Just Accept It...

"He took the babies, Laura! It was Henry. He took them!

"What are you saying, mom? Henry did this to you then took the girls?"

"Yes, him and some friends; Army guys I think. I don't know. They came in, tied us up, and Henry took the girls and left. He said he's leaving the country and we'd never see them again!"

My head was reeling with this information. Had I so completely underestimated him? I would never have thought he was capable of something like this. There must be another explanation. I finished untying her mom and told her to get dad out, then punched in Henry's cell phone number. I'll fix this, I thought. He'll get his ass back here with my kids or he'll be damn sorry.

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HENRY

The phone rang with the anticipated call from Laura. I had kept this phone and attached international service to it solely for this phone call. I let it ring 4 times before answering. "Hello?"

"You son of a bitch. Where the hell...?" I hung up the phone. It rang again moments later

"Don't you fucking hang up on me..." I hung up again. The phone rang yet again.

This time I spoke first. "Laura, this is your last chance to have a civil conversation. If I hang up again it will be the last time you hear my voice. Understood?"

I could almost hear her scowl through the phone. "Yes, I understand. Now what's going on? Why were my parents tied up and where are my children?"

"Well, let me answer those in reverse order. First, you no longer have children. Those that used to be your children are here with me where they will remain and you will not see them again."

"Bullshit, you bastard..."

"This is your last warning on language, Laura. Keep a civil tongue in your head or I'll just end this now. I only kept this phone number open as long as I did so we could talk one more time. After I hang up the next time this number will no longer work. So if you want answers you better watch how you talk. Clear?"

The tone of Laura's voice changed immediately. She likely thought she could still get to me but needed to seem chastened at this point. She was wrong, of course, but she didn't know that yet.

"Yes. I'm sorry, I'm just very upset. Imagine how I felt finding my parents tied up and my kids gone."

"And imagine how I felt being told I would be forced to support my slut of a wife while she screws anything that moves or face being denied my children. None of this would have happened if you had stayed home instead of going off and fucking 3 different guys? Yes, I had you followed. I know exactly what you did."

"Henry, baby, I didn't really mean it. I was just trying to get you to fight for me and show me how much you love me."

"We've been married for 7 years. I shouldn't need to fight for you anymore."

"A woman just likes to be reminded how desired she is, that's all."

"That's a crock of shit and you know it. Your mother explained it all to me: my role as 'provider and child rearer', my being rewarded with sex if I do a good job, and all the other men that will serve to satisfy your sexual needs since that was all they could manage. Well now you are free to try and pull this on someone else. You were a fool to think I would accept what you were trying to pull."

"Henry, please, I'm sorry. Just bring my kids back to me. I'll do anything."

"Sorry Laura. You've shown your true colors and that's the end of it. As I told your mother, you're welcome to try and find us, but we're living under different names and in another country. We have new birth certificates that don't even list you as their mother so there's no paper trail for you to hunt through. This is the first time I've ever been glad my parents died in that car crash. That would have made it harder to leave. Goodbye Laura."

I could hear her screaming my name as I disconnected the call and tossed the phone into the water.

I turned to my 4-year old companions. "Okay Lucy, Janie, what should we do today."

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fin