The Families in Rossford

FAMILY / DINNER

CONCLUSION

“We could have handled this in the morning,” Meredith said as they drove to Charlie’s house.

Charlie did not look angry. In this regard he reminded Meredith of her father.

“No, we cannot wait to make wrongs right,” Charlie told her. “In the morning I’ll send the glazer over to work on Dena and Milo’s windows, and see how much that will cost, but tonight we’re going to hold Edward accountable.”

They had to knock on the door because Meg had the key, and when she saw them she said, “What are you all still doing up?”

“You need to put this in,” Charlie told her, handing Meg the tape. “Where is Ed?”

“Upstairs in bed.”

“Well,” Charlie said, “it’s time to wake him up.”

Edward sat between his parents dumbfounded.

“Why?” Charlie asked him.

Edward said nothing.

“You heard your father,” Meg smacked him on the back of the head. “What the hell did you do this for? You just met those people. That’s Meredith’s sister!”

“I’m sorry, Meredith,” Edward looked at her miserably.

“That’s nice,” Meredith said, doubtfully, “but it still doesn’t answer the question why you would knock out my sister’s windows.”

When Edward still said nothing, Meg, who was in no mood to be trifled with, said, “I feel a smack upside the head coming on again.”

“It was Maggie!” Edward said, suddenly. “Maggie asked me to do it. And she asked me to let her know when Dena was leaving so she could find her and put the sugar in her gas tank.”

“Well,” Meredith said while Meg Callan smacked Edward on the head and he whimpered.

“Megan,” Charlie reprimanded.

Meg smacked him again for good measure.

“Seems like I may owe my sister an apology,” Meredith acknowledged. Then she said, “Edward, you need to tell me as much about this Maggie as you can.”

When Maris shut her locker door the next morning, she almost jumped in the air.

“Elias!”

“We should talk,” he told her.

Maris looked nervous, but said, “You know, I’m on my way to class, so maybe we could talk a little later.”

“We could talk now,” Elias said, stepping in front of her.

“Elias—”

“We could talk about who put that baby in your belly, and if it’s really my brother’s, and all the harm you could be doing if it isn’t—and I don’t believe it is. We could talk about how when he tells everyone it will ruin his world. He was being stupid though. But we could talk about how I will plant it in my parents’ heads that you can’t be completely trusted, and they will know that this baby is going to need some testing done to see who the father really is.”

“Maris!” Maggie called coming down the hall.

She walked quickly, Lindsay behind her, and suddenly she stopped.

“Elias.”

“Maggie,” he gave her a tight smile.

“I have to go,” Maris said, uncertainly

“That’s fine,” Elias said. “Cause really, we just talked about everything that was important.”

He gave her a small smile, looked at the three girls, said, “Ladies,” and then, saluting them, walked in the other direction.

“What was that all about?” Maggie hissed.

“He’s onto us,” Maris said, shaking her head.

“You need to tell the truth,” Lindsay told her.

“Oh, fuck that,” Maggie said. “We need to be proactive.”

“Proactive?” Lindsay turned to her.

“Yeah,” Maggie said. “Don’t worry. I can take care of it. I don’t mind raising a little bit of hell.”

The girls followed her down the hall. Maris could only think about the child she was carrying, and its possible futures, but Lindsay was thinking about how Maggie’s rages were boundless, and she murmured, “That’s what worries me.”

“Here’s the thing,” Bennett told her over lunch. “I really care about you.”

“I hope you do,” Maia dipped a fry in ketchup.

“No, I’m serious,” Bennett told her, touching her hand.

“Alright,” Maia laughed and resisted her natural reaction to take her hand back.

“It took us so long to get together, and I don’t want anything to ruin it.”

“Bennett, hold on,” Maia sat up. “Time out.

“We are not a show on the CW. You are sixteen and I am too. It didn’t take us a long time to get together, and unless you killed somebody or embezzled some money or something, I don’t know what would ruin it.”

“People do stupid things is all,” Bennett said, looking worried, as he took his hand back.

“Alright, Bennett, now you are worrying me.”

He swallowed. He looked very lost right now and he said, “I need to take you back to school.”

Maia opened her mouth and then closed it.

Maybe her parents were right. Maybe her mother was right she thought as she took Bennett’s tray with hers and dumped both of their contents into the trash can. Maybe being a lesbian was the answer. Or was she headed for years of this weirdness?

She came back, took her book bag, and slipped it over her shoulder.

“Don’t forget to put your seatbelt on,” Bennett told her as they got into the car.

Maia obeyed, thinking of something funny to say and refraining. She needed to talk this over with Laurel although, God knows, the girl had troubles of her own.

They drove back to Saint Barbara’s in silence, Bennett’s brow knitted, his eyes troubled.

“You need to talk to me,” Maia said. “Damnit, you know I’m not good on the emotions thing, but you need to spill.”

“I will,” Bennett told her. There was a red light on Birmingham, and now they sat.

“I promise I will. Soon. But I just don’t want you to think I don’t love you. No matter what you hear, I don’t want you to think that.”

When he dropped her off, he kissed her, and Maia squeezed his hand, but she couldn’t take his troubles too seriously. After all, how bad could things be?

“I’ll see you later tonight,” she said as she turned away and walked past the chain link fence, her mittened hands running over it, and then through the gate past the playground. Dylan and Laurel were coming toward her from the little porch where they had been watching, and Maia said, “Bennett is being weird as hell.”

Dylan and Laurel looked at each other, and Maia fancied for a moment that they knew something, but she disregarded this.

“I’m sure it’s not a big deal,” Laurel said quickly, and Dylan nodded. But just then several things happened.

A car squealed up to the sidewalk and stopped at the path that led through the chain link fence that surrounded the parking lot and play area of Saint Barbara’s.

Out of it sprang Maggie Biggs, triumphant, and behind her came Lindsay and Maris.

Dylan’s hand tightened on Maia’s wrist.

“We need to go,” he said.

“What for?” Maia began.

“Is that—?” Laurel started, turning to Dylan. Then she said. “Yes, let’s go.”

“Well, I guess,” Maia said, shrugging. But even she noticed that the girls were coming for them.

“Are you Maia?” Maggie demanded.

Maia turned around.

“Yes, I am. I’ve seen you before.”

“I’m Maggie Biggs.”

“You need to leave,” Dylan moved in front of Maia.

“Easy, Fido,” Maggie said. “I just have some information to drop on Miss Maia.”

But just then the second thing happened.

Three police cars, lights whirring, rolled behind and before Maggie’s car.

“Ooooh,” Lindsay moaned while Maggie turned around and wondered aloud, “What the—?”

“Margaret Biggs,” one of the cops said, coming toward the children.

“That’s her,” Dylan said.

“Thanks Dylan,” the cop said, and Laurel wondered how he knew Dylan and, since he wasn’t entirely bad looking, she wondered if they’d slept together, and then put that out of her mind.

“What’s going on?” Maggie demanded.

“What’s going on,” the policeman began, handcuffing her, “is you are being arrested for vandalization, felony, endangerment, robbery, harassment and assault. Come on down to the station,” he said, taking her toward the car. “We got some nice folks who’d love to talk to you.”

As they hauled her off, the others heard the cops begin, “You have the right to remain silent…”

“Good luck with that,” Lindsay murmured.

Maris looked at her.

“She is bad news,” Lindsay said, simply.

“But what did she have to say to me?” Maia asked Maris.

Dylan was looking hard at Maris, not angrily, just like if he looked at her long enough, behind his sort of sister’s back, then she would forget the reason she had come.

But again, it was Lindsay who spoke.

“Who knows what’s in Maggie’s head? I’m sure it doesn’t matter. She’s got other things to think about now. We need to get back to school.”

“But how?” Maris said stupidly.

Lindsay jerked her thumb behind them.

“Maggie left her car.”

“I would just like to know why?” Milo said simply.

Milo and Dena, her arms crossed over her breasts, sat on the other side of the table from Maggie and a police officer. Dena looked around, remembering the last time she had been in here, years ago, when she was this girl’s age and she had laid Kenny McGrath flat while he was working as a cashier at Martin’s.

“As far as we know,” Milo said, “we never did you any harm.”

“Maybe you didn’t, but your wife’s a fucking bitch.”

“Hey!” Milo started.

“Hey yourself,” Maggie returned, though considerably restrained by Milo’s voice, the tug of the policeman on her arm and Dena’s face.

“She came out and harassed me—”

“When you had been sitting outside of my house staring at me and my children.”

“And then the other night when I asked to meet you,” she told Milo, “she threw me out and probably didn’t even give you the message.”

Milo looked at his wife, but then he looked at the girl.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked Dena, “and why were you even looking for me?”

“I bet,” Maggie continued, “she thought I wanted to fuck you. Maybe she thought I was fucking you. Is that it, Dena? I can call you Dena, right?”

“You can call me Mrs. Affren.”

“Well, anyway,” Maggie continued, “Dena over here must have been afraid I was sucking your dick—”

“Little girl, that’s enough,” the policeman said the same time Milo said, “Call her Mrs. Affren.”

“You are protective of your missus, aren’t you?” Maggie said. “And I guess looking at something like me—I’m kind of hot, and you’re not bad either, Mr. Affren—your wife would imagine us together. But you wanna know a secret?”

No one seemed willing to humor her.

“Well, do you?” Maggie said again. She shook her head.

“I guess not.”

Milo frowned at her, his voice, for once, very hard.

“Who are you?” he demanded.

 She cocked a finger for Milo to lean forward.

When he did, she kissed him full on the mouth, and Dena hopped out to smack her, but Maggie came back laughing while Milo wiped his mouth.

“You’re a bitch,” Dena said.

“That may be,” Maggie allowed. Then looking at Milo she added, “But I’m also your daughter.”