The Rings Of Saturn, Part 2

Jim looked up at the clock at the far end of the lumber yard where he worked.  It had been a long day, a long day indeed.  As he carried a final load, he let his mind wander, as he usually did this time of day. Today, his mind pulled him in the direction of his daughter, Eva.  He wondered if she was home yet, and if she was being good.  He worried about her a lot (an awful, awful lot), and he knew that he couldn't always be there for her.  Today for instance (it had been a long day, a long day indeed), he planned on going to the bar with a few of the guys after work.  He found himself hoping that she was going to be okay for dinner, but had no desire to call and inquire.1

A day about a week and a half before had been the same way. Jim had gone to the bar.  He intended to have a few drinks, go home and straight to bed.  However, he had had a few too many (after all, didn't he deserve a break once in awhile?) and gotten completely plastered.  Some of the guys had called him a cab (he could've gotten home a lot cheaper, dammit) and once home, all he felt like doing was going to bed, but that's not where his feet took him.2

Jim's feet took him to his daughter's room, where she was pretending to sleep (not a very good faker).  He tried to smile, but really it was a drunken half grin, half sneer.  He stroked her cheek, which sent her eyes snapping open (not again).  "Don't you say a word, or it'll be five times worse this time," he managed to slur out.  He then thrust his terrified daughter out of the bed and on her feet.  The next fifteen minutes saw his hands all over her (places that he could have touched his bitch wife had she not been a such a little slut) touching her just budding breasts, thighs, lips, hands...forcing her hand on his crotch, then her mouth.  3

There was a snap, and Eva got a scream out (finally).  Jim's face got increasingly red (it had been a very long FUCKING day) and there was no containing his anger anymore.  "I worried about you ALL DAY, Eva.  I worried ALL FUCKING DAY.  I work to support you ALL DAY, and all I want is a little break, just a GODDAM BREAK!"  Each time he raised his voice, Jim struck his daughter.  She was left in her room crying, with a black eye and a bruised torso.  For thirty minutes she was brutally violated, and now she was invisible again.4

Jim's brow furrowed.  It wouldn't be like that this time, he thought to himself.  This time, he'd go to the bar, pound one or two, go home, and go to bed.  No in-between.  Time to check out.  The next three or four hours were a blur, but Jim wasn't plastered like last week.  Feeling (however half-drunken) pride in himself, he walked the five blocks home.  5

He shut the door a little harder than usual and grunted as he filled a glass with water so he could down a few aspirin (maybe Eva would hear him and want to come in, maybe tell him about her day).  Jim turned off the faucet (how odd, why is the water still running)...it was coming from the bathroom.  Feeling his temper rise up (that goddam little pissant better not be running up his utility bill), Jim took a deep breath before walking down the hall to investigate.6

He looked at the floor as he stepped into the harsh bathroom light (what was that stain), and naturally, his eyes came to Eva's crumpled, passed out body on the floor.  Panicked, Jim's eyes snapped to the sink.  Filled with blood.  The mirror above the basin was sprinkled with it, and the ceiling even had some spots of blood on it.  He looked down at his daughter, paralyzed.  Her face stared up at him.  She was frozen in a bloody grin.  Her wrists were caked with dried blood, but fresh blood was still seeping from them.  Jim's vision blurred, and everything began to get dark.  There was a lump in his throat, and he felt as if he may be beginning to suffocate.  But none of this registered, all he saw was his daughter's bloody grin.  7

Managing to pick her up, he rushed to the hospital.  The thought of calling 911 never entered his mind, all he could think about was (I worry about you a whole fucking LOT, Eva) how much he wanted his only daughter to live.8

In ten minutes he entered the emergency room parking lot.  He looked over at his daughter and sighed.  She looked lifeless, despite (almost nonexistent) shallow breathing.  He draped her over his arms, and ran towards the door, where he met a small man, the head doctor at the E.R. that night.  Their eyes met, and the doctor shook his head.  Tears ran down Jim's eyes, now.  He held her out towards the doctor, his last hope.9

"I did it."10