It was late in 1987 that Ralph and I sat talking about the weirdness of our lives and I told him of the story of Theresa Through The Key Hole.

How we got on it I really don't remember but as I reached the end of the story he asked me how did Theresa get into the house.

I told him how she had said that she had went down to the second landing on between the second and third floor and climbed out the window onto the lower factory roof then climbed the ladder to the upper factory roof and then entered the house through her bed room window.

The moment I explained it he said,

" That was it that's why y'all did not answer me, all these years I thought you knew but you didn't."

" Didn't know what? "I asked confused

" Jessie, " he said " that bastard tried to rape me. "

" What... When... Where.... " I stuttered shocked.

" When I was a little kid I was going upstairs to get some water and he told me Pop was in the basement and wanted to see me.

I went down there and he tried to rape me but he could not hold on to me because he couldn't use that other hand.

I climbed up into that old coal shoot and when he reached for me me I took a hand full of that old stinking coal and ground it into his eye, but he grabbed my leg and pulled me down, drug me over to the window on the other side and pushed me up through all that garbage over there and locked me out there with all those rats, mice, maggots, and water bugs.

I kept calling up to the window for Mother, you, or Gulene"

( Our aunt who lived on the second floor but on the other side of the building, our side of the building.)

" That's why I was mad I thought all of you knew what he had done, that is why I stopped speaking until Janet hit me."

I thought you stopped speaking to me because I had got you in trouble for coming upstairs I thought you got a beating and was mad at me." I said.

" No I was mad at the whole family I thought you all knew I was down there I thought it was no way you could not hear me calling you.

Then Mr. Sloan heard me crying and came to the window and saw Jessie looking down at me and asked him what the hell was he doing, he then came down and got me.

When he bought me upstairs mother thought he had taken me and threatened to call the police on him and had him fired from the building.

" Ralph I heard you calling I was in the window right above you if I would have looked down I would have saw you," I said " I saw Jessie sitting in the window taking but I thought he was talking to some kid the was taking care of in the house, that's why he ran from the window when he saw me."

As he was waving at me upstairs he had Ralph locked in the ally right below me.

I grew furious and said that I still thought I knew where we could find Jessie, but Ralph said,

" I have forgiven the family and Jessie along time ago." Ralph calmly said,

" Butch, if I can forgive him and seek no vengeance, so should you."

Theresa may not have turned into a puff of smoke and went through the keyhole that day but her story had supplied a key that unlocked a door that had been sealed for over thirty years that night.

As for how I came to dream of what had happened to Ralph those many years ago my only explanation is probably the same way I came to dream of the lady in the red dress, Ralph and I were close very close.

 

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Part Seven

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