We sat around waiting as the time grew later, making small talk and wondering where Ashley had gone. I was exhausted and so overwhelmed by everything I’d learned the past 36 hours. Thirty-six hours! Had the time only crawled by since Mike and I had been sitting in our living room with Kerri talking about the camping trip and Mike’s behavior. It didn’t seem as if it had only been yesterday that I first saw the pictures on his office computer, or even a few hours earlier that Ashley and I were eating tacos and discussing our relationship. I was sincerely hoping she’d go to Marilyn.

Mike finally wandered off to sleep in Ashley’s room, and it was almost one before I went to bed. I couldn’t have been asleep for more than a few moments when the ringing telephone woke me up.

It was Marilyn, and Ashley was with her.

Marilyn said that Ashley had phoned her from the 7-11 store two miles from our home about an hour earlier asking to be picked up. When the mentor arrived, Ashley was loopy- high on drugs, and it was obvious that she’d met up with a dealer before phoning her. Instead of coming home, she’d insisted on going to Marilyn’s house. And she gave her version of the events of the day.

Ashley spoke enthusiastically about my taking her to Aftercare and out to eat and the way we were starting to connect. She said that she felt I had stood up well to the information she’d given me, but she didn’t want to overload me with too much too fast. She was less positive about her interaction later with Mike- she’d told him that she had "confided" in the Aftercare worker, and she really needed his attention and understanding to tell him that his behavior frightened and disturbed her. But Mike refused to acknowledge her fears, and when she came back upstairs and encountered me, she panicked. That was the reason for her running. No, Mike had definitely not tried to rape her. She’d just used it as an excuse to try to borrow a phone.

Marilyn asked if Mike was up. No, I replied, slightly surprised that his sensitive hearing hadn’t picked up the ringing of the phone. Good, Marilyn answered. Ashley did not want to have to make explanations tonight- she’d been through a lot. In the meantime, Marilyn felt that the girl needed to explain her actions to the woman deputy she’d spoken to earlier. She said she’d be bringing Ashley home shortly and would call me from her cellphone when they got close to the house.

I was in a quandary of worry. Awakening Mike wasn’t the problem, although I knew there would be hell to pay in the morning when he discovered her back and that I’d let him sleep. It was something in Marilyn’s voice that made me think there was stuff she wasn’t telling me, and it was something I needed to urgently know. Ashley speaking to the deputy also made me nervous in light of Marilyn’s revelations about Mike. But then I figured I was being silly. Ashley should be the one to explain to the deputy that she’d lied and why. It was no big deal, right?

An hour later I was getting antsy when Marilyn phoned to say she’d be in our driveway in less than five minutes. I met them outside in the dark, first Ashley and Marilyn in the car, followed by the lady deputy who had been at our home earlier. I assured all of them that Mike was sound asleep, and the other woman asked if Ashley would be safe when he discovered she was home. Puzzled, I answered, of course. She said that the evidence showed a troubled young lady who had been impulsive, but her testimony now indicated that her father had done nothing to her in the office that night. Ashley was released to me. And the deputy left.

Ashley looked a wreck. Her face was dirty, her pants torn, and she described hopping over fences from one backyard to another. She agreed she had been stupid to run, even more dumb to get drugs from an old school friend who lived near the 7-11 before calling Marilyn. She was so tired that I didn’t have the heart to scold her.

I sneaked her inside, deciding that having her sleep in my bed was better than the couch or, God forbid, waking up Mike so she could sleep in her room. We made minimal noise, and she dropped off to sleep very quickly. I was only vaguely aware of Mike coming into the room early the next morning and of his muted surprise to see Ashley sleeping in the bed.

****TTFN,

Julie