Walk of Shame

by ANDREA SMITH

  I can tell my father appreciates Weston’s concern with the Phil situation. And the way in which Weston approached the subject was done in a way so as not to put my father on the defensive or lay blame on anyone. I appreciate that, and what is more, it has allowed me to see Weston in a new light. I see the potential this guy has in so many career choices.

  Right now Weston is filling him in on the weird things that have been going on since Christmas Day up until the dead rat with his throat slit on my front stoop.

  “Listen Mr. Lang, Peyton shared with me what happened back when she was sixteen…”

  “Jake,” Pop says, “please, call me Jake. And yes, son, I only recently found out about that when Peyton was here after Thanksgiving. I was…well, you can imagine how badly I felt that I had known nothing about it before then”

  “I understand, Jake,” Weston continues, “and I seriously am not trying to cause any problems between you and your wife here, it’s just that the timing and coincidence in all of this begs for a closer look.”

  My father is livid, but not at Weston. With himself. “I said something to Louise after Peyton left. I didn’t go into detail, mind you, but I told her that I’d learned that my sixteen-year-old daughter had been abused by Phil, and that he was no longer welcome in our home. Then I found out she’d been sending him money, so I put a halt to that. I’ve no doubt in my mind that Phil is behind all of this, and to be honest, I want to throttle the good for nothing son of a bitch!”

  “No,” I blurt out. “That’s only going to get you in trouble and I don’t want that!”

  “Jake,” Weston says calmly, “maybe if you know how I can locate him, I can go and have a talk with him in language he might understand.”

  My father runs his hands through his greying hair and shakes his head. “This is my mess to clean up, Weston. I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but it’s time I took the action I should’ve taken as soon as Peyton told me what happened.”

  “What are you going to do?” I ask, suddenly concerned that he might actually do something like throttle Phil. “I don’t want to be worried about having to visit you in some dank prison.”

  My father laughs softly, and takes my hand in his. “No worries, honey. I know the proper way to conduct myself. As a matter of fact, some of the gears are already in motion. You know, ever since I approached Louise on all of this, and then took over our finances…well, suffice it to say life at home has been hell.”

  “Oh Pop—“

  “No, now listen to me. I’ve had my head in the sand for way too long. Louise saw me as a meal ticket. Ever since we married, she’s never worked again. Oh, don’t get me wrong, she’s helped with the shop, and done the bookkeeping, but my independent auditor has begun a full-fledged audit going back to the day we wed. Preliminary results from the past couple of years indicate she’s been overstating expenses and skimming the profits. This will take some time to complete, but as soon as she got wind of it, she moved out.”

  “She did?” I ask incredulously. “When did that happen?”

  “A little over a week ago.”

  “I’m scared. What if she’s as bad as…Phil?” I ask.

  “She knows my will has you as sole beneficiary. And I see my lawyer tomorrow about filing for a divorce. My bartering tool is that once the audit is conducted, and the total amount of the money she skimmed is confirmed, I have the right under this state’s law to bring embezzlement charges against her since she was never listed as a partner in the company. I know Louise well enough to know she doesn’t want to go to prison. And I am sure once I make Phil aware that he has been labeled as a person of interest in your harassment, you can expect no further shenanigans.”

  “Well…”

  “Trust me on this, Peyton,” he says, brushing his hand over my hair. “Do you realize how many steady customers I have that are on the Cranston police force? Not to mention the judges and prosecutors. I wouldn’t be this optimistic if I didn’t have faith in the system.”

  I give my father a warm hug. “I just worry about it, you know?”

  “I know,” he says, hugging me back. “And I’d be worried knowing what I just learned if it wasn’t for Weston here. I’m glad you two came to discuss this with me. Please, don’t keep me in the dark ever again, Peyton.”

  “I won’t Pop,” I reply, burying my face into his shoulder, “I promise.”

  “And I promise I will keep you up to date on things here once we get all of this rolling.”

  “Make sure you do,” I say sternly.

  We stand to leave and my father shakes Weston’s outstretched hand again, this time with more vigor and energy. “You take care of my daughter. I appreciate the fact that you’re looking out for her there. I like your style.”

  “Thank you, Jake. I absolutely will, no worries there. It was a pleasure meeting you, and I just want to say that you’ve done a wonderful job with Peyton.”

  My father laughs, but gives Weston a smack on the back. “I’m not sure her mother would agree, but thank you for saying that just the same. I will always regret the fact that I allowed harm to come to her.”

  Weston grows serious, and I know he’s thinking about Carson and the harm that came to her. “Sometimes, no matter how much try you protect someone, bad things still happen. Don’t beat yourself up, Jake.”

  “Thank you for that, Weston. Thank you for being so kind to my girl.”

  Chapter 59

  Weston dropped Peyton off once they were back in town at her next class on the Ratliff campus. “Hey, have a good rest of the day, babe. I’ll call you later, but it will be late. After practice. Can you get a ride back to your apartment?”

  She leaned over, giving him a sweet kiss and he pulled her in for more. “No problem, Weston. I already texted Eva and she’s picking me up after my last class.”

  He watched her in his rearview mirror as he took off down the drive. Things had changed so much for him since meeting her. Both as Penny and as Peyton if he wanted to be honest about it. Each of them, in their own distinct ways had brought him to a new level of understanding about himself. It was all good and he regretted none of it.

  He had liked Jake. He had been afraid that he wouldn’t; he had worried that he would feel some sort of blame and want to call him out on why the hell he hadn’t paid more attention to what had been going on under his roof. He only hoped that things worked out the way Jake had predicted. He would remain on high alert until everything had been confirmed as having been resolved.

  He reflected on everything as he drove back to Cambridge. His plans were to blow off classes for the rest of the afternoon and work out before practice. He needed this time to think. But not about his classes or the upcoming game on Saturday. He had more pressing things on his mind.

  Peyton Lang.

  How had she woven herself so intricately into his mind and emotions so quickly?

  Maybe it hadn’t been all that fast. Maybe it had been little by little.

  He had to admit to himself that as Penny, a part of her had tugged at his heartstrings. Oh, she had been a royal pain in the ass for sure, but once he had seen beneath her emotional façade, what he saw was a woman that was intelligent, direct, feisty, and yet insecure and unsure of herself in so many other ways. He had felt compassion for her when he thought Stuart had been cheating on her; he had felt a friendship form over Thanksgiving. And as Peyton the witch? Well hell that had been a chemistry like no other. He had been so damn drawn to her after that first night, and the fact that he might never see or touch her again had driven him to distraction. Yet all along, it had been one in the same person.

  And what really fascinated him was that, from her perspective, he was the flip side of that very same record. How extraordinary was that?

  Weston didn’t want things to end when they graduated in the spring. He had been accepted into the MBA program at Hardwick, but when he considered that she still was pursuing UC Berkley, he couldn’t fathom them being able to
continue their relationship cross country.

  And that bothered him.

  But he knew he had no right to deter her from her dreams. He would never do that, because he cared that much about her. Spoiled rich boy that she might label him, he wasn’t that selfish. At least not with her. Never with her.

  He marveled at how well she had turned out without all of the wealth and privilege that he had been born into, and in a way, he was jealous. She had worked for everything she had attained so far, and would continue to do so until she had satisfied all of her academic goals. She was focused and motivated and so exquisitely brilliant that he admired every aspect of her being.

  He, on the other hand, had been given his education and it wasn’t until Penny had tutored him and made him work for that grade in Early American Lit that he truly understood the gratification that came with working hard for something---even something you never thought you would be interested in. She’d given him an appreciation for literature, and a means of really trying to expand his horizons on that front. Peyton took nothing for granted, and that was something that Weston admired most about her.

  These were all the thoughts running through his mind, and they were his private thoughts. He wouldn’t share them with his buddies, not even Marcus, because they were his alone to ponder. Weston wasn’t sure where this thing with Peyton was going, but what he did know was that he was not ready to let her go.

  Maybe he never would be.

  Chapter 60

  Eva and I make our way out of the stadium after Hardwick’s last home game. They won 4-1, but Eva seemed disinterested during the whole thing.

  “Are you sticking around?” I ask as we spill out with the rest of the crowd into the parking lot. We make our way over to a quiet place under the now bare trees before she answers me.

  “I don’t know,” she replies, pulling her mittens on. “I would hate to cramp Marcus’ style.”

  “What are you talking about?” I ask, wrapping my wool scarf around my neck as the icy wind assaults us from all directions.

  “I’m talking about the distance between us. How does one go from hot to tepid in a few short weeks? I just don’t get it, Peyton. I feel so…lost.”

  I turn to face her and my heart aches for the pain I know that she’s feeling right now, but the thing Eva hasn’t considered is how much of this tepidness she’s brought on herself. “Look,” I say softly, “you’re the one making it the way it is, not Marcus. And before you jump down my throat, know that I totally get why you feel out of sorts over that whole L word thing but Eva, you can’t turn back time. It happened. So either deal with it, or walk. You’ve been miserable with this whole ‘I’m gonna take it back to our pre-sex days’ thing. It doesn’t work that way.”

  She shivers as another arctic blast whips around us, and pulls her crossed arms tightly across her chest. “I know,” she concedes, “you’re absolutely right. It’s just that I don’t know how I feel anymore. I can’t push myself one way or another until I figure that out, I guess. I’m going home, Pey. Congratulate Marcus on the win for me, okay?”

  I nod, and reach over, giving her a hug. “I’ll be home later, don’t worry. If you’re still up, we’ll talk over some hot cocoa or something.”

  “Hmm…how about some buttered rum instead?”

  “That’ll work, too.”

  I watch as she goes across the packed lot and up the steps to where we parked. I want so much for things to work out between her and Marcus. In my heart, I believe they will, but maybe not as quickly as Eva would like.

  Once she’s out of sight, I turn to head back over to the stadium to wait for Weston to emerge with the others, and I immediately bump against someone’s hard chest. My first thought is that Weston snuck up behind me, but that quickly fades as I look into the evil eyes of my stepbrother.

  I gasp audibly and instinctively back away from him.

  “Aww, what’s this? Not happy to see me after all this time, little sister?”

  The way he refers to me as his sister makes my skin crawl. “Go away, Phil. I’ve got nothing to say to you,” I snap as I move around him to head across the lot. He grabs my arm, twisting it so that I’m forced around to face him. I let out a squeal as he does so, but it sounds more like a whimper in the icy wind that has kicked up another notch.

  “Well, baby, maybe I got something to say to you,” he growls, twisting my arm behind me. “Seems like you’ve been running your mouth, haven’t you?”

  I can smell his foul breath with his words he’s that close to me and I feel like I’m going to be sick. “Let me go!”

  “Not until I settle the score, bitch. You knew better than to talk, didn’t you?”

  I start to scream, but his hand clamps over my mouth but only for about two seconds before I bite down hard on it. He curses, and I watch as his arm rears back, ready to deliver a blow to my face, only his hand never makes contact.

  I’m grabbed from behind and lifted out of the way by someone. In the next second, I recognize Weston’s jacket as he plows into Phil full force, taking him to the ground almost effortlessly.

  “Don’t you ever fucking touch her again!” Weston shouts, as he slams a fist into Phil’s face. “If you so much as show up in the same zip code she’s in, I swear to fuck, you’re gonna have to deal with me!”

  Weston stood up, snatching Phil up with him and pushed him back against a car parked nearby. He had him by the collar, and was in his face. “Tell me you get it, motherfucker?”

  “I get it, I get it,” Phil whines. “Let go of me!”

  Weston slowly relaxes his grip on Phil, never taking his eyes off of him, but he doesn’t let go of him totally. “Do you want to press charges, Peyton?” he asks over his shoulder.

  I then realize I’m still in someone’s arms and I look around to see that it’s Marcus who is holding me. He nods quietly.

  “Yes,” I call out. “He twisted my arm and threatened me. Damn straight I want to press charges.”

  The police were already there and within thirty minutes, they had taken statements, cuffed Phil, and put him in the cruiser. By this time, I’ve recovered enough from the shock of everything to realize I’m still shaking, and not from the cold. Weston’s arm is wrapped around me as he walks me over to his car. “You did great, baby,” he says softly to me. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

  “Oh Weston,” I breathe. “What would’ve happened if you guys hadn’t seen him? I don’t even want to think about it.”

  “Then don’t, babe. Just put it out of your mind because it won’t ever happen again.”

  I nod and press closer to him. “There’s Marcus,” I say as I see him standing next to Weston’s car as if he’s waiting for us.

  “You okay?” Marcus asks, giving me a warm smile.

  “I am. And I want to thank you both for coming to my rescue.”

  “Aw shucks, Ma’am,” Marcus replies. “Damsels in distress are what we do best.” He gives me a playful wink. “You going to the party at Delta Phi?”

  Weston speaks up, “Nope, I’m getting Peyton home. She’s had enough excitement for one evening.”

  “Roger that,” Marcus replies, and then he hesitates momentarily, almost like he’s reluctant to ask what I know he wants to ask me.

  “So, I guess Eva didn’t feel like coming to the game tonight, huh?”

  “She was here, Marcus,” I reply softly. “She just didn’t stick around afterwards.”

  He nods, kicking some ice away from the tire of Weston’s car. “You know, I don’t get her at all. She’s just shut me out. I don’t know what the hell to do about it.”

  “Maybe you should try talking it out,” I suggest. “For what it’s worth, she’s just as miserable as you are, Marcus. It’s not right for both of you to feel miserable and disconnected like this. Maybe try to find some middle ground?”

  “Yeah, yeah,” he says. “How’s that supposed to happen when she acts like nothing’s wrong?”

  “Make
her listen,” I reply. “I happen to know that right now she’s home making a batch of her famous buttered rum. Why don’t you come home with us and give it a try?”

  “The buttered rum or the talk?”

  “Both,” Weston and I say at the same time.

  “See you there,” Marcus says, exhaling a breath.

  Marcus, Eva, Weston, and I are sprawled out on various pieces of our living room furniture, totally relaxed after having imbibed several cups of buttered rum, and filling our bellies with ham and cheese subs. We filled Eva in on the drama that had unfolded with Phil after she’d gone.

  “Oh shit, Pey. If I would’ve stayed with you, that never would’ve happened! It’s all my fault.”

  “Oh stop,” I chided her. “It’s nobody’s fault except Phil’s. He made it what it was when he chose to harass and assault me. I won’t be anyone’s victim anymore.”

  “Good girl,” Weston said, giving me a kiss on my forehead.

  “Are you going to let your dad know?” Eva asked.

  “Yep, I’ll call him in the morning and fill him in, and he damn well better not pull that ‘it’s all my fault’ shit either,” I warn.

  “So, Eva,” Marcus said, “Why didn’t you stick around for me?”

  Weston and I both waited for Eva’s response after Marcus had put it out there so bluntly.

  “Seriously Marcus? You want to have that discussion here and now?”

  “At least I’ve taken the initiative to start a dialogue here, girl. Give me some fucking credit for that why don’t you.”

  “Initiative comes to thems that wait,” she said with an evil little laugh.

  Marcus quirked a brow at her and then glanced over at me when he heard me chuckling.

  “Alex in A Clockwork Orange,” I called out, pointing to her. “I love it.”

  “Are you getting this?” Marcus asked.