Not so Far and Long Ago

Chapter 42

I needed to talk to somebody, but nobody was awake. How did he know where I was? How did he know I was in California, and how was he able to contact me? Was he out of prison for some reason? I needed Finn to wake up, he'd know these answers, he may not tell me the truth, but I could tell when he was bluffing and eventually get the answers out.
I began to cry more. I had just thought I was safe from that evil man I called my father, the one that ruined 8 years of my life. Now he was invading my dreams and sending me text telling me he would find me. "Rey? Darling are you alright," Marilou said in a calming voice. I shock my head, unable to lie. I was anything but ok. "What's the matter?"
    "My stepfather," I chocked out, "he was in my dream last night, and this morning he sent me this text," I pulled out my phone and showed her the message, my hands unsteady from the fear. Marilou read the text.
       "Does he have any family that would bail him out?" I shook my head. "The sentence had to be at least 2 to 5 years, so the only possibility is that he escaped. See if Finn knows anything, based on that, we may need to go file a police report."
       I nodded, "thanks for letting me talk to you Marilou," I said.
     "I enjoyed it. And if it doesn't make you uncomfortable, call me mom. This is the first mother daughter talk I've had that doesn't end with 'come on mom! This isn't fair!' I swear the teenage phase has been going on with her forever. I'm guessing you never went through that."
      I shock my head, "once my mom died, I was expected to be an adult. I didn't have time to be a child. Every morning, I woke up and cleaned up the beer bottles from last night, than made breakfast. I studied whenever I could, but I was practically a slave, so I was often up late to complete elementary school, than walking up extremely early to complete my morning chores."
       "You had to grow up fast, I'm sure it wasn't easy."
I shrugged, "I got used to it. I was young when my mom died, than homeschooled for several years so I didn't know there was a life outside of being beaten everyday and constantly cooking for others."
"How did you put up with him for so long?"
"I was going to move out as soon as I completed high school. I kept a countdown. I also had no idea that I had another family across the country."
"Morning!" Dad called headed down the stairs."
"Would you like me to tell him?" Marilou mouthed. I shock my head, I didn't want him to know until I knew more.
"So what were you guys talking about?" Dad asked.
"Just some girl stuff," Marilou lied. I mouthed a thank you to her. I just couldn't allow my father to know what was happening. He'd become an over protective father, and likely call the cops.
"I'm going to workout," I said standing up from the coach. I walked up to my room and put on a tank top and leggings. I looked at my arms, proud of the muscle I'd gained through filming Star Wars. Many of the scenes contained stunts that would previously have been unimaginable to me, but going back, running away from an explosive seems somewhat simple.
I grabbed a pair of earbuds and walked down to the basement, where we kept the exercise equipment. About half way through weightlifting, my phone buzzed. I silently prayed it was Finn, I didn't think I could take another text from my father. Not today at least.
Fortunately it was Finn. I picked up the phone, calling Finn immediately. "What's up?" Finn said quickly.
"It's Plutt," I said, "last night I had a dream with his voice saying he would find me and ruin my life as well as anyone close to me. Normally I wouldn't be concerned like this, but this morning I got a text saying he was going to find me, and he knew I was in California. I thought he was in jail!"
      The phone went silent on both ends of the line. "Finn?" I questioned after a few seconds of quiet, "he is in jail right."
       "I'm sorry Rey, I can't live this lie much longer. You're father was bailed out of jail, he has a restraining order. It should've prevented calling and texting too, but if he wasn't scared of the law while beating you for 8 years, I don't see him being that scared now."
      "Should I report it to the cops?" 
      "I don't know. I know you want me to say yes, but I don't know what all a police in California can do about a restraining order filed in Tennessee. I think they'd have to contact the police in Tennessee. If you'd like I could file something down here. I'd also recommend getting a new number."
      "Alright, thanks," I said, "I love you."
      "I love you too," Finn said as we hung up. I was particularly mad at him for lying, but right now that was the last of my concerns. I went back upstairs, hoping Dad wouldn't be in the kitchen, where Marilou often spent mornings.
       "Finn called," I said as I entered the kitchen. 
       "What'd he tell you?" I summarized the call for Marilou, her nodding at key points.
       "I'll take you down to Apple later today and we can change the number. And if you ever need to fly down to Tennessee, let your father or I know. I'm sure it wouldn't be that much of a hassle. Although if you could precook a few meals before you go, I hate cooking and you're pretty good at it."
     "Thanks," I said smiling, "I'm going up to my room." I walked up the stairs and sat down on my bed, analyzing the text. Although I hated to do so, I googled myself, curious if Plutt had found out information that way. Sure enough my Wikipedia page said I lived in California, as well as some other things I wouldn't be comfortable with Plutt knowing. I began to cry some more, fear taking over everything. I thought back to my entire life, trying to think if Plutt knew I was Luke Skywalker's daughter before I was on the internet. It would make since that my mom would tell him, so he most likely knew.
About a minute later, another text came through. "So how's fame going? Maybe one day you can be remembered for your famous last words." I practically ran down the stairs.
"He sent me another text. It won't let me block the number either." I showed Marilou the text.
"Rey, we need to do something now. You need to tell your father."
"I know, I just don't know how. He hates talking about my past about as much as I do."