Authors: Varian Johnson
Funner?
Madeline was too smart to sound so stupid.
“The guys are about to start the next game.” Frank patted Madeline’s butt, and I swear to God, I wanted to punch him. “I’m going to grab that pitcher.”
“I’ll meet you at the lane, baby.” Her voice was as sweet and artificial as cherry-flavored bubble gum.
“Joshua, nice to meet you,” Frank said, before heading toward the counter.
“Nice guy,” I mumbled once he was out of range.
“He’ll do, for now.”
All I could do was frown.
Madeline crossed her arms. “I’m sorry you don’t like what you see, but this is who I am now. A girl who just likes to have fun. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“You know this isn’t you.” And before she could respond, I turned and marched toward the exit.
It wasn’t until I reached the door that I realized that, for once, I was glad to leave.
* * *
Bzzzz. Bzzzz.
I reached over and slapped the top of my alarm clock.
Bzzzz. Bzzzz.
I cracked my eyelids open and let my vision adjust to the dark. The alarm clock read 3:24.
I sat up and followed the buzzing sound to the other side of the room. My cell phone was jumping across the top of my desk like it was dancing.
I grabbed the phone and looked at the screen.
Madeline.
“Hello?” I said, my voice full of sleep and fear.
“Meet me outside. Now.” The line went dead.
Is she serious? Does she really expect me to—
Suddenly, a car horn blared from outside my window.
Yep. She’s serious.
I grabbed my robe, stuffed my feet into my sneakers, and crept out of my room. Luckily, it was on the first floor, adjacent to the kitchen. I only hoped Madeline’s honking hadn’t woken up my parents.
I paused at the base of the stairs, straining my ears for the slightest hint of sound. But after standing in silence for a few minutes, I headed to the kitchen and slipped outside.
Madeline leaned against her aunt’s car. As soon as she saw me, she marched my way.
“Madeline, what’s going on?” I whispered. “Do you know what time it is? Is everything all right?”
As Madeline got closer, I saw streaks of mascara on her cheeks. She still wore her black boots and jean skirt, but she moved a lot quicker now than she had earlier that night.
She planted her hands on her hips. “You are such a bastard.”
“What?”
“You know how I feel about my dad. And you
still
called him!”
“Madeline, calm down.” I pulled her farther away from the house. “What are you talking about?”
“You know damn well what I’m talking about!” She
poked me in the chest so hard that I almost fell over. “You called Dad and told him I was a slut. And now he’s forcing Aunt Gwen to kick me out of the house!”
“Of course I didn’t—”
My head jerked to the side as her hand exploded against my cheek.
“Don’t you dare fucking lie to me!”
Heat and pain radiated across my face. “Madeline, I don’t even know what you’re talking about!” As my eyes regained their focus, I saw a porch light switch on across the street.
Madeline reached back to slap me again, but this time, I grabbed her hands and pinned them to her sides. “Will you please calm down and tell me what’s going on?”
Tears streamed down her face. “All I know is that my dad is coming this weekend to take me back to Virginia.”
She sniffled. “He said I was morally corrupt. He said he was coming to stop me from ruining someone else’s life.”
“I promise, I didn’t call him.” I kept a tight grip on her arms. “But maybe he should come down and talk to you—”
“No! I hate him!” She twisted enough to get one arm free, but I quickly grabbed it and pinned it back in place. “I don’t want anything to do with him!”
Behind me, the back door swung open and our porch light flickered on. I glanced over my shoulder and watched Dad shuffle onto the steps. “Joshua, what’s going on out here?”
“Nothing, Dad. Madeline and I were just talking.”
“No, it’s not
nothing.
“She continued to struggle to get out of my grip. “All you preachers are alike. You think you can control everybody.”
Dad strode over to us. “Young lady, you need to bring your voice down.”
“And you need to stay out of other people’s business!” She turned to me and finally stopped wrangling in my grip. “You’ve got five seconds to get your goddamn hands off me.”
“Do you promise to calm down?”
“I promise that if you don’t let me go, your dad will have to pry my hands away from your throat.”
Well, at least she was speaking calmly now. I slowly released her.
She rubbed her wrists. “And I thought you really cared about me.”
“I do care about—”
“Fuck you, Joshua Wynn.” She flipped me the finger. “Fuck both of y’all. I’m out of here.”
“Madeline, wait!” I ran after her, but I might as well have been yelling at a brick wall. Madeline stormed to her car, refusing to even look in my direction. A few seconds later, she roared down the street.
I watched the smoke from the car’s exhaust dissipate into the darkness. “I just don’t understand….”
“Let’s talk more inside,” Dad said. “We’ve already woken up enough of the neighborhood tonight.”
I followed Dad into the kitchen, where Mom was already waiting. “Will someone please explain what’s going on? I was about to call the police.”
I sunk into a chair. “Madeline is mad. Really mad. And I don’t have any idea why.” I rubbed my face; no doubt my cheek was red from that slap. “She thinks I called her
father and said horrible things about her.” I turned to Dad. “You didn’t call him, did you?”
“I haven’t talked to him since the day after Charlotte’s party,” he said.
I shook my head; my face started to sting even more.
Why in the world would she think I called her dad? What would give her that—
I snapped my head up and looked at Mom. Her gaze was glued to the floor.
“It was you, wasn’t it?”
Mom nodded, her mouth grim. “Yes, I called Greg.”
Dad scratched his head. “Why didn’t you say anything to me about this?”
“I’ve been saying something ever since Madeline showed back up.” Mom clutched her silk robe shut in one hand, bracing herself against the wall with the other. “I’m sorry, Joshua, but Madeline is capsizing! I couldn’t stand around and let her pull you down right along with her.”
“She’s not—”
“She sleeps around. She drinks and does drugs, and Lord knows what else.” Mom tightened her grip on her robe. “I wanted to see the good in her, I really did, but I can’t take that chance anymore. You’ve just been so disrespectful lately. And then when I found those condoms in your room—”
“You went through my stuff?” I jumped from my seat. “You searched my room?”
Her gaze dropped to the floor again. “I found them by accident.”
I snorted. There was no way Mom could have “accidentally” stumbled across those condoms.
“You know, I don’t even care that you went through my stuff. Just tell me—did you call Madeline a slut?”
Dad stepped beside me. “Joshua, why don’t you calm down—”
“Did you call her a slut or not, Mom?”
“Of course not. You know I’d never use that type of language. All I did was tell Greg the truth—that his daughter was morally irresponsible and was a danger to my child.”
I squeezed my hands into fists. “Thanks to you, her aunt is being forced to kick her out of the house. Now she doesn’t have anywhere to go but back to her parents’ house.”
“Are you sure?” Dad asked. “I know Greg’s strict, but surely he’s not that strict.”
“Your father’s right—there must be some mistake.” Mom cleared her throat. “While I did strongly suggest that he come down here and deal with Madeline, I never asked him to kick her out.”
I turned my gaze to our tiled kitchen floor. I was afraid what would happen if I continued looking at my parents. “I’m not making a mistake about this. Her father is coming down here to drag Madeline back to Virginia, whether she wants to go or not.”
“Well, perhaps it’s for the best that she goes back home,” Mom said. “They can give her the support she needs.”
Mom obviously knew nothing about what was best for Madeline. But I shouldn’t have been surprised—she didn’t even know what was best for me anymore.
I watched their shadows, long and oblique, as they moved toward me. I backed away.
“Joshua, please. Say something,” Mom said. “I know you’re upset, but maybe—”
“You know what?” I let out a deep, sarcastic laugh. “This is really fucked up.”
Mom and Dad inhaled sharply. For a second, all time stopped.
“Joshua, you need to watch your language,” Dad finally said.
I hated that my eyes were watering. “We’re supposed to help people. How is this going to help Madeline?”
“Madeline has some serious demons,” Dad said. “If anyone can help her, her family—”
“This is wrong.” I pointed to Mom.”
She’s
wrong.”
Dad narrowed his eyes. “She’s my wife, and she’s your mother. You
will
show her some respect.”
I tried to back up more, but I had already been forced against the wall.
“This isn’t just about Madeline,” he said. “We’re trying to look out for your best interests as well.” Dad placed a hand on my shoulder. “You’re young. You’re highly impressionable.”
I shook his hand off me. “This is fucked up!”
Dad held his hands up and backed away. “I think you’d better go to bed before you say something else you’ll regret.”
“I don’t regret anything I’ve said tonight.” I cut my eyes toward my mother. “I’m not the one who did something wrong.”
chapter 15
T
hree days later, I still hadn’t spoken to Mom. I was actually glad the youth group was heading to Savannah for our retreat. It would be a lot easier to avoid Mom if we weren’t sleeping under the same roof.
I hadn’t talked to Madeline either, but not for lack of trying. That morning, like every other morning, I had tried to call her cell. Usually, I got sent directly to voice mail, but today, I got a message saying her service had been disconnected.
I stepped onto the bus hoping to find an empty seat, but most were occupied by at least one other person. Rachel spotted me, timidly smiled, and moved over a little
in her seat. I didn’t really want to sit beside her—I didn’t think I could stand sitting through three hours of giggling—but the only other available seats were across from Donna and Dora, and I sure didn’t want to sit next to them.
I plopped down beside Rachel. “You couldn’t convince Tony to come?”
“Are you kidding? He and Charlotte are practically joined at the hip. Ever since they…well,
you know
…it’s like they can’t go ten minutes without talking to each other.”
“So you know about Tony and Charlotte?”
She nodded. “You should see the way they look at each other. It’s like they can’t wait to—”
“Please. No details.” I squinted at Rachel and focused on her eyes. “Hey—what happened to all the makeup?”
Rachel brought her hand to her face. “Do you know how long it takes to put that stuff on every day? I like makeup, but not more than those twenty minutes of sleep I gain back by not putting it on.” She looked down at her lap. “It didn’t seem to be doing much good, anyway.”
Maybe it was the softness of her voice, but for some reason, I wanted to comfort her. I took her chin and tilted her face up. It was funny—her lips were shaped similarly to Madeline’s. “You look better without the makeup.”
Rachel smiled, and I momentarily forgot that she was my best friend’s fifteen-year-old sister.
Suddenly aware of how I was holding her face, I let go of her chin. “Um…I’d better go see what the holdup is.”
I scampered down the aisle. Rachel was way too young
for me. Plus, as much as I wished otherwise, she wasn’t Madeline.
As I stepped off the bus, I pulled my phone out and stared at the blank screen. Before I lost my nerve, I punched in her aunt’s phone number.
“Hello? Madeline?” her aunt answered.
“No, this is Joshua.”
“Oh. Hello, Joshua. I’m sorry. I was praying this was Madeline.” Her voice sounded dry and scratchy. “By any chance, have you seen her lately?”
“Not since she showed up at my house a few days ago.” I glanced behind me, where the driver was loading the last of the suitcases. “Is something wrong?”
“The last time I saw her was when she said she was going to talk to you, three days ago. I just assumed she was trying to blow off some steam, but by the time I woke up the next morning, she was gone.” Ms. Smith sniffled on the other end of the phone. “I knew she was upset about her father forcing her to move back home, but I never expected her to run off.”
I moved farther away from the bus. “What about her clothes?”
“All gone. All she left was my car keys on the table,” she said. “She called me two days ago and said she was okay and staying with a friend. She wouldn’t tell me anything else.”
“Do you think she’s staying with Frank?”
“I have no idea. I don’t even know enough about the boy to look up his address in the phone book.” I could tell
Ms. Smith was crying now. “If she only came back home, I’d find a way for her to stay with me, even if Greg kicked us both out,” she said. “I don’t even like the damn house that much.”
I looked around. I was the only person not on the bus.
“Maybe I could find her.” From the corner of my eye, I watched as Mrs. Anderson waddled down the bus steps. “That is, if she hasn’t left town yet.”
“No, I don’t want to pull you from whatever you’re doing. I just need to sit tight and—”
“Please, let me help.” Even though it was Mom, not me, who had helped get Madeline into this mess, I still felt guilty. Maybe this was God’s way of giving me a second chance.
She sighed. “Well, it
would
make me feel a little better….”
“Then it’s settled,” I said. “I’ll find her, and I’ll bring her back home. I promise.”
I flipped my phone shut just as Mrs. Anderson reached me. “Let’s go, Joshua.” She tapped her clipboard. “We’re going to be late if we don’t leave now.”