Page 14 of Lacey's Daddy
Brian…Daddy—could I be so lucky?—leans over me again. “I need to know everything, Lacey, so I can help you get better. Will you be brave for me?”
I sniffle as I roll onto my tummy. I like the way he touches me. He’s so gentle and caring. His fingers dance over my skin, leaving goosebumps as he strokes my back.
I don’t look at him while he says nothing for a few minutes.
“Are these welts on your back from a belt, Little one?” he asks, his voice a bit strained.
“Yes, Daddy.”
He surprises me when he bends over to kiss one of the stripes across my bottom.
There are ugly scars on my butt and the backs of my thighs. A few on my back, too. Sometimes he strikes me so hard I bleed. Sometimes they don’t heal well, especially since it’s hard for me to take care of them after he beats me.
He kisses my shoulder next. It’s the kindest thing I’ve felt in years. “No one will ever strike you again, Lacey. You have my word. You’re safe now.” He helps me roll to my back again.
“If you’re going to be my Daddy for a while, won’t you spank me?”
“I’d rather be your Daddy forever, Lacey, and no I won’t spank you. Not ever. You’ve been abused, Little one. If you need to be disciplined, I will use another method to punish you. I will never strike you for any reason. Besides seeing a doctor, you need to see a counselor who specializes in abused women. Someone who can help you work through your feelings so you can live a happy life. We have a counselor like that on the island.”
I gasp. “On the island?”
“Yep. I’m hoping you’ll go home with me in a few days.”
“To the island?” I’m too stunned to process what he’s suggesting.
“Yes, Little one. I can sponsor you and get you the emotional and medical care you need. If you decide you don’t want to be myLittle girl when you’re feeling better, I’ll help you figure out what to do. Okay?”
My bottom lip trembles. “You want me to go to the island with you…” I can’t believe this.
“Ideally, Little one.” He lifts my hand and kisses my knuckles. “We’ll talk about it more tomorrow. Right now, I need to get you in the bath and then fix you a bottle. You have to be exhausted.”
As he helps me sit and guides me to my feet, I have a thought. “My father would never find me on the island.”
He winks. “That is a fact. Never. Even if he knew you went there, he would not be able to board the ferry to cross over to the island. I will make sure his name and picture are on the banned list. But I don’t know why he would ever think to look there anyway. You’ll be totally safe on the island.”
I’m naked and scared out of my mind in a strange apartment with a man I never dreamed would come to my rescue, but I stop walking and throw my arms around him and hug him tight. “Thank you, Daddy.”
He rubs my back and kisses the top of my head.
Chapter Five
After helping me into the tub, Daddy leaves me to go fix a bottle. There are toys in the tub. I haven’t had bath toys since I was very young. I feel lighter than I’ve felt in a long time. I know I’m ignoring my problems, stuffing them to the back of my mind, but I just want to be free to…play.
I’m giddy as I reach for a mermaid Barbie and take her for a swim. I had a Barbie like this when I was five. I wonder what happened to her. I had toys. Lots of them. I’m pretty sure my father threw most of them away. He certainly didn’t bring anything with us when we moved.
Granted, I was fourteen by then, but I still liked toys. I still liked to color and paint and play. I know I was immature for my age, but I didn’t have friends. All I had was myself, and I had to find ways to entertain myself, especially after my father burned my books.
At the time, I still had books all over my room, but it grew harder and harder for me to read them. When he caught me, he would snatch the book out of my hands and toss it in the trash. If I retrieved it, he would whip me.
My father said those books were filling my head with filth and fantasy. He said I needed to join the real world wherewomen were expected to work around the house. Cook and clean. He said if I had idle time, I should spend it doing something useful like sewing instead of filling my head with trash.
I never believed him. He is a sick person with a warped mind. But that didn’t make my situation any less dire.
I’ve thought of running away a million billion times, but where would I go? I don’t know anyone. I don’t have skills. I knew in the end, he would track me down and haul me back to the cabin, and then he might beat me so hard that I wouldn’t survive. Staying was a survival skill all on its own.
“Hey, Little one.”
I look up when I hear Daddy’s voice. He’s smiling as he kneels on the tile next to the tub. “Can I wash you, Baby girl?”
