Damaged

Chapter 3- Charli

Chapter 3-     Charli

            When Charli was well enough to finally give them her name, her father was contacted. She stayed another two days in the hospital before being released. The police explained about having video of what the bastard and his friends did to her. When confronted with it, Aaron’s friends ratted him out. Aaron took a plea bargain and would be going to jail for 10-20 years.  Although Charli was happy, she wouldn’t have to see any of them again, she still didn’t feel like herself. There were only a few weeks of school left until summer break, so Charli talked her father into letting her homeschool until then. She didn’t feel like being around people and having them all starring at her and asking questions. She wasn’t ready for any of that. All Charli wanted to do was stay in her home where it was safe. After Charli came home from the hospital and could talk again, she called Cappanello’s can quit. They knew what had happened so no one questioned her quitting. Charli quietly feel into a routine of staying in bed until noon. Getting up and eating in front of the tv in her pajamas. Then reading or watching more tv until it was time to make dinner for her dad. Charli’s father began to become worried about his daughter and her lack of activity. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get her to leave the house. Every time she would try, she would have a panic attack. She had horrible night terrors and would wake up screaming each night. Jack, Charli’s dad knew he had to do something to help his little girl before she was gone completely. She never smiled anymore, and she couldn’t even hug him good night without shaking. Jack felt the only option was for them to move and have a new start. Using his two weeks of vacation he had saved up, Jack and Charli moved to a small town called Bilton. Bilton Florida was a small town roughly a hour outside of Miami. This meant Jack had a longer commute, but he hoped the small-town vibe would help her feel more comfortable. Because of the long commute Jack now had for work, Charli was left alone most of the time and without her father there to see the signs, she became reclusive. Charli didn’t talk to many people even in a small town like Bilton. The only time she left the house was for groceries or to explore woods around the house. One night after the same nightmare that plagued Charli night after night, she found she couldn’t go back to sleep. Laying in her bed, starring at the dark ceiling, Charli found her mind wondering to the stranger that saved her that night from Aaron and his friends. She didn’t know him. She had never seen him before that night, yet he stayed with her in the hospital after her surgery until she woke up. This strange man was the first person she saw when she woke up, yet seeing him comforted him. More than it should have she thought. Eventually Charli fell asleep to the thoughts of her stranger hero.

Charli was lonely and Jack was working too many hours to notice. Her grades were great, so he figured she was fine. Charli kept her loneliness to herself; she didn’t want to worry her father. One day while walking home, Charli came across what looked like an old barn in the woods. She decided to explore the building. Her father was an architect and she had learned from him her appreciation for a buildings structure and design. It wasn’t much to look at, it looked like at one time it was painted a bright red but now had faded to a dark pink in color. As she was looking around, she noticed a a punching bag in the corner of the barn. Before she could reach it, she heard a twig snap. She turned around to see an older gentleman standing in the doorway of the barn. Charli didn’t say anything but just starred at the man with a frightened look in her eyes. The man sensing her nervousness, the man paid her no attention and proceeded to the other side of the barn to the horse stalls. He started cleaning out the first stall while Charli just kept starring. After a few moments, the gentleman broke the silence by saying without turning around.

“If you are going to just stand there, you could at least help an old man with the horses.”

A startled Charli quietly spoke just above a whisper and introduced herself. “Hi, my name is Charli. I didn’t know anyone was out here I am sorry to bother you”.

The older gentleman giggled at the young girl “you are no bother child; we don’t get many visitors this far from town. What brings you out here?”

Charli told him how she was just exploring the woods when she saw his barn and was just admiring it. The gentleman introduced himself and Gene and told Charli that he had helped his father build the barn when he was about her age. Charli approached the older gentleman, grabbed a pitchfork and started helping him clean out the stall. Gene was the first person since that night that Charli wasn’t nervous to be around. He reminded her of her grandfather that passed away when she was small. Just as they were finishing up with the stalls, an older but beautiful woman walked in and was startled to see Charli. Gene introduced Charli to his wife Betty. Charli told them how her and her father had just moved to town in the spring. Betty was sweet and smelled like she had been in the kitchen all day. After their introductions, Betty invited Charli in for some lemonade, but Charli refused politely. While Charli felt comfortable with them, she still wasn’t ready to walk into a strange person’s house. They quickly fell into this routine. Charli would stop by on her way home from school and on the weekends if her father had to work. After a couple of weeks Charli finally gave in and took Betty up on her invitation and went inside for a piece of peach cobbler. That was Charli’s favorite, and she couldn’t say no to that. Gene and Betty quickly became like family to Charli. They treated her like their granddaughter. Charli found out that they had never been blessed with children. They both were born and raised in Bilton. Gene used to be boxer, hence the gym equipment in the far side of the barn. Betty was a retired schoolteacher and taught 9th grade English in her time.

Betty. Jack was upset at first to find out that Charli had been hiding her time with them as well as not making friends her own age. However, after Jack met Gene and Betty he found he was upset for nothing. Jack was happy to see that Charli had found someone besides just him to trust. Charli showed her dad the barn that started off her relationship with Gene. Gene told her father how she had been coming by each afternoon to help him with the animals and in return he had been teaching her to box. Jack looked at Charli surprised at the information he was just given. When they were done visiting Charli and Jack told Gene and Betty bye and headed home. After that point Charli didn’t feel so alone anymore and for the next two years until she graduated high school, Charli would follow the same routine of spending time with Gene and Betty after school until her dad got home from work.