Downstairs i related the results of the inspection to Benny. He sighed and stood up, taking his belt off. We were trudging across the room to the back basement room when the screaming started down the basement steps. i wondered at both her lung capacity and her ability to keep at what was so obviously a hopeless cause. Benny paused. He asked me how old the kid was. i said i guessed about ten. He shook his head, hunched his shoulders and drug me a few steps towards the back basement room before i could catch up and start walking at his faster pace. Usually Benny was fairly gentle with me. Not that day. That day he left criss crossing bruises and welts and drew cries of genuine pain from me. i think he was trying to drown out the sounds of the little girl in the next room. He failed though. Her noises dwarfed mine and made them the pitiful mewlings of a kitten.
