Chapter 24

Bette stood defensively in the hotel room feeling nauseous at the scene in front of her. Her eyes quickly scanned the room, first taking in the candles placed around the room. She noticed a cheap bottle of wine in the plastic ice bucket with 2 cups still wrapped in the hotel plastic sitting in front of it. Continuing around, her eyes fell on the wrapped condom on the nightstand.

Bette felt a breeze behind her as her eyes slammed into Darren’s once more. Tina quickly ran through the door and to the bathroom, banging on the door calling out for Angelica. Angelica wasted no time in opening the door and falling into Tina’s outstretched arms.

“I’m so sorry Mom,” Angelica said as she shook in Tina’s arms from fear.

“Did he touch you at all Angie?” Tina was insistent in being answered.

“No,” Angelica was shaking her head as tears streamed down her face. “I was in the bathroom afraid….”

“Get in the car,” Tina directed Angelica handing her the keys. “Lock the door and don’t open it. Get down in the backseat so the police won’t see you.”

“Police?” Darren visibly swallowed the lump in his throat.

“Worried?” Bette challenged. “You didn’t think that you could try to have sex with an under-aged girl at your age and not be punished did you? Add to that the under-aged drinking and you are in very big trouble aren’t you?”

The red and blue lights from the police cars began to flash across the white walls of the hotel room. Darren looked around nervously as he felt himself barely able to take a breath while looking into Bette’s angry eyes.

“Fucking look at me when I’m talking to you!” Bette screamed as her temper flared beyond her control. “Or is that too much to ask of someone that clearly doesn’t respect women, including my daughter?”

“I didn’t force…” Darren stammered unsure of what to say to Angelica’s parents.

“Shut your mouth,” Bette warned in an intimidating voice. The seriousness of her voice hit Darren when she stopped yelling and calmly began to approach him. “When I want you to speak, you’ll know.”

Tina walked behind Bette and grabbed her arm in an effort to stop progressing on the young man who had so frightened their daughter.

“How did you get her here?”

“I didn’t force her,” Darren began to feel his eyes cloud over with unshed tears. “She wanted to come to the party.”

“Did she know you were planning on this private party?” Bette’s voice rose once more.

“No,” Darren replied quietly, wiping at his eyes as he stood still in the corner of the room. “I didn’t mean to scare her. I care about your daughter very much.”

Darren watched in fear as anger flashed quickly in Bette’s eyes.

“You care about my daughter and yet put her in a position where she’s cowering in the bathroom in fear?” Bette stepped closer to Darren causing him to lean back as far as he could to put some distance between himself and Bette. “Ever hear the ever popular saying ‘no means no’? How many times did my daughter say no?”

Tina quickly grabbed Darren’s suit coat and began to rifle through it. She checked the outside pockets first, not successful in finding the item she desired.

“What are you doing?” Darren shrieked. “You can’t go through my stuff!”

“You raise your voice again to my wife,” Bette said in a tone just above a growl. “And cops will be the least of your worries.”

Tina’s hand found his cell phone, grateful she was correct in her assumption of it being in his suit coat and took it out. Thankfully, it was already turned on. She pushed the top button and began to scroll down the address book until she found an entrance resembling the one she wanted to find.

“What are you doing?” Darren asked quietly, afraid of what Bette was liable to do to him if he talked in more than a whisper.

“I’m saving you from yourself,” Tina said as she put the phone to her ear. “I’m giving you a chance despite the voice that’s screaming at me telling me to beat the ever-living shit out of you or at the very least hand you over to the police. I’m calling your parents to come get you.”

“I vote for option one,” Bette said shocked at Tina’s action.

“If you don’t recognize this as a defining moment in your life young man,” Tina said in anger. “You better think again. You’re at a crossroad between the police taking you away or your parents having a discussion with us and putting you so hard under their thumb you can’t breathe.”

Darren slumped forward, the last of his cocky swagger disintegrated, knowing the reaction his parents would have at his actions.

“Rest assured if they don’t put you under their thumb,” Tina waited as the phone rang in her ear. “I will. You so much as even think of Angelica again and I’ll be on you faster than you can blink!”

Bette watched as Tina cleared her throat and began to speak into Darren’s phone. She identified herself calmly, explaining where she was and that Darren was in front of her barely dressed in a hotel room that he tried to share with Angelica. Tina’s side of the conversation was short, but there was no mistaking the person on the other end that felt compelled to yell and assure Tina they would be there quickly to pick Darren up and discuss what happened with Bette and Tina.

“Your mother and father are on the way,” Tina shut the phone and placed it on the table in front of her. “I suggest you put some pants on before they get here.”

Darren stood still, afraid of moving out of his corner while Bette stood perilously close, cowering over him.

“Can I just…” Darren nodded toward his pants asking Bette for permission for him put them on.

“You’re very lucky she’s here,” Bette threw his pants at him keeping him backed into a corner. “If it were just me you’d have your ass in the back of a cop car right about now.”

Across the road in a small diner, which was mostly deserted, sat a group of 4 kids just thankful to be away from the scene where many of their classmates were being brought out of the hotel room by police officers. Kristen sat down and smiled at Angelica’s friends as they watched in fear when some of their squad members were escorted out.

“What’s going to happen to them?” Cathy asked. “I suddenly feel guilty for calling the police.”

“They’ll get some help they need,” Kristen laid her hand on Cathy’s on top of the table. “You did the right thing. Just think if one or more of them got behind the wheel drinking what they had. You more then likely saved someone’s life tonight.”

Alice peeked outside and watched the scene unfold in front of her.

“My God do you see some of these dresses?” Alice scoffed. “Why wear anything at all if your dress barely covers your ta-ta’s?”

Kristen nudged Alice as the waitress served the table a round of waters and handed out menus. Alice pushed her menu to the side as she continued to spy on the scene across the street.

“What do you think is happening with Angelica right now?” Renee asked.

“You honestly want to know?” Alice shot back and waited until Renee nodded her head and then continued. “My guess is if she called her own moms she’s about as scared as you get and she’s collapsing in Tina’s arms right now as Bette attempts to murder the boy she was with.”

“You did the right thing in calling for help,” Kristen reassured once again. “Calling the police and Bette was a very good idea on your part.”

Alice saw a figure running across the parking lot quickly and pointed at the young girl to use as an example.

“I bet she’ll get caught, she looks scared out of her mind.”

Alice stopped and suddenly realized it was Angelica and she was shaking so badly she couldn’t open Tina’s car door, simply dropping the keys on the ground and trying to find them through teary eyes.

“Is that’s Angie?” Alice pointed for Kristen to confirm.

“Oh my God it is!”

Alice saw Angelica finally open Tina’s car door sobbing uncontrollably. She climbed in the back and disappeared from sight.

“You wait here with them,” Alice said to Kristen. “Order something so it isn’t obvious that they were part of this party. I’ll be back with Angie.”

“The cops are starting to haul kids out of that hotel and she looks scared to death,” Kristen said starting to feel the seriousness of the moment when Alice ran across the busy street to Tina’s car quickly.

“I feel sick to my stomach,” Renee said. “I don’t know if I can order something and keep it down.”

“Oh me too,” Kristen smiled warmly. “Just think of how sick Angie feels right now. Order sodas and fries and we can all pick at them.”

Alice knocked quietly on the window to the backseat of Tina’s car making Angelica jump in fear. She was curled up in the corner of the back seat with tears streaming down her face.

“Honey open up,” Alice said warmly. “I can’t help you if you don’t open up PJ.”

At the sound of her nickname given to her by her aunts, Angelica pressed the unlock button on Tina’s key ring, unable to actually open the door. Alice bent down and rubbed Angelica’s arms to warm her shaking body.

“PJ let’s get you across the street to safety ok?”

Alice reached into the car and pulled her from the backseat, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and taking the keys from her hand. Alice quickly hit the lock button and began to walk across the street to the diner where her friends all sat.

When the doors opened and she walked inside, Angelica immediately walked into Kristen’s arms and began to cry. She felt the woman’s arms that she once hated for dating Bette wrap around her tight and hold her close. Angelica was thankful that Kristen had forgiven her for her behavior while she and Bette were together, as she always seemed to be scheming to break them up.

“I’ve got you,” Kristen whispered as she smoothed her hand over Angelica’s hair. “Did he….?”

Kristen directed her question to Alice, hinting without saying it, that she wanted to know if Darren had taken advantage of her.

“I don’t know, she’s just been crying.”

“Honey?” Kristen pulled back to look into Angelica’s eyes. “Did he do something to you that he shouldn’t have?”

“No, I locked myself in the bathroom,” Angelica sputtered as Cathy made it to her feet and rubbed Angelica’s back.

“I’m proud that you stopped him,” Cathy said to her friend. “Mama B told me you had called her before I did.”

“You called her?”

“I was trying to help.”

“I don’t deserve your friendship,” Angelica sniffled as she hugged her friend. “Thank you for trying to help me, but I had to make the call myself.”

“Where are your moms PJ?”

“They were staying with Darren in the room,” Angelica began to calm down as Cathy rested her arm around Angelica’s shoulders. “Mom told me to go to her car and lock the door to be safe.”

“God I wouldn’t want to be that boy right now,” Alice said shaking her head. “Well let’s pig out on junk food and watch the rest of these kids get hauled out by the cops. It’s like a bad episode of ‘Cops’, you can’t look away.”

Angelica smiled for the first time in hours at Alice’s joke, thankful to be safe and in the company of those that truly cared for her.

The quiet knock at the door could barely be heard as additional police cars pulled up to transport the kids from the hotel to the police station so parents could be called to deal with their children and the tickets that were being issued.

Tina moved back and cracked the door open, seeing a tall man and a shorter thin woman that resembled Darren standing nervously on the other side.

“Ms. Porter?”

“Please call me Tina,” Tina opened the door and quickly ushered them inside. “This is my wife Bette.”

“Thank you so much for calling us,” Darren’s mother said grateful to have the chance to intervene before the police would have ushered Darren into one of their cars and tarnished his record at such a young age. “I’m Leslie and this is my husband Troy.”

Bette and Tina shook hands with both of them as Darren silently let tears fall down his face, now sitting on the bed.

“What did you do?” Leslie demanded in anger as her husband looked around the room, his jaw clenching as he took in what his son had set up.

“I didn’t force her into anything,” Darren reasoned.

“Is this wine?” Leslie held the bottle up close to Darren’s face. “Where would you get wine when you’re underage?”

“The party store down the street sells it to all of us.”

“Well I’ll certainly be handing him into the authorities,” Leslie said firmly. “Do I have to tell you how disappointed I am in you?”

Darren shook his head as he cried harder.

“If it weren’t for Angelica’s parents you’d have your ass in one of those cop cars down there young man!”

“Mom…”

“I don’t want to hear an excuse Darren! You owe Angelica and her parents a sincere apology and I want to hear it now.”

“I am so sorry,” Darren said through tears. “I would never have forced her, but she didn’t tell me how afraid she was.”

Tina shook her head, knowing she needed to be the spokesperson for the Kennard-Porter family as she glanced at Bette and saw her defensive posture and anger still flaming in her eyes as she paced next to the bed.

“You need to party less,” Tina said in a calm voice. “And concentrate on other things other than just having a good time. You both do, Angelica isn’t innocent in this either. She’s still grounded from the party at Tracy’s house a week ago.”

“You were at a party a week ago?” Leslie shot an angry look at Darren. “Was this the night you told us you were spending the night at your friend’s house?”

“Yes Ma’am.”

“Drinking was involved?” Troy asked in a deep, intimidating voice.

“Yes Sir,” Darren nodded looking straight ahead afraid of making eye contact with his parents.

“Get up.”

Darren did as demanded and tried to stand firm as his father shoved his suit coat into his chest.

“I will guarantee you that this won’t happen again Ladies,” Troy said in Tina and Bette’s direction. “I want to thank you for saving him from the fate of his friends that are being arrested. But I’m not sure he deserves it.”

Troy led Darren out of the room with a firm hand on the back of his neck.

“Once again,” Leslie shook Tina’s hand. “I can’t thank you both enough for giving us a chance to intervene.”

“You’re welcome,” Tina shook her hand back and watched her quickly follow her husband and son desperate to avoid the police that were now combing the hallways looking for additional teenagers that shouldn’t be there.

Bette placed her hands on the nightstand in front of her and allowed her head to drop forward. She sighed as she felt the tension settle into her shoulders quickly. Tina put a hand between Bette’s shoulder blades and massaged as she spoke quietly.

“We have a very frightened child in the back of our car.”

“We have two very frightened mothers right here. God T, what if…” Bette stopped, swallowing hard. Her hand closed over the condom on the nightstand in front of her and crushed it tightly in her fist, punishing the silent accomplice to her daughter’s terror.

“I know… I know,” Tina replied quietly, laying her cheek against Bette’s taut back and letting one arm slip around her waist as the other continued a soothing stroke up and down Bette’s arm. They stood for a few moments taking strength and calm from each other. “Let’s go get our baby,” Tina pulled on Bette’s arm to move her from the spot she was standing in.

Bette and Tina walked out the door and closed it behind them. Bette saw no reason to turn the key back in, given the manager of the hotel was tied up with the police being questioned on why the hotel allowed under-aged children to rent hotel rooms without the proper identification and qualifications.

Tina looked out across to the diner to ensure that Alice and Kristen were there. Alice quickly saw them and dialed Bette’s phone waiting for her to pick it up. Once she did, she informed Bette that she also had Angelica in the diner and they would wait for her and Tina to come there before heading to Bette and Tina’s house.

Bette shut the phone and began the descent down the stairs when she heard her name being screamed from the parking lot.

“Bette!” Tracy called out as a police officer began to walk her to the squad car. “Bette help me!”

Bette looked down and saw Tracy dragging her feet trying to stop the progression to the police car.

“Young lady, unless you have an adult who can vouch for you, you are getting in this car!”

“She will,” Tracy nodded in Bette’s direction. “Bette over here!”

Bette and Tina stopped in front of Tracy as tears streamed down her face and she struggled to get her arms free from the officer’s grip. Tina slipped her arm around Bette’s waist as she stood there with her arms folded defensively across her chest.

“Ma’am, do you know who this is?”

“I do,” Bette smiled at the officer relishing in the opportunity that presented itself moments ago.

“Is she accompanied by you?”

“That she is not,” Bette said happy at the shocked look that crossed Tracy’s face. “I’m sorry Tracy but this is for your own good. You’re out of control and unfortunately, unless someone forces your parents to deal with you, they won’t and you’ll keep acting out to get their attention.”

Tracy felt the harsh reality of Bette’s words as she stepped closer to her.

“This is for your own good Tracy, but I’m letting them take you to the station.”

Tracy felt her eyes well up with unshed tears.

“I’m afraid,” Tracy mumbled.

“You should be, but you’re safer with them than you are with me or yourself at the moment.”

Bette grabbed Tina’s hand and walked hand in hand across the street to make their way to the diner and their daughter.

“I’m proud of you,” Tina smiled as she squeezed Bette’s hand. “I thought you were going to kill Darren.”

“It definitely crossed my mind until you called his parents.”

“And then how you handled Tracy,” Tina smiled. “You were right, her parents need to be forced into dealing with her, which is sad.”

“It is sad,” Bette approached the outside door to the diner. “Unfortunately for Angelica she’ll have so much parental attention she’s going to drown in it.”

Tina chuckled as they stepped inside to address the teenagers who barely escaped the same fate Tracy was facing, several hours in detention waiting to be picked up by what was sure to be angry parents.