Home From Within by Jennifer McCartney, Lisa Maggiore Page B

could trust him being alone with her mother. Peeling herself off the leather sofa, she approached her mother and was about to say they should
all
leave Dad alone, but the thin line of her mother’s lips and the eyes that directed Jessica toward the door kept her quiet. Jessica led Jason out of the office, and when they entered the hallway, she heard the phone ringing in the kitchen. She wondered who was on the other end because the ringing was nonstop, but her thoughts kept going back to her mother in the office, with her father, and all his weapons. But then Jessica remembered she had a weapon of her own. “Come on,” she mumbled to Jason as she hurdled up the stairs to her bedroom. She grabbed the Mace from her backpack and told Jason if anything bad happened to get under the bed and stay there until someone safe came to get him. Jason’s little brow frowned up.
    “I’m the boy. I should help.”
    Jessica had no time for testosterone. “Listen, you’re only six. I’m fifteen. Do as I say.” He stopped protesting and slid under her bed.
    Jessica crept down the stairs with the Mace in front of her and ready, if needed, to pull the trigger on the same man who gave it to her.
    There were no noises coming out of the office—no gurgling on blood, no murderous cries. Jessica leaned inside the doorframe. Her father was sitting in his desk chair, head in hands, rocking ever so slowly back and forth. Her mother was on her hands and knees cleaning up the mess. And the bayonet was safely back on the wall.
     

     
    Jessica and Jason stayed in her room the rest of the morning. They played games, drew pictures, and read books. For a snack, they ate smashed cereal bars that were at the bottom of her backpack. At one point Jessica dozed off. When she woke up, she found Jason sitting at the end of her bed, stiff as a statue.
    “What’s wrong?”
    “Shhh, Dad’s up here. I just saw him.” Jessica leaned over and grabbed the Mace from the nightstand. As she sat back up, her father walked in with Marilee’s dad.
    “Bob’s going to take you to his house for the night. Jessica, pack a small bag for the both of you.”
    Her father did not look like the raving lunatic from earlier. Jessica tried to get a good look at his eyes, but he would not meet hers.
    “Where’s Mom?” asked Jessica.
    “Cooking dinner,” he said and walked away.
     

     
    It was Aunt Lodi on the other line when her father smashed the phone into pieces. She became alarmed when she called back and the phone just rang so she called the Ripps. Jessica found this out upon entering the Ripp home and being handed the phone with Aunt Lodi on the other end. Jessica repeated that she was fine and felt safe, then started to wonder if she had done something wrong because Aunt Lodi kept reiterating she did nothing wrong.
    “You have every right to know the history of your family. Please don’t let that outburst stop you from asking questions.”
Outburst?
Jessica could not help but wonder what Aunt Lodi would have thought being in that room watching her father unravel. If she were witness to that, would she continue to push for any more stories?
    Marilee, Barbara, and Julie were still at school participating in mandatory Saturday practices but Eddie was home, so he took Jason in the basement to watch TV. Mrs. Ripp was in the kitchen writing down a pizza order for dinner.
    “What do you and Jason like on your pizza?”
    “Just cheese, please.”
    Mrs. Ripp smiled and said out loud while writing, “One small cheese pizza, and two large sausage, mushroom, and pepperoni. We eat like pigs over here,” Mrs. Ripp said. “I know you guys don’t eat like this in your house.” Jessica was amused by the Ripps. They were more primitive than her parents. It was a refreshing change.
    “Look at Bob,” Mrs. Ripp said as he walked through the kitchen to the dining room. “You would hardly know that man can eat two large pizzas. Now me, I stick with one.”
    Jessica was