The World of Myth Magazine

A month later, Suzie sat cross-legged on her bed. The math homework she was doing wasn't hard, but she couldn't stay focused on it. The voices in the kitchen, especially one, were getting louder.

After she'd called 9-1-1 weeks ago, Mama's broken arm and rib were treated but she'd left the hospital against medical advice. Joe was taken to jail but bonded out the next day. He'd claimed he was innocent of assault and battery, saying a stranger had broken in and attacked them. When asked how he'd avoided injury, he'd said he'd been asleep. Suzie had told deputies the truth, but her mother hadn't contradicted Joe's story. Charges had been filed against Joe but, since then, he'd been told by his court-appointed lawyer they might be dropped.

Suzie had felt betrayed. She'd hoped the monster would be gone from their home. Gone from their lives. She'd asked Mama, "Why didn't you tell the truth?" Her mother's explanation had included Joe hurting them if they didn't agree with what he'd said, their having no vehicle or money, and being isolated where they lived with no one to turn to for help.

Since then, Suzie had been drifting in a fog of uncertainty and disappointment. Child Protective Services had investigated, but Mama hadn't revealed the truth. Suzie had stayed mute. Why bother telling? The social workers had arranged counseling for the adults, but it wouldn't start for a while. Once it did, what good would it do? The reality was the workers wouldn't be with the family twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and they'd said they only planned to visit now and then.

Joe was watching his behavior, but that might not last. He'd been pretty relaxed and pleased the first three weeks after being freed, but his manner had been changing since then. He was snapping more, found fault with things, and his mean eyes looked—meaner.

Suzie was sure he knew who'd called 9-1-1.

Joe entered the kitchen yawning, scratched between his legs, and spat on the floor. A month and two days had passed since his arrest. He said nothing when Mama wiped the spittle up. He said nothing while she cooked breakfast. He ate everything she fixed, but made it clear he didn't like any of it. He complained the eggs weren't cooked enough and the hash browns were too brown. One piece of toast was too soft, he said, and another too hard. The bacon was overcooked. The gravy had no flavor. He drank the milk with no comment.

Suzie helped Mama do dishes and felt his eyes on her back. Every time she turned to put plates, bowls, or silverware away, he sneered at her. She jumped once, seeing his nasty look, and accidentally dropped a fork.

He was on it like flies on dog poop. "Clumsy idiot! You'll scrub that if you know what's good for you!"

She did—fast.

He yanked the just-washed fork from the silverware rack. "Can't you do anything right? This is nasty!"

Suzie glanced at her mother, who said nothing but had an intense, watchful look in her eyes. Suzie scrubbed the fork again. Mama immediately dried it and put it away.

"Protecting the brat, I see," Joe sneered. Striding toward Mama, he bumped into her. "You're a poor excuse for a woman. Can't keep a home clean. Can't cook right. Can't do anything right."

Mama was doing chores and left a lot of room between herself and him as she moved around. She used her eyes to motion for Suzie to exit the kitchen.

However, Suzie didn't. Everything Joe was doing, she'd seen before. It led to pain and blood, so how could she leave? What if Mama was hurt? Mama deserved to be happy and safe. All her life she'd done nice things for people, and she deserved to be treated nice. She'd helped their old, elderly neighbors with their cleaning, laundry, and cooking. She'd helped people at her old job, helped Daddy with everything, helped Suzie. Biting her bottom lip, Suzie tasted blood. She trembled but stayed in her chair.

The next day, Joe's mood was more sour. "This food's awful!" One portion was too big and one too small, he claimed. Things were too salty, too peppery, too bland, too cold, too hot—. Dishes were washed wrong. Put away wrong. The tub wasn't clean enough. The toilet didn't shine enough. The floor wasn't perfect enough. He even found fault with the clean laundry, claiming his shirts were wrinkled.

"I'll iron them." Mama's voice was quiet. "How about I rub your shoulders for you, too? You love massages."

"I love massages, huh? You think I don't know what you're doing? You think you're so smart?" Charging around the kitchen, he swept one item off a counter, one from a refrigerator shelf, another from a cupboard. "Look what you've done! Clean this up!"

As Mama and Suzie collected debris, Joe demolished the living room, after which he headed into Suzie's room. He shattered, stomped, and demolished one thing after another before going into the room he shared with Mama.

Mama saw him holding her cherished photo album. "Please, Joe—. It's got my only pictures of—." She sniffled.

"Pictures of Steve, who you slept with, and your dead, worthless mother. Oh, well." Yanking pages out of the album, he began ripping them.

Suzie stood in the doorway, although she knew that was unwise. She could've hidden, but Mama was crying. Mama was all she had left and hadn't been happy in so long. Suzie knew Mama missed Daddy horribly, and Suzie didn't want her to be sad. After Joe flung what was left of the photo album away, he turned, searching for the next thing to destroy. Suzie darted to the photo shreds, grabbed a handful, and stuffed them into her pocket. Mama motioned her away. Suzie shook her head, refusing to leave the room, and rammed a second handful inside her shirt. A third went in the same place but, as she reached for the fourth, Joe turned around.

"You miserable thing!" He aimed a wild kick at her and his foot struck her calf.

"Oww." That hurt her, but not as bad as other times.

"Stop, Joe!" Mama cried, "That's my baby. She's all I have left, and the sweetest girl ever born!" She disregarded the risk and threw herself in front of him. "Run, Suzie!"

"You worthless creature, I'll teach you to interfere!" His fist connected with Mama's face, making a dull thud.

"Don't hurt my Mama!" Suzie screamed. Terrorized but not thinking about her own safety, she charged Joe and pummeled him with her small fists. "Leave her alone!"

Joe back-handed her and sent her flying. Cruel satisfaction shown in his eyes, and he smiled at the body lying on the floor. Grabbing Suzie's mother who fought like crazy, screaming and struggling, he backhanded her panicked face. He dragged her down the hall by her hair, shoved her into their bedroom, and locked the door from the outside. He walked away grinning and ignored the shouts coming from the room behind him.

Returning to the kitchen, he sneered at Suzie, who was sitting up and trying to shake the fuzziness from her head. "You're gonna learn some respect."

"Let me out!" Mama yelled. "She's only a baby! Don't hurt her!"

Suzie looked up at the monster towering over her, blocking out the light from the ceiling with his large body. Were his eyes glowing red? She cringed and whimpered.

Hauling her up with one meaty hand, he smacked with the other. "I'll be careful not to hit you anywhere people might notice." He chuckled.

Going from stinging pain to numbness, Suzie felt herself floating. Before she lost consciousness, she thought of the promised protector and whispered, "Help—."

Joe didn't see the dark smoke but did notice the house lights flickering off and on. Tripping on the body on the floor, he stepped over it and went to the basement to check the fuse box. Everything seemed okay and the flickering stopped.

Going back upstairs, he stepped over the body again, and headed for his bedroom. Unlocking the door, he grinned at Nora—still yelling although her voice was mostly gone. Later he locked her back in, went for a beer, and settled down to watch tv.

All friendliness, Joe spoke to Suzie's principal. "She rode her bike off the roof trying to fly like E.T. You know how kids are." He'd threatened Suzie before they left home. "Breathe a word to anyone and you'll never see your mother again!"

Suzie's body was stiff and sore, but at least she wouldn't have to lie to get out of P.E.

Her day passed in a haze. She didn't fully recall what had happened. What she did remember made her nauseous and her headache. Knowing she had to go home later made her vomit in the bathroom, and she thought of the protector with a scowl. She was alone in the toilet, so no one heard her speaking aloud. "Where were you when Joe hurt Mama? A protector should protect people."

Coming out of her stall, she encountered a human-shaped, smoky haze, and glared at the being watching her. "What good are you? You won't help when we need help!" Tears rolled down her face. Her shoulders shook, her legs weakened, and she slumped against a wall. She accused, voice fading to a whisper, "Mama needed you and you weren't there."

A nebulous hand touched her cheek, and, despite the protector's hazy appearance, Suzie felt the touch. "Mama and I need help. We're not safe because of Joe, and you're not helping us." She felt cheated and like she'd been lied to.

That very instant, she felt herself being moved. "What are you doing?" No answer came, but the force pushed her out of the bathroom, down the hall, and straight through the front door of the school's office.

"Yes?" The secretary, Mrs. Lulu Nelly, was texting on her phone and didn't look up to see who'd come in.

Suzie stiffened and grimaced. What was she doing here? Only kids who got in trouble went to the office. "Why'd you bring me here?" she whispered to the shadowy figure. "I asked for help. How is this helping Mama and me?"

A smoky hand raised her right sleeve a little.

She yanked it down. "What are you doing?"

Mrs. Nelly looked up. "Hi. Can I help you?" She didn't act like she'd seen the shadow. Maybe she couldn't. Without waiting for a reply, she directed her attention to her cell phone.

Suzie's left sleeve went up slightly. She shoved it down and hissed, "Stop it!"

The insistent smoky hand inched her right sleeve up again. Huffing a bit, she reached to push it down, but froze. She remembered Nya's words and looked up at her protector. "You're trying to help me, aren't you?"

The smoky hand brushed her cheek, then rested on her head.

Taking a shaky breath, Suzie spoke.

Mrs. Nelly called Principal Walters. He called Counselor Smith. Their expressions changed when Suzie pushed her right sleeve up, and then her left. When she slowly unbuttoned her shirt and opened it part-way, showing her stomach, nobody said a word.

Deputy Jose Flores was changing his one-month-old daughter's diaper when the call came. Stopping, he listened as Sergeant Cole explained what was going on.

"You met the girl before, Jose…," Cole said. "We thought the connection might help—."

Jose wasn't on duty but passed baby Maria to his wife, kissed them both, and left.

He caught Deputy Sally Hunter at her home. She was mixing cake batter for her eight-year-old son's birthday party later that evening. Listening to Jose, she stopped what she was doing, and turned the cake-making over to her mother who lived with her.

Suzie's home was within their jurisdiction, so any investigation which ensued would probably fall to them. Beyond that, both deputies were parents and despised abusers, so they didn't mind being asked to help.

Deputy Flores and Deputy Hunter accompanied the pale, shaky Suzie to a hospital and stayed through the forensic exam. The doctor asked them to step out, wanting a female nurse present instead, but Suzie wanted them to stay so they did. The doctor helped remove her clothing, and they saw welts, both old and recent, streaking her skin. In addition, she had bruises ranging from faded yellow to reddish-black and purple, and more.

Reporting to their Sergeant afterward, Jose barked, "Have the bastard picked up before he gets wind of this!"

Sergeant Cole said, "We're on it. Jose. I've never heard you this upset. How bad is it?"

Jose took a deep breath. "Real bad!" Eyes damp, he tossed the phone to Sally, and strode into a bathroom.

"She's got welts, bruises, burns of some kind," Sally reported. "Two ribs broken. I can go on, but—."

"Anything sexual?" Cole's voice rasped.

"No."

"Thank God. Hold on. I got a call." He returned to the line a couple minutes later. "The other deputies got him. Did you know the mother was decked out with a shock collar?"

Sally blinked. "What?"

"That worthless excuse for a man had the kid's mother in a collar that shocked her if she went too far."

"Miserable son-of-a—!"

"The other inmates will deal with him."

She nodded, although Cole couldn't see her. "Good."

Hours after Mama assured her Joe was gone forever, Suzie lay in her bed wide awake. She imagined him running and being tazed—Mama had described it in great detail—and giggled. Suzie hadn't felt like laughing in a long time. After her stomach growled, she went to the kitchen and gobbled down a banana, then a second. How long had it been since she felt hunger?

She went to the laundry room and reached for the knot. As soon as her fingers grazed it, the knot separated from the wall and expanded. Suzie touched the shimmering surface and let herself be pulled through.

Nya gave Suzie a light hug. "I'm trying to avoid your injuries, so I won't hug you tighter. You look happier."

"I am," Suzie stated. "I feel good—except for hurting, I mean."

"I'm glad."

Suzie hung her head. "I fussed at you because I thought the protector wasn't helping us. I thought bad things about y'all. I'm sorry for my attitude."

Music sounded in the distance and Nya eyed the other fairies around her, who were smiling. Despite living through horrors, this little one was worried about something small. The fairies had a saying in their land: "The heart's intent speaks loudest." She beamed at Suzie. "Would you like to meet your protector, Suzie?"

Eyes widening, the girl asked, "Can I? Really and truly?"

The large smoky figure appeared a short distance away. Coming toward them, however, it didn't look as big.

Suzie wrinkled her forehead. "Is he shrinking?"

"Just watch."

The figure grew smaller and smaller as it neared and, instead of having an adult shape, it shrank more.

Suzie gasped. "That's a girl."

"Is it?"

The smoky-girl walked toward them, solidifying by the step, and her facial features became clear.

Suzie stared wide-eyed at Nya for confirmation. "It's me!"

"Yes—a part of you, hidden away long ago."

Smoky-Suzie stepped closer. Suzie did the same, studying her mirror image. When she reached to touch the second her, Smoky Suzie copied her gesture and they quietly merged.

Looking down at her hands, Suzie touched her chest, assuring herself she was there. "I don't understand."

"That being was your determination to protect your mother, even when you were in danger. That was your love, your hope, your courage."

Thoughts swirled in Suzie's head.

"You had a great deal of strength and bravery in you. You didn't know because it was stuffed down deep inside you. Sadness and fear can do that sometimes. I brought your strength back out."

Suzie considered the words. "You're saying I was afraid?" She had no trouble understanding that part.

"Yes, you were, but you don't have to be afraid anymore. Always remember what lies inside of you is much, much stronger than anything outside of you."

"That smoky thing—that girl—was Mama's protector and mine?"

"Suzie, that wasn't really a separate being. It was you. You were your mother's protector. You were your own protector. All the strength and courage you needed were inside of you."

Brow furrowed, Suzie thought she understood what she was being told. "You're saying I'm strong?"

Nya nodded. "Yes, you are. You've always been strong. You just needed a little help remembering."

Suzie repeated, "I'm strong," and smiled.

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