The Search for a Man Named Daddy

By Anne Hassett

This is the story of Georgie, a little boy who at only 3 ½ years old is in mortal fear of his mother’s boyfriend who he calls the Rudy monster, and whose only comfort in his life of abuse are his memories of the man named daddy who works where the airplanes live. Of his mother Kellie whose yen for excitement led to the breakup of her marriage to an Airforce officer. Of Rex, the faithful old dog who knows that he must get his boy to a safe place even at the cost of his own life and who takes Georgie to find daddy. Of Captain Allenford, the man named Daddy who while in Afghanistan is powerless to save his little boy. Of Tim Forester, the cop who will stop at nothing, break all the rules and do whatever it to find Georgie and bring him home. And of the Rudy Monster whose brutality is matched only by his cowardice and love of violence.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Nov 22, 2018
• ISBN: 9781490790671

Anne Hassett

Anne Hassett is a native Montanan who has spent most of her life as a teacher and raising her family. She has written 3 other books and is currently enjoying her retirement and writing.

Book preview

Chapter One - A Little Boy’s Search

George Aloysious Allenford was an impressive-sounding big name, a name that might have belonged to a statesman or an army general, which, in fact, it had in some past generations. However, at this time, the owner of the name, sitting on his bed on this cold, dismal morning, was a lonely and frightened little boy known as Georgie.

George Allenford didn’t know it yet, but he was beautiful. What with big brown eyes, ringed with a double row of eyelashes, and dark hair, inherited from some distant Cherokee ancestor, he was the sort of child that people stopped to stare at, commenting, Oh, what a sweet little guy!

At three and a half, he was even smaller than most three-year-olds, probably because of the fact that most of the time, his tummy was so tight and shaky that he couldn’t eat very much. This was because he was always scared. He was always scared because he instinctively knew that he was always in danger. There was a dark and evil presence in his surroundings. Monstrous and menacing, it had hovered over Georgie and his mommy for a long time now, sometimes going away but always coming back, always there. Even when Georgie couldn’t see the awful creature, it invaded his dreams.

The cause of Georgie’s bad dreams and his shaky tummy was named Rudy. Rudy was his mommy’s friend, and now he lived at Georgie’s house. Georgie didn’t know why. Georgie was supposed to call him Uncle Rudy, but usually, he didn’t talk to him at all. Georgie knew that Rudy wanted to hurt him. He knew that Rudy liked slapping him and sometimes even punching him. Sometimes when Rudy hit Georgie, everything would go all dark and starry, and his legs wouldn’t work so that he couldn’t run away. When this happened, the Awful Rudy Monster would laugh and say, How’d you like that? Know who’s boss now, don’t ya?

The most fearful thing of all was that Georgie had found that his mommy wouldn’t protect him. When the Awful Rudy Monster hit him, she didn’t do anything at all. It made him feel even smaller and very lonely. The only one whom Georgie could count on was Rex. Rex was Georgie’s best friend, and best of all, Rudy was scared of Rex. When Rudy would raise his hand to hit Georgie, Rex would jump at him, growling and showing his teeth, and Rudy would run away, saying bad words.

Once when Rex had chased him away, Rudy had yelled at Georgie’s mommy and told her to get rid of Rex. But when she had said that Rex belonged to Georgie’s daddy, Rudy had looked scared again and didn’t say any more.

It had been a long time since Georgie had seen the nice man named Daddy, but he kept a tight hold on his memories of him. Lots of times, when he was cold and scared, he saw his daddy in his head, behind his eyes, and he always felt safer.

This was an especially bad morning for Georgie. His mommy hadn’t awakened him, and when he woke up all by himself, he realized that she was gone. He couldn’t go potty because he could hear the Awful Rudy Monster in the bathroom, so he slipped out of his room and went to the kitchen to find his mommy. When she wasn’t there, the fear began to creep into his tummy again, making him go potty in his pajamas. Terrified now, he ran back to his room to take them off. Rudy would hurt him bad if he knew. Maybe even Rex couldn’t save him. Maybe Rudy would kill him. A sob came up in his throat, but he didn’t dare let it come out. He closed his eyes and tried to remember the nice man named Daddy. He remembered his grandma telling him how brave his daddy was and that he must always be brave too. That thought helped him swallow the sob. He took off the wet pajamas and hid them under the bed so the Awful Rudy Monster wouldn’t see them.

Rex had followed him and had lain down across the doorway, his head up and his ears alert. That made Georgie feel safer, so he quickly put on the clothes that he had worn the day before. Because he couldn’t yet tie his shoelaces, he put on his sandals. Somewhere in his little boy mind was a plan to leave the house while the Rudy Monster was still in the bathroom. Beyond that, he hadn’t thought, but when he got to the kitchen, the Rudy Monster was already there.

Where is my mommy, please? he said in a squeaky little voice.

Huh? How the hell do I know? I just got up. You want some cereal?

Yes, please, Unc Rudy. I can get it. My grandma showed me how.

Georgie carefully poured the cereal into his bowl and carefully poured some milk on it, all the while watching Rudy with his big brown eyes. Rex had gone out the dog door to go potty in the yard, so Georgie felt more scared than ever. The Rudy Monster looked awful this morning. His eyes were all red, and his hair was all messy, and he smelled bad.

The bad smell made Georgie’s tummy feel even shakier. The little boy, afraid to take his eyes off his nemesis, climbed into a chair. His tight tummy made the cereal hard to swallow, and this made him gulp.

What, whatcha say? And what are you always starin’ at? You and that goddamned dog are always starin’ at me.

I sorry, Unc Rudy, he said, squeaking, and because he was so frightened, he put a small timid hand on Rudy’s arm.

The Rudy Monster growled, Getcher hands off of me! You smell like piss!

The punch knocked the frightened little boy off the chair and across the room. For a little while, everything looked sparkly and then went dark. His mouth hurt very bad, and when he opened it, blood came rushing out all over him and all over the floor. He couldn’t see very well, but he heard the Rudy Monster walking toward him, giving his horrible laugh. Georgie was trying very hard to make his legs work, when he heard the rowf, and Rex came charging through the dog door. The dog jumped right at Rudy’s throat. Rudy yelped and ran away. Georgie knew that he had to get back up on his chair, or Rudy would hit him again. He knew that he had to eat his cereal too. He tried to eat some more, but his mouth hurt so bad that he couldn’t swallow, and when he tried to, all the cereal that he had already eaten came back up. Shaking with fear, he tried to find something to clean it all up, but he couldn’t see very well. He closed his sad, frightened eyes and remembered what his grandma had told him to say when he was in trouble. She said he was to say God is my help out loud. He said it now, and as soon as he said it, Rex began to clean up the mess. He licked up the mess on the floor and then licked Georgie’s face. The cuts on his lips were still bleeding and throbbing in pain, and Rex’s careful tongue felt soothing.

The old dog, his ears up and his eyes watchful, began trying to push his little boy toward the door. For a moment, Georgie didn’t understand, and then suddenly, a memory flooded his three-year-old mind, a memory of that nice place and that nice man named Daddy. Maybe if they looked very hard, they could find that place again. The door was locked, but Rex went out through the dog door and pushed his head back in. Then Georgie knew that he too should crawl through the dog door, so he did.

The yard gate was also locked, but when Rex crawled under it, Georgie crawled under too. Once outside the house, Georgie felt safer, but for a moment, he didn’t know what to do next. As far as he could see, the street in front of the house was empty, and when Rex started off down the road, toward some trees, Georgie followed him, both guided by some primitive, mysterious instinct. They didn’t look back, even once, the very little boy and the very old dog. They were going to find a nice place where Georgie’s mommy was with a nice man named Daddy.

Now and again, a car would come down the road, and when it did, the old dog would pull his little companion off the road and would hide him in the tall grass. Very soon, Georgie realized that this was what he must do; he must hide. So when they heard a car, he would say, God is our help, and he would hide in the grass.

For the little three-year-old boy, time and space seemed to vanish. The world outside the small area around himself and his dog ceased to exist. The only movement was forward on the road ahead. But when some hours had passed and hunger and thirst assailed them, Rex left the road, and Georgie followed him, into the woods, where Rex could smell water. He led his little charge, very tired now and weak from his injuries, to a stream bank. There, when Georgie saw how Rex lapped up water, he lay down on his tummy and lapped up some with his tongue. That made them both feel much better.

It was so cool under the shady trees. And because he was so tired, Georgie curled up and fell asleep beside the gurgling creek. Rex dug some moss and leaves from the forest floor and, with his nose and feet, covered his little master with it so that he could not be seen. He had been hearing some people’s voices and smelling food. With Georgie safely hidden, he started off to find the source. Creeping quietly to the edge of the woods, he could see some people working in an open field. His nose led him to a box, where he found some sacks of food. Crawling on his elbows, the old dog took a large good-smelling sack in his teeth and disappeared back into the forest.

He allowed Georgie to sleep a while longer, but when his instinct told him that the little boy must eat, he roused him. Georgie didn’t want to wake up, but when Rex placed the sack of food in front of his nose, he was interested. He immediately began examining the contents, whispering, Saniges, Rex. Where we get saniges?

His very sore mouth made him remember what had happened to him that morning, so he ate slowly and carefully. Digging deeper in the sack, he found a carton of milk. The cool liquid made his cut lips feel better, and he drank all of it. It all tasted so good that he hadn’t noticed when Rex had slipped away. When he turned to give his friend a sanige and Rex was gone, he screamed, Rex! Rex! Where you is!

Rex, foraging in the underbrush, woofed to reassure the little