CHAPTER 18:
A Tense Confrontation
‘Oh, God this gets more and more warped all the time.’ Vanessa stood outside the school gates with Rex and Wal, really beginning to wonder whether she was the victim of some kind of sick joke. ‘You’re serious, Wal? Tucker really has some kind of cult going with me as the figurehead of it?’
‘It seems that way,’ Wal said. ‘And from what I hear it’s been gaining quite a following. There are kids all over the school claiming to be Nessanists and referring to you as the goddess Vanessa and the Daughter of Aphrodite.’
‘My mother would just love that!’ Vanessa sighed. ‘Oh man, I really thought all the graffiti I was starting to see on the desks was just for fun.’
‘It’s a fad,’ Rex said. ‘It’ll pass. But I can’t blame them really. After all, your beauty is most definitely divine.’
Vanessa smiled at his words. He was the only person she desired to be worshiped by and she in turn worshipped him. ‘That Tucker. He is such a grade-a idiot.’
‘He’s not too stupid though,’ Wal said. ‘He seems to be making money from this new religion of his.’
‘They say that’s a good way to get rich,’ Rex said. ‘Create your own religion. Worked for Ron Hubbard.’
Vanessa laughed. ‘And St Paul.’
‘Ha! Yeah, you’re right about that. Do you want us to put a stop to it, Nessa?’ Wal asked.
‘Look, at the moment, I don’t really care. I’ve got more important things to worry about than Tucker and his stupid Daughter of Aphrodite cult.’ She couldn’t help but laugh, despite her troubles. ‘But… although the guy is a grade-a eejit, I think he may have been the victim of a rather nasty prank.’
‘He deserves it,’ Wal said.
‘I don’t know about this one though. It seems he was tricked into going to that rugby match on Friday. Seems one of his work colleagues took him and abandoned him there so that he’d be late for work and get fired. And he was fired. All because of this guy. Rod Williams.’
‘Rod?’ Rex asked. ‘Yeah, he works part time at the pub. A piece of work. Funnily enough his sister is great and was head girl last year.’
‘Oh, right, you told me about her. The hot blonde whose brother was a complete a-hole.’
‘The very one.’
‘So, I take it you wouldn’t put it past the guy to deliberately get a guy fired?’
‘Wouldn’t put it past him at all.’
‘I’m no fan of Tuckers, in fact if he had a star on the Hollywood walk of fame, I’d probably have my neighbour’s dog defecate all over it, but I don’t like to see a guy get an unfair rap like that. I understand his family relies a lot on his income.’
‘Yeah, I’ve heard the same thing,’ Rex said. ‘Don’t you worry about it, Ness. Tucker will survive. He always does.’
‘Is there anything we can do?’
‘Yeah, maybe.’
Wal stared. ‘What, you’re going to help that jerk out?’
‘Hey, I’m no fan of Tucker either. In fact, I’d be there in Hollywood to guide a whole pack of dogs over there to do their business on his star, but I don’t like hearing about people getting screwed over, especially not by asswipes like Rod Williams.’ Rex paused to peer down the road. ‘Hello, hello. Looks like your Dad’s back, Nessie.’
His car drove slowly up the street and came to a halt on the opposite side of the road. Vanessa’s father climbed out and peered across the road, a hopeful look on his face.
‘I guess he wants to speak to you,’ Rex said. Why don’t you go over and talk to him? I’ll wait here. You just sing out if you need me.’
Wal folded his arms. ‘I’ll be here too,’
Vanessa crossed the road to her father. She had resolved that when she saw him next, she’d give him the third degree right away, but decided instead to see what he had to say first.
‘Hello, Vanessa. I was worried you wouldn’t speak to me.’
‘I have a good mind not to.’
‘I know, I know. I was a jerk.’
‘Yeah huh!’
‘I’m sorry about ditching Rex the way I did.’
‘Then why did you lie to Mum. Why did you say you asked him to go when the truth was you tricked him into going to the wrong restaurant?’
‘I really wanted you alone and I got the impression he wouldn’t agree to leaving if I asked him to.’ He glanced across the road at Rex. ‘Seems like he really cares about you.’
‘Yeah huh and he wouldn’t just abandon me. Some guys are like that, Dad.’
‘Yeah… well. I’m sorry and I want to make it up to you’.
‘Well if you think you can buy my love with expensive presents, forget it. I’m not that materialistic.’
‘Doesn’t he buy you heaps of expensive gifts?’
Vanessa’s eyes narrowed. ‘How shallow do you think I am? He knows he already has my loyalty and love. He doesn’t need to buy me gifts, but he does, simply because he loves to see the smile on my face when he does and because he has so much money he doesn’t know what to do with it. He does that with all his friends, not just me. His wealth has nothing to do with why I’m with him. It never has been.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘So, you keep saying. Perhaps you should try putting on a muzzle or something so you won’t keep accidentally slipping your foot in your mouth.’
Her father chuckled. ‘Yeah, that might be a good idea.’
‘So, what do you want, anyway? Are you still going to ask me to come to your place for holidays? Because at the moment I can think of better places where I’d rather be vacationing. And no, don’t go suggesting you’ll take me on a round-the-world cruise or stuff like that, because I’ll decline.’
‘You would?’ Her father grinned.
‘Well, maybe not, but I’m not going anywhere with you until you can prove you can be trusted and that you accept me for who I am, not what you want me to be.’
‘Hey, believe me, its ok. Really. You’re my daughter. Who you are is fine with me. I can handle it.’
‘Are you sure? Because you sure couldn’t handle it when you found out about Mum.’
‘That’s different,’ he said. ‘For one thing, she was having an affair behind my back. For another thing, she was my wife. Do you know what it’s like for a guy to find out his wife would rather be with women than him? It’s humiliating!’
Vanessa didn’t know how to respond to that. She figured he did have a point, but she still couldn’t help but feel some cynicism. ‘So, I guess everything’s ok, because I have a boyfriend, so you can pretend to your friends that I’m the straight little daughter you always wanted?’
‘You’re determined to make this as difficult for me as possible, aren’t you? I could never be ashamed of you Nessa. Not in a million years. You have become a beautiful young woman, very intelligent, very witty. Trust me. I wouldn’t be here trying to fight for you if I didn’t love you and care about you.’
Vanessa sighed. She wanted to believe he was sincere and could see no reason why his words wouldn’t be. ‘Well thanks to you, Mum is all freaked out now. She’s looking for another job in another town and I’m going to be forced to move from Te Arawa.’
‘Because of me? You’re kidding right.’
‘Indirectly because of you.’
‘How?’
Vanessa didn’t want to explain. It would mean telling her father all about her past mental breakdown and how she had manipulated her mother to move to Te Arawa so she could be with Rex. She decided to compromise and just not tell him the entire truth. ‘She’s worried I’m getting too attached to Rex and that I’m heading towards heartbreak. After yesterday she’s even more determined to believe that.’
‘What?’ Her father gaped. ‘You’ve got to be kidding me. Why would she be worried about you getting involved with a guy? Oh, no, I knew it! She’s responsible for all this, isn’t she? She’s taught you to be like her. She wants you to be like one of them and she’s doing her best to
make sure you are!’
Vanessa stepped back and stared at her father, the anger bubbling up in her yet again. ‘I don’t believe you! You say your fine with who I am and now you make it sound like me being gay is some kind of conspiracy? I can’t believe you! Mum has never once tried to manipulate me. She has always allowed me to be who I am!’
‘But can’t you see, Vanessa, she’s made her life style acceptable and she’s got you think it’s acceptable too.’
Vanessa could feel something snap inside, a fury she had never experienced before. ‘My God, I can’t believe you! Mum has nothing to do with who I am! Nothing at all! Unless you can blame her for passing on her genes to me. You’re a creep! Go, I don’t want to talk to you ever again!’
Rex and Wal chose that moment to cross the road. They hurried over and Rex touched her arm. She could feel tears welling up, but she forced them back. ‘Go!’ She glared at her father.
She began to walk away, but her father grabbed her roughly by the arm and spun her around. ‘Vanessa, be reasonable…! Just listen to me for a minute.’
Rex appeared from behind. He charged in, crashed into her father and sent him sprawling across the pavement. He hurtled back and hit the concrete hard. Rex hauled him to his feet and went to strike him, but held off at the last moment. Vanessa could see the rage in his eyes and knew that if it had been anybody else he would have let loose. In the end, Rex released him and simmered as her father stared wide eyed at him. Rex had a bigger build than her father, so it was not surprising that he would be taken aback at such a show of force from Rex. ‘Don’t you dare lay a finger on her! Never, ever!’
Vanessa’s father stepped back, ‘I’m sorry! I didn’t mean any harm. I just wanted to talk to her.’ He turned his eyes to Vanessa, ‘I’m really sorry, darling.’
‘Just leave me alone,’ Vanessa said. ‘Who I am has nothing to do with anything my mother has done. Her wanting to leave Te Arawa has nothing to do with that at all. Nothing! It’s something else that I’m not prepared to talk to you about. So go, just go.’
‘Vanessa, please.’
Rex scowled. ‘Mr Danté, you heard what she said. Go!’
For a moment, Vanessa’s father’s eyes narrowed, but then quickly returned to normal. ‘Ok, I’m going, but I’m asking you Vanessa, to please give me a chance. I want to prove to you, that I’m for real. I may have trouble trying to come to grips with certain things, but I am trying. I’ll give you a ring later. Will you talk to me?’
‘I don’t know,’ Vanessa said, still bitter at the things he had said. ‘I’ll have to think about it.’
‘Ok,’ her father replied. ‘Well I’ll go.’ He turned and slowly walked back to his car. Seconds later, he drove away.
Wal and Rex stood there, either side of Vanessa. It gave her a warm feeling to have two of the toughest guys in the school there as support, even though she knew she could handle her father on her own. She turned and wrapped her arms around Rex and held him tight, refusing to cry. If it had just been her and Rex, she would have, but she wasn’t going to spill out her emotions in front of Wal.
‘You ok, Vanessa?’ Wal asked.
She couldn’t help but feel how stupid the question was, but she didn’t bite. ‘Yeah, I’m ok. He was just being an ignorant shit, that’s all. Blaming my mother for everything.’
‘Come on,’ Rex said. ‘Let’s get you home.’
Both boys walked with her until they reached her street and Wal bade them goodbye. Vanessa and Rex continued on to her house and they went inside. Her mother was already there, home early from work and greeted them. ‘Hi. I’ve got some news.’
‘Please, tell me it’s good news. Because I really need some,’ Vanessa said.
‘Well it’s good news as far as I’m concerned, but I know it won’t make you happy. I have applied for a job in Palmerston North and I’ve got it. We move there in two weeks time.’
Vanessa finally broke down. She slumped down on the couch, buried her head in her hands and began to cry. Rex sat down next to her and put his arms around her.
Her mother sat down on the other side and touched her shoulder. ‘You know we have to do this, Vanessa. It’s for your own good.’
‘No, my own good is staying here, in this town, with Rex and all my friends!’ she sobbed, feeling increasing bitterness in her heart towards her mother.
‘It’s going to end in disaster. I just know it, darling. It’s not helpful for you, this… obsession…’
‘No!’ Vanessa jerked her head up and glared at her mother. ‘It’s not an obsession. Surely you can understand the difference between obsession and true love?’
‘Oh look, I don’t doubt your love, I never have, but it concerns me when you get so worked up some times. It’s not right. It’s the reason why we separated you two in the first place. Rex, you understand, don’t you? You understand why we told you to break off contact with Vanessa two years ago.’
‘Yeah… I understand,’ Rex said, his eyes looking pained. ‘And I’m worried to, Nessie. I’m scared that history might repeat itself and you may harm yourself again.’
She stared at him. ‘No. Don’t be silly!’ But he knew he wasn’t being so silly. She had been thinking about leaving Te Arawa ever since her mother had threatened it and she couldn’t bear the thought of life without Rex again. ‘Look, can’t you see, Mum, by leaving Te Arawa you’ll putting me in that situation. I mean, I’m not going to try to commit suicide like I did, I’m stronger than that now, but can’t you see that if I really am regressing back, then that terrible risk would be there?’
‘We’ll get you into therapy again, so that doesn’t happen.’
‘No!’ Vanessa said. ‘There’s no need for that expense if we just stay here. There will be no concern at all. I’ll be happy, just has I have been since we’ve been here. Rex, you won’t leave, right? You’ll always be here.’
‘Vanessa,’ her mother scolded. ‘You can’t expect him to make assurances he may not be able to keep. He’s a teenaged boy. You can’t expect him to be at your side forever. Somewhere along the line something might change…’
‘No, I don’t believe it will. We’re perfect for each other, right, Rex?’
Rex tried to speak, but her mother interrupted again. ‘Look Vanessa, it doesn’t matter what he says. At your age, love is so blind you don’t have the ability to think realistically. Your mind is full of optimism, believing nothing can ever separate you. It was like that for me and your father…’
‘But dad was a jerk!’
‘Maybe, but I wasn’t completely innocent, you know that. Things change and somewhere along the line at least one of you is gonna get real and then someone’s heart is gonna get broken. Vanessa, I’m afraid it will be yours.’
Vanessa, turned to face, Rex. ‘Do you agree with her, Dollbaby? Tell me you don’t, please.’
Rex closed his eyes for a few seconds and sighed. ‘Ness, I don’t know. I don’t want to lose you. No way. It was really hard for me to let go of you last time, very very hard. One of the hardest things I ever had to do in my life, but what if she’s right? What if something happened to me, Vanessa?’
‘Why would anything happen to you?’
‘Well you know I want to be a cop, right? What if I got shot of something? How would you cope?’
‘I’d cope. Somehow. But that’s crazy, why even worry about something like that? That’s years away, yet. And you may change your mind about being a cop.’
Rex let out a long breath. ‘I guess. But I want you to be happy. And I don’t want to be the one who causes you pain.’
‘You can never cause me pain.’ She placed her hand on his arm. ‘You can only ever make me happy.’
‘But do I? Really?’
‘Yes!’
‘What about when I’m not around?’
‘I’m fine. Honestly! I’ll be worse off if we move.’
Her mother spoke again, ‘Well we are moving, honey, the decision’s been made. I??
?ve even handed in my resignation here.’
‘Rex, do you really want me to go?’ Vanessa gazed into his eyes, longing for him to fight for her to remain.
‘No, of course I don’t. Not in a million years. It’s the last thing I want… but maybe for you, you need to go. I think your mother is right.’
Vanessa broke down and cried again.