Chapter 24 - Birthday
(Warning this chapter contains content that may be very sensitive to some readers. There are no details, but there are references to what happened in particular child molestation.)
Emma had been in the hospice facility for several weeks. She had lost track of days and time as they constantly kept her drugged so she would stop screaming. Emma was determined to get out of there and get to Cat, but she didn't know how.
When the nurses came in, she begged them to let her use the phone, but they refused. She asked for Cat, and they thought she was asking for a cat, and they told her animals weren't allowed. Emma didn't know what to do, but she couldn't let Leo touch Cat. She knew it had to be close to Cat's birthday, and he told her that he was going to touch her on her birthday.
"Please let me out of here." Emma whispered when a nurse came in.
"I can't do that, Emma. I'm sorry, but you made your brother your POA, and he made the decision for you to be here. Now I'm going to give you a shot to help you relax." The nurse pulled out a needle and stuck it in Emma's thigh.
"Noooooo, please, I need to see Cat."
The nurse walked away, shaking her head. She felt sorry for the young woman, but she didn't understand why she kept calling for her cat. She figured she must be really confused.
Cat woke up on her sixth birthday, hoping that today would be the day her mommy came home. Leo had told her that her mom was really sick this time. She didn't believe him, but it did explain why she didn't come home.
When she walked out of the bedroom, Leo was sitting on the couch where he slept. Cat sat in one of the chairs and looked at him.
"Is my mommy coming home today? It's my birthday." Cat felt like crying.
"No, not today. I spoke to the hospital, and they said she's still too weak to talk on the phone too. I have a surprise for you later, but right now, I wanted to give these to you." Leo handed her a couple of gift bags, and Cat took them cautiously. She had learned that Leo's presents came at a price. One that she wasn't allowed to tell her mom about, or he said it would make her sicker.
Cat looked inside the bags, and they were dresses. All in different colors. She once liked getting dresses from him, but then he insisted on helping her get dressed. Cat knew how he touched her wasn't right because her teacher told her the difference between nice and bad touches. Cat left the dresses in the bags and sat back down.
Leo watched as Cat curled up in the chair. He had decided to wait until the day after her birthday to tell her about her mother dying. Of course, it wasn't true, but he would make her think it was. That way, she understood that she was all his now. Tonight though he was going to give her a very special birthday present.
Leo made Cat pancakes for breakfast, knowing they were her favorite. He then played a board game with her trying to make her see he wasn't all bad. She never smiled, though; she just looked sad.
For dinner that night, he ordered takeout and had them bring her a birthday cake. After she had blown out the candles and eaten a piece, he stood up and took her hand.
"Come on, Cat, it's time for bed." Cat looked out the window and saw it wasn't even night yet.
"It's still early. I don't want to go to bed yet." Leo pulled her into the bedroom and shut the door.
"You don't have a choice, and now that your mom isn't here, I'm sleeping with you." Cat looked at him in fear and tried to leave the room, but he stopped her.
The next morning Cat stayed in bed crying after Leo had gotten up. She cried for her mommy, wanting her to save her from the nightmare she was in. Leo had warned her that it could be worse and Cat believed him.
When she got out of bed, she went to the bathroom and shut the door. Cat started the water and took a shower. Her mom used to help her, but once she got sick, Cat began to do a lot of things herself.
She felt dirty after what Leo had done and wanted to be clean. Cat hoped her mommy would be better soon. She wasn't going to keep Leo's secret anymore. She knew now that he was lying about it making her mommy sicker, and she was ready to tell on him.
When she got out of the shower, she quickly dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. There was no way she was wearing one of the dresses he gave her. Cat thought about running away and going to the hospital, but she didn't know how to get there.
Cat came out of the bathroom and sat at the kitchen table where Leo had set her breakfast. She ate it slowly, not looking at him as he ate across the table from her.
"Cat, do you have anything to say to me?" Leo asked her; it was time for her to learn some manners.
"No." Cat said, pushing around the food on her plate. Leo reached across the table and smacked her hard across the face. Cat put her hand on her cheek as she started crying. No one had ever hit her before.
"You need to say thank you for your birthday presents and breakfast." Cat looked at him in terror, and all she could see was a coldness in his blue eyes.
"Thank you." She said in a whisper, not knowing what else to do.
"That's more like it. Oh, yeah, I have something else to tell you. I got a call from the hospital, and they said your mom died last night. You know Cat, I think she died because she was tired of having to take care of such a spoiled, ungrateful brat like you. You're probably the one who gave her cancer." Leo spat at Cat as he spoke, and she had never felt so small in her life.
"That's not true; my mommy didn't die." Cat said in horror through her tears.
"Yes, she did, and you will never get to see her again. You belong to me now, so you better get used to it." Leo smiled as he continued eating.
Cat jumped up from the table and ran to a chair in the living room. Typically when she was upset, she would go to the bedroom, but not anymore after what Leo did. She curled up in the chair and cried. If her mommy was dead, she had to live with Leo forever. She didn't want him to keep hurting her like that.
Leo laughed as Cat cried. He planned to move her to his apartment today. There was no reason to hold on to this place because Emma would be dead soon, even if she weren't yet.
He packed Cat's clothes and refused to let her take anything of her mother's. When he found the urn with Paula's ashes, he threw it in the trash, busting it to pieces. No need for that, he said to himself, thinking Paula was in the garbage where she deserved to be.
Cat tried to sneak some of her mother's clothes to take, but Leo slapped her again when he found out. She was only allowed to take her clothes. He wouldn't even let her take her books or toys. She cried as she left the only home she had ever known. Cat wished she could die too so she could be with her mommy.