19 What Next?
The phone was ringing, but Ella wasn’t answering, and Rome started to get nervous. He had gotten to Mark’s apartment just after sun up because he hadn’t been able to sleep anyway. Mark was passed out in bed in his underwear. Rome only knew that because he went into his room to find his phone.
Finally, he heard her sweet voice in his ear. It was a whisper, as if she was trying not to be discovered, when she said, “Hello?”
“Ella? Hi. It’s Rome.”
“Hi.”
He could hear the smile in her voice. He wanted to ask her so many questions all at once. She must’ve thought he was crazy for climbing over the fence the night before, for scaling the side of her house, for proclaiming his love to her. But he couldn’t help himself. As silly as it sounded, he knew he loved her, too. Even the sound of her voice now made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside. “How are you?”
“I’m okay,” she said quietly. “Are you?”
“Yes. I’m fine. Just… anxious to speak to you. Did I wake you?”
“No. I’ve been up and working for a while now. Who is Mark Hutio? A friend?”
“Yeah, he’s… why?”
“Because the caller ID on the phone said his name.”
“Oh, well, someone stole my phone last night.”
She giggled. “Sorry.”
“No, it’s okay. I just don’t understand why you needed it. Why don’t you have your own phone?”
“Uh… I’m just not allowed to have one.”
“Why not? Listen, Ella, baby, I want some straight answers, okay? That room you were in last night, that was the attic, right? At first, I thought maybe you were just making sure no one heard us talking, but I saw a bed behind you. Please tell me that’s not your room.”
She was quiet for a long moment, and he took a deep breath, unable to believe he’d been right in assuming that was where she slept. “It’s my room.”
“Why in the world is your room the attic, Ella? That’s your father’s house, right? Is he that awful to you?”
“No,” she said quickly. “It’s not my dad. It’s my stepmom. She doesn’t like me much. At first, she said it was for my own good, that she was trying to protect me because there are so many beautiful women in California. I’d stick out because I’m so ugly. Then, she tried to convince me that I was crazy, that if I tried to leave the house and told anyone she was keeping me here, she’d call the insane asylum and have me committed.”
“And you believed that? El, you’re so beautiful. It’s clear she’s just saying all of that because you’re so much more gorgeous than her daughters. She’s jealous of you and your mother. Ella, you have to get out of that house.”
“I know that now, Rome. But… it’s not that easy either. I don’t want to upset my dad. He’s already lost so much.”
“Do you mean your mother?”
Her voice cracked as she said, “Yes,” and he assumed she was starting to cry.
“He has lost a lot, Ella, but knowing that you’re being treated that way will make him angry. You’re all of her he has left. You’re old enough to move out. Do you have money?”
“My stepmom handles my accounts.”
“Do you have access to them?”
“Yes, but….”
“All right. We’ll transfer all of the money out of the account she has access to and put it in another account, and I’ll come and get you.”
“How, Rome? I can’t just climb out the window like you did. I’ll fall and kill myself.”
“It’s not that hard, Ella.”
“I can get out another way, but I’ll need Tim’s help.”
“Well, he’s not going to want to help if he knows I have anything to do with it, Ella. He hates me.”
“I know.”
The fact that she knew that made him sigh. Tim really had no reason to dislike him. He couldn’t help what had happened between his father and Tim’s uncle. “We need a plan, El.”
“I’ll come up with one. I do want to see you. I want to be with you.”
“You can come to my place. You won’t need any money. I’ll take care of you.”
“I love you for saying that, Rome, but I don’t want anyone to take care of me. I love my job, and I want to keep doing it. But if I make my father mad, he’ll fire me.”
“I don’t want you to make him mad. I think, when he finds out what your stepmom has done to you, he’ll be mad at her, not you.’
“But if he finds out that I’m seeing you, he’ll be mad about that. I’ve just got to sort through some things.”
He couldn’t help but be upset. How could he let her continue to live in such horrible conditions? “I want to come and see you tonight, Ella. I need to bring you a phone charger anyway.”
“It’s too dangerous.”
“I know it’s dangerous, but I’m coming anyway. I’ll be there around 3:00 so everyone else is asleep, all right?”
He could hear her thinking about it. He prayed she’d agree. He had to see her. “All right,” Ella finally said. “But I have to go now.”
“All right. I love you, Ella.”
“I love you, too, Rome. Don’t call me again, though, okay? I’ll call you later if I can.”
“Okay.” She hung up, and Rome felt as if his tether to the world had been broken.
