Medication Needed
Chapter Four
Dewey decided that his first course of action would be to wait outside the school for Sidney to leave. Although it was a little stalker-ish, it was the only thing he could think to do. It completely slipped his mind that asking her would work better and save more gas. He started the engine as Sidney climbed into the car with Tatum. He scowled. This was going to be harder than the thought. Dewey decided that he would stay in his sister's blind spots.
Tatum glanced over at Sidney out of the corner of her eye. She sighed as she pulled out of the driveway. Lori had been extra mean today.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Tatum asked her friend. "She was being particularly bitchy today." Tatum grumbled. "I thought Billy was going to smack her!" Sidney smiled softly. Something inside of her whispered that she wished he had. Her smile turned to a frown. "Don't worry about Lori," Tatum continued onward. Sidney didn't pay attention she was too lost in her own thoughts. Where did that come from? "She's just jealous that you stole Billy right out from her manicured nails! She thought she had him right where she wanted him! Then, BOOGAH! You got him hook, line, and sinker!" Sidney smiled absentmindedly at her friend, but didn't really pay full attention. Sidney knew that she had violent tendencies, yes, but she had never thought to encourage the behavior Billy already had. That same thing informed her that she never scolded him either, that she even seemed to like it. "Sid?" Tatum called softly. "Are you okay?"
"Fine," Sidney mumbled. "It's just been a long day." Tatum clicked her tongue softly.
"If you say so," she commented as she pulled into the grocery and dollar store. "Are you sure you don't want me to stay?" She asked. Sidney nodded.
"Yeah, you go on and get ready for your date," she told her. Tatum answered her with a brilliant smile.
"You're right!" She exclaimed. "I'll see you later!" Sidney watched with a small smile as Tatum pulled out of the drive. Her smile slipped from her face as she turned toward the grocery store. She had a long list compiled in her head of things that their refrigerator and cabinets sorely needed. It was a wonder that Roman had made it so long on his own.
"How was your day?" Roman asked as they shouldered four grocery bags each into the apartment. Sidney muttered something. "Hum?" Roman inquired as they walked past the living room couch. Sidney sighed and repeated it.
"It was just this girl at school. She's always taking jabs at me. What do you want to be an actress?" Sidney mocked, her voice nearly perfecting the blonde cheerleader's tone. Roman stilled. The images that had been torturing him since he found out why his mother gave him up rose violently back into his mind. Roman's hands shook around the grocery bag in his hand.
"No!" Sidney jumped, her hands nearly slipped from the handles of the bags she held. "I won't have you turn out like mom…" He whispered. Sidney tilted her head.
"Roman?" Sidney called. She touched his shoulder with her free hand. "What happened to mom?" Roman sighed and set the bags in his hands down on the counter. Sidney followed suit before turning her full attention toward her brother. Roman leaned forward against the counter.
"I didn't know our mom as Maureen Prescott. I knew her as Rena Reynolds," Sidney blinked. "She was an aspiring actress who wanted to make it in Hollywood. A director there told her of a place she could go to meet men that could get her roles." Sidney blanched and sank down in the chair beside Roman's leaning form. Her body felt like lead. Roman didn't feel as though he had to continue. She understood. "Nine months later, I was born. I came to find her after doing some research." Sidney took in a shuttered breathe. Roman waited for her reaction. Roman jumped as her hand slapped over his own. He looked at her. Her eyes were filled with tears that wouldn't fall. Roman's heart clenched.
"It didn't give her to right to abandon you," Sidney whispered. Roman felt the breath leave him. "It wasn't your fault that those men were so vile."
"Would you have been able to keep such a child?" Roman asked quietly. Sidney paused and looked thoughtful.
"I could, I think. No matter how bad the memories would hurt, it wasn't my child's fault. He wouldn't have wished for them to harm me." Sidney stood up from the chair and stretched. "How about some lasagna now?" she asked her brother. Roman smiled.
"Thank you," he told her. Sidney smiled back, knowing that the thanks wasn't just for the lasagna. He straightened and helped her put up a lot of groceries. She dug out the timer as he pulled the last bag toward him. He raised a black eyebrow at its contents. "Sidney?" He called. Sidney turned away from the cabinet. She came down from her tiptoes to face him. His eyes widened. The box that she had been pushing up fell from its position. Roman caught it before it could nail her in the head, but it didn't stop the contents from spilling down onto their heads. Roman tilted it so that no more flour would pour out, but the damage was done. Both Sidney and he were covered in flour. Together, they started laughing.
"What did you need, Roman?" She choked out between laughs. Roman pointed toward the bag.
"What's all that?" He asked through his own laughs. Sidney blushed softly as she eyed the bag.
"It's decorations for the apartment," Roman tilted his head at Sidney's explanation. "I thought that since we're probably going to be here for a little while, I would at least make it a home instead of a resting place." Sidney shuddered. "Okay, bad terminology," Roman laughed.
"Do what you want," Roman encouraged, "but first we need to change…" He muttered, looking down at his now white T-shirt. Sidney laughed softly as he put the bag up. "I'll get you another shirt." He told her. Sidney nodded and followed her brother into his bedroom. He pulled a random shirt from the drawer and tossed it to her. She could help the laugh that escaped her at the design. The female from the Exorcist stared back up at her from her extremely bent position. Roman smiled awkwardly. "Sorry, I could get you another if you-"
"It's fine," Sidney reassured. Roman smiled at her back as she walked out. This would be fine, Roman reassured himself. No matter what happened, he would at least have a relationship with his sister. He would have a family.
Dewey stared at the apartment building in confusion. The man that had "kidnapped" Sidney had met her at the cab. He had helped her get the groceries inside. Sidney was comfortable with the mystery man. He furrowed his brows. Something didn't add up. Mrs. Prescott had seemed thoroughly distraught. Had Sidney not told her she was leaving? Dewey slipped from his car and shut the car door quietly. He didn't think Sidney was in any danger, but he had to know for sure.
Roman had sat down on the couch while Sidney walked back toward the kitchen. He flicked the television on and prayed that a horror movie was on. Sidney shook her head at the actions of her brother and picked up the lasagna box. As she read the back, she turned on the oven and grabbed the timer in one hand. She set it down on the countertop near the stove and looked for a pair of scissors. Sidney furrowed her brows and kept looking.
"What man doesn't own a pair of scissors?" Sidney grumbled as she settled for a knife. She lifted it from the drawer and tilted the box to the side. A thud came from outside just as she slipped the sharp knife underneath the cardboard and applied pressure. "Ouch!" Sidney yelped as the knife she had been using to open the lasagna box slipped. The box clattered to the floor. She quickly tugged a dish rag from the drawer and wrapped it around her bleeding hand. At her startled yelp, two things happened: Roman came running into the kitchen and Dewey Riley burst into their apartment. Sidney suppressed a wince when she realized that Roman had just picked up the knife Sidney had been using. "Oh boy…" she whispered as Dewey eyed the knife in Roman's hand and the rapidly reddening dish rag around Sidney's hand. He darted forward and slammed startled Roman into the counter. The knife in his hand clattered into the sink. "Dewey!" Sidney yelped, attempting to stop the raging police officer before Roman was seriously hurt. In the back of her mind she noticed that the dorky Dewey Riley she had known as a child had put on a good amount of muscles.
"What the fuck?!" Roman exclaimed in surprise as the cool metal of handcuffs slapped onto his wrists.
"You're under arrest for kid-" Sidney's eyes widened. In a moment of less than common sense, she wedged herself in between the two men and shoved Dewey back with her uninjured hand. Dewey's eyes widened in surprise. "Sid-" Sidney pointed her index finger at him.
"Roman didn't kidnap me!" Sidney said strongly. Dewey stared at the young Sidney in shock. She had just shoved him back. He weighed at least 184 pounds. She shoved him back as if he weighed 108. It was a major blow to his pride as a man.
"But…" Dewey started. The shock he felt was still evident in his voice. "Mrs. Prescott said you'd been drug out of the house…" Sidney's fists balled in anger. This time Roman's anger was on the same level as Sidney's inferno. This was a far cry from being rejected by his mother; this was an attempt to put him behind bars.
"I wasn't kidnapped, Dewey," she said with false calm and patience, "I walked out with the man that you just had in a choker's hold." Sidney motioned toward the glaring Roman. "This is my older brother, Roman. He came to mother asking that she accept him. She rejected him, so until she accepts him I refuse to live there." Sidney looked Dewey dead in the eye. He stepped back at the fire he found there. "If you try to take me back, I will simply leave again."
"Ah, okay," Dewey mumbled. He stooped down and picked up the fallen lasagna box. He handed it shyly to Sidney. Despite her anger, a small smile drifted onto her face. She opened it the rest of the way and slipped it onto a pan. Dewey and Roman stopped glaring at one another when Sidney turned around.
"I'm going to need you to do me a favor, Dewey," Sidney stated.
"You know I'd do anything for you, Sid," Dewey countered. Roman fought off a snort. Sidney smiled and discreetly elbowed her brother.
"I'm going to need you to get some clothes from my mom's house. I don't mind wearing Roman's shirts, but I'm going to need a change of underwear and-" Dewey's face turned scarlet.
"Is it alright if I get Tatum to pick out your clothes and then bring them over?" He stuttered. Roman disguised his laugh as a very convincing cough. Sidney smiled.
"Of course," Sidney said, saving her friend from future embarrassment. Dewey turned toward the door.
"Well, um, I'll get right to that." Dewey looked toward Roman with a nod. "Sorry again about attacking you and about the door. It shouldn't be hurt too bad…" He muttered. "If not I'll pay for it." Something in Roman's mind whispered that Dewey wouldn't pay for it, Maureen Prescott would. "Bye."
"Bye," Sidney repeated. Her throbbing hand came to her attention as she slipped the lasagna into the oven. Slowly, she unraveled the dishrag around her hand and hissed. Roman turned his attention away from the door quickly.
"Let me see it," he demanded softly. Sidney allowed him to take her hand into his palm. She watched her hand as he studied it. "It doesn't look like it's going to need stitches, but I want you to disinfect it. There's some hydrogen peroxide underneath the bathroom sink," Sidney nodded.
"Watch the lasagna," Sidney told him as she walked toward the bathroom. She couldn't shake the fact that her mother had attempted to get Roman locked up in an effort to get her home. As she knelt to get the peroxide she couldn't help but think that she hadn't known her mother as well as she thought. Before, she had believed that her mother wouldn't do anything to harm another person. Now, she didn't know. Too much had changed. Anger washed through her. She looked away from the mirror and ripped the peroxide open. She gritted her teeth in anticipation as she squeezed the bottle. A hiss escaped her lips as it hit the palm of her hand. The wound bubbled and the liquid dripping into the sink stained the white surface with pink. She clenched and unclenched her fist as she waited for the persistent throbbing to stop. Sidney capped the hydrogen peroxide, put it back, and turned from the sink.
Tatum raised her eyebrows as her brother stumbled over the explanation of why he had to pack her into the car as soon as he returned home. She took a rare moment of pity on him and didn't complain. 'Besides,' she thought with a delightfully evil grin, 'it would be fun to rub salt in Mrs. Prescott's wounds.' Tatum uncrossed her arms and sat up as they approached the Prescott house.
When Tatum saw Mrs. Prescott's hopeful face, she couldn't help but grin. 'Oh, Sid, well played!' Tatum complimented as she realized just what her friend had been thinking. Mrs. Prescott wanted more than anything to see her daughter. She wanted more than anything to be able to bully her daughter into coming home and giving up on Roman. Sidney had taken that away from her by sending Tatum and Dewey in her place. Tatum gave a small round of applause mentally.
"Dewey!" Mrs. Prescott explained in fake surprise. "What are you doing here?" She asked.
"Well, ma'am, we're here to get some of Sidney's clothes…" Dewey explained. Mrs. Prescott's eyes went hard. She attempted to close the door but found a black, shined shoe blocking the way. Tatum and Maureen followed the leg. Tatum cheered quietly at her brother's bold action. Then she decided to do one bolder. She slipped right past Mrs. Prescott's shocked form and started for Sidney's room. She had already gotten a suitcase out from Sidney's closet when Maureen and Dewey came stumbling up the stairs. Dewey placed in between the raging woman and the doorway.
"Stop her, Dewey!" Maureen tried. Dewey raised his eyebrows. "She's stealing!"
"I'm sorry Mrs. Prescott, but Sidney asked Tatum to do this so that argument isn't valid," Dewey said from Sidney's doorway. He was shielding his sister from the angry woman who was glaring daggers at Tatum. The blonde simply continued gathering up and folding Sidney's clothes into one of the suitcases she had drug from the bottom of Sidney's closet. She wasn't fazed in the least by Mrs. Prescott's anger.
"Technically, she asked you," Tatum said from inside the room. Dewey rolled his eyes at his sister. He threw an arm out and caught Mrs. Prescott just in time as she attempted to duck underneath his arm. "But you chickened out at the word underwear." Dewey instantly became to splutter and blush.
"It would be inappropriate!" Dewey exclaimed as Tatum ducked underneath his arm and nimbly avoided Mrs. Prescott's grab for Sidney's things. Dewey sighed softly as he blocked Maureen from his sister once again. 'The things I do for Sidney Prescott…' Dewey thought exasperatedly.