A DIFFERENT CHALLENGE
Chapter 5: Confessions
The next week in school, everyone was talking about what had happened to Mr. West’s house. Someone had broken in, and vandalized it, destroying items that had meant alot to him. All that week, he was gone, and all that week Elizabeth wondered how she would face him when he returned. She had always thought very highly of him, and she wondered what he would do to her, if he ever found out she had been a part of the wrecking crew at his house.
At home, Rick, and Evelyn both noticed how withdrawn she had become. She did her chores without being asked, and was polite, but beyond responding to any question anyone in the family asked, she never talked. Life for Elizabeth seemed to be getting worse by the day, and nothing she did to keep her mind on other things seemed to help.
~*~
A light kiss on her cheek woke Elizabeth, and when she opened her eyes, she thought she was dreaming. With a sigh she closed her eyes tight, and opened them again, finding her big brother sitting on the edge of her bed. Suddenly everything she had been going through seemed too much for her to hold in, and she began to sob.
Easily, Alex lifted his sister to sit on his lap, then held her. His parents had told he, and Megan how troubled she had seemed, and without too much trouble, they had found a pilot to bring them to New York, and also a cab to take them into Connecticut. “Shh, I’ve got you,” he said softly. He and Megan had arrived a few minutes ago, and knowing where the spare key was, he had let them in, hoping to surprise everyone.
“Oh Alex, I’ve been so stupid,” She said as she began to calm down. “I just want to be in with the popular kids, and they are alot of fun, but mum and dad just don’t get it,” She said. Never in her life had she been so confused, and it was easier to place blame on others for her actions than on herself. Now that she had calmed down, she sat beside him, glad she had time alone to talk to him before school. Alex was her confidant, and had always kept her secrets, and she needed him to listen now.
Hoping she would talk to him, Alex patiently waited for her to do so, hoping that she hadn’t found more ways to get into trouble. He thought about when he had been thirteen, and the trouble he had caused his parents, and prayed Emily and any of his future children wouldn’t be like he or Elizabeth.
“I’m going to tell you something, and you have to swear on your life that you won’t tell anyone, not even Megan,” she said, as she cuddled against him.
“I’ll pinkie swear, and I don’t keep secrets from my wife, but she won’t tell,” he assured her. After they swore, Elizabeth took in a deep breath, and began. She told her brother about all the trouble she had caused, like drinking on the beach, and calling mum a dirty name, all of which he knew. Then she told him about the night she had snuck out of the house.
As he listened to her confession, he began to wonder about keeping such a secret, and felt a pang of guilt as he realized that he couldn’t keep that secret. As she finished, he sighed and hugged her very close. “Ella, you need to tell mum, and dad,” he said, already anticipating her protest.
“I can’t Alex, they will make me go tell Mr. West what I did, and he’s my favorite teacher. If I tell him he will hate my guts,” she said as she began to cry once more.
Once again Alex held her in his arms, rocking her gently, glad he had come home. “Do you know why you feel so bad?” he asked, which only got a head shake from her. He knew that she likely had an idea, but didn’t force her to think about it. “Mr. West is a friend isn’t he?” Alex asked. This time he got a head nod. “Ella, if one of my students wrecked my house, I’d be very angry at them, but I would never hate them, and once I was through being angry I would still be their friend,” he said, hoping that she realized that her teacher would likely feel the same way .
There was more to it than that, but before she could say a word, her alarm went off. She was glad Alex had long arms, and was glad he shut it off before it woke the dead. “I can’t just go telling him what I did, or I’ll lose my friends,” she said, as she stood up.
As much as he hated to, Alex knew he had to force her into action. “Then if you don’t tell him, I will tell mum and dad,” he said, grabbing her as she spun away from him.
“Let go of me. You promised me, you made a swear Alex,” she bit out as more tears fell. She tried getting away from him but he was too strong.
“Look, I’ll go with you to his house, if you agree to go tell him, and we will tell mum and dad together,” he said.
Instead of agreeing, she told him she had school, and ran into the bathroom closing the door, hoping he wouldn’t tell on her.
~*~
Downstairs, with Emily asleep in her basket bed, Megan had breakfast cooking, and was making scrambled eggs when Alex walked up behind her. His lips on her neck, made her skin crawl. “I’m going to burn these if you don’t stop,” she said as she moved the skillet off of the front burner, and onto the cool burner beside it. When she turned around he had a troubled look on his face.
“Did you get a...” Before she could say a word, Evelyn walked in, and for now the subject of Elizabeth’s problems was closed.
As she had walked out of the master bedroom, Evelyn had smelled something cooking, and when she saw her son, and daughter-in-law, she almost cried. “Oh, I’m so happy to see both of you,” she said hugging them both, then looked at her first born. “You look more like your father every day,” she said.
“And he has Rick’s dry sense of humor,” Megan quipped which made all of them laugh. Her red hair was pulled back into a pony tale, and she had on a white blouse, and blue skirt, looking quite radiant.
Shaking his head, Alex managed to give his wife a kiss, before she went back to fixing breakfast. He had on a pair of slacks and a blue button down shirt, looking as handsome as his father. “We figured maybe you could use a hand with Ella,” he said, and that got a frown from Evelyn, who was looking at her granddaughter.
“I wish she would talk to us. Something has upset her, and I have a feeling her friends have something to do with her current mood,” Evie said as she sat down at the table. She still had on a nightgown, and her long hair fell around her shoulders.
Alex wanted to tell his mum what Elizabeth had told him, but knew she needed to be the one to do it, so he kept his mouth shut. “Well maybe us being here will help,” he said as he began to set the table.
~*~
As soon as Rebecca and Elizabeth arrived at school, they both went to their friends, and both heard the news that Mr. West had returned. Frank, Kate, and the others were snickering when Elizabeth arrived, all proud of what they had done.
“Hey Lizzy, he’s back,” Kate sneered.
As much as she didn’t want to talk about it, Elizabeth put on an act for them and just laughed when they did. They had more or less gone off by themselves as they usually did, not realizing that someone was listening in on them.
“I can’t wait to see his face,” Frank said.
“Yeah, I bet he’s flat broke fixing all the damage we did to the house,” Katie said softly, but not soft enough.
Rebecca listened, horrified that her sister had taken part in destroying things that didn’t belong to her, and decided she would confront her. Without any hesitation she came out from behind the giant oak tree in the playground area, getting stares from her sister’s friends. “So, you guys did it?” she asked, though was only focused on her sister.
Her stomach was already doing butterflies, and under normal circumstances she would be begging her sister not to tell, but these were her friends, and Elizabeth swallowed her fear and guilt. “Yeah we did,” she said standing tall.
“You need to tell then,” Rebecca said.
“He had it coming,” Elizabeth said, remembering what Kate had said.
Anger quickly rose in Rebecca’s veins, and before she knew what she was doing, she and Elizabeth were on the ground pulling one anothers hair, biting one another, and yelling at one another.
All the kids on the playground gathered around, watching the fight until Father Patrick, and Father Lester pushed through the crowed, and separated the two angry and distraught girls. “Students, that is all, go to your classes,” Father Patrick called out. He was a tall man, and all the students listened, even Frank, Kate, and Amber.
In front of him, he held one of the girls by her shoulder, and guided her into the school building, followed by Father Lester, who was a short round man. When they got to Sister Ethel’s office, both girls were told to sit down, then the fathers left to go prepare for noon day Mass, letting Sister Ethel and Nurse Riley take care of the two siblings.
Neither girl was too badly injured, just dirty, and sweaty, though both girls had torn their shirts, and neither of them said a word, nor looked at each other as Sister Ethel sat in front of them.
“Now, what has happened?” she asked gently. She was head mistress, but a gentle woman and well respected for that. She looked at both O’Connell girls, who neither one would look her in the face. “Elizabeth, Rebecca?” she said.
When neither of the girls would talk to her, she left them in the front office, and went into her private office. At her oak desk, she sat down, picked up the phone, and dialed the O’Connells number.
~*~
While his wife, and his daughter-in-law, had gone shopping for dinner supplies for that night, and Alex and Jonathan had gone for a walk on the beach, Rick was watching Emily. She was laying on his lap watching him with her big dark blue eyes as he made silly faces at her. She had little bits of red hair on her soft head, and already had her grandparents spoiling her rotten.
“Well, I think I’ve gotten you pretty bored,” he said as she looked away from him. “Lets see if I can find a book, your dad says you like to be read too,” he said as he stood up. Before he could walk two steps, the phone rang, and Rick quickly made it to his office, and picked it up. “O’Connell residence,” he answered gently swaying with the baby in the crook of his left arm.
“Mr. O’Connell, this is Sister Ethel. I’m afraid we have had some trouble at school involving both of your girls, and I am going to send them home for the day,” she said.
All of his happiness drained out of him, and it was difficult for him not to blow up, the only thing keeping him from doing so, was his granddaughter. “I’ll be there as soon as I can,” he said as he put the phone down in it’s cradle. Trying to think of what he would need for the baby, Rick didn’t notice Louisa until she was standing in front of him.
Upstairs, Louisa had been working on her painting, when she had heard the phone ring, and curious who the caller was, she had come to ask. “Daddy?” she questioned for the second time.
Finally Rick snapped out of his thoughts. “Hey Sweetpea, do you think you can manage watching Em while I go to the school to pick up your sisters?” he asked letting her take the baby.
Louisa baby-sat all the time, but had never taken care of a baby as young as her niece, but knew that Emily didn’t need to see her father mad, and agreed. “Just tell me what to do,” she said.
Quickly Rick jotted down the times Megan had told him she would need to be fed, and helped her get all of Emily’s things, such as toys, and clean nappys set up in the Parlor, then he left to get changed, and to get his two daughters
~*~
When their father arrived to get them, both of the girls couldn’t recall a time when they had seen him so angry, and when he went in to talk to Sister Ethel, they both knew they were in major trouble.
“Just wait till I tell him,” Rebecca whispered.
“Then I’ll tell mum who lost her black pearl necklace that daddy got her for their anniversary,” Elizabeth said back.
Rebecca pursed her lips, and started to say more, when they heard the handle turning to Sister’s office. She knew she would be in big trouble if her parents found out that she had borrowed it one day to wear to school, and even though it had been last year, she knew they would likely still punish her for that.
After learning that the girls had gotten into a fight with each other, Rick was more angry than he had been at getting the phone call. “I promise sister, that neither one of them will ever do this again,” he said as he turned the door knob to let himself out. When he walked out of her office he closed his eyes. “Both of you get up and start moving,” he gritted out.
Both of them did what he said, both worried he would spank them as they walked out of the school. In his car they sat as far from him as they could on the passenger side, both not caring to be so close to one another.
The whole ride home was made in silence, and when they arrived at the house, Rick sent them to their rooms, and stayed outside, to cool down before he went upstairs to handle their punishment.
~*~
It wasn’t too much later that Evelyn and Megan arrived home from shopping, and found Louisa sitting on the front stoop holding Emily in her arms. Concerned, Megan got out of the car as soon as it stopped. “Louisa?” she asked as she got to her daughter and Louisa.
“We should stay out, Elizabeth and Rebecca got in a fight at school, and dad was yelling at them, which made Emily and me upset,” she said.
Evelyn had never known her husband to yell, and as she walked inside Rick was walking down the stairs, and she could hear both of her girls crying. “They fought?” she asked
Needing her strength, Rick held Evelyn in his arms for long moments before he spoke. “They fought, yes, and neither one of them is willing to tell me why,” he said.
“So you yelled at them?”
Another sigh. “I raised my voice, but I didn’t yell, and a spanked both of them with my hand. Evie something’s going on with them, and I’m ready to ship both of them off to boarding school,” he said seriously.
Evie pulled away enough to look at him and saw that he wasn’t joking. “Rick, they will get through this,” she said, then both of them were interrupted as the rest of the family, which included Alex and Jonathan walked in.
Having heard from Louisa about the fight, Alex walked past his parents, and went up to Elizabeth’s room, and walked in. He found her laying on her bed sobbing. After he sat down, Alex kicked off his shoes and lay next to her. “Ella, were going to tell mum and dad now,” he said, not caring how mad she got at him.
“I can’t Alex. I want to talk to Mr. West first,” she said through her sobs.
A man of action, Alex helped her get cleaned up, and led her downstairs, to the den where everyone else sat. When his dad started to say something to Elizabeth, Alex cut in. “Dad, Elizabeth and I need to go back to the school, and when we get home she and I will tell you what happened, and why she and Rebecca fought,” he said guessing that somehow she had found out.
Needing time to cool down, Rick only nodded his head, and Alex took his sister’s hand and led her into the kitchen where he got the keys to his father’s Beuford, and then left for the school.
~*~
It was a quiet drive to the school where Alex had graduated from, and caused his own amount of problems, and he kept thinking about how he wanted to take Elizabeth back to England with he and Megan and enroll her at the school where he taught, so he could look out for her.
When they arrived, and he opened the door for her, she stepped out, and took his hand, not caring what any of her friends would say. She would handle them at a later time.
Mr. West had not been a teacher at the school while Alex had been a student there, and when they arrived at his class, it was during his free period. Outside his door, Elizabeth lost what little courage she had. “I can’t do it Alex,” she said.
Alex knelt down in front of her. “I swear you will feel better once you do,” he said.
This was it, after this, Elizabeth knew she would lose her friends, and in the back of her mind she knew she didn’t care. She wanted Mr. West to know what had happened, even if he hated her.
When she was ready, the two of them knocked on the door, and not long after, he let them in. His sister was silent, so Alex introduced himself, then winked at his sister, and left her, to go tell Sister Ethel what Elizabeth was about to tell Mr. West.
Her History teacher was not as tall as her father, and brother, but not short either. He was in his late twenties, and had brown hair and brown mustache. “Elizabeth?” he asked as he sat down at his desk, after pulling a seat up next to his for her to sit in, which she did.
“I’ve got a confession to make to you, and if you hate me I’ll understand. I snuck out with some of my friends, Frank, Kate, Amber and Thomas, and Frank drove us across town from my house. I didn’t know where he had taken us, and he got in easily, I thought it was his house.”
As she confessed, Mr. West listened, feeling anger, and sadness for what the students had done, and when she finished and hung her head, he realized how difficult it had been for her to confess, and to keep such a terrible secret. “Elizabeth, I won’t ever hate you, and even though I’m upset, I’m still your friend. Thank you for telling me this,” he said. Before he could say anymore, Elizabeth gave him a hug, one which he returned.
That was how Alex, and Sister Ethel found them when they walked in. “Ella, lets go home,” Alex said.
“I’m really sorry,” she said as she stood up away from her teacher, then went over to her brother.
“Elizabeth, you come back to school on Monday, all right?” Sister said.
Somewhat relieved, Elizabeth nodded her head, and as she walked out, they passed by her former friends, who all seemed to stare daggers at her, but Alex and Elizabeth ignored that.
~*~
Confessing what she had done to her parents, lifted the terrible weight of her secret from her young shoulders, and as she finished she was crying, begging them never to let her go back to school again.
Rick had been angry at first, until he, like Evelyn already had, realized how confused she was, and in the end all he could do was hold her while she cried.
When her tears subsided they sent her to her room, leaving only the adults to talk.
“I know she’s only my sister, and I know you two are moving them back to London at Christmas, but I think she should live with us, and go to my school,” Alex said, having already discussed it with his wife, who had agreed that she could return with them.
Rick looked at Evelyn who turned away from him, something that didn’t go unnoticed by Megan, and Alex who promptly left. He loved his daughter, but knew sending her back to school would be like throwing her in an arena, with a pack of hungry Lions ready to eat her up. “Evie, maybe letting her go with him will help her,” he said, at a loss of what to do. With Alex, it had only taken Rick three times using his belt to make his son realize he had to stop being so careless, but Elizabeth didn’t seem to be getting the message, and he was worried about her.
“No Rick, it’s time for all of us to go home. Alex and Megan have their own baby to care for, and as wonderful as his offer is, his job is not to raise his sister, not even for the few months we would be waiting to go back. We will take the girls out of school on Monday, and make arrangements to have Philip sell the house, and have a moving company pack our things for England,” Evelyn said.
“You’re right as usual,” he said as he leaned in a stole a kiss from her. As he pulled away, Rebecca walked over to them. “Hey sweetheart, how would you like to go home to London?” he asked. When she didn’t smile he frowned a little.
After Elizabeth had made her confession, Rebecca had felt the need to make her own, and told them about Evelyn’s necklace.
“I’m glad you told me, but you are going to be grounded to your room for the weekend,” Evelyn said hugging her daughter. Once confession time was over, they gathered the rest of the family, then told them what Rebecca knew, the O’Connells were going back to London England, leaving America behind to get a fresh start on life.
THE END...for now at least...