Maddie collapsed to the floor in tears. She shook like she was dry heaving. Her dad took a quarter step toward her, but one look from his wife stilled his movement.
Anger flared inside Maddie. “That boy is an asshole!” she screamed. “He got what he deserved. He deserves worse.”
“Madelynne Collins, that is not for you to decide! You’re a child. My child, and you will do as I say. You disobeyed, and now you’re going to pay the price.”
Maddie rose to her feet and wiped each eye with the back of her hand. Breathing hard, she stared into her mom’s eyes. They were hard and flinty. Maddie walked over to her, arms rigid against her sides, hands balled into fists. She made her own eyes resolute as steel.
“Half this equipment Uncle Z bought me. You can’t sell it. You can’t.” Maddie tried to keep her voice from cracking and failed. “I’ll do anything.”
Tina regarded her daughter, then shifted her eyes to her husband. He looked from her to a purplish-colored .22 rifle at the edge of the pile, then looked back at her. He gave her a subtle shake in the negative. He mouthed the words don’t do that to make sure his message got through.
“Let me be clear, Madelynne. I’m the parent. You have no leverage, no voice in this decision, but I’ll make you a deal. Anything we bought is going away, but I’ll spare anything that was a gift from Zavier. But in exchange, you are not going to pester me to try and change my mind. And you will focus only on high school activities . . . starting with joining cheerleading.”
Maddie’s whole body deflated. “Mom, come on. The football season has already started. I couldn’t get on the team even if I wanted to. And I don’t want to.”
“You just said anything. This is anything.”
No decision but one could be made here. Maddie knew it. She knew her mother knew it. Her body sagged as she gave up. “Yes, Mother.”
Maddie turned and walked over to the pile. She started separating out the items Uncle Z had given her. As best she could, she avoided looking at the other stuff, lest she start crying again. “What about dance class?” she said over her shoulder.
“It will probably help you with cheerleading, so you can keep going.”
Maddie just nodded. It was a small victory, but one nonetheless. She looked over the smaller pile she had created. Fishing poles, outdoor knives, two crossbows, the rifle, and three slingshots lay this way and that on top of one another. It wasn’t much, but they were all filled with precious memories. She could not part with them.
“That’s everything.”
“Fine. Put that box of books and those things in the garage. I’m putting them into storage.”
“Yes, Mother.” Maddie grabbed the box and started shuffling toward the garage.
“And pick up your feet! You’re fourteen, not a spoiled five-year-old,” snapped Tina as she moved to turn on the television.
Maddie gritted her teeth but started walking normally again. Her walk was the only normal thing she would have, she knew, until she graduated from high school. Once all her firearms and bows were sold, it would take time and money to replace everything that gave her any joy.
Unbidden, words Uncle Z had once spoken to her creeped through her mind.
“Action without forethought usually leads to disaster.”
Uncle Z had said that to her more than once. It was a lesson she apparently still had not learned. Now she was indeed paying the price.
She cast the thoughts aside and headed back into the house. She could hear her parents arguing as she walked down the hall.
“Are you just going to leave them lying on the floor?”
“Honey, you’re the one who made me take them all out of their neat cases just to make a point. So, yeah, I’m leaving them right here until the morning.”
“God. You’re like Pigpen . . .”
Her mother’s voice trailed off as the volume of the television increased.
“Mom—”
“Shush,” hissed her mother, not taking her eyes off the television screen.
In a day where she had been yelled at more than a bit, the brush-off rankled her, but the look on her parents’ faces kept her silent. Something else was going on. She walked over to sit with them. The moment her backside hit the cushion, her mother’s arms draped around her and pulled her in close. Maddie frowned and looked at the television.
A thin Asian reporter stood in front of what looked to be either a park or wooded area. It was hard to tell which since the light in front of the reporter was concentrated on him.
“Christopher, did the police say whether the discovery of this body is related to the Michelle Anderson case or the missing girl in Teller County?”
“Tom, police have scheduled a press conference tomorrow where no doubt more details will be shared. My contacts within the department, however, have told me that this death was the result of a possible overdose, which, of course, feeds the concern many have about a dangerous and lethal form of drugs circulating in the surrounding communities. One interesting thing of note: At the crime scene a question was shouted at the incident commander in charge of the scene about Ansley Price.”
“Christopher, isn’t that the teenager who disappeared three weeks ago?”
“That is correct, Tom. The IC flatly denied any connection between this tragic discovery and Ansley Price, saying ‘All queries about the disappearance of sixteen-year-old Ansley Price and any possible connections to the discovery are just speculative conjecture.’ But I have to tell you he did not look happy with the question. Not sure it would be smart to ask again at the press conference, but we will see if any further information is given on any possible connections.”
“That was Christopher Tsui reporting live. In case you are just joining us, the body of a young woman was discovered under the Carson Bridge in the late evening hours tonight. The victim’s name will not be released until the next of kin are notified. This, of course, comes on the heels of other . . .”
The anchor’s voice faded as Tina turned down the volume. She looked over at Derek.
“Jesus, that’s the second girl this week.” She reached out and grabbed his hand for some sort of reassurance. “What if it’s not drugs at all but something worse? It’s less than forty miles from us.” Tina’s voice constricted with emotion. Maddie and Derek could see the fear in her eyes.
“There’s no need to start imagining worst-case scenarios, honey,” said Derek.
“It’s terrible just the same. We need to add that girl and her family to our prayer list,” said Tina. “All of us.”
“Sure, Mom,” said Maddie. She turned to go up to her room.
“Madelynne.”
Maddie turned around to find herself suddenly engulfed in a constricting “mom hug,” the kind Tina gave when she was scared or frightened.
“I love you, honey. I only punish you because I love you.”
It was the type of statement that made sense to parents but was nonsensical to anyone under the age of eighteen.
“Sure, Mom.” She felt her mother flinch as if stung, but it was all Maddie could give. The day’s events and her mother’s decisions did not allow for anything else.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Maddie thought she was prepared for school.
She was dead wrong.
She had underestimated how teachers and her peers would react. Her first fight had been with a well-known student, but Aden was still a nobody in terms of school status. As such, that fight had generated benign reactions. Comments like Isn’t that the spaz that tried to be all Jason Bourne in the boys’ locker room? had been annoying but understandable.
This time she had messed with and hurt the school star—the football team’s alpha dog. She had crossed the line, and her peers were going to let her know it. The jocks were jerks, bullies, and assholes, but you were just supposed to deal with it and walk away. Mess with a high school sports championship team’s chances, and you were dirt.
As Maddie walked down a school hall
way, the hostility directed toward her made her feel like she was viewed as worse than dirt—more like mud. Two football players had already “accidently” bumped into her. As she continued her way through the hall, she tried to ignore students’ incessant whispers, but with no luck. Their softly delivered words were anything but; as she passed by, their whispers felt like nails on a chalkboard.
Now she stood in front of her locker to change out her books. Three layers of duct tape covered it. Pulling it off would take forever. She would be late to class. She punched the locker and screamed. “He’s a freakin’ bully, not the president!”
“Here’s the thing about bullies, love,” said a voice in a terrible imitation of an English accent. The speaker plopped her back against the locker next to Maddie. It was Tiffani.
“If you’re gonna beat on a bully, see, ya got to fight one no one gives a rat’s arse about. But if ya tussle with one that’s a popular bloke, a star athlete—and hurt them—blimey, you’re basically dirt for the rest of the year.”
“That’s horrible. Literally hearing you speak just now was more painful than the fight. Blimey? Are you binging on BBC America?”
“Guilty as charged,” said Tiffani in her normal voice. Today she wore her hair swept to the side with a bit of it hanging over one eye. Maddie thought she detected a little more makeup but didn’t want to stare.
“You want some help with that?” Tiffani pointed to the duct tape.
Maddie waved the question away. “No. I can’t be bothered. I’ll just brood in class and take notes.”
“Off we go then. Bilson hates tardiness.”
They weaved in and out of the congested hall as they headed to class. Most people moved out of their way, happy to avoid Maddie. Others, Maddie swore, moved their groups in front of them. As they rounded a corner, a kid down the hall shouted, “Crazy bitch!”
Maddie stopped in her tracks. She half-turned and looked down the hall to find the speaker. She expected insults, but this still pissed her off.
Tiffani slipped her arm through Maddie’s. “Ignore the riff-raff, dearie.”
Before she could respond, her moment of anger caught the attention of the class clown.
“Ooh, look at Madhat Maddie. She’s ready to catch a case on us. It’s all good. I got my phone with me. Start breaking some legs up in this place. Let’s film us an episode of Snapped.” He finished off the taunt with a crisp snap of the fingers.
“Maybe I’ll do the school a favor and break your mouth, Jason.”
Maddie had made the comment in jest, but the scowling students around her signaled it had fallen flat. Into that awkwardness strode the one person she could have done without: Aden.
With a firm push against her shoulder, he propelled her toward class. “Making friends and influencing people again I see.”
“Don’t touch me,” Maddie snapped but did not turn from the direction she and Tiffani were headed.
“I’m surprised their attitude even bothers you,” said Aden.
“It doesn’t. She just finds it annoying,” snarled Tiffani. “Why are you even talking to her?” The abrupt change in tone took Maddie aback. The playful banter had disappeared. Even Tiffani’s frown was fierce.
The look was not lost on Aden. He flinched like he had been stung. What the f---? thought Maddie. Tiffani did not growl at people, and Aden didn’t shuffle around like a puppy when they barked at him. Are these pod people?
“I . . . I just wanted to say I’m sorry—for not helping you in the fight.”
“I didn’t need any help.”
“I know, but I should have helped anyway.”
For a moment, both girls stood speechless. Five seconds passed before Maddie could think of a response. It was an inadequate one, but all she had. This time Maddie did the arm grabbing and yanked Tiffani with her as she quickly marched away. “I’m in bizarro world,” she rasped.
Maddie greeted lunch period with some happiness. It would be a sort-of escape from the day’s drama. Veiled lesson plans directed toward her by fanboy teachers for a sixteen-year-old jerk had grated on her nerves. She also had not run into anyone in her new crew, except for Tiffani. It felt funny to consider them her “crew” after such a short time, but besides Tiffani, the only other students who had been nice to her were Tommy, Zara, Allie, and Lilly—they were all she had.
She walked into the cafeteria feeling the heat of hundreds of stares directed at her. She ignored her unending impulse to glare back and instead scanned the cafeteria for her friends.
She was halfway through her left to right scan when she spotted the cold, blue eyes of Dorete Johnson, head cheerleader, queen bee of the school, and girlfriend to Andre. Maddie had been dreading this all day. Nothing in her current situation would allow her to handle Dorete the way she preferred.
Maddie stepped to the side to avoid her, but Dorete mirrored her movement, remaining in front of her face. She took two steps forward, invading Maddie’s personal space.
“I don’t know how someone puts another student in the hospital and manages not to get arrested, but I assure you there will be hell to pay.”
Without another word, Dorete stormed off. More of a sashay, really, thought Maddie. Her eyes followed the blonde terror. She had no doubt that the moment she got on the cheerleading squad, hell would be a nicer place to be. She resumed scanning the crowd and was rewarded with a hectic wave from Allie at a table in the far back corner. Allie’s smile brought a little sunshine into Maddie’s mood, and she rushed over to the table.
Everyone was seated and waiting for her. Tommy did not acknowledge her until Zara slapped his shoulder, which prompted him to snap his head up from his phone screen. Tommy’s face was filled with annoyance at the interruption. It demanded a comment.
“Hey, telephoneboy, isn’t that how I ended up the wretch of the school?”
Tommy grinned. “Nope. I think that was the chop suey kick to Andre’s medial rotator.” Tommy patted the space next to him. “Have a seat, Batgirl.”
It felt good to see Tommy not acting salty over a girl fighting for him. Maddie smiled and sat down. For the first time that day, a warm feeling began to spread through her. “Batgirl is lame. I prefer to think of myself as Lara Croft.”
Tommy mimed choking. Then he grabbed a French fry and pointed it at Maddie. “Blasphemy. Lara Croft? What are you, a roadie from the nineties? Lame game. Lame dame.”
“Nah, Madison is right. Batgirl is lame, or at least the first one is. You’re much more like Cassandra Cain mixed with a little psychotic Damian.”
The speaker was Aden. He was lucky that looks did not kill. He ignored the group’s annoyance toward him and sat down next to Tommy. Maddie watched him like a hawk does a mouse. Tommy shifted around in his seat but spoke into the silence.
“I give you credit for knowing who Cassandra Cain is, knuckle brains. But that still doesn’t explain what you’re doing. Don’t you belong over there?” Tommy stabbed his finger in the direction of the lunch table surrounded by football players.
“Don’t get your panties in a bunch. I’m not trying to invade the nerd herd. I just wanted to tell you face to face that I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
“Damn right it won’t,” said Maddie.
“What I mean is, it won’t happen again whether Action Girl is around or not.” Finished, Aden nodded once, then left the table. All eyes followed him as he headed to jock world. A few of his teammates shot him disapproving looks.
Tommy turned to Maddie. “Did you hit him over the head after I left the office yesterday?”
“No, but someone must have. He stopped me in the hall to say sorry.” Maddie looked down at her lap. “Tommy?”
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“Why are you holding my hand?”
“Oh, was I? Sorry, it just felt so natural there.”
“Oh gawd,” howled Lilly and the girls. “I told you, Maddie. I told you he was gonna be in love.”
“So in loove,” All
ie and Zara exclaimed in sing-song voices full of harmony.
“Whoa!” said Maddie. “I didn’t know you guys could sing.”
“Yep, we can blow. So can Lilly.”
Lilly adjusted her glasses but retained her demureness. “I’m OK.”
Tommy snorted. “Modesty is a sin when it’s an understatement. Hey, Maddie, here you go, doll.” He handed her a slick black smartphone.
“Don’t let me staring at this sleek phone make you think I missed or approved of that doll comment. Now what’s this?”
“That”—Tommy said as he pointed to Maddie’s backpack where her flip phone was stored—“glorified pager you call a phone will not do. We need to be able to contact you like normal people. So, I got you a phone.”
Maddie looked at it. She was too shocked to say a word. Befuddled, she activated the screen. Multiple app icons crowded the space. “Tommy, I can’t accept this. It’s too much. How would I even pay the bill? And if my mom found it—”
Lilly popped her lollipop out of her mouth to cut Maddie off. “It’s under my dad’s corporate account. We have like a gazillion lines. Don’t worry about it.”
“Just keep it on vibrate,” said Tommy. “I’ll call you on the pager and then hang up. That way you know I’m about to call or text you.”
Maddie frowned in confusion. “Sooo, you’re gonna call me on the old phone just to let me know you’re actually gonna talk to me on the new phone?”
“Exactly.” Tommy smiled like the words made perfect sense. Allie reached out and placed her hand on Maddie’s before she could speak again.
“Don’t. Don’t try to make sense out of it. You’ll fail. Trust us.”
Maddie hated to eat, accept a new expensive phone, and run, but she needed to get one chore over and done with. She ignored the dirty looks and calls of “slow it down” from a couple of random teachers as she jogged toward the gym. She took a moment to compose herself before knocking on Coach Samson’s office door.
“Come in.”
The Madison Jennings Series Box Set Page 21