The Bee

This was inspired by my beautiful best friend and girlfriend, who not only survived years of abuse, but has also thrived as a mother, partner, nurse, and shining light.

• Fiction

								
The statewide Massachusetts Spelling Bee had turned into such a big deal over time that organizers had switched sites four times over the last seventeen years.  Such was the interest in this precursor to the nationwide event. Little Katey Prudomme, not so little now at 14, couldn’t wait. She and her dad, for years, starting with her at age five, would constantly test each other with words, both difficult and not so. How much fun it was for her to get the best of him…occasionally. And, to be honest, she knew he loved it, too.
Her dad had been so proud of himself that he’d been able to instill in his daughter a love for language. Reading, writing, and especially spelling seemed, now, to be things that fell through the cracks in school systems. Hit a button on your laptop and your paper is completely spelled and corrected for you. It bugged Katey, because it bothered her dad. He was her whole world, and now he was gone.

The car accident that took him two years prior was big news in their small town. Everyone she’d ever known came to the service and wept. But no one more than Katey herself. She was always a pretty quiet girl, studious and well-read. She had her friends, but her best was her father. She often told him “You’re gonna have a tough time when I meet a boy”. And he’d follow with “Not nearly as tough a time as he’ll have tryin’ to get past me”! You know, the way it should be for fathers and daughters.

Certainly not the way it was for most daughters and stepfathers. It SHOULD be, but not by Katey’s account. Her mother met Richard Staxx at a car dealership when the old Toyota finally bit the big one. He gave her a ‘wink wink’ good deal on a new Camry, and suddenly everything was right in Mary Prudomme’s world. She was lonely and he was interested. Sometimes the tumblers fall together in perfect combination. 

And sometimes not.

When they got married eight months later, Katey was miserable. She didn’t show it much since she didn’t want to rock the boat. That just wasn’t her way. But certain ‘things’ between Katey and Staxx were percolating, and not in a good way. One day when Staxx was home from work and Katey walked in after school, he whistled. Not a ‘Wow, you’re home from school in record time” kind of sound. It reminded Katey more of construction sites and beauty pageants. He had shown, recently, a lewd and lascivious side when his dealership buddies would come by and have a few. She could hear the talk and the innuendo from her room. Her mother, she knew, heard it too. But apparently, having bills paid on time was a lot more important than Katey had thought. More important than decency and respect.

When the whistle was followed two days later by a slap on the butt, Katey was scared stiff. So much so that she realized she had to talk to her mother about it, bills be damned. Who cares if those bills hit the fan- she was her daughter and she needed protection! Who better to provide it than your own flesh and blood?
But it was not to come. It could’ve, but it didn’t. Mary Prudomme Staxx had lost one husband, and she wasn’t about to lose another. Especially due to, let’s face it, a misunderstanding.

“Kate, he’s just trying, is all. Trying to, you know, get to know you better. I’m sure it’s all just innocent fun. You’re makin’ too much of this”.

Lord, who’s left for me now? She couldn’t talk to her friends about it- she wouldn’t know how. She’d even taken to reaching out to her dad…reckoning some insight may mystically be delivered from the great beyond. But alas, it was not to be. And so, when the evening of Friday, October 7th fell, so did her soul. To depths no fourteen year old’s should ever sink.
Coming home drunk after bingeing with his buddies was becoming a common occurrence for Richard Staxx. Even when her mother was home, Katey noticed his boundaries were fast becoming non-existent. So while Katey studied for the upcoming Bee, like she had the past few years, Staxx waltzed into her room like his personal address was on the door. She was frozen to the bone as he sidled up next to her on her bed. So frozen, even a scream couldn’t escape from her mouth. He began to take liberties, sitting there, that became all the more abhorrent to her when she thought that maybe her dad was watching from above. It made her sob, hysterically. And when she did, it put her stepfather off enough that he left the room in frustration. Her head on a tear-stained pillow, she knew she needed someone. Some kind of guardian angel. This nighttime visit was awful, but, mercifully, certain lines hadn’t been crossed. But, it was just a matter of time. Katey knew it. So she paid a visit to the one man, other than her father, that she’d been able to trust in her young life. A man she had always found easy to talk to. And a man both she and her dad had admired a great deal.

Herb Wilkins was a local businessman in town who, through his various successes, had risen to such prominence that he’d taken to hosting and sponsoring the town’s spelling bee. And, consequently, the statewide championships. And they were coming. Hundreds of entrants were already signed up for the three-day event. It would be held at a high school gymnasium. Capacity- 1100.

Wilkins Lumber was busy that Monday when Katey stopped by after school. Herb’s whole face seemed to smile upon seeing her, and she lit up when she saw him.

After a heartfelt hug, “So good to see you, Mr. Wilkins. It’s been a minute”.

“I guess I can keep trying to talk you into calling me Herb or I can save my breath. At my age, I’ll take the extra breath! How are you”?

After a laugh, “I’m…okay. Getting ready for the big weekend, I guess”

“Well, I hope so. Your dad would be so proud”.
At that, it was all she could do to keep from completely breaking down. Wilkins could see it and knew right away something was amiss. They both sat down. 
“Katey, we’ve known each other awhile now. Something’s wrong. Can you tell me”?
And she did. After all, that’s why she’d come. To unburden herself. The shame she  knew she shouldn’t feel was everpresent nonetheless. After he released her from the biggest and saddest hug he’d ever delivered, he wanted to grab the nearest baseball bat and go scout out two or three Toyotas and their piece-of-garbage  salesperson. But Herb and Katey both knew frontier justice wouldn’t solve anything. Just create new problems, for the two of them.
 
“My mother’s too scared to believe it, so she never will”, said Katey. “I’ve read what it’s like to go to the police. They’ll want proof. What do I have? I’m just fourteen…and I…”

“Listen to me, Katey. I know it sounds like you’ve got no one to turn to. But you do. You came to me and I don’t plan on letting you down. I don’t quite know what to do yet, but you’ve stayed with Mrs. Wilkins and me before. Come stay at our place for a few days leading up to the Bee. Tell your mom you need…I don’t know…time and space to get ready”. Then he added, since he believed it, “I promise you things are gonna be okay. Somehow, someway”.

								Rate this book:0.0 / 0 votes