Bookmaker, The by Chris Fraser Page A

she’s being quite obstinate.’ Mother tried to collect herself, Father grabbed her hand, and they headed to her room.”
    * * * * *
    “I need another drink,” Preston said, interrupting the story and prompting Matador to jump up to get it. I was so engrossed in the story that I hadn’t noticed that Preston and Matador were holding hands. I assumed Matador knew how hard this was for Preston and was consoling him, but I still found it a little peculiar.
    Preston had tears in his eyes, and Matador said, “We don’t need to do this today Pres, we got time. Trent’s gonna be here awhile.”
    “No, now’s okay,” he continued.
    * * * * *
    “Now, I wasn’t supposed to be in the room with them, but I snuck down the hall and listened outside the door.
    “‘Mom, Dad , I’m so sorry,’ Audrey said in a weak, almost inaudible voice.
    “‘Sorry, why are you sorry baby, please tell us what happened,’ Mother gently pleaded.
    “‘You’ll never forgive me. I can’t even look you in the eyes right now. I’m so ashamed, I’m so sorry Daddy.’
    “‘Audrey, just tell us what happened. Who did this to you?’ Father asked, grabbing her pale hand, careful not to hurt her.
    “‘I can’t, it’s too terrible.’
    “‘Look,’ he said, getting impatient, ‘no matter what it is, we’ll always love you, and we’ll get through this, you’re our little girl. Now, what happened? Who’s responsible for this?’
    “Audrey turned her head into the pillow and cried as loud as she could, ‘It was Uncle Joe! Uncle Joe did this to me!’ Mother and Father exchanged shocked looks. Audrey continued, ‘He made me get an abortion!’
    “Racked with anger and a million questions, Father asked, ‘Where would you get an abortion? They’re illegal, and why in the world would Joe be responsible for this?’
    “‘It was a back alley abortionist that he knew of ,’ Audrey responded.
    “Audrey turned to Mother and burst in to hysterics, ‘Mommy it was horrible…they hurt me, it hurt so much!’
    “‘Oh , God, Dix,’ Mother gasped.
    “‘Who was the father? Was it John?’ Father fumed.
    “‘Yes,’ she cried.
    “‘Did he force himself on you?’
    “‘Yes, I’m so sorry , Daddy.’
    “Father couldn’t take it anymore ; ready to explode, he sat back in one of the chairs and put his head in his hands, trying to control himself for his daughter’s sake.
    “Mother took over . ‘Audrey, did John rape you?’
    “‘No, not really. We were going at it pretty good and he’d been drinking. He said I’d gotten him too worked up to stop and it just happened, but I didn’t want to, I swear.’
    “‘How did Joe get involved?’ Mother asked, trying to remain calm so she could glean as much information as possible.
    “‘When I missed my period , I told John. He felt guilty and took me to their family doctor and he said I was pregnant. Johnny wanted to do the right thing, I swear he did—he even said he’d marry me. We went to see Uncle Joe, so John could tell him. He snapped; he became someone I’d never seen before. He went on about how stupid we were and how there was no way a Kennedy would ever marry so far beneath his status. He called me a whore for letting this happen and seducing his son. John went to confront him and Uncle Joe hit him hard enough to knock him down. He told John this was only going to happen one way—he knew someone who takes care of these things. He said it would be like nothing happened. Oh Momma, you should have seen the look in his eyes, it was like he was possessed. I saw pure evil!’
    “I saw my father through the gap in the door; he had his head down, shaking it slowly.
    “‘I was stupid to go through it,’ Audrey sobbed, ‘ but I was too ashamed to let you and Daddy know. I guess, in a way, I just wanted it to be over with, like Joe said, like it never happened. John took me to a dingy office in the Indian part of town and they strapped me to a table. When I saw all the