The Right and the Real (23 page)

“I guess I have to,” I said. “I’m thinking if he sent a message instead of calling the school, then he must be in real trouble, though. Maybe they’ve got him locked up or something.”

“Could be.”

“Will you go with me?”

“Not my scene.”

“Please?”

“No way. Them church people’ll call the cops. I’m only two months and three days away from being clean and sober for one year. I get picked up for anything now, my daughter’ll be all over me.” He did a falsetto voice that I guess was supposed to be his daughter. “
I knew I
couldn’t trust you
.
You say you goin’ straight, but are you? I don’t think so!
” In his regular voice he said, “I ain’t takin’ no chances.”

“Why would they call the police?” I asked.

“Trust me,” he said. “They’d take one look at my beautiful face and find a reason.”

On Thursday morning, as I rode my bicycle to school, I couldn’t help feeling that same athletic rush I get when I dance. It would be March in a few days, and the air was still sharp, but you could tell spring was coming. It felt good in my lungs. I should’ve been happy with weather like this, but the worry over my dad was too strong. I was locking my bike to the rack when Krista and Liz came running up to me.

“Have you talked to Josh?” Krista asked.

“I just got here.”

“I meant last night,” she said.

I shook my head. I’d felt so desperate after talking it over with LaVon, I’d almost phoned Derrick, since Josh wouldn’t answer my calls, but in the end I thought it might make matters worse for my dad.

Krista took my arm and led me into the school. “It doesn’t matter anyway because we have a plan.”

Because Mr. Lazby spent all his time in the costume shop, it was super easy to lift a couple of hall passes out of his desk. We filled in one excusing me from fifth period study hall, saying I was needed at the theater, and one for Josh, which we had Liz’s little sister, Megan, deliver to his gym teacher at the beginning of the period while the class was still in the locker room changing. The pass said Josh was
wanted in the office, and because the intercom in the gym was dicey at best, and Megan looks so innocent, Coach didn’t get suspicious at all.

I hid inside the bathroom door, waiting for Josh to walk by. When I heard the squeak of athletic shoes on the polished linoleum in the hallway, I peeked around and saw him coming. As he passed, I leapt out, grabbed his arm, and put all my weight into dragging him into the bathroom. Josh was almost a foot taller than me, but the element of surprise and my strong dancer legs had given me the advantage. Unfortunately, I’d forgotten he was a “hit first, ask questions later” type of guy. He swung his arm around, his rock-hard fist clipping the very edge of my jaw, sending me reeling.

“What the hell’s going on?” he demanded. And then he saw it was me. I clutched at my face, my skin burning like I’d touched it with a hot curling iron, tears already filling my eyes.

“Oh, my God!” I mumbled. “I think you broke my jaw.”

He squatted down next to me and pried my hand away from my face. “Jeez, Jamie, are you okay? You scared the crap outta me. Let me see.” Gently he touched the side of my face with his fingertips, running his hand up and down my jawbone. “Open your mouth…okay, good…close it…I don’t think it’s broken, but maybe you should go to the nurse.”

I struggled to my feet. “I’m fine. Just…” Stars floated in front of my eyes, and Josh reached out to steady me.

“Sit,” he said, guiding me to the floor. “Wait here.”

“No! Josh, no. I need to talk to you.”

“Shhh…we’re gonna get busted for being out of class. Wait here. I’ll be right back. I promise.”

I leaned my head against the cool tile wall. This was not how it was supposed to go. I hadn’t even gotten a chance to ask him about my dad, and now he was gone. I held my hand to my aching jaw, and tears slid over my fingers, dropping onto the concrete. Oh, gross. I was on the bathroom floor. I had to get up. I reached for the sink to give myself something to hold on to, but before I was on my feet, Josh was back.

“You need to sit down,” he said. He shook a cold pack to activate it and handed it to me. “I had one in my locker left over from football season.”

I pressed it to my throbbing face, instantly feeling a little relief. “Thanks.”

Josh squatted down next to me. “Why’d you drag me in here?”

“Because you left me a note at work that said ‘Blue Raspberry Popsicles,’ and I’ve been trying to find you to ask you about it ever since, but you won’t let me get within half a mile of you.”

“Oh, right.” He sat down next to me. “I don’t know what that means. Do you?”

“Let me get this straight,” I said. “You’ve been leaving me messages, and you don’t know why?”

“Well, yeah. Your dad seemed so stressed about it. Like telling you he said ‘Blue Raspberry Popsicles’ was the most important thing in the world. I felt bad for him, so I said I’d get you the message. I figured it was something from your childhood.…You know, like he wanted you to know he was sorry or he’s all right or something.”

I stared at Josh. How could he be so dense? “Josh, they
are
a message…code for he’s in big trouble and needs help. Why didn’t you just tell me in person?”

“I tried,” he said. “I went to your work, but you weren’t there.”

“And you couldn’t have written a better note than that?” I asked.

“I should’ve, but that guy…well, he wasn’t very friendly and I didn’t know if he’d give it to you or not. He wouldn’t tell me what motel you were staying in.”

I wanted to smile, thinking of Trent protecting me, but my face hurt too much.

“I got the note,” I said, “but it didn’t mean much without an explanation.”

Josh reached out and cupped my chin. “Your face,” he said. “I’m so sorry about your beautiful face.” He kissed me on the forehead, and I almost raised my mouth to meet his, but I shoved him away instead.

“Stop it! All I want to know is what’s going on with my dad. Why is he sending me messages? Why doesn’t he just leave?”

“They won’t let him,” Josh said. “Because of the inheritance.”

“They must know the money is all tied up. The most he can give them is his monthly allowance. My grandpa knew better than to trust him with it all at once.”

“They’ll take it however they can get it. Besides, they’ve made him a disciple. He knows too much about the inner workings of the church for them to let him go without a fight now.”

The pain in my jaw had moved up to my cheek, and my entire head hurt. What was Josh talking about…the inner workings of the church? The ache in my face made it hard to follow the conversation.

“Are they keeping him there by force, Josh? Is that why he’s sending me messages?”

“Well…”

Panic surged through me. “They haven’t beaten him up, have they?”

“I don’t think so,” Josh said. “But now that he’s a disciple, it’s serious
business to them. Mira’s getting really fanatical now too. She’ll do anything the Teacher asks her to. Even spy on your dad. They’re all working on his mind, telling him they’re the only ones who care about him.”

“But he’s asking for help,” I said. “Maybe the brainwashing isn’t working.”

Josh shrugged. “I don’t know.…The message might not be what you think. Maybe he’s trying to say he’s sorry.”

I pulled myself up, shrugging off Josh when a wave of dizziness came over me and grabbing the windowsill for support instead. Josh might be right. My memories could be mixed up somehow.

“I have to find out what he wants,” I said. “How can I get inside?”

“I don’t see how,” he said.

“Maybe Krista could go to a Friday Mixer with you,” I said.

“With purple hair and those clothes?”

I took the cold pack off my face so he could see the angry, red welt. “Come on, Josh…please…It’s the least you could do.”

“Dammit, Jamie. Don’t look at me like that.”

He crossed his arms like I’d seen him do so many times when Derrick wanted him to do something he didn’t want to, like go to an extra church meeting. He always gave in to his brother, so I waited, not taking my eyes off of him.

Finally he said, “Oh, all right. But not Krista. I could maybe take Megan to a dance.”

“Rafferty?” I asked.

“She’s in drama with you, right?” he said. “And isn’t she your friend Liz’s little sister?”

“Well, yeah, but do you even know her?”

Not too many seniors were aware of the freshman girls unless they were super hot. Megan looked pretty much like Liz; tall, skinny, flat-chested, and always wore her hair in a bun.

“She’s in my chemistry class,” he explained. “And Derrick won’t connect her to you.”

“That would be great, Josh,” I said. “Liz can go along as the chaperone.”

The church loved old-fashioned ideas like a sibling as a chaperone, and even though Liz was one of my best friends, Derrick would probably buy the idea.

“This is strictly to find out what your dad wanted to tell you,” Josh said. “No heroic rescues that get me kicked out, because my father will never let me see Mom or Derrick again, and they need me.”

This time, I was the one who reached out and touched him. But it was just my hand on his arm…like a friend, not a girlfriend. “You can trust Megan and Liz,” I said. “I promise.”

DAD HAD NEVER LET ME STAY OVERNIGHT WITH FRIENDS
on school nights, but since I was in charge of my own life, Krista and I went home with Liz. We needed to figure out what she and Megan would wear to the Mixer.

Liz waved away the matching yellow bridesmaid dresses Krista had chosen for them. “I’m not wearing that rag,” she said for the third time.

“I will,” Megan said.

“Suck-up,” Liz said. “Don’t you remember, they’re super itchy and they gave us both rashes during Lydia’s wedding reception?”

“It’s one night,” Megan said. “If that’s what Krista thinks we should wear, then we should. She’s the expert.”

We’d pitched the whole idea of the dance to Megan like it was an acting gig, and she’d jumped all over it. We gave her a role to play—the demure, innocent date. We couldn’t figure out any way to keep the reason she was going along a secret, so we had told her pretty much everything about my dad, Josh, and the church, but we knew we could trust her. For the most part, she was just Liz’s little sister, but I had known her since she was five years old, and we’d danced the
Nutcracker
together every year since then, so we did have a bond.

“Those are perfect for the R&R,” I said, agreeing with Krista. “I swear, all the girls there will be dressed the same way.”

“Like extras on
Little House on the Prairie
?” Liz demanded.

“Yeah,” I said. “With pantyhose and flat shoes too.”

“No way.”

I nodded. “Trust me. They’re fashion-challenged.”

Krista took one of the offending dresses and examined it. “I can remove the lace so they’re not so scratchy, and I’ll sew a cell phone pocket into Liz’s in the seam below the sash.”

Liz collapsed onto her bed in defeat. “But when are you going to do that? We need them tomorrow.”

“I’ll help,” I said.

Krista rolled her eyes at me. “You can rip out the seams.” We both knew that unless she hemmed my jeans for me, I was perfectly happy to do it with duct tape.

After school on Friday, I locked my bike up outside the motel and climbed the stairs. I was digging for my keys in the hallway, when with a big whoosh, someone flung my door open from the inside, and a voice bellowed, “Where the hell you been?”

I staggered into the room and collapsed onto my bed, clutching my chest dramatically, but my heart actually thumped hard, even though I was goofing around. “LaVon!” I said. “You seriously almost scared me to death. How’d you get in my room, anyway?”

“Stub let me in. James, you’ve been gone for—” I flinched as he reached out with a huge hand, but he simply lifted my chin to see my face better. “Who did this to you?” he growled.

“Josh, but it was an accident. I’m all right.”

LaVon let go of me. “Where you been? I go to the Klatch last
night to get you, and you’re not there. Then you don’t come home. So I’m thinking you’re dead somewhere.”

“You couldn’t have been that worried,” I said, laughing at his mother-hen tone. “I was at work this morning. Why didn’t you come in to see me then?”

He glared at me for not taking him seriously. “I had a meeting with my parole officer,” he said. “Besides, I don’t have all day to check up on you, ya know? You coulda called my cell.”

I sobered up quickly. “I’m sorry. I stayed at Liz’s last night.”

He shrugged like the matter was settled. “You hungry?”

“Sure.” Krista and I had planned to order a pizza, but to make him feel better, I let LaVon take me to his room and give me a huge bowl of vegetable soup and a hunk of fresh bread with cheddar cheese.

“Nice wallpaper,” he said.

“What?” I asked, not following.

“Your list,” he said. “I saw the stuff you wrote on your wall.”

“Oh, that. Yeah, Stub’ll probably be mad. But guess what? The Olivier picture is up to eight hundred and eleven dollars and seventy-eight cents on eBay. And it doesn’t end until tomorrow.”

“You’re shittin’ me,” he said.

“I’m not. I kind of hate having it in my room now that I know someone will pay that much for it.”

LaVon shook his head in disbelief, and honestly, I kind of felt the same way. Before, when cash wasn’t an issue, it hadn’t bothered me at all that Grandpa had spent a ridiculous amount on a photo just because he knew I’d like it. But now…well…on my way home, I’d seen Vanessa and Ruby parked around the corner, and it looked like they were living in their car. Somehow, owning such an expensive photo seemed obscene when I knew a pregnant teen who had to live
on the street with a toddler. I didn’t tell LaVon I’d seen her, though, because I felt embarrassed for her. Knowing him, he already knew all about it and took them regular meals anyway.

“I won’t be home tonight either,” I said, my mouth full of the yummy bread.

“Not my business anyway,” LaVon said.

“It
is
your business,” I argued. “You’ve been great to me, and I should’ve called.”