REVENGE (7)

A blanket lay on the floor covering the flowered carpet and Red was laying on it trying to concentrate on an Elvis tune she'd heard. She had a closed look on her face as the man in a plaid shirt and jeans with a shiny bald head was on top of her. The only sound in the room was his heavy breathing, and after a time he got up.  A clock in the room boomed out five-thirty and Red saw it was time to go home and make dinner. As she was running out the door, Jake called out, "Red, if you say anything to anybody you won't be able to come over and use my piano anymore.  He was in the kitchen now and holding a sharp knife as he was cutting into a loaf of bread.
Red was small and skinny, with red hair and blue eyes. She was the brain in her class and took part in all the school plays, sang in church and declared someday she was going to Hollywood and be a star.  She came from a large family and they couldn't afford a piano, so Jake, everybodies friend, had told her she could use his.  As it just stood there in his house.
Oh, how excited she was when she first went over and began to pick out the melodies to match the  songs she had learned. This was a dream come true for a eight year old girl.
Red worked hard at home taking care of her younger brothers and sisters.  And always helping with the cooking and cleaning.  She had become a quite a baker and could stir up a golden yellow cake from scratch in minutes.
Laverne was happy today and she was walking home from school with ther friends, Red and Lola. Her nipples itched again and felt hot, but this was a good sign they all agreed because in a few years they would all be older and almost grown. Laverne was an orphan and an average student, and didn't have any plans yet for her future. Maybe get married and have four kids . She was tall and had long black hair even as a little girl, with big brown eyes.  Maybe she was a little Mexican she thought. But there were no papers to tell her anything about herself but her last name was Cruz, and that souned like she might be.  She said goodby to her friends and they all promised to go out and sell their candy bars for money for their school.
.Later that evening, Laverne could hear the small soap bubles brusting in the cleaning foam on the carpet with the big flowers, as they burst close to her ears making a snapping noise. She was pinned down and a wet rag was stuffed in her mouth. The smell was so strong she could almost taste the awful combination of cleaners in her mouth and throat, but it was nothing compared to what this man was doing to her. This man who had always been so nice to her.  She lay there finally, bruised and hurt, her eyes filling with tears.  However she was gaining her strength back and as he rolled off her, she reached over for the scrub pail and tossed the water with the chemicals at him.  Jake sat there for a minute on his knees, dumbfonded, as the deadly water ran down his face and into his eyes. And this was just enough time for her to run, pulling  on her clthes as she flung the door open to get away from the man and that house.
She wondered fearfully, is this what its all about?
.Now decades later, the three girls met in the hotel lobby in their home town. They hugged and cried, complimented each other and then went in to the lounge to have a cocktail and really catch up. Lola, classy and blonde, Laverne looking lovely in her new look and Red, still skinny with redder hair. They talked and laughed and soon it was time to get ready for the party at their school.