Chapter 2: Caught by Mother

"Oh shit!" said Jennifer, as she hugged the towel around her and jumped up from the couch. "It's mother ... quick, out the back door. She can't know you've been here."

By the time Jennifer's mother came in from the garage, Donnie was long gone, into the woods at the back of the house, and Jennifer was in her bathroom getting dressed.

"Jennifer ... I'm home," Judy Grafton hollered.

"In here Mom ... I'll be out as soon as I dry my hair," Jennifer replied.

Her mother had carried in a bag of groceries and busied herself putting them away. As she did, she heard a phone ringing in the den and went to answer it, thinking Jennifer must have left her phone in there.

Mrs. Grafton heard the phone ringing, but didn't immediately see it. She did eventually find it, though, hidden in the cushions of the overstuffed chair. As she picked it up, the ringing stopped. She saw on the display that the call had come from someone named 'George'.

The phone didn't look like her daughter's though. Somewhat puzzled, Mrs. Grafton, scrolled through the list of missed calls, seeing 'George' several times, among a list of exclusively male names. She thought, 'Jennifer could have gotten a new cell phone ... and might even have a secret boyfriend or two ... but this has got to be... '

Just then the phone rang. Mrs. Grafton looked at the display and saw it was 'George' again. She pressed a green button, hoping it was the 'talk' button, and said, "Hello?" The display said she was connected, but she was met by silence. "Hello?" she repeated.

The caller stammered out, "Mrs. G?"

That's what Jennifer's and Donnie's friends usually called her. "Yes?" she replied.

"Uh, this is George Barret. I was trying to get Donnie. Is he nearby?"

"I don't think so," said Mrs. Grafton. "This must be his phone though. I just found it in my den."

"I uh ... uh don't know why it would be at your house though ... uh ... uh ... if you see him though ... uh, tell him I called ... okay?"

"Sure, George," Judy Grafton said cheerfully before ending the call. 'Okay, ' she thought. 'So Donnie was in the house just before I got home. Nothing wrong with that. After all, it was his house too until a few months ago when he moved out with his father.'

Judy Grafton was still puzzled though. 'But, why did he leave so suddenly that he forgot his phone ... and just before I got home too. Does he think he isn't welcome anymore?'

Mrs. Grafton looked at the phone in her hand. In addition to the missed calls, the list showed other recent activity. She saw that three pictures had been taken just before she got home. She looked at them.

They were pictures Donnie had taken of Jennifer, and they weren't the type he should have been taking of his fifteen year-old sister. On the other hand, Jennifer wasn't dressed, like she should have been, with her seventeen year-old brother. Mrs. Grafton was beginning to understand why Donnie had left in such a hurry. She put the phone in her pocket and returned to the kitchen.

Jennifer joined her a few minutes later. "How come you're home so early?" she asked.

"I had a meeting on this side of town that got over a little early, so I decided to come home instead of going back to the office." Mrs. Grafton opened the refrigerator door. "I'm going to have a coke ... you want something?"

"Yeah, a sprite would be good," Jennifer replied as she pulled out a chair.

Mrs. Grafton closed the refrigerator and put the drinks on the table. As she sat down she asked, "Well, what interesting things did you do today?"

"Nothing much. Clarissa came over this morning ... but she only stayed an hour. I just read and stuff after she left."

"No swimming?" her mother asked.

"Yesterday, yeah ... but not today."

Mrs. Grafton dropped the bomb, "When was Donnie here?"

"Uh ... Donnie? ... My brother? ... Uh, I don't think I've seen him since school got out."

Judy Grafton took Donnie's phone out of her pocket and laid it on the table.

Jennifer looked at it and knew it wasn't the one her mother usually carried. "Did you uh ... get a new phone?"

"No," her mother replied. "I found this in the den. It's Donnie's."

"Uh, well ... uh..." Jennifer tried to think of something to head her mother off. "Clarissa must have dropped it ... uh, she and Donnie are seeing each other now ... it must have slipped out of her shorts."

"So she took the pictures of you then?"

Jennifer, not wanting to believe this was happening, dragged her words out. "There's pictures of me ... on that phone?"

"Uh huh." her mother replied.

"Oh shit!" Jennifer said, taking a large swig of her sprite to delay the inevitable. "I guess we better talk, huh."

"Yes, I think we better," her mother said. "It would help if you told me what was going on. I might even be able to help. You know ... I was your age once."

"You're not mad then?"

"Not yet ... I haven't heard the story ... maybe a little though ... for you trying to lie to me."

"About the pictures I mean ... you're not mad about them?" Jennifer asked.

"Oh yeah. I guess I could be, but you've probably got a good explanation for those. I think I'll wait till I've heard the story."

"Mother, you are the best," Jennifer beamed.

"I didn't say they were okay. I just said I wanted to wait until I'd heard your explanation. So tell me, what's going on?"

"Well..." Jennifer began slowly, "Yesterday ... Donnie and two of his friends ... George and Billy ... came over ... They wanted to use the pool."

"And you let them ... as you should have." Mrs. Grafton guessed, "I think ... you went swimming with them."

"Uh huh," Jennifer confirmed. "And..."

"No, let me guess. You wore that white bikini I said you shouldn't wear around any boys."

"No ... I couldn't ... the catch is broken on it."

"Then, what did you wear?"

Jennifer tried to answer but was afraid of what her mother's reaction would be. She just opened her mouth and stared.