It had been a while since Betty had been acquitted. And then it became so loudly quiet.
Kate couldn't explain the events of the past few months; it seemed to her as if one of her greatest nightmares had grown so large and threatening that it actually jumped out of her mind and became real. She couldn't remember a time when she had felt so indescribably scared, hopeless, and lost. Even when she thought back to her retched life as Marion Rowley, she hadn't felt so forlorn. Back in the trailer, she at least knew what she could expect from her violent father. This time, however, she looked into the future and saw nothing but silent blackness.
Betty had kept her promise to keep Kate safe and had gone down to the station in the morning and confessed to fighting with Vernon Rowley right before his accidental death. She made sure to underline the fact that Kate wasn't there; she swore to it. She had given her word, her promise to Kate and that meant more to Betty than any verse in any Bible and she was hell bent on keeping it. Plus, she loved Kate more than anything. 'Some things just have to play out', she thought.
The detective was so pleased with finally getting a neat confession that he couldn't hide a growing smile in the corner of his mouth. This wasn't exactly what he was hoping for, he had a real urge to throw both Kate and Betty into prison for a long time for cold murder, but this was a step forward nonetheless. The detective looked up from Betty's face and over her head to look at the screaming Kate through the window. His smile widened as he heard her words, "Betty, don't!" He turned his gaze back to Betty.
"It doesn't matter really," he said in his low, scratchy voice, staring Betty down, "you're the vile one. I'm putting you away for an awfully long time." He paused for a moment to let it sink in and take delight in the cracking of Betty's tough façade. "And she'll forget all about you while you slowly rot." he added, nodding at the far off Kate who was still struggling with the police to let her go to Betty and Betty couldn't help but cringe.
Betty suddenly felt the room grow painfully small and found it hard to breathe. Vile, rot, forget echoed in her head until she thought she might scream. A terror began to swallow up every organ in her body as she sat there in that stuffy room. The chair was hard and small, the floor cold, the walls dirty. 'What did I get myself into? What will happen to Kate? I was supposed to be around for her. What if she needs me?' The questions swirled in greater intensity and Betty felt like she might just pass out as she watched the detective glare at her with satisfaction. He actually licked his lips.
'No, I doing the right thing by Kate. I'm keeping my promise,' she began to reflect. She kept her eyes on the detective and her ears focused on Kate's voice, not her words. Betty knew that Kate would have never allowed for this, but she listened to her voice, that voice she had always loved to hear. It calmed her down, even now. 'This nut case detective is really out for us, he wants our heads. There's no other way around it this time. The only way to protect her is to throw myself at this wolf. I don't have a way with words, I'm not all that well read, I don't even like mending much, and I'm sure as grace not much of a house keeper, but this- this I can do. This is what only I can do for her. And if she forgets about me, well, so be it, as long as she's safe. Gladys will help Kate out if she needs it, and me? Well, if I can take it at Vic Mu, then prison won't be so bad. Kate would never make it out. God, Kate…'
The detective stood up and it ripped Betty out of her thoughts. "Well, what do you say we make a teary-eyed scene?" he asked slyly and motioned for Betty to get up and put her hands forward. She did so and the detective handcuffed her, making sure to make it hurt. Betty winced, but didn't want to give him the satisfaction.
"Classy bracelets." she said and at that the detective took her roughly by the arm and pushed her out of the room.
Kate, who had stopped yelling, but was still standing right in front of the officers blocking her way, jumped at the sight of Betty.
"Betty! Betty, no, please!" she began to yell and threw herself towards her, but was kept back by the officers.
Betty turned her head to look at her and when she saw her delicate Kate, struggling with all her might with the officers, tears rolling down her face, she could feel her heart break. Tears filled her own eyes.
"I'm sorry." she said as if she was using all her will just to speak. She was sorry that Kate had to see this. She was sorry that she couldn't save her earlier, differently. She was sorry for all the things that Kate ever had to go through and especially those that might have been Betty's fault. This was the one thing she could do.
"Don't cry little lady," the detective said to Kate with words steeped in venom, "because it's no use. You're never going to see your little hero again!"
At this Betty began to thrash against him, wanting to hurt him, to tear him apart and also in a fear that he might actually be telling the truth. At first surprised, the detective now took Betty powerfully by both shoulders and led her to the end of the hall.
"Forgive me." Betty said looking straight into Kate's eyes and her voice conveying every emotion she ever felt. Her love and her terror. Her bravery and her uncertainty. And in that moment, Kate saw the most beautiful and powerful Betty she had ever seen. In that moment when Betty had tears rolling down her cheeks, her hands cuffed, her voice cracking and was seemingly so small and brittle, Kate thought that Betty could bring the whole building down like Samson right then and there. And when Kate was asked for forgiveness she couldn't help but think that she was always the one asking for forgiveness and seemingly never attaining it. This wasn't the way things were supposed to be. How in the world could this be God's plan? And what if this is the end? And this thought made Kate insane.
"Betty! BETTY!" she screamed as Betty and the detective vanished at the turn near the end of the hall. The scream reverberated through the entire building, through Betty's bones, through the entire world, Betty thought. It was a scream that came from something deep down within Kate that had been sleeping for a long time and was just now rudely awakened.