Read Online Believe Like a Child by Paige Dearth - Free Book Online Page B

time how she had always wanted a friend like you. Whatever you have to tell me will be fine.”
    There was no holding back now. “My Uncle Danny has been having sex with me since I was seven years old,” Alessa blurted out. “Now, things are getting much worse. My parents are away for the weekend and he is having friends over for a poker game tonight. He made it clear that I would have to ‘be nice’ to all of them once they arrived.”
    Zoe’s face went completely blank for a few seconds. She wondered what she could possibly say to make this child feel safe. She wanted to make her feel like a normal kid her age. She wanted to help Alessa understand that she had nothing to be mortified about. Nothing of what had happened to her was her fault.
    After a long pause, she asked, “Have you told your mother?”
    “I tried. Twice. Once, when I was much younger and again, the night Rhonda died. Both times, my mother defended my uncle and called me a liar. I’m so scared, Zoe! I can’t have sex with them. They’re a bunch of old men. I’ve put up with my uncle for the last ten years. I just can’t do it, Zoe!”
    Alessa was now crying bitterly. Her chest heaved with raw emotion as she grappled with the thought of what her uncle’s friends would do to her. Her tears welled up from deep inside her, from the very depths of her soul. Zoe took the girl in her arms and held her for a long, long time. Both were sobbing, Zoe for the loss of her daughter and the pain this young girl in her arms had endured and Alessa, for all she had been denied in her short life and for the suffering she had borne.
    Zoe managed a weak smile. “You can live here, Alessa,” she told her.
    This had always been Alessa’s cherished dream. She knew, however, that Caterina would come home in a couple of days and discover that her daughter had not only defied her orders and left the house, but run away from home and taken shelter with Zoe, of all people.
    “There is nothing I want more in the world than to stay here with you,” Alessa said earnestly. “I wish you were my mother. But I know that when my mom comes home, this is the first place where she will come looking for me. She knows that Rhonda was the only person in my life, outside of my family. She will just make your life miserable, Zoe. In the end, I’ll just have to go back to living with her and my uncle.
    “If only I could get away from here and live somewhere where no one could find me until I was eighteen! That’s just a year from now. After that, no one can tell me what to do. I would be able to come back and stay with you then, if you’d let me. I just need to get away for one year, Zoe. That’s all.” Alessa hesitated. “I can go to Philadelphia and live in the city for a year. I can get a job and find a small apartment. No one will need to know where I am and they will never think to look for me there.”
    “You need to finish high school, Alessa,” Zoe reminded her.
    “I can get my GED later. Right now, I don’t really care about a high-school diploma. I just need to get out of here before tonight,” Alessa pleaded.
    Zoe searched for a different solution, but in vain. Finally, she said, “Okay. I want you to go into Rhonda’s room and pack her duffle bag with some of her clothes. Take whatever you want. Make sure you take her down coat, just in case. I’m going to run to the bank now and get you some cash to get you started. I also want you to take Rhonda’s cell phone. This way, you and I can keep in touch and I will be able to help you.”
    As terrified as Alessa was of what she was about to do, she was relieved to be finally getting away from her uncle and her pathetic existence.
    After Zoe had left for the bank, Alessa went into Rhonda’s bedroom. It was just as they had left it that awful night. The bed was unmade and the orange soda and cookies still sat on top of the dresser. Alessa experienced a deep sense of loss as she looked around and remembered how