Chapter Twenty Eight
Several Weeks Later…
“You sure you and Jenny don’t want to come to the game with us tonight?” Julie asked as she took a seat next to her father on the couch to pull her shoes off. Looking over to his daughter, he offered her a lazy smile and shook his head.
“Nah, we’re good. Thank you though baby. You and Abbi just behave, hmm? No fighting or anything like that,” he added playfully, laughing when Julie rolled her eyes at him. He was glad to see that she was getting out again. After everything that had happened over the summer, he’d been afraid that she was scarred for life. “What time you planning on being back?”
Glancing over to the clock, Julie bit down on her lip. “Hmm… the game starts at 7:05 and it’ll probably last a couple hours. I’m guessing between 9 and 9:30,” she told him, turning her gaze back to him. “Are you sure you and Jen won’t come along?”
He shook his head once more. “It’s not the place for Jack and there’s no way in hell Jen’s going to let someone else watch him. You see how she acts when I try to get her to leave him with me to go grocery shopping,” he said with a snort, cringing when he heard his wife’s voice.
“I heard that Joshua. I can’t help it, I love my baby!” She said, a distinct pout on her lips. She brightened up as she looked to Julie. “You guys don’t worry about us. You just have a good time,” she instructed, sitting next to Julie and patting her knee gently. “Take care of Abbi.”
“I will. And I told dad we should be home around 9:30 or so,” she reiterated for Jen. “And I’ve got some money so we’ll be having snacks at the game. I’ll try to keep Abbi away from the sugar,” she said with a laugh. She knew how against sweets her step-mother was.
“You know me too well baby. I want you two to have a good night. And take a sweater. I know it’s warm out, but it might get chilly,” she warned and Julie fought not to roll her eyes.
“Yes ma’am. Anything else? Should I take a first aid kit? 35 cents for the pay phone?” She asked, blinking innocently as Jen scowled.
“I’m just trying to take care of you!”
“I know, and I love ya for it,” Julie said, throwing her arms around Jen’s neck with a smile. Patting her arm appreciatively, Jen smiled and then groaned when the shrill scream came from her infant’s room.
“That’s my cue to leave. You guys behave tonight! And no fighting!” Jen called as she hurried up the stairs to soothe her crying child.
~*~
“Daddy?”
Frowning when he heard his daughter’s tearful voice on the other end of the phone, JC sat up in bed. After having put Jack down to bed, he and his wife had decided to use the time alone for some much needed cuddling. All had been well until the shrill ringing of the phone had ruined the moment.
“What’s the matter Abbi?” The question quickly brought Jen to her senses as she sat up beside her husband, questioning him quietly as to what the problem was. He patted her knee gently to silence her as he tried to talk to his child.
“Daddy, Julie got into a fight,” she sniffled. “There’s cops and everything and you gotta come daddy,” she sniffled, reaching up to brush her tears away. With a glance back to her older sister, Abbi felt the sting of more tears as she let out a shuddery breath.
“She WHAT?” JC asked, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion, thinking maybe he’d heard Abbi wrong.
“Brianna was here and she was tauntin’ Julie and Julie did real good. She ‘nored her and everything but I went to go get some snacks and Brianna was buggin’ me, you know? She followed me all the way back to the bleachers and shoved me and I fell and I skinned my knee!” She cried, the whole situation far too overwhelming from her.
Shaking his head, JC quickly let out a breath. “Alright baby. I’m on my way, okay? Are you okay? Is Julie okay?”
Nodding, even though JC couldn’t see her, Abbi frowned when one of the cops in attendance tapped her on the shoulder asking if she’d gotten a hold of her father yet.
“Daddy, I gots to go,” she sniffled. “You’re comin’ now, right?”
“Yeah, I’ll be right there baby.”
~*~
The longer he drove, the angrier he got. He had told Julie, in a joking manner not to fight. He had no idea that his warning had been a foreshadowing of what was to come! Both of his children knew how he felt about fighting. It was something that would not be tolerated! He had no idea what had possessed Julie to do something so stupid, especially in the presence of her younger sister, but then he had a pretty good idea”Joel.
Abbi had said Brianna was taunting Julie, right? But Abbi had also said Julie had ignored her. Brianna had been picking a fight. After all the grief she’d caused his family over the last few months, he couldn’t help but allow the anger to dissipate and he hoped that Julie had gotten at least one good punch in.
~*~
Pulling into the parking lot of the high school, he was met by the flashing lights of two cop cars. He shook his head and climbed out of the car, heading towards where the cops were. He heard Abbi shriek for him before he saw her and smiled weakly when he saw her barreling towards him.
With his arms outstretched, he hurried towards her and lifted her up, hugging her against him. “Are you okay?” He asked, looking over at her. Although she’d already told him that she’d suffered a skinned knee, she was probably more upset over the fact that her sister had been taken away from her by the cops.
“I was so scared, dad! I swear! I didn’t even know what was happenin’ and all of a sudden, Julie’s just goin’ crazy. But she didn’t start it. Brianna hit her first!” She said. “I told the cops that too,” she said proudly, happy with the fact that she may have kept her sister out of a butt load of trouble.
With a nod, JC headed over to where his daughter was being spoken to by the cops. His heart broke when he saw her. Her shoulders were shaking with silent sobs as she listened carefully to the cop, nodding and answering his questions as best as she could. He slipped up behind her, Abbi still in his arms and rested his hand on her shoulder to let her know he was there.
She turned to face him, her eyes red and offered him a weak smile, completely relieved that she’d read no signs of anger in his eyes. The last thing she needed after a night like tonight was her father’s disapproval and she couldn’t help but think he looked a little… pleased with her?
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