He asked me if I wanted to report Mr. Hutchison to the sheriff. I said no, and Mac said that was good. Apparently, he wanted to avoid the sheriff as much as I did.After Mac went home, I threw my soiled clothes in the washer and took a shower. When I finished the shower, I tossed my clothes in the dryer and stood there naked in the laundry room until the cycle finished. Then I got dressed. I didn’t want Mom and Dad to know what had happened. The only marks on me from my encounter with Mr. Hutchison were bruises on my neck and a lump on the back of my head. I buttoned my collar to cover up the bruises, and my shaggy hair hid the lump. Looking back on it, I realize now that I should have told my parents. If Mr. Hutchison had come back and caught me alone again, anything could have happened. As determined as he seemed to be to get Hutch back, the possibility that he would return was very real. But if Mom and Dad sicced the sheriff on Mr. Hutchison for attacking me, I was certain that would only make the man even angrier with me.
