“The suspect’s guardians have arrived,” an officer said, poking his head in the room a short time later. “I’ll take her.”
Christy was led back to the lobby, where Bob, Marti, and Janelle sat on a bench. She approached them cautiously, her head down. Then she spotted Brittany standing to the side, holding her head high, looking cool, calm, and confident.
“Christina Juliet Miller!” Aunt Marti sprang from her seat. “I hope you realize what kind of trouble you’re in! Running out in the middle of the—”
“I’ll handle this, Martha.” Bob reached over and squeezed Christy’s shoulder. “You all right?”
She nodded, her eyes filling with tears. “I’m sorry, Uncle Bob. We shouldn’t have left our room. I’m so, so sorry.”
“Okay.” The police officer named Pat stood before them with a bunch of papers in his hand. “I’m sure you folks are anxious to get this cleared up. Let me take the girls one at a time. Janelle, I’d like to talk to you first.”
Janelle’s usual carefree, just-flew-in-from-Tahiti look had disappeared. She looked as shaken up as Christy felt. With cautious steps, Janelle followed the officer down the hall.
Brittany appeared completely unaffected. She stood rather than sat and looked out the front door into the darkness, as if she were involved in something going on outside.
How can you be so detached from this, Brittany? Christy thought. I feel sorry for you.
Christy realized that as much as she’d wanted to be Brittany’s friend and help her, there was something much more complicated going on here. Maybe Brittany needed more than a friend right now. Maybe she needed to get “caught.”
“Did you tell the officer the truth, Christina?” Aunt Marti asked, grabbing Christy’s arm and digging her fingernails into the flesh.
“Ouch!”
Marti released her grip. “Tell me, dear. What happened?”
“I told him everything I knew. I told the truth.”
Brittany snapped her focus onto Christy and pierced her with the most spiteful look Christy had ever received.
“Of course she told the truth!” Bob defended. “I’d never expect anything but the truth from this young woman. She’s a woman of honor.” His look, his words, his warm arm around her shoulder, drenched Christy with a healing she desperately needed. It left her weak. It brought release.
As if all the plugs had been suddenly pulled from her pent-up emotions, Christy doubled over, dropped her head in her hands, and wept a thousand salty tears.
“Whatever is the matter with her, Robert?” Marti snipped. “What did you say to the poor child?”
“Let her cry, Martha. Just let her cry.”
As Christy tried to curtail her tears, her aunt rose and walked calmly over to Brittany.
“Brittany,” Marti began sweetly, “is there anything you’d like to talk about before the officer questions you?”
Christy pulled up her head and dried her eyes, listening intently for Brittany’s response.
“No.”
“Now, dear, I’m sure you realize this is all very important, and we are here to help you in any way we can.”
Brittany pulled away. Aunt Marti didn’t. She was used to having her way. Her voice raised, her head tall, her face directly pointed toward Brittany, she said, “Do you realize we have a serious problem here? You need professional help, child.”
Brittany slowly coiled back like a snake about to strike. Then she thrust her head and her voice forward with a loud burst of laughter.
Stunned, Marti turned to Bob for support. None of them knew what to do or what to expect next. Brittany kept laughing until the tears rolled down her cheeks, and Marti stood in utter silence. Then the officer returned with Janelle and asked to see Brittany.
Wiping the tears and still chuckling to herself, Brittany followed Officer Pat.
“What’s with her?” Janelle asked.
“I don’t know,” Christy answered, wiping her eyes with a tissue Marti handed her. “What happened with you?”
“He asked me a bunch of stuff, and I told him what I knew. He said he believed me, and that was all.”
“What happened after you guys ran out of the drugstore?”
Janelle positioned herself sideways next to Christy on the wooden bench and looked up at the picture of the little boy and the policeman above them. “I always liked that picture. My dad has a big book of pictures by that artist.”
Bob twisted his neck to see. “Norman Rockwell,” he said. “My all-time favorite.”
“Janelle!” Christy squawked. “Forget about the picture and tell me what happened!”
“First Brittany grabbed my arm and pulled me out of that little office. I guess I could have broken away from her, but I didn’t know what to do. We hid behind a big Dumpster at the back of the store and waited until the security guard went back inside.”
“Why did you do that?”
“I don’t know. Why did we do any of it? It all happened so fast. I wanted to go back to the hotel, but I said we didn’t have the key, and then Brittany said, ‘Oh, don’t we?’ She held up the room key and said you gave it to her.”
“I did not! She took it out of my purse and left me with the bag from the pharmacy.”
“You’re kidding!”
“No, I’m not kidding! That’s why I got in so much trouble. They thought I was the one getting the prescription drugs. Plus, there were three packages of laxatives in the bag, which she apparently didn’t intend to pay for.”
“You mean she was going to steal them?”
“I guess so. At least that’s what the guard accused me of doing when he called the police.”
Janelle leaned her head against the wall. “What a mess! Brittany said they’d let you go. You’re a minor. I never thought they’d call the police.”
“So, what did you guys do? Jog back to the hotel and think you’d wait around for me to come waltzing back? Thanks a lot.”
“No, wait!” Janelle said. “Let me finish. We practically ran back to the hotel. Brittany didn’t want me to, but I went right over to your aunt and uncle’s room and woke them and told them everything.”
“Then Janelle and I drove straight to the drugstore, but they said you’d been brought here,” Bob said. “So we went back to the hotel, picked up Brittany and Marti, and came down here. Janelle told me everything, Christy. Don’t accuse yourself too harshly. It’s clear that the fault lies with Brittany. You made the mistake of not saying no when it really mattered.”
“I wonder what’s going to happen to her,” Christy said.
“Perhaps you should wonder what’s going to happen to you, Christina. This is no laughing matter,” Marti scolded.
The officer stepped into the lobby without Brittany and addressed them. “Okay, the story checks out. The charges against your niece will be minimal. She’ll have this on her record—possession, shoplifting suspect—but she can have her record sealed once she turns eighteen. Something like this shouldn’t ruin a kid’s whole life.” He sounded softer, more human now and less like the bulldog he had seemed to be earlier.
“What about Brittany?” Christy asked.
“What about me?” Janelle asked.
“Okay, Janelle, you did the right thing in contacting the adults. Your only charge is curfew violation. Under the circumstances, we’ll let that go.”
“Are you going to have to call my parents tonight?” Janelle asked.
“We already have. They agreed that we could release you to your friend’s aunt and uncle here. We’re holding Brittany until we can reach her father. He doesn’t seem to be home.”
The thought of the police officer calling her parents made Christy feel sick. Bravely she ventured the question, “Did you call my parents?”
“Yes, we did. I might add they weren’t too happy about the situation, miss. Actually”—the officer glanced at his watch—“it’s almost midnight. Let me talk to the sergeant and see if we can’t release Brittany to you t
onight. She’ll have to appear before a judge for sentencing in about a month.”
“Will she come back here?” Bob asked.
“No. The Indio County Courthouse. She’ll probably appear before a juvenile referee. My guess is that they’ll require her to enroll in a treatment program for her eating disorder. They might place her on probation, require her to do some kind of community service work.”
“Will the program help her eating problems?” Christy asked. “I’m really worried about her.”
The officer paused for a moment and then answered in the most human-sounding voice he had used yet. “Let me tell you about kids with eating disorders. My brother’s kid was sixteen when they finally put her in a hospital program. She weighed only eighty-two pounds the day they admitted her. She was in there for months.
“Seemed to like it, being with a whole ward full of ‘her kind’ and having a shrink to talk to whenever she felt like it. My brother shelled out thousands of bucks to get her straightened out. She died. They found her on the bathroom floor in the hospital with a box of laxatives in her hand. Some friend had smuggled them in to her. She was a beautiful girl. Could have had a great future.…” His voice trailed off.
Christy and Janelle looked at each other in stunned silence.
“I knew it was serious,” Marti spoke up. “I tried to tell that girl, but she simply wouldn’t listen. Let this be a lesson to the two of you!” She eyed Janelle and Christy.
“Girls like that need help,” the officer said. “It’s as though there’s a voice in their heads telling them they’re fat and they need to be thin, because once they’re thin they can do anything, have anything, be anything.”
He turned to Janelle and Christy and said, “I’m sure you two meant well, trying to help your friend tonight. Fact is, she needs more help than the two of you could give her. If you don’t mind me giving you a bit of advice, I’d encourage you to think twice before you let somebody else lead you into foolish mischief. It could change your whole future.”
The car stereo in the Mercedes played elevator music while Bob hummed along. Marti silently flipped through her magazine. The three girls sat perfectly still in the backseat. No one said a word.
Christy stared out the window at the dry desert scenery as they sped away from Palm Springs and headed home. The midmorning light brushed the landscape with its amber hues. Already the heat rose from the pavement like iridescent snakes charmed by the sun.
Right now we should be riding in a hot air balloon or going up the aerial tramway or at least swimming in the hotel’s pool. But now all the fun is over, and I have to face my parents. They are never going to understand. Christy felt miserable.
That morning they had packed in a rush and checked out of their hotel early. The night before, the police sergeant had agreed to release Brittany to Uncle Bob as long as she would be returned home to her father the next day.
Christy’s mind played with nightmarish scenes of what her parents would say when she got home. She closed her eyes and prayed. She tried to remember the verse Tracy sent her and say it over and over. The Lord Himself goes before you.…
Around eleven o’clock Bob pulled up in front of Christy’s house. She bravely got out of the car, walked up the front steps, and opened the door. Her parents, Janelle’s mom, and Mr. Taylor were all sitting at the kitchen table.
“Where’s Brittany?” Mr. Taylor said, jumping up.
“In the car,” Christy answered, checking her parents’ faces for an indication of how they would deal with her. She felt weak and empty and wanted to run to them and feel their reassuring hugs. At the same time she wanted to stand her ground and tell them that she wasn’t a baby anymore. She’d grown up, and they could trust her now more than ever because she was determined not to meekly follow others.
Mr. Taylor hurried out the front door. Christy watched as he greeted Bob and spoke with him briefly. Brittany emerged from the car with Janelle right behind her. Mr. Taylor hustled his daughter into his BMW. He seemed nervous and embarrassed when he called out, “Thanks again, Bob. See you folks later.”
Bob pulled the suitcases from the car. It was uncomfortably quiet. Christy, her parents, and Janelle’s mom had all joined the group outside. Janelle’s mom reached for Janelle’s luggage, but Christy’s dad offered to carry it to the car for her.
“I guess we kind of messed up the weekend,” Janelle said, giving Bob an apologetic look.
Janelle’s mom sliced through the tension with a laugh. “Good heavens! I did worse things than sneaking out of a hotel room when I was a teenager. What matters most is that no one was hurt. I’m thankful for that.”
Janelle and Christy exchanged serious glances.
“So are we,” Janelle answered for both of them.
Christy was thinking about how there are different kinds of hurts and not just the ones that are obvious to everyone else. She knew something about such hidden hurts and the kind of scars friends can leave on your heart.
After thanking Bob, Marti, and Christy, Janelle followed her mom to their car, a lighthearted bounce returning to her steps. If Janelle was about to get in trouble for what happened, she sure didn’t appear worried about it.
Once Janelle and her mom were down the street, Mom invited Bob and Marti to come in. The five of them fit comfortably around the kitchen table as Mom offered everyone coffee.
I can’t stand this suspense! Christy thought. Why doesn’t somebody say something? Her lower lip felt numb, and she realized that for the last two hours she had been chewing on it.
At last Dad said, “Christy, what do you have to say for yourself?”
She wanted to cry but fought back the tears. “I’m really sorry. I know we should never have left the hotel room. It was really dumb, and I should’ve talked my friends out of it.”
All four of them were looking at her. She wished she could jump into a time machine and go back twenty-four hours. She would do everything differently.
“Personally, I think Brittany was the one at fault here,” Marti interjected. “She’s wrapped up in a whole world of problems, and she pulled the other two right down with her. I’m so relieved that she’ll be getting the help she needs.”
“This was a raw deal any way you look at it,” Bob said. “I was proud of Christy. The police really shook her up, but she showed me that her heart was in the right place.”
“Yeah, but her brain wasn’t in the right place,” David announced from the hallway.
“David! Go outside. Right now,” Dad said.
David hurried out the door, and Christy avoided looking at him. For the next fifteen minutes the adults discussed the series of events. Christy felt like a spectator as they evaluated her life.
Once all the facts were clearly laid out, Christy’s mom turned to her and said, “Tell us what you learned.”
“I learned I have to say no,” Christy answered quickly. “And I have to choose my friends more carefully.” It felt strange to have all of them looking at her so intently.
A comforting smile pressed across Bob’s tanned face. “I know a few forty-year-olds who haven’t learned that yet. I’d say the weekend wasn’t a total loss.”
“I also learned,” Christy added, “that no matter what happens to me, the Lord always goes before me and He’s always with me.” She felt a little bolder than usual, a little surer that her summer promise to Jesus was real and lasting.
No one said anything.
Didn’t they agree with her? Did her parents and aunt and uncle understand? It seemed so clear to her.
“Nevertheless,” her dad began, sitting up straight in his chair, “there are consequences. You will not be allowed to go anywhere except school for the next two weeks. No social activities of any sort. Do you understand?”
Christy nodded, swallowing hard. She had expected it to be much worse. In an unspoken way she knew her parents were on her side in this whole thing.
When she wrote about the weekend in her diary that n
ight, she penned:
The only thing that’s going to be hard is not going to church and seeing Rick. I never see him at school. That afternoon at the pizza place was the best time I’ve had since we moved here. Rick’s probably already forgotten about it. He’ll probably have another girlfriend by the time I get off restriction.
Why do guys do that? They act all interested in you, and then they forget about you as soon as you’re out of their sight.
Like Todd. I’ll never forget Todd. Ever. But I bet if he saw me right now, he wouldn’t even remember my name. If only guys weren’t so strange. If only they …
Christy stopped writing. She had written herself right into the middle of the Land of If Only. She knew if she stayed there tonight she would only get depressed.
Putting away her diary, Christy wrote a short note to Tracy.
I can’t tell you how much that verse helped me. It came at a time when I needed it more than I even knew. Thanks so much for thinking of me and for taking the time to write.
She licked the envelope, sealed it, and then pulled out a belated birthday card for Paula. She had bought it in the hotel gift shop that morning while Uncle Bob was checking them out of the hotel. It seemed perfect for Paula. The card said on the front, “Something has come between us,” and inside, “A few thousand miles! Hope you had a nice birthday at your end of the world.”
Christy wrote Paula a little bit about what had been going on but not many of the details. She wasn’t sure Paula would understand, since Christy had been the one who accused Paula of hanging out with the wrong kinds of friends when they were in Paula’s bedroom. If Christy told Paula everything that happened this weekend, Paula would have every right to give Christy’s own lecture back to her. Her closing paragraph to Paula said:
I can’t wait for you to come see me next summer. We are going to have the best time ever. I really miss you. You do know that you’re the best friend I’ve ever had, don’t you? Please always remember that. Even though things have changed since I moved, I want you to always know how glad I am that God gave me a best friend like you.