Death of a Chocoholic (6 page)

“Dear God in heaven, they're leaving the island!” Hayley screamed as she sat wedged between Mona and Liddy in the front seat of Mona's pickup truck. They were tailgating a red Honda Accord as it cruised over the Trenton Bridge, which connected Mount Desert Island to the mainland.

“Faster, Mona, we're going to lose them,” Liddy squealed.

“If I go any faster, I'll rear-end them,” Mona barked. Her hands were gripping the steering wheel as they closed in on the Accord.

“I almost don't even want to know where they're going,” Hayley wailed.

Hayley's worst fears were becoming a reality. She was coming to suspect that Gemma's withdrawal and her moodiness were far more serious than a failing grade or boy trouble. At this moment her only daughter was in the backseat of a car with a gang of local thugs and druggies. She was probably on her way to a meth lab operated out of a trailer in the woods outside of Bangor.

Or worse.

Hayley had heard all the stories: How one day your kid starts acting differently. No longer the bright, happy child who draws you a homemade Mother's Day card. Suddenly she's become a self-absorbed, rebellious, vicious troublemaker who no longer listens to anything you say. Now she misses her curfew, pals around with a seedy gang, smokes pot or heroin, forever lost to the dark side.

Okay, maybe she was being a little dramatic, but it was impossible not to allow her mind to go there.

Hayley yearned for the days when Gemma excitedly filled her in on even the tiniest details of her life. Now it was a Herculean task just getting her to offer more than a sullen look and a dismissive shrug.

 

 

Just twenty minutes earlier, Gemma grabbed her coat and was halfway out the back door before Hayley managed to stop her.

“Don't you think it's appropriate for me to know where you are going, Gemma?”

“I'm seventeen, Mom!” Gemma groaned.

“Exactly my point. You're still a year away from being of legal age, and until then I expect to know what you are doing, who you are with, and what time I can expect you home.”

Gemma stomped her foot and sighed. “Fine! It's Tina Staples's birthday. Her parents are throwing her a surprise party, and I'm going with some friends. I'll be home by eleven. Happy now?”

Hayley breathed a sigh of relief. Tina was the daughter of Reverend Staples, the most trusted man in town. With the good reverend and his demure, soft-spoken wife, Edie, chaperoning, there would be no shenanigans going on. Hayley wouldn't need to worry about anything untoward occurring.

Hayley opened her mouth once again to try and find out what was bugging Gemma so much. Just then, though, a pair of headlights turned into the driveway.

“My ride's here,” Gemma said, bolting out the door.

“Wait, you didn't tell me which friends!”

Hayley peered out the door to see Gemma jumping into the back of a Honda Accord. She didn't recognize any of the kids in the car when the interior lights snapped on. Especially troubling was the strapping boy behind the wheel. He was big and imposing, with a sly grin; his neck was craned around so he could look Gemma up and down with lustful eyes.

Well, Hayley couldn't see his eyes, but she knew in her bones they were probably full of lust.

Hayley wanted the names of everyone in that car; but by the time she made it out the door to the driveway, the Accord had already backed out and was roaring off down the street.

At that moment Mona's beat-up white truck pulled up to Hayley's house. Mona honked the horn. Hayley had completely forgotten she had plans to go to Randy's bar with Mona and Liddy for a cocktail.

Liddy rolled down the window and stuck her face out. “Next time we're taking my Mercedes. I just scratched my butt on a spring sticking out of Mona's upholstery.”

“Stop your yammering and slide over for Hayley,” Mona barked.

“Mona, the car you just passed, did you see who was driving?”

“No, it was too dark. Why?”

“I'm probably overreacting. I've just been a little concerned about Gemma lately and the kids she's been hanging around with. I hope she's not falling in with a bad crowd.”

“Gemma's got a good head on her shoulders. She'll be fine,” Mona said.

Mona was always so calm and reassuring.

“You're right. I mean, how much trouble can she possibly get into at Reverend Staples's house?” Hayley said.

“Is that where she told you she was going?” Liddy asked.

“Yes.”

“Well, we just drove by the Staples' house. They're not home. All the lights were off,” Liddy said.

“Oh, my God! She lied!” Hayley wailed.

Worst fears realized.

“Mona, follow that Accord!” Hayley said, opening the passenger-side door and trying to climb in, but Liddy pushed her back.

“No way am I sitting in the middle,” Liddy said. “I'm claustrophobic! Besides, Mona smells like chicken grease.”

“I just made dinner for my kids! Give me a friggin' break!” Mona spit out.

They lost a few precious seconds while Liddy got out and let Hayley squeeze in between them. Then Mona hit the accelerator and the white pickup zoomed down the street in hot pursuit of the Honda.

 

 

By the time they reached Ellsworth, ten minutes past the Trenton Bridge, Hayley was in full panic mode.

The Honda's right blinker clicked on and off as it pulled into a large parking lot. Mona veered her truck in behind them and then shut off her headlights so they wouldn't detect her tailing them.

“You think they're doing some kind of drug deal?” Liddy asked, unable to hide her excitement to be smack in the middle of such high-stakes drama.

“I know this place,” Mona said. “I bring my older kids here all the time. It's the Beer 'n Bowl. Friday is psychedelic bowling night.”

Hayley had heard of the Beer 'n Bowl. Bowling for the whole family. A bar area for the adults.

“Maybe they're going to rob the place!” Liddy said, smacking Hayley on the arm, proud of her new theory.

“Okay, you need to take a chill pill, Liddy, and stop scaring Hayley. I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation why she didn't just tell you she was coming here,” Mona said.

“Why would she lie to me?” Hayley said, shaking her head.

They watched as five teenagers, Gemma included, piled out of the Accord. The big lug, who was behind the wheel, pulled something out of his coat pocket and started dispensing what looked like white pills to all the kids. They popped them into their mouths as they entered the bowling alley.

“They're getting high!” Hayley moaned, covering her face with her hands.

Liddy opened the door and jumped out, dragging Hayley by the sleeve behind her. “Come on, we have to get her out of there before she gets caught and arrested in a drug raid!”

As the three women entered, they were overwhelmed by neon spandex, bowling, glitter, and beer. It was like a disco circa 1978. Hayley looked around, but she didn't immediately spot Gemma and her gang of juvenile delinquents.

She turned to Liddy and Mona.

“Okay, I don't want her seeing us before we know exactly what's going on,” Hayley said. “Why don't you two hang at the bar and act inconspicuous while I look around?”

“I
love
that idea,” Liddy said with a big smile, turning to the bar and resting her eyes on the hot, young bartender shirtless underneath a tight leather vest. “More than you will ever know.”

The bartender winked at Liddy. “Cougars in the house. Nice.”

Liddy blushed and demurely touched his hand. “I'm way too young to be a cougar. Is there something else in the animal kingdom to describe a slightly older woman?”

“I
love
older women,” the bartender said, caressing her hand.

“Okay, then. I guess technically I'm old enough to be a cougar,” Liddy gushed.

“Just get us a couple of beers, okay, junior?” Mona barked, startling him.

He quickly grabbed a couple of glass mugs and began filling them from the tap.

Hayley had trouble scanning the crowd of bowlers with all the neon lighting and the reflections from the disco ball hanging over the lanes from the ceiling. She was halfway across the room when she suddenly spotted Gemma and her pals gathering in an area off to the side near the farthest bowling lane. Hayley was completely exposed just as Gemma unexpectedly turned in her direction.

Hayley ducked behind a family of five, all wearing matching red bowling shirts. She stayed low to the floor, looking through the father's legs at Gemma. Luckily, her daughter didn't see her. One of the kids in the red-shirted family, a freckle-faced boy around eight, happened to turn and found himself face-to-face with a crouching Hayley. Her sudden presence shocked him into silence for a moment.

“Hello, what's your name?” Hayley said, offering the kid a warm smile.

It didn't work.

His eyes popped open and he pointed in Hayley's face. “Stranger danger! Stranger danger!”

The red-shirted mother whipped around at her boy's cries to see Hayley on her knees, trying to quiet her kid. “What are you doing? Get away from my son!”

All heads in the bowling alley now turned in Hayley's direction. Hayley sprung to her feet and quickly walked across one of the lanes, turning her head to one side, to avoid being spotted by Gemma and her druggie friends.

Her head was turned so far she was unable to see where she was going.

“Look out!” a man yelled.

Hayley spun around to see Reverend Staples frantically waving his arms in the air at her.

Hayley suddenly realized she was in the middle of a bowling lane and Reverend Staples's bowling ball was barreling straight for her. She broke into a run to avoid getting mowed down by the ball, but she wasn't fast enough. The ball slammed into her right ankle and she fell face-first into the bowling pins.

They scattered in every direction.

She managed to knock down all the remaining pins that were standing.

At least she helped the reverend score a spare.

Reverend Staples and his wife, Edie, hustled down the lane to help Hayley to her feet.

“Are you all right?” Edie asked.

Hayley nodded, forcing a smile. Then she glanced over to see Gemma, who at that moment was staring at her, mouth agape. That's when Hayley noticed the birthday decorations and cake set up in the corner.

Gemma marched over, screaming at the top of her lungs, “
Mom!
What are you doing here?”

“I . . . I didn't recognize the kids you left with, so I—”

“They're Tina's cousins visiting from New Hampshire. We all carpooled to the party,” Gemma said evenly, her arms folded.

“Well, don't I feel like the fool,” Hayley said, laughing, trying to make light of the situation.

Nobody else laughed.

“I can't believe you embarrassed me like that. Just go home, please.”

“Wait just a minute, young lady. What did that boy give you before you came in here? It looked like some kind of pill. Are you high?”

The big kid who was driving pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to Hayley. “You mean these?”

It was a can of Altoids mints.

“We shared a bag of Funyuns on the way up here, so we had stinky breath,” Gemma said, seething.

“Want one?” the boy offered Hayley.

“No, thank you. I'm fine,” Hayley said, barely audible.

Hayley looked over to Mona and Liddy for support, but they had already quickly downed their beers at the bar and were slinking toward the exit before Gemma spotted them too.

Hayley feared she had just crossed a line and perhaps lost her daughter's trust for good.

“I'm really not comfortable appearing on camera, Bessie,” Hayley said.

“Nonsense. You're a natural,” Bessie said, fluffing her own hair as she stared into a mirror.

A pimply kid around Dustin's age, wearing a Jay-Z t-shirt and tattered jeans, stood behind a mounted camera. Next to him was a pudgy kid holding a cheap-looking boom mike.

“Where did you get all this equipment?” Hayley asked.

“Rented it from the high school. My crew members are volunteers from the visual-arts department. They're getting extra credit for helping me out.”

Bessie had decided to make a promo video for her burgeoning candy business and post it on YouTube. When she called Hayley to come over to her house, Hayley just assumed the special candy she promised to whip up for her was ready to be picked up.

But it wasn't.

Bessie had other plans.

She needed a straight man for her video. Since Bessie had very few friends, Hayley was basically her first and only choice.

“What do you want me to do?” Hayley asked.

“Just be yourself. You'll be my guest. After all, you're somewhat of a local celebrity with your cooking column. Now don't worry. You can just stand here and smile and I'll do all the talking.”

“Like a
Price Is Right
model.”

“Exactly,” Bessie said as she finished primping.

That didn't seem so bad.

“Okay, let's try one and see what we get,” Bessie said. “You boys ready?”

They nodded, but they seemed noncommittal.

The plump one yawned.

“Okay, we're rolling.... Sound is speeding . . . and action!” the pimply kid said.

Bessie smiled brightly and looked straight into the camera. “Hello, everyone, I'm Bessie, your favorite chocolatier. Today I have a special guest here with me. I've invited my dear friend, Hayley Powell, over because I'm dying for her to try some of my delicious chocolate candies you can buy online at my website, BessiesSweetTreats.com. Go ahead, Hayley. Have one.”

Bessie waved a lumpy-looking chocolate in front of Hayley's face.

Hayley didn't expect a taste test.

But she went with it.

Hayley bit into the chocolate. It didn't taste as bad as she had expected.

“Hmmmm . . . so good, Bessie. Yummy,” Hayley said stiffly. Her acting talents were never going to make Meryl Streep nervous.

“How would you describe the filling?” Bessie said to Hayley, but the chocolatier was still looking straight into the camera.

“Is that almond?” Hayley guessed.

“No, it's walnut. Cut!”

Bessie looked at Hayley disappointed. “I guess we should have rehearsed first. Let's try another take.”

This time Hayley was prepared to guess the correct ingredients; but every time she thought they were done, Bessie insisted on doing another take. She wanted her inaugural video to be absolutely perfect.

Which meant after twenty-four more takes, Hayley had eaten a full box of chocolates.

Hayley's stomach was churning.

She felt queasy.

And she actually felt dizzy from the sugar high.

“Just one more, Hayley. For safety.”

“Safety? We've done it two dozen times.”

“I know. But on that last one, you winced as you ate my chocolate. I can't have you wincing, Hayley. People will get the wrong idea.”

“I winced because I can't eat any more. I just can't, Bessie. I'm about to be sick,” Hayley pleaded.

Bessie just pouted and shook her head as if Hayley were being a kitchen diva.

“I'm sorry . . . I just . . .” Hayley stopped herself. She knew in her gut Bessie was never going to take no for an answer.

Bessie gave her the puppy dog eyes. “Just one more? For me?”

Hayley found herself nodding.

Bessie clapped her hands excitedly and turned to her crew members, who were texting. Her smile faded in an instant. “Focus, you imbeciles, or I tell your teacher you goofed off the whole time and you'll get no credit!”

The boys snapped to attention; one hit a button on the camera and the other lifted up the boom mike.

Hayley went through the motions while Bessie encouraged her to try her chocolate, and Hayley made sure to keep a smile pasted on her face and tried desperately not to wince as she ate the chocolate. She thought she was doing pretty well at pretending to be over the moon for the chocolate as she chewed and chewed. This one was loaded with sticky caramel.

She felt an odd texture on her tongue.

It wasn't gooey.

It was something stringy.

What the hell was that?

It was like . . . hair!

Or cat fur!

Oh, Lord, no!

Supermarket Ron was right.

Bessie's unsanitary kitchen had led to this!

She was eating cat fur!

Hayley gagged, reaching into her mouth with her fingers to try and pull it out.

Bessie never took her eyes off the camera. “Hayley, are you okay?”

Hayley shook her head and then, without warning, she felt bile rising up in her throat. She tried in vain to swallow it, but it was too overwhelming and powerful.

She vomited all over the place.

Bessie screamed.

The pimply kid behind the camera burst out laughing.

The plump one turned green at the horrific sight, dropped his boom mike, and threw up a torrent of liquid goo himself.

Bessie just screamed, “Shut the camera off! Shut it off now!”

Hayley wiped her mouth with her sleeve and just apologized over and over again to poor Bessie, who was nearly catatonic from the shock of Hayley spitting up her delicious chocolates in such a violent manner.

To make matters worse, Bessie's cats appeared out of nowhere and began rubbing up against Hayley's leg. Two more jumped up on the island counter and licked a bowl dripping with chocolate. All those cats closing in on her, like a scene from some frightful Stephen King horror novel, made her feel even sicker.

Bessie finally snapped out of her stunned state and hastily grabbed a mop and a pail and began madly scrubbing the floors clean.

The cats just kept on coming, and Hayley couldn't stop herself from thinking about the fur in the chocolates.

She had to get out of there before she got sick again.

Bessie collapsed in tears, resting her forehead on the mop handle.

Hayley signaled to the two boys to give them some privacy. They appeared grateful and hightailed it out of there.

“Bessie, I'm sorry. But it was only one take. We got a bunch of good ones you can use on YouTube.”

“I just wanted my video to be perfect and show that awful Nina Foster-Jones she's not the only game in town.”

Nina Foster-Jones was a local caterer, very snooty, who gained a reputation with the wealthy summer crowd for her offbeat hors d'oeuvres and her scrumptious desserts. However, during the winter months when most of her clients had left town and business was slow, she worked part-time at an insurance company.

“Why do you care about her?” Hayley gently asked.

“Because she thinks I'm stealing her ideas.”

“What ideas?”

“Starting a candy business, like she did with those fancy desserts of hers, and doing videos for YouTube, like she did, and calling my new business Bessie's Sweet Treats.”

“Why? What does she call her company?”

“Nina's Sweet Treats.”

“Oh.”

“It's not like people are going to confuse the two. I'm Bessie. She's Nina. Duh!”

Hayley was in no mood to argue with Bessie, even though it did seem Nina had a point.

“I'm collecting enemies left and right. First Ron at the Shop 'n Save, then that doofus, Cody, at the bank, and Wolf, my obnoxious ex. Then yesterday when I was at the high school renting the equipment, Nina happened to be there because one of her hellions was in trouble again. She saw me and just started yelling at me and warning me to stop stealing her ideas, or else. . . .”

“Or else what?”

“Or else she'd kill me.”

“She didn't really say that.”

“Yes, she did. Twice. She would've said it a third time, but I elbowed her in the throat.”

“You did what?”

“She deserved it.”

“Did she call the police?”

“She was going to, but Principal Harkins didn't want a scandal at the school. He offered to let Nina's punk kid off the hook if she just left quietly and forgot all about it.”

“Bessie, you really need to control your temper. You can't go around hitting people.”

“Nina Foster-Jones is a Rachael Ray wannabe no-talent and I'm not going to allow her to intimidate me. If she wants to try and kill me, I say bring it!”