Chapter 7
Stubbornly, denying her mind and its foolishness, she intended to continue her plan. She did not feel like giving up years of hard work and careful planning, merely because her heart had weakened a bit over the last few weeks. She was going to succeed, no matter what She intended to completely dominate them, now. It would not be difficult, given her final plan. By the time this eve was through, she would be their master, and they her willing servants.
Dinner was quiet for a change, a calm before the storm, she thought in amusement. They ate in near silence, then she took them into the living room and told them that she wanted to talk to them all.
"What is this about?" Jessica Tapper said in annoyance. She was seated on the sofa beside her husband, shivering with more than mere rage. Salome could tell she was suspecting something important.
Salome smiled thinly. "I am going to tell all of you, how I feel and what has been done around here," she said, evenly. "For I am part of this family, now, and I want you all to know that."
Candy made to speak, but then kept silent. Salome grinned at her, feeling the sense of power filling her up. Calmly, then, she told each of them, what she had done with the other.
As she spoke, she smiled at the shock and horror that filled their eyes. They looked at each other with disbelief, each of them wanting, with their eyes, to deny what they were hearing.
Bert Tapper was trembling, gulping frantically. His eyes flashed about the room, at his wife and children, the horror of being discovered much more brutal than he would have imagined.
Candy was sitting quite still, only her lower lip trembling, then, quivering as she listened to the tall, elegant nurse revealing what they had done together. It was obvious, from her stone-like features, that shame was consuming her.
The fourteen-year-old, Martin was the only one that seemed to be taking it calmly. The look in his eyes was filled with sorrow, but not disbelief. Almost as if he had expected this betrayal.
"And what is the point of all this?" Jessica Tapper said at last.
Salome turned and smiled at her coldly. "I am no longer your servant, but one of you, now," she murmured quietly. "You'll be treating me like a member of the family from now on."
"Are you blackmailing us, Salome," Bert said harshly. "I don't have to stand for that, you know!"
"Sit down, fool," hissed his wife. "Can't you see she could ruin our reputation?"
Shuddering, the man took his seat once again. Salome stared at him, her body tense and cold, no feeling whatsoever. But her mind and heart were raging, for she was experiencing a guilt and agony she had not expected.
She had finally hurt them, but she wasn't feeling about it, the way she thought she would. Regret filled her up, sorrow for inflicting the pain on them was consuming her, then, and she hated herself in that moment, as she never had before.
Still, she realized, she had to go on. It was too late to quit, now, too late to turn back. She grinned at them coldly, trying to harden herself to the final task ahead.
"I wish to seal our bargain," she said, calmly. "Since we are all a family, I want us to enjoy each other, completely."
"What does that mean?" Bert asked, his voice grown fearful, now. "What are you driving at?"
"I think you should get to know your daughter better," Salome said in an almost whisper. "Even as Martin should get to know his mother better."
The boy's eyes flew wide open in shock. "Are you insane?" he hissed. "I... I can't believe you mean it!"
"But I do," hissed Salome. "I want to see all of you with each other," she snapped. "Right now, in front of me."
"Or else you will reveal all that has happened, correct?" Jessica Tapper said, her voice reedy and weak with bitter humor.
The black nurse nodded. "As always, Mrs. Tapper, you find the target at once," she chuckled thinly. "I suggest you take my advice to heart, all of you."
Her husband stared at her in shock as Jessica calmly began to unbutton her blouse. She turned and glared at him. "What else can we do?" she hissed. "Do you want our names in every paper in the country?"
"I'll not have this family degraded," snarled Bert. "I may have made a fool out of myself, but I won't inflict this on you!"
"You have no choice," Salome said, her own voice not sounding real to her any longer. "You must do as I say."
Jessica nodded weakly and got to her feet, slowly removing her blouse. She unhooked her skirt and dropped it away, and before the startled eyes of her family, approached her son, almost cowering in his chair.
She beckoned him to his feet and he rose, shuddering as if a pair of icy hands had gripped his loins. She came to him, arms open wide and gathered him into her embrace. For a moment they kissed, and Salome watched with a sickening feeling in her belly as the mother began to tongue her son.
The boy pushed away from her with a wail of pain and shook his head. He turned to Salome, glaring with a blazing hatred in his eyes. His hands were clenched in tight, youthful fists as he took a step toward her.
"I thought you were someone special," he snarled. "I thought you loved me."
"I love no one," she hissed in response, her heart wrenching as she realized how big a lie that truly was.
"You might as well have cut my heart out," the boy sobbed. "For you to do this to us is worse than anything."
"Just do as you're told," she growled back at him, the sound of her voice so cruel and evil then, that she could not believe it belonged to her.
The boy shook his head wildly. "I won't, I'd rather die, first!"
With that he pushed past her and ran out of the house before any of them could react. For a moment, they stood in stunned silence, then Bert turned to the door. He gasped, a father aching for his son and raced out of the house after the boy.
All of them followed the sandy path to the beach, their feet slamming hard into the sand as they ran after the boy. Far ahead, they could see him reaching the shore line, not pausing an instant as he tore into the waves.
The weather was bad, a storm brewing, and the waves lashed at the shore with a vicious and violently intensity. Bert was screaming for his son, his voice breaking with fear as he tore down the slope toward the roaring surf.
The waves crashed into him, throwing him back and he landed hard on his back, stunned with the sheer force of the ocean. Far out, his son was fighting the waves, trying to swim further through their savage fury.
When they reached the shore line, Jessica and Candy pulled Bert from the edge of it, leaning over him and sobbing. Salome stood beside them, her eyes darting between the three people and the bobbing head of the boy out in the raging sea.
She could not believe that this was happening. Even worse, she did not want to accept the fact that it, was her fault. She held her stomach raging with a sour bile as she saw the current carry the boy out further.
In moments, she realized, he would go under, and the cold terror of her responsibility tore through her belly and heart like a knife. She glanced once more at them on the beach, then kicked off her shoes.
She tore the light summer dress over her head and threw it aside, plunging into the pounding waves. Almost at once, she was forced back, but she continued to slam her way through the water, cutting with her arms in swift, knife-like strokes.
Each time she pulled her head up for a look, she saw the boy going further and further out. She had no idea how he was keeping his head above the water, but he was, struggling now, as the weariness and panic seized him.
As the wave tossed and turned the black woman, she realized, suddenly, that she too was in danger. The surf could as easily drag her under as it could the boy, but she gave no thought to turning back.
Ruthlessly she pushed forward, driving her arms like pistons, now, slamming through the water with all the strength she could summon. She drew closer and closer to Martin, though he was hardly treading water by this time.
Just as she neared him, he slipped under. He bobbed up once then was gone again. She screamed, silently and dove down, peering through the raging, murky darkness of the waves, praying she might get once more chance at him.
She could not see a thing, though, it was too black and cloudy with the sand churned up from the bottom. She felt her energy ebbing and she groaned loudly as she realized she had lost.
Something bumped into her then, and she twisted around, catching hold of the boy's waist. He was kicking and fighting in panic, and she threw a lock around his neck and turned toward shore.
The going back was twice as difficult, but the crashing power of the waves pushing her toward the beach helped fight the undertow. Twice she almost lost him, but held fast, dragging him along by sheer will alone.
She pulled at the waves frantically, gasping and moaning, kicking to feel something solid beneath her feet. The boy was still in her grip and she feared he might already have swallowed too-much water.
She felt the sudden sensation of sand under her toes and she lurched forward several times until she could walk, despite the slamming of the waves. Gasping with her effort, she dragged the boy along, the current and undertow less powerful.
Hurried she pulled them both up onto the beach. The mother and daughter raced to the boy and she fell to her knees beside him. The world was spinning around in front of her then, and she moaned, falling to one side.
She saw Bert standing over her, then watched as he fell down beside his son and pushed the other two out of the way. Salome smiled as he pumped air into the boy's lungs, desperately trying to revive him.
It occurred to her, suddenly, that she would gladly trade her life for Martin's, and she was hoping that might happen as she fell into unconsciousness.