Sunshine Girl {Four}

On the tenth of June, America at large got their first glimpse of the Sunshine Girl. True to her name, as soon as she stepped out of the hospital, Molly Bailey closed her eyes and turned her pale pink face up to the sun. She was wearing rather baggy jeans and a t-shirt, on loan from Dr. Lahar’s eldest daughter. But the length of blonde hair trailing out behind Molly kept her from looking like any other teenage girl. The news cameras zoomed in on her as she completely ignored them. They panned to the doctors standing at the front door of the hospital, who looked on with pride and amusement at the girl who had lived without sun for so long.1

Molly had gained at least ten pounds since entering their care, and no longer looked like an emaciated eight-year-old. She was still incredibly small for her age, though—-her head was at chest level for most of the reporters, so they attempted to lean awkwardly down while barking questions at her. Molly seemed completely unaware of any commotion. She crossed the parking lot with Dr. Fleming next to her and climbed into his minivan.2

Luke Fleming was in the backseat, and he waved at her. She had practiced getting into a car all day yesterday, and finally seemed comfortable with the small space. She signed a hurried HOW ARE YOU to Luke, but before he answered, she had turned to look out the window at the sky. He quietly said, “Don’t worry, it’ll be a short ride,” without much hope that he understood. 3

Dr. Fleming got in the front seat. “How is she?” He asked, glancing at his son from the rearview mirror.4

“Ask her yourself, she’s not deaf.” Luke mumbled.5

His father sighed. “Luke, I asked you whether you had a problem with keeping Molly at our house, and you said no.”6

“I’m not the one with the problem, it’s Mom that doesn’t want her there. But you knew that, so you didn’t ask her.” Luke rolled his eyes. “Molly can use my room, I don’t care, I just think it’s a fucking stupid idea.”7

“Luke, language.”8

“Yeah, right, she lived with two serial killers all her life and never heard the word ‘fuck’.” Luke replied, and simultaneously tried to sign to Molly. But she was still looking out the window, and had begun to rock back and forth slightly. 9

The truth was, no one had been able to learn much more about the Sunshine Girl’s past, try as they might. The doctors had not yet found the limit of her language abilities; as she got more and more comfortable with Luke during their talks after his school, she spoke through American Sign Language more and more. Her grammar was unusual, but understandable, Luke reported. She seemed to understand most spoken sentences perfectly, although certain words like “car” and “horse” and “gun” carried no meaning for her. However, when the topic of her home life with the two murderous Baileys was brought up, she suddenly seemed unable to hear or sign at all. In fact, if any violence whatsoever was mentioned, Molly began to look smaller, paler and sicker by the moment until the topic was dropped.10

In the week since they were arrested, Richard and Abraham Bailey had spoken no intelligible sentence about the girl that had been found in their basement. They seemed to be planning to enter a plea of insanity, and anyone who encountered the father and son tended to agree. One day, three days before Molly stepped into the Fleming minivan, Richard attacked Abraham in the common area of the jail and they each had to be moved to solitary. No explanation was made to account for the attack.11

In the car, Ian and Luke Fleming continued to bicker quietly as they headed home. After a few minutes, Luke happened to glance over at their passenger, and cried, “Dad, stop the car!”12

Molly Bailey sat curled in a tiny ball, her eyes open wide and staring out the window. She rocked back and forth violently, her heavy breathing keeping time. Ian slammed on the brakes and leaned back to see her white fingertips digging into her upper arms, leaving large red welts. “What’s wrong? Molly, tell us how you feel.”13

After a long, shaky breath, she signed something Luke didn’t catch. WHAT DID YOU SAY? He asked in sign.14

I DON’T LIKE THIS. I DON’T LIKE THIS. I DON’T—15

She signed and rocked compulsively until her rested a hand on her arm to get her to stop. Without realizing it, Luke had initiated the first physical contact with the Sunshine Girl. 16

She jerked back, and screamed, “No!”17