Chapter 11

Monday, March 25, 2002

When I awoke, Jenny was gone. I walked down the hall and found the bathroom free, so I hopped in the shower. Mom had, I thought, done something very useful yesterday; it was going to be very convenient going bare between bedroom and shower rather than having to be dressed.

I returned to my room, saw Jenny was now in hers. She smiled when she saw me bare. She was already dressed and was headed downstairs.

When I got to school, almost at once I ran into Tony. He didn't look too down, and I waved to him. He came over and said, "What a mess. Sue Ellen told me she told you about it."

I nodded, remembering what else had happened as well. Me and Sue Ellen, JR and Sue Ellen... "Your father get home ok?" I asked, interested in changing the subject.

"Oh yeah. But he's got a court date; lucky for him, he never actually picked up a gun." That wasn't exactly what I'd heard from Sue Ellen, but I knew enough not to tell him I'd heard different.

"You hear anything about Parker?" he asked, and I shook my head. "The team has a pool for the first day he comes back to school. I have next Monday."

"You're off the football team?"

"Suspended," Tony said. "It's all crap, really crap. Coach is the one who gives us the shit. It's not something you can go down to South Phoenix and buy on a street corner, or drop in to your local pharmacy and plunk down a prescription for. The worst is, I decided I didn't want to use it; the stuff makes you look all weird. Coach told me I had to use it or lose my position. I told him, so long as I was making catches, running the ball in... he'd be pretty damn stupid dropping me from the team. So, I'm suspended until mid-June. Just in time for football training camp. It's all bullshit." He waved towards school, "I gotta get going, see you later!"

At lunch, Shannon came and sat with me, and we held hands under the table. Tony and Sue Ellen joined us. "Parker didn't come today," Tony said smugly. "I'm still on track to win the pool!"

I explained to Shannon, and she laughed. "I'd have bet my heart! I never want to see him again!"

Just before the bell was going to ring, Tony gestured to me, and we got up and walked towards the main building. "My old man had a major cow about Sue Ellen and me. Sue Ellen and I had been talking anyway about maybe broadening our horizons." I looked at him, curious. "So, we're kind of thinking, maybe like going our own ways for a while."

"I sorry to hear that," I told him, speaking neutrally. And hoping that it wasn't an idea I'd help put in Sue Ellen's head. Or wherever the idea had gotten put.

"Oh, we're still gonna fuck, just not be like, going steady. At least for a little while." Tony said. "I wanted to say that if you wanted to go out with Sue Ellen... I'd not freak out or anything."

"Tony..." I shook my head. "I'm just not a fan of big hooters, okay? It's not that I don't like Sue Ellen as a person; but jeez, the thought of those bouncing around in the throes of passion! You're used to getting beaten on the head. Me, I'd probably get knocked out."

He guffawed, clapped me on the back. "Oh, they're big, sure! But they don't bounce around that much!" He dwelled delightedly on the word 'that.' Then the bell rang, and we both headed to our afternoon classes.

After school, Shannon had asked me to meet her, and I did. "Come over tonight, would you Tom? After dinner?" I nodded, and she left, saying she was going to meet her mom, and then they'd go pick up Elizabeth.

I drove to the junior high, picked up JR and Jenny, and we went back home. There was a car parked in front of our house, and when I pulled up I saw Ms. Johannsen get out, along with a man. They walked to meet us before we could get inside.

"Jennifer, we'd like to talk to you," the social worker told her. "This is Detective Harris."

She turned to me. "I left messages for your parents; they haven't returned them yet. This has come up rather quickly; ideally, they should be here. Yet, it was you Miss Reese asked to have by her side Saturday." She turned back to Jenny. "Does that still hold true, Jennifer?"

"Yes, ma'am," Jennifer said firmly. "I want Tom Ferguson at my side."

We went inside, and JR promptly vanished, the detective was the one who spoke first. "There is no easy way, Miss Reese, to give someone bad news. I'm sorry to tell you that your mother was found this morning by your father; she's been badly beaten. And, it turned out, raped as well. She regained consciousness shortly after noon, and told us that your brother had done it.

"We looked for him at school, but couldn't find him."

"I know I'm not supposed to talk," I said, watching Jenny and not the government people, "but Sam is friends with Keith Driscoll and Roger Parker. He might be with one or both of them."

The detective started writing a note. "You know where they live?"

I shrugged, "I could find out, quickly enough." I went to the phone, called Penny, and she told me Roger's address, and while she didn't know the street address, knew which house was Keith's. I didn't tell her why I was asking, went back and relayed the information to the detective. He excused himself to use the phone himself.

Ms. Johannsen looked steadily at Jenny for a minute; Jenny looked down and away. "Tell me, Jennifer, was there another reason you left home? Besides the differences with your parents about who you were friends with?"

Jenny looked up at me, and I decided in a flash. "You can't get Sam in more trouble than he already is, Jenny. And he could hurt someone else. You have to tell."

So, when the detective was back, Ms. Johannsen asked the questions, and Jenny reluctantly answered them. It was painful, several times Jenny nearly broke down; did when she was talking about her cat. Ms. Johannsen was patient, polite, and above all, non-judgmental; the detective even more so.

I saw Mom, standing a few feet away, right after that; her face pale. I'd been so wrapped up in things, I hadn't heard her come in. Mom went over and sat down next to Jenny, put her arm around her.

Mom looked at Ms. Johannsen. "I think Jennifer's had enough for right now," Mom said levelly.

The social worker looked at the detective, who nodded. "Obviously," Ms. Johannsen murmured, "this isn't going to stop here."

Mom nodded. "I'm sure Jennifer will cooperate; but please, let her set the pace." Mom looked like she was going to cry. "This is hard enough to listen to. To have lived it..." She shook her head, "I have trouble imagining what it would be like."

The social worker sighed. "There are a million more questions I could ask, I'm afraid the detective or one of his people are going to ask most of them at some point in time. Jennifer," Jennifer looked at the woman. "I know you never meant to hurt your mother; there is blame enough for all here. It is important to speak up when wrong is being done, no matter how painful it might seem to be. But that's the judgment of those of us who weren't there, who didn't have to endure."

There was a tone from the policeman's radio, he got up and went across the room. When he came back, I wasn't sure what his expression was. Not a happy camper, I thought.

"You will read about it in the newspapers," he said abruptly, then held out his hand to me. I shook it, mystified.

"Your information led officers to the home of Keith Driscoll. There, three young men had a fourteen-year-old girl they'd kidnapped earlier. They'd beaten and raped her and were getting ready to kill her."

The silence in the room was profound, then Jenny was hugging Mom and crying. I reached out, touched Jenny's shoulder.

"Who was the girl?" I asked the policeman, and he shook his head. "We aren't going to tell anyone Jennifer Reese's name, we aren't going to tell this girl's name either."

I silently prayed it wasn't someone I knew; then realized that was stupid. Someone was hurting, and I wished whoever she was, that she would recover. And if there was any way I could help her, I would.

I also needed to talk to Tony; this was almost certainly going to bring to light the weekend escapade with Roger. Even if they'd only mentioned Jennifer's brother and Keith Driscoll; Roger just had to be number three. "I need to make a phone call," I told them, then walked quickly to the phone.

Tony wasn't at home, wasn't at Sue Ellen's, but she gave me a number of one of the football team players and he was there. I explained to Tony what had happened; there was a long silence when I finished. "He really was a shithead, wasn't he?" Tony said levelly. "Stupid bugger didn't learn a thing."

"Yeah, but it might look like you guys triggered him to go off the deep end, Tony. You could be in trouble, big trouble."

"Well, thanks for the heads up, Tom," he said, then hung up. At first, I was a little angry at his abruptness, then I realized he was at the house of one of the guys who'd left with him Friday night; odds were, they were going to try to come up with something of a plan. I silently wished him luck; odds were that he was going to need it.

Then I called Shannon, made sure she and Elizabeth were safe; I explained what had happened to her. When I got back to the living room, Ms. Johannsen and the detective were getting ready to leave.

"We will talk to Jennifer's parents," Eleanor Johannsen told us. "It is likely they will want to continue the arrangements for their daughter; if that were to change..." She met my eyes, then Mom's. "I'd have to recommend that Jennifer not be allowed to return home. In that event, we would have to do due diligence, in regards to your suitability as foster parents, because Jennifer would have to become a ward of the state. Would you be willing to undertake that process? It is intrusive, there are a lot of personal questions, visits... some of them unannounced."

"Oh," Mom asked dryly, "like we knew in advance Saturday or today? It's not something we would seek out, but if necessary, will gladly undertake." They left, leaving us to cuddle Jenny; JR came down and joined the group hug; when Dad got home, he did too.