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Continued from previous page…
Jane turned on the light in Kathy’s main bathroom upstairs and guided Belinda over towards the toilet. She pulled down the plastic seat cover and allowed Belinda to plop down on top of it. As Jane opened up the medical kit and started scrummaging around for the proper components in order to tend to Belinda’s wounds, Belinda decided it was time to remove the jeans that Kathy had given her, in spite of the ribbing she had received downstairs. As irony would have it, however, her underwear caught the button on the jeans at the last second, revealing the very thing that everyone was making fun of. Now being extremely conscientious of the way Jane described it, Belinda immediately grabbed them and pulled them up as fast as she could.
“Worried about me seeing your big, hairy bush?” Jane noticed.
“Stop saying that,” Belinda snapped. “That’s fucking gross.”
“Well, let me see what we’ve got here,” said Jane, as she held Belinda’s leg in her hand and carefully observed the wound. “It doesn’t look that bad… Just a couple of small, puncture wounds.”
Belinda was surprised at how calm Jane was being. She almost was acting like a nurse.
“You know… this being a dog bite… it will heal quickly,” said Jane. “And I highly doubt a dog from this neighborhood has rabies,” she added.
“Do you think there’ll be a scar?” asked Belinda.
“I doubt it,” Jane reassured her. “If there is, it’ll be so minute, no one’s ever gonna notice.”
Belinda and her big, hairy ego was relieved.
“Good… Cuz’ I can’t have a scar ya’ know.”
“I know, I know,” said Jane, as she dabbed at the wound. “You need to be perfect.”
“You don’t think I need a shot?” asked Belinda.
“Actually, I think you do,” said Jane. “I mean— I think you should… But, that’s up to you… Do you want to go to the Emergency Room right now… Your name is all over the news.”
Belinda had to think about this for several seconds. She was in no mood to deal with the outside public.
“No.. I don’t wanna do that,” she pondered. “I’ll take my chances… Just fix me up.”
“Okay,” said Jane, as she continued on with her caretaking. “Luckily, Kathy has some Hydrogen Peroxide in here… That’s pretty good stuff… It should stave-off any infection.”
Jane got up and grabbed a washcloth from the towel rack. As she doused it in hot water from the sink, she looked into the mirror and saw Belinda looking back at her in the reflection. Jane smiled at her.
“Don’t worry, honey… It won’t leave a scar,” Jane assured her. “Your beautiful legs will be alright for the world to look at for a long time to come.”
Belinda managed to conjure up a slight smile in appreciation.
Jane returned from the sink and began delicately wiping down Belinda’s leg with the soapy washcloth. After rinsing and repeating a couple of more times, she started talking to the fragile fugitive in the most consoling manner possible.
“So… what are you gonna do, Belinda?” she asked. “I mean… this a crazy situation… You can’t hide out here forever… When are you gonna talk to Myles?”
“I’m so mad at him,” said Belinda. “This is partly his fault, ya’ know.. for not believing in me more.”
Jane didn’t know what to say. On one hand, she didn’t want to get in the middle of a fight between those two. On the other hand, she definitely sided with Belinda about Myles’ attitude and/or behavior in all of this. In her opinion, Myles was not doing nearly enough to stand by his wife’s side.
“Well… don’t you think he was just looking out for you?” asked Jane. “By getting you some professional help?”
Belinda was not buying any of that.
“That’s fucking bullshit, Jane,” she fumed. “He saw what they were doing to me in that hospital… He saw how they were doping me up… He could have gotten me out of there… He has a lot of power. He could have gotten me out of there.”
Jane was silenced by Belinda’s tongue-lashing, but took it all in stride. Belinda noticed this and became apologetic.
“I’m sorry, Jane… I don’t mean to take this all out on you,” she said.
“It’s okay,” said Jane.
“It’s just that… I feel like no one was looking out for me, ya’ know? … I feel like nobody cared about me,” said Belinda as she started to cry. “I mean… I know you guys were planning to rescue me… But when I heard about that Pie Eating Contest.. I just couldn’t believe it.”
“Omigod, you heard about that?” asked Jane.
“Yeah, Gina told me about it,” said Belinda, in between sniffles. “She told me right in the middle of the rescue.”
“Belinda, that was a publicity stunt for The Go-Go’s.. It was all Ginger’s idea.. I didn’t even want to do it,” explained Jane.
“Oh, it’s alright, sweetie… I’m not actually mad about that,” confessed Belinda, her nose all filled with snot and sounding like she had a severe cold. “It’s just everything all rolled-up into one, ya’ know?”
“I know, honey,” said Jane, caressing Belinda’s shin in an understanding and consoling manner.
“The thing I’m most mad about,” Belinda sniffed. “Is that I wasn’t able to participate… You know how much I love pie.”
Jane was suddenly overcome with emotion. Here was Belinda— bruised and bleeding; A fugitive from the law and whoever else was after her; A girl who felt like nobody loved her— still able to make a joke in the middle of all the present chaos. Jane stood up as tears began to well-up in her eyes. She cradled Belinda’s head in her arms.
“Oh, my beautiful baby,” she sobbed. “You’re such a beautiful girl… Did you know that?”
Belinda did not answer. She continued to wipe the tears away from her eyes.
“You’re such a beautiful girl,” Jane repeated.
Copyright 2025
by Clark Wright