Come Back To Me Read Free Page B

make me hurt you because if I have to, I will.”
    Cara’s heart pounded so hard she thought it might burst. She was terrified, too terrified to do anything. She’d never heard Mr. Walker sound like this, so mean, so cruel. She felt more afraid than she’d felt the first time, because now she knew what he intended to do.
    “Take your clothes off. Now.”
    Too scared to cry, Cara did as she was told.

 

     
    Christmas 1967
    T he office Christmas party was held at the Walkers’ home this year. Mr. and Mrs. Walker laid out cigarettes and ashtrays, silver bowls with mixed nuts, crackers with soft, smelly cheeses, but mostly they served drinks. Cara’s dad hired a bartender for the occasion. Cara sat with Karen in the den, both dressed in uncomfortable frilly party dresses, following their mothers’ admonitions that children should be seen and not heard. They watched and listened as the grownups told jokes and laughed out loud, their heads wreathed in smoke, hands holding tall, frosted glasses.
    Cara’s dad drank martinis. She didn’t understand the appeal aside from the olive. He’d let her have a taste once; then chuckled when she grimaced and gagged. It tasted like poison. He said, “It’s an acquired taste.”
    That’s what Mr. Walker said about what they’d been doing together, that it was an acquired taste, and one day she’d like it. Cara hated it and she hated Mr. Walker for making her do it.
    Since the day Mr. Walker found her in the bedroom, Cara had become a recluse. She’d made her father put a lock on her bedroom door, and she spent every afternoon and evening shut up there. She refused to stay home alone. If her parents were going out, she insisted they take her to her grandmother’s house. If her mother disagreed, Cara threw a screaming fit until she gave in.
    Cara’s mother even dragged her to the doctor. He couldn’t find a single thing wrong with her. He had no explanation for Cara’s stomachaches, her lackluster appetite, her noticeable weight loss or her sudden temper tantrums. He said “Cara is just a nervous child, and there isn’t much to do for her. She’ll grow out of it. Some children hit a rough patch during adolescence.”
    Cara had no idea what adolescence was, nor did she care. The only thing that mattered to her was keeping out of Mr. Walker’s reach. She’d managed to avoid him for weeks. Of course that was because it was the holiday season and now the Walkers had a houseful of company.
    This was the first time she’d entered the Walkers’ home in months. She and her mother had a big fight about the Christmas party. Cara had relented, agreeing to attend, but only because her father intervened.
    She barely spoke to Karen anymore. In the mornings, Cara left early and walked to school, refusing a ride from Mrs. Walker, despite the fact that the junior high school was nearly three miles away. Everybody, including Karen, thought Cara was weird for walking. The only things that remained unchanged in her life were her grades. Cara was still a straight A student, the top student in her class. She could lose herself in school work. While reading or drawing, Cara could forget about Mr. Walker, even if only for a few hours.
    Besides, Cara had noticed that the change in their friendship didn’t seem to bother Karen much. With her dance and gymnastics background, Karen was the first girl picked for the cheerleading squad. She’d made new friends, fun friends, who giggled, wore lipstick and were popular. Because of Karen, Cara was tolerated by that crowd, but she was considered too serious and too shy to be included in anything really fun.
    Now the two girls sat together, an uncomfortable space between them. They spoke only when spoken to, watching the adults.
    Karen yawned. “You want to come up to my room?”
    Cara took a surreptitious look around for Mr. Walker. She didn’t want him following them upstairs. Since he didn’t appear to be nearby, she agreed.
    When they reached