FanStory.com - Life's Twisted Road - Chap 29by Begin Again

Background
A time when the nuclei of three generations unraveled, exploded, and tragically, changed their lives forever.

END OF CHAPTER 28

"So you're taking his side? What about your granddaughter? What if she's telling the truth?"

"She's not. Nat's a troubled child. You've pampered her and refused to admit when she's wrong."

"She's my child. I'm supposed to protect her. She wants me to believe her. Isn't that my job?"

"No, your job is to show her the difference between right and wrong. You're not her friend, you are her mother."

A string of filthy words exploded from the kitchen doorway. "Are you going to sit there and listen to this bitch? She's calling me a liar. Do something?" Natasha fell into her mother's arms, crying. "It's not my fault. It's not my fault. Tell her it's not my fault."

Isabella pushed her chair back and stood. Her arthritic knees and spine screamed in pain. Her temples throbbed, but none of that amounted to the agony in her heart. She sighed and offered her thoughts, "Maybe you believe it's not your fault, Nat, but I don't think it's your father's fault either. He's not that kind of man." She took a deep breath and left the room.

*****

CHAPTER 29

Ava stood in the driveway, staring up at the bedroom window. Begrudgingly she mumbled, "Thanks — for letting her stay." Her shoulders sagged as she sighed, "There was nowhere else to go."

"I understand. People are afraid. Her accusations —"

"Accusations?" Ava snapped. "Why the fuck would she expose herself like this to the fucking police and DCFS if there wasn't some truth to it?"

"So, you believe her then?" The setting sun reflected against the car's hood, blinding Isabella from seeing her daughter's face.

Ava's immediate reaction was defensive. She yelled, "Yes —" But her gut reaction swiftly followed, "No — Oh, I don't know what I believe."

"I suggest you give it some serious thought and choose your words wisely by the time you get home. Your future might depend on it."

"It's already a fucking mess." Ava's eyes darted upward to the window, checking to see if Natasha was listening. "DCFS believes her. It's her job to know, isn't it? That woman is the reason we had to come to your house. School must have believed her or why else would they have called the police?"

"It's their job? I don't know. Look how many times she's been caught in outright lies in school. Maybe they were washing their hands of an ugly situation."

"What the fuck!" Ava snarled. "There you go again accusing her."

"You don't have to start screaming at me. You asked the question." Fearing one of her daughter's tirades, Isabella turned to go inside but stopped. "Did they tell you what the rape kit said? Wouldn't that prove something?"

Ava shook her head. "I wasn't allowed in the room, but DCFS said she refused to let them take one. The police wouldn't tell me anything till their investigation is complete."

"Hmm, no rape kit. You'd think —"

"You'd think — just shut up! She's a scared kid and didn't want more people pawing at her." Ava opened the car door. "Now, I've got to go home and deal with her father." The slamming of the door ended their conversation.

A worried Isabella murmured to herself, "Ava, with your temper and his, I can't imagine that conversation will go well."

*****

As Isabella entered the house, she could hear her cell phone ringing. Exhausted, she muttered, "Oooh, where'd I leave that darn phone?"

She scanned the front room, her eyes darting from table to TV stand to coffee table. The ringing continued so she hurried to the kitchen. The table had bottled water and Ava's uneaten gnocchi. The DCFS papers, forgotten by Ava, were there too.

The sharp ring persisted, directing Isabella to the counter by the stove. Ava's face filled the screen as she picked it up to answer. Alarm bells rang in her head. "Now what?" She took a deep breath, pushed the talk button, and spoke, "Hello, Ava. You just pulled out of the driveway. What's wrong?"

"He's threatening to kill himself. He's fucking nuts!" The panic in Ava's voice erased all thoughts of just the need to talk. "One of his fucking Jeep buddies texted me. Said he'd been at the house for a few minutes and found him playing around with fucking guns."

"Guns? You have guns in your house with kids?" Her concern turned to fear. No one had ever mentioned having guns in their house.

Ava screamed into her phone, "Fuck! I didn't know he owned any fucking guns."

Isabella struggled to stay calm. "He's in a bad place. Do you think he'd use them?" Isabella hesitated for a moment, weighing what she was about to say. "Maybe you shouldn't go there."

"He's my fucking husband. What if —" Ava's voice quivered and stopped.

"Nothing good is going to come of your swearing at him." Isabella felt as if she were walking on eggshells, knowing nothing she said would be right.

"Damn right, I'll be fucking swearing at him. He's so fucking stupid."

"Ava, pull the car over and listen. Your swearing is going to add fuel to the fire. It's not helping."

"What the fuck do you expect me to do? Let him kill himself?" Ava gasped for air.

"Whatever he's going to do, you aren't going to stop him."

"Oh, and I suppose you think you can?" Ava sneered, "Fuck! You always want to be better than me."

"Now you're talking crazy. This has nothing to do with me." Isabella sighed, "Maybe his mother or his brother should go there. Could they talk to him?"

"Fuck! You want me to broadcast this fucking mess to his whole fucking family."

"Ava — Ava, stop! It's your husband's life we're talking about. Don't you think they are going to find out about it anyhow?"

Ava's end of the line was quiet. Finally, she spoke, "I don't know. I hadn't thought about it."

"This can of worms isn't going to get swept under the rug. His family has the right to know what he's facing. If he's found guilty, his life is destroyed. He'll go to prison and worse." Isabella closed her eyes as she thought of what his future might hold.

"I know him. He's not going to tell his family anything."

"Then you need to do it. If roles were reversed, someone better tell me if my child's in trouble. Right or wrong, he needs their support."

"Why my fucking life?" Isabella could hear Ava's fists beating against the steering wheel. She waited on the other end of the phone for some kind of response. Begrudgingly, it finally came. "You're right, of course. I'll call them, but I'm still going home."

"Call them. See what they say." Isabella waited, but the line was quiet except for Ava's heavy breathing. "Ava, call them and then call me back."

There was no response, just the call being disconnected.

*****

Jackson's squad car pulled alongside the curb in front of Isabella's house. News travels fast in a small town. Everything filtered through his office. He'd heard about it within an hour.

What had initially started as a routine questioning of two girls about a small-time drug dealer was now a possible rape case? He'd expected Natasha could be trouble, but he'd never expected anything like this. Rape by her father was a big one.

In his rearview mirror, he spotted Officer Jones's car parking behind his own. Opening the car door, he grabbed his hat and stepped out into the street to meet him. "Can you believe this? A petty drug investigation exploding in our faces. A rape case and it's her father. This sucks!"

"Is it the girl who claimed she was sick?" Officer Jones looked toward Isabella's house. "Does she live here?"

"Yeah, Natasha. It's her grandmother's house, but I'm told DCFS believes the girl and had her removed from her own home. It was either here or foster care."

"Seems like the case has been escalating mighty fast since this morning. They must have some darn good evidence."

"I'm told Natasha's story to the school nurse and her mother set off alarms. Principal Wyatt called DCFS. From there, it's snowballed into a full-blown investigation. Detective Panara received the call right away."

"Wow! What's your take, Jackson?"

"The girl's got a heck of a lot of issues besides drugs. I don't know, but it takes a lot to toss her father under the bus. I'm not saying she's lying, not yet anyhow, but someone's looking to get something big out of this. In my experience, DCFS never moves this fast, especially when accusing a family member. They usually want their ducks in a row."

"What about the rape kit? That would be some solid evidence proving it or disproving what she claims. Maybe it's an open and shut case."

"Maybe. Check with Detective Panara. He got the call and should have been at the hospital. Why don't you see if you can raise him on the phone? See what he can tell us. Meantime, I'll go knock on the door. See how unfriendly the natives are."

Isabella watched from her window as Jackson approached. Her heart raced. She didn't want to do the wrong thing. Ava would never forgive her. Her thoughts swirled in her head.

Decision made, she opened the door. "Hello, Sheriff."

"Isabella?" He stepped back and looked at the house and then back at her. "I guess I didn't realize this was your house."

"I didn't think the Sheriff would follow up on Bobby's damage to my door." Isabella smiled and waited for the response she expected.

"Your door?" Jackson saw the splintered wood and remembered Judy had mentioned Bobby pounding on it. "Hmm, looks like it needs some repair, but, you're right, I'm not here for that."

"I didn't think so, but I just thought I'd toss it out there."

"Bit of humor at my expense. Okay, I can take it, especially if it gets you to invite me in."

"Now Jackson, why would you be paying this old lady a visit?" She peered over his shoulder. "Two cars?"

"Can't get anything past you, can I?" Jackson could see Isabella wasn't buying any of his pleasantries. "You got me! I was talking to Natasha and her friend this morning at the school."

"So, I heard." Isabella knew he was stalling, but for what reason she wasn't sure. "Guess that didn't go well."

"No, your granddaughter got sick and had to go to the nurse's office. I was hoping she might be feeling better, and we could continue our conversation."

"Jackson, I might be an old lady, but I haven't lost all my faculties. You might want to ask Nat about this morning, but I've got a hunch, you're looking for more than that. This isn't her address so why would you look for her at my house?"

"Well, I did hear she had some trouble and ended up at the hospital. The detective mentioned —" Jackson stopped, aware he wasn't fooling Isabella. He cleared his throat and started again, "I thought I might be able to talk to her and clear up two cases at the same time."

Isabella lost her smile. She looked directly into Jackson's eyes. "First of all, she's a minor and her mother's not here at the moment."

Jackson injected, "DCFS says you've been appointed her guardian. You could let me —"

"Sheriff, I know you're doing your job. So, understand that I'm doing mine too. If you want to talk to Natasha, come back with a warrant or her parent's permission."

"Isabella, I just want to talk to her. Maybe I can help."

"You heard me, Jackson. A warrant!" Isabella closed the door and leaned her trembling body against it. Friend or not, she couldn't believe she'd ordered the sheriff to get a warrant. Maybe she was a little like Ava, but in her defense, she hadn't used one swear word.