Justice Deferred
By: Alex. P
For Disclaimers see Chapter 1
Chapter 6
The big champagne colored SUV
came to a smooth stop at the full service pumps. An over eager teenager came
blasting out of the fuel shack, anxious to get a closer look at the big four
wheel vehicle, with the European luxury car name. He also wanted to see what
kind of person went to Mercedes to buy a truck. He was also wondering what
CTBS-BB on the vanity plates meant.
The youngster waited for whoever was driving the obviously new SUV to tell him
what they wanted. He let his eyes wander appreciatively over the clean graceful
lines of the well-made vehicle. Try as he might the kid was unable to see
inside the SUV, the tinted windows were too dark. He took a step closer only to
jump back a little when the driver's door opened startling him out of his daydream.
He was totally unprepared for what he saw, from the status name on the vehicle
the gas jockey expected either some self-important, power-suit wearing
executive or a snotty city yuppie, he'd seen enough of both in his short six
months employment at the truck stop at the junction of I-35 and M-340. He and
his hormones were completely caught off guard
when the driver stepped out of the Mercedes.
It was the most amazingly beautiful young woman he'd ever seen. She was short,
just barely reaching five feet four, dressed in very short jean cut-offs and
red tank top that showed off her very fit yet softly curved body that actually
tended toward muscular. She gave the boy a bright friendly smile that would
stay with him for days as she
asked him to fill the SUV.
The golden haired woman with the sparkling emerald eyes stretched out her tired
muscles trying to relieve their cramping from driving since early that morning.
As she watched the hormonal teen filling the gas tank the deceptively young
looking woman let her mind wander over the amazing twists and turns of her life
till now that brought her to be here going to the one place she swore she'd
never return to no matter what.
If what she'd learned over the last two weeks was true, someone very special would
be there today, and if she stayed on schedule and got there on time, a certain
gorgeous blue eyed brunette had some very hard questions to answer, and if she
was lucky she would be able to ask a very important question of a certain Ms.
Camilla Theresa Brusard.
Her name was Cheryl Anne Killian, a third year lawyer working for a highly
prestigious law firm, and recently received an unprecedented promotion to
partner and assistant legal representative of one of the largest, most
lucrative clients her firm handled.
She was barely five foot four inches tall golden-blonde hair with red
highlights, bright emerald green eyes, and some said a pixie-ish face. You know
the type big eyes, perky up turned nose, full sensuous lips that were always on
the verge of smiling, and if you were lucky to be on the receiving end of one
of her megawatt smiles you'd swear you'd just been blessed by the gods.
She was wearing a tight red tank top tucked into a pair of very tight,
blue-jean cut offs and sandals with long black laces that wound a criss-cross
pattern up her well sculpted legs to her knees. Her outfit was specially chosen
for this occasion. It was her fervent hope that the way it showed off her well
muscled yet softly curved body, well enough that a certain lady would find her
irresistible.
The top molded to her like a second skin accentuating her full firm breasts,
her perpetually hard nipples threatened to tear through the already stretched
thin cotton material. The top was molded to her flat hard abdomen curving
enticingly into the top of her cutoff that were skin tight showing off her
perfectly shaped rear. The cut-offs were so short that part of her beautifully
shaped cheeks peaked out the back.
All in all it was an outfit to create thousands of desirable and creative ideas
in anyone that saw her.
Cheryl was living the good life, as a partner she was guaranteed at least a mid
to high six figure salary with bonuses depending on her billings. Not only
that, she had a very hefty nest egg in stocks CDs and various investments plus
money in the bank, thanks to a litigation that had been handled by the very law
firm she was with now.
Cheryl had a candy apple red Porsche Boxster and the Mercedes SUV she was
driving today, a nice five bedroom four bathroom house in an older but nicer
part of the city, as well as a nice little two bedroom cabin in Kirbyville Mo.
by the lakes and the Mark Twain National Forest on a secluded lot far from the
road and civilization.
Everyone that knew Cheryl seemed to like her, helped no doubt by her genuinely
friendly attitude. Even though she had just been jumped from associate to
partner in less than three years there wasn't a single one of her former
co-workers that had anything bad to say about her.
Yeah, Cheryl's life was good; money, job, houses, cars, friends, but it hadn't
always been so nice for Cheryl. In fact only three years ago she was at the lowest
point of her life, with no way out, and just when the little blonde was about
to give up on life and her dreams she was rescued from the most unlikely
quarter.
Cheryl had found a bright shinning ray of hope at the bottom of a very dark pit
of despair and until just lately she had only suspected who her benefactor was.
And now Cheryl was on her way to find a certain stoic, tall, dark, foul
tempered and drop dead gorgeous lady that had better be ready with some
answers, but in order to see her Cheryl was
headed to the one place on Earth she'd sworn she would never go back to again.
It was the site of the worst moment of her life; it was the place where she'd
learned the hardest lessons of her life.
It was where Cheryl found that there were truly evil people in the world. It
was also where she had seen the purest, most caring, loving most unselfish
heart she'd ever known, where she was taught the difference between lust and
true love.
It was the Chillicothe Correctional Center, or CCC, a hellhole and the place
that held the other half of her soul
If there was anyone who had reason to be bitter about life, it was Cheryl Killian.
In fact she had more reasons to be the hardest coldest, angriest, person you'd
ever imagine.
Cheryl Anne Killian was born in an underfunded, understaffed county hospital in
the boot-heel of Missouri, and as with most of her life she came into this
world the hard way. Five weeks premature and breech, both mother and daughter
nearly losing their lives in the process.
Unable to cope with the special needs of the critically ill mother and infant,
the hospital transferred them to a larger and better equipped more up to date
facility.
After several weeks the two were allowed to go home to the tiny two bedroom
trailer just outside of Cape Gerardo, but within a few months baby Cheryl was
back in the hospital. She was diagnosed with a malformed heart valve due to her
premature birth.
Two years and several operations later the constantly ill child was out of the
hospital and well on her way to becoming a regular healthy little girl.
Her parents were thrilled that their little girl was healthy at last and both
were more than happy to work two jobs to pay off the mountains of medical bills
incurred to get her that way. Life settled down for the Killian family, they
were poor hard working people whose day to day lives had little, if any, impact
on the world.
Jason Killian and his wife Katie had lived on a small piece of land left to him
by his family, and though the trailer was old and they were dirt poor the place
was always neat and picked up. Their clothes were almost all second hand but
always clean and patched, Jason worked at a small custom sawmill and his wife
worked at the local garment factory as well as a waitress part time at a truck
stop close to them. When Katie found out she was pregnant, Jason had gladly
taken a second job at an assembly plant and when Katie began having trouble
with her pregnancy he agreed completely with her decision to leave both her
jobs and just take in some piece work from the clothing factory, so she could
stay home and rest when she needed to.
When the baby came early and the medical bills began piling up the Killians
still didn't complain. Jason took extra work as a handy man, and his beloved
Katie went back to waitressing as soon as she was allowed.
By the time their beautiful little girl was healthy, the property and the
trailer were mortgaged to the hilt and their medical insurance was max-ed out,
and they still had a mountain of bills, but every time they saw their happy,
outgoing, sweet loving little girl, the Killians felt like the richest two
people in the world.
Little Cheryl inherited her parents' outlook on life and had soon put all the
bad memories of doctors, hospitals, and illness behind her and attacked the
world as only the innocence of a child would allow. Her sharp mind and curious
nature led the gregarious child from one adventure to another. Each one
bringing her a joy and wonder that brought great pride and fulfillment to the
lives of her loving parents.
When she started school Cheryl was the kind of student teachers dream about;
smart, friendly, popular, respectful, eager to learn and always happy to help.
As things go, life was as close to perfect for the unassuming little family as
it could get, but as everyone knows the gods, never allow human perfection to
last.
One sunny Sunday afternoon the happy little family was on their way home from a
day in the country when the combination of an old car, old shocks, used tires,
and unpaved roads, sent another twist into an innocent child's life.
It was as simple as a sharp rock, a blown tire, a broken tie rod and the old 65
Chevy was on its side in a ditch and on fire.
Nine year old Cheryl was thrown from the car and flew through the air only to
slam into an old oak tree shattering her pelvis and breaking both legs in
several places. Unfortunately the girl didn't hit her head or pass out right
away and unable to move, the child was forced to lean against the tree and
listen to the screams of her parents as they burned
to death in the old car, a sound that would haunt her dreams for the rest of her
life.
Long after the screaming stopped pain, shock, and exposure finally won out and
the comforting black velvet curtain of unconsciousness enveloped the tortured
little girl.
Cheryl woke up two weeks later, the first memory she had after hearing the
agonized death screams of her family was the waves of unbearable agony sweeping
over her body. She tried to move into a less painful position where she fell
back and cried out as white-hot knives of excruciating pain lanced through her
legs, and her shattered pelvis.
In response to the child's screams of pain several nurses and doctors came
rushing into her ICU room. As the others tried to sooth and calm the frightened
and tormented child one of the nurses filled a syringe from a vial of demmeral
and morphine and injected the liquid into her IV line.
Within seconds, very long seconds, the medication was racing through her little
body and within minutes the scared and hurting nine-year-old was in a deep
sleep.
All the nurses got together and talked over the girl's condition and the lack
of family and from then on one of the off duty nurses was in the room with her
at all times, so that Cheryl never had to wake up alone again.
Cheryl woke again the next morning and saw the nurse sitting in the chair next
to the bed dozing, she realized that the nightmare she had convinced herself
she had, was real. The little girl began weeping and sobbing uncontrollably;
she would fall asleep with tears streaming down her cheeks and would wake up
sobbing for days as the nurses tried their best to console her.
Cheryl grieved horribly for several days, then without warning she withdrew
from everyone.
She would read, answer questions, eat when told to, and later cooperated with
her physical therapist, but that was all. It was as if the friendly,
big-hearted girl had died in the accident along with her parents leaving a
quiet hollow shell behind.
After several long months of intense therapy, Cheryl was allowed to leave the
hospital and was placed with a foster family. The older couple tried everything
they knew to help the girl come out of her shell, but it was to no avail. The
state finally broke down and sent the almost eleven year old to a psychiatrist
where after four years of therapy the only break through that Cheryl had was
when she and the doctor discovered she was gay.
That revelation was more than the older couple could handle and social services
placed Cheryl in the home of a lesbian couple that had been together for over
twenty years. It was here that Cheryl found a new home. Her new foster mothers
spent many hours with the young teen and helped her over come some of the
biggest problems she'd faced.
One of the most important things the women did for Cheryl was using contacts
within the system that the two women had cultivated, they were able to locate a
warehouse were one of the Killians creditors had stored some of the families
personal belongings when they had repossessed the family's old trailer.
The couple obtained permission and took Cheryl to the warehouse and spent four
days searching through the contents of the building until they located several
small boxes of the family's meager possessions.
They loaded the boxes into their truck and took them home for Cheryl to go
through whenever she felt she was able to face the memories contained in those
cardboard time capsules.
It took her a long time to wade through the repressed emotions each family
treasure held for the girl. Eventually the old Cheryl began to return. It was
in stages, sometimes excruciatingly small stages but with the love and support
of her foster mothers, Cheryl worked her way through her overwhelming grief and
her own true nature that was begging to reappear. The once quiet and withdrawn
girl became the person she was before the accident.
After that the rest of Cheryl's high school years went by without incident, she
was even accepted by many of her classmates as a gay student and when prom time
came Cheryl was able to find a girl to take to the prom.
Graduating at the top of her class Cheryl received scholarship offers from
several diverse colleges and universities, but she chose the pre-law program at
UMKC, and entered the adventures of her college years with a bright outlook.
She did plenty of extra curricular activities and did volunteer work at a local
homeless shelter.
All in all the generous, compassionate young woman was a regular poster for the
foster care system, their shining example of all the good that is in the
system, but not everything in the petite golden haired girls life was so bright
and wonderful.
No matter how fantastic her life seemed to those on the outside or how many
people she helped or all the programs and community service groups she
volunteered for it seemed that there was something missing, even those that
were close to her noticed that it seemed that Cheryl was always searching for
something.
There was a hole in her life no matter how much or how hard Cheryl tried it
would not be filled. It didn't appear that the young woman could find love. She
tried relationship after relationship but she wasn't getting any closer. It
would always start out the same she'd meet some woman and no matter how hard
they would work at it or how much they professed their undying affection to the
young woman, Cheryl just wasn't able to find the one true love she was
searching for.
Sure she cared for everyone she went into a relationship with and she was
always faithful but eventually one or the other would break it off, usually it
was Cheryl that ended up walking out on the other.
She was always nice even when they weren't but as she told her last college
girlfriend, Cheryl refused to struggle and subject herself or anyone else to a
loveless relationship simply because she was afraid to be alone.
It was like her life was a giant jigsaw puzzle that was missing one key central
piece, no matter how she tried to work around it the picture lacks detail and
definition, the was no flavor, and she refused to put herself through the hell
of someone's cold feet on her back and their hair in the sink if she couldn't
have that deep all-consuming passion for her partner, just as her parents had
for each other.
Eventually Cheryl simply decided that she was just one of those people destined
to go through this lifetime without ever discovering her one true perfect love,
her match, her soulmate. Sad? Yes. Discouraging? Certainly. But as far as
Cheryl could see, inevitable.