fucking piece of shit bitch," Gary said and kicked Patsy hard.

"Don't kick her," Sophia whined.

"Fine, I won't," Gary said and picked Patsy up off of the sidewalk.

The first blow against the cinderblock wall killed Patsy. Gary threw her into the wall four more times, just to show Sophia what would happen to her, if she didn't do a better job of hustling some money quick.

----

Pam writhed under Cindy's mouth. Candy's mouth covered her own, stifling her grunts and groans of orgasm.

Her small hand cupped Candy's pussy, fingers plunging in and out of the wetness. Candy likewise grunted in orgasm.

Finally, Pam really couldn't take any more of Cindy's mouth and weakly pushed her away. Candy wiggled up and began to lap furiously at Candy's pussy and anus.

"Oh!" Candy shuddered and Cindy laughed out loud.

She rolled over onto the other side of Pam and all three girls lay together, lightly touching and stroking one another.

"I wonder what Paul's doing right now," Pam hoarsely said.

With a squeal, Cindy said, "That's what got all this started in the first place!"

----

Bill eavesdropped as Elizabeth talked with that little piece of shit boyfriend of hers. He felt his stomach knot up; she was using the words she should be using on him. Telling him she loved him, how he was her rock, her strength in this horrible time.

It should be him; he was her brother. He should be her strength, her rock. He should be her love.

Teddy listened, rubbing his cock through his pajamas as Elizabeth whispered in his ear how much she loved him; how lucky she was to have him in her life.

"Baby, I'm the lucky one," he protested.

"Without you, I'd just be falling to pieces," she said, the sob catching in her throat.

----

He told her to call him Charlie and she tried. He laughed as she tried. It wasn't a mean laugh, but a laugh of genuine pleasure.

He measured her face, wrote quickly, and then measured again. More notes, more measuring. Finally he smiled at her and she smiled back.

"Okay, surgery at six tomorrow, okay?" he asked.

"What?" she exclaimed. "Why so early?"

He laughed again; Elaine liked his laugh.

"What are you worried about?" he asked. I'm the one that's got to be awake, not you!"

Mom, Elise, and Miss Brown wished her good night and left the room.

----

"Mom, if it's all right with you, can I ride home with Miss Brown?" Elise asked.

"Oh, no, no, Child," Miss Brown laughed. "You go with your momma, she needs you. But I'll be right across the street you ever need me."

"Thank you so much, Miss Brown," Carmen said. "I really don't know what I'd ever done without you."

"Yeah, thank you so much," Elise said and gave the old black woman a hug.

"Oh, shush, you," Miss Brown said. "That's what family do, they there for each other."

"What's she mean, 'that's what family do?'?' Elise asked her mother as they drove home. "We're not related to her, are we?"

"I don't know, honey," Carmen said. "I guess after her two sons moved away, and after her daughter died, she just kind of thinks WE'RE her family."

"Then maybe we need to be her family," Elise decided.

----

Sophia came out of the shadows and cautiously approached the police officer as he waited for the coroner's office to send a unit from DeGarde, Louisiana.

"I know who killed her," she whispered. "But if I tell you, it got to be anonymous 'cause he'll kill me too."

Sheriff Dick Davis dressed quickly and drove out to Flowers when one of his deputies called him.

"Okay, we're going to put you in lock-up tonight, then move you out to Baton Rouge in the morning," he told a frightened, detuning Sophia.

Sadly, he went through the purse of the woman. He knew her, she'd been in school a few years ahead of him, in the same class with Rebecca and Bob.

The picture of Pam and Paul at the Sweetheart Dance beamed up at him. 'My baby girl' was scrawled on the back of the photograph.

----

Cathy thought briefly about drinking; no one would know. Ray was on the night shift; wouldn't be home until four thirty, five o'clock in the morning. She could have a couple of drinks and get rid of the evidence long before he got home.

"But I would know," she said and poured herself a cup of coffee.

----

Marie showed Bob the can of shortening as she walked to the bedroom. Paul smirked as his dad quit watching the basketball game, bounded to his feet and ran to the bedroom.

Chapter 59

Friday morning was windy, but spring was in the air; it wasn't bitterly cold. He did his morning exercises then jogged to the hospital. Yolanda smiled up at him as she clocked out, her shift done.

"Good luck in surgery," she bade him and left.

He was careful; even if the jawbone was a fraction of a hair off, it would cause years of pain and discomfort for the poor girl, and she had years ahead of her. The laser guidance system did its job and he finally sighed, satisfied with the job.

She'd looked at him that morning as he came into her room. Her eye lighted up when she saw him and a smile came on her lips.

"You'll be able to smile a whole lot more," he thought as he methodically forged ahead.

It wasn't his first surgery, but each surgery was important to him. It wasn't an ego thing with him; it was a compassion thing.

The two nurses in the room watched as he rebuilt Elaine's face. Afterward, over cigarettes and coffee, they both commented that any other surgeon would have done the jaw reconstruction and stopped. None of the other residents would have done the entire procedure, taken the time to rebuild her face.

----

Lynne narrowed her eyes as Dr. Lapointe entered her office. If he thought showing up in bloodstained surgical garb was going to sway her opinion, he was sorely mistaken.

"Okay, post-op MRI for Elaine Simone," he said. "Surely they can't deny that."

"They can and do deny whatever they feel like," Lynne said in her flat, unemotional tone.

"Bill them anyway," he said and turned around and left.

She let another rare smile curl her lip as she gave him the finger, then began typing out the claim.

----

Pam Ham wondered why she was being paged to the office. She entered the room and saw Miss Bobbi, eyes red from crying and felt light-headed.

"What happened to Mr. Jake?" she asked.

"It's not Mr. Jake," Baby," Bobbi smiled tightly. "It's your momma."

Pam listened, unsure of what she was feeling. Her mother was dead, killed by another girl's pimp. She was sad, but hadn't known her mother in years. Momma was just a hazy figure somewhere in the past.

Brother Dominick said she could go home with Miss Bobbi if she wanted to. She looked up and shook her head no.

"No, if it's all right, I'd rather go back to class, okay?" she asked.

"Sure, sure, but you need to, you call me and I'll come get you," Bobbi said.

Miss Bobbi softly caressed her face, a motherly gesture and Pam burst into sobs. She couldn't remember the last time Momma had caressed her face, had shown any other emotion than anger.

"I think I'll take her home," Bobbi told Brother Dominick.

----

Elaine felt horrible; a side effect of the anesthesia. Her head was pounding from the headache and her entire face felt like it was crawling with bugs.

Mom smiled at her and she tried to smile back. Her mother should smile more often; she looked so much prettier when she smiled, instead of that pinched look she always had on her face.

"Hey, Dr. Lapointe said it went real good," Carmen told her.

"Charlie," Elaine said and again tried to smile.

"Yeah, okay, Charlie," Carmen smiled again.

----

Paul, Candy, and Cindy pooled their money together to get a floral arrangement for Pam's mother. Paul smiled at the twenty-six dollars Candy and Cindy scraped together; he knew there were no floral arrangements available for that paltry sum.

Bob smiled as he watched the three teenagers counting out the quarters and pennies and dimes. Rebecca would be so proud of their son. As it was, he was real proud of his son. He was a fine young man. Even though he was good-looking, he didn't let it go to his head.

"Funeral's for Tuesday?" he asked.

"Yeah, I need a note to get out of class," Paul agreed and picked up the phone to call the florist.

"You went to school with Pam's mom, huh?" Cindy asked Bob.

"The mid... Yeah, I went to school with Patsy," Bob agreed.

"What was she like?" Candy asked. "I mean, I know my mom and her was real good friends, but Mom said they kind of lost touch."

"She was all right, I guess," Bob shrugged. "I mean, if Barbara hadn't have been friends with her, Patsy probably wouldn't have had any friends at all, but Barbara was the most popular girl in our class, so..."

"My mom was the most popular girl in the class?" Candy asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Bob smiled. "She was almost as pretty as you, so she had a long line of boys following her around."

Paul smiled over Candy's shoulder at his dad. His dad could be a charmer that was for sure.

----

Cindy Jensen was bored. Without Elaine around to drive her around, she was trapped, a prisoner of the trailer. Sara and Judy didn't have cars and Madison was so weird she really didn't want to be in a car with her. If Madison Marceline's dad weren't loaded, she would be in Cindy's little entourage at all. Missy was no longer a part of Cindy's entourage; she'd kissed Sara on the lips. Cindy won't have any closet lesbians in her little circle. The only reason Sara hadn't been ostracized was she'd reacted appropriately and punched Missy.

"I really, really screwed up when I dumped Paul," she admitted out loud.

----

Ray smiled as he hit the siren and cut through Lafayette traffic. In the back seat, Crystal, Rochelle, and Taylor chattered excitedly.

Cathy didn't know she'd been approved for a supervised weekend visitation. And as CPS had agreed, who would be better to supervise than a police officer?

"You live here?" Crystal said and curled up her lip in disdain as she looked around at the apartment complex.

"Uh huh," Ray smirked at the snotty brat. "And you live where?"

If Crystal thought she was going to get anywhere with Mommy's new boyfriend by being a little bitch, she had another thing coming. Ray was used too much bigger, and much more threatening bitches than an eighty-pound brat.

Chapter 60

The funeral was a pathetic charade. Jashawn glared at all the people; sure that they were all judging him and thinking themselves so much better than him. Any offers of sympathy were met with hostile glares. His two children, Nelson and Alida , were bored. Her white friends surrounded that little white bitch, the one that should have been out there working with her momma.

It was an insult, as far as he was concerned, that Patsy's funeral was bang officiated by Father John, the priest she'd gone to when she was a little girl. Everyone knew the Catholic Church wasn't open to African-Americans, was the most racist organization in the world.

Pam finished saying her rosary, quietly knelt by her mother's casket, then turned and left, still surrounded by her friends.

Jashawn looked at that fine little ass of Pam's; if ever he could get a piece of that, man! He'd ruin it, that's for sure.

"Hey," some white guy was asking him. "Do you have pall bearers for her? To carry her to the hearse?"

"Don't fucking worry 'bout it," Jashawn snapped. "I take care of it."

"Okay, okay," Bob said. "Just that, I went to school with her, you know?"

"I said I take care of it, mother fucker," Jashawn spat, then continued to glare hatefully at the few people that remained.

----

Dr. Lapointe smiled; her recovery was coming along very nicely.

His ego had also had a bit of a boost; Lynne had told him that Blue Cross had given the go-ahead for Elaine Simone to be transferred to Doctors' Hospital in Baton Rouge but Carmen Simone herself had pleaded with them to allow her daughter to stay under Dr. Charles' Lapointe's care instead. Most people would have jumped at the chance to have their child transferred to the more prestigious hospital, where the care was supposedly so much better than at a charity hospital.

"Look, Anna, may I call you Anna," Carmen had told her agent on the telephone. "The doctored here is giving her the best possible medical treatment, he lives right around the corner, and has been treating her since the night she was brought in. Anna, I would really appreciate it if you'd push whatever buttons you have to keep her right here, okay, Anna?"

"How long my jaws going be wired," Elaine grumbled.

At least a week," he answered and looked up her nostrils again.

Everything looked good.

"And when can I get out of here?" she asked.

"About a week, why? got a hot date?" he asked.

"No, you?" she shot back.

Yes, her recovery was coming along nicely, she was getting restless and irritable. Much better than the disoriented, lethargic patient of a few days ago.

----

"Please," Pam whispered in his ear and slid his cock into her waiting pussy.

This wasn't how he wanted to make love to her, cramped in the back seat of the Impala, suit slacks bunched up around his ankles, her dress hiked up to her waist. But her eyes pleaded with him, her words begged him to take her.

"Uh!" she gasped and closed her eyes as her maidenhead gave way to his cock.

"Wait," he whispered. "Just wait, okay?"

She leaned her face against his chest and nodded her head weakly.

"I love you, Paul," she whispered.

"Love you too," he whispered back and kissed the top of her head.

His large hands rubbed up and down her back, then cupped her breasts through her blouse. He lightly pinched her nipples through the material of her blouse and bra, then reached back around and cupped her small buttocks.

"Doesn't hurt that bad," she told herself and began to pull herself up.

Involuntarily, his hips jerked forward and he sank into her pussy to the hilt. Her mouth opened wide and her eyes bulged. She clenched her small hands into fists then shudder.

"Oh, God, that's good," she hissed and he kissed the top of her head again.

"Yeah, it is," he agreed.

"Do you think my Momma's in Heaven?" she asked and looked into his blue eyes.

For a moment, the question didn't register with him; it wasn't exactly what one would call 'pillow talk.'

"I would think so," he stammered out.

"Okay," she said, grateful for his answer.

This wasn't how he wanted it to be, the afternoon sun beating down into the back window of the car, heating up the interior, and feeling tight and cramped in his good suit.

"I like this," she murmured and sighed as he began to thrust upward into her.
"Me to," he chuckled and she looked into his eyes again.

----

Bobbi set out the vegetable tray and the cheese and crackers. Guests milled about; it was almost like a high school reunion in her living room, the majority of the guests were classmates of hers and Patsy's from St. Thomas Aquinas. Candy and Cindy were milling about, making sure that the guests were comfortable, their drinks filled, fetching little plates for them.

"Where is Pam?" Bobbi hissed to Candy.

"She wanted to get out of here," Candy shrugged.

"Let me guess," Bobbi said, lips tightening. "Paul Robichaux."

"Uh, yeah, I guess so," Candy said, guilty look on full display.

The good-looking boy was very quickly losing favor in Bobbi's eyes.

"Young lady, if you know where they are, you had better get in your car and go get them, NOW," she said and Candy hastily scampered off to get her purse.

----

"Please, Ed," Jamie begged.

"Damn it, Jamie," he sighed. "You made your bed, lie in it."

"Please, please let me come home," she begged.

"Jamie," he said, no emotion in his voice. "You don't have a home. We don't have a home. You made sure of that."

She heard the click a moment before the dial tone but stayed on the phone for another moment, just to make sure, then hung up the phone. She poured some more gin into her glass swirled it around, listening to the ice crackle. It burned as she swallowed. When it hit the pit of her stomach, instead of radiating out, instead of spreading its warmth through her, it just sat there in the pit of her gut.

The sought after relief wasn't there. She drank some more gin, but it just sat in the pit of her stomach, burning.

Ed had gotten her a fairly nice place, far nicer than she would have given him. The furniture was new, nice. It wasn't as nice as the furniture she'd picked out for their living room and bedroom, but again, it was far nicer than what she would have given him.

The walls were closing in on her.

----

Joseph reached out to touch Amanda's arm. She jerked away as if a red-hot poker had touched her.

"Don't. You. Ever. Put. Your. Hands. On. Me. Ever. Again," she sat, punctuating each word with a jab into his chest.

"Honey, I am sorry, I want to try again," he said truthfully.

"Well, Mr. 'I can't keep my dick in my pants,' it's a little too fucking late for that," she hissed and shoved him out of her way.

Madison looked at him then brushed past him to go to her room.

"No!" Amanda shrilled as she barged back into the living room where a stricken Joseph Marcoloni stood. "Why am I packing? You're the one who screwed around! YOU get out!"

"Okay," he said, nodding his head yes. "You're right, I'll leave."

She walked over to the bar, took out the brandy decanter, the liquor he used to impress guests, and poured herself a healthy amount. She smirked; he'd be irritated if he could see her; it was a very expensive brandy.

The warmth radiated through her and she took another deep sip.

"Ooh, this is good," she said and finished the glass. She put the glass on the bar; not caring if it left a ring on his precious rosewood veneer or not.

She remembered something; she'd started packing a couple of boxes, making sure to get those mementoes and keepsakes she just couldn't live without. She didn't want those boxes to accidentally get mixed up with his stuff. She walked down the hall to her bedroom, to get those boxes, to set them aside.

He sat on the edge of their bed, weeping.

She walked in and took him into her arms and held him, letting him cry it all out.

----

Pam screamed out as Candy tapped on the back window of the Impala. Paul sheepishly smiled as he rolled down the window.

Mom said get your butt home, NOW," Candy said.

"I think you better," Paul said and she nodded her head yes and got out of the back seat.

She and Candy were silent on the drive home, until they pulled up in front of the house.

"Candy, do you think my Momma's in Heaven?" Pam asked.

"I think so, but I think you better ask my Mom' she'd know a lot better than I would," Candy admitted.

Pam walked into the house and found Miss Bobbi in her usual place, in the kitchen.

"Miss Bobbi?" Pam asked. "Do you thick my Momma's in Heaven?"

Bobbi felt the irritation she'd felt with the teenager evaporate. She let a few tears fall before answering the girl.

"Yes, Baby, I think Patsy's in Heaven," she said. "God knows, she went through enough Hell here on Earth."

"Good, then it's okay that's she's dead," Pam said and left the kitchen.

The End of 'The Broussard Sisters 06.'