Damaged

Chapter 4

Seven years later:

Chapter 4-Charli

The sharp sounds of the alarm went off in Charli’s ears. Ugh it was 6am and Charli was already exhausted. She was up all night with Mary coming up with fundraising ideas for “Center of Hope”, a domestic violence intervention facility Charli and Mary has recently opened. They finally came up with the idea of doing a silence auction, celebrity calendar and a fight night showcasing local fighters. As Charli stretched her aching muscles, she slowly rolled her body out of bed and headed to the bathroom. She turned on the shower and waited for the bathroom to start to steam over. She undressed and stepped into the hot shower, feeling the sting as the hot water worked its magic on her sore skin. After getting clean, Charli stepped out of the shower and got ready for the day. She put on a pair of tight black gym shorts and a red sports bra. Charli then pulled her hair neatly into a bun before putting on her overshirt, socks and shoes. She then grabbed her water and keys and headed over to pick up Gene.  Driving over to pick up Gene, Charli remembered the first time they made this trip 7 years ago.

*Flashback*

Charli had come to love Gene and Betty over the years and thought of them as family. She thought she knew them pretty well, but Gene surprised her the day after she graduated high school. He took her for a ride to the north side of Miami, roughly 30 minutes from Bilton. Charli looked around unsure of where they were or why they were there. Gene got out of the car and walked to an older closed up building at the end of the street. When Charli reached Gene at the front door. He reached into his pocket and produced a key. He reached out and opened the door ushering Charli to walk in before him. Once inside, Gene reached over and flipped the switch on the wall, illuminating the entire inside. Charli’s eyes widen in amazement when she sees that Gene had brought her to a gym. To be exact a boxing gym. Charli turned to look at Gene in confusion. She had always trained out in Gene’s barn so she couldn’t understand why they were here. Gene started walking to the center of the room. He explained to Charli that he owned the gym she was standing in and that it had been closed for several years because he couldn’t keep up running it on a daily basis. When the confused look on Charli’s face didn’t disappear, Gene chuckled and then told her that he was willing to open the gym back up if she was willing to run it for him. Gene remembered the tragedy Charli had to live through. He remembered her coming out on the other side stronger too. Charli once told him that she wanted to help others the way he helped her and to do that she wanted to one day hand down the defense lessons he had been teaching her.

Charli was speechless. She didn’t know what to say. She had been searching for a gym where she could put her boxing, self-defense, MMA and Krava Maga training to use. However, in Miami, no gym would hire a woman for that. This was the 21st century but men were still intimidated by a strong woman. Gene watched as a tear fell from Charli’s face which was rare because she never cried. She hugged him and thanked him for the opportunity he was giving her. It wasn’t her own gym, but it was a start which was more than she had when she woke up that morning.

*End of Flashback*

Charli pulled up to the house and Gene was sitting on the porch waiting for her like he always did. He slid into the passenger’s seat of the Jeep wrangler and buckled up while Charli was pulling out of the drive way. Charli told John about the intense brainstorming session she had the night before with Mary and told him about their ideas for the center. Gene thought they were great ideas and offered for the gym to sponsor the event. He told Charli they could use the gym for the photoshoot and the fight. The vacant building next door was also his and they could set up a banquet and silent auction over there. That way everything was in one area, and it would be easier to house a full crowd. Charli reached over and hugged Gene once they were stopped in front of the gym. They both got out of the jeep and walked into the gym, Gene to the office and Charli to set up for the first class. Charli didn’t see much of Gene all day. He was in the office in what seemed to be more than the usual number of meetings for one day. Charli didn’t have time to pay really close attention to what he was doing because she had back-to-back classes all day long. Mary was coming by today to bring a new group of women for a domestic violence class and then Charli had two boxing sessions afterwards. At the end of the day, Gene asked Charli to come to his office before they were ready to leave. Charli finished cleaning the mats and putting the equipment away before heading to the office.  Just as she was about to sit down a man in a dark suit walked in and sat down beside her. Charli noticed it was the man who had stopped by earlier to see Gene. Not knowing what was going on, Charli sat her bag down beside her chair. Gene informed Charli that the man sitting her to her was his accountant and that he would be her point of contact for the charity fundraiser. He told Charli that he wanted to cover the expenses of the evening. Charli tried to protest, telling him that donating the gym for the night was more than enough. However, Gene wouldn’t hear of it. He insisted and Charli learned awhile back that when Gene wanted something, you didn’t argue because he was going to get it anyways. Charli told him thank you and the accountant pulled out a checkbook with the gym’s name on it as well as a letter stating that Charli was authorized to write checks on the gyms account. Just incase there were any issues with it. When they were done, Charli and Gene closed the gym and headed the 30 minutes back to Bilton.

When Charli pulled up to Gene’s house he got out of the jeep, told her good night and headed inside. Charli headed home reeling with excitement about the day’s events. She called Mary and told her about Gene’s generous offers. Mary was dumbfounded. She couldn’t believe what Charli was telling her. The two friends said their good nights and Charli headed to bed. It had been a very long but exciting day. For the next three weeks Charli and Mary worked hard on the building attached to the gym. It hadn’t been used in years and needed a lot of work. It took them a week just to paint the inside and make sure the equipment in the kitchen still worked. After the walls dried Charli and Mary started moving furniture into the building and arranging it for the silent auction and banquet. Gene walked in and was amazed at the transformation.  He complimented the women on what a wonderful job they had done. He was even more surprised by how much they had accomplished in such a short amount of time and with spending hardly any money. Even though Gene had told Charli he wasn’t to fund the event, Charli refused to use any more of the money than needed. She was sure Gene and Betty were living on a fixed income and while the gym was doing good, she was sure it didn’t make enough to be able to fund an event like the one they were planning. So, Charli and Mary had taken to accepting donations for what they could get and what they couldn’t they rented instead of buying to save money. Charli took Gene home at the end of the day as usual, but he didn’t speak. There was a strange silence in the air and Charli didn’t know what had caused it. She was afraid that Gene must not have liked what they had done with the building. After the charity event, she would pay to change it to the way Gene wanted it. It was the least she could do for him.

Charli was awakened by the annoying ringing of her cell phone. Cussing at it trying to figure out who would be calling her at 7 am on a Saturday, she grabbed it and looked at the screen. She sat up suddenly she realized it was Gene calling her. Afraid something had happened to Betty; Charli answered the phone in a rush. Gene calmed her down and told her nothing was wrong but asked if she could stop by later in the day if she wasn’t busy. Calming her nerves, Charli agreed to stop by around noon. At 12:00 on the dot, Charli pulled into the driveway. Getting out of her jeep and heading to the door she heard Betty call for her to come in before she could even knock. Charli walked In and found both Gene and Betty sitting at the table with a box on the table and pictures scattered on the table. Not understanding what was going on but curious to find out, Charli walked over and sat down across from Betty and beside Gene at the table. Nobody said anything for a few minutes. Gene simply holding Betty’s hand and starring at the pictures scattered around. Gene reached over and handed me a picture of a small baby wrapped in a pink and yellow handmade quilt.  I turned the picture over and read the writing on the back. Emily Rose Hawkthorn 3 months old. Charli wasn’t sure why Gene had handed her this picture. Who was it and why was it so important that she see it she wondered? Gene seeming to know what questions Charli had swimming in her head, he simply stated, “ She was our daughter”.