Unspeakable Things(22)

The way he stared at me, I could tell he didn’t like that I wasn’t more ashamed. And I was, but like I said, I wasn’t going to let him see it.

“All righty,” he finally said.





CHAPTER 13

We’d read The Scarlet Letter in Honors English last year. After walking out of Mrs. Janowski’s office, boy, did I understand it on a whole new level. The worst part wasn’t the way kids stared at me the rest of the day. It was how a couple teachers, like Mr. Kinchelhoe, treated me extra nice. Pity feeds humiliation like spinach tools up Popeye. I survived the day, though, and walked the long mile to detention at the end of classes. Once there, I focused on my homework like my life depended on it.

I didn’t know who was going to pick me up, Mom or Dad.

Obviously, I wanted it to be Mom, except I didn’t want to see how bummed out she’d be. I couldn’t tell her the truth of what I had been doing, either, because it would make her so sad that I’d felt compelled to smell someone else’s stuff. The more I thought about it, the more I hoped it was Dad. He’d be mad, raging, but it’d keep some of the heat off Sephie.

By the time he strolled through the detention door, I was almost happy to see him.

“Come on,” he grunted, not bothering to acknowledge the room monitor.

I scrambled to gather my books and Trapper Keeper. “Thank you, Mrs. Cunniff,” I said to the teacher on my way out. She nodded without looking up from the book she was reading.

Dad marched stiffly toward the front door. The halls were mostly empty except for kids finishing up with track and making their way to the locker rooms and a couple eighth graders staying late to work on projects. I was so happy that Gabriel wasn’t around to witness me leave detention.

I tried to read Dad’s mood, but he was walking so fast and saying nothing. I prepared for the worst. I would take my knocks, no complaining. I would be grounded and given extra chores. I could handle that. Probably Sephie would get the babysitting jobs now that I was in the hot seat, and she needed the money more than me.

The sun outside the school was blinding. It took me a second to notice that Sephie was sitting in the front seat of the van. Her face looked grim. Dang. Okay. This was worse than I thought. I opened the side door and slid in. Sephie didn’t turn around. Dad crawled into his seat.

We sat in a suspended second before he swiveled, his face split into a wide grin. “Broke you out of there, didn’t I?”

He held up his right hand, and Sephie high-fived it. He turned the hand to me, palm out, and I did the same, confused.

“My daughter the criminal,” he said, chuckling. “Guess you really needed yourself some lip gloss.”

Sephie turned to face me, nodding, her eyes wide. “Did you have to give it back?”

“Yeah,” I said. My brain was spinning. “You’re not mad, Dad?”

He started up the van and chugged it into reverse, peering at me in the rearview mirror. “I will be if you do it again, but everyone gets to make a mistake. Plus, it’s bullshit they brought in Bauer. I don’t truck with bullshit.”

The ice that had been around my heart since I’d been called into Mrs. Janowski’s office melted. “Thanks, Dad.”

“Yep. Now let’s get some shopping done. We need to stock up for the party.”

My breath hitched. That explained his good mood. Well, I’d take it.

“What do we need to get?” Sephie piped up.

Dad held up his list, reading while he drove. “Whiskey, beer, mix, potato chips, cheese, and cold cuts.”

My stomach grumbled. We got to eat well during the parties, that was something at least. I started to get into the spirit of the trip. “Is Sephie going to drive on the way home?”

“That’s a great idea! What do you say, Pers?”

She shot me the stink eye over her shoulder. Sephie was a pretty good driver in an automatic. In this big metal suppository with a ball-topped stick to shift with? Not so much. I felt small about bringing it up but told myself I’d done it to help her.

Dad caught her glare. “Practice makes perfect, Persephone.”

“Fine,” Sephie said, her mood buoyed as we pulled into the liquor store that gave out Tootsie Pops. She might be fifteen, but her tooth was sweeter than mine. That’s when I spotted the Lilydale police cruiser in the lot. I twisted the skin at my wrist. What were the odds it was Sergeant Bauer?

There were two open spots in the nearly full parking lot. One was next to a white sedan, the other next to the police car. I thought for sure Dad’d park next to the sedan, but he pulled in alongside the cruiser. He turned off the ignition, stepped out of the van, closed the door, and tapped on the police car’s passenger-side window. The officer stretched over to unroll it.

Yup. It was Sergeant Bauer.

“Hello, Donny,” he said to Dad. “What can I do you for?”

Dad leaned in through the window. They exchanged words, followed by a shared dark laugh. Both Sephie and I had stepped out of the van and were waiting behind Dad. She grabbed my hand when Dad stepped aside so Sergeant Bauer could address us.

“Twice in one day, girl,” he said to me. “Your dad and I agree I won’t ever be seeing you again in an official capacity. Is that right?”

“Yessir,” I said, the word glucky in my mouth. They were both pretending, playing the role of Concerned Adults. I was sure they’d mostly been talking about the party.