Chapter 17

Sharon quietly polished the silverware. They'd needed it for a while, but it wasn't a task she particularly liked, so she usually waited until she had something on her mind. Then she could polish and think. This was one of those times.

She glanced nervously at the clock, quietly wondering what was keeping Allison. She prayed that her youngest daughter didn't do anything rash. She thought back through the day, wondering what she could have done differently, what she could have done to diffuse the situation. She felt that familiar burning in her eyes. Maybe Allison was right. Maybe she was weak. She closed her eyes to hold back the tears. There was no maybe about it.

She also knew she was partly to blame for the strife within her family. She hadn't seen it before, but Allison had. Sharon was two people. She was the meek, submissive wife in her public persona, but the self-assured, modern mother with her daughters. She'd taught them that they could accomplish anything, that they were as good as any man, that they should take life by the horns. In essence, she taught them everything she was too afraid to be. Can you really have a foot in two separate worlds? Why should she be surprised that her duality would ultimately cause disharmony in her family?

Sharon also blamed her husband. He was a good man, but he'd not had the best role models for raising children. He often acted as though he could treat them the same as he treated his employees. Respectful yet cold. He was used to his orders being followed promptly and correctly. Defiance was viewed as insubordination and resulted in consequences. He never saw the need to look at any of the "whys" of their children's actions, instead focusing only on the fact that they were being disobedient. He couldn't fire his children, so he resorted to other tactics of discipline, most typical for rearing children, like cutting off privileges, but almost always done without emotion. Nor was he opposed to forcing them to comply to his demands, such as he was doing with Allison. She hoped that this current situation would just be another battle of wills, but something deep inside told her it was more than that. He seemed exceptionally confrontational, even resorting to the religious discipline tactic that Sharon's own father had often used to justify his demands. Sharon knew her daughters—had raised them—and she knew they rarely had blind obedience.

Abigail was probably the most obedient of their daughters, due to what was an innate goodness. She had always appeared to respect her father. Sometimes she disagreed with him, but always seemed to do it respectfully. Even when disagreeing, she would just state her position and then comply with her father's wishes. That was largely why her marriage to Jack was such a shock. Ted had "laid down the law" and just expected Abigail to obey. She had respectfully objected, of course, but when Ted brushed her objections away, she became openly defiant. Sharon could see how that would give Ted pause regarding Jack and his influence. She never really understood the depth of Ted's animosity towards Jack, though. Openly, she supported her husband, but inside she saw the kind of man Jack could become. And she knew that Abigail loved him. In hindsight, Sharon wondered if she'd just been blinded by her son-in-law's charm and, well, physical appeal.

Sharon shook her head to clear those thoughts and turned her focus on her middle daughter. Analise was, for all intents and purposes, a manipulator. She knew how to play her father, saying and doing all the right things to his face, but then doing her own thing behind his back. Even then, though, she was still pretty responsible. She may have partied harder than Sharon liked, and she'd had her fair share of boys and men over the years, but Analise always seemed to be in control. She did things her own way, even as she was coyly playing the meek, compliant daughter.

And then there was Allison. Sharon sighed as her thoughts turned to her youngest daughter. As if on cue, Sharon heard a car door slam in their driveway. She looked at the clock. Allison was a half-hour late, and Sharon mentally braced herself for the fireworks that her husband and daughter were sure to throw at each other.

Sharon stood and wiped her hands, then moved to intercept her daughter in the hallway. She entered the war zone at the same time as her husband, who had been in his study. She looked first at Ted, whose face was stone with anger, then turned to look at her daughter. The image made her gasp and her hand flew to cover her mouth.

Time seemed to stand still. An intense silence surrounded them.

Allison looked awful. Her clothes were disheveled, the blouse ripped and dirty. Her hair seemed to match the state of her clothes. However, it was her face that brought tears to the mother's eyes. Her cheek was a swollen bruise, topped by a small bandage on her cheekbone. Her eyes were red-rimmed.

Mother's instinct took over, and Sharon leapt into action.

"Dear Lord! Allison, what happened to you?" Sharon exclaimed as she reached for her daughter. Allison allowed herself to be wrapped in her mother's arms, but she never looked at her. Instead, she kept her eyes focused on her father. Sharon looked from the girl to Ted. His expression was still hard, but Allison's appearance seemed to have taken some of the edge off. She turned back to Allison and smoothed her hair.

"Sweetheart, please talk to me. Are you OK? Who did this to you?"

"I'll be fine, Mom." Sharon shivered at the tone in Allison's voice.

"Who did this to you?" Sharon asked again.

"You're late," Ted said evenly. Sharon whipped her head around. Did he really... ? Sharon was shocked, incredulous at his icy demeanor. Did he just have the gall to scold Allison? She'd obviously been assaulted and all he could comment on was her promptness?

Sharon was shocked, but Allison didn't seem to be. She responded evenly, with equal iciness.

"I was a little busy trying to fend off the attentions of a certain young man of character."

Ted was silent again, his jaw working. He finally formed the words, again spoken evenly. "I see. Young Mr. Merrill felt he had the right to engage in a display of affection beyond what is customarily acceptable for a first date."

"Apparently."

Sharon shuddered again at the emotionless conversation between her husband and daughter. Her astonishment was enough to keep her silent. She could feel anger, however, welling within her. The protective mother inside her was beginning to emerge.

Ted stood up straight and took a deep breath. He crossed his arms in front of him. "And why, pray tell, would Mr. Merrill feel he had that right?"

Sharon felt Allison stiffen at the accusatory tone of Ted's words. A little whimper died on Allison's lips, and Sharon could tell that the teen was trying to stave off her emotions.

"I could say it was because Tyson is a chauvinistic pig, a person who believes that he can have whatever he wants, regardless of whether or not someone wants to give it. I could say that he doesn't understand 'No', or that he just chooses to ignore it. I could even say that Tyson hit me—more than once—and then tried to rape me."

Sharon felt the first of her daughter's tears splash onto her arm, which was still wrapped around Allison. Her anger and sorrow almost bubbled over. Allison took a deep breath to compose herself, then continued.

"Only, I'm almost positive what you'll hear is that I threw myself at Tyson, and when it got too hot and heavy and I tried to back away, he lost it. Had I not been such a slut, he wouldn't have been put into such a situation. You're probably already wondering how you can mend the relationship with his father."

Sharon again was stunned at Allison cynicism and coldness, and she anxiously awaited Ted's rebuttal to their daughter's statement. But he was silent. Allison's astute observation obviously stole his retort. Sharon had had enough. She whirled on her husband.

"Theodore Garner. This is not the time or place to question your daughter or accuse her of any misdeeds." Ted's mouth dropped open and he flinched in the sudden vehemence of Sharon's action. "I'm going to take my daughter to her room and look after her. When I'm done, you and I will talk."

Ted recovered from his shock. "Sharon, there are questions that need answering. Right now. I talk to John Merrill nearly every day..."

"I'm serious, Ted. I'll take care of this and we'll deal with the questions later."

"I have a right to know." He stepped forward.

Sharon placed herself between Ted and Allison, her hands on her hips. "Ted. I'm telling you again. Back ... off."

That stopped him, and his next comment tumbled out without any fire. "What will I tell John?"

Her venomous gaze drained any last obstinacy from him. "Well, Ted. I'm pretty sure you can figure it out on your own."

"Brianna, I still think you're too involved."

Brianna rolled her eyes. Why couldn't she get her sister to see? She HAD to be involved. She'd just spent the entire drive trying to convince Tammy she had to go to see Jack and Abigail immediately. At first Tammy had refused to drive Brianna there, spouting off something about getting involved in others personal affairs and about their mother having a conniption. Brianna appealed to Tammy's mothering nature, however, to get her to at least agree to her destination.

"Why, Tammy? Why don't you think I should help my friend? I'd do the same for you, and Allison is almost as much like a sister as you are."

Tammy pulled to a stop in front of the townhouses and turned to her little sister with a sigh. "I know. I hear what you say. But I can't help but feel that you've gotten mixed up in something that's way over your head. I mean, Allison should have reported this—WE should have reported this. And yet we didn't. I was crazy to listen to her and you. Tyson feels threatened. There's no telling what he'll do, and I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Thank you, Tammy. I know you are just worried about me, and I love you for that." Brianna put her hand on Tammy's arm. "But you and I both know that we don't do things just because it might be easier. We do things because they are right."

Tammy shot a look at Brianna and Brianna braced for another onslaught. To her surprise, Tammy smiled. "Aren't you just the little moral compass tonight?" She sighed. "Fine. You just need to make sure that you encourage these three to get things taken care of quickly. Tyson may not be dumb, but I do think rational thought may escape him from time to time. Besides, rumors are running rampant about Allison and her sister and brother-in-law. True or not, there are bound to be more problems."

"I know." Brianna started to get out of the car. Tammy grabbed her arm.

"I'm waiting for you, at least until you get in their house."

"Thanks, Tammy."

Brianna got out of the car and walked briskly up their walkway, taking stock of her surroundings. There was only one car in the driveway and the lights were off. She knocked on the door and waited. She knocked again.

"Come on," she said under her breath. "Answer." Still nothing.

She shrugged and looked back at Tammy's car, then turned and headed around the side of the townhouse. She was focused on not tripping in the dark. A moment later she stood at the bedroom window towards the back of the house. She rapped the window with her knuckle. A few moments later, she repeated it.

"Dammit," she said, and dejectedly retraced her steps. As she neared the living room window she pulled up short. The window glass had been replaced by a big sheet of cardboard. She'd obviously missed it on her first pass. Now she was generally perplexed. What happened? Did this have anything to do with why they weren't home? Not that they had to tell her every time they were leaving, but it was after midnight and they knew she would probably be coming over.

She heard a sound behind her. She spun and peered into the darkness, her heart suddenly pounding. She could hear voices, muffled somewhere towards the rear of the townhouse. Panic began to fill her, yet her feet felt rooted in place. Two shadows suddenly appeared from around the rear corner. They stopped. Time seemed to crawl. She couldn't make out who they were, and a part of her didn't want to.

"Shit..." came in a hushed tone from the shadows' direction, followed by muffled talking. Slowly, the shadows slunk back to disappear behind the house. That moment of reprieve was all Brianna needed. She uprooted her feet and tore off back towards the front of the house and the safety of her sister's car.

Allison stepped gingerly out of the shower. As if she had been waiting, her mother moved into the room with a nice fluffy towel and draped it around Allison.

"I've got a first aid kit in your room. Let's see how those cuts are."

Allison smiled thanks to her mother and followed her silently from the bathroom, down the short hall to her bedroom. She smiled again when she saw her bed, covers pulled back, a glass of water and some ibuprofen on the bedside table, a clean pair of cotton panties and a t shirt—one of Jack's—laid out on the bed.

"Thanks, Mom," Allison said.

"Not necessary, honey." Sharon motioned to the bed with her hand and took the Allison's dirty clothes out of the room. Allison first took the pills and then tenderly dressed. She had just seated herself against her headboard and pulled the covers up when her mother stepped back into the doorway.

Alliison noted her mother's suddenly nervous manner and felt a wave of emotion swell up for her. In spite of Allison's callous attitude and rude comments from earlier, her mother still came to her defense, protecting her from danger. With an intensity that surprised her, Allison burst into tears.