Ben’s apprehension increased as she failed to appear at their usual place in the cafeteria. Usually she was there waiting for him, since her third period class was much closer. Finally, ten minutes into the lunch break, she arrived looking haggard and stressed.
Ben stood and embraced her, clutching her as he let loose a string of clumsy apologies.
“What are you talking about?” she demanded once he had pulled away.
Ben confessed his guilt in being a key factor in her getting caught.
Allison waited until he was finished and waved a hand dismissively. “I would have gotten in trouble anyway,” she said as she sat down. “My dad was waiting for us in the driveway.”
“No!”
“Yes! He’s completely psycho. I even had Ronnie drop me off further down the street, but not far enough I guess.”
Ben slid his Twinkie over to her as a gesture of peace, even though it was clear she wasn’t angry with him. “So your dad spotted you getting out of Ronnie’s car?”
“Yeah. He was sitting in the middle of the driveway in a fold-out chair, drinking his whisky like it was going out of style. He sat there waiting for me for who knows how long.”
“So what did he do?”
“Well, luckily I saw him running down the road in time to tell Ronnie to take off. He managed to get out of there before my dad caught up with him, but he did throw his whisky bottle at his car. Hit it, too.”
Ben sat in a stunned silence, taking in this news. Allison’s dad had always been a bit loony, but he seemed to be getting worse every year.
“Did it jack up Ronnie’s car?”
“No. I just saw him a second ago and he said it was fine. It’s the first that I’ve talked to him since it happened. Dad smashed the hell out of my phone in the process of grounding me.”
“So…” Ben hesitated, not wanting to ask if she and Ronnie were still dating. It wouldn’t be the first time her dad managed to scare away one of her boyfriends.
“I don’t know what he thinks of it all,” Allison sighed miserably. “He seemed okay. Concerned more than anything. He’s in my last class, so I’ll have a better chance to talk to him about it then.”
Because Ben skipped sixth period to take care of Tim, he didn’t have a chance to catch up with her after school. He didn’t hear anything else about it until the next day. Allison didn’t show up at lunch at all, conjuring the worst case scenarios into his mind. As psychotic as her dad might be, so far he had never laid a hand on Allison. Sometimes Ben thought it was only a matter of time before he did. With less than two years left before college, he hoped that she would be free before anything like that ever happened.
To his great relief, Allison was waiting for him outside fourth period choir. His reprieve didn’t last long when he saw how panicked she appeared.
“You have to help me,” she said, grabbing both his arms.
Ben’s mouth went dry. “What happened?” he rasped, feeling certain that his worst fears had come true.
“Ronnie is coming over.” Her eyes searched his, questioning if he understood the full implications. “Tonight!”
“Wait, you invited him over? Why would you do that?”
“No, I didn’t invite him! Are you insane? He invited himself!”
Ben pondered this for a moment before understanding what was going on. “He’s doomed.” He couldn’t help but laugh as he said it. Ronnie’s intention was obviously to introduce himself to Mr. Cross and possibly get Allison ungrounded. The gesture was noble, if not suicidal.
“It’s not funny!” Allison hissed, casting an uneasy glance toward Mrs. Hammond, who had come outside the choir room to investigate.
“Is there any reason you two are so apprehensive of entering my domicile?” she asked in dramatic tones that were wholly unnecessary.
“We just have a few things to talk over,” Ben said.
The look of pleasant amusement fell from Mrs. Hammond’s face. Ben might be her star pupil, but her own ego came first. “What, exactly, is more important than my class?” she insisted, all theatrical traces now gone from her voice.
“The talent show,” Ben said, thinking fast. This was Mrs. Hammond’s favorite subject. She had high hopes for them to win last year until a tonsillectomy took Ben’s voice out the week of the show. Since then she mentioned the following year’s competition almost daily. “It’s not more important, of course. It’s just that I had a few ideas last night and--”
“Say no more!” Mrs. Hammond trilled, her mood instantly favorable again. “The talent show! Well! If you two would rather practice today, the auditorium next door is empty.”
After a few comments engineered to make Mrs. Hammond feel good about herself, they were able to escape to the privacy of the auditorium. Allison flopped down in one of the chairs and aimed an expectant look at him.
“Just talk him out of it,” Ben said easily. “Tell him that it’s a sweet but horrible idea and that will be the end of it.”
“What do you think I was doing during lunch? He kept smiling at me as if I was exaggerating things for my own amusement.”
“Even after having his car pelted by a whisky bottle?”
“He acts like he didn’t even notice.” Allison frowned. “Now I wish it had busted out one of his windows or something.”
“I guess some lessons need to be learned the hard way.”
Ben smiled sympathetically, a gesture Allison didn’t reciprocate. Instead her frown increased and her forehead wrinkled with concern. “I’m really worried about Ronnie,” she said. “You know my dad. He gets crazier and meaner every year. I need your help.”
Ben shrugged and nodded, indicating that he would do whatever she needed.
“Come over tonight,” she pleaded. “When Ronnie’s there I want you there, too.”
“Yeah, right.” Ben’s chuckle faltered when he saw that she was being serious. “And this is going to keep your dad calm, how?”
“He won’t be calm no matter what happens, but he’s much less likely to do something stupid with other people around.”
Rubbing his forehead wearily, Ben paced back and forth a few times. “If you want a witness to keep the situation in check, maybe you should try the police.”
Allison didn’t respond, choosing instead to wait for a definitive answer.
“All right. I’ll be there. When?”
“At six. Or a little before, so you are there before Ronnie shows up. Here…” Allison dug in her purse and pulled out her wallet. “You can bring this to me. That will be your excuse for being there. There’s one other thing.”
“What’s that?” he asked apprehensively.
“You totally just entered us in the talent contest a few minutes ago.”
Ben rolled his eyes and smiled. “Wonderful.”
* * * * *
Five minutes before six, Ben walked up the driveway of Allison’s home with increasing trepidation about this plan. He was certain that his presence would only serve to aggravate Mr. Cross further, but he couldn’t get out of it now. He had promised Allison and had no choice but to follow through.
The door swung open before he could knock. Allison put one finger to her lips to indicate that he should stay quiet and waved him into the house.
“I don’t want dad to know you’re here until Ronnie shows up,” she whispered.
“That makes sense,” Ben muttered.
They crept into the living room and sat together on the comfortable burgundy couch. The living room, like most of the house, was warmly decorated and very inviting. Little had changed since Mrs. Cross died eight years ago. Ben had few memories of her, but remembered her being as expressive and friendly as her daughter. He wondered how someone like her had ended up with the man she married. Was Mr. Cross a different man back then? Was it the death of his wife that transformed him into the domineering brute he was today?