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Saving Savannah

By: StangStar06



Okay, What are we giving you this week? Well this one is a little odd. There are so many elements in this story that it could go into a lot of different categories. There's of course some cheating both real and imagined. There's some action and adventure. There are alligators, incest, abuse and a whole lot more but mostly it's a romance, though an odd one. Of course since it's one of my stories there will be a Mustang or two thrown in for good measure. Thanks as always to Mikothebaby for editing this story, without her input and vigilance this story wouldn't be nearly as readable. She also came up with the name of the story and thanks to her for just being there. 

* * * * * *

Real life is stranger than fiction. At least that's what I've heard them say on television. My name is Savannah Hill. I'm headed for court this morning. In fact, we'll be at the court house in only a few minutes. The thing that's going through my mind right now isn't how soft my dress is, or the fact that except for my boobs being a little bit bigger, my body is back to being the same size it was before I had my baby. I'm also not thinking about how soft the leather I'm leaning my head back against is or the thrumming sound of the Mustang's motor as we head through the early morning Louisiana heat.

I'm not thinking about how much I'd sweat if the car's air conditioning wasn't cranked to the max or how the hell I'm going to walk in these high heeled shoes.

I'm also not thinking about the throng of reporters from nearly every news station and paper in the state and a few national ones as well, that will be waiting to talk to me as I walk into the court room. They'll also be covering the trial as closely as possible. The judge has claimed though that he'll seal the court room if there is even the slightest hint that this case is becoming some kind of circus, media or other.

None of that matters to me as I look over at the face of the man driving me to the court building. He's probably, once you get used to the differences, one of the most attractive men I've ever met. And whether you get used to the differences or not, he's definitely the kindest and most caring.

I have to admit that if it weren't for him, I probably wouldn't be alive and neither would OUR baby. I guess that's why I have to do this. Sometimes people don't know when they're well off and someone who cares about them has to step in and give them a little push in the right direction. The right thing to do is often the very hardest thing to do for even the best among us. That's why we sometimes need the tiniest little nudge to help us. Then there are times when the legal thing and the moral thing are completely divorced from each other.

I love the man sitting next to me more than I can ever say. And he loves me too, although he's never said it. I can see it in his eyes when we have sex and every time he looks at me. More than that, I can feel it. OUR baby deserves more than he wants to give her and so do I. That's why I'm taking him to court. They, the newspapers and the media, have called this the strangest paternity suit, EVER. I guess I'd probably have to agree with them. There's that real life being stranger than fiction thing. But there are also the circular patterns of both fate and the universe to try to contend with.

Now I'm not nearly as smart as Greg is, but sometimes maybe he's just too damned smart for his own britches because even I can see the pattern here. I can see just as clear as anything I'm looking at that he and I were meant to be together. He has to take responsibility for his actions in this and I'm hoping the judge will see it my way too.

Greg pulls into a parking lot behind the court building and the reporters surround his Mustang immediately. Greg gets out and they immediately start pestering him with questions. He walks around and opens my door for me and takes my hand to help me out of the car. Fortunately, I'm wearing a dress where the skirt section is very long and very tight. I'm wearing that kind of dress because Greg likes me dressed like that and I like to make him happy.

In this particular case I'm also glad because Greg's Mustangs are all lowered. That means they sit even lower than normal because they've been fitted with special springs to improve the handling. It also means that if I had a shorter skirt on, when I tried to get out, my panties or even my private parts could end up on TV behind one of those blurry patches.

So Greg stands in front of me as he helps me out of the car just in case something does show. As he closes the door behind me, he smiles and I raise one eyebrow and tilt my head to look at him.

"Naw, buddy, that ain't gonna do," I said. Then I almost stumble and catch myself before unleashing a flurry of curse words. "Shi...Shucks," I said. He smiled and nodded. I crook my index finger at him in the universal "get the fuck over here" gesture. He sighs and complies with my request. I go up on my toes and wrap my arms around him and give him the softest kiss on those big soft lips that I can bestow as the cameras flash literally hundreds of times in the second or two that we're locked together.

"I know ya don't understand any of this, but I'm doing it because I luv ya," I said.

He just shrugs and walks off towards the court. There were only a few reporters at first but now there are tons. Some of them break off to follow Greg while the rest follow me. A small man wearing glasses and a very expensive suit makes his way through the crowd and grabs my arm.

"God damn it Savannah, didn't I tell you to stay the hell away from Greg, during the case," he sputters.

"How the hell am I supposed to do that, when we sleep in the same bed," I snapped.

"Don't give me that shit," he spat right back. "That house has at least five bedrooms in the main house alone. Last time I looked your room and his weren't even on the same side of the house."

"That's not my fucking room," I spat. "That's the room he gave me, not the one I chose. Besides Ben, Greg is like the air I breathe, I can't go for too long without him."

"Then why the hell are you..." his eyes darted left and right seeing the reporters trying to write down or record every word we said.

"We'll discuss this further once, we have some privacy," he said. Then he pushed his way through the reporters and dragged me along with him.

Unfortunately, there was little or no time for us to confer. Almost as soon as we sat down, Ben started looking through his briefcase to take out his notes and briefs on the case. He set up his laptop computer on the table in front of us.

I looked across the room and saw Greg talking to a skinny little woman. I immediately got pissed. I ground my teeth together and shook my head. I'm twenty two years old and a healthy southern girl on the small side. I have small breasts, but my legs and my ass make up for it. I'm five foot two and I weigh about a hundred and ten pounds. That woman made me look like an amazon.

She was about my height but that was where the similarities ended. She couldn't have weighed more than ninety pounds and she was so thin, she looked almost unhealthy. Her hair was the mousiest shade of brown I'd ever seen. Even her face looked mousy. But despite that she looked happy. She looked too God damned happy. She looked like she wanted to just start singing at any moment.

She had on one of those women's power suits. I didn't care much for them. They made me think that the women who wore them wanted to be men. This one didn't though; despite her attire she was just as girlish and giggly as they came.

Even as I looked across the room, she said something to Greg and they both started laughing. That was it. I was on my feet and launching myself across the room at the worst possible moment. I took off my high-heeled shoes and started for their table and Ben grabbed me by my arm and tried to pull me back.

"Whatever that bitch is trying to pull, won't work," I spat. "Who the f..."

"Shut up you moron," said Ben. He pointed towards the door that had just opened. An old gray haired man who looked like he could be the pope walked into the room and spoke to the bailiff.

"That's Greg's lawyer," said Ben. "She's from New York. They always act like that. Her name is Ally or something. She's probably just trying to relax him. You need to calm down because Judge Wapner doesn't take any shit."

"All rise," said the bailiff, as the judge got his shit together and sat down. He put on a pair of glasses and looked over the cases again. He looked over at me and then at Greg. Then he looked at the case file again.

"Counselors approach the bench," said Judge Wapner. Ben got up and went over to the judge. The skinny little New York bitch did too. I glared at her as she stood up and she blew me a kiss.

I needed to ask Ben when he got back if he could represent me against an assault charge.

After a few moments of consultation, during which both lawyers shook their heads and shrugged their shoulders a lot, the lawyers returned to their respective seats.

"This case is highly unusual," said Judge Wapner. "...But let's proceed. Mr. Matlock you can call your first witness."

Ben stood up. "I call Savannah Hill to the stand, your honor," he said. I approached the stand and was sworn in by the bailiff.

I sat down in that hard little chair next to the judge and smiled.

"Miss Hill, you are suing the defendant Mr. Gregory Gates for paternity..."

"Don't leave out housing rights," I spat, interrupting him.

The judge leaned over and smiled at me. "What are housing rights?" he asked. "I'm ninety years old. I've been practicing law and serving as a judge for over fifty years and I've never heard of housing rights, young lady."

"Your Judgeship, housing rights are the rights of a woman to live with her man. A child also has the right to whenever possible live with its parents," I said. I threw in an extra smile.

That skinny little bitch almost got smacked then because she stood up and started using her mouth. "I object," she said. She doesn't realize how lucky she is that there were no OBJECTS within my reach that I could throw at her.

"There are no such laws on the books in any state in the union. This whole case is a farce. Did you look at the DNA evidence? My client can't possibly be the father of this child. Even discarding the DNA anyone with half of a brain can see that it simply isn't possible. Besides that, my client, in a completely unheard of gesture of generosity has offered to provide either monthly or a lump sum that would take care of both the plaintiff and the child. I move that this case be dismissed immediately," she said.

A lot of the people who lived in town spoke up then. They all agreed with her. Several of them were looking at me as if I had two heads. They were all acting as if I was some sort of gold digger or freeloader. "Don't worry about them," said Ben. "They're all just small town folk. They all know him and want to support one of their own."

"Order in the court," yelled the judge. After the audience quieted down he looked over at me.

"Young lady is what Ms. McBeal said true?" he asked.

"Judge," I said smiling. I made my accent a little bit more pronounced because I know that slow southern accent works wonders on the city boys. It always works on Greg too. I just throw a little bit of magnolia in my voice and he can't say no to anything I ask.

"I can't say whether or not she's lying because I didn't get most of what she said. I did pick up a word here or there. I did hear the part about "Farts" and "Discarding" things. I think she said that I only have half of a brain. But other than that, it would be so much easier for all of us if we could reduce our cases to simplest terms," I said.

All of the people in the court room who'd been against me actually agreed with that and said so loudly. That little Ally McBitch shrank down in her chair then.

"Let's do that," said the judge. "Mr. Matlock for the benefit of everyone present could you please briefly state your client's case."

"Your honor, my client Miss Savannah Hill is suing for the court to acknowledge that Gregory Gates is the father, legal and otherwise of her daughter Gigi. Furthermore she wants for herself and her daughter to continue living with Mr. Gates in perpetuity. Oops sorry, that wasn't very plain but I think everyone gets the picture."

Judge Wapner rolled his eyes. I was sure I heard him say something about "Fucking lawyers," under his breath.

The judge turned to Greg's skinny city lawyer and told her to do the same. For some reason she chose to stand up and flounce around the courtroom while she spoke. I think she was just trying to show off how skinny she is.

"Your honor, my client is only here to try to protect his good name. The plaintiff's claims are fallacious and possibly damaging to his standing in the community..." I was on my feet in an instant.

"Okay I admit it," I screamed. "I fellated him on several occasions but we never did anything while he was out in the community. We hardly ever leave our property. This is a witch hunt. Did you notice that he never said anything about cheating on me while I was pregnant?"

"Your honor, I maintain that since my client has never married Miss Hill, it is impossible for him to have cheated on her," spat McBeal.

"What business is this of yours anyway, bitch," I spat. "What you'd better maintain is a closed mouth. It's going to be pretty hard for you to talk with a fat lip. I don't like your big city attitude at all. No matter how this case comes out when we're done, I'm going to whip your ass."

The people all over the court room started whooping and hollering and the judge had to bang his gavel several times to get them to quiet down.

"Can everyone here see why I asked for plain language now?" asked Judge Wapner. "I'm going to call for a five minute recess and then Miss Hill, I'd like you to calmly and without threatening anyone answer Mr. Matlock's questions."

I stepped down from the stand and went directly to where Greg was sitting. "Greg, I want you to fire her. I don't like her," I said. McBeal just stood there with her mouth open. "If you do," I continued. "When we get home I'll give you a blow job and bake you that pound cake that you love."

Before I could say anything or Greg could answer the bailiff was pulling me away from him. "You can't speak to the other side during the court session ma'am," he said.

A few minutes later I was back on the stand.

"Miss Hill, you are under oath," said Ben. "How long have you known Mr. Gates?"

"I met him three years ago when I was nineteen and he was twenty-nine," I said.

"How long have you been living with him?" he asked.

"It's been about a year and a half. I was two months pregnant when I moved in with him," I said.

"So your child is nearly a year old. Does Mr. Gates involve himself with the child?" he asked.

"Very much," I said. "He's a great dad. He carries her around and rocks her to sleep. He feeds her and even changes her sometimes."

"So what's the problem?" asked Ben. "Is he cruel to you?"

"Of course not, why would I want to stay with someone who was cruel to me?" I asked.

"Then please tell the court what the problem is," he asked.

"Jeezus Ben, you already know that," I spat.

"Tell the court," he said again.

"Greg has two gazillion years-worth of bullshit in his head. Oops sorry your honor I didn't mean to say bullshit. Oops I didn't mean to say it again," I said.

"Can you be more specific?" asked Ben.

"Greg wants Gigi and me to leave because of what it looks like and because he's afraid of us, especially me," I said.

"What made you think that after a year and a half," asked Ben.

"Because he wrote me this giant check and told me that now I had enough money to go and live wherever I wanted," I said.

"And your response to that was?" asked Ben.

"I tore the check up and told him I already was living where I wanted," I said. "And he told me that it would no longer be possible for us to continue our current arrangement. I know why he said it too but I'm not going to say."

"What did he do then?" asked Ben.

"He told me that he'd start looking for a place for me and if I hadn't found one on my own within ninety days, he'd have all of my stuff moved there."

"Did you believe him?" asked Ben.

"Hell yes," I spat. "Greg is one of those people who just want to be miserable. He doesn't understand that bad things happen to good people sometimes and that in order to live, you have to take risks. He'd rather be safe than happy."

"So the bottom line is that you'd withdraw your suit if Greg would let you stay in his house?" asked Ben.

"Not anymore," I said. "He started this shit. So he has to pay now."

"I thought that he'd already offered you a very generous financial arrangement," said Ben.

"This ain't about money," I said. "It's about what's right and it's personal now."

"No further questions, your honor," said Ben.

Ms. McBeal, you may cross examine," said the judge.

"Ms. Hill, are you..." began Ally.

"I'm not a Miz," I spat. "I'm a Miss."

"Be nice Miss Hill," said the judge.

"You can call me Savannah, judge," I smiled. "Everybody does except my Greg. He calls me Vannah. I like that."

"Savannah are you..." began Ally again.

"It's Miss Hill to you, bitch."

"Miss Hill, are you really claiming that my client is the father of your child?" she asked.

"I most certainly God damned am," I spat.

"Are you familiar with DNA?" she asked.

"Of course I am. It stands for Deoxyribonucleic Acid and it contains the hereditary information about most organisms. Let me guess, you thought I was stupid because I have a southern accent, right?" I asked.

For a few minutes she looked shocked. My answer had thrown her off of her game totally.

"According to the DNA report I have here in my hands," she said. "I have scientific proof that Gregory Gates is not the father of your child. What would you say to that?"

"I'd say that since most of the people here aren't scientists and can't read a DNA chart, your proof doesn't mean shit." A lot of the people in the audience laughed and even the judge snickered.

"Okay," she spat. "You want to do this the hard way. You want us to put this in common terms? Let's do that. Your baby is white. I've had an expert read the chart. Your child is one hundred percent Caucasian. That means the child had two Caucasian parents. Is that true Dr. Welby?"

A man stood up in the second row. "Your honor, I'm Dr. Marcus Welby. I've examined the DNA chart that Ms. McBeal provided and she is correct in her statement. The child in question has two Caucasian parents."

"And since as everyone here can clearly see that Mr. Gates is African American, the reason we've all been called into court becomes murky," said Ally smiling.

"The only thing murky around here is your bath water, you dirty bitch," I said. "Your honor, I didn't know that we were playing show and tell. If she's allowed to trot out her pet doctor, do I get to show my side of this too?"

"I see no reason not to allow you that opportunity," said the judge.

Ben's laptop was hooked up to a projector. He pressed a few keys and the projector lit up. On a side wall in the courtroom a video began to play. I'd shot the video only a few weeks ago. I was sure I would need it to prove my point.

On the screen the video showed a little girl's room. Everything in the room was white or pink. Cartoon characters and unicorns were everywhere. In the center of the room a small child's bed with the safety sides up. A tiny little girl grabs the bars on the sides of the bed and pulls herself up. She starts bouncing up and down on the bed. She looks towards the door and her face smiles. She reaches up to Greg who towers over the bed and says, "Dada."


Saving Savannah



Author's note:

This is a story based on Hellcats. Both the actresses and characters are over 18. 

*

"Get that girl a hurricane and keep them coming."

Marti Perkins grumbled as she heard Lewis's voice in her head yet again. Why couldn't he just have said 'get that girl a hurricane' or just 'get that girl a beer'. That would have loosened the brunette up.

"I love you Marti." Savannah Monroe slurred as she stumbled into her room with a lot of help from her roommate.

"Yeah, you mentioned that." Marti said dismissively as she kicked the door closed behind them, her arms busy making sure the brunette who was resting against her shoulder didn't fall, "You also mentioned, several times, that you apparently love Dan, Lewis, Lancer, colours, koalas, bunnies, nail polish, my boobs, bright lights, and everyone in Cheer Town. And hurricanes of course."

"They are the yummiest." Savannah murmured dreamily, before adding, "But I love you the best."

"Well I'm honoured." Marti said dryly as she guided Savannah towards her bed.

"Don't you believe me?" Savannah asked, sounding disappointed.

"Well, I-" Marti began before suddenly she tripped over Savannah's feet. Or Savannah tripped over hers. Marti wasn't sure, but one second they were walking, the next they were crashing downwards.

Luckily they were close enough to Savannah's bed so that they landed directly on top of it. As a result there was a brief moment of silence and then Savannah burst out laughing and Marti couldn't help join in with a few giggles of her own. Then Marti Perkins' life turned upside down.

Staring into Savannah's eyes the laughter died on Marti's lips and the room suddenly became deafeningly silent as the two girls stared at each other. It only lasted a few seconds, but it seem to go on forever, and during it Marti had this sudden... urge.

When she realised what that urge was Marti panicked, suddenly feeling very aware she was lying on top of the other girl and quickly pushing herself up and off of Savannah. She then just stared down at her, almost immediately regretting her hasty actions and ridiculous thoughts as she looked down at the innocent brunette who in that moment seem to resemble a tiny frightened animal.

"Savannah..." Marti said softly, desperately searching for the right words and finally coming up with "I'm sorry."

There was a pause and then Savannah asked, "For what?"

Marti thought about this for a second. What had actually happened? Nothing, that's what and she was being stupid.

"Nothing. For being stupid, I guess." Marti mumbled before trying to change the subject, "How, how do you feel?"

"I feel great." Savannah slurred happily, a goofy smile crossing her face.

"Good... that's gonna change, but we can worry about that tomorrow." Marti smiled, things briefly feeling like they were going back to normal when suddenly the next words fell out of her mouth, "Do you think you're going to be able to get changed ok or... do, do you want some, you know... help?"

"Are you saying you wanna get me naked?" Savannah giggled.

"N, no, I, I-" Marti quickly stammered.

"Marti, that was a joke!" Savannah laughed almost hysterically, "I'm the one who's not supposed to get jokes, not you."

"Right." Marti said softly.

"Besides, I'm fine... look..." Savannah insisted as she lifted up her dress, the drunk girl getting caught in a way which momentarily dissolved the tension.

"Come on, hold still. I'll help." Marti said, trying to fight back the urge to laugh as she grabbed hold of the dress and gently disentangled Savannah from it. That was a mistake as Marti found herself face to face with her roommate again, this time her eyes wandering down to a pair of very full breasts, which again caused her mouth to act on its own accord, "That's, that's a great bra."

"You like it?" Savannah beamed.

"It's great." Marti repeated, her eyes locked to Savannah's tits.

"I got it because I wanted to feel sexy, like you." Savannah smiled happily. Innocently. Dammit, what was Marti doing?

"It, it's great." Marti repeated, quickly grabbing on to Savannah's shoes, pulling them off and looking up to ask, "Is it ok if you sleep in your underwear?"

There was another long pause, then Savannah smiled widely and lent down so slowly it was like she was in slow motion.

For an agonisingly long second Marti was frozen to the spot. Then she turned her head ever so slightly, Savannah's lips pressing against her cheek as a result instead of her original target.

They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity, then Savannah slowly pulled back a little. Seemingly of it's own accord Marti's head turned back, allowing her to look at the other girl who seemed horrified by what she'd just done.

Sensing an impending meltdown Marti reached up, gently brushed a stray strand of hair out of Savannah's eyes and whispered, "It's ok."

Then Marti's gaze lowered to Savannah's lips and for the briefest of moments she wasn't sure why she'd turned her head.

As if she could sense this thought Savannah suddenly dived underneath her covers, pulling them tightly around her before murmuring "Good night Marti."

Marti stayed exactly where she was for a few long seconds, then she murmured, "Good night Savannah."

*

Marti had awoken to the sadly familiar sound of someone throwing up. However unlike her mother Savannah at least seemed grateful when Marti held her hair back as she regurgitated into their soon to be thrown out trash can. After that unpleasantness Marti brought the brunette a glass of water and a little bread, although few words passed between them. Five minutes later Marti could barely remember them, but she remembered every detail of last night, the last few minutes of it replaying in her head over and over again throughout the day.

She wished she could just forget about it, but she couldn't. She couldn't talk to Savannah about it either, at least not during the day as whenever she saw the brunette they were in very public places, mostly with people they knew. When they were back in Cheer Town Marti couldn't convince herself to ask Savannah for a private word, and they both seemed to be avoiding going back to their room. Eventually Marti went to bed, lying awake for what felt like hours as she tried to think what she could possibly say to her roommate.

When she heard Savannah try and sneak in Marti waited until the door was closed and then turned on the light and sat up in bed, "Hey."

"Hey." Savannah said, sounding embarrassed, "Did I wake you?"

"No. I was up." Marti said, still struggling to find the right words, "Look Savannah, about last night-"

"Can we please not talk about it. I'm embarrassed enough as it is." Savannah quickly snapped, before adding in a apologetic tone, "Gosh Marti, I... I'm so sorry you had to see me like that. And I'm so sorry to be such a burden."

"Hey, you're not a burden." Marti said, taking offence to the word.

"I'll never drink again." Savannah mumbled, either because she didn't hear Marti or because she was simply having her own conversation.

"Well, you say that now." Marti smirked, "But when taken in moderation-"

"Never! I will not embarrass myself like that again." Savannah said firmly, before adding, "So, I'm sorry. Can we just drop it?"

"Sure." Marti said, pretty much automatically.

That could have been it, and maybe it should have been. Savannah was obviously uncomfortable about what had happened, and was giving them both an easy out. Why shouldn't Marti take it? Especially when the last thing she wanted to do was push an issue which had turned her into a nervous wreck the entire day. But there was this nagging voice inside Marti. A need to know the truth, no matter what the consequences. She almost fought it off, for once in her life managing to keep her mouth shut as Savannah excused herself to change into her pyjamas in the bathroom, brush her teeth and then get underneath her covers.

Then just as Savannah was about to turn off the light words seem to just fall out of Marti's mouth, "It's ok you know."

"What's ok?" Savannah asked, finally sounding like she was back to her normal cheery self after a day of being hungover.

"If you're... you know." Marti mumbled.

"No. What?" Savannah pushed, not sounding so cheery.

"Forget it." Marti said, turning off her own light and turning over to try and get to sleep.

Savannah wanted to leave it there, and maybe somewhere in another time and another place she did, but in this time and this place she couldn't stop herself from asking, "What?"

There was a long pause and then Marti hesitantly sat back up and looked at her roommate, "It's ok if... you like girls."

There was another pause as Savannah stared at Marti blankly for a moment and then in a worried tone asked, "Did somebody say something?"

"No." Marti said softly.

"Because if it was Alice she's just trying to screw with you. She does that." Savannah blurted, becoming even more panicked as she added, "She's a liar. Whoever told you that is a liar, I'm not, I would never, I'm-"

"Shhhhhh, calm down." Marti said, trying to comfort her friend, "I just meant, after what happened last-"

"Nothing happened last night." Savannah snapped, before adding, "I got drunk and you took me home. I don't remember anything else."

"Really?" Marti said in a sarcastic tone, "Is that why you've been avoiding me?"

"I haven't been..." Savannah tried to protest but, after Marti gave her a look, switched too, "Ok, maybe a little, but that's only because I was embarrassed about what happened at the bar. If, if I did something after that I'm sorry, but it was only because I was drunk."

There was a pause as Marti tried to work out whether Savannah was lying or not. Unfortunately while she liked to think of herself as a good judge of these things there was just something about Savannah which through Marti off. She just couldn't get a good read on her. But then again, why exactly was she pushing this so much when it was obvious her friend didn't want to talk about it?

"Ok, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you." Marti said, quickly backtracking.

"No, no, no, you didn't offend me." Savannah said, her usual cheeriness somewhat returning, "It's just... funny. I mean, we'll probably laugh about it later. It'll be a funny story. Hey, remember that time I almost kissed you? It'll-"

"I thought you said you didn't remember." Marti interrupted.

For a moment Savannah's cheeriness disappeared entirely to be replace by a look of horror and fear which was heart-breaking, Marti desperately wishing she could take back what just came out of her big mouth.

Then Savannah started talking a mile a minute, "I didn't. I don't. If you're accusing me of being something I'm not I must have done something, and that was just a lucky guess. I don't like girls. I've never liked girls. Not in that way. I'm not like that. I don't condemn those who are, but I'm not. I'm not... I'm not like that. Ok?"

Marti gulped softly, "Ok."

There was a pause and then both girls said "I'm sorry."

A coy smile was exchanged, then Savannah asked, "So, can we just drop all this silliness and forget about last night?"

Marti smiled, "Sure."

But Marti couldn't.

*

A few weeks later Marti was at The Rat again, this time watching the humiliated volleyball team cheer for the Hellcats in their underwear. Or at least she was pretending too. Really she was watching Savannah like some creepy stalker, Marti hating herself for it but she just couldn't stop.

Savannah seemed happy. God she was beautiful when she was happy.

Marti kicked herself mentally for what felt like the millionth time. She had to stop this. She was being weird. She just needed to focus on her defeated enemies. The celebration of the Hellcats. Her drink.

"Hey Marti."

Oh dear God, Marti thought, she was so desperate for a distraction even Alice Verdura was a welcome sight.

"Peace offering?" Alice held out a full drink to replace Marti's nearly empty one, adding with a wicked smile, "It's not poisoned. I promise."

Not in the mood for this, but at the same time not wanting to be left alone with her thoughts Marti simply nodded and took the drink. Alice sat down beside her and the two shared an uncomfortable silence.

"I don't like you." Alice said finally.

"Thanks." Marti murmured sarcastically.

"I wasn't finished." Alice said shortly, "I don't like you... but... I'm beginning to see how you could be an asset."

"Like helping you win at flag football." Marti said dryly.

"Exactly." Alice smiled, "And maybe other things. But for now, the way I see it I kind of, maybe, owe you a favour-"

"Because I saved you from being up there." Marti said, her eyes darting to the dancing volleyball players.

"Yeah." Alice scowled, then brightened up, "So, as a thank you I'm going to give you a little reality check."

"Oh really?" Marti scoffed.

"Really." Alice said, moving closer and loudly whispering, "And here it is... Savannah... is... gay."

Marti blinked and her mouth opened slightly, a little taken aback by Alice's little 'reality check' but quickly got a hold of herself, "You mean dating my best friend, who's a boy, Savannah? The strictly religious Savannah? Is that the girl you're talking about?"

"Wow... you seriously don't know, do you?" Alice laughed.

"You're out of your mind." Marti scoffed, "Or you're messing with me... that's it isn't it?"

"It is something I would do." Alice agreed, "But not this time. Thanks to you I'm not prancing around in my underwear in the middle of some stinky bar for a bunch of butch closet cases and any horn dog lucky enough to stagger in here. So, listen very carefully and try and get this through your thick head. Savannah Monroe is the biggest closet case in the history of closet cases. She's the Queen of Queer Town. She's-"

"Straight." Marti cut the other girl off.

Slowly getting frustrated Alice glared and moved closer, "Are you seriously telling me you haven't noticed the way she looks at you? Touches you?"

"She's affectionate." Marti countered.

"She's in denial." Alice shot back, "And sure, she might as well walk around with a sign saying free hugs, but she hugs girls a lot more, and it's different with you. She lingers. Like she doesn't want to let you go."

Marti only really paused for a couple of seconds, but it made Alice grin widely. Unfortunately Marti couldn't exactly tell the raven haired girl she was wrong so instead she deflected, "You know what, if you're so convinced, go ahead. Ask her out. See how it goes."

"If I wanted her, I could have her." Alice smiled, adding before Marti could do anything other than scoff, "But she doesn't want me. Not for anything other than a quick fuck, and that would just screw the poor girl up even more. Hell, she'd probably repress the whole thing. Forget it ever happened. Or at least she'd try, tell herself it was just a meaningless college fling, even though it'll be all she thinks about when her husband is flopping around on top of her."

This time Marti said nothing, perhaps for the first time in her life rendered speechless.

Leaning in even closer Alice softly murmured, "Here's a little newsflash about Savannah's future. It's miserable. She's going to marry the first loser who asks her and then pop out a handful screaming brats who'll probably never really care about her, just like their Daddy. If she's lucky, and smart, she'll marry rich so she'll be able to open that little cheer camp of her dreams. And if she's really lucky there'll be girls like me there who'll recognise her for the total closet case she is and fuck her, but even if she gets caught she'll stay with her hubby for the sake of the kids. Of course she's more likely to end up a housewife and never know what an orgasm is like. And the whole time she'll convince herself that's her fault, so totally wrapped up in her own denial that she'll never even admit what she really is, not even to herself. It's sad, isn't it Marti? When someone can't admit what they really are?"

There was a deafening moment of silence between the two cheerleaders, then Marti felt a red hot rage boiling inside her the likes of which she'd never known before.

"You don't know what you're talking about." Marti said, struggling to keep her voice down, "Savannah is straight. I'm straight! If you're not that's cool but don't you dare spread any of this to anyone. It could hurt Savannah, especially if her family heard about it."

"Well, look at you acting all protective." Alice smiled, "Been having the urge to do that a lot lately, have you? Put a girl you just met a couple weeks ago before yourself? Before your precious career? Hey, isn't that what you did today? Choose Savannah over lawyering?"

"I was saving her from having to humiliate herself." Marti pointed out, before adding, "And my friends. And me. I'd be up there too you know, prancing around in my underwear just because I didn't show up to help out my friends, so I was pretty much saving myself."

"So saving Savannah wasn't your main motivation?" Alice questioned, and then when Marti answered the question by pausing the dark haired girl added, "And you didn't like being your girl's knight in shining armour? Being there for her when she needed you most?"

"Shut up." Marti snapped back, unable to think of anything else to say.

"And like I said, that girl needs saving." Alice continued, "From herself, her family, her deeply depressing future, and here's the thing, you're the only one who can really do it. Because if Savannah is ever going to be truly happy she needs someone to drag her kicking and screaming out of the closet. She's sure as hell not going to come out herself and you're the only one around here with the balls to actually do it and then more importantly the only one who'll hold her tight and stop her from running back to hiding in the safety of the closet instead of accepting who she really is. But we both know how blissfully happy that would make you, and her, and God forbid that should happen so go ahead... call me a lying bitch and storm off, because as far as I'm concerned we're now even. I've done my bit, the rest is up to you."

That red hot rage which had been simmering inside Marti momentarily reached another boiling point, the blonde getting right up in Alice's face, wanting nothing more than to slap the other girl silly while her fellow cheerleader seem to be begging her to do it. Then Marti realised her actions were drawing attention so she did what really she should have done ages ago, and wasn't sure why she hadn't, that being too down the last of her drink, turn her back to the bitch and leave.

It took a lot but as she didn't want to turn this into a scene and have to explain it later Marti even chose to ignore Alice loudly calling out behind her, "You can save her Marti. You just have to be honest about what it is you really want."

*

"Well do you?"

Marti blinked, staring dumbfoundedly at the response of her sort of maybe boyfriend Lewis Flynn after she just finished telling him about her encounter with Alice. Then, becoming angry again, she murmured, "Do I what?"

"Like Savannah?" Lewis asked, wishing he was anywhere else, doing anything else, right now.

"How can you possibly say that to me?" Marti asked in disbelief.

Lewis sighed, "Look, you're cool, and trust me I'm kicking myself for this, and I'll probably be kicking myself for the rest of my life for it, but... the thing about Alice's she can be, well... difficult but she's very smart. And... observant. She notices a lot of little things and has this kind of annoying tendency to realise something before you do. And Savannah is a great girl, but I've wondered about her for a while, and you and her seem to have this... connection. So if she really is wrong I'm sorry, but I don't wanna be with anyone who doesn't want to be with me, so unless you're absolutely 100% sure she's wrong... maybe we need to take a little break. Cool off for a little while. A few weeks, or months from now if you wanna get back together that's great. If not, at least we can still be friends."




Saving Savannah



While Marti had dragged Lewis outside of the bar to talk the blonde couldn't just blow a gasket at him where someone might hear, so she swallowed down some of her anger and took a moment to think about this. Clearly Alice had screwed with Lewis' head, but seeing as he was stupid enough to buy into it he deserved a little wrath.

"You know what." Marti said coldly, "That's fine. I don't want to be with anyone who doesn't want to be with me either, so fine. Whatever this was, it's done. As for you and me as friends... we'll see. But if you wanna be friends, listen very carefully to me, and spread this around the other Hellcats and whoever Alice's big mouth has reached... There is nothing going on between me and Savannah. We're just friends."

*

Marti wished she was half as sure as she had pretended to be in front of Alice and Lewis, but the truth was the anger she had thrown at them was mostly a result of the overwhelming terror running through her body. It was a terror born of the thoughts she'd been having ever since she and Savannah almost kissed, nurtured by the words of her fellow Hellcats into an uncontrollable beast which left her a nervous wreck even as she ran back to the supposed safety of the room she shared with the girl she couldn't stop thinking about.

Every morning and every evening Savannah was right there, so why shouldn't Marti think about her in those moments? And she was around Savannah a lot, so that didn't mean anything either. But whenever Marti was away from the cheery brunette she was practically all she could think about, the blonde barely being able to concentrate in classes because she was thinking about the other girl. And not all these thoughts were... pure.

Marti had tried to pass whatever this was off as a girl crush, something that was probably long overdue, and as she's never really had a close female friend before it was natural she'd get friendly feelings mixed with something else, right? Only she'd never really been able to convince herself of that, and she was beginning to think what she was feeling was a lot more than a crush.

Which of course was crazy. Marti had never been anything other than straight. She'd... she'd never even seriously considered it... but what if that was the problem? She'd been so busy taking care of her Mom and focusing on what she'd wanted to do with her life she'd just never realised she was gay.

It wasn't like she'd ever had a serious boyfriend before. Or ever been in love. Not that she was in love with Savannah, but hypothetically... how would she possibly know?

That was the thought that went through Marti's head as she opened her bedroom door to hear the sound of gentle sobbing. The sound mercifully brought her out of her thoughts yet broke her heart as she instantly knew who was crying.

"Savannah." Marti murmured almost frantically, quickly shutting the door and advancing on her friend.

For her part Savannah sat up in bed, wiping her tears and trying to get herself under control, "Marti, hey-"

"What did Dan do?" Marti interrupted.

There was a brief moment of silence and then Savannah answered, "He broke up with me."

Marti opened her mouth to curse her long-time best friend's name. After all she had warned him about hurting her roomy. However her initial anger died on her lips as she realised how... convenient it seemed.

"Did, did he say why?" Marti asked.

"He... he said we needed time apart to think about what we really want, which I don't understand because I thought I wanted him and he wanted me." Savannah mumbled, suddenly frowning as she added, "Unless... you..."

Marti felt her heart racing, "Unless I what?"

Savannah gulped softly, a fresh tear running down her cheek, "You and him-"

"No! I told you, there's nothing between me and Dan Patch." Marti said quickly and firmly, wishing she could be as sure about her feelings for Savannah.

"Then, why doesn't he want me?" Savannah asked, and then added in a tone so soft it was barely audible, "What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing." Marti said quickly, and then when Savannah tried to look away the blonde grabbed her face in both hands and used her thumbs to wipe away her friend's tears as she continued firmly, "Hey, look at me... there's nothing wrong with you. You're amazing. You're the sweetest, nicest, most beautiful person I've ever met. You're... you're perfect. If Dan really doesn't see it he's an idiot, because... how could anyone not love you?"

Savannah stared at her for a few long seconds. Then she leant forward and kissed her.

Unlike last time it all happened so fast, although even if she'd had time to move out of the way Marti wasn't sure she would have, and either way it was a good thing she didn't because it was a kiss which changed her life.

If anyone had been watching the kiss they would have thought it was nothing. Well, almost nothing. Savannah's lips lingered a few seconds to long for it to be a friendly sign of affection, but still the act itself seemed relatively tame. The feelings it caused Marti weren't.

It was everything those cheesy songs/movies used to say a first kiss should be. It was fireworks. It was breath taking. It was everything Marti had scoffed at but secretly wanted. It... it was the electricity Marti had felt the first time she met/argued with Savannah times a thousand.

When Savannah pulled back and looked at her with this heart-breaking mixture of terror and horror Marti had a moment of clarity. Savannah obviously thought that she'd done something wrong, that Marti didn't want this, which couldn't be further from the truth, because in that moment Marti realised she'd never wanted anything more than this girl.

Suddenly desperate to prove it Marti tightened the loose grip she still had on the side of Savannah's head and pulled the other girl forwards as she moved to meet her, this time their lips crushing roughly together with Marti being very much the aggressor.

Immediately Savannah's hands came up to Marti's chest as if she was about to push her away.

Fearing that was what was about to happen Marti paused, giving her friend the opportunity to do it. But Savannah didn't, the two cheerleaders remaining frozen with their lips pressed against each other's for several agonisingly long seconds. Then Marti started cautiously brushing her lips against Savannah's, and then a few seconds later the other girl started kissing back, which was the greatest moment in Marti's life so far.

Nothing had ever felt so good. So right.

Kissing guys didn't even come close.

For a while Marti was completely lost in it. There were literally no thoughts in her head, all her worries being lost in her first girl on girl kiss. Well, first 'real' girl on girl kiss.

It seemed to last an eternity. Like time had stopped and they were going to be frozen with their lips pressed against each other forever. Marti actually hoped that was true, because an eternity where Marti just enjoy the perfect moment of her lips touching Savannah's without her head been cluttered with worries and doubts seemed like heaven.

Then Marti became aware of this urge inside her which slowly grew to an all-consuming need the likes of which she'd never felt before.

Lust. Pure unadulterated sexual need. For Savannah. Marti needed Savannah. She needed her now.

During her previous kisses Marti had slid her tongue against the guy's lips asking for more, although it was more common for the guy to 'ask'. This time there was no 'asking', one moment Marti's lips started practically attacking Savannah's, the next Marti was shoving her tongue inside the other girl's mouth.

Savannah seemed stunned but responded best she could, which pretty much amounted to the brunette's tongue doing whatever the blonde's tongue wanted, Marti feeling like she literally conquered Savannah's mouth and tongue with her own.

She was barely even aware of it but shortly after the kiss became rough, and almost desperate, Marti got up, pushed Savannah's bed sheets out of the way, shoved the brunette down onto her back and got on top of her. Marti somehow managed all of this without breaking the kiss, the blonde only really noticing her actions when she started grinding herself down on top of Savannah, that action finally breaking the lip lock as a result of both girls pulling back to cry out in pleasure as their most sensitive places rubbed together.

The feeling of their bodies, their tits, their pussies rubbing together through their clothes drove Marti crazy, that all-consuming need the blonde had been feeling suddenly becoming so overwhelming that she seemed to lose control of her body entirely.

Suddenly her hands were everywhere and she was grinding herself down on Savannah like some kind of bitch in heat, her lips reattaching themselves to the brunette's so she could swallow her cries of pleasure. Then her right hand was pushing itself into Savannah's pyjama bottoms, both girls simultaneously breaking the kiss to gasp as Marti's hand came into contact with Savannah's sex.

The other girl was so wet. Wet for her. This innocent little church girl's pussy was wet and begging Marti to take it, the blonde's fingers making contact with Savannah's entrance and almost sliding inside. However at the last moment Marti finally got control of herself.

This was Savannah's first-time, wasn't it? It had to be given the girl's strong beliefs, so wouldn't she want it to be more... romantic? No, she'd probably prefer to wait until her wedding night. But if Savannah was gay, how would that work? It's not like her faith would approve of her waiting until marriage to have lesbian sex. Would it? Savannah's family definitely wouldn't approve. And could Savannah really be sure she was gay or straight if she'd never actually had sex with anyone?

Refocusing on the girl beneath her Marti looked into the most beautiful brown eyes she'd ever seen and waited for Savannah to say something. Anything. After all, this should be Savannah's choice. More than anything else that was what was important.

So Marti waited. And waited. And waited. And became impatient.

In an attempt to speed the process up Marti started sliding her fingers up and down Savannah's slit, the blonde telling herself it didn't mean anything. As long as nothing entered Savannah surely she would still be a technical virgin and whatever this was could be classed as fooling around. Not that Marti wanted it to be. In fact the thought was pretty devastating, although it was hard to get upset over what might be when Marti was very much concentrating on the present, perhaps more than she'd ever done in her entire life.

Savannah's eyes were wide, and her mouth kept opening as if to say something but the only sounds which escaped her lips were moans, groans and whimpers. They were the sexiest sounds Marti had ever heard, and that combining with the feeling of Savannah's wetness made the blonde cheerleader increasingly desperate to enter the other girl because God, she wanted to be inside her so bad it hurt.

Trying to push Savannah to make a decision Marti deliberately started brushing her fingertips against the brunette cheerleader's clit, the gentle touch making her Captain cry out extra loudly with joy but still not utter anything close to a coherent word. 

Eventually Marti tried a direct approach, deciding that if Savannah still didn't respond after that her nonresponse meant yes. That direct approach was to press her fingertips against Savannah's entrance and, even though she was worried it would break the spell that had fallen between them, Marti ended the silence, her soft words sounding deafening under the circumstances, "If... if you want me to stop... I will..."

As had been the case for quite a while now Savannah looked like she wanted to say something but words failed her, although her silence arguably spoke volumes.

Marti waited for what was probably about a minute, then partly because she thought Savannah needed to hear it, and partly because it was true, whispered, "I love you."

Less than a second later Marti was pushing her index finger into Savannah's pussy, the brunette crying out as she was entered for the first time while Marti struggle to remember she needed to breathe.

The feeling of being inside Savannah was almost indescribable. The other girl was so very wet, and so very tight, Marti's finger feeling as if it was going to be crushed by wonderfully soft wetness. But the physical didn't compare to the mental, Marti overwhelmed by the knowledge she was Savannah's first. She was inside another girl for the first time in her life. She had taken the girl she loved's virginity. She was in love with a girl and she was having sex with her.

As she began pumping her finger in and out of Savannah's pussy, literally fucking the other girl, Marti tried to pinpoint the moment she realised she was in love with Savannah Monroe.

When she was about to slide her finger into the other cheerleader was the easy answer, but it wasn't right. Marti had known before then. During their first kiss would have been a good answer, but it wasn't right either. Nor was the night they'd nearly kissed a couple of times. No, the truth was Marti had fallen in love with Savannah the moment she met her and had known it all along but had been so deeply in denial she would have probably never have been able to admit the truth even to herself if...

Alice! That bitch. Almost every word she'd said about Savannah was true for Marti too, and the bitch had known it. And now Marti owed the bitch a debt of gratitude because helping to win some stupid bet and avoiding a little humiliation was nothing compared to this. Not that this was all Alice of course, if she and Savannah hadn't almost kissed Marti probably wouldn't have taken any of this seriously. Not that any of it really mattered now. All that mattered was making Savannah feel good. Showing Savannah how good she could make her feel. What Marti would eagerly do every day if Savannah agreed to be hers.

Focusing on the task at hand Marti pushed her middle finger into Savannah's snatch to join her index finger, increased the speed of her thrusting and curled her fingers upwards in a way which was supposed to be extra effective but no guy had ever seemed to manage to do to Marti. It worked like a charm on Savannah, the cheerleader captain writhing underneath the blonde cheerleader's touch, her screams becoming almost deafening.

Quickly Marti kissed Savannah again, quieting her down probably just enough to make sure that all of Cheer Town didn't hear her as the blonde's thumb found the brunette's clit.

Savannah's reaction was intense, the brunette bucking back against the blonde's fingers, trembling, crying out and covering Marti's fingers in juices like never before. It took Marti a few seconds, but then she got it. She'd made Savannah cum. Savannah had just cum on her fingers, covering them with her cream.

Suddenly curious to know what girl cum tasted like Marti removed her fingers from inside Savannah, much to her fellow cheerleader's displeasure, and brought those digits up to her lips. When she wrapped her lips around them and tasted the fruits of her labour Marti's mind was filled with one word, more.

In what seemed like a second later the brunette's pyjama bottoms were down around her knees and Marti's face was in between Savannah's thighs, the blonde eagerly taking her first long lick of another girl's pussy. It was quickly followed by her second, third, fourth, fifth and so on, Marti pushing Savannah's pyjama bottoms down even further so she could spread her roommate's legs even wider and get more access to that tasty treat.

Savannah's cum was the most delicious thing Marti had ever tasted, although Savannah's pussy juice was a close second, the blonde cheerleader hungrily lapping up the latter once she had gobbled up every drop of the former. Yet no matter how eagerly she licked Savannah's juicy little cunt Marti couldn't get enough. So she closed her mouth around Savannah's scrumptious snatch, creating a seal which kept most of the other girl's cunt cream flowing directly into her mouth and down her throat. Of course that still wasn't enough for Marti who soon began ravenously sucking at Savannah's pussy lips, more, more, more, still echoing in her mind.

Finally Marti shoved her tongue directly into Savannah's pussy and began fucking the other cheerleader with it, trying to keep her thrusts gentle at first but then Savannah came in her mouth. Marti knew it instantly this time as heaven in liquid form poured into her mouth and down her throat, the blonde's eyelids fluttering as she hungrily swallowed down every drop.

When Savannah's cum ran out Marti seemed to go berserk, her tongue almost immediately beginning to slam in and out of Savannah's sex, Marti making sure to curl her tongue upwards as she used it to fuck the other girl as hard as she could.

This worked like a charm and soon Savannah was cumming in Marti's mouth over, and over, and over again. When Marti's tongue got tired she replaced it with two of her fingers, pumping them in and out of Savannah's pussy as she frantically licked and sucked her roommate's clit, quickly returning her mouth to Savannah's yummy little cunt every time there was fresh cum to swallow.

Throughout this Savannah screamed in pleasure, probably loud enough so everyone in the country could hear them but Marti didn't care. In fact she wanted everyone to know... know that she, Marti Perkins, was having lesbian sex with Savannah Monroe.

Sadly after what seemed like countless orgasms Savannah's screaming came to an abrupt end, forcing Marti to reluctantly lift her head from the paradise she'd found in between her roommate's thighs and look up. Just as Marti had feared Savannah was out like a light, bringing an abrupt end to what Marti was determined to make sure was the first of many times.

Gently rolling off Savannah's bed Marti landed on her butt with a soft thud, then licked her lips. The taste of Savannah's juices reignited her lust and soon Marti was shamelessly hammering her fingers in and out of herself using her free hand to scoop any girl cum and pussy cream off her face and into her mouth. Like that Marti came faster and harder than she'd ever done before, for the first time not feeling ashamed that it was thoughts like Savannah in between her legs, her tongue in her roommate's pussy and the two of them in a 69 which helped get her off.

After laying there for a few long seconds Marti got up and began to strip off. Too tired to change she left her underwear on, move to get into her bed, then stopped and looked to a softly breathing Savannah.

She didn't want to wake her roomy up, but... she didn't want to sleep alone. So slowly, cautiously, she slipped in alongside the brunette and curled up against her with the intention of sleeping. Instead Marti laid awake for hours just staring at Savannah, unable to remember why she had fought so hard against her feelings for this girl.

Just before she finally rested her head down, and fell asleep soon afterwards, Marti gently kissed Savannah's forehead and softly whispered, "I love you Savannah Monroe."

It was something Savannah wished she hadn't been awake to hear.



Saving Savannah



I couldn't figure out why he'd come back for me. The next thing I knew I was feeling really warm and Charlie told me that we should go outside. When we got outside, we talked for a while and Charlie asked me if he could kiss me goodbye. I figured it wouldn't hurt anything so I said yes. Charlie told me that maybe we shouldn't do it out in public where anyone could see us. He didn't want people to think I was that kind of girl.

He took me to his garage and for some reason I went along with that too. Once we got inside the garage Charlie changed. He pushed me down on the couch and started feeling on me. I tried to tell him no but nothing really worked. It was like I was thinking in slow motion. Charlie had my dress up and his hands in my panties rubbing my pussy when Earl's fist smacked into his head.

A lot of other people were there too but Earl was the only one who'd done anything. A lot of the people at the party had known what was supposed to happen. Charlie had been spiking my drinks all night. His plan was to get me to the point where I couldn't say no and take me out to the garage and make a woman of me.

The mistake was when Earl and Jaime heard about it and came looking for me. Earl had busted Charlie's lip with that first punch and was standing over him when Jaime pulled my skirt back down.

"I wasn't going to hurt her," sputtered Charlie. "I love her."

"So you needed to get her drunk and rape her?" asked Earl. Charlie didn't say anything he just sat there while Earl and Jaime dragged me out of there.

They took me home and turned me over to my dad. They explained to him that an asshole at the party had put something in my drink, but nothing had happened because they were there with me. They told him to watch me because I'd never drank before so he should be careful because I'd probably be really sick in the morning. My dad thanked them for looking out for me and told them that they were good friends.

I guess Jaime and Earl meant well, but it was out of the frying pan and into the fire. My dad carried me into my room and put me in my bed. When I woke the next morning from the pain in my head I was sure that I'd been given alcohol or something else. And from the pain in my vaginal area and the blood on my sheets, I knew that I was no longer a virgin.

At first I thought it had been Charlie. I vaguely remembered him giving me my favorite juice all night. I remembered that it had tasted different but still good. That was all I remembered. When I went into the kitchen to start breakfast, my dad was there. I expected him to yell at me for not waking up until nearly noon, but he seemed to be out of it too.

"Savannah, I swear I didn't know you was still a virgin," was the first thing out of his mouth. I just looked at him in shock. My memory started to clear up then.

"If I'd known, I never would a touched you," he said. "I mean I was drunk, but not that drunk. I..." he just let his words trail off and left the house slamming the door behind him.

He didn't come home for three days. When he did come home he was dead sober. We again skirted around each other and didn't speak. It was days before he said anything and even then it was only, "Sorry." From the way I glared at him and the way he couldn't meet my eyes, I could tell he knew that I hated him.

It was several days later that he finally spoke to me but it wasn't what I was expecting.

"Savannah, we need to talk about this," he said. "I know I ain't been much of a father to you. Hell, you pretty much raised yourself. And started taking care of your brother and me as soon as you were able. I guess I just never got over your mom's death. I guess I also put the blame for that on you in a way. But the past is gone, Savannah and all we got is the future. I been thinkin' that if some boy had done to you what I did. I'd have killed him if I was any kind of father. Either that or made him marry you if I thought that you and him had any kind of feelings for each other."

I just looked at him and realized then that besides being the worst father ever, he didn't know a thing about me. I'd never had any feelings about any boy yet. At least not since I'd noticed boys in general, but there had never been one in particular.

"Savannah, I'm not gonna kill myself. That's a sin in the eyes of the lord. But I did come up with an idea that could change a lot of things for all of us around here. Savannah, I ain't been the same without your ma. But I can be better. I will be better. I think I just need a reason. And I think I've found it. We could move over to the next town where not a lot of people know us and get married, if that would make you happy, or just stay here and not say anything."

That brought me out of my shock. "What the hell are you talking about?" I yelled.

"Savannah calm down," he said. "I'm just trying to do things the right way. I know that what happened between us last week was wrong. I took you while you were out of your head drunk, so you didn't have a choice in it. But Savannah, I been with a lot of women and I ain't never felt nothing like that since your ma died. And drunk or sober, it's probably going to happen again."

"No," I said. "I'll go to the Sheriff. I'll go to the judge. I'll kill you first."

"You just need some time to consider your options," he said. "I know this ain't nothing that either one of us foresaw. I'll give you a week to think about it."

It didn't take me a week. It didn't even take three days. I called Jaime the next day and asked her if I could stay with her for a while. She told me that she and Earl had transferred to a bigger school in Texas and they both had jobs and a nice little apartment. I could stay on their couch until I got settled but they couldn't come to get me because what they didn't have was a car.

A car, just the thought of it went through my mind like lightning. If I had a car that would be the answer to everything. I could drive to Texas and stay with Jaime and Earl. If things didn't work out I could always stay in my car until I got on my feet. If I had a car I could go anywhere I wanted whenever I wanted. I bolted out of the house and over to old man Jenkins' car lot.

Bob Jenkins was one of my dad's drinking and gambling buddies. His lot was always full of old cars. I went over to the lot and looked around. I saw lots of cars that I'd have loved to have.

"Afternoon Savannah," he said.

"Hey Bob," I said.

"Whatever happened to you calling me Mr. Jenkins?" he asked.

"I'm nineteen, Bob," I said. "And I'm here to do business."

"Shit, Bob it is then," he said smiling.

He took me around from car to car showing me the best features of each one and then telling me the price. Every time he mentioned a number, I shook my head. Finally he got to a brown Toyota that was nearly thirty years old.

"This is the cheapest car I got, Savannah," he said. "I probably should have just showed you this one first. Give me five hundred dollars cash and it's yours."

I let my head drop.

"Savannah, how much money do you have?" he asked.

"Three hundred and seventy four dollars and some change," I said quietly. "But I need a car real bad, Mr. Jenkins. I swear I'll pay you the rest as soon as I get it."

"Savannah, I have an idea of how we can both get something we want," he smiled. "And you won't have to pay me back anything."

"What's your idea, Mr. Jenkins?" I asked.

"You may as well call me Bob," he said putting his arm around me and leading me inside the office.

Forty five minutes later, I drove off of the car lot with my car. I'd given my first blow job and had consensual sex for the first time in my life. I drove straight home and packed as many clothes as I could get into the car's trunk. I packed as much food that wouldn't spoil as I could get on the front seat. I figured I'd sleep on the backseat. I also still had forty dollars left in my dresser drawer. I found another thirty in my dad's room and since I never intended to return to that house, I took it. I was off to start my life.

I did see my dad one more time. As I was leaving the house I saw him walking down the road. I got into the car and drove right past him. He noticed me and started yelling, "Savannah, whose car is that? Where are you going?" I flipped him the bird and hit the road.

That day marked a very important part of my growth. I guess before that, I'd been kind of stunted in my vision of the real world and the way things were. Though I had most of the attributes of a full grown woman, my thinking had been that of a child. I'd still believed that someday Prince Charming was going to come into town on his white horse and scoop me up and we'd fall in love and everything was going to be magical.

That day made me realize that things just weren't like that, especially not for redneck girls in Podunk towns. If I wanted a better life, I was going to have to go out and get it for myself. And when I say a better life, I didn't mean it in a monetary way. I'd grown up in a house where running water was considered a luxury, whether it was hot or not. We didn't have a telephone or a TV in the house and most of the time my daddy didn't have a car.

When I said a better life, what I had in mind was just a place where I didn't have people after me constantly that just wanted to fuck me, whether I wanted to or not. I had also learned though that if someone was going to get something from me, I should get something in return. I used that knowledge to my advantage over the next few days while I was on the road.

If I started running low on gas I started looking for stations to fill up. I really looked for stations that were isolated and preferably that only had one guy working in them. More than likely in those situations, especially with an older man running the place, a blow job or even a hand job could get me a tank of gas.

I only spent some of my small amount of money if I absolutely had to. Surprisingly those few days didn't turn me into a whore. I learned to divorce my feelings of self-worth from what I had to do to get to a better place. And every mile, every shameful act took me further away from Mississippi. Don't get me wrong, Mississippi is a beautiful state. Someday I intend to take Gigi and Greg there for a visit. But in those days Mississippi represented nothing to me except my dad and all of those men who wanted to take advantage of me.

When I crossed into Louisiana, my real problems began, though my outlook brightened. In my mind, I had only one more state to cross before I hit Texas. Somehow Texas loomed in my vision like heaven. At that time in my life I was sure that just making it to Texas meant that everything in my life would be roses from then on. Sadly it was not to be.

It was in Louisiana that I started having problems with the car. After filling it up, it just refused to start. I marched back into the station, where the guy who worked there was still smiling from the blow job I'd given him. "My car won't start," I told him.

He smiled and jumped down off of his stool behind the counter. I guess his head was full of what I might be willing to do for further assistance.

"Pop the hood," he told me. "Let's take a look at what you got under there." I wasn't sure if he was talking about the car or my clothes.

He sat there waiting for a few minutes and then looked at me. "Open the hood so I can take a look at the engine, darlin'," he said.

"I don't know how to open it," I said quietly. "I just bought this car the day I left town." He came and opened the door and showed me the handle I had to pull to open the hood. Then he looked under there and somehow, he unscrewed something and sprayed something into something and got it started.

I think he was smiling as much as I was. I thanked him profusely and promised to take care of him on my way back. He said he'd be looking forward to it, as I drove off. He also had time while he was getting the car started to let me know that the car would need major repairs very soon. Those repairs wouldn't be cheap and would probably cost far more than I'd paid for the car.

I'd been thinking up until that point that I'd gotten the better end of the deal when I got the car from Mr. Jenkins, but I now knew that he'd screwed me in more ways than I thought. The car was probably worth less than I'd paid for it.

Just being in a different state, alone and driving my car made me feel better. I was away from my dad's clutching hands and also away from that bastard Charlie. Although I know that Charlie hadn't actually done me any serious damage before Earl clobbered him, I blamed him in part for what my dad was able to do to me. There was also the fact that Charlie had intended to do the same thing.

I just couldn't get over the fact that both of them were men who'd known me all of my life. It isn't like I was a stranger to either of them. How could they do something like that to someone they'd spent time with and knew. Didn't my feelings enter their minds at all, or were they just so overcome with lust that I ceased to be a person?

Louisiana certainly was different from Mississippi. The people, though still cut from the same southern stock, were more diverse and the dialect was different as well. You could tell that a great deal of their speech patterns, expressions and words came from the French or Spanish settlers who'd originally tamed the state.

There were actually times that I couldn't understand a word people said to me. It was especially strange because I'd grown up only one state over so the marked difference in dialect was not only unexpected but comical.

I was having a grand old time. It was like an adventure. I was driving my way towards the magical land of Texas, living on Doritos and Pepsi. I was sure that another day, two at the most would find me reunited with my best friend and her fiancé, when my adventure went off the rails.

I'd gotten off of the freeway, as I often did for snacks and gas that I hopefully would pay for with ass, when the car stalled. During my travels, I'd learned from some of my acquaintances that old cars often overheated and if it happened, it wasn't a big deal. They told me it was best to just let it cool down for a while and then check the level in the radiator. If the coolant level was low I could just add some water to get it running and then top it off with more coolant at the next station I passed.

So I sat there baking in the Louisiana heat, which was a lot like Mississippi heat, but spicier. I guess everything seems hotter when you add that Cajun flavor to it. I'd stripped off my jeans and put on a pair of high tight shorts just in case I needed to use my assets to get me out of this. I kept looking at cars passing by but no one was stopping.

I was on the verge of getting out of my car and flashing my legs and ass, when I saw the car. It was a really nice car and very shiny. I did recognize it as a Mustang and one of the newer ones but other than that I didn't know anything about it.

The car pulled off of the road right in front of me. A man got out of the car and came back towards my car. He was a black guy. He was dressed really well. He didn't have a suit on or anything like that but his clothes all matched and looked good together. He smiled and asked me if I needed help.

"No, genius," I said. "I'm just baking my ass out here in the heat for fun."

"Sorry," he said. "I was only trying to help."

"Where the hell are you from?" I asked. I'd seen lots of black people before and even had black friends, but I'd never heard anyone who talked like him. There was something about him that was different besides just the way he spoke, but it was the way he talked that got me. He talked like the people on TV and in the movies do. My daddy would have said he talked like a Yankee.

And there was something else that was just weird about him. He wasn't a giant by any means, but he was very fit. And the way he moved was different too. He didn't just mosey along like the people I was used to. As I took all of this in he was rapidly heading back for his car.

"Hey, where the hell are you going?" I yelled. I got out of the car. I figured Yankee or not, black or not, my legs and ass would work just the same.

He turned and looked at me. His eyes did open a little bit when he saw how I was dressed but that was it.

"You said that you didn't need help," he said.

"I was just being an asshole," I said. His eyes did open a bit more when I said that. I got the impression that he didn't curse very much. I thought that maybe he was a preacher or something. It would kind of explain things. I mean the way he talked, the clothes, the money for a car like that, him being a preacher would make sense.

"Actually I'm very glad that you stopped. I've been sitting on my ass for over an hour and until you stopped no one had even given me a second look."

We popped the hood and he looked at my engine. "Your car is so old that it doesn't have fuel injection," he said. "You've got a carburetor and it needs to be rebuilt. Your battery is also on its last legs and the wires from your starter are frayed. Can you see the dripping here?" he pointed to some moisture that could have been either oil or water.

"I think you need a new head gasket. And that's just for starters," he said looking at me. He looked at me even stranger when he noticed that I'd moved over closer to him. I was basking in his smell. He was wearing some kind of cologne that was just...

"Sorry," I said moving away from him. The first thought that passed through my mind shocked me. I was thinking that it probably wouldn't be too bad if I had to give him some to get him to help me. In fact I was looking forward to it. Before that moment, I had never even thought about having sex with a man who wasn't white, but my horizons had broadened over the previous few days. I'd never thought that Charlie, who'd claimed he liked me for the past few years, would have tried to get me drunk and rape me. I hadn't thought that my own father would take my cherry while I couldn't do anything about it either. And I really hadn't ever considered the possibility that I'd be giving complete strangers sex for gas or food either. So I wasn't about to let something as silly as skin color get in the way.

I guess the really shocking thing was that for the first time, I actually wanted to have sex with someone. Not because I had to, or because I'd get something out of it, but because I wanted to.

"I think I can get it started for you," he said. "And if I can't I'll call you a tow truck."

"I don't have that kind of money, reverend," I said.

"Why'd you call me reverend?" he asked. "I'm not a man of the cloth. In fact, I don't even go to church."

"I just thought, you know, the way you talk and all..." I said putting my foot further in my mouth.

He let it drop. "Anyway don't worry about it," he said. "I have AAA road service. I've never actually used it so they probably won't care. If they do, I'll just put it on my card. It's really hot out here so why don't you sit in my car while I work on it."

He led me over to his car. The air conditioning made it feel great inside. He also had a cooler of soda in the trunk and he gave me one. I sat there for about 10 minutes letting myself sink into the buttery soft leather and drinking that soda when I realized that I would really rather be outside with him. I actually hoped that he wouldn't be able to get the car running for a while so I could spend more time with him.

I got out of the car and wandered over to see what he was doing. He was reconnecting some wires coming out of one part of the motor. As soon as he connected them he took a little metal brush with wire bristles out and scraped of some of the corrosion around the battery cables. He tried to start it and it was better. I could hear the starter whining again where it hadn't before.




Saving Savannah



"Step one is down," he said. "Now I'm going to tighten the bolts around your heads so you'll have more compression, at least temporarily." He was always doing that. He'd say something that he thought was completely innocent but I'd think about it differently. When he said compression, my legs crossed involuntarily and I started tingling down there.

"Even though I don't have much money, there has to be something I can offer you, for your kindness," I said smiling at him.

"You don't have to..." he began and then we both heard a clanking and a rattling. I looked up and the oldest truck I'd ever seen in my life had pulled up right beside me.

Two men who were dressed like regulars on "Hee Haw" stepped out of the truck. One of them kept spitting out of the side of his mouth, but he didn't even seem to be chewing any tobacco.

"You okay girlie?" he asked. "We saw ya a while back when we was headed inta town, and we just figured that if you was still here when we got back that we'd take a look at yer vehicle."

I was pissed. First because if they'd already seen me once, why didn't they stop and help me? And secondly because I was already being helped and I didn't want anyone else around.

"Okay Hoss, we got it," said the second man. "Thanks for yer assistance, we can handle it from here."

"But he's almost..." I began.

"Don't worry yer head about it Missy," said the first guy. "Zeke here is a mechanic."

"You're in good hands then," said Greg, whose name I didn't know at the time. He took a rag out of his tool box and wiped his hands on it. Then he put it and the toolbox in the trunk of his car and drove off. He waved again as he left.

The two men looked at each other. "It just don't seem right for no N...colored guy to have a car like that," said Zeke. "It's just wrong Randy."

"If there weren't so many people passing down the highway, I'd a shot him for it," said Randy. "If we dropped him off in the swamp no one would ever have known."

"That would a been a big mistake dumb ass," said Zeke. "He's from the other side of the swamp. He's the guy that bought that old farm over there and hired a couple of people in the town ta help with what he does out there."

"How do you know that?" asked Randy.

"Cuz when we were in town, Bobby mentioned a colored from up north who talks uppity and drives a Blue Mustang," said Zeke. "Weren't you paying attention?"

"Bobby talks too God damned much," snapped Randy. "So mostly I just ignore everything he says unless he mentions money, pussy, liquor or food."

"Alright, Girlie, we ain't got all day," said Zeke. "Get your ass in the truck. Randy, tie some of that rope to her car we'll tow it behind us till we figure out what to do with it."

"Aren't you going to try to fix it?" I asked in shock. "The other guy almost had it running."

"Yeah he probably did some kind of Juju magic or some of that shit them people know about. But I ain't got none a that," said Zeke.

"But I thought you was a mechanic," I said. Randy just started laughing.

"Zeke can't even read," he said. "He can't count past ten without taking his shoes off."

"Ha ha ha," spat Zeke. "I was smart enough ta get her away from that colored guy though wasn't I?"

"It just wasn't right seeing him staring at a white woman like that. Especially with you wearing them little shorts and all," said Zeke.

"This is 2012," I said. "Nobody thinks like that anymore. The president of the united states is..." that was all I remembered.

When I came to my senses again it was because there was a body on top of me humping away. He was rougher than anything I remembered and he didn't care. My clothes were scattered all over the room. I groaned and then told him to stop and to get off of me.

"She finally woke up," he said loudly.

Everything on my body hurt, especially my vagina. I tried to push him off but he just smiled and then reached out with one hand and grabbed my head and smashed it roughly against the rotting wood of the floor. Pain ripped through the back of my head and I almost blacked out again.

"Lesson number one," he spat. "Don't never interrupt a man til he gets his nut off." I lay there confused and aching. My face hurt, my pussy was sore and now the back of my head hurt too.

After a few more wild thrusts he screamed, "Oooweeee," and got up. He pulled his pants up and spat on the floor not far from where I was laying.

"God damn it, Zeke was right. That is the tightest pussy ever," he said. People were coming into the room as he said it. There were four men and two other women. One of the women was older than I was and she was heavily pregnant. The other was a girl who couldn't have been older than eighteen or so.

Zeke looked down at me and smiled. "Sorry about that," he said indicating my face. "But you got a lot to learn if you're going to be living here. We don't like any mention of the fact that the coloreds and the Mexicans done took over the fucking country."

"But I don't want to live here," I screamed. "I'm going to Texas."

"You was going ta Texas," said Zeke. "But plans change."

"My friends will start looking for me when I don't show up," I said. "They'll try to find me."

"They'll never look here," he smiled. "And even if they do come up here and ask. We'll say the same thing a lot of people who saw you on the road will say. We saw you while we drove past. You were wearing some tight little shorts and showing off your ass while some colored guy in a fancy car looked at your car. If there's any justice in the world at all they'll think he did something to you. Maybe they'll string him up. This is still the south you know. That kind of stuff does occasionally happen. At least that's one of them that won't get to be president." He laughed at his own joke but none of the others thought it was funny.

Over the next few days my life descended into a hell that made everything I'd experienced before seem like a fairy tale. The four men in the shack, Zeke, Randy, their father Joe and their younger brother Melvin, the one who was on me when I woke up, used me repeatedly. They'd come into the room they kept me in sporadically during the day and then one after another at night.

Of the two women there, Beulah, the older, pregnant one, was nice to me and concerned for me. She was the one who often told them that I'd had enough, or that I wasn't going anywhere.

The younger one, Jennifer, seemed to hate me on sight and was always kicking me. They kept me chained to a big eyebolt that was drilled into one of the shack's walls. I was also naked and barely fed. For the first month they just left a bucket for me to relieve myself in and I never left that room. After the second month I was unchained every day and allowed to help Beulah and Jennifer clean the house.

I found out that they had sold my car piece by piece until there were no more pieces or parts to sell and then the rest of the car had been sold for scrap three towns over.

They made a living finding discarded items and selling them for scrap. Sometimes they found things that they thought were more valuable to them than scrap so they kept them. I guess I fell into that category.

Beulah wasn't married to any of them. Jennifer was their sister and Beulah's daughter. Technically Beulah belonged to their father, but any man with permission could have her. Apparently Beulah had been found on the road just after Melvin had been born. They'd needed a woman to care for him and when they found her they'd kept her as they intended to do with me. None of the brothers were her sons.

It took a while before I found out why Jennifer hated me so much. Jennifer was in love with her brother Melvin. He'd been her first and though all of the men had sex with her if Beulah wasn't available, she looked at screwing her half-brothers as just something she had to do. But she loved Melvin and very intensely. Melvin having sex with me angered her to the point where she'd tried to hurt me several times. She was always pointing out things that were wrong with me.

She told them that I couldn't cook without a lot of fancy spices and things that they didn't have. They couldn't trust me because she was sure that I was going to try to escape and they'd either have to kill me or go to jail. She also pointed out the fact that even though she was only eighteen she already had bigger tits than I did.

Luckily for me, after a few months of captivity the demand for me wore down. I was still in high demand between Zeke and Randy but with Beulah still able to keep Joe satisfied until a few weeks before she delivered and Melvin and Jennifer paired off, it was a lot easier on me.

I learned a lot of things about sex during that time. I learned that if I just took it, the men went easier on me. If I offered any resistance at all, it became like a challenge to them and not only were they rougher but they came after me more often, because in their minds they needed to break me.

I also learned that men want sex most of the time, but women were the truly sickest creatures of all. Jennifer did things that were truly depraved in her efforts to get Melvin back from me. Since there were only three rooms in the shack she often waited to get Melvin alone while Zeke, Randy and sometimes Joe were out on the road. She'd make Melvin promise not to tell his brothers what they did because she was saving some things just for him. I, of course, didn't mention what they did either for fear that they'd want to do those things to me too.

I saw that girl not only suck Melvin's dick but let him chose whether he wanted her to swallow his cum or shoot it all over her. She let him fuck her ass and then licked him clean. There was nothing she wouldn't do for him. She often begged him when no one else was around to make her pregnant like her mom.

Once she found out that I had no interest in Melvin or any of them she stopped trying to hurt me and since we were relatively close in age she started talking to me. From her I learned about love and what it felt like. She told me that just being around Melvin made her feel warm and protected and that lying in his arms at night made her happier than anything else she could think of. Her greatest dream was that someday she and Melvin would move away to be together and that she'd belong only to him.

At the time I thought that she was crazy, but then I realized that I wasn't too far away from her situation. My own brother had wanted me. Luckily for me he'd been strong enough minded to resist the temptation, but my father hadn't been.

The months passed slowly and I never saw any chance to escape. There was always at least one of the men in the house. Watching me was their greatest responsibility. Once, while I was helping to take care of the baby Evelyn, I realized that I wasn't chained up and the door was open. I hadn't intended to try to run away. It was the middle of winter and even though the temperatures were still warm enough during the daylight hours, a person could still freeze to death at night. All I wanted to do was look outside. It seemed like as soon as I took a step towards the door all I could see was the fist headed for my face.

When I woke up, I was chained to the wall yet again. They'd simply been trying to test me. I'd failed. And for a few months after that, even the few freedoms I'd been afforded until that time were gone. Before I knew it, spring had come and gone and it was too hot all over again. Zeke and Randy often argued over who got me for the night. That, of course, got Melvin interested in me again as well. I guess Jennifer had gone through her bag of tricks and Melvin just wanted to fuck someone different. There was also the fact that a few months prior to this she'd started letting him fist her and at first it was exciting for both of them but as her pussy stretched to accommodate his fist it soon became too loose for his dick and Melvin wanted something he could feel.

That brought about "THE conversation."

I was helping Jennifer clean the house while Beulah fed Evelyn and all of the men were out front sitting on the porch.

"Do you want to get out of here?" asked Jennifer. At first, I thought I was joking but she continued. "Look, I know you don't want to be here and none of this is your fault. But Melvin wants to start fucking you again. I heard him telling his brothers that they should all cut cards each night and the one that wins gets you." I didn't even react to her words. I couldn't see what the difference would be. It had gone on for so long that I'd gotten used to it. In fact, I was sure that she was just part of another test.

"Look there are only two options that I have. If I lose Melvin to you it would kill me. So I either have to kill you or help you get out of here." Even as she said it I could tell she was serious.

We tried together to come up with a way to get me out of there. Before we managed to do it though, the unthinkable happened. I woke up and realized that I didn't feel good. I felt odd all over. Beulah realized what was going on with me before I did. "You're pregnant," she told me. "We'd better not tell the men until you start to show."

Jennifer redoubled her efforts to come up with a plan. It was like she wanted me out of there as soon as possible. She came up with a plan finally. She picked a night that Melvin had guard duty which was what they called watching me. Joe went off to be with Beulah. Jennifer went to sit with Melvin. He thought that I was with his brothers so it would be okay. Jennifer fucked Melvin until he went to sleep.

That only left Zeke and Randy. While Zeke got to be with me that night I put everything I had into it. I tried my best to tire him out. Jennifer came in and seduced Randy who'd gotten so worked up watching Zeke fuck me that he was masturbating while he watched. When Jennifer started sucking his dick he couldn't resist it. With everyone in the house asleep except for Jennifer and me, she unchained me and went and laid down with Melvin. I hugged her once before we said goodbye and took off. I had at best a few hours before they woke up and all hell broke loose.

Jennifer had hidden a pair of pants and a shirt for me in the woods. There were also a pair of tennis shoes that were two sizes too big but beggars can't be choosy. I dressed and started off walking as quickly as I could. I had to stay near the roads and move by the light of the moon. I couldn't go anywhere near the swampy areas because there were gators there and I'd have no chance against them in the dark.

The fastest way would probably have been to cross the swamp but I was afraid. I kept expecting someone to grab me at every second. I made it to the point where I could see the highway in the distance by morning. I knew that the chase was actually on then because they had to have awakened and come after me by then. They had plenty of ground to cover though and they had no idea which direction I'd gone in.

They were smarter than I'd given them credit for though, because they knew that wherever I went I had to cross or follow the highway to get to a town, so they simply split up with Randy and Zeke driving the highway in their truck and Joe and Melvin tracking through the woods on foot. In the daylight they were also able to see the trail I'd left.

It took them a while to close on me though the sun had been high in the sky for a long time. I was tired, I was hungry and I'd sat down in what I thought was a great hiding place when I heard them. One of the things that surprised me the most was that they didn't after all of that time know my name.

I guess I'd dozed off when I heard Melvin yelling. "I know you're around here somewhere. Make it easy on yourself. If I have to come and find you, I'm going to beat the shit out of you. But if you come out on your own, it'll go a lot easier on you."

That woke me up and put the desperation back into me. I slipped out of the tree I'd been hiding in and made for the road. At this time of day there had to be cars passing by. I'd gone out to the road a few times before and as crazy as I was dressed no one would stop for me. This time if I had to I intended to jump in front of a car and just pray it would stop. Anything, including death, would be better than going back there.

I could hear Melvin again and he was even closer. It would only be a matter of time until he caught me. "Beulah told me that you're with child," he said. "We both know it's mine don't we. My brothers have been fucking you for a year. You get pregnant within weeks of when I started. That's why my stupid sister helped you get away ain't it?"

Hearing that they'd found out that Jennifer had helped me made me even more desperate. I ran as fast as I could. "Pa, I saw her. She's running over there," screamed Melvin behind me.

I crashed through the bushes at the edge of the highway running as fast as I could. My heart was beating so fast I thought it would explode. I was sweating and I could hear and feel the shoes flapping on the asphalt surface. They were gaining on me with every step. I saw a car and I waved for it but the driver just kept going. Didn't he see me?

Didn't he see the two men chasing me? I jumped back into the bushes to try to lose them. They followed me and I jumped out onto the freeway again. There were several cars coming all at once. I crossed the freeway just in time to avoid being run over. Melvin and Joe couldn't follow me until all of the cars had passed. I continued running and started screaming but the cars kept going. There weren't many cars left. As the last car, a red Mustang passed, I noticed tail lights. Then the driver started pulling off to the side of the road. Joe noticed it too and started running towards me faster.

I knew that if he dragged me back in the woods my life was over. Even if they didn't kill me I'd never escape again. I ran towards that car like my life depended on it. I almost made it too. I was sure that I was going to make when I felt someone grabbing me from behind pulling me down onto the ground by the back of that old shirt. I turned and started kicking at Melvin to get away and I could see Joe coming up too.

"Nooooo," I screamed as loud as I could. Melvin reached his fist back to punch me. I saw his fist rocket towards my face but I never felt the pain. I did feel a thud and I felt the impact of a fist on flesh, but it wasn't me. I was confused until I saw Melvin sprawled in the dirt on the side of the road.

"This ain't got nothing to do with you mister," said Joe as he got to me.

"She's a little touched in the head is all. It's a misunderstanding amongst family," he continued.

"Why don't we let the sheriff settle it when he gets here," said Greg. "I called them from my car before I got out. Brandy, the dispatcher, said she'd have a car here in less than five minutes."

"Oh fuck," said Joe. He lunged for me and Greg stood over me blocking his path.

Joe slid a wicked looking fillet knife out of his boot. Without warning, he lunged again, this time Greg's stomach was his target. Greg moved to avoid the knife and Joe missed his midsection but sliced Greg's arm. Greg kicked Joe's hand and the knife flew out of it. Greg's fist caught Joe in the side of his head stunning him. Melvin got up and came over to where the two men were circling each other. Joe looked dazed but the blood coming out of Greg's arm was serious too.

Suddenly a shrill siren cut through the air. We could see an SUV with lights and sirens heading for us. Joe and Melvin looked at each other and took off into the woods.

Within seconds the Sheriff's car was there. I pointed into the woods and one of the men in the car took off for the woods.

"Mr. Gates are you okay?" asked the deputy.

"I don't think so," said Greg. He held up his arm and the deputy went back to his car and got a first aid kit. The deputy quickly fashioned a tourniquet and put it around Greg's arm just above the elbow. He had me hold it in place and keep pressure on it, while he bandaged the wound. He radioed to his partner who came out of the woods a few minutes later.




Saving Savannah



"Rick, we've got to roll. You remember Gregory Gates don't you?" asked the deputy who'd stayed with us. The deputy nodded and waved. "His arm wound is really bad. We need to get him to a hospital. You drive his car. I'll bring him and this lady to the hospital with me. We can get statements there."

Rick's look told us that he had no problem driving Greg's Mustang. "It was two of the Druckers," he said. "It wasn't Sam, but his son Joe and one of Joe's kids."

They helped Greg into the back of the SUV and told me to keep the tourniquet tight. The deputy put the siren on and we made good time. "Ma'am can you start telling me what was going on and how Mr. Gates got cut?" he said.

"He was the only one who stopped for me," I said.

"What are you talking about ma'am," he asked. "I know this is traumatic, oh hell...Let's just wait until we get there."

I turned to look at Greg. I could tell he was in a lot of pain. What bothered me more was that those huge soft brown eyes seemed to be having a problem staying open.

Before I could tell the deputy, the door behind Greg was roughly yanked open. A man tried to pull him away from me and I held on. "Ma'am you have to let the doctor take him," said the deputy. "He'll be fine now."

"I'm going with him," I snapped.

"Fine," said the doctor. "But we need to move now."

As I watched they stuck an IV in him and started giving him blood. I followed the gurney all the way down the hall until they went into the emergency room where a big nurse blocked me from going in.

"The waiting room is over there," she spat. "We'll let you know which room he's in and whether or not he has to stay."

I went into the waiting room and sat down. They had coffee and doughnuts there for people awaiting news of patients. I was starving but I continued to watch the door. The deputy came in sat me down. He got me a cup of coffee and a doughnut. "This is a good time for you to tell me what happened," he said. "I spoke to the Sheriff and he's pissed. Greg Gates is a good guy. He's probably one of the nicest people in the community. He's a personal friend of the Sheriff and the judge. This is not going to be nice."

He was looking to me as if I had been the one who cut him.

"Look," I said. "Maybe I had something to do with this but it really wasn't my fault." I told him the whole story from the beginning. I started back when I'd first gotten to Louisiana and my car broke down. I told him how nobody stopped for me that time either. I told him how those men had kept me locked up in their house and raped me for over a year and about how I finally escaped. I told him about my run through the woods and how again no one would stop to help me except Greg. Finally, I told him about the fight. When I finished he looked at me totally differently. He looked pissed. He pulled out a phone and started talking to people. He relayed most of the information I'd given him.

While he was on the phone a very strange looking woman came into the room. She was very tall and dressed completely in black. She had several piercings on her face and one of her arms was completely covered from shoulder to wrist in an array of tattoos so complete that not a square inch of skin showed. Her obviously dyed black hair was quartered into four very long braids two that hung in front of her shoulders and two behind them.

"Paul, where's Greg?" she asked. "What happened to him?" I'm not sure it was the southern accent coming from the mouth of an obvious Goth, the venom in her voice, or the way the deputy cowered in front of her. Of course it could also have been, the stress of the day's events, my pregnancy and lack of food, but it was all really strange and I just passed out too.

When I woke up, I was in a hospital bed with people all around me. As I regained consciousness they gave me a few moments to gather my wits and then started peppering me with questions. The one that puzzled me the most was when they asked me whether or not I intended to press charges against Beulah Carson.

They made it seem as if she was the ring leader. And I heard several people say that she was in jail. My temper flared then and I told them that I wanted to know how the man who'd helped me was.

After a few moments of a very tense stand-off, the tall Goth woman came over and told me that he was doing okay. He's lost a lot of blood and the knife hadn't been very clean so they were worried about an infection. He was on a course of antibiotics. He'd probably be released the next day to go home. The doctors had repaired the damage to his severed radial artery and the blood flow to his hand was fine. They'd put in dissolving stitches to help the muscles in the area knit faster. His arm was immobilized and would be for a few weeks. And after that he'd need physical therapy but in five or six months except for the marks from about fifty stitches, no one would be able to tell anything had happened to him.

When she said all that he would have to go through I just lost it. I started crying and I couldn't help myself.

"Honey, he'll be fine," she said. "We're all just glad that you will be too. Besides maybe this will cure him of his lost puppy syndrome."

I looked at her and wondered what she was talking about.

"Honey, everyone knows you just don't pick up strangers or stop for them in this day and age. One of the methods that carjackers love is to find a cute young girl and put her by the side of the road in a car with her hazard lights on. Some guy stops to help her and they jump out and steal his car and all of his money of he's lucky. If he's not, they can also kill him. The smart thing to do in those situations is to drive right by and just call the police. If she's really in trouble the police will get there and help her. It's their job. Just seeing what happened to Greg just serves to underscore how wrong what he did was. He was stupid." There were a lot of heads nodding.

"Sweetie, I love Greg, but he does things like this all the time. Any time there's anybody with a sad face and a story to tell, Greg is opening up his house or his wallet. He even built what amounts to a flophouse on his property. He lets people stay there sometimes while Social Services, tries to place them. And he's always giving people a job until they get on their feet. Don't get me wrong, that's where I got my job, but you just can't be too careful."

I don't understand why I did it, but when she said that she loved him, I got pissed at her.

I spent the rest of the day answering questions and giving nearly the same statement to four or five people from different agencies. There was the FBI, for what amounted to kidnapping and being turned into a sex slave. There was a woman from social services because they had to decide what to do with me. ATF wanted to know whether or not I saw guns, drug making equipment, or anything illegal like that. And finally the man from the Sheriff's department came. He was the one who told me why they were only looking to charge Beulah.

It turned out that after the deputy had seen Joe and Melvin and identified them, they knew exactly where to go. All of the men in the family had at one time or another been arrested so they'd been to the house several times before.

This time though, when two cars full of deputies went to the house, Joe and the boys, who'd been in the process of moving everything they could and getting out of there, had opened fire on the deputies.

The deputies had returned fire and shot Joe and Zeke. Randy had tried to slip out the back and had been shot too. Melvin had seen one too many movies because he tried to pull a Butch and Sundance and leap off the edge of a steep drop a few yards from the back porch into the swamps where he thought he could escape. He broke his neck in the drop. Beulah and Jennifer had surrendered after being asked over a bullhorn to drop all of their weapons. Jennifer had been sure that Melvin had escaped. When she saw his body she lost it and charged the deputies, believing that they had killed him.

She went down in a hail of bullets screaming at the deputies with what they thought was a gun but turned out to be a cigarette lighter. Beulah was the only one charged because she was the only one alive except for the baby.

After the deputy left, the woman from the social services department came back. I'm sure she was only being professional, but her manner and disposition were terrible.

"Okay Miss Hill," she began. "Who should I call?"

"I'm sorry," I said. "I don't understand what you mean."

"Do you have any family or friends that I should call to come and pick you up?" she asked.

I gave her Jaime and Earl's address in Texas. "There's no one closer?" she asked.

"There's no one else period," I said. She left the room and the tall Goth girl came back over and sat down on the edge of my bed.

"I guess we may have gotten off on the wrong foot," she said. "I'm Kerrie, Savannah. According to the doctors, medically you're fine. You're suffering from dehydration and a touch of malnutrition, but they figure a few days of eating well and you'll be as fit as a fiddle."

Somehow it was really hard to reconcile her almost vampire-like appearance with that southern accent. I almost wanted to close my eyes when she talked to me. I also wondered why she didn't sound Cajun like so many of the other people around here. That piercing sticking out from just under her lip made me want to throw up.

"So would you like to take a little walk with me?" she asked. I was so busy wondering what the hell it was that made her want to get all of those tattoos and piercings when she was clearly an attractive woman under all of it that I'd missed most of what she was talking about.

"Uhm sure," I said, not understanding where we were going or why. I didn't want her to think that I hadn't been listening to her. She could have been asking me to take a stroll through hell and I'd just volunteered.

I got down from the bed and put on a pair or thick suede slippers that she'd brought in for me. The fur linings were so soft that I never wanted to take my feet out of them. She handed me a robe that also appeared to be new, like the slippers.

"I'm sure you don't want to walk around in just that hospital gown with your ass showing," she smiled.

I nodded and noticed that I was still a little shaky on my feet. "It's not far," she said. She gently took my arm and led me down the hall and around a corner. She smiled and waved or spoke to nearly everyone we passed. She exchanged pleasantries with many of them. And no one was shocked or even seemed to notice her appearance. That told me that they were used to her, so she'd probably either grown up here or had lived here for a considerable period of time.

She led me into another hospital room. There on the bed was my would-be savior. He was asleep. I did notice that there were several tubes running into him and he was hooked up to a machine that had all kinds of squiggly lines flashing across it. I'd seen one on TV once at Jaime's house. I think it had something to do with his heart but I had no idea exactly what it did.

"Shit," said Kerrie beside me. "He was awake just a few minutes ago when I came to get you. He was worried about you and..." she looked at me and sat me down in the chair next to the bed.

"It's over, Hon," she said. "What are you crying about now?"

"Both times," I said. "Both times, he was the only one."

"I still don't get it," she said. She pulled another chair over beside me and sat down. She was stroking my hand gently. "Savannah, what's wrong. You can tell me about it."

"Both times that I was stuck on that highway, lots of cars passed by me. Most of those people saw me, but he was the only one who bothered to stop and see if I was in trouble. And look what happened to him because of it."

I looked again at him lying in the bed. His left arm was encapsulated from the elbow down in a large cast. The cast even covered his entire hand.

"Honey, it looks worse than it is. Jane, uhm, Doctor Foster, she knows how hard headed Greg is. That's the reason for the cast. They don't want him moving his hand until the muscles in his forearm have a chance to heal. The worst thing about it is that in a week to ten days they're going to have to cut that cast off so they can take the stitches out of his arm. Then they're going to put it back on for another three weeks to a month."

"This is all my fault," I said.

"Savannah, remember what I told you before. This is just the way he is. If it hadn't been you it would be some bum he met on his way to or from the movies. Early this spring, Greg brought a guy home that had been at a gas station on the interstate begging for food. It was still a little chilly out, but shit it really doesn't get that cold around here. Anyway Greg decided to put him up for a while. The guy told him this story about being an out of work auto worker, yada, yada, yada. The next morning, Greg told me about the guy and I was all set to get him started with a tryout to see if he could work for us. I went to the room that he was sleeping in and he wasn't there."

"As I looked around the house, I started coming across all kinds of small but valuable items that were simply gone. He'd stolen a couple of cell phones, an iPad and even the Pizza money," she said.

I looked at her strangely.

"There are times when we do all-nighters or at least late-nighters and we need food or snacks. Most of us are addicted to pizza, so we just order it. We have an account at the pizza hut so the orders go onto our credit card, but we like to tip the drivers for coming out. So we have a drawer full of cash right by the door. Everyone around the house knows where it is. There's usually a couple of hundred bucks there in case someone wants to go out to the store or needs gas money or whatever. The guy must've seen someone go into the drawer and he stole that money in addition to the rest of the stuff he took." 

"It wasn't a major thing," she said. "Greg had to replace his iPhone and his iPad which was a hassle because there aren't any major electronics stores around here. We had to drive all the way to Baton Rouge to get replacements. The thing I kept trying to get across to the dummy there is that we got lucky. The guy was just a petty thief. What if he'd been a serial killer? Greg has to learn that he can't just go around bringing everyone he runs across home."

"You know what he told me?" she asked. I shook my head.

"He said, nobody got hurt and he needed to upgrade his iPad and iPhone anyway. He'll be fine, but maybe this will make him think twice about that stray puppy habit of his."

"Is that what you think I am?" I said loudly. "You know, people like you are what's wrong with this world right now. Nobody gives a good God damn about anybody else. Remember what you told me before? Remember your version of what people should do? Remember how you told me that people in that situation should go to a safe place and call the police? If he HAD done that...if he HAD driven past me and called the police, I'd be either back in that house chained to the fucking wall, where they would continue to rape me every fucking day or I'd be DEAD."

"Is that what you think should have happened? There are cops all around this place, let's go and ask them how many people called in to report seeing me running down the freeway being chased by two men screaming my fucking head off. I'd been skirting that freeway the whole day even before they caught up to me. Even when I was just walking by myself, nobody stopped. So if it wasn't for what you consider some fault in his character, I probably wouldn't fucking be alive." I just glared at her.

"Uhm...they say that I'm supposed to be getting some rest," he said.

Kerri was on her feet immediately. "Shut up," she told him. "You're fine. If you'd let them give you something for the pain, you wouldn't need to sleep so much. Does it still hurt really bad?"

He nodded his head and tried to smile. She started stroking his other arm, her concern for him was obvious and for some reason it only served to piss me off even further.

The door suddenly opened and that tight assed woman from Social Services came into the room.

"We have a problem," she spat. "I spoke to the owner of the apartment complex that your friends live at. They moved out of there over six months ago. He has no idea of where they are now. He did say that he thought that they were students at the university near there so I checked the university. I got the same story from them. They were students there but they withdrew from the university a little bit after they moved out. They may have gotten a job working on a cruise ship. So that leaves us with a problem."

"The county can only afford to put you up for a few days. I did find out that the state would be willing to put you into one of our homes for unwed and single mothers, but we'll have to fill out some forms and get you registered for state aid. We're going to need at least three forms of ID and to be able to prove that you've been a state resident for at least a year. So if we could get Beulah Drucker or whatever her last name is to admit that they held you captive for all of that time we'd be on our way to getting..."

"She's staying with us and I'm paying for her hospitalization. That way the county isn't out of any money and she doesn't have to go and play nice with someone who kidnapped her for a year," said Greg.

"Mr. Gates, that isn't necessary," said the woman from social services. "It would be greatly appreciated but it really isn't necessary."

"It's settled then," he said. "Kerrie take care of it." Kerri nodded and walked out of the room with the woman from Social Services.

That left me alone with Greg. "So are you okay?" he asked. I turned and looked at him. It was probably a combination of the blood loss and the pain he was in, but he looked so much smaller and weaker than he did when we were outside.

"I don't really know how to answer that," I said honestly. "On one hand I'm so glad to be out of that house and away from those people that every breath I take feels like it's the sweetest air I've ever breathed. No matter how much food I eat, it just doesn't seem to be enough. On the other hand, they tell me that right now I'm in shock and the true horror of what was done to me, will probably result in all kinds of psychological trauma down the road."

"Is that you quoting what they say?" he asked. "...Or the way that you feel about it?"

I smiled and he smiled in return. I was starting to get a warm fuzzy feeling. I wanted to go over to him and stroke his arm, the way Kerrie had. I wanted to tell him how sorry I was for what had happened to him while he was trying to help me. Oh shit, I may as well admit it; I just wanted to get closer to him. I was just about to get out of the chair when that tattooed bitch came back into the room.

"It's all arranged," she said. "Greg you can't come home until tomorrow. Savannah is checking out today. I have to uhm go out and buy her some clothes and things, she had nothing except what she was wearing when you found her. I've also arranged for the Sheriff's department and the DA to conduct their interviews with her at the house. I'm going to leave now to go out and buy her some clothes and stuff. Then I'll get the bunkhouse ready for her and stop back by and pick her up."

"Kerrie, she's staying in the house," he said. "After what she's been through, she needs to be taken care of. And she needs to be around people she knows and hopefully trusts. Right now that's you and me." Kerrie's eyes narrowed and I could tell she was pissed. She didn't want me any closer to them than she could help. She was probably worried that I'd hear them fucking or something. Just thinking about it sent a flash of lust through me.