The Rise of Rachel Stark by J.A. York Read Free Book Online Page B

room.
    "Celeste … "
    "Forget it!" She headed for the front door. He
went after her.
    "Celeste! I'll give you more money," he said.
"Please."
    She stopped.
    She took a couple of steps toward
him.
    "How much more money?"
    "A hundred dollars," he said. "It's all I have
in the world."
    "In cash?"
    "Yes."
    "Let's see it."
    Benjamin walked over to the back door, which
was held shut by a five-gallon bucket full of his carpentry tools.
He had set it up against the door to keep it from blowing open. He
dug down into the bucket and pulled out a small paper
sack.
    He handed it to Celeste. "It's a lot of little
bills, but it's all there. It's actually a hundred and two
dollars," he said.
    Without a word, she started counting it. When
she was finished, she said:
    "You're right. Here's your two
dollars."
    Benjamin shrugged. But he took the
money.
    "OK," she said. "I'll do this under one
condition – that you lock those kids in that room. I don't care how
you do it. You can nail it shut. You can put a piano in front of
it, I don't care. Just do it! Because this really is your last
chance, mister. Do I make myself clear?"
    Benjamin nodded. "Yes."
    Celeste put the bag of bills in her case and
snapped it shut.
    "Now get Rachel and her mother back in here,
then do what you have to do to that door," she said. She turned and
walked into the bedroom.
    Rachel and Holly were dabbing their eyes with
handkerchiefs when they came back into the bedroom, but they said
not a word.
    Rachel climbed into bed. Celeste pulled a
couple of long straps out of her case.
    "I'm going to strap your arms to the
bedposts," Celeste said. "It's standard procedure. It's for your
own protection. If you start flailing your arms about during the
procedure all sorts of bad things can happen."
    Rachel's eyes darted about the room as Celeste
strapped her to the bedposts. When Celeste was done, she took the
knitting needle out of her case.
    Then she took the blanket off the bed and
pulled Rachel's nightgown up above her waist.
    "Mom, I want you to grab one foot and Dad you
grab the other. That's right. Now, pull her legs apart. Good. Now
put your other hand on her hip bone, that's right, and hold her
down. It's important that she doesn't start switching her hips and
moving around, struggling.
    "OK, Rachel, we're going to start now. I'm
going to insert the needle in you."
    "Aren't you going to sterilize it?" Benjamin
asked.
    "I've lost all patience with you people,"
Celeste said. "The needle is clean enough. Now I'm going to talk
you through the entire procedure, Rachel, so you'll know exactly
what's going on. Everybody else, keep your mouth shut.
    "Here we go."
    Celeste poked and prodded for an
opening.
    "She's as dry as a 90-year-old woman," Celeste
said. She reached into her case and brought out a small jar of
petroleum jelly. "Maybe this will help."
    "OK, Rachel," Celeste said a minute later.
"You're lubricated now. Here we go."
    Celeste leaned down to insert the needle – and
was rewarded with a stream of urine in her face.
    She jumped back and nearly fell
down.
    "Shit!" she cried. "Damn!"
    Fifteen minutes later, after she
cleaned herself up, unstrapped Rachel and gave her two tranquillizer pills,
and after Rachel went to the bathroom, then helped her mother
change the bed sheets, a sullen Celeste sat in the living room with
Benjamin, waiting for the tranquilizer pills to work their
magic.
    "This is the worst night of my life," Celeste
said.
    Benjamin wanted to choke her. He wanted to
tell her what a hateful witch she was.
    But he kept his hands at his side, and his
mouth shut.

Chapter Seven
    The Bullies
    Rachel went through the lunch line
at the Chante High cafeteria, then looked for a place to sit down.
She didn't see anybody she really knew, but she spotted a table
that had room for her.
    "Hi," she said to the girls at the
table, "mind if I sit with y'all?"
    "Y'all?" said a girl named Julia
Jackson. "You sound like a Tennessee hillbilly."
    There was laughter all