A Weekend with Mom

A Weekend with Mom
© D. Cavanaugh

Kara-Anne came running into the kitchen and gave her mother a hug and kiss “Hi mom, how was work today?”

"Hey honey, work was good and what about you, how was school?” Her mother continued to slice the vegetables for dinner.

“Good, Sherry wants me to go to the mall tomorrow with her mom and spend the night. Is it cool?”

Her mom chuckled, “cool? Is that the way thirteen year olds talk to their mothers now?”

“Mom, come on, you know I didn’t mean it in a bad way. Can I please go?”

“Kara-Anne you know I have a seminar in Boston this weekend and the weather is going to be rainy with thunder and lightning all weekend. Why don’t you spend the weekend with your father?”

Kara-Anne pouted, and headed up the kitchen stairs into her room without another word. She signed onto her computer and saw that Sherry was on. She instant messaged her.

Kara-Anne typed Hey, not sure my mom will let me go 2morrow.

Sherry replied, That stinks, can't you change her mind? I really want you to come over.

Kara-Anne thought a moment then typed Well, I’ll talk her into it in a few. Gonna go help with dinner that oughta help, LOL.

Sherry put a smiley face into the message and wrote, Great idea, LOL. If I did that my mom would just faint. Call me later K? Cya.

Kara-Anne signed off the computer and then changed her clothes.

Kara-Anne at 5'5 with long, flowing, blond hair, bounced back down the stairs and said to her mother, “Hey, Mom, can I help you with something?”

Her mom threw a suspicious glance over her shoulder, knowing her daughter Kara-Anne was up to something.

“Sure, I sliced up the vegetables, why not mix the salad and then you can peel the potatoes. Your dad will be home in a half hour, and I’ll talk to him about you going to Sherry’s house OK?”

Kara-Anne let out a deep sigh and said, “Thanks mom.” She continued mixing the salad.

After a brief pause Lisa asked her daughter, “I am curious though, how come it seems like every time I go to a seminar you spend the night at Sherry’s? I was going to tell you earlier, but my company booked my flight for tonight and I have to leave around seven.”

Kara-Anne stopped mixing and looked at her in utter surprise. “Tonight, OH MA, why? I hate when you go away? Why don't we ever get to spend a weekend together?"

“Kara-Anne you know as the head of the Psychology Department I have to attend these seminars and training sessions in order to keep up to date on all of the latest treatments and techniques”.

Kara-Anne mumbled under her breath, “Well, you might want to try using some of them at home.”

“What did you say?” her mother asked.

“Ah nothing Ma, just forget it.”

Just then the back door opened and Mark walked in. Kara-Anne finished the salad and put it in the refrigerator. She immediately began her work on peeling the potatoes.

“Hi Lisa, hi honey how are you two beautiful ladies doing?”

“Good Honey, how was your day, did you win the case?” Lisa asked her husband as she leaned up to kiss him. Although Lisa stood 5’10” and was thin and small boned, Mark stood a strapping 6’4” and weighed in about 260 pounds, with dark hair and an almost evil shade of brown eyes.

“Hi dad.” Kara-Anne said casually.

“Well, look at this, my little girl growing up. Learning how to cook are you?”

She only nodded. Mark bent down and kissed her cheek. Inside she cringed, but continued with peeling the potatoes.

About forty-five minutes later the three of them all sat down to dinner. The conversation was casual. Lisa told Mark that Kara-Anne was going to Sherry's the next day and also told him that she had to leave tonight. He didn’t seem to take the news badly, but then again he rarely got upset over his wife going away on the weekends.

He had more questions about Kara-Anne staying at Sherry’s house and asked "Why doesn't Sherry ever come to stay with you Kara-Anne?"

Kara-Anne explained "Sherry’s little brother and sister sometimes need babysitting and that would be tough to do if we were here."

She toyed with her food as thoughts of the danger Sherry could be in if she spent a weekend here ran through her mind.

Both Lisa and Mark accepted the need for Sherry to babysit as a legitimate reason since they knew the four-year-old twins.

After the dishes were cleaned and Mark had settled down to watch television, Kara-Anne was busy doing her homework in her room, Lisa finished packing her over night bag and got ready to leave for the nearby airport. She called up the stairs, “Honey, come say bye I’m leaving.” She stood at the bottom of the steps waiting for her daughter to appear.

A moment later Kara-Anne came down the steps and threw her arms around her mother. “I'm going to miss you so much, mom. Be careful driving to the airport, it’s raining pretty hard out there.”

Lisa kissed her and smiled. “Thanks honey, I’ll see you Sunday when I get home. Maybe we can go out to dinner, if you want?”

“I’d like that.” Kara-Anne said with a smile. Then she turned and ran back up the stairs to her room. Leaving Lisa shaking her head,as she watched her daughter retreat to her room.

Lisa went into the living room and kissed Mark good-bye. He wished her luck at the seminar and said, “I’m going to miss you.”

She smiled running her fingers through Marks hair and then she turned and left.

At home, Kara-Anne had been in her room, lying down. About two hours after her mother had left, she heard the dreaded footsteps approaching. She scurried to get under the covers and pretend to be asleep. She curled up as the door opened.

The footsteps got closer, louder, and then she felt the side of the bed sink as her father sat down next to her and ran his hand along her hair.

“Kara-Anne, Daddy is here.”

She didn’t move.

He rolled her onto her back and shook her shoulders. “Hey babe, it’s time to make Daddy happy, you know what I want. Now don’t be giving me any trouble or you know I’ll put a stop to you going anywhere from now on".

Kara-Anne opened her eyes and looked up into her father’s dark evil eyes and said. “Dad, please I don’t like this. I don’t want to do this.”


“But you are such a good girl for daddy and you make me so happy, now get undressed”.

With tears welling up in her eyes she did as she was told. He stood and took off his clothes and lay down next to her at the foot of her bed. His hands began roaming all over her and probing into her, the way she so hated. Then she knew it was time for her worst fear. He moved on top of her.

“Oh, Kara-Anne you feel so good. I love you and love the way it feels when I am with you".

It was a long, slow drive to the airport because of the heavy rain and Lisa arrived and parked her car. She checked her watch 8:00 PM, one-hour prior to her flight's scheduled departure. Although the airport was only a forty-five minute drive, the down pouring rain had delayed her.

Lisa went straight to the gate since she had received her ticket at the office already, and all she had was a carry on bag. As she arrived at the gate she read the screen saying her flight was delayed 45 minutes. She sat down and picked up a magazine to browse through, it was nothing of real interest. After another thirty minutes the announcement came that all flights were canceled due to the stormy weather.

Lisa got up and headed to the desk. She stood in line behind the group of others asking questions. When it was finally her turn she asked that she be booked on a later flight and was told there were no flights leaving until the storms had passed. The earliest flight available was the following afternoon.

Without hesitation she sighed, “OK then, just refund the money, and cancel the trip. I’ll spend the weekend with my daughter.” She smiled pleased with her decision.

The attendant stamped her pass canceled and handed it back to her. “Enjoy the weekend.” the attendant said.

Lisa took her bag and canceled flight pass and went to retrieve her car. As she began her drive home, she was looking forward to surprising her husband and daughter with the news that the weekend was theirs to enjoy.

As Lisa approached the house she shut the lights off and pulled in to the driveway. Looking at the house it seemed dark for such an early hour. She checked her watch it was 9:45PM. Much too early for everyone to be asleep she thought.

Regardless, she walked quietly up the front steps, opened the door with her key and went in. Placing her suitcase down quietly, just inside the door, she looked into the living room.

It was dark.

It was unlikely that Mark had gone to bed already; it wasn't even ten o'clock.

She listened and heard loud music coming from what seemed to be Kara-Anne’s room.

She walked up the stairs and headed toward the room. As she approached, she heard the sound of tears and moans barely noticeable over the music. Her heart pounded harder as thoughts ran rampant through her mind.

"No, God, please no, let me be wrong". Lisa spoke softly to herself.

She flung the door open and reached for the light switch just to the right of the door and flipped it on.

“What the HELL do you think you are doing?”

Mark jumped up and scrambeld to grab his slacks and pull them on. Stuttering as he looked at his wife standing in the doorway.

“Honey, I um, we , ahhh, What are you doing back home?”

She looked to Kara-Anne, who curled up into a ball on the bed and pulled the covers up over herself, crying in fear.

Fear of what had happened and fear of being caught. She thought about the threats her father had made about no one talking to her and her never going out again as she wept into her arms.

“Honey are you alright?” Did he hurt you?” Lisa asked as she ran to her daughter and drew her into her arms.

Kara-Anne only cried louder, pulling away and curling into the fetal position on her bed. Hiding her head under the blanket in shame.

All of the fears her father had drilled into her head came to life in that instant. If anyone ever found out he would get into a lot of trouble, her mother’s career would be ruined and no one at school would talk to her.She could not answer her mothers question. She only cried louder.

“Get out you Bastard, get out of this house now.” Lisa yelled at Mark.

Mark left Kara-Anne's room and went to his own, the one he lovingly shared with his wife of 16 years, instead of leaving.

Lisa reached for her daughter and hugged her, rubbing her back and assuring her everything would be OK, and none of this was her fault.

"Oh, honey I am so sorry. I had no idea. I promise he'll never hurt you again". Lisa reached for the phone and dialed 911. She gave the operator the address and details and requested both police for Mark and an ambulance for her daughter.

The police and ambulance arrived within ten minutes despite the heavy rains. Both Lisa and Kara-Anne, who was now wrapped in her blanket, sadly greeted them at the door.

Lisa explained to the police officers what had happened, while she left Kara-Anne with the ambulance attendants.

She showed the two police officers to the master bedroom where her husband was showering. She shook her head in disgust. Thinking to herself, Does he think that he can just wash this away?

Once he got out of the shower the police allowed him to dress and then placed him under arrest and walked him down the stairs and out the front door.

Kara-Anne had been placed into the back of the ambulance, once her father had been taken away. She was taken to the hospital. Lisa followed the ambulance in her car and stayed by her daughter’s side through the examination and the questions from the police.

Kara-Anne gave a full statement that would lock her father up for a very long time. The hospital released Kara-Anne into her mother's custody and they headed home. Lisa drove slowly and hugged her daughter the entire ride home.

After about an hour, with Lisa by her side, Kara-Anne had finally fallen asleep.. Lisa slipped from the room and called the Lawyer who represented her office.

She asked him to meet her in the morning for representation in this as well as her divorce. Lisa had taken Kara-Anne to Sherry's house and explained the situation to Sherry's mother. She then left to meet with Attorney Clark and explained the horrific experience. After taking notes on all of the details he agreed instantly to represent both Lisa and Kara-Anne, once he had heard the horrifying story.

The trauma of those events affected Kara-Anne and Lisa in a way that changed both thier lives forever. However, it did bring them closer together than they had ever been. Now whenever, Lisa traveled on business trips Kara-Anne went with her.

On weekends they were home, Kara-Anne's friends often spent time at her house, Many of her friends came to stay, not just Sherry.

However, Sherry turned out to be the truest of friends as she stood by her friend throughout the trial and turned out to be very supportive. Unlike the lies Mark had told Kara-Anne, that her friends would not like her if the truth came out.

Neither Lisa or Kara-Anne saw Mark again, once the trial was over. He spent ten years in prison and moved away after his release.