No Plans for Love (16 page)

"I do care," Jan assured her.

"Go away," Sherry ordered. "And stay away. I'll find someone else to take care of my wound or do it myself."

"Sherry, don't be unreasonable."

"Go! Get out! Just leave me alone so I can think."

Jan went. She had her cell phone to her ear as soon as she got in the black SUV.

"She's probably calling Frank or Mark." Sherry went back to bed but couldn't sleep. Her pain wouldn't allow her to get comfortable. She finally gave up trying to sleep and went to the kitchen to set the teakettle on the stove. Maybe a good hot cup of tea would help clear the cobwebs from her brain. She wished she had a toaster. She turned on the radio to listen to the news and weather report.

The tea didn't help much but she couldn't just sit around feeling sorry for herself. She decided to go through the pantry to see what groceries she needed to buy. Most of what she'd purchased Monday were non-food items. She lost interest and made herself a second cup of tea. She sat at the table drinking it when Frank walked in with his hands full of a pint jar of milk, a small dish with three eggs and a sandwich bag with a slice of ham in it.

"How are you doing today, kid?" he asked as he put the items on the counter. "I brought you breakfast."

"Jan called you, didn't she?" Sherry accused.

"Yup. But that isn't why I'm here. I really want to know how you're doing. You look like you had a rough night. I'll make you breakfast." He took her small frying pan from a drawer under the oven. "Ham and eggs just as soon as I can fry them."

"One egg will be plenty," she said. "Did Jan tell you I told her to stay away? I don't need anyone trying talk me into love with Mark."

"Sherry, what's between you and Mark is your business. I'm not here to meddle. I know you've been through hell this past week. I don't want to add to your troubles." He opened a drawer to take out a turner and flipped the piece of ham over. While he waited for the ham to get done he filled the coffeemaker with water and added a filter to scoop in the coffee.

"I'll be okay. Just give me a little time to get my thoughts in order. I need to get back to work so I have money to live." Thinking she'd said too much about her plans, she shut up and watched as Frank broke an egg into the frying pan. The kitchen was filled with the aroma of fried ham, making Sherry's mouth water. She hadn't realized how hungry she was.

He poured milk in a glass and set it on the table in front of her. "Be ready in a minute," he said as he flipped the egg over being careful not to break the yoke. He got the bread and margarine from the pantry and placed them on the table. When the egg was ready he put it on a plate with the ham and brought it to her. Then he poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down on the other chair.

"I know you probably don't want to talk about last night. You sure put Mark's head in a spin."

"I don't want to talk about Mark," she broke in.

"I'm not going to talk about Mark. I'm talking about you.  You are still the same girl you were yesterday. Losing your virginity doesn't change who you are. You won't die from it. If women died from that the human race would become extinct in a generation."

She had to smile at his reasoning. "I know. I just need to adjust my mindset. I'll be fine." She held up her hand for silence. "I want to hear the weather forecast."

"It's supposed to rain," he informed her.

After the news and weather, the local talk show host came on the air. "Today we'll be discussing the abuse and molestation of children," he said. "Call in with your questions and opinions."

Sherry was half tempted to turn it off but she was busy eating. After two callers expressed their opinions and ideas, the third caller came on the line. Her voice got Sherry's attention.

"I agree that something must be done to keep the molesters from repeating their crimes. It is difficult to know who they are. They are often trusted members of the community. Scoutmasters, religious leaders, teachers. I have decided I'm going to get one teacher out of the classroom."

Sherry looked at Frank, her eyes wide. She said softly, "That's Mom."

The caller continued. "Mark Blakely is the Ag teacher at the high school. He inappropriately touched a four-year-old girl."

"Ma'am, are you sure about this?"

"I most certainly am. I'm that girl's mother. I saw it with my own eyes."

"You should report it to the police or Children and Youth Services..."

"I did that at the time. They didn't do anything."

Sherry reached over and turned off the radio. "It was Mark!" Her lips trembled as tears rolled down her cheeks. "It was Mark who molested me!"

"Mark never molested you," Frank declared. "The only place that took place was in your mother's imagination. I've got to call him and warn him." Frank took out his cell phone.

"Mom told me she took me away from here to keep me from being molested," Sherry insisted.

"The only time Mark had any sexual contact with you was last night, and if what he told me was true, and I believe it is, that was consensual." Frank kept hitting the call button on his cell phone. Finally he sent a text message: ANSWER THE DAMN PHONE.

"Yeah, Dad, what's so important that you have to interrupt me when I'm in class?"

"Alison Winnette just called in to that talk show and said you inappropriately touched a four-year-old girl. I thought I'd give you a head's up."

"She said she could bring my world crashing down around me."

"Look, I've got to go. Sherry's freaking out. She believes it."

Sherry was hyperventilating. "Take slow deep breaths," Frank advised. "And listen to what I have to say. Mark never molested you. If he touched you inappropriately it was in the innocence of childhood and never with sexual intent. Do you remember the day Mark took you and Lisa swimming?"

Sherry nodded. "We had fun. Mark taught me to swim. When we got out of the water I fell and cut my knee on a rock."

"Do you remember how Mark took you home?"

"He carried me piggy back."

"Do you remember how?"

Sherry frowned. "Is there more than one way?"

Frank stifled a smile. "He tried to carry you the usual way but you cried when he put his arms around your legs." Frank turned his back and continued. "He put his arms around behind his back." Frank demonstrated. "He laced his fingers together to make a seat for your little behind. That's how he carried you. That's how he 'touched you inappropriately'."

"That's all?" Sherry looked stunned. "That's why Mom took me away from the grandmother I loved? That's...that's so trivial! She put me through fourteen years of hell because of the way Mark carried me?" She broke down and sobbed.

Frank pulled her to her feet and held her against his chest. "I'm sorry to tell you but that's all. She made quite a fuss about it. She even called the police and Children and Youth. Her accusations were determined to be unfounded. I think she left and took you with her because she could be arrested for filing a false report. That and the fact that Jan punched her in the mouth for the anguish she caused Mark. Jan ended up paying a fine for assault."

Sherry pulled away. "That's what you have to say about it. Mark's your son. You'd protect him as much as you can. I won't believe Mom took me away for that reason. I won't! Go away and leave me alone. I want to think."

Frank walked to the door and turned around. "I'm sorry you won't believe the truth. If you need anything you have my cell phone number. I really care about you, Sherry, the same as I do Lisa." He went out to his truck and left.

****

"Mr. Blakely, please come to the office." Mark had been expecting that call over the intercom. This was his free period when he didn't have a class but he had the feeling that after he went to the office he wouldn't be coming back to class that day so he put his laptop in his briefcase, picked up his FFA jacket and left his office, locking the door behind him. He also locked the door to the Ag shop.

The principal, Douglas McCall, was waiting for him. He opened the door to a small meeting room and ushered Mark inside. After his father's call, Mark wasn't surprised to find two state troopers standing along the wall on the far side of the oval table. He was surprised to see Chad because they were friends. The corporal was almost a head taller than Chad who was taller than Mark's six feet.

"Do you mind if I sit in?" McCall asked.

The corporal, whose name tag said Reider, looked at Mark, "Mr. Blakely?"

"I don't mind," Mark said. "I've got nothing to hide." He hung his jacket over the back of a chair and sat down laying his briefcase on the table. "I think I have some idea why I'm here."

Reider and Chad sat down. "Why?" asked Reider.

Mark drew a deep breath. "Because Alison Winnette called in to the talk show and accused me of molesting her daughter."

"How do you know this?" the corporal wondered.

"Dad called me. He was over at Sherry's. Sherry recognized her mother's voice." Chad was busy writing what Mark said. Mark thought the tape recorder on the table was sufficient, but it was possible Chad wanted his own notes. Mark looked at his best friend. "You were there then. You know what happened."

"I was at the shore with my family that week," Chad reminded him. "I only know what you told me later."

"Do you think I lied to you?" Mark asked defensively.

"No. It's just that we deal in facts not second-hand info. Tell us what happened."

Mark went through the whole story from the time he decided to take the girls swimming and why. He told them how Sherry had fallen and cut her knee. He stood up and demonstrated how he put his hands behind him and laced the fingers together to make a seat for her. "That's how I touched her 'inappropriately.' I didn't know I was doing anything wrong. I just wanted to get her home."

Chad looked over at his superior. "That is almost identical to what Mark told me at the time. I believed him then and I believe him now."

Mark continued on describing his father's wrath at the thought that his son had done something so terrible. He grilled Mark about it until Jan intervened. By then Mark had been in tears and he was a tough farm kid. He wasn't a bawl baby. "According to Mom, Lisa kept saying, 'Markie didn't do nothing wrong, did he, Mom?' She didn't understand what it was about. I didn't understand. I was only nine and Dad hadn't given me the 'birds and bees' talk yet. I couldn't understand what all the fuss was about. Alison went to the police. There was an investigation. Isn't there something on file?"

Reider stood up and motioned for the principal to follow him out the door leaving Mark and Chad alone. Reider came back a few minutes later. "When did this happen?"

"July. Fourteen years ago. It was really hot that year. We had temps in the triple digits."

Reider passed the info along to the barracks in McVeytown. "They'll e-mail the records as soon as they locate them. Mr. McCall has agreed to print them out for us." He sat down at his place across the table. "What you are telling us, Mr. Blakely, is that you never sexually molested..." He pulled Chad's notes over to look at the name. "Sherry Winnette."

Mark hesitated. "I never molested her when she was four years old."

Mark's hesitation got Reider's attention. He was accustomed to reading body language. "That isn't quite what I ask you. Did you or did you not have sexual contact with that girl?"

Mark took a pen from his pocket and pushed the button to pop the ball point in and out while his got his thoughts in order. "I told you what this is all about." He drew a deep breath. "Sherry will be nineteen tomorrow. Last night was between consenting adults. Don't write that down," he told Chad. "It has nothing to do with this case. Dad said Sherry's freaking out over this. She believes her mother."

Chad cast him a serious frown. "I told you yesterday that Sherry's emotional state is fragile. Handle with care."

Mark leaned toward his friend. "I am only a man. She took her clothes off. She wanted it that way. I almost wish I'd turned her down."

The principal came back into the room. "They're e-mailing the records now. As soon as we have them all I'll print them out." He turned to Mark. "Since you're a teacher here I'd like to read those records to determine what, if anything, should go into you personnel file. I talked to the president of the school board. You are suspended with pay until this investigation is complete."

Mark nodded. "She told me she was going to bring my world crashing down around me. I knew she meant it. My two most reliable witnesses are no longer alive--Sherry's grandparents. That's why those records are so important."

"Do you have a laptop or computer?" Reider asked.

Mark opened his briefcase and brought out his laptop. Chad reached across the table to take it. "Is there any sexually explicit material on here?"

Mark shot him a grin. "Yup. Only in the agricultural business we call it animal husbandry. I am an ag teacher."

"We still must check it out."

"Just don't delete anything. That information is important to my work."

Reider stood up. "That's all for now. If we need to talk to you again we'll let you know." He picked up the laptop and said to Chad. "Go interview Miss Winnette."

"Which one? Alison Winnette is a miss, too."

"Both. Who else?"

"Frank and Jan Blakely. I think I should talk to Sherry first." Chad stood up and said to Mark, "You're free to go. I know where to find you."

"It's raining today but if it clears tomorrow Dad and I will be filling silos." Mark picked up his briefcase minus his laptop.

Chad turned back from the door. "What about the computer at home?"

"That's Mom's. She's the CFO of Blakely Farm, Inc. I don't use it unless it is something to do with the farm. If you want to check it you must ask her permission. Or Dad's. He's CEO. I'm going home so I can have some lunch."

Chapter 13

"I told you to stay away." Sherry stood up from where she'd been sitting at the table when Mark walked in without knocking.

"I need to talk to you, Sherry. Your mother lied about what she said on that talk show this morning."