Throw Away Teen (28 page)

Ted’s frown deepened. His jaw tightened and he stared past us for a moment. “You better stay here tonight, Ringo,” he finally said. “Where’s Fritz?”

“
In the truck.”

“
I’ll get him.” Ted patted Ringo’s shoulder. “It’ll be okay, son. Go talk to Liz.”

Liz put Delilah down and came over to hug me. I stood still and let her hold me and Guard. “It was awful, but I did call. A lot, only the line was busy. I promise.”

“
I believe you.” She stroked my hair, then pulled Ringo close, too. “And when Ted gets back in here, he’ll solve the phone mystery. You better tell me about everything you saw, or neither of you will sleep tonight.”

“
I don’t want to make you sick,” I said. She was an old lady. She didn’t need to know what a car wreck looked like, or wrecked people for that matter.

“
Sweetie, I saw more blood in a day at the Evacuation Hospital in Vietnam than Ted did in his entire tour. I’ll make hot chocolate. You’ll have some chicken soup and tell me everything.” Liz kept hugging me, Ringo and Guard. “And next time you call home, B.J., you talk to me or Ted. Nobody else.”

“
Okay,” I agreed. This was the first time I’d done something and my foster parents actually listened to what I said and didn’t blame me for everything—or anything, come to think of it.

***

I went to school after lunch on Monday. I only had three classes left, but that was all I felt I could handle. Ringo and Ted had gone to the hospital to visit Timber. It hadn’t taken Ted long to solve the phone mystery the night before. He just went from room to room until he found the extension that was off the hook and put the receiver back on again. It still amazed me that a grown woman could be so petty but I’d let Ted deal with Jocelyn. I had a feeling she was going to be in major trouble when he caught up with her, but I wasn’t saying a word.

At the school, I saw Mike in the office signing in and nodded to him. “Hey, how are you?”

He shrugged. “Okay. Thanks for your help last night.”

“
You were awesome,” I told him. “How did you know what to do?”

He stared at me for a moment then said, “Sophomore Health. You study first aid and get certified. My mom’s a paramedic, but last night was the first time I had to step up and do it.”

I took my pass from the secretary. “Well, you stepped up all right.”

Ginger smiled at both of us. “From what I’ve heard, all four of you were a credit to the Academy. Dr. O’Malley wants to see you two right after school. I’ll call your parents and ask them to pick you up since you’ll miss the buses.”

“
Why does he want to see us?” I asked.

“
He’s the Vice Principal,” Mike told me. “He’s also our counselor. Come on. I’ll walk you to class. Where’s Ringo?”

“
With Ted at the hospital,” I said. “He’s still freaking out about Timber’s dad.”

Mike held the office door for me. “I don’t know why the guy was driving. He lost his license last New Year’s when he slammed into the flagpole outside Pine Ridge.”

Amazing
, I thought. The more places changed, the more the people stayed the same. Stewart Falls was just like Seattle, only smaller so everyone knew when someone got a D.U.I. and who the guy was.

When I walked into World History, Mr. Miller stopped lecturing. I handed him my pass and he reached out to touch my shoulder. “Are you okay, B.J.?”

Was he for real? Tears stung behind my eyes and I blinked them away. “I’m fine, but I couldn’t stay at home any longer.”

He nodded and I went to sit next to Willa. I opened my notebook and pulled out a pen. After a moment, Mr. Miller started talking about Queen Elizabeth again.

***

Dr. O’Malley turned out to be the skinny dude in the suit from the pep assembly. He had doughnuts and cartons of cold milk on the counter in the conference room when Willa and I arrived. He wasn’t alone in the room. A chunky county cop in a green uniform stood by the windows. Beside him was the gray-haired Stewart Falls police chief who’d been the first to show up at the accident last night.

I stopped by the door and eyeballed them. “What’s going on? Do I need my lawyer?”

“
You’re not in trouble,” Dr. O’Malley said. “They want to talk to you about the accident.”

“
Sure, they do. I still want an attorney,” I said. “Mine.”

It didn’t do any good to ask Willa what she wanted. She just huddled next to me and didn’t say anything. She’d been a silent statue all through our two classes together and then she refused to go to Health. She went with me to Photography and Mr. Lee called her teacher on the phone and arranged for her to stay with us seventh period. The Academy was different. I’d never known a teacher to do that kind of thing for a kid before.

The Stewart Falls cop came close enough that I could read his badge. He was Chief Rivers. “How about if you call your mom instead? I’d be more afraid of Liz Driscoll in a courtroom than any lawyer.”

“
Liz is on her way.” Ginger stuck her head in the doorway. “Willa’s dad will be here soon. So are Mike’s folks. Ringo’s dad wants to come, but he’s a reporter for that TV station and he asked about bringing a camera-man. Since Ringo hasn’t made it back from the hospital yet, I told Marv that he wasn’t needed.”

“
Good thinking,” Dr. O’Malley said. “The last thing I want these kids to deal with is the media. Let’s arrange for Ringo to stay somewhere else so his dad can’t interview him. Talk to Ringo’s mom. They’re divorced and she has custody.”

“
I’m on it.” Ginger flashed her sunshine smile at me. “Want me to call your lawyer, B.J.? Do you have a card or phone number?”

“
She doesn’t need an attorney,” the sheriff’s deputy said. “O’Malley doesn’t want the media here and I don’t want a lawyer.”

I didn’t like his tone, so I dug into my backpack and pulled out Annie’s card, plus the one Carol gave me. “Yeah. Will you call her and my social worker? If I talk to cops without them, I’ll hear about it later.”

I pushed Willa toward one of the chairs. I stayed by her when she sat down. Then, I looked at the counselor again. “So, you know I’m a foster kid, right?”

“
I know.” Dr. O’Malley winked at me. “Go ahead and grab a doughnut. Willa, do you want one?”

She hesitated. I put my backpack on the chair next to her and brought over the box. “I get the maple bar with the most frosting,” I told her.

“
Want to bet?” She took it.

I grabbed an apple fritter which was my real favorite, then put the box back on the counter as Mike came in, followed by a woman in a dark blue firefighter uniform. Liz was right behind her. After introductions were made between everybody and the officers, Dr. O’Malley got everybody settled around the table. He sent Ginger for coffee from the teacher’s lounge for Chief Rivers, Deputy Seymour, Mike’s mother and Liz.

When Ginger came back, she passed out the cups and stopped next to me. “Your caseworker says to wait for Annie. She told me she’d be here within the hour and that it sounds like you made the right choice to call her.”

“
Who is Annie?” Liz asked me.

“
Her lawyer,” Deputy Seymour said, scowling at me. “She’s just making trouble.”

“
And you’re just—” I stopped when Liz shook her head at me. “Well, he is.”

“
Don’t be rude,” Liz said. “We’ll wait for Annie. Since Mike’s mom is here, you can take his statement first. When Willa’s dad gets here, you can take hers. My husband will bring Ringo into your office, Rocky, and you can get his later.”

“
Works for me,” Chief Rivers said. “I’ll send down a copy to the county.”

A half-hour later, Annie Kincaid, a short woman with long brown hair and a friendly smile came into the room. She wore one of her red power suits, and I knew she’d been in court earlier. Otherwise, she was a lot like Carol and opted for jeans and T-shirts.

Annie walked past everybody else and touched my arm. “Come talk to me, B.J. and tell me what’s going on.”

“
Can Liz come, too?” I asked.

“
Sure.” Annie waited for us to stand up. “Once I chat with my client, she’ll be back and we’ll get this sorted out.”

“
The kid isn’t in trouble,” Deputy Seymour said. “We just want to know what happened last night.”

“
Yeah, well if you’d showed up when everybody else did, you’d know,” I told him. “And you wouldn’t be wasting my time.”

Ginger showed us to an empty office then went back to her desk. I introduced Annie to Liz, and then I closed the door so we could really talk.

Anne pulled out a chair. “Okay, B.J., bring me up to speed. What happened and why do you need me?”

CHAPTER 18

I felt safe with Annie and Liz there, and with them guarding my back I really didn’t mind telling the cops what happened the night before. Deputy Seymour seemed like a jerk, but the Stewart Falls chief took each of our stories seriously, treating us like victims and not criminals.

When Willa told her version of the events, Deputy Seymour said, “So, all you did was flag down the police and the fire-trucks?” He scoffed at her then passed her a form. “Fill this out and sign it. Then you can go.”

“
You really are a moron.” I gave him the look I saved for people who were a total waste of space and air. “What do you mean, that’s all she did? If she didn’t flag down the emergency crews, they’d still be driving around in the boonies.”

“
So, it is a good thing that our students learned teamwork,” Dr. O’Malley told the county cop. “They capitalized on their strengths.”

“
And saved Timber Watkins’ life in the process.” Chief Rivers drank some coffee. “I’m glad it was you out there, Willa. If I’d had to drive around all night looking for the car, I wouldn’t have been happy.”

She blinked big golden brown eyes behind her glasses. “Then I really did help?”

“
Hello?” I elbowed her. “Do you really think I’d have waited on the side of the road for them by myself? So, not happening.”

Her dad frowned at me. “I’m sure you’d have done what needed doing, B.J.”

“
I’m afraid not,” Annie said. “B.J. has a serious problem with authority figures.”

“
I’m not surprised,” Deputy Seymour said and then shut up when Liz glared at him.

“
Yeah,” I agreed with him, which visibly amazed the guy. “I have lots of disorders. Attention Deficit Disorder, Anger Management issues, poor impulse control and when I get bored, I just walk away. And stupid people bore the crap out of me. So, could you get off her case and get on with it? I have places to go and things to do and my lawyer charges the state by the hour and gets major bucks.”

Chief Rivers shot me one of the steady looks the good cops often used. He seemed to understand that Willa and I were tight and I wasn’t about to let some deputy sheriff wanna-be hassle my friend or make her feel bad. He reached over and took a form out of the stack by Seymour. “You got it, B.J. You and your attorney can fill this out for us. Then, you’ll be free to go.”

“
All right. It’s about time,” I said.

Willa and I walked out together a half-hour later, ahead of her dad, Liz, and Annie. She hugged me when we got to the cars. “Thanks, B.J. You’re the best.”

“
Yeah. Yeah.” I leaned in and hugged her back. “So, I was straight up in there. If anybody gives you a hard time about you bringing in the cavalry, kick their butts. Okay? I couldn’t have done what you did. It took guts.”

She smiled at me for the first time all afternoon. “Okay. ‘Cause if I don’t stand up, you’ll kick my tail.”

“
You got it,” I said.

Dr. Jackson chuckled as he unlocked their car. “I think it’s our turn to have B.J. stay over on Saturday night, Liz. Will that work for you ladies?”

She glanced at me. “Does it fit into your schedule, B.J.?”

“
Well, yeah.” I grinned at Willa. “What about you? Can you stand having me over?”

“
Only if you bring Guard, too.”

“
I knew it. You love my puppy best.” I looked at her dad. “Is that okay? I’ll take real good care of him. And he never does his stuff in the house because I watch him. I don’t like cleaning up after him.”

“
It’s fine,” Dr. Jackson said. “Willa loves dogs. We’re going to try and find her one soon.”

“
Cool. Then, she can join Liz’s club with me,” I said. “Okay, Liz?”

“
Sure. We always welcome new members.” Liz glanced at her watch. “Speaking of Guard, we better get home. I locked him in the downstairs bathroom.”

“
You might think about getting him a crate,” Dr. Jackson said.

“
No way. I’m not locking him in a cage,” I said. “Done there, been that and you don’t get a T-shirt for surviving. It sucks and he’s a good puppy.”

“
I’d like to see him,” Annie said. “Can I come home with you, B.J. and ooh and aah over him?”

“
Sure,” I said. “You want to follow us in your car?”

“
Works for me,” Annie said.

I heaved a sigh when Liz and I got into her car. It’d been a stressful afternoon and I was wiped. The last thing I really wanted to do was have one of the big talks that Annie and Carol always insisted upon after a major event. After I buckled up, I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes. I didn’t doze off, but that was only because it was such a short drive to the house.

When we got there, I went right in and nabbed Guard. He was happy to see me and we did our usual walk around the yard routine. He was super when Annie arrived. He sat down and then held up his paw to shake. His good manners made me proud. I picked him up and carried him back into the house. He gave me lots of puppy kisses while I snuggled him.