“You can’t get kicked out because of me,” I said.
“Text me when you can.”
“I will.”
Sarah and I were best friends - or something like it - but we didn’t hug. We didn’t have a secret handshake. We didn’t do sleepovers. In fact the whole idea of ordering food on a credit card and watching a dirty movie… that never happened and never would.
We were just two girls who moved around a lot and settled here for longer than five minutes and connected on that.
She took off back to class and I took off back home.
If that’s what you wanted to call it.
The apartment building was right on the main street in town. A bright yellow building with two apartments downstairs and one upstairs. The one that was upstairs was the biggest, complete with its own second floor… which technically was the third floor.
We lived in the front in an apartment on the first floor.
The one with the bay window that had a big crack from corner to corner that was going to be fixed over a year ago.
I had learned to live with the noise of the main street which rarely quieted, even after midnight. Not to mention the punk ass kids who walked outside and made noise like everyone was deaf.
Also, I sort of became one of those punk ass kids, just out of habit. Not that I was a kid or anything. And not that I had to sneak out. I would walk out the front door at one in the morning with a wave and meet up with Sarah. We’d walk, talk, smoke, laugh, and kill time for a few hours.
My reminder to myself was that I was an adult.
And that once I graduated, it would all change.
I opened the heavy door and smelled the mustiness of the foyer.
I reached for the metal doorknob to our apartment that was also loose and slippery. It still made me shiver. Because your hand would smell like old metal after touching it. It was fucking gross.
When I opened the apartment door, I heard the wail of a siren outside.
And then I heard the wail of my mother.
Crying.
But not her normal woe is me kind of cry.
This was a different kind of cry.
A painful cry.
I grabbed my cellphone and ran through the living room and looked toward the kitchen.
My mother was on the floor.
Face down.
“Mom,” I said.
She put her hands flat to floor and pushed up a little and turned her head.
Her eyes were wide.
And her face…
“Now let’s try talking again,” Joff’s voice said.
He emerged from the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his hands as he dried them.
My eyes looked to the floor. To my mother. Back to Joff.
I lost my breath and held out my cellphone like it was some kind of magic wand that would make this all go away.
The sad part is that it wasn’t my first time seeing this kind of thing.
But still…
“She has a problem with her mouth, Belle,” Joff said so calm and cool. “Nobody taught her to not talk back.”
My stomach rolled like a wave in a hurricane.
I was going to throw up.
“Belle, get out of here,” Mom said. “Run. Get out of here. They’re coming…”
Before I could ask who they were, I realized the sound of the police sirens were louder. I turned my head and saw the flashing of the red and blue lights against the thin laced curtains.
“You are one stupid bitch,” Joff said.
He turned and ran for the back door.
“Stop!” I managed to yell.
Joff looked back at me and lifted his middle finger.
The apartment door busted open and in ran two police officers.
I put my hands up like I had done something wrong.
They spotted Joff and went after him.
One of them radioed for extra help.
The second officer stopped at my mother and then radioed for EMS.
Someone touched my shoulder and I let out a scream.
I turned and swung.
And as my hand was an inch away from another officer’s face, I let out another scream.
I was going to end up in jail too.
I didn’t hit Officer Jack.
Which was good.
Even if I did, he promised me he wouldn’t have done anything to me.
He got me out of the apartment and made me sit on the only step that separated the apartment building from the sidewalk.
Mom was inside getting looked at by the paramedics.
And as I sat there, hugging myself, rocking back and forth, trying to figure out what the hell just happened, I watched as two officers brought Joff from the side of the building.
I stood up and felt my chin quivering.
He wasn’t trying to fight them.
Cuffs on his wrists, his hands behind his back, blood on the front of his shirt.
I started to walk toward him.
The two officers didn’t see me coming.
Officer Jack had turned his back for a minute to talk to one of the paramedics. They also wanted to know what to do with me, which was funny because once they realize how old I was, there was nothing to do with me. I could walk away on my own and that was that.
But first…
I got as close as I could to Joff.
One of the officers saw me and put a hand out.
I didn’t know what else to do so I spit at Joff.
And it was the most epic snot spit of all time. Just like in a movie, my spit flew through the air with accuracy and hit him in the right eye.
Officer Jack was suddenly there, blocking my way to Joff.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” he growled at me. “Do you want me to arrest you?”
“You saw what he did to my mother,” I said. “He deserves more than a little spit in his eye.”
“Let us handle it,” Officer Jack said.
“Yeah? What does that mean?”
Officer Jack looked around. “I get it, Miss Bablebit.”
I cringed at the sound of my last time.
“Belle,” I said. “Please…”
“Belle,” Officer Jack said.
He motioned for the step again and I walked there with my hands up.
Belle Bablebit.
Which was so conveniently turned into Bablebitch.
But whatever.
I couldn’t change my last name. Unless I got married.
That made me laugh.
Then I’d be just like my mother, right?
She didn’t know how to stay single. Ever.
It was her life’s goal to forever be involved with someone.
Just like this Joff thing. He was a total asshole from the day I met him. My mother worked behind the bar at a country club and Joff was the douchebag with cash to spend and just like that they were in love. And to Joff, my mother was a toy.
But now he was in the back of a cop car and my mother was getting ice for her eye.
Bra-fucking-vo.
I stood up from the step and looked around.
The main street was jammed with slow moving traffic because of my mother.
Everyone slowed when they saw police lights.
Then they went slower to see the action.
Officer Jack pointed to me.
“I’m not doing anything dumb,” I said. “I’m going to leave.”
“Not yet,” he said.
“I don’t want to be here,” I said. “I don’t want to see any more than I have. I told you everything already.”
“You came home because of a stomachache, right?”
Well, when the tissue and blood…
I wasn’t going to fake my period to a cop.
But I was cool with lying about a stomachache.
Although… I did feel sick after what I just saw.
“Belle. Belle, where are you?”
I turned my head and saw my mother being w
heeled out on a stretcher.
I covered my mouth and felt my eyes fill with tears.
“What’s happening to her?” I asked.
“She’s saying her chest feels heavy,” one of the paramedics said.
“What?”
Another paramedic blocked my view for a second. “My guess is it’s panic. But we have to be safe. We’re going to take her to the hospital to be evaluated.”
“Am I supposed to go with her?”
“You can if you want.”
“Belle, be safe!” my mother yelled. “You deserve more. You deserve better. She’ll take care of you.”
I didn’t even get a chance to say anything to my mother. Touch her hand. Kiss her forehead. Tell her I loved her. And that was all my doing. I just stood there, confused, wondering what she was talking about.
The ambulance pulled away.
The police cars were almost all gone.
It was just Officer Jack left.
He was at least parked against the curb and his lights were on.
I stood on the sidewalk, not sure what to do.
Where to go.
What to think or say.
I wanted to text Sarah, but I wasn’t even sure where to start.
She knew bits and pieces about my mother. She understood that my mother feared being alone. That she needed to be in a relationship and that most were shitty. And by shitty I meant short-lived. Or with a married man. Or a guy who cheated.
Not this stuff…
I looked back at the apartment building again.
When I looked forward, a small, sleek black car pulled up behind Officer Jack’s police SUV. It was all black. The body of the car. The windows. The rims. The logo of the car was all black too. I had no idea what kind of car it was.
It looked expensive.
Officer Jack let out a whistle. “Don’t see that kind of car around here. Jesus Christ. That thing is worth two hundred grand. Easily.”
“What?!” I yelled. “A car can cost that much?”
“Belle? Is that you?”
Officer Jack pointed and I looked back to the car again.
A woman stood outside the car.
Her black sunglasses matched the car.
Along with her black clothes.
She hurried toward the sidewalk. “Where’s Michelle?”
“They took her away in an ambulance,” I said.
“Going to Mercy, I assume. I’ll make some calls later.”
“That’s a nice car you have there,” Officer Jack said. “Not sure that kind of tinting is legal.”
The woman peeled off her sunglasses.
She was gorgeous.
I’m talking super model gorgeous.
Tall, skinny, an amazing chest, clothes that hugged every curve in a way that made me flustered just to be near her. Her heels were like ten feet high and she stood with poise.
Her skin was tan and her eyes were dark brown. And her hair was as black as the car.
“Are you going to write me a ticket?” she asked. “Because if so, just fucking do it. Okay? My old best friend called me to tell me some guy was beating the hell out of her. Mind you I was in surgery this morning at six. So do you really want to waste my time?”
“You’re a doctor?” Officer Jack asked.
“Dr. Thornburn,” the woman said. “Jovi Thornburn if you need my full name to do whatever you have to do. If you’re done here, then I’m going to let Belle pack a bag and then get her out of this bullshit situation her mother put her in.”
“You realize Miss Bablebit is an adult…”
Dr. Thornburn looked at me. Then back to Officer Jack. “And she’s going to make her own decision then. Now, the real question here is this… how threatened are you by a woman who is worth more than you’ll ever be in life? And how threatened are you by the fact that the car behind me is actually my junker car?”
Officer Jack showed his hands. He let out a loud breath. He looked at me. “Good luck, Miss Bablebit.”
“Belle,” I said.
“Belle,” Dr. Thornburn said to get my attention.
My eyes moved to her.
“You have no idea who I am, do you?” she asked.
“No.”
“Did you read fairy tales as a kid?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m your fairy godmother,” she said. “Time to get the fuck out of here, Belle. At least for a little while.”
I swallowed hard and nodded.
She was like a fairy godmother sent straight from hell.
three
I packed a bag and I left.
I asked Dr. Thorburn where she lived and she told me to call her Jo. And that if I ever called her Dr. Jo she would make what Joff did to my mother look like a small scratch.
It was scary as fuck.
And I sat in the front seat of the most expensive vehicle I had ever seen and hugged my bag tight.
Jo told me she lived where it was called Bay Falls High… East.
She said I’d figure out about East vs West soon enough.
She drove fast.
Yellow lights were green to her.
Red lights she’d slow and gently coast through if she was the first in line.
Stop signs didn’t count.
If a sign said NO TURN ON RED that meant speed up and turn hard.
We were in the car for five minutes before I felt a panic attack start to slide through me.
Jo sensed it and pulled into the parking lot of a gas station.
“Belle, take a deep breath,” she said. Her voice was calm. Soothing. Like she had no fears and no worries ever. “I can feel you radiating over to my side of the car. First off, it’s just a fucking car. Second off, it’s just fucking money.”
I looked at her. “Not when you don’t have either.”
“Well now you do,” she said. “What do you want? Name an amount and it’s yours. Name a car and I’ll buy it. Deal?”
I shook my head. “No. You’re my mother’s best friend?”
“Former,” she said. “That’s a long story in itself. One that requires alcohol to tell.” Jo took her sunglasses off and sighed. “But your eyes are begging for it.”
“I skipped class and came home to my mother being beaten by the guy she was dating,” I said. “And it’s not the first time it’s happened. She always-”
“Needs to be in a relationship,” Jo said.
“Yeah. How did…”
Jo reached across the car and took my hand. “We were best friends growing up. We used to smoke cigarettes together outside of school. I quit smoking though. Apparently it’s bad for you. And working as a surgeon, it feels fucked up to tell people how to live when I’m living the same lie.”
“I smoke,” I said. “And I’m not quitting.”
“Good for you, Belle. Nobody likes a quitter.”
Who the hell are you?
I tilted my head and opened my mouth, but had no response.
“Look, we were young. Best friends. And I watched her do the same thing. Boy after boy. Always looking for love. Okay? I found love. She found love. Things happened. Life moves on. I went left. She went right. Okay? My path took me to business school first. I decided to make a killing in the stock market. Had more money than I could ever spend. I went back to my childhood home to find the owner on the floor. Dead. His heart said peace the fuck out. So I decided to go to medical school. Wanted to figure out what happened. And you know what I learned?”
I swallowed hard. “What?”
“Shit happens in life,” Jo said. “Your mother went to the right. She thought her path was going to be finding a guy, have a family, and enjoy life.”
“That worked out,” I said.
“She had you.”
“She doesn’t even know who my father is,” I said. “Did she ever tell you that?”
Jo frowned. “I know more than you think. We never reconnected the way we hoped. But we did keep in touch. She called me this morning and begge
d me to come get you. She said things there weren’t good. I think she knew more about you than you realize, Belle. She was also afraid of that guy. Joff. And I’m telling you this… she’s going to be okay. I’ll make sure she’s taken care of in the hospital. I’ll make sure she gets into a new apartment and gets a chance to pick a different path. I’ll make sure Joff is handled accordingly too. See, when you save someone’s life, they suddenly want to give you anything in their life. I never figured that part out.”
“So you have a lot of favors to cash in?” I asked.
“Something like that, Belle.”
“I guess that includes me now,” I said. “Too bad I have nothing to offer you.”
Jo let my hand go and touched her chin. “I’m sure you do, Belle. But I’m not doing this as a favor. Or looking for anything in return.”
“Then why are you doing this?”
Jo sucked in a breath and groaned. “You’re already annoying me.”
“Then I’ll leave and walk back.”
“I’m sure you will.” Jo sighed again. “My father walked out on us. My mother dated to make up for what she lost. And some guy lost his temper and sent her down a set of steps. She was pregnant. They didn’t make it. He went to jail and killed himself. I was sent into foster care. And when I moved, I met your mother. I’m not trying to fix the past in my life, Belle, but if I can help the present in yours, it’s worth it.”
“Jo… I don’t know what to say…”
“Nothing,” she said. She pointed forward. “Now let’s go raid the fuck out of that store. Get every junk food and high caffeine drink we can and then blast nineties dirty rap and put the windows down and see where things end up.”
“I can do that,” I said.
We opened our door and Jo hesitated. She looked back at me and laughed.
“What?” I asked.
“Joff?” she asked. “That’s his real name?”
“My theory is it’s Jeff but he was too stupid to write it so he changed it.”
Jo laughed again. “I just might be able to like you, Belle.”
We basically cleared the shelves of anything and everything.
And of course since it was some gas station, the prices were crazy high.
But Jo didn’t care.
The total made me gasp.
She used a credit card and didn’t think twice about it.
Then we got back into her car, put the windows down, and ate and drank while blasting music.
NOT SO Innocent (Bay Falls High Book 4) Page 2