by Kai Juniper
He narrows his eyes at me. "I donate money to the police and the charities they support, and trust me, money speaks louder than any claim made against me."
"Guess we'll find out." I keep my eyes on him. "Calvin, go stand by Ella."
"He's not taking orders from you!" his dad yells.
"Calvin," I say, urging him to move.
He finally does, getting up from the floor and slowly walking around me until he reaches Ella at the door.
"Take him outside," I say, glancing at Ella.
She nods and takes Calvin away.
When they're gone, I grab Calvin's dad by his dress shirt and slam him against the wall.
"How's it feel to be on the other side?" I smile, seeing the fear in his eyes.
"You think you scare me?" he scoffs. "You're a child."
"I'm a man. A man who could beat the living shit out of you and leave you here to die."
The fear in his eyes spreads to his face. He swallows hard and sweat's beading up on his forehead.
"But I'm not going to do it," I say. "Because then I'd be like you. And I hate fuckers like you, thinking your power and money gives you the right to beat up your kid and get away with it." I keep him held against the wall and lean down to his face. "You ever lay a hand on him again, I'll come back here and finish this. I don't give a fuck how many connections you have, or how much money you have in the bank, or how many businesses you own. I will end you if you touch him again."
He clears his throat and looks to the side.
"Do we have a deal?"
He nods and clears his throat again.
I let him go and slowly back away. I walk out of the room and down the hallway to the door. I go outside and see the truck there, the engine running, with Ella and Calvin inside.
"Let's go!" Ella yells.
Calvin moves over and I get in next to him. "You okay?"
He nods really fast, and he's shaking.
"He thinks we just pissed off his dad," Ella says as she drives off.
"We did," I tell him. "But he's not going to hurt you again."
"He will," Calvin mutters, a black stare on his face. "He'll make it worse next time, to punish me." He looks up at me. "You don't understand. You don't know what it's like."
I look over at Ella. She's giving me a look back that's begging me to tell him. I don't know if I'm ready for that. I never thought I'd tell anyone, and I'm not sure I would've told Ella if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes.
Calvin looks down. "You know it was me. That's why you came here. You know I sent the texts."
"I recognized your voice on the recording you sent,” Ella says.
"What are you going to do me?" He cowers like it's a natural response any time he thinks he's going to be hit. He's not worried about Ella. He's worried about me. He's almost as scared of me as he is of his father.
It makes me feel like shit, like I'm no better than Calvin's dad or my own. I've made people fear me to get control over them and make myself feel powerful, not realizing I was doing exactly what my father did to me.
"I'm not going to hurt you," I say to Calvin. "We went to your house to ask if you'd come forward to the police and be a witness so it wasn't Ella and me against Finn and Parker. Those two will lie and try to put all the blame on Ella and me."
"I thought those guys were your friends," Calvin says.
"Yeah, well, I wouldn't really call them that."
Ella pulls up to her house and parks. "Are you ready for this?"
"They're not here yet," I say. "We still have time." I turn to Calvin. "Will you help us or not? Either way, we'll find a way to keep you from having to go back to your house, if that's what you want."
"I need to think about it," he says. "I don't know where I'd live."
"We’ll figure it out," I say, thinking I need to do the same for myself.
"What about coming forward as a witness?" Ella says. "Would you consider it?"
He nods. "I'll do it."
"Really?" she says, surprised.
"With one condition." He looks over at me. "You protect me from Finn and Parker."
"Done."
We go inside the house and I notice my shirt has blood on it. I look at Calvin and see his arm is bleeding. He must've got blood on me when his arm brushed against my shirt when he was next to me in the truck.
"You should clean that up," I say to Calvin, pointing to his arm.
"You're bleeding?" Ella races up to him and sees his arm. "I'll get some bandages." She goes to the hall bathroom.
"Think I could borrow one of your dad's shirts?" I yell so she'll hear me.
She comes out of the bathroom. "Why?"
"I don't want the cops seeing this." I point to the blood on my shirt.
She nods and goes in her dad's room.
I yank my shirt off and go to the kitchen to toss it in the trash. When I turn around, I see Calvin staring at me, his jaw dropped.
"What?" I look down and see the dark bruise on my abs. Shit. I wasn't thinking.
Ella returns with the shirt. "Why is it so quiet in here?"
"What happened?" Calvin asks, his eyes on my stomach. "That looks like..." He pulls his shirt up and I see a bruise similar to mine, but it's along his side.
Ella looks between Calvin and me, then back at me. She wants me to tell him. I don't know if I can.
"Yeah," I say. "That's what it is." I leave it at that and take the shirt from Ella. Calvin watches as I put it on, looking completely shocked. He better not ask me about it because I'm pissed that he saw and talking about it will just make me angrier.
The front door opens and Ella's dad walks in.
"Are you having a party in here?" he jokes, seeing Calvin there.
"Dad, this is Calvin," Ella says, pointing to him. "He goes to my school."
"And you're all doing that assignment?" he says, going to the fridge to get a drink.
"Um, no." Ella walks up to him. "Dad, there's some stuff I need to tell you."
He looks around. "Where's Susan? She was going to come here to work."
The doorbell rings.
We all watch as Ella's dad goes to answer it. He opens the door and Susan's standing there.
"There you are," he says with a laugh. "I was just asking Ella where you went."
"She didn't tell you?"
"Tell me what?"
Susan sighs. "I'm sorry, Roy, but I need Ella to come down to the station for questioning."
"What are you talking about? Is this a joke?"
Ella comes up behind her dad. "It's not a joke."
He looks between Susan and Ella. "What's going on here?"
"Do you want to tell him or should I?" Susan says to Ella.
Ella pauses, then says to her dad, "You know that hit-and-run? The one Susan's investigating?"
"Yes. What about it?"
"It was me. I was the girl in the SUV with the three guys. The one at the pay phone at the gas station." She looks down. "It was me."
Chapter Twenty-Three
Briggs
On the ride to the police station, Ella explains to her dad what happened the night of the hit-and-run. He's angry she wasn't truthful with him, but instead of yelling at her, he tells her he loves her and that everything will be okay. I feel a surge of rage seeing her dad treat her like that, which isn't right, but it's a reaction built up over years of seeing people with fathers like Ella's and wishing they were mine. I need to get over it, but that'll take time.
When we get to the police station, my father is there, along with the three lawyers he hired to defend me. I'm sure he's already made up a story to protect the Chadwick name from being harmed, a story he'll leak to the press to make sure I'm not portrayed poorly in the news.
"Briggs!" he races up to me and gives me a hug. It's a quick, business-like hug, but enough to make my whole body go stiff. I don't want him touching me, and he wouldn't if there weren't people around. The hug is all for show as he plays the role of caring father
.
"You can go," I tell him. "I can handle this."
He takes me aside, lowering his voice. "Why didn't you tell me about this? We could've been working on a plan this whole time."
That's all he cares about, coming up with a plan that makes us look good. He doesn't care that a man died. Even if I was the one who hit the guy, my father wouldn't care. He'd only be concerned with covering it up.
Susan approaches us. "Mr. Chadwick, we'd like to ask your son some questions."
My dad steps in front of me. "My son is not answering your questions. You can talk to his lawyers, but only after they've had time to consult with him."
"Sir, we're not arresting him," Susan says. "We're simply asking him to tell us what happened."
"Where do you want me?" I say, going around my dad.
"Briggs!" my father yells.
"Right this way." Susan turns and walks down a hall.
"Briggs!" my dad yells. "Don't you dare say a word to her!"
I ignore him and follow Susan. She takes me in a room and shuts the door. I was expecting to see Ella and Calvin here, but the room is empty.
"Where's Ella?" I ask.
"She's in a different room. She's being interviewed by one of my colleagues."
So it's just me? Shit. Maybe I should get my lawyer in here.
"Is something wrong?" Susan asks.
"No. Go ahead."
I don't need a lawyer. I have nothing to hide. Susan saw the video. She saw what happened.
"Tell me about that night," she says.
An hour later, after I've told the story multiple times and answered all her questions, Susan finally lets me leave. I walk back to the front of the police station and see Ella and her dad standing there. Calvin's sitting in one of the chairs.
"Did my dad leave?" I ask Ella.
"I guess. He wasn't here when I came out."
Susan walks up to Ella's dad. "Roy.
"Not now," he says, looking away from her.
"Roy," she says in a pleading tone. "I didn't have a choice."
"Ella, let's go," he says, ignoring Susan.
"Briggs is coming too," Ella says, "and Calvin."
"All of you get in the truck," her dad says, motioning to us. "We're leaving."
We go outside and pile into the truck. It's an extended cab, so Calvin and I sit in the back.
"I can't believe you didn't tell me this," Ella's dad says to her as he drives home. "How could you not tell me?"
"I was afraid to. I didn't want you being disappointed in me."
"Honey, you know I love you no matter what. All you had to do was tell me and together we would've figured out what to do. I'm your dad. My job is to help you."
I feel that rage building again. I look over and see Calvin fisting his hands. Is he feeling the same rage I am? That jealous rage that comes from wanting something so damn bad, but knowing you'll never have it?
"I'm sorry, Dad," Ella says.
"We're going to get through this. Everything will be okay." He looks at me in the rearview mirror. "As for me adopting two more teenagers, I'm not so sure about that. But we'll figure something out."
"I can get a hotel," I tell him.
"I'm kidding, Briggs," he says. "As long as one of you is okay with a sleeping bag on the floor, you're welcome to stay."
If Ella needed a place to stay, my father wouldn't allow it, even though we have a house full of empty bedrooms. My father is the reason Ella's dad is losing his house, and yet he's still letting me stay there. I don't understand it. I didn't know people like him existed.
"Dad, you can't break up with Susan," Ella says. "She was just doing her job."
"By arresting my daughter?" he huffs. "I don't see how we come back from that."
"She didn't arrest me. She just asked me questions."
"Ella, this isn't something you need to be getting involved in. It might turn out that Susan and I just weren't meant to be."
"Dad, you love her. You can't just let her go."
We're in the driveway now and he parks the truck. "Anyone hungry?"
"Starving," I mutter.
"Me too," Calvin says.
"Pizza?" Ella says as we go in the house. "I'll order it."
"I'll pay for it," I say.
"Let me," Calvin says, pulling a wad of hundreds from his pocket. He hands one to Ella.
"Um, thanks," she says, staring at the wad of cash as Calvin stuffs it back in his pocket.
Ella orders the pizza, and after we've all eaten, we sit in the living room like we're waiting for something to happen.
The doorbell rings and we all jump.
"I'll get it," Ella says, going to the door. "Susan," I hear Ella say.
Ella's dad lets out a sigh.
Susan appears with Ella. "I just wanted to give everyone an update since my calls went unanswered." She looks at Ella's dad as she says it. She called him several times since we left the police station, but he wouldn't pick up.
"What's the update?" I ask Susan.
"Finn and Parker have been charged and are currently in jail until their parents post bail, which probably won't happen until the morning."
Earlier, Susan told us the cops couldn't find Finn and Parker when they went to arrest them. I told them they probably left town, and sure enough, the cops pulled them over about an hour south of here.
"What are the charges?" Calvin asks Susan.
"Finn's charged with a felony hit-and-run, which is typical for cases where the victim dies. We can't charge him with intoxication while driving since we weren't able to administer a test proving he was drunk that night."
"I told you he'd been drinking," I say.
"That's not enough to charge him. We'd need a blood alcohol test to support the charge."
"What will happen to him if he's convicted?" I ask.
"It could range from a fine to a couple years in prison."
"That's it?" Ella says. "That's all he'd get for killing a guy?"
"What about Parker?" I ask.
"He'll probably get a fine," Susan says. "From what the three of you told us, and from what we saw on the video, Parker was clearly more concerned about getting to the party than helping this man. The judge will consider that in his decision and will likely go harder on him than if Parker had tried to help the man."
"What about us?" I ask. "Ella and me."
"Ella clearly wanted to stay with the man," Susan says. "The three of you agreed on that when we questioned you, and I can tell on the video she was trying to get everyone to stay behind. Because of that, she won't be charged."
Ella lets out a sigh of relief.
"As for you," Susan says to me. "You ultimately made the decision to leave and you were the one driving the vehicle away from the scene."
"Finn was drunk," I tell her. "I couldn't let him drive."
"I understand that," Susan says, "but we can't prove that Finn was drunk, so that's not going to work in your favor. But stopping at the pay phone to call for help will look good to a judge."
"Judge," I repeat. "So you're saying I'm being charged?"
"Not quite."
"What does that mean?"
"I can't tell you just yet. Hopefully, by tomorrow I'll have an answer." Susan glances at Ella's dad, who hasn't looked at her the entire time she's been here. "Well, that was all I had. I'll let you all continue your evening."
"Dad," Ella says in a hushed tone, urging him to walk her to the door.
He doesn't, so Ella does.
When Susan's gone, Ella stalks up to her dad. "What is wrong with you? You wouldn't even look at her. Didn't you hear her? I'm not getting charged with anything. You don't need to be mad at her."
"Let it be," he says, getting up. "I'm going to bed."
We all get up as he goes in his room.
"What do you think she meant?" I ask Ella. "Why didn't she charge me? Why is she waiting?"
"I don't know."
"Could I get a ride?" Calvin asks Ella. "
I can pay you."
"Calvin, you can't go home, not with your dad there."
"I wasn't going home. I was going to stay with Oliver. I just texted him and asked if I could stay the night."
"Does he know what's going on?" I ask.
"He might've seen it on the news, but he doesn't know I was involved."
"I meant about your dad."
"No." Calvin looks down. "I haven't told anyone. I didn't want anyone to know."
I walk over to him. "How long do you think you could stay there? At Oliver's house?"
Calvin shrugs. "Maybe a couple nights."
"You think if you told him about your dad he'd let you stay longer?"
"Probably, but I don't want to tell him."
"I didn't want to tell anyone either," I say, "but keeping it a secret is just helping your father, not you."
"How old are you?" Ella asks Calvin.
"Eighteen."
"Then you don't need to go back there," Ella says. "You can stay with friends until you go to college."
"My dad won't allow it."
"Your dad doesn't get a say in it," I tell him. "You're an adult. You can do what you want. Do you have money?"
"I have a trust fund, but there's a limit of how much I can take out. But I could do some contract jobs to make money. I'm already working on a few that are almost done. I should get paid in a few weeks."
"Then you don't ever need to go back here," Ella says. "You have money to live on and friends who will let you stay with them."
Calvin looks torn, and I think I know why. When you live with an abuser, you start to believe their lies. You start to think you're worthless and can't survive without their help. My father didn't start the physical abuse until just recently, but he's been emotionally abusing me my entire life, telling me I'm not good enough or smart enough and how I need him and his money to survive. Part of me believed him. It's why I've been trying so hard to get the car, thinking money is my ticket to freedom. But the truth is, I don't need money to get a new life. I can make it on my own, even without the money. It's my father and what he said about me that was holding me back. He made me doubt myself, just like Calvin is doing right now.
"I know you're afraid to leave," I tell Calvin, "but trust me, you'll be better off without him. You don't need him in your life."