Sing for Their Supper - 59

 

DJ sat down, putting his arm around Evie. "Don't cry," he murmured as a tear rolled down her cheek. He brushed it away. "We're here. I'm here. It's going to be all right. I promise."

 

Tuck knelt beside Evie. "Did he molest you?" he asked her softly.

 

For a moment it appeared as if she wasn't going to reply. Then she said, "He touched me, not down there." She glanced quickly at her lap. "But his hand would brush my breasts when he'd give me a hug. The first time I was sure it was an accident, but when it kept happening… He was real free with his hugs." She shivered. "Then, one time, I was taking a shower and he came into the bathroom just as I got out. He apologized, saying he didn't know I was in there. But his eyes… He couldn't keep them off me. It scared the hell out of me. I thought about running away after that happened but I didn't have the nerve to—not until he came into my bedroom one night." She took DJ's hand, holding it tightly.

 

"You don't have to tell the rest," Tuck said gently.

 

"There's not much more to tell. He was wearing pajama bottoms. Nothing else. He was almost to the bed when I told him to get out or I'd scream for Mother. He…he did. As soon as I heard his bedroom door close, I got up and got dressed. I crammed everything I could into my backpack and got the hell out of there. I should have left the city, too, but I knew my way around and felt sure I could find somewhere safe where they wouldn't find me. As soon as I found a fast food place, I went into the washroom to cut my hair." She looked at DJ. "It used to be almost to my waist. When I walked out of there, I looked like a boy."

 

"Did they try to find you?" DJ asked.

 

She shrugged. "I don't know. Probably, I guess. For a while I hung out in parts of the city I figured they wouldn't be seen dead in, if they did look for me. I had the feeling my father wouldn't, once he figured out way I ran away. After a while, I stopped worrying so much. Then, I met you and Tuck, and everyone, and finally felt safe."

 

"I believe, in the eyes of the law, you can consider yourself safe here, even though you're only sixteen," Brent said.

 

"Seventeen in two weeks," Evie told him.

 

"Even better. According to what I've read, although I'll double check it, the authorities aren't likely to get involved as long as you're in a safe place where nothing illegal is going on. You have a legitimate reason not to want to return home and, at this point, I've got the feeling, after what you told us about what he did to you, that your father wouldn't make an issue of it anyway."

 

Evie let out a long, relieved breath. Then, smiling brightly, she said, "Let the partying continue!"

 

Everyone cheered—and it did. The girls, one by one, came over to make certain Evie really was all right. She assured them she was. "I have two white knights to protect me—Tuck and DJ," she told Roma.

 

"Minus a sword, but I'll do my damnedest anyway," DJ said, giving Evie a kiss.

 

It was very late when the party ended, and probably would have been later still if it hadn't been time for the restaurant to close. Everyone piled into the cars to go back to the theater. Once they'd dropped their passengers off, Norm, Andy and Fran, and Peg, left.

 

"I expect all of you to go right to bed," Tuck told the cast, going all fatherly on them.

 

"Yes, Daddy," Jolie replied, smirking.

 

Tuck glanced at Evie, then said, "For all of you who are under eighteen, Brent and I are your surrogate fathers."

 

Ricky grinned. "The rest of us are on our own, I take it."

 

"As long as you behave. If not, you'll be grounded."

 

Everyone laughed, then after saying their goodnights to Tuck and Brent, they headed to their cabins.

 

"They're good kids," Brent said as he and Tuck drove away.

 

"Indeed they are. I can only hope no other parents show up to cause problems. They don't deserve that."

 

"If anyone does, I'm sure that between us we can handle things."