gaze.
“If I tell you what he said, I never want to discuss it again, Frank. Never .”
He solemnly nodded his acceptance of her terms.
“Okay.”
She balled her frail hands into white fists and a long violent shudder shook her body. Tears of mascara began to run into the crannies of her face but she was determined to maintain her dignity, even through this. Her voice came out brittle but clear — a matter of sheer will power.
“He said I was just a walking… hole… for men’s pleasure…”
Her voice faltered and she had to clear her throat before continuing.
“He…He said if he were younger he’d … cut out my genitals and make me eat them…”
The tears were flowing harder now and she trembled again.
“He was sick, Frank. Sick and disgusting.”
Frank moved closer and tried to comfort her. Eli? Eli had said that?!? The shock of it kept rolling through his mind in waves. Then it was true! — Eli was not who he seemed to be! What else was he hiding?
“Take it easy, Rachel… “ He said outwardly, in soft soothing tones as the reverberations of this revelation kept gnawing at him. “Take it easy…”
There was more here… he was sure of it! All of his instincts were telling him that this was only the beginning..!
And the certainty of this became even more firmly entrenched as he said his goodbyes to Rachel and promised he’d come back soon…
CHAPTER 10 – Burt
Frank was on his way back to the Night and Day cemetery before he’d even really thought about where he was going — or why. But then it made sense — Outside of the hospital, the only people that he knew that had had anything to do with Eli were the odd man that had been so strange at the funeral, and the old clergyman.
When he entered the squat building, Frank found the same clergyman behind a small battered desk doing paperwork and thought it was a lucky coincidence. But then it occurred to him — the man might even be the owner of this tiny decrepit enterprise.
Frank approached and got the old man’s attention. The clergyman looked up with that slightly jaundiced gaze that sometimes comes with age (and possibly poor health). Frank quickly introduced himself and waited to see if there were any signs of recognition and when none came, he began to ad-lib to suit his purposes. He had put no planning into this and it was another one of those circumstances when the exchange went so well, it was as if it were pre-scripted. The conversation played precisely towards Frank’s goals without him even trying — The clergyman assumed that since Frank had said he was at the funeral, he must be a relative of the deceased. It didn’t take him long to reveal that the other man, who’s name he was just now looking for, had passed him a bad check by way of payment and that he was contemplating what to do next. The clergyman went on to explain that the man had purchased the absolute cheapest burial package and had even negotiated the price down on that. To further bounce the check for this lowly amount was beyond the old Clergyman’s experience and that the man had provided proper identification before the clergyman would accept the check made even less sense to the old man.
“Is he trying to force my hand to involve the law?” Asked the clergyman, wringing his hands. “I have his name and address from his Driver’s license somewhere, why would he do such a disrespectable thing?” As an after-thought, the old man quickly added; “I apologize if you know the man, but this is most disgraceful!”
The clergyman slowly shook his head back and forth in dismay and disgust and, as if by virtue of momentum, the movement seemed to repeat indefinitely.
Frank saw his opportunity and seized it. He quickly spun a yarn about his estrangement from the other man, who he creatively claimed was his step-brother, and went on to explain that the poor man wasn’t quite right in the head and that he had thought that something like this might happen
“If I tell you what he said, I never want to discuss it again, Frank. Never .”
He solemnly nodded his acceptance of her terms.
“Okay.”
She balled her frail hands into white fists and a long violent shudder shook her body. Tears of mascara began to run into the crannies of her face but she was determined to maintain her dignity, even through this. Her voice came out brittle but clear — a matter of sheer will power.
“He said I was just a walking… hole… for men’s pleasure…”
Her voice faltered and she had to clear her throat before continuing.
“He…He said if he were younger he’d … cut out my genitals and make me eat them…”
The tears were flowing harder now and she trembled again.
“He was sick, Frank. Sick and disgusting.”
Frank moved closer and tried to comfort her. Eli? Eli had said that?!? The shock of it kept rolling through his mind in waves. Then it was true! — Eli was not who he seemed to be! What else was he hiding?
“Take it easy, Rachel… “ He said outwardly, in soft soothing tones as the reverberations of this revelation kept gnawing at him. “Take it easy…”
There was more here… he was sure of it! All of his instincts were telling him that this was only the beginning..!
And the certainty of this became even more firmly entrenched as he said his goodbyes to Rachel and promised he’d come back soon…
CHAPTER 10 – Burt
Frank was on his way back to the Night and Day cemetery before he’d even really thought about where he was going — or why. But then it made sense — Outside of the hospital, the only people that he knew that had had anything to do with Eli were the odd man that had been so strange at the funeral, and the old clergyman.
When he entered the squat building, Frank found the same clergyman behind a small battered desk doing paperwork and thought it was a lucky coincidence. But then it occurred to him — the man might even be the owner of this tiny decrepit enterprise.
Frank approached and got the old man’s attention. The clergyman looked up with that slightly jaundiced gaze that sometimes comes with age (and possibly poor health). Frank quickly introduced himself and waited to see if there were any signs of recognition and when none came, he began to ad-lib to suit his purposes. He had put no planning into this and it was another one of those circumstances when the exchange went so well, it was as if it were pre-scripted. The conversation played precisely towards Frank’s goals without him even trying — The clergyman assumed that since Frank had said he was at the funeral, he must be a relative of the deceased. It didn’t take him long to reveal that the other man, who’s name he was just now looking for, had passed him a bad check by way of payment and that he was contemplating what to do next. The clergyman went on to explain that the man had purchased the absolute cheapest burial package and had even negotiated the price down on that. To further bounce the check for this lowly amount was beyond the old Clergyman’s experience and that the man had provided proper identification before the clergyman would accept the check made even less sense to the old man.
“Is he trying to force my hand to involve the law?” Asked the clergyman, wringing his hands. “I have his name and address from his Driver’s license somewhere, why would he do such a disrespectable thing?” As an after-thought, the old man quickly added; “I apologize if you know the man, but this is most disgraceful!”
The clergyman slowly shook his head back and forth in dismay and disgust and, as if by virtue of momentum, the movement seemed to repeat indefinitely.
Frank saw his opportunity and seized it. He quickly spun a yarn about his estrangement from the other man, who he creatively claimed was his step-brother, and went on to explain that the poor man wasn’t quite right in the head and that he had thought that something like this might happen
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