Broken Road (32 page)

“You got it, Mom,” Angel said brightly. “I’ll check the bus schedule, and hopefully I can leave right after my last class on Friday afternoon.”

“Great!” said Laura enthusiastically. “See, now everyone is happy. Win-win.”

Everyone with the exception of Jarrod
, thought Angel. “Yup. Win-win.” Angel pinched the bridge of her nose, suddenly feeling a migraine coming on.

“Bradenton? This weekend?” asked Jarrod.

“Yes. It was either that or they’d come here next weekend, and then I wouldn’t be able to go to Jacksonville with you.” She watched him from the corner of her eye to see his reaction.

“But I was hoping you and I would, y’know, be able to go away this weekend. This stinks.”

“Don’t whine. It’s not becoming. Besides, we’re going away next weekend.”

At that precise moment, Jarrod reminded her of a young child who’d just been informed that Santa Claus didn’t truly exist. He plopped himself onto her bed and pouted.

“Yeah, but we’re not going to be alone. The whole family will be there.”

“Which will be great,” she said brightly. “I’ll be able to meet them all.”

“It won’t be great as far as us spending time alone. I mean, really alone.” He looked at her to see if she was getting his meaning, but she gave no sign that she did, so he continued by adding, “I mean really, really—”

“I get it, Jarrod.” His face dropped, and he looked so sad and disappointed. She bent down to place a quick kiss on his forehead. “Baby, in the immortal words of Mick Jagger, you can’t always get what you want. In this case, it’s one or the other.”

He awkwardly threw himself backward on the bed, then took one of the pillows and placed it over his head. Mumbled, unintelligible profanities could be heard while he punched the bed with one hand and held the pillow down with the other.

Angel raised both her eyebrows at the ridiculous, doltish, incredible, but yet somewhat entertaining display of infantilism. The whining was preferable to the tantrum, but not quite as funny.

Chapter Thirty-One

“H
i, Mom. It’s me,” said Morgan.

“Hi, love. How are you doing?” Helen sounded tired. She had been cleaning and dusting all day and was readying herself for a long, hot shower when the phone rang.

“I’m fine. I went to the bank today. Thanks for wiring the money, but I was wondering why you sent so little. Last time you sent five hundred.”

“That was all I was able to scrape up.”

“Three hundred dollars? That’s it?”

Helen took in a deep breath as she prepared herself for the ensuing battle.

“Yes, Morgan. That’s it. That’s all I could afford to send. I still have expenses, you know. I wish you could understand that and maybe, just maybe, have a little more consideration.”
Wow, that felt good
, she thought.

On the other end, Morgan opened her mouth in shock, forming a big O. “Listen to you getting all snippy,” she said acerbically. “It’s your responsibility as a mother to supply your only daughter with what she needs. Just because you’ve failed miserably at it, doesn’t mean that you should take it out on me.”

“Listen, Morgan. I don’t want to fight. I’m tired of fighting. I sent you all that I could. I’m sorry if it isn’t much, but I don’t have anymore. Now, can we please change the subject?” Helen was emotionally and mentally spent. Every time she spoke with her daughter, she felt completely wiped out. She was ashamed to admit it, but strangely, when Morgan decided to leave, Helen secretly felt relieved. Every day with Morgan was a constant battle, and things hadn’t improved much after she left. Whenever Morgan would call, she was endlessly demanding and nastier than ever.

“Fine. Tell me what’s going on over there,” Morgan said.

“Nothing new, really. I saw Mrs. Gerbino the other day at the supermarket, and she looks well. She said to say hello when I spoke with you.”

“And so you have. Next.”

“Umm…” How was it that knowing her daughter as well as she did, she still could be shocked by her interminable rudeness?

“Have you seen any of the Wentworths?” asked Morgan.

“Actually, yes, I have. I saw Jarrod’s younger brother—”

“Alec.”

“Yes, Alec. He came to the diner last night with some friends. They were all so nice and polite. And handsome. That Alec has grown at least two inches since I last saw him, and he’s all muscle now. Very, very good-looking.”

“Are you planning on doing him?”

“Doing what with him?” Helen asked naively.

“Never mind,” Morgan said, trying desperately to hold back the laughter.

“Anyway, as I was saying, he’s such a nice young man. He reminds me of Jarrod a lot. Speaking of Jarrod, their friend Joey mentioned he’s doing great. He’s practically fully recovered from the accident. Isn’t that wonderful?”

“Wonderful,” Morgan responded while she skimmed through a bridal magazine she had purchased earlier that morning. She may not be engaged to Jarrod at the moment, but that was just a matter of time.

“But there’s even better news. Remember that scout who came to his last game here in New Jersey? Well, it seems that he’ll be meeting with him either this weekend or next weekend. I’m not quite sure…maybe it’s next weekend…” Morgan quickly stood up, dropping the magazine on the floor.

“Mother.”

“Umm…where was I?”

“He’s meeting with the scout one of these weekends. Where?”

“That I don’t know. Joey didn’t say. I just know it’s coming up soon. The Wentworths will be meeting him there, so that should be exciting.”

“Yes, I’m sure it will be. Why was Joey the one to tell you all this and not Alec?”

“Alec was at the register paying the bill at the time. By the way, they left me a very nice tip—”

“Mom, focus. Did Joey mention anything about Jarrod’s girlfriend?”

“He has a girlfriend? I didn’t know. No one mentioned that. I guess they were just being considerate, knowing I’m your mother and all.”

“Yeah, I’m sure they were all being considerate.” Stupid bastards were far from being considerate. They were all probably following instructions from Jarrod not to mention Angelise’s name.

“How do you know that he has a girlfriend?” said Helen curiously.

“I just do. I’ve heard rumors. So you say you’re not sure when he’s meeting the scout?”

“I’m sure it’s either this weekend or the next. One or the other.”

“Interesting. I guess he’s doing a lot better then. I mean, for him to be meeting with the scout, he must be playing ball well enough to try out for—”

In her excitement, Helen interrupted Morgan with, “Can you imagine if Jarrod were to make it to the big leagues? We could say that we knew him when.”

“Yeah, wouldn’t that be great,” she retorted sarcastically “I have to go, Ma. I have to get to work. I’ll call again soon.”

“I’d like that. Bye, honey.

“Bye.” And she hung up.

Helen had decided earlier that she wouldn’t mention to Morgan that she had found out through the bank what town she was in. Something wasn’t adding up. Her daughter was being incredibly secretive about where she was. Also, Angel was going to college in a city that was very close to the town Morgan was living in and happened to have a boyfriend from New Jersey. Coincidence? Doubtful. She would have to make a point of asking Alec what college Jarrod was attending the next time she bumped into him. Morgan obviously hadn’t contacted Angel, because she had asked about her during their last phone call. If she had been in contact with her, she would have known how she was doing. Why hadn’t she called Angel? Also, somehow Morgan knew Jarrod had a girlfriend, but wouldn’t say how she’d found out.

Helen had a bad feeling about this. She loved her daughter with all her heart, but she knew deep down she was up to no good. She didn’t know what to do or if she should tell anyone. She paced back and forth, biting her nails all the while. Helen didn’t want her daughter to get into trouble, but if she said something to the wrong person, she inadvertently might speed up the process of that happening. She went into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of wine. Tonight was her only night off this week, and she planned on relaxing in front of the television with a nice glass or two of wine. She might even start reading that new romance novel she had bought over two months ago.

Later that evening Morgan waited impatiently for Benjamin to arrive home from work. She glanced at her watch and realized he was over an hour late. Where could he have gone? He had no friends to hang out with. Nate or John always did the food shopping, and with a washer and dryer in the basement, there was no need for him to visit a Laundromat. Not that she’d ever seen him do laundry in the basement either. He was never late, but today, when she desperately needed to speak with him, he was.

Hearing a sound coming from the front of the house, she walked over to the window, pulled aside the curtain, and watched as Benjamin stepped out of his car carrying a large brown paper grocery bag. The top of the bag was folded down many times, so whatever he had purchased was small in size. He had it snuggled securely under his arm, so she knew it couldn’t be his dinner. Morgan wondered what he might be carrying in the bag, but decided it would be best for her not to ask about it, in fear it would trigger one of his maniacal episodes. Besides, knowing Benjamin, whatever was concealed in the bag would probably disgust her anyway. She waited for him to follow through with his interminable routine. Walk to the back of the house, wipe his feet exactly thirteen times, twist the doorknob back and forth, and then finally enter the house.
The man is a certified lunatic
, she silently thought.

He opened the back door and quietly walked into the house. Morgan waited for him in the living room, but saw he immediately walked straight toward his bedroom.

“Benjamin, we need to speak,” Morgan said loudly. He continued walking to his bedroom, opened the door, and placed the brown bag on his desk. He came back out, closing the door to his room behind him. He slowly walked into the living room and stood motionless in front of Morgan. Head down, of course.

Morgan noticed he had left the bag in his room, but once again decided against asking about it. They had more important matters to discuss.

“What’s the…m-m-matter?” he asked nervously.

“We have a problem. He’s hurting her,” she said bluntly.

“Who’s hurting…?” he asked as he passed his hand through his greasy hair and then began his annoying habit of clenching and unclenching his fists again.

“Angelise’s boyfriend has been hurting her. I overheard her telling her friend today while they were shopping at the store.”

“You…you never said she had…had a b-b-boyfriend,” he said, looking up.

“Well, she does, but obviously she can’t love him. How could anyone love someone who hurts them? She’s probably terrified to leave him. He hits her.” She watched closely for a reaction.

“No,” he said angrily as he began to nervously tug at his hair. Morgan noticed he pulled a few strands out and didn’t so much as flinch. As much as the sight of Benjamin self-mutilating himself disquieted Morgan, she continued, knowing if she pushed hard enough, she would be able to convince him to do what she wanted.

“It’s horrible. Benjamin, he beats her up, but he’s smart about it. He hits her and leaves the bruises where they’re concealed by her clothes. When she was changing in the dressing room, I brought her another blouse to try on, and I saw the bruises on her back and upper arms.”

“I’ll…k-k-kill…him!” Anger flared in his eyes, making him appear demonic. He began to breathe hard and unsteadily while pacing in a circle, forcing Morgan to take a few steps back.

“No…no…you can’t do that.” She needed to pull the reins in a bit. He was beginning to lose control, and God only knew what that psycho was capable of doing. She didn’t want anyone hurt, just scared. “But there is something you can do to help her. That is, if you truly want to help her.”

“I’ll d-do…anything,” he said, coming to a stop directly in front of her, uncomfortably close.

“You need to take her away. She needs to be far away from that monster so he can’t hurt her anymore.” She noted the sudden gleam in his eyes.