Chapter 5

It didn’t take long for not just Dad and Mom to get to the Parkers, but also Uncle Steve, Cousin Lars, and Uncle Bo.

Dad, Mom, and my uncles went in to deal with the fat slob and his evil bitch. By that point, they had called the police on me, saying that I had hurt Janie. I was sitting on the sectional holding Janie as she continued to weep. Lars came running in saying that the first squad car had arrived.

East Chilton was not exactly the mean streets of Pittsburgh, so when something like an assault gets called in the police feel it necessary to prove their value to the town. Soon the house was surrounded by police cars. It wasn’t long until Janie and I were separated. Janie freaked out. A well-meaning policewoman attempted to calm her down, but it only made it worse. A call was placed for an ambulance.

While my parents were occupied, a young, hotshot cop pulled me aside.

“We know you did it, kid. There are three witnesses who saw it. Just confess now and maybe they’ll go easy on you.”

I was feeling my oats. Never illegally question a lawyer’s kid. “Stop talking to me. I’m a...”

“Shut up, with that crap kid! I’m a cop. I can talk to you anyway or anywhere I want. Now confess!”

I was ripped. I know it was not the smartest thing to do, but this cop was abusing his power and breaking the law. “Get bent!”

I felt a bright pain as I was shoved into the wall and my head actually cracked the drywall.

“Little fucker!” mumbled the cop. As I was lying there, all of a sudden, the cop was lying on top of me moaning.

“I saw what you did to my son, you little punk!” yelled Mom, who was rubbing her knuckles and wincing.

My last conscious thought for a while was, Cool. My mom punched out a cop.

I wasn’t sure how long I was out cold. It couldn’t have been more than about five minutes. As I came to, I heard the perverted bastard’s voice. “I want that little punk arrested. He attacked me, plain and simple.”

“He said you were abusing his girlfriend and she backed him up,” argued my father.

“And her parents will back my story,” said Blanton.

“We’ll see about that, Mr. Blanton,” said an officer, leading the lying jerk away.

“Will everybody please talk quieter? My head hurts,” I complained.

“I’m sorry, Son. The ambulances are on their way,” said Dad.

“More than one?”

“Yes. They are taking Janie in for observation. You might just have a concussion. The officer you were talking to, apparently tripped and fell and accidentally shoved you into the wall.”

“But Dad...” I complained.

“And then Officer Parsons walked into the door jam and knocked himself out,” interrupted Uncle Bo’s friend, Sergeant Kyle, who was a shift commander. “That’s how the officer got hurt.”

“Phil, you gotta control your guy,” challenged Uncle Bo. “He was trying to question my nephew who is a juvenile without his parent and then he attacked the boy.”

“He’s green, but we’ll straighten him out. Now you have to control your sister,” he laughed.

“You know that ain’t ever gonna happen, especially if you hurt her son,” grinned Uncle Bo.

As I listened to my uncle and his buddy and saw my father lobbying the cops, I realized what a mess I helped to cause. I had kept Janie safe, but there would be a cost for a number of people. I hoped that I wouldn’t get into too much trouble. Now that I was thinking a bit more clearly, I began to worry about Janie. What made it worse was that I was not allowed to talk to her.

Pretty soon, the ambulances came. After they arrived, several paramedics started buzzing around the room. My mother came over and sat with me and gently stroked my hair with her good hand, before a paramedic checked my vital signs while another was looking at Mom’s bruised knuckles on her other hand.

“You did a good and brave thing today, Tommy. It’s sad that you’ll have to miss your baseball scrimmage tomorrow.”

“But, Mom, what if the doctor says that it is okay for me to play?”

“Then you still won’t play. I heard what you said to that officer.”

Oops!

“Where did you hear the expression ‘get bent?’”

“Watching The Rockford Files with you, Dad, Grandma, and Grandpa. I heard Jim say it on one of those shows and thought it sounded cool.”

I saw my mom trying to stop laughing, but she couldn’t. Finally, she looked me right in the eye and said: “It was wrong Tommy, but I must admit that I thought it sounded cool, too.”

This time, we both laughed and it didn’t hurt too much. The first game was just a practice game and wouldn’t count. I guess that considering everything that happened, I could live with missing it.

We didn’t get home until well after one in the morning. The good news was that it was only a mild concussion that when combined with what they called ‘adrenaline dump,’ knocked me right out. Also, no farm chores tomorrow. Grandpa and Lars would do them for me. The bad news was no baseball today and no video games after church on Sunday. The big thing was, that I was worried about Janie. After she was checked out, she stayed the night at the Bridges place with her sister.

It was mid-morning by the time I eventually awakened. I had easily slept through the night and discovered that Lars had come over first thing to help Grandpa with my morning chores. When I thought about Lars, he was not only my cousin but also one of my best friends. He never treated me like a little kid, but still acted like a big brother. I guess considering that neither of us had any siblings, it was easy for me to see him that way. I believed that Lars felt the same way about me.

Over a late breakfast, I discovered that they had taken Blanton, Chad, and Lisa in for questioning. Blanton and Lisa told similar stories, but surprisingly Chad backed my story as the more likely one, even though he wasn’t a witness to the actual event. I overheard Uncle Steve telling Dad (as they were sitting in the parlor) that he and Chad had talked before the police got there, According to Chad, apparently, Lisa and the pervert were having an affair and Chad knew about it. He and Lisa had initially been forced into the situation, as they both worked for Blanton and he threatened to fire them both if they did not go along with it. Uncle Steve told my dad that Chad had no idea that Blanton was going to try to abuse Janie. He just assumed that Blanton wanted Chad out of the house so he could sleep with Lisa. Once Chad discovered what happened, he told the police that he believed me. Based upon the time I spent with him walking toward the car, there was no way Blanton’s and Lisa’s story could be true.

After eavesdropping on my dad and uncle, I asked my mom about calling Janie over at the Bridges.

“Just a short call, Honey. She’s had a tough time of it too and we don’t know how she will react.”

I looked in the phone book and found the number for Nicholas Bridges and called.

“Hello?”

“Hello, may I please speak to Janie Parker.”

“Is this our hero?”

“Jen?”

“Yeah, it’s me. You did it! You really did it! You saved Janie!”

“How is she?”

“She was a mess last night, but she’s better. She wants to see you ... we want to see you! Can you come over?”

“I don’t know if I can. I’m kind of grounded, at least for the weekend.”

“No, you’re not grounded from seeing them,” called out my mom. I guess I’m not the only Matthews good at eavesdropping.

“If I can get a lift and it’s okay with your folks.”

“Yes, and yes,” yelled my mother. “I already checked with Natalie.”

“I guess I can come.”

“Good! Janie wants to speak to you.”

“Okay,” I said and then I heard a different voice.

“Tommy?”

“Yes, it’s me, Janie.”

“I’ll love you forever! You saved me!”

“Janie, I...”

“Tommy, you really are my prince. You saved me from an evil ogre and an evil queen. You saved me, Tommy and I’ll always be grateful! Always! Jenny feels the same way. She’s always loved me since we were little kids and now she loves you too. You saved me, Tommy! You saved us! “

I was in shock. Here were the most beautiful girls in the school telling me that they loved me. I was a teenager. What was I supposed to know about love? I mean, I love my family. Jesus teaches us to love not only our friends and families but our enemies too. I was having a hard time loving old Edgar and Lisa right now. What I did know was that I cared about both my girls ... My girls? Did I really think of them as mine?

“Janie, you and Jen are my friends ... not just any friends, but my special friends. I care for you both an awful lot. If that is what love is then I guess I love you both too.

“I know we’re young, but I know how I feel. So does Jenny. Before she died, my grandma always said that girls were more mature than boys and grew up faster. I know we are too young to be boyfriend and girlfriends right now but in a few years, things will change for us. We’ll be in high school and ready to go on real dates and there is only one boy we want to be with and that’s you.”

We agreed that I would stop over at the Bridges about noon for lunch. After I hung up the phone, I went into the parlor and collapsed on the settee. It was like every drop of energy had rushed out of my body. I also hurt all over too. Later, my dad said what I was going through was the same kind of adrenaline dump from everything that happened last night. He ascribed the pain to either growing pains or the amount of concentrated power I used to punch Blanton in the gut. The punch was thrown with my whole body, not just an arm punch.