CONVICTION (INTERFERENCE) (13 page)

“Bradley, stop this! NOW!” Charlotte said, “Rebecca, Honey, go on up to bed.  I’ll talk to you in the morning, okay?”

If my mother hadn’t been there, I probably would have said some things I might have regretted, but I knew my mom was my only link to any possible chance of my parole, so I did what she said and headed upstairs.

Unfortunately, I stopped midway and said, “You know what, Dad, if we wanted to have sex, we could, and you couldn’t stop us. But, Shane won’t even consider touching me until I’m 18. And, thanks to you, now he probably won’t kiss me again until I’m 18. I love him, and no matter what you say, I’m going to see him…with or without your permission. You choose!”

“Don’t you dare threaten me! As long as you live in my house…”

“We followed the rules. You said he couldn’t go upstairs. He’s never been upstairs…not once. He’s never done anything the least bit inappropriate. And, for your information, I asked him to kiss me. I wanted him to kiss me! And, you can ground me for a month…two months, a year, but it won’t change how I feel about him.” I glared at him and said, “I’m going to see him, whether you approve…or not! Goodnight!”

I saw my mother close her eyes, knowing I had just buried myself…deep. But, I was so angry, I couldn’t stop myself. I had been trying to get Shane to show me some physical affection for almost five months, and my father managed to ruin it in one evening. I was livid. I threw back the blankets on my bed and buried my face in my pillow
; sobbing, certain Shane would never kiss me again.

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I sat up and wiped my eyes. It was Shane.  “Hi, I’m so sorry!” I said, trying to hide my tears.

“No, I’m sorry. I hope you’re not in too much trouble.”

“I think my mom would have been able to smooth things over…before…”

“Before, what?”

“Before I told my dad that he couldn’t stop us from kissing…”

“And?” he said, knowing I hadn’t stopped there.

“And…that if we wanted to…do more, he couldn’t stop that, either.”

“Rebecca, why would you say that?”

“He made me mad! You finally kissed me…and he ruined it.”

“No, he didn’t. How did he ruin it? He may have stopped us a few seconds early, but he certainly didn’t ruin it for me.”

I thought about it for a minute and said, “You’re right, he didn’t ruin it. It was wonderful.”

“Yeah, it was. I’m looking forward to a repeat performance the next time we’re alone…really alone,” he laughed.

“Really? You mean my dad didn’t scare you off? You’ll kiss me again?”

“I um, I don’t think I could go back to the way it was before, either. One taste…and I’m hooked.”

I was glad he couldn’t see the tears rolling down my cheeks
, again. “Me too. I love you.”

“I love you, too. Get some sleep.”

I hesitated and he said, “Rebecca, I meant what I said, I love you and I’m not so afraid to show it now. We’ll just have to be sure we’re really alone.  I don’t want another scene like tonight. I do want to respect your father’s wishes, but you’re right, there’s nothing wrong with what we did.”

We hung up a few minutes later and I felt so much better
. I dozed off a lot sooner than I thought I would. I woke up early and bounded down the stairs, expecting to find my mother in the kitchen, but ran into my father, instead.

It was awkward, to say the least, but I was much calmer by then, so I managed a quick, “Good morning.”

“You won’t think so after our chat.”

“Dad, I’m sorry I yelled at you. But, you were really rotten to Shane. He didn’t do anything wrong.”

“The fact still remains; you’re grounded for two weeks. End of story. Oh, and just so we’re clear on this: If I
wanted
to keep you from him, I most certainly could. You will not see him for two weeks…is that clear?”

“NO! You’re being completely unfair. All we did was kiss!”

“And you lied to me. That’s almost worse than what we caught you doing. You should have just admitted the truth!”

“What lie? I didn’t lie to you!”

“You stood in my living room and told me that you two hadn’t kissed before last night.”

“That wasn’t a lie! He’s never touched me!”

“Rebecca, Enough! No more lies.”

“Why is that so hard to believe?”

“Because, I was young once, too. And, there’s no way I’d date a girl for over four months and not kiss her…Hell, I’d have done…” he stopped when he remembered he was talking to his daughter.

“Well, he hasn’t! He told you the truth that first night he was here. He hasn’t touched me and he has no intention of it…until I’m 18. That’s certainly a lot more than I can say for Parker!”

“I wouldn’t have minded if it had been Parker…”

“What? You can’t be serious.  Parker tried to force himself on me…Shane would never do that! How could you even suggest that? I love Shane, Dad! I’ll never love Parker. I told you, he makes my skin crawl!”

“Well, be that as it may, you’re grounded…two weeks…no Shane. You may call him this morning and tell him that you’re grounded and won’t be seeing or talking to him for two weeks, and then I want your phone.”

“I told you, you can’t keep me away from him. I love him, and you can’t stop or change that. For the last time, we didn’t do anything wrong.”

“He apologized for it, so he obviously knew it was wrong. He’s a grown man, and although I find it admirable that he is responsible in caring for his father, maintaining a job and saving for college, the fact remains, he’s of legal age…and you’re not. I told him when you started dating, he had one chance…I’ll give him another considering this is his first screw up…that I know of, but that’s it! And, for the record, if I wanted to keep you apart, make no mistake, Rebecca Marie…I could. The next two weeks will prove that, as well!”

I was crying then. Not because I was worried about losing Shane, but because my father was being completely irrational and I didn’t think my mother could fix it this time.  “Where’s mom?” I asked, through the tears.

“She’s sleeping. But, I’ve made up my mind, and she’s not going to change it…not this time. If you even suggest to her that she talk to me about this, I’ll make it three weeks.”

I stood up and headed upstairs, crying as I made my way up to my prison for the next two weeks.
Undeserved punishment!
That’s what it was. I was being punished for being caught in an embrace and kiss from my boyfriend of almost five months. “Life can be so unfair!” Little did I know how true my words would become…

Distance Does Make the Heart Grow Fonder!

My two week sentence was almost up…finally. I absolutely hated my time away from Shane. I had committed myself to solitary confinement, only coming out when I knew for certain my father was gone, to steal something to eat and then high-tail it back to my room. I was angry, and there was no consoling me. My mom and sister both seemed to realize I needed my space and they were probably both a bit afraid of my volatile teen-age temper, so they obliged me, and I spent the majority of my time alone and in my bed, watching the time pass interminably slow.

I was forced downstairs one night when the Hayes came to dinner. This only irritated me more, and I had to bite my tongue to keep my comments to myself, in fear of more time being added to my already miserable sentence. I lived through the meal, with only mild indigestion from Parker’s leering eyes.

“Where’s Jillian?”

“Oh, she couldn’t come tonight. She sends her love. She was sorry to hear about you being grounded. Um, wha
t did you do, anyway?” he asked when my parents were in the kitchen getting coffee.

I knew he was taunting me, and I was bored and angry, and before I knew what I was saying, I looked him in the eye, and in front of his parent’s, I said, “Oh, my parent’s caught me in bed with Shane. They were too late, of course…” I smiled and then excused myself from the table.

I saw his jaw drop and the flash of anger in his eyes, but I didn’t care! I had been unjustly punished and I wasn’t going to take any more crap from Parker Hayes!

The next morning my mother came into my room. My two weeks were almost up.  I had three days left, and I was starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

“Hi Honey. Can I talk to you for a minute?”

I sat up in bed and said, “My calendar’s free at the moment. Why not?”

“Honey, I know that your dad went over-board…”

“We didn’t do anything wrong!” I said, for the hundredth time over the last week and a half.

“I know and I’ve tried to reason with your father. I’m sorry, but you dug your own grave by arguing with him that night. If you had just walked upstairs without spouting off at him, I would have been able to talk some sense into him.”

I sighed. “I know,” I said as the tears started.

“Well, it’s almost over and you can see Shane in a few days. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

I dried my eyes and said, “Okay.”

“So um, it looked like you were able to convince him…I mean, you were kissing…so…”

I looked up at her, not sure where she was going with this conversation.

“Um, so then, is that…all you’ve done?”

“What?”

“Is kissing the extent of it, or have you two…?”

“No! I told you, that was our
first
kiss…well, the one you saw was our second kiss. We haven’t done anything else,” I said, defensively.

“Okay, I believe you.”

“Dad doesn’t!”

“Well, Honey, you two were…well, you were pretty wrapped up in each other when we walked in. You didn’t even hear us…or your sister, who was making a bunch of comments that probably didn’t help your case much.”

“I love him. We weren’t doing anything wrong. How many times…”

“I know, I know. It’s okay. It’s just that I’m concerned now…”

“About what?”

“Well, you’ll be off restriction in a few days…”

“I know, I can’t wait!”

She stood up and looked out the window for a minute, obviously trying to figure out how to tell me whatever it was she wanted to say. “Rebecca, I need this conversation to stay between us, okay? I don’t want your father to know…” She turned back to face me. “I’ve made an appointment for you.”

“What are you talking about? What appointment?”

“I’m taking you to see Dr. Emory tomorrow morning after your dad goes to work.”

“Dr. Emory? But, I’m not sick.”

“I know. She’s my gynecologist.”

“What are you talking about? I don’t need to see a doctor.”

She sat down next to me on my bed. “I told you about Uncle Brent for a reason.”

“Mom, you’re not making any sense.”             

“Hear me out, okay? I know first-hand how easy it is to get caught up in the moment. I was lucky with Brent…very lucky. I know that. But, I want you to depend on more than just luck. I want you to be safe.”

“Safe?”

“I’m taking you to see Dr. Emory…for birth control.”

“Mom, that’s not necessary. I told you, he won’t…”

“Rebecca, I saw how he was kissing you. I want you to be safe. I’m not saying I
want
you and Shane to have intercourse…”

“MOM!”

“I’m sorry to embarrass you, Rebecca. But, I’d rather embarrass you now, than find out a few months from now that you’re pregnant.”

“You don’t have to worry about…”

“Rebecca, I’m not going to argue with you about this.”

“I’ll be on birth control for no reason!”

“Well, that’s okay. Better to be safe than sorry.”

“Mom, I told you he won’t…”

“And I told you that you have all the power. I know this is something you want…and I’m not judging you…or blaming you. I understand…I do. You love him, and there’s nothing wrong with showing it. And now that you’ve taken that next step, he may want…more. So, you have to be responsible…and prepared!”

“If there’s nothing wrong with it, then why do I have to hide it from dad?”

“Do you
want
to spend the rest of your life in your room?”

“No way!”

“Okay, so you’re appointment is at 9:30. Be up and ready by nine, okay?”

“This really isn’t necessary…but okay.”

I met my mother at the bottom of the stairs at nine am the next morning. I was a nervous wreck. I had always been afraid of doctors and this seemed…worse.  I had never had
that kind
of exam before and I was jumpy as my mother reached out and touched my arm, “Are you ready?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

She smiled. “It’ll be fine, I promise. She’s very gentle and she’ll explain everything as she goes along.”

“Mom, this really isn’t…I mean, Shane won’t…” I was suddenly terrified to go.

“Rebecca, get in the car,” she ordered.