CONVICTION (INTERFERENCE) (16 page)

I know Shane felt a sense of pride at my father’s request and he said, “They’ll be fine. I’ll make sure of it.”

“Good, then it’s all settled. We’re leaving Monday morning and we’ll be gone for about ten days. I want to help…my dad…get settled…” my mother said, tearing up again.

Shane left about an hour later and when I walked upstairs, I found my mom sitting on my bed.

“Hi, mom. Are you okay?” I knew it was a stupid question. She’d just lost her mother. Of course she wasn’t okay. But what do you say at a time like that?

“Yeah, I’m okay,” she said, sniffling.

“Did you want something?” I asked, when I noticed she didn’t move from my bed.

She held up the black underwear that I had, once again, forgotten about.

“It’s not what you think…believe me!”

“So, you didn’t wear these…for Shane?”

“Okay, it is what you think. But…nothing happened. You were right though, I do have all the power.”

“What does that mean? Or do I want to know?”

“I um, I tried…I mean, I wore those for him and led him half-way upstairs…”

“Half-way?”

“I had him…but I couldn’t go through with it.  He looked so guilty, like he knew he was letting you and dad down. We um, we went out to dinner, instead.”

“I see. Well, that’s a good thing, because you’re dad…”

“I know!”

“Rebecca, I’m going to trust you while we’re away. Can I trust you?”

“Well, you can trust Shane…”

“That’s not what I asked.”

“Mom, you took me to get birth control for a reason…”

“YOU WHAT?” my father shouted from the doorway.

I looked over at mom for support and knew I was dead…we both were.

“Bradley, calm down.”

“You took our under-age daughter to get birth control without discussing it with me?” he ranted.

“If I’d asked you about taking her to get birth control, what would you have said?”

“HELL NO!”

“That’s why I didn’t ask.”

I sat on the edge of my bed, afraid to move…afraid to breathe. I knew my life was over. He’d never let me see Shane again…and we hadn’t even broken the rules.

“Charlotte, you know how I feel about this! I don’t want my daughter…doing…”

“You’d rather she got pregnant?”

“NO!”

“Bradley, she’s a teenager. She’ll be 18 in six months. You can’t keep her locked up forever. She has a steady boyfriend; a boy that we both like and approve of.  I wanted her to be safe!”

“Safe? NOT having sex is SAFE!”

“You know how it is when you’re young and in love…”

“I know you waited for me…even if you didn’t wait…” he stopped and looked over at me, afraid he was going to spill the Brigham family secret about my mom and uncle.
Too late, the cat was out of the bag.
“Forget I said that,” his tone softening toward my mother. He turned to me, the anger immediately returning. “YOU! You’re in big trouble now!”

“Daddy, can I say something, please?”

“NO!  I don’t believe a word you say anymore. Nothing but lies!”

“DAD! You promised you’d listen to me…”

“Well, I guess I lied, too!”

“Nothing’s happened! Mom made me get the shot, I didn’t ask for it! I told you…we’re waiting.”

“How could you not discuss this with me?” he asked my mother, starting to calm down a little.

She stood up and walked to her husband. “Honey, she’s growing up. She’s not lying. I made her go, she didn’t ask.”

He sighed, starting to give in to his wife’s pleadings, but as he thought about it and looked around my room, something got him riled up again and suddenly his eyes turned to fire once again and he started to storm off.

“Where are you going?”

My mother’s question fell on deaf ears, because he was gone.

“I’m sorry, Honey. I’ll take care of it. I better get started packing…well, re-packing. We’re leaving tomorrow afternoon.” She headed to my door and turned. “You know the only reason I took you to get that shot was to keep you safe, right? I never meant to force the issue. I told you that it’s better when you wait. It’ll mean so much more. I love you, Honey. And, no matter what choice you make, I’m always going to love you…and so will your father. Just, don’t grow up too fast, okay?”

I nodded, wondering how long I was going to have to walk on egg shells around my father this time. At least I had managed to keep my mouth shut and not spout off to him. I assumed that with all that was going on with my grandmother’s passing, this would all blow over. Well, once again, I was wrong.

My father completely ignored me the next morning. Once again I was being falsely accused, and I was tired of it. I sat down next to him at the breakfast table. He was reading the newspaper and eating a bowl of cereal. When I sat down next to him, he glanced at me disappointedly and got up, leaving his half-eaten bowl of Cheerios, but taking his newspaper.

I decided to ignore him right back, so I went upstairs to help my mom finish packing. I sat down in between her two suitcases and sighed.

“He’ll get over it.”

“He really doesn’t believe me, does he?”

She sighed. “I don’t think he knows what to believe. He wants to believe you, it’s just…well, Shane’s…not typical… in that aspect. He probably thinks you’re covering for him.”

“But, he’s the one that keeps saying no.” I closed my eyes and said, “I know that sounds crazy, but you know Shane. He doesn’t want to hurt me…physically or emotionally.”

“Then you need to respect his wishes.”

“I know. I’m trying. Well, what else do you need help with?” I asked, changing the subject.

We spent the next hour going over her packing list and re-packing their suitcases.  We talked a lot about my grandmother, and we found ourselves laughing and crying over memories of her. We had just finished with the luggage and dried our eyes when we heard my father yelling downstairs.

“I trusted you! You betrayed me! Get out!”

I ran downstairs and saw Shane pinned up against the wall…by my father.

“DAD! Stop it! What are you doing?”

“Bradley, let go of him!” my mother said, pulling him away from Shane.

“Go to your room, Rebecca!” my father shouted.

“NO! You can’t seriously be angry with Shane because Mom took me to get birth control! It wasn’t his fault or his idea. He had nothing to do with it!”

“That’s not why I’m angry with him. He broke the one rule of the house he swore he’d never break!”

“What? No, he didn’t!”

He turned back to Shane and said, “My daughter seems to think it’s okay to lie.  How about you? Are you going to lie to me?”

“No, Sir,” Shane said, looking confused.

“Have you or have you not been up those stairs?”

I closed my eyes.
Why couldn’t he have worded that a bit differently?

Shane glanced at me and then said, “I’ve um, I’ve …”

“You don’t have to tell me. I saw the proof…so get out!”

“What proof? What are you talking about?” I asked.

“The underwear, Rebecca! I saw the black underwear on your bed last night, your
unmade
bed! You always make your bed!”

I blushed crimson red, never having dreamt my father would see something so personal.

“Dad, it’s not what you think.”

“Stop lying to me, Rebecca!” He turned back to Shane and said, “Did you, or did you not see my daughter in the underwear?”

He took a deep breath and said, “Yeah, I did.” He didn’t deny it, or even try to explain it.

“I could have you arrested right now for statutory rape! Get out of my house!”

“Dad!” I yelled and grabbed him by the arm. “Stop it! You want to know the truth…the real truth? I seduced him! I almost had him, too, but half way up the stairs I could tell he didn’t want to go through with it…”

“I don’t want to hear the details!”

“Oh no, you started this! You keep after me for the truth, well you’re going to get it, all of it, whether you like hearing it or not! I pulled him up the stairs…wearing only the underwear, but he stopped half-way up, and when I asked him what was wrong, he said it had taken him a long time to earn your respect and he didn’t want to betray you!  When I pushed the issue by saying you’d never know, he said,
he’d know
. I wore the underwear for him, Dad, but he didn’t take the bait! If you’re going to be mad at someone, it should be me! He never touched me, and he never made it more than half-way up those stairs. And, believe me, it wasn’t for a lack of trying on my part!”

He looked so hurt and betrayed, “I don’t know who you are anymore,” he said, taking a step back.

I looked down, devastated by his comment.

Shane stepped forward, “She’s your daughter. She hasn’t changed, she’s just growing up. Believe me, you don’t know how badly I wanted to climb to the top of those stairs!  I love Rebecca, but she’s right, I was afraid of losing your respect. It’s taken me a long time to earn it, and I didn’t want to betray you. I knew how easy it would be for you to go back to thinking I was just some low-life thief, and force me out of her life. But, Rebecca knows you love her. She knows that no matter what she does, you’re
still
going to love her. But, I don’t have that security, that luxury. So, let’s just say I had something to lose…and even though she was offering me something that I want more than anything, I couldn’t risk it. I won’t lose her. And, if that means waiting until we’re married, then so be it.  No matter what you think of me, I do respect you and Mrs. Brigham and I love and respect your daughter.  Maybe I’m not the best choice for her, I know she could do better, but I swear to you, no one will ever love her more than I do. Rebecca means the world to me, and I won’t risk losing her, not for anything.”

I stood there listening to Shane, stunned by his words. He spoke to my father with such conviction, looking him straight in the eye. The room was quiet for a few minutes.  I was silently crying, overwhelmed by Shane’s speech. I didn’t think it was possible to love him more than I already did, but as I heard his words, my heart swelled and I knew I’d never forget that moment for as long as I lived.

Shane’s speech had managed to knock the wind out of my dad’s sails and I watched him as he took a few steps backward and sat down on the couch. I think he was also stunned by Shane’s proclamation. I finally couldn’t stand it anymore and I ran to Shane and hugged him tight.

“I love you, too.” I was crying and holding onto him for dear life.

My mother was still stunned silent, which was unlike her, but what else was there to say, Shane had said it all…perfectly.

A few minutes later my father stood up and walked over to us. I looked up at him, and I’m sure he could see the pain in my eyes from his comment. He looked tired and drawn, and just when I thought he was going to start back in on the evils of pre-marital sex, he slowly reached out and touched my cheek with his hand. “He’s right, you know, you never have to doubt my love for you.”  I let go of Shane and hugged my dad.

“Thank you, Daddy. I love you, too.”

He sighed and reached out his hand to Shane. “I guess I owe you an apology. I don’t always think things through when it comes to my family…I’m sorry.”

Shane shook his hand and smiled. Then, I watched in amazement as my dad pulled Shane in for a brief hug. “You um, you don’t have to worry about your place in this family, either. I do trust you…you’ve earned it. Rebecca’s lucky to have you.”

“Thank you,” Shane said, with what I thought was a tear in his eye. He wiped it away quickly and it was my mother’s turn to hug us both.

We drove my parents to the airport an hour later and after our goodbyes at the gate, my father shook Shane’s hand again and said, “Take care of my girls.”

“I will. I promise.”

“I know you will.” He started to board the plane and then turned back around and grinned,
“Oh, and even though you’ve earned my trust…you’re still not allowed upstairs,” he grinned at Shane and was gone.

I sighed, relieved that they were gone. I was exhausted from all the fighting and worrying, but one look into my boyfriend’s eyes and I knew, even though I was heartbroken that my grandmother had died, I was glad to have some alone time with him.  I had decided that it was enough just being with him. I wasn’t going to push him anymore. I was just going to enjoy every second with the man of my dreams…no matter how they were spent.

With This Ring…

“So, what do you want to do tonight?” Shane asked me after the end of our first week in college. We were standing by my car in the parking lot.

“Anything! How about dinner and movie…or the proverbial walk along the beach? As long as we’re together, I don’t care what we do,” I said and meant it.

He leaned down and kissed me softly. I responded by pulling him closer and kissing him back, refusing to let go.