by Chloe Walsh
"My dirty little secrets?" Dad scoffed, clearly enraged by my accusations. "As opposed to the gutter rat you've attached yourself to?" The rage on my father's face was terrifying. "Do you have any idea what he's done?" Dad gestured towards Nathan and sneered. "Mister fucking quarterback himself; the ladies man."
I felt Nathan stiffen beside me and I guessed he had just come to the same conclusion as I had.
He knew.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Jackson piped up. He looked from Dad to me to Nate and then back to our father. "Dad?"
"Thought I didn’t know?" Dad cocked a brow and smirked at Nate. "Thought you'd have figured out by now, I own this town, boy." His face reddened as he spoke. "You even piss crooked around here and I. Know. About. It."
"Clive." My mother's expression reminded me of a fish that had been dragged out of water. Her mouth was opening and closing at a rapid rate. "What are you talking about?"
"Cut the shit, Liv," Dad shot back, not batting an eyelid in her direction. "I've known you were a whore since high school."
"As opposed to you?" she snarled, turning venomous. "You're just as bad as me. Worse! Screwing around with teenage girls."
"Maybe I am," Dad mused. "But I've never had to use blackmail to get anyone into bed."
"Can someone please tell me what the fuck is going on?" Jackson demanded.
No one said a word.
"Foolish boy," Dad tutted, looking straight at Nate. "You honestly believed I didn’t know about your sister's child."
"Callie?" Jackson frowned in confusion. "What about Callie?"
"You didn’t," Nate whispered, visibly shaken. "You couldn’t have known." He staggered slightly then. "She said you didn’t know… I did it to stop you from finding out!"
"Of course I fucking knew!" Dad laughed softly. "How else do you think my lovely wife knew?" He pointed to my mother in disgust. "Because I told her."
Nate exhaled sharply and clutched the piece of skin over his chest. "You tricked me," he whispered, eyes narrowed at my mother. "What the hell is wrong with you? You're fucking sick!"
"Will someone fill me in here?" Jackson demanded.
"For once, quarterback, I have to agree with you," Dad shot back solemnly. "My wife is a very sick individual."
"You can talk," Mom scoffed.
Dad rolled his eyes. "I've been trying to divorce her for years." He spoke about ending their marriage like he was discussing the weather. "Sadly, she's smarter than she looks." Shrugging, he added, "Locked me down real tight, didn’t you, sweetheart?"
"'Till death do us part," Mom shot back snidely.
Okay, what the heck was going on?
They were going to have it out and about their relationship now?
"Oh my freaking god!" I screamed, unable to stand another second of this craziness. "I hate you," I told my father before casting a glance at the woman who had birthed me. "Both of you." I was trembling all over. "You're both twisted."
Lifting my chin, I took one last final glance at the family I'd had the misfortune of being born into and exhaled a heavy sigh. The feel of Nathan's hand in mine gave me the strength to say what needed to be said.
"Worse than hate, I feel nothing for you." My voice sounded weak, but this was the strongest I'd ever been. "You might be my parents, but you are not my family, and I would rather live the rest of my life in the gutter with him than spend another night under this roof with either of you."
The moment the words fell from my lips, I felt the imaginary shackles that had been attached to my body and holding me back all my life just slip away.
I was frightened and unsure of what my future had in store for me, but I knew the boy who'd spent his whole life taking care of me had a leading role to play in it.
"After everything we've given you," Mom hissed. "A roof over your head… and a warm meal each night, you think you can treat us like this?" She shook her head in disgust. "I wasted my time on raising you, girl. That first time your blood sugars went wrong when you were a baby? I shouldn’t have bothered taking you to the hospital. I would have gotten more thanks for it…"
"Don’t listen to her, baby," Nate interjected.
"Why don’t you stay the hell out of this, Nathan," Mom growled. "This is family business."
"She is my family!" Nate shot back heatedly.
"How'd you figure that?" Mom sneered.
"Because she's pregnant!" Nathan roared then, losing control of his temper. He was shaking all over. Anger was wafting off him in waves as he continued his stare down with my father. "And I'll be damned if I let either of you fuck any kid of mine up like you've done yours."
There was dead silence.
You could have heard a pin drop.
Three angry pairs of eyes were locked on me, waiting for some sort of explanation.
Dropping my head in shame, I nodded once in confirmation.
"Tell me you're joking," Jackson said in a deathly cold tone of voice, eyes locked on Nate. "Tell me you two are mother fucking joking right now."
"Christ," Dad laughed humorlessly and threw his hands up in the air. "This just keeps getting better and better."
"Of course it's not true," my mother interjected as she looked on in horror. "This is obviously something they've concocted."
"Why would I make this up?" I demanded then, staring hard at my mother. "I'm not you, Momma. I don’t have to lie and cheat to trap a man."
"Watch it, lady," Mom hissed.
My comment gained a snort from my father. "Well," he mused emotionlessly as he rubbed his jaw. "Isn't this quite a mess?"
"A mess?" Mom hissed, clearly furious. "This is disgraceful."
"Oh, like you can talk, Liv," Dad retorted, shutting my mother down with one sentence. "You had Jackson on your hip and Adriana in your belly when you were her age."
Mom looked affronted.
Her mouth fell open. "How dare you –"
"Don’t act like you have feelings to hurt," Dad shot back in a bored tone. "We both know you're an emotionless, robotic bitch."
"Clive!" Mom narrowed her eyes in anger.
"Olivia," Dad shot back mockingly.
"Nathan!" Jackson growled, drawing my attention back to him. "Tell me it's not true, man." I watched in horror as my brother clenched his fists tightly. "Tell me your trailer trash ass didn’t knock my baby sister up."
"You wanna come over here and say that to my face, preppy?"
"What the fuck are you two gonna do with a baby?" Jackson demanded, clearly appalled. "Jesus Christ." He ran a hand through his ruffled blond hair before shaking his head in evident disgust. "How the hell are you two gonna bring up a kid?"
"I may not have a lot, but I'm not completely fucking useless." Nate's chest was heaving. He looked wounded and prideful and protective all rolled into one beautiful package. "Contrary to the Davis family beliefs, you don’t actually need to be a millionaire to have a baby," Nate added, reclaiming the space he'd put between us. "The other ninety-nine-point-nine percent of the population have kids every day and are just fine. And besides, I have a job, and I've got some cash saved up." He looked at me with a reassuring smile that didn’t quite meet his eyes. "I can take care of her."
"How exactly are you gonna do that, Nate? By dumping my sister in some shitty trailer and signing her up for Medicaid?"
"I never took you for such a snob, Jackson," Nate shot back coldly.
"Yeah, well, unfortunately, Nathan, kids can't survive on love alone."
"That's true," Nate shot back. "You're a prime example of how fucked up an unloved child can turn out."
"I turned out better than a bastard, momma's boy like you." Jackson walked straight up to us and glared at my boyfriend. "I've got a future waiting for me, man. All that's in your horizon is a full-time job as a grease monkey and a run-down trailer beside your drunk ass momma."
"Jackson, back off," I defended, moving to stand between them. "This is our problem." I pushed against my brother's chest. "You
need to stay out of it."
"Exactly!" Jackson hissed, glaring down at me with fury in his blue eyes. "It's a problem. That's the first sensible thing I've heard come out of your mouth in weeks, Andi." I gaped at my brother as he spoke words I never thought I'd hear him say. "There are clinics for girls like you."
"Jackson! I can't believe you sa–"
I didn’t have a chance to finish my sentence because Nathan had lunged at my brother and all hell broke loose around me.
Pushing me aside, my boyfriend speared my brother to the ground, knocking over several pieces of furniture on the way.
"Nathan!" I screamed, covering my mouth with my hands as I watched Nate straddle Jackson and pummel him with his bare fists over and over again. "Don’t…"
"Say whatever the hell you want about me," Nate snarled, his hand firmly gripping my brother's throat. "But you keep my girl and my baby off your lips."
"You're…wrecking…her…life…" Jackson squeezed out, though he sounded like he was genuinely strangling to death from the force of Nathan's hand around his throat. "You…need…to…do…the…right…thing for…her!"
"I am!" Nate roared. "I'm taking goddamn responsibility for her, asshole."
"Nathan, please! Stop." Wrapping my arms around my boyfriend's shoulders, I exhaled a ragged breath and whispered, "Please just take me away from here."
I felt him shudder beneath my touch.
Seconds later, he released my brother and climbed to his feet.
I was just beginning to realize the power I had over this boy…
"Okay." He looked at me with such tenderness that I felt my heart squeeze tight in my chest. "Let's go."
We were going to be okay.
Everything was going to be all right just as long as we stuck together.
"Are you just going to stand there, Clive?" I heard my mother shout from behind us, but I didn’t stop walking towards the front door.
Towards my freedom.
"Stop them, won't you!" Mom's voice was laced with a mixture of shock and infuriation.
The words were no sooner out of my mother's mouth when the front door flew inwards.
"Nathan Cole?"
Sheriff Brady, flanked by two of his deputies, announced in a no-nonsense tone of voice as he stalked towards us.
Grabbing ahold of my boyfriend, the two officers roughly dragged him away from me while the sheriff approached my parents.
"Nathan Cole, we are arresting you on suspicion of attempting to abduct a minor."
"Arrested?" I screamed, panic lacing my gut. "He hasn’t done anything wrong!"
"Don’t panic," Nate said in a gruff tone, his brown eyes locked on my face. "It's gonna be fine, baby. I promise."
"You have the right to remain silent," one of the officers continued to say as he roughly cuffed Nathan's hands behind his back. "Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."
"This is bullshit," Nate snarled. "I haven't done a damn thing wrong here and ya'll know it."
"You have the right to an attorney." Ignoring Nathan's protests of innocence, the officer continued reading my boyfriend his rights. "If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you."
"What the hell is this?" Jackson roared, suddenly coming to life from where he had been sprawled out on the floor.
Bursting past all of us, he rushed towards Nathan.
"Take those fucking things off him, man. He hasn't done a damn thing wrong."
What?
He was defending Nate?
After they just gave each other a beating?
I would never understand their friendship…
"Settle down, Jackson," Sheriff Brady warned. "Or you'll be joining your old pal here in the slammer."
"This is bullshit," Jackson protested, not settling down one bit. "You can't just arrest him."
"Stay out of this, Jackson," Nate snapped. "This aint your fight."
"Blow me, asshole," Jackson shot back heatedly before addressing the officer once more. "Nate's a turncoat bastard, but he aint no criminal."
"Attempting to abduct a minor is a felony," the cop rolled off. "And punishable by law."
It was in that exact moment that I knew we had been set up.
That's what my mother had been doing when she left the room.
She'd called the police...
"Abducting a minor?" Jackson sneered in outrage. "He's my sister's boyfriend for Christ's sake."
Hearing Jackson finally acknowledge our relationship should have been a good moment, but it was blackened by this…farce.
Struggling against the officer's grasp, Nate moved towards me, looking both agitated and worried.
"Don’t listen to a word they tell you, Andi. You got that, baby? Not a word." He stared meaningfully at me and I got his drift. Don’t let them sway you into making any rash decisions… "Keep your mouth shut and I'll fix this. Just stay … hey, get the hell off me!"
"You wanna have resisting arrest added to your rap sheet, Cole?" One of the officer's growled as he tackled Nate to the ground and held him there.
"I'm not resisting a damn thing," Nate hissed out, pinned to the floor. "I'm just tryna say goodbye to my girl."
"Nate…" I rushed to help him, but one of the officers caught ahold of my arm and dragged me roughly away.
"Hey!" my brother roared. Jumping to my defense, Jackson shoved the officer away from me. "Don’t touch my sister."
"You were warned, Jackson," Sheriff Brady exclaimed in an exasperated tone before inclining his head towards his colleague.
Seconds later, another set of cuffs were placed on my brother who promptly joined my boyfriend on the floor.
This wasn’t happening.
This couldn’t be happening.
I watched as the officers continued to pin both Jackson and Nate to the floor, and I felt those shackles lock tight around me once more.
This was never going to be over…
"Please!" Shaking my head, I rushed to where Sherriff Brady was standing with my parents and threw myself at his mercy. "I promise you, he's innocent. They both are!" I was rambling, I knew I was, but I was petrified. "You can't just take him away." Please don’t take him… "This is a big mistake."
"There's no mistake," my mother interrupted. "Our daughter is a minor and this low life was trying to take her from our home without consent."
"Without consent?" I balked. "Nathan is my boyfriend, Momma!" Every ounce of blood in my body ran cold. "And Jackson? What's his crime?" I shook my head and gaped in disbelief. "Sherriff Brady, this is wrong and you know it."
Like a bad scene from one of my worst nightmares, I watched, feeling both useless and numb to the bone, as the two officers dragged both Jackson and Nathan up from the floor and carted them out of the house.
"Andi, don’t worry!" I heard Nate roar out, wrestling against the firm grasp of the officers. "I'll be back as soon as I can, baby… I promise I'm coming back for you."
Everything happened so quickly after that. I couldn't quite grasp what was happening.
In all of the chaos, I hadn't noticed my mom leaving the room. It was only when the officers had left, and I was alone with my father, that I realized she was no longer with us.
"Please," I begged, throwing myself at my father's mercy. "Don’t do this to him." Wrapping my hands around my father's arm, I begged, "Don’t ruin his life over this." Over me. "Please, Daddy, please…"
"You were warned," was all my father replied as he roughly shook me off. "And don’t beg, Adriana. You're not a dog."
Emotionally broken, I stared in horror at my mother who had reappeared and was walking towards me with a suitcase in her hands.
"What's this?" I whispered, barely able to see through the tears pooling in my eyes.
"They'll be here in five minutes," was all my mother replied as she placed the suitcase at my feet.
In truth, it was all she needed to say.
I knew what was about to happen.
/> It was over.
I was being sent away.
"Daddy, no!"
Backing away unsteadily, I desperately tried to fight down the panic threatening to consume me.
"Please, don’t do this…" I walked backwards until I felt the hard banister at the base of my spine. "Please." Clutching the stair baluster like it could somehow save me, I whispered, "I don’t want to go."
"Put the case away, Liv," Dad chided. "We can hardly send her off now, can we?" He looked at me once before shaking his head. "What a fucking mess."
"It's as good as done," my mother interrupted, uninterested in my internal turmoil. "You'll go to St. Bernadette's and finish out your junior year there." She walked over to where my father was standing and wiped an imaginary tear from her eye. My god, she was a fabulous actress. "Although we'll need to make an appointment for a termination, but we can do that when you're settled in at your new school."
"Termination?" Another tear slid down my cheek. I shook my head. "I'm not…I'm not having one of those!"
"After that, your father and I will decide what happens for your senior year," Mom continued to say, ignoring me as if I wasn’t even in the room. "But we both feel you need structure and stability. St. Bernadette's can offer you that –"
"Shut up!" I screamed, interrupting her. "I'm not doing any of that!" Turning my attention back to my father, I begged, "Please don’t send me away."
Out of the two evils standing in front of me, I suddenly felt he was the better devil. He was the one I knew. My mother, on the other hand, was toxic through and through. I couldn’t even begin to comprehend the depths of her deceit.
"I will do whatever you want me to do," I promised my father, hiccupping through my tears. "Anything. I swear. Just don’t make me go. Please…" my voice broke off as a sob engulfed me. "Let me keep my b… my ba…"
"Stop being such a drama queen, Adriana," Mom barked, glowering at my father who, for the first time in my life, was looking at me like I was an actual human being. "Pull yourself together and quit it with those crocodile tears." She flicked her wrist in impatience. "You're not the first girl to fall pregnant in high school and you won't be the last." She spoke the words like they were supposed to comfort me in some way. They didn’t. "Fortunately for you, your father and I have the finances to make this go away quickly and the power to keep it hidden."