Read Online The Shocking Truth About Ramsey by Jennifer L. Ray - Free Book Online
Authors: Jennifer L. Ray
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chair by his bed.
"Granddad, don't be mad," he said.
"Don't be mad at me either," he said. He sounded stronger and Jackson was relieved.
"What is that supposed to mean," he asked.
"Your daddy called while you were missing," he paused to add emphasis to the 'missing' part. "When the nurses couldn't find you, he went crazy. Said he was taking the first flight out. He should be here soon and he ain't happy, Jackson. Where were you, son?"
"I was with Ramsey," Jackson said. "So, what else did he say?"
"He said he was coming to take me home with him," Maximus said sadly. "I'd rather go to a nursing home than move to California. Lord, I don't know what's gone happen to me now."
It broke Jackson's heart. His granddad had gone out of his way once to make his life easier. He'd made sure Jackson never once got bored out on that dark country road. It had been a true labor of love carrying a teenage boy wherever he wanted to go whenever he wanted to go, but Maximus had done it.
He knew he'd failed him. Now his dad was coming and if Jackson was bullheaded and stubborn, Frank Steele was worse. Once his mind was made up, there was practically no use at all in arguing the point. But Jackson would take a stand this time. He had several reasons why leaving Mississippi and returning to California were not in his best interest and this was one argument with Frank Steele he would win.
In the meantime, he had a doctor to find. He rang for the nurse and demanded that she get Dr. Ramsey Laughterdale to his grandfather's bedside immediately. He had no wish for Ramsey to walk up on his father before he'd had a chance to warn her how Frank felt about her and her mother. They would all be hard pressed as it was to explain how Maximus had been placed in the enemy's hands.
#
After calling a local handyman to come replace the glass in her living room window, Pam went into her bedroom and sat on the bed for a long time. She let her mind open up slowly. Long forgotten memories, faces, and voices cautiously emerged. She let them crowd painfully back into her psyche. Gripping the covers of her bed, she trembled her way back into her tumultuous past. When she grew afraid and tried to banish the memories, they persisted and prevailed up on her reluctant spirit.
Exhausted and temporarily debilitated, she fell against the covers into a fitful sleep and a nightmare. The little girl's face appeared first as that of a baby and then that of a teenager. She looked like Pam and Ramsey, but she looked like the monster too. It terrified Pam and she shook within her dream. The child couldn't walk and couldn't talk. All she did was scream. Her screaming went on and on and the scream eventually changed from that of a woman to that of a man. The feminine mouth became a masculine mouth and Pam watched helplessly as her father's face materialized and the screaming became hers instead of his.
The dream became so intense that Pam forced herself awake and away from it. She woke up drenched in sweat and ran to the bathroom. Vomit spewed from her mouth before she could reach the toilet. Falling to her knees, she hugged the toilet seat and was violently ill a few more times before she calmed enough to strip off her clothes and stand beneath the hot water of a shower.
An hour later she was dressed and composed. She waited impatiently on the couch as the man replaced the window. She had already gotten Herby's blood off the floor. Everything was almost back to normal, but Pam knew it was only a superficial normalcy and that nothing would ever again be back to normal and that nothing had ever really been normal in the first place.
#
When Talmus had awakened to find his mother standing over his bed in a demon-like rage he knew he couldn't deal with her. He'd done exactly what she demanded. He had taken her to the hospital to be with Herby, his so-called dad, and
"Granddad, don't be mad," he said.
"Don't be mad at me either," he said. He sounded stronger and Jackson was relieved.
"What is that supposed to mean," he asked.
"Your daddy called while you were missing," he paused to add emphasis to the 'missing' part. "When the nurses couldn't find you, he went crazy. Said he was taking the first flight out. He should be here soon and he ain't happy, Jackson. Where were you, son?"
"I was with Ramsey," Jackson said. "So, what else did he say?"
"He said he was coming to take me home with him," Maximus said sadly. "I'd rather go to a nursing home than move to California. Lord, I don't know what's gone happen to me now."
It broke Jackson's heart. His granddad had gone out of his way once to make his life easier. He'd made sure Jackson never once got bored out on that dark country road. It had been a true labor of love carrying a teenage boy wherever he wanted to go whenever he wanted to go, but Maximus had done it.
He knew he'd failed him. Now his dad was coming and if Jackson was bullheaded and stubborn, Frank Steele was worse. Once his mind was made up, there was practically no use at all in arguing the point. But Jackson would take a stand this time. He had several reasons why leaving Mississippi and returning to California were not in his best interest and this was one argument with Frank Steele he would win.
In the meantime, he had a doctor to find. He rang for the nurse and demanded that she get Dr. Ramsey Laughterdale to his grandfather's bedside immediately. He had no wish for Ramsey to walk up on his father before he'd had a chance to warn her how Frank felt about her and her mother. They would all be hard pressed as it was to explain how Maximus had been placed in the enemy's hands.
#
After calling a local handyman to come replace the glass in her living room window, Pam went into her bedroom and sat on the bed for a long time. She let her mind open up slowly. Long forgotten memories, faces, and voices cautiously emerged. She let them crowd painfully back into her psyche. Gripping the covers of her bed, she trembled her way back into her tumultuous past. When she grew afraid and tried to banish the memories, they persisted and prevailed up on her reluctant spirit.
Exhausted and temporarily debilitated, she fell against the covers into a fitful sleep and a nightmare. The little girl's face appeared first as that of a baby and then that of a teenager. She looked like Pam and Ramsey, but she looked like the monster too. It terrified Pam and she shook within her dream. The child couldn't walk and couldn't talk. All she did was scream. Her screaming went on and on and the scream eventually changed from that of a woman to that of a man. The feminine mouth became a masculine mouth and Pam watched helplessly as her father's face materialized and the screaming became hers instead of his.
The dream became so intense that Pam forced herself awake and away from it. She woke up drenched in sweat and ran to the bathroom. Vomit spewed from her mouth before she could reach the toilet. Falling to her knees, she hugged the toilet seat and was violently ill a few more times before she calmed enough to strip off her clothes and stand beneath the hot water of a shower.
An hour later she was dressed and composed. She waited impatiently on the couch as the man replaced the window. She had already gotten Herby's blood off the floor. Everything was almost back to normal, but Pam knew it was only a superficial normalcy and that nothing would ever again be back to normal and that nothing had ever really been normal in the first place.
#
When Talmus had awakened to find his mother standing over his bed in a demon-like rage he knew he couldn't deal with her. He'd done exactly what she demanded. He had taken her to the hospital to be with Herby, his so-called dad, and
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