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Chapter 3: Will you help us?

For the longest time, Sofi just sat there crying. She didn't know what to think, feel or even say. All she could do was look at the Gerard's grief-stricken face, and that simply made her cry all the more. Gerard couldn't do anything to comfort her, although he wanted to, because he was lost in his own world of pain. After about 15 minutes had passed, Gerard got up to get some tissues to dry Sofi's face. He undid Sofi's ties around her hands and handed her the tissues. He then sat back down, waiting for Sofi to say something. It took another 5 minutes or so before Sofi could muster up the courage to ask the question that had been nagging at her this whole time.

"So, why come to me? What can I help you do?" Sofi blew her nose after she asked her question, dreading the answer that he was going to give her. She had a fairly good idea what the answer was, but she needed to hear it from his lips.

"Well, Sofi, that's a hard question. I need to get back at your dad, Sofi. I know you probably won't want to help, but I, WE, need this help. This needs to be from a person he won't suspect. This needs to be undetectable." Gerard searched Sofi's face, waiting for a reaction of any kind; all he could see were fresh tears. "I understand that you won't want to hurt your father, but this must be done. We have to find out how many people he's hurt, and then we can seek revenge for all of them. This isn't just for me. This is for every person he's ever hurt and defiled. They need to know that he will never do this to them again."

Sofi's sniffles still filled the room, her tears threatening to turn into all out sobs.

"Please Sofi, say something. I need to know what you're thinking. I'm not a mind reader, but I know that something is bothering you." Gerard's eyes were filled with worry. How could he help her? He didn't want her getting sick, especially since he had nothing against her at all. He was just starting to think about letting her go, when Sofi looked up. She met his eyes and the look he saw there surprised him. It was a look of anger and horror, all mixed into one deadly glare.

"Gerard, I can't tell you how long I've been waiting for someone like you to come along. I have always wanted to get at him, but I never knew how. Now that you're willing, we can work this out together. I will do whatever you need me to do in order for this idea to become a reality."

Gerard's eyes told his shock and surprise. "Wha..Wha..I don't understand. What are you talking about? Why would you want him hurt?"

Sofi dropped her eyes and took a deep breath. "I haven't ever told anyone this before, but he's hurt me too, over the years. I always swore I wouldn't tell anyone, but I guess you don't count in that generalization." She giggled a little before continuing. "When I was about 11, my dad came home angry, and saw that I hadn't done some chore he had told me to do before he left for work. He ended up raping me, and then swearing me to secrecy. It's become almost a daily event. I've wanted to do something about this for the longest time, but I live with him, so I didn't know what to do. But, apparently, you have a plan, so I'll do whatever you need to end what has become my own personal hell."

Gerard gaped at Sofi, not believing what he was hearing. His own daughter? How could he do that to her? He couldn't even form a complete sentence in his head, until Sofi leaned forward and placed her hand on his knee.

"Gerard, you need to talk to me. I just agreed to help you, so why are you looking at me that way? I need to know your plan before anything can happen." Sofi looked at Gerard, pleading for him to look back. "Gerard, talk to me."

"I don't know what to say to you Sofi. I am so sorry about what your father did to you. I am happy that you want to help, but I honestly didn't expect you to agree. Especially this fast. Let me go get the other guys and we'll talk about what will happen next."

Gerard walked to the door that opened into a large sitting area and beckoned for the other four to come in. Then, just as the guys were about to follow him into the kitchen, Gerard held up his hand.

"Wait, this will be a lot easier if we are comfortable while we have this discussion. Sofi, why don't you come in here with us and we can talk." Sofi stood up and walked towards Gerard on shaky legs, knowing she wanted to do this, but still feeling scared out of her mind. She approached the room, with Gerard waiting patiently, his arm extended. He led her into the brightly lit room, which was shocking; she expected it to be dark! Gerard took her by the upper arm and led her to one of the three couches that were situated in the room, all around a television that was on, but was muted. An old movie of some sorts was playing, but no one was paying any attention to what was going on on the screen.

"Okay boys, here's the story. Apparently, Sofi has her own reasons for agreeing to our little plan. She wants her father out of the picture as much as we do, so she is perfectly willing to cooperate with whatever our plan happens to be. Now, Sofi, we need to know about the bag that you carry everyday. Why do you carry it?" All the guys looked at Sofi with quizzical looks in their eyes.

"Well, my dad said it can't be left at the house, but he doesn't want to take it to work. So, I take it to school and store it in my locker until the end of the day and then I take it home. Why do you want to know about the bag?"

"I need what's in that bag, Sofi. You need to understand that most of this plan depends on getting what's in that bag. Your main job will be getting us that bag without your dad ever knowing that it's gone."

"I can do that. That shouldn't be hard at all, actually." Sofi's reassuring smile went a long way, but Gerard's face still showed a hint of concern.

"The original plan was that you would have the bag today. Why didn't you have the bag?"

Sofi sighed visibly, not looking Gerard in the eye. "My dad didn't want me taking it today. He stayed home from work today, and he said I should leave the bag at home. I actually forgot about him staying home today until I went downstairs this morning, and he was at the breakfast table in his "pajamas"."

Gerard's eyebrow rose at the air quotes.

Sofi explained. "His boxers."

"Oh, okay, sorry. Please continue." His crooked smile caused Sofi to smile back at him, before continuing with where the bag was.

"So, anyway, this morning, when I went to get the bag, it wasn't there. I started freaking out, and ran back into the kitchen to ask him where it was, and saw that he had it by him at the table. He said he was taking it to a businessman today to work out some of the "kinks", whatever that means."

Mikey stepped forward. "You do know what's in that bag, don't you?" His voice was so soft, and his eyes so pleading, that Sofi actually felt bad about the answer she was about to give him.

"No, I never looked. He said he would punish me if I ever looked. I know that it's silly, because he wouldn't know, but I would know that I looked, and he can always seem to sense my guilt. Why, what's in the bag?"

Mikey looked at Gerard. "I don't want to tell her. It just seems so cruel."

Gerard looked at Bob. "Why don't you tell her?"

"Why me? This is your brilliant plan. You tell her. I can't do that to someone like her. She's too innocent to know what she's been carrying around." Bob's eyes were flashing. It was so obvious he didn't want to tell Sofi, so Gerard turned to Ray and Frank. They both jumped back at the same time.

"Absolutely NOT!"

"Dude, I wouldn't do that to someone who's so sweet…it might actually kill her."

Gerard almost started laughing at their protests that fell over each other. "Frankie, don't be so dramatic."

Sofi cut him off before he could finish. "Someone better fucking tell me right now. What the hell is going on?!"

Five pairs of eye turned to her, all seemingly shocked that those words ever came out of such a sweet mouth. Sofi covered her mouth and blushed.

"Okay, maybe that was a little strong, but…seriously…can you please tell me what's going on. You guys are freaking me out here."

Gerard stepped forward. He knelt down to her level, since, by now, she was the only one sitting, and took her hand in his. "The bag probably felt a little oddly shaped to you."

"Well, yeah. I mean, it was almost a rectangle." Sofi shrugged, not understanding where this was going.

"Sofi, that bag holds a notebook. And that notebook holds the numbers for every single person under his employment."

Sofi looked to Mikey, who refused to meet her eyes. "Employees? My dad doesn't have a business. He's a college professor."

"Sofi, your dad's got about 200 people under his employment. They're all parents and they do what he says because he pays for everything; from their bills to their children's college funds. Sofi, I don't know how to tell you this, but the reason he employees these people is because he uses their children. He has been working for almost 10 years to single-handedly start up an underage-prostitution ring right here in Belleville…"

Gerard was cut off by Sofi jumping up, her hand over her mouth. She ran back into the kitchen and emptied the contents of her stomach into the sink. Gerard ran in after her, holding her hair for her until she was done. Then he got her the glass from earlier so she could wash out the taste in her mouth. When she was done with the water, she turned to Gerard, tears in her eyes. She leaned into him, sobbing, as she realized all that had been happening right under her nose for all these years.