CHAPTER 9 - SATISFACTION

The final chapter is finally up as we learn of Rebekka's fate following her arrest last chapter and the Surfer's Paradise gang (including Kelly) gets a little justice following their ordeal.

Also, remember Reef's prank on the girls with Brianna's dog from Chapter One? Well, the girls sure haven't forgotten... ;D


SURFER'S PARADISE LOBBY - TWO WEEKS LATER

Emma was on her way to the Pirate Ship to start her shift when she saw Fin coming her way, dressed for work in her one-piece yellow swimsuit. "Hey Fin, still feeling stoked from dawn patrol earlier?" Emma asked.

"You know it, Alberta," Fin said with a grin. "I still have to take it easy for a while with my tricks on the waves, but I don't seem to be feeling any lingering effects from getting beaned from behind with that vase by Rebekka."

"Good," Emma said. "On top of that, it feels good for me knowing I'm also in the clear after that phony shoplifting charge against me was dropped when Rebekka's hand in the frameup got exposed."

"All thanks to the store's security camera footage that they checked out," Fin noted. "But I hear you also got something out of the whole mess being fixed."

"Yep, got a $100 gift card from La Boutique as their way of apology for the whole thing," Emma said. "Next time I go shopping in town with Lo, I'll be able to get a scarf I was looking at there at the time of the frameup, if they haven't sold it already."

"Nice," Fin said with a giggle. "Hey there, Princess," she said next as she saw Lo coming, accompanied by Brianna. "I see you brought a couple of friends along too."

"Sure did," Lo said as she pointed out Pepper the dog, who Brianna was leading on a leash.

"Lo told me she got Pepper back for me after she showed the video of what that mean girl did to her to the staff at the animal shelter," Brianna said while picking Pepper up.

"The staff also told me that Rebekka tried bribing them to speed up the time frame to have Pepper put down because she wanted the dog punished right away for 'attacking' her," Lo explained. "I told them that whatever Rebekka paid them, I'd give them double and donate it to the shelter for food for the animals there if they let Pepper go. When I showed them the video of Rebekka kicking Pepper, they didn't hesitate to go in and get Pepper back out from the cell she was in. Brianna was really happy when I brought her dog back to her afterward."

"Awesome, Lo," a pleased Emma said. "Fin, how about Reef? How's he feeling since he got the false charge of sexual harassment against him dropped?"

"Never better, wahines," Reef said himself before Fin was able to, as he arrived to join the girls. "I sure wish I could've been there to see Bummer eat crow when he saw the video of Rebekka staging her frameup of me."

"Daddy said he saw all the video footage of Rebekka up to her tricks around the hotel and heard every second of Fin's recording of Rebekka's phone call at the gift shop change rooms, including her setup of Reef and her plans to target the hotel for a lawsuit and a buyout," Lo pointed out. "I bet Bummer was probably feeling six inches tall after he found out he was implicated as Rebekka's patsy in her schemes against us. After Carter saw the video and heard the phone recording, he and Daddy agreed the harassment charge against Reef had to be dropped, and Bummer wasn't a bit happy about it."

"And that wasn't all Bummer wasn't happy about, either," Fin said, just as she saw Broseph coming the gang's way, joined by Greg and Ash. "Hey Broseph, how's you stomach feeling right now?" the blonde tomboy asked her friend.

"Good as new, chiquita," Broseph said, patting his stomach. "I can eat to my heart's content again without havin' to worry about yakkin' up my food afterward. Sure would've loved to give Rebekka a piece of my mind for spiking my water."

"Dig this," Greg then joined in, telling his own tale about meeting Rebekka. "That girl came 'round the Snack Shack a coupla weeks ago and wanted some service, but I was busy with some other customers and I said she'd have to wait her turn. By the time I got to her, she went off on me 'bout keepin' her waiting to order what she wanted and she said she expected to be served the moment she showed up there, then she threatened to see my boss about it. Bummer showed up after that and we had an argument over what that girl thought she was entitled to, but I put Bummer in his place and told him off. I'll tell you, dudes, that girl sounds like a real kiapolō oho hākeakea."

"Then there's the time she showed up at the gift shop to buy a couple of bikinis," Ash added. "She ducked into the change room just before Fin came by lookin' for a pair of shades when she heard that girl talkin' on her phone in the change room and Fin recorded the call. When that girl came back later after leavin' the shop, she said she wanted the bikinis she bought delivered to her room and I told her the shop don't do deliveries. She paid for her stuff, took it with her and made a couple of catty remarks at me before she left, includin' one 'bout my dreads. Had no idea 'til later that she was the one who attacked Fin outside after she left the store, but y'all are right, she does sound like a real piece of work."

"I think we're all glad we don't have to deal with Rebekka anymore since Mr. R kicked her out of the hotel," Broseph said, just as he saw a family of guests walk by the gang, followed by Bummer, who was pushing a luggage cart loaded with suitcases. "Come on, Bummer, chop-chop! Let's get all that luggage up to the guests' room there," Broseph ordered Bummer, who simply responded with some resentful grumbling.

"Must feel good to have Bummer working under you now, doesn't it?" Fin quipped to Broseph.

"More than you know," Broseph said with a grin.

"Serves Bummer right too," Lo said. "When Daddy found out Rebekka was paying him off to be her stooge and run interference for her against us while she did her damage, Bummer was put on a two-week unpaid vacation as part of his penance. When he got back yesterday, Daddy decided he couldn't trust Bummer behind the front desk anymore thanks to Kelly telling him about Bummer tampering with the guest register on Rebekka's behalf, so he demoted him again, this time to a bellhop under Broseph's supervision."

Fin, along with the others, laughed when they heard that news. "He brought it on himself," she said, glad to hear about Bummer getting his just desserts for siding with Rebekka against the gang. "But how come he wasn't fired outright? I'm sure he had that coming for helping Rebekka make trouble for us."

"He still owes the hotel for the balance of what he embezzled last year to buy himself that golf cart," Lo said. "Otherwise he'd be gone now."

"Too bad we still have to put up with Bummer," Emma then said, "but as for Rebekka, I think there's one among us above all who's glad to see her gone from here."

"Kelly told me she heard back from the RCMP shortly after Rebekka's arrest," Fin said, knowing who Emma meant. "She was maintaining her innocence the whole time on her way to the station and claimed they had nothing on her and was going to sue the Mounties for false arrest, but they said when Rebekka was shown all the video evidence against her from the hotel and the clothing store, the iPhone photos Kelly took of Lo after Rebekka's assault on her, and was reminded of my recording of her phone call, she went white as a sheet. I think she knew she was screwed and there was nothing she could do about it but call her dad for help. Last I heard, she was facing jail time on the shoplifting charge, the prohibited weapon and uttering threats charges and those charges for the assaults on me, Lo and Broseph, as well as a potential charge of attempting to defraud the hotel with that lawsuit she threatened based on the false sexual harassment charge she made against Reef."

"Speaking of which, here comes Kelly now," Lo said as she pointed out the Pirate Ship manager arriving dressed for work. Noticing that Kelly did not exactly look happy, Lo asked, "Hey Kelly, something wrong?"

"I just heard from a friend of mine in Victoria about Rebekka," Kelly said as she met the gang. "It's kind of a 'good news, bad news' thing."

"Uh-oh," Fin said. "What's the scoop?"

"She was attending Rebekka's preliminary hearing on all the charges against her at the courthouse in Victoria," Kelly said. "Want the bad news first?"

"What is it?" Reef asked while everyone else looked wary of what was coming.

"Rebekka's dad hired some high-priced, smooth-talking shyster from Toronto and flew him over for the hearing," Kelly explained. "He got the attempted fraud charge dismissed on a claim that Rebekka never actually intended to follow through on the lawsuit she threatened against the hotel in her phone call to her friend, and he scored plea-bargains to allow Rebekka to plead guilty on reduced charges in all the other cases. She won't be getting any jail time, but she's not getting off scot-free either thanks to all the evidence against her."

"So what's gonna happen to her?" Broseph said, as curious as the rest of the gang to know what Rebekka's punishment would be, much as they were disappointed to hear she would not be going to jail for her crimes.

"She's getting two years probation and two hundred hours of community service," Kelly continued. "She's also to have no contact of any kind, directly or indirectly, with the people she victimized while she's on probation, and she's banned from returning to any part of Sunset Island, including Sunset Beach and the hotel."

"Well, it's not the punishment we were hoping she'd get, but at least it's something," Fin said, trying to see the bright side of the situation. "Maybe over the next two years, she'll realize what she did was wrong and use that time to change her ways and her attitude."

"Maybe," Kelly said with an uneasy smirk. "But then, this is Rebekka we're talking about. Realizing what she did wrong and changing her ways over it might be asking too much of her. If anything, all she may learn from it is how to better cover her tracks and to better play the system, otherwise she may become worse in the future than she was this time around. Let's face it, I don't trust her any further than I can throw the Ridgemount limousine. She's caused too much damage to me and my friends to ever trust her as far as I'm concerned."

"There's something else to consider, Kelly," Emma said. "You're the only one out of all of us here now to successfully stand up to Rebekka after her attacks on each of us. The rest of us either never got the chance to stand up to her or, in Lo's, Fin's and my case, got retaliated against or were threatened with retaliation when we tried to do so, but you stood up to Rebekka successfully without her getting back at you and you did it with impact. You're a hero."

"Me? No, not me," Kelly said with a shake of her head. "I'm no hero, I only did what I thought was right, standing up for my friends against a troublemaker. Fin and Johnny deserve more of the credit for their detective work in getting the proof we needed to bust Rebekka, and Lo did what she had to for Brianna after Rebekka got her dog taken away, even if it meant risking her neck to do it."

"But that's the point," Lo then said to Kelly. "You did what the rest of us here weren't able to do before Daddy gave Rebekka the boot from the hotel. You stood up to the bully in the face of adversity and you won. You got the better of her and did it for the greater good. That's what makes you a hero to us, even if you're reluctant to see yourself that way." Right then, Lo went over and hugged Kelly. "Thanks for being a hero, Kelly," a grateful Lo said. Surprised by the hug and not knowing what to say, Kelly responded simply by hugging Lo back.

After Lo was done, Fin stepped up next. "I think this calls for a little thanks from me too," she said with a grin as she also hugged Kelly, who decided to roll with it and hugged Fin as well. Emma was next to hug Kelly, then Reef and Broseph lifted Kelly up on their shoulders as the rest of the gang cheered and applauded the redhaired girl for her defeat of Rebekka.

"If we're gonna celebrate, we need something to celebrate with," Greg then said before he turned to the Pirate Ship. "Yo, blondie! Time to bring out the goods," the big Hawaiian called toward the restaurant.

"Okay, hold your horses, Brickhouse, I'm coming," Sabrina replied as she came from the dining lounge into the lobby, carrying a tray of what turned out to be caramel apples on sticks.

"Whoa, cool! Caramel apples," Reef remarked as he and Broseph put Kelly back down and hustled to the tray.

"Hold on a sec," Fin said, stopping Reef in his tracks by throwing her arm in his way. "If Sabrina's bringing them out, how do we know this isn't another one of her pranks? How do we know she didn't do something to the apples before she brought them out?"

"I supervised her," Greg said. "Made sure she didn't do anything funny to 'em while she helped me make 'em. It's something new I'm tryin' out for the Snack Shack to sell during the week of the Canadian Surfing Championships."

"C'mon, you guys," Sabrina joined in, pretending offence. "You think that's all I'm about, playing pranks and junk? Can't I do something nice once in a while?"

"Here, let's see if she's telling the truth," Fin said, then she took one of the caramel apples and took a bite. After chewing on the bite of apple a bit, she grinned. "Hey, this is pretty good," she said, impressed by how the treat tasted.

"Well, what're we waitin' for?" Reef said as he moved for the tray. "I'll take this big one here, gotta build up some energy to teach surfing when I get to the beach." Everyone else present then each took an apple to sink their teeth into.

"Fin's right, these caramel apples are good," Kelly said after swallowing a bite of her apple.

"Dude, I've had caramel apples at carnivals and Halloween parties in the past, and these ones you made top 'em," Broseph said to Greg before taking another bite of his apple.

Reef, however, was starting to make a face as he chewed on the bite he took from his apple. "There's something weird about this apple I'm munching on," he said with his mouth still full. "It tastes kinda funny."

"You think so?" Fin said, looking Reef's way with her eyebrow raised.

Just then, Reef realized what the odd taste in his mouth really was and he spat out the bite of what he had been chewing on onto the lobby floor. "Aw, gross!" he complained as he looked at what he had been eating. "This ain't a caramel apple, it's a caramel onion!"

At that point, Fin started snorting through her nose, then broke out in laughter. "What? What's so funny?" a less-than-impressed Reef asked.

"Gotcha!" Fin said in between laughter. "That little prank was payback for the prank you pulled on me and the girls with Pepper two weeks ago."

"Oh, and guess what?" Sabrina added with a grin. "The caramel onion was my idea. I heard about how you claimed you took that dog to drink from a toilet in the public washrooms. I suggested the onion idea to the others and they thought it sounded like a good payback on you."

"Aw, sick! I gotta get some water, quick!" a grossed-out Reef said as he ran for the drinking fountain near the public washrooms to rinse the onion taste out of his mouth while the rest of the gang broke out laughing.

"I never thought I'd say this, Sabrina, but that's actually one prank of yours that we don't mind," Fin remarked between giggles. "I'm sure Reef will never forget it."

"Just because I helped you out this one time doesn't mean we're friends or junk like that," Sabrina said. "But it was still fun to pull. After that, I think Captain Shredhead over there'll learn never to mess with a dog lover."

"Got that right," Kelly said as she looked to the drinking fountain where Reef was, still rinsing out his mouth, while the gang had another laugh over the prank's success.

THE END


I'm pretty sure Reef won't forget being pranked by Sabrina with the caramel onion trick either (and surfing YouTube for ideas for the payback prank on Reef paid off).

So with this story now out of the way, it'll allow me to return to work on my currently-unfinished Stoked fic "Too Many Cooks" while I plan out my upcoming Stoked/Total Drama crossover fic.

Comments and reviews are welcome.