Chapter 7 - Accident
(Warning this chapter contains content that may be very sensitive to some readers)
Another five years later...
Emma, at fifteen, was the spitting image of a younger Paula. The only difference was Emma had the spirit and fight of a lion. In comparison, Paula was so fragile that she couldn't leave the house or barely move around. The abuse had broken so many bones in her body that she couldn't stand straight because they hadn't healed properly.
Paula spent most of her time upstairs in one of the guest rooms. Emma had taken over most of the household duties and took the brunt of the abuse to protect her mother. Martin still hurt Paula, but even he had realized that a wrong hit could kill her. That didn't stop him; he just made sure to stop before she died.
Emma cooked breakfast for everyone before school, and then she cleaned the kitchen. She tried to make sure everything was perfect, so her mother didn't have to do anything but rest. Emma took some food up to her mother before going to school, and she helped her sit up in bed.
"Emma, sweetheart, you're a wonderful daughter. Thank you for taking such good care of me. I love you." Emma lightly hugged her mother, afraid she would hurt her frail body.
"Mom, I love you too. Don't try to do anything. I'll take care of everything when I get home from school." Emma kissed her mom's forehead and then left for school.
She was worried that her mom wouldn't hold on much longer. The life she'd spent with Martin for the past 13 years had taken its toll. Paula looked much older than her thirty-eight years, and she no longer had the will to live or fight.
Emma walked to the high school, which was in the opposite direction from the middle school where Leo attends. She and Leo had drifted even further apart as Leo had decided to act like his father, constantly abusing Emma and Paula any chance he had.
Emma was trying to find a way to get her and her mother out of that house before it was too late. She had talked to Melora and Tilly but didn't know what to do. They would have nowhere to go, and even though Tilly had said they could live with them, Emma didn't want Martin to show up and cause trouble for her friend's family.
As she approached the school, she had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something made her want to turn around and run back home, but she brushed it off. Emma knew her mother was home alone, so no one could hurt her right now. She went on into the school and met Melora at their lockers.
Paula was lying in bed resting when she heard the sound of the door slam downstairs. She was concerned because Martin should be at work and the kids at school. She didn't know who it was until she heard the yelling, and she cringed.
"Paula, get your ass down here now and bring me a new white shirt. Your stupid daughter gave me the wrong one. If I have to come up there, you'll regret it." Paula tried her best to get out of bed quickly.
Paula slowly made her way to Martin's bedroom and took out a clean white shirt hanging in the closet. Martin was standing in the doorway as she came out of the closet.
"You're a good-for-nothing bitch who can't do anything right. I don't even know why I bothered to take you and your daughter into my home. That's not the right shirt; get me another one. You'll be hurting if you get the wrong one this time."
Paula said nothing as she turned and slowly made her way back into his closet. She knew he was doing this on purpose; all his shirts looked the same. Emma had been a buffer lately to keep Martin off Paula, but he wouldn't be so careful without her there.
As Paula slowly made her way out of the closet with another shirt, she looked up at Martin, hoping he wouldn't be too rough on her; she didn't know how much more her body could take. She slowly handed the shirt to him, and he snatched it out of her hand, throwing it on the floor.
Before Paula could react, he grabbed her hair and pulled her out into the hallway. Martin threw her to the floor and began kicking her. As she crawled away, he grabbed her leg and pulled her back.
"Please, Martin, don't. I won't survive." Paula begged with tears running down her face as she thought about Emma.
"Do you think I care whether you live or not? You're worthless and not even worth the air you breathe." Martin pulled her to her feet and threw her back down. He didn't notice how close they were to the stairs, and when Paula tried to crawl away, he kicked her in the side, sending her rolling down the steps.
Martin felt a moment of fear as he watched his wife land awkwardly on one step after another. She was wearing nothing but a thin white nightgown, and when she stopped at the bottom of the steps, he saw blood staining the white fabric. He ran down next to her to see if she was alive.
Paula was struggling to breathe, and she knew she was dying. She looked up at Martin and found the courage to talk back for the first time in her life.
"Go to hell, you fucking pig." Paula's last thought was of Emma as a tear slid down her face before she took her last breath.
Martin felt rage in him like no other. How dare she speak back to him and then have the nerve to die? He looked down at the worthless piece of flesh lying before him.
Martin decided the best thing to do was to make it look like he came home and found her like this. She was so weak it would be believable that she fell down the stairs. He knew he needed to hurry before Emma got home, or she would run her mouth to the police. Without her mother here, he didn't expect her to sit back and take the abuse anymore.
Martin went upstairs and got rid of any evidence that he had been up there, and then he called 9-1-1. He made himself frantic on the phone, so it would sound like he was a distraught husband.
When the police and ambulance arrived, Martin was sitting next to Paula's body, fake crying. He held her hand as they came into the house.
Ezra Hart was still with the police force, and when he heard the address of the accident, he knew he had to go. It had been ten years since he spoke to Emma and Paula, but he never forgot them. He constantly looked to see if there were any call-outs to their house, but there were none, so he assumed things had gotten better.
As he looked at Paula's bruised and battered body, her words from the last time he'd seen her came back to haunt him. "The next time you see us, we'll probably be dead, and our blood will be on your hands." Ezra felt sick; Paula looked like she had aged twenty years. His next thought was about Emma.
Martin was taken back when the large police officer glared at him. He'd expected them to be consoling him after losing his wife.
"Where's Emma?" The officer asked him coldly. Martin looked at him in confusion. How would he know Emma? It hit him then that this officer must have been one of those who were there when the school called all those years ago.
"Emma's at school, officer. She's going to be devastated by her mother's death." Martin still tried to sound like he was upset.
"I'll take care of notifying her. Why don't you tell me what happened here?" Ezra spoke to Martin with ice in his voice. He knew he was responsible, but he had to prove it.
"I came home from work because I forgot something and found her like this. I called you guys as soon as I knew she was dead. My wife has been sick for a while and didn't get out of bed much. She must have fallen down the stairs because of how weak she was." Martin wasn't a fool; he knew they would try and pin this on him. He was a defense attorney, so he knew what to say to cause doubt.
"Mr. Edwards, I need you to go into the other room and not leave while we take care of things here. We'll have you go downtown to give an official statement in a little while. In the meantime, I'll go to the high school and talk to Emma." Martin felt fear go down his spine. At least there was no proof that he killed his wife; after all, it was an accident. Even if her bitch of a daughter talked about the abuse, that didn't mean he killed her.
"You can't speak to her without a guardian present. I adopted Emma when Paula and I married, so I'm her legal guardian." Martin knew he was drawing at straws.
"Mr. Edwards, I know you're an attorney, so you know that's only true if Emma were a suspect, not a victim. Someone will be coming to take you downtown, and I'll see you there." Ezra turned and left a red-faced Martin behind him.
Ezra fought back the tears as he drove to the high school. This was the worst part of the job. It was even worse when he had promised the little girl that she and her mother would no longer be hurt. From the way Paula looked, she had been abused non-stop for years.
Ezra pulled up to the high school and went inside. As he waited for Emma, he thought about what to say. When she walked into the private room he had requested, she looked confused until he saw the recognition in her eyes. The blue eyes quickly turned to fury.
"What are you doing here?" Emma asked him defiantly. She wasn't saying anything to no one, they had let her down before, and she didn't give second chances.
"Emma, please sit down. I have something to tell you." She saw the sadness on his face, and her heart dropped.
"What is it?" Emma asked, terrified as she sat across from him.
"Emma, I'm afraid there has been an accident at your house. Your mother appears to have fallen down the stairs." Emma started crying. She knew if her mom fell, she would be badly hurt. Her mom's body couldn't take that kind of injury.
"Please take me to her. I need to see her in the hospital. I know she can't be well; she was really sick and fragile." Emma started to stand up, but Ezra stopped her.
"Emma, I'm sorry, but your mom didn't survive. When we got to the house, she was already gone." Emma screamed as the pain of never seeing her mother again hit her.
"Noooooooo. She can't be gone; she's all I have." Ezra cried with Emma as he went around the table and hugged her. She didn't fight him as she cried into his chest. He didn't say anything to Emma, but he was going to do whatever he could to prove Martin was responsible.