Sins and Reborns

Chapter twenty-nine

GRACE

The news of Wes' death spread around town like flies in the summertime.

Soon enough, everyone learned of the tragic death of the little boy. The boy who hadn't been treated by his parents, who'd not been sent to the hospital with his first stomach pain. The suspicions grew and people started to leave the church.

Sunday services stayed, but with very few people.

Who could blame them? How could you listen to a bad parent speak? How could you listen to someone who's supposed to be the leader of this town, but fails as a parent?

The followers who stayed still had that little doubt in the back of their minds. They listened patiently, but their gazes kept flickering elsewhere. My parents had lost their respects.

Then it happened: the day after Wes' death, an article was posted online. It showed up in the newspapers, on television, and on social media. At 5:45 A.M., Dennisville's Express posted the article, led by author Anna Rayner.

In Wes' bedroom, I awoke to gasps and peeks inside the room. I'd seen their horror expressions, that flicker of understanding. So I jerked upright and reached for Davidson's phone that I still had. I went straight to Safari and the headlines were plastered all over the place:

There it was: RESPECTED PRIEST'S DAUGHTER COMES CLEAN.

Recent news shone a light on the horrors that went on at 821 Lambert Lane. Local, respected priest's daughter Grace Headow came forward to testify and claim about the ongoing abuse in her home.

Sadly, the terrors managed to take the life of a little boy (Wesley Headow, the younger child of the family) before the truth could come forward. The parents refused to seek him medical help and instead starved the boy further, locking him up in his room. When Grace attempted to help, they banished her to a basement. Most of Grace's childhood was spent in that basement (you can see the photographs below), where she was tortured and starved. She was treated like an animal, an object. There, in that ratty basement, she had no rights.

Half a year ago, Grace began working for a Gerald Mayer, a CEO of a local company. Mistreated by her boss, Grace confided in her parents but got nowhere. Her mother, as usual, blamed her for the incident. The daughter grew up in a household where sexual assault and mistreatment were made to sound all right, and well-served. So anyone can possibly imagine how it took so long for her to come forward with her story.

The children of the Headow family suffered greatly and they deserve to have their truth spoken. A young child has met a deadly end, and we must not let down the other one, too. The priest (Raymond Headow) and his wife (Claudia Headow) must serve for their crimes.

The article had more points well made, but most of it was there. Our truth sat there in broad light for everyone to witness. I'd made it. I had opened my mouth and helped Wesley and me the best I could. I had cared for him like a good mother. I'd even admitted my own faults.

The pictures of that basement made me drop the phone with a clash, and I sunk deeper under the sheets. Wes' body had already been taken to the morgue.

A week after that, Mother and Father were banished from our town. The police thought they didn't have enough evidence to put them away. Prison time wouldn't work on them, anyway. All the evidence I'd kept in that storage locker proved to be useless. With my first pay check from Mr Mayer, I'd taken the little money I had and rented a storage locker. There, I gathered any sliver of evidence against my family. Anna had gotten her information from there. I'd given her the key when I'd clasped her hand before I was wheeled towards the ambulance truck.