Rock and a Hard Place

by Angie Stanton

  “He can’t be that bad.”

  “You have no idea. He can be a real bastard when he wants.” Peter talked to Libby until time ran out and he needed to rush back and shower. A day of marathon phone interviews lay ahead. The only good part was that he and his brothers didn’t have to go anywhere. The interviews would be done from the beach house.

  Garrett waited for him on the deck when he returned.

  “You’re late,” Garrett growled. “You can’t tell me you were out running all that time. You sitting in a coffee shop talking to Libby again?”

  “I don’t have to tell you anything. Ya know, Garrett, you need to relax. You should go work out and try to get that stick out of your ass. It might help improve your glowing personality.”

  “And you need to dump your dead weight in Wisconsin,” Garrett said as Peter pushed past and ignored him.

  # # #

  The next morning Libby was surprised when her phone rang while she was waiting for the bus. She flipped it open.

  “Hey you!” She didn’t expect to hear from Peter until tonight. She walked around the side of the house so Aunt Marge wouldn’t see her with the phone as she waited for the bus. Peter’s call was a welcome surprise.

  “This isn’t Peter,” responded a flat voice.

  “Who is this?” Caller ID indicated it was Peter’s phone.

  “It’s Garrett.”

  “Who?”

  “Peter’s brother.”

  “Oh. What’s up? Where’s Peter?” She didn’t like the tone in Garrett’s voice. Something was wrong.

  “Well that’s just it. He asked me to call you.”

  Libby’s heart dropped. Something terrible happened to Peter. Oh God, she couldn’t lose him; he must be all right. “Is he okay? What’s wrong?”

  “He’s fine. I’m mean, nothing happened to him or anything.”

  She didn’t understand. Garrett was using Peter’s phone, why would he do that? Where was Peter? She walked behind the farmhouse where she could talk louder. “So, what’s going on?”

  “Listen, I’m gonna say this straight out.” He cleared his throat. “Peter didn’t know how to tell you this, and he didn’t want you to go all psycho or anything, so he asked me to do it.”

  Her stomach hurt. Peter could tell her anything. They were so close and talked about everything. Libby’s mind flashed from one tragic thought to the next.

  “The tour is really crazy and it’s too hard to keep things going with you when he needs to be working. So, anyway, he won’t be calling anymore and it would be best if you don’t call him either.”

  Everything moved in slow motion. This could not be happening. “What are you saying? Is Peter breaking up with me?” Libby’s chest tightened. This made no sense. Garrett was wrong. Peter loved her. In a few more days he was coming to get her. They had a plan. He was eighteen now and she would travel with him.

  Garrett cleared his throat again, “Yeah. That’s pretty much it.”

  Libby couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She couldn’t imagine Peter asking Garrett to be the one to break her heart. She needed to hear it from Peter. “Let me talk to him. Give Peter the phone.”

  “He’s not here. He left already. Look, Peter and I don’t always get along, but we’re devoted to the band. This is business; it’s not personal.”

  She found it difficult to breathe.

  “Peter would never do this. He’s coming to get me in three days. We have a plan. You’re lying!”

  “Whatever plans you think he made with you aren’t going to happen. It’s over Libby. He had fun, you had fun, but don’t you read the tabloids? This happens all the time. He has more important things to do than hang out with some girl from Hicksville.”

  “That’s not true, he loves me,” she cried.

  “Whoa. Back up. What fantasy world are you living in? What makes you think someone like Peter would be in love with you? He has everything. He doesn’t need you and he’s done hanging out in your small town world. It’s over. Now you need to go crawl back in your little shed. Peter doesn’t want you anymore.”

  “Garrett, please, don’t do this. I need to talk to Peter. He would never break up this way. He’s better than that.” She pleaded for a chance to talk with Peter one last time.

  “Listen up. You have no idea how important he is in this industry. He has far more meaningful things to do than run off to you all the time. You’re holding him back. So suck it up and get over yourself. You were lucky to know him at all.”

  Her nerves were at a breaking point. One more strain would split the thread and she would unravel. If what Garrett said was true, she’d never speak to Peter again. He was right; she was lucky to have known Peter. He changed her world for the better. She prayed Garrett was wrong, but what if he wasn’t? Tears rolled down her face. She tried to hold herself together. If Peter wanted to break up, she didn’t want to be the girl who begged and never let go. He’d been so good to her and he deserved better.

  “Do me one favor?” She asked.

  “I told you, he doesn’t want to talk to you.”

  “I know, just give him a message, please.” Libby pleaded as she hid next to the barn behind the house.

  “What?” he answered flatly.

  She swiped the tears with her arm.

  “Tell him,” she paused trying to find the right words. “Tell him, he saved me. And one more thing. Tell him, it’s okay, I get it.” She knew it sounded stupid, but it was the truth. He’d saved her from the depths of depression. Tears poured down her face and her nose ran. She never expected they’d last forever, but, still, how could he end it like this?

  Garrett stayed silent on the other end.

  “Garrett? Please tell him for me. Please.” She sobbed, gulping for breath.

  “Yeah, whatever. I gotta go.”

  The phone clicked dead.

  She wanted to call back, but knew Garrett wouldn’t put her through. She leaned against the side of the barn and covered her face with her hands. A tidal wave of anguish crashed over her. She slid into the tall grass, sobs of grief escaped. Life couldn’t possibly get any worse. She shouldn’t have assumed a life with Peter could be real. It was a fantasy now ripped apart.

  Chapter 15

  Peter slid his room key in the door, a soft click and a green light appeared. He let himself in the hotel suite to find Garrett alone with a satisfied smirk on his face.

  “What’s up?” Peter asked.

  “Taking care of some business,” Garrett stared at Peter and didn’t look away.

  Peter looked around the cluttered desk and dresser. “Have you seen my phone, I thought it was in my coat, but I can’t find it.”

  “It’s probably on the bus.”

  “Yeah, maybe.” Something about Garrett seemed odd, but Peter brushed it off. He wanted to find his phone and call Libby.

  # # #

  Huddled against the barn, huge gulping breaths racked Libby’s body. Locked in her private misery she didn’t hear Aunt Marge approach.

  “What are you doing our here?” Aunt Marge held a shotgun at her side.

  Libby looked up from the frozen ground. Her lower lip shook as her tear-filled eyes rested on the weapon. What was Aunt Marge doing with a shotgun? For a split second she thought about using it on herself; certainly the pain would be less than she felt right now.

  “Speak up.” Her aunt’s piercing words brought Libby back around. “You should be on the bus to school, not lurking around my barn. What are you looking for?” Aunt Marge’s eyes narrowed. “What did you see?”

  “Peter broke up with me,” she uttered, her voice breaking. A new onslaught of tears and hiccups erupted.

  “Good. Now maybe you’ll pay attention when I tell you something. He was a snooping rich boy nosing around where he didn’t belong. I knew this would happen. You’re too damned stubborn to listen to me, you think you know everything. Well I’ll tell you, little Miss Know-It-All, you haven’t got a clue about life.”r />
  Libby barely listened as her angry aunt ranted. Her words meant nothing. Without Peter her world was empty. Tears overflowed anew.

  “Now move your lazy ass up off the ground and get to school. I have work to do and you’re interfering.” She waved the gun in the direction of the road.

  Libby fumbled with her book bag and rose, her body trembling with emotion. “I missed the bus.”

  Aunt Marge looked her up and down. “That was stupid. Looks like you’ll have a long walk to think about how to avoid that mistake again.”

  Libby’s eyes widened. “It’s four miles.”

  “Then you better get started.” Aunt Marge stood steadfast like the vacant farm buildings, ugly after years of neglect. Would Libby turn out the same way?

  This confrontation was more than she could handle. Libby gulped. No option but to go. Resigned, she walked around the dilapidated barn; the wide door hung open on rusted hinges. She automatically glanced inside.

  She shouldn’t have been surprised at what she saw.

  Now she couldn’t turn away from dozens of small plastic bags that sat in tidy rows. She stepped into the barn. Piles of dried plants and weight scales filled a table. Grow lights shined over large green plants that Libby knew to be marijuana.

  She turned to face her aunt and laughed at the irony. The woman who restricted Libby’s every move in the guise of good behavior was growing pot.

  Rage etched the haggard woman’s face. “You think you’re so smart. Well, you’re an ignorant self-absorbed child.” Aunt Marge stalked closer. “How long ago did your weak spineless father dump you here? A year? More? And you finally get curious? You’re as brainless as your idiot mother.”

  “Don’t talk about my mother like that! She was amazing!” Anger replaced her sorrow.

  “Your mother was a fool. She never accomplished a damned thing in her life. She spent years raising you and your bratty sister and for what? To get splattered on the highway like bug? Not much of a life.”

  The cruel words horrified Libby. “How dare you. You bitch!”

  “Watch your mouth little girl. I’m all you’ve got left in this world and you’d be ill-advised to screw this up too.”

  Libby bit back her words. Things were happening too fast. She needed to tread carefully and sort things out. She stepped back, away from her aunt, away from the pot, and away from the site of her break down. Without another word, she turned towards the road.

  “That’s more like it. Get yourself to school and if you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep your mouth shut.”

  Libby started her long trek down the country road, glad to escape her aunt’s insanity. The pea gravel crunched under each step like the touch of sandpaper rubbing her raw nerves. After a while the sound became a soothing anthem, lulling her distraught mind into a murky haze, where she could rehash the happenings of this morning in a distant detached way.

  Mile after mile she walked, oblivious to the occasional car speeding by. When Mom and Sarah died, she’d been in shock. This was different. Their deaths were tragic, horrible accidents. Today, the people ripping her life apart knew what they were doing. It emotionally exhausted her. She was tired of being nice, tired of doing what people told her, tired of being let down. Aunt Marge’s words stung. There was no one left for Libby, and she refused to think of her aunt as a guardian. The woman was a monster. How could her dad leave her with this lunatic?

  A car passed her, slowed, then pulled over and stopped. Libby plodded forward, eventually reaching it.

  “Libby, is that you?” Miss Orman leaned across the front seat and peeked out the open passenger window.

  Libby stopped next to the window.

  “Why are you walking? Get in.” Miss Orman reached across to open the door.

  “It’s been a bad morning.” Libby climbed into the car and set her pack on the floor. Her left hand still gripped her phone.

  # # #

  Julie took in Libby’s disheveled appearance. Her face, blotchy and pale with streaks from fallen tears. Her coat and threadbare pants bore dirt stains. Worst of all was the desolate look in Libby’s red eyes.

  “Are you okay?”

  Libby nodded, but her blank expression remained.

  “Do you want to tell me what happened?”

  Libby shook her head and stared straight ahead seeming fragile as a porcelain dish. Julie checked for traffic and pulled back onto the road.

  After a minute Libby spoke. “My aunt is growing and selling pot.”

  Julie’s head snapped to Libby. “What did you say?”

  “She keeps it in the barn, I saw it this morning. I always wondered why she spent so much time out there.”

  Julie knew Marge Swanson was odd, but she never suspected her to be a drug dealer.

  “Peter broke up with me.” Libby spoke without emotion, and held her phone up as confirmation.

  “Oh Libby, I’m so sorry.” She reached across and patted Libby’s arm, wishing she could wrap the girl in her arms and protect her from the painful realities of life. She didn’t know which was harder for Libby; the confession about her aunt’s illegal dealings or the break up with a boy who no one had ever seen.

  “It’s okay, I’m used to people leaving.”

  Julie fought back tears. Libby’s honesty broke her heart. “This is going to be okay. I promise. Someday you’ll look back and this will be a small blip in your life. You’ll be happy and successful and no one will hold you back from great things.”

  Libby didn’t respond.

  “Listen, I’m going to help you through this. I’m leaving town for Thanksgiving weekend, but as soon as I get back, we’re going to make all this ugliness go away. I promise. Okay?” She watched Libby for a reaction, needing the girl to know someone cared.

  “Okay,” she said, her voice dull.

  Julie knew one thing for sure. Marge Swanson was going down. Her treatment of Libby was appalling and it was time things changed. Libby needed to live with a loving family again. Julie would make damned sure it happened. She pulled into the school parking lot and parked in the staff section.

  “Why don’t you come to my office and we can talk for a while, or have a little something to eat.” Libby always looked like she needed a good meal.

  “I’d rather just go to drawing class.” Already out the door, her pack hung heavy on her small shoulders.

  “All right, but I’m here for you, whatever you need.” She watched Libby disappear into the mass of students.

  Julie grabbed her bag filled with papers and picked up her purse. She swung the car door closed and entered the building. Once in the main office, she knocked on the principal’s door.

  “Mr. Harried, I need the number for Rockville Child Welfare. We need a meeting as soon as possible.”

  # # #

  “Garrett, what the hell is this?” Peter stood in the hotel suite exhausted from a long day packed with interviews. In his palm lay the pieces of his broken phone.

  “What are you doing messing with my stuff?” Garrett’s face turned red and pinched.

  “I was looking for your phone so I could call Libby, but found mine instead. What gives?”

  “Oh yeah, that. Well, ya see, your phone had a little accident. I didn’t want to tell you, cause I know how you over react whenever your little hottie is involved.”

  Peter straightened. Garrett was too cocky, even for him. Something was up. Whenever Garrett got like this it was because he’d screwed with other people’s business. Guarded, Peter asked, “What happened?”

  “Nothing really.” Garrett’s beady eyes stared him down.

  Peter knew he lied. A bad feeling sat in the pit of his stomach. “You son of a bitch, what the hell did you do?”

  “Actually, I did you a favor. In fact, you should thank me for cleaning up your mess. You won’t have to deal with your Midwest farm girl anymore.”

  Peter dropped the broken pieces of the phone on the side table. He stalked across the room and gra
bbed Garrett by the front of his expensive shirt and shook him, tearing the shirt in the process. “Listen here, smart ass, you better start talking and fast.” He tightened his grip and lifted Garrett off his feet. Fabric ripped beneath his hands.

  “Chill man, will ya? You’re ruining my new shirt. See what I mean? One mention of your little girlfriend and you go postal.”

  Peter was about to respond when Adam walked in, futzing with his camera. He took one look at Peter and Garrett. “Dude, what are you doing? Mom and Dad are like ten feet away.”

  Peter shoved Garrett away, disgusted, but his piercing glare remained. Garrett shrugged and fixed his collar back in place.

  “Geez, what’d you do to piss off Peter? Hit on his girlfriend or something?” Adam plopped onto the couch between the two.

  “Adam, shut it,” Peter said through clenched teeth.

  “More like something.” Garrett puffed up his chest.

  “Oh shit, I gotta hear this.” Adam put his feet up on the couch and grinned ear to ear, camera at the ready.

  “Peter’s little stalker friend won’t be bothering him anymore. Turns out she got dumped today.” Garrett crossed his arms looking satisfied with himself.

  “Peter, you dumped Libby?” Adam lowered his camera, confusion on his face.

  Peter spoke slowly, his words measured and jaw clenched. “No, I haven’t talked to Libby today. Garrett, you better tell me what you did right now or so help me I’ll break your frickin’ neck.” He forced his fisted hands to his sides, not trusting himself.

  “This morning, while you were on your run, I gave your little friend a call.” Garrett loved an audience, even if it was only Adam. “I told her how bored you are with her and that you want her to go away. Forever.” Garrett raised an eyebrow, an open challenge to Peter.

  Adam’s eyes grew wide with shock. “Garrett, you’re a dead man.”

  “Peter doesn’t have the cajones. Plus, he’d rather go write a song about it than risk breaking a fingernail on his playing hand.”