Chapter 10: Out of Place (part 2)

Violet stood in the bathroom in the den making sure that everything was as perfect as it could get. Her hair was pulled back with a dark purple ribbon that she found to use as a head band. She had on softer make up than usual. She was wearing a simple purple sundress. Tonight, she wanted to show them that she could go out to places like this.

At the same time, she was very grateful that she was invited. It wasn't too often that she was invited anywhere besides a party. It was nice. She liked it.

As soon as she was happy with her appearance she went out to join Bob and Emily out in the living room.

"So that's what the wicked witch of the west looks like without the make up," Bob remarked.

"Awe, funny man made a funny," she shot back to him.

"I think you look really nice Violet," Emily stated.

"Thank you," Violet smiled. "I hope Scott likes it too, he's not used to seeing me like this yet."

"Like what? Human?" Bob inquired.

"No," Violet argued. "Not wearing a bra," she informed him. She laughed as soon as she saw his discomfort.

There was a knock at the door, which Violet pretty ran to answer. "Hi Scott," she greeted upon opening the door.

Scott walked in and looked around the room. "Hey Violet. Hi, everyone," he returned the greeting.

Violet grabbed his hand and lead him over towards the couch where Bob and Emily stood. "Bob, Emily, this is Scott, the boy that I snuck out to see. And Scott, these are my cousins Bob and Emily," she introduced.

Scott extended his hand to the two. "Scott Merrin."

"Nice to meet you," Emily replied.

"Yeah, it, uh it's nice to finally see who she was sneaking out to meet," Bob remarked, receiving a slight glare from Violet.

"You should've seen the guys I'd sneak out to meet with back home," she commented.

"I think I'll stick with this," he responded.

"That's a compliment," Violet told Scott.

"Thank you sir," he said. Scott was obviously a little nervous. Emily, personally found it cute that he was a little nervous. He didn't want to do anything wrong.

"Now that everyone's acquainted here, don't you think we should head over there before Howard and Ellen get there?" Emily asked, thinking it might help Scott feel less awkward if they went ahead and got to the restaurant.

"Sure," Bob said.

Violet offered a smile to Emily, recognizing what she was doing.

oooo

The four arrived before Ellen and Howard. They headed over to the round table in the corner that the waitress had lead them to. Scott pulled out Violet's chair for her, causing Violet to offer him a soft smile. "Thank you," she said, as Scott took the seat next to her.

Emily went ahead and sat down next to Violet. She wanted to be able to keep an eye on her tonight.

Violet noticed the action and softly laughed. "Did you bring that safety pin with you just in case?" she questioned.

"You don't want me sitting next to you?" Emily inquired.

"You can sit next to me, I like you remember? I just thought it was odd that you wanted to. That's all," Violet explained.

"Why?"

Violet slightly glared to her. "Fear for your life," she replied.

"I've still got that safety pin," Emily dryly warned.

"Well played," Violet stated. "I didn't think goody two shoes carried weapons around with them."

"Just because I disagreed with you earlier doesn't mean I'm a goody two shoes," Emily argued.

"You're so cute," Violet laughed.

"Bob," Emily slightly whined.

Bob sighed as he set down the menu he was reading. "Emily, she, she called you cute. There are other four letter words out there that are far worse than cute," he explained. He too, wanted this dinner to go as smoothly as possible. He also knew that Emily was more mature than Violet and hoped that she would be the one to handle herself.

"He's right you know," Scott agreed, mainly just to not feel left out of the conversation.

"I do know a few," Violet added.

"I guess," Emily sighed in defeat.

Violet looked over to Scott. "She's knocked up so she's a little emotional lately," she told him, keeping her voice hushed.

Emily just rolled her eyes. It was better to just let it go for now, even though she really didn't like being called knocked up.

"Congrats Mrs. Hartley," Scott said, looking over to her.

"Thank you," she responded, forcing a smile.

The group fell silent for a moment. "And if it helps, you two are already doing better than my parents. Your kid there is gonna be a lot better than I am," Violet announced.

Emily looked to her with a slight smile. She was about to say something, but Ellen and Howard arrived.

"Hi Bob, hi Emily, Linda," Howard greeted, going around the table. He stopped at Scott. Leaning down to Bob, he whispered, asking who he was.

"This is Scott," Violet introduced as soon as she saw him lean down to Bob. "And I'm Violet, not Linda," she corrected him, smirking as she figured out where he got that name.

"Oh," Howard replied, standing. "This is Ellen Hartley. This is the girl I love," he announced.

Violet smiled at that. To her, that was one of the sweetest introductions that she had ever heard. Just a statement of love, no titles attached. "Nice to meet ya Ms. Hartley," she said.

"Ellen's fine," she responded as she and Howard took their seats.

Violet was about to say something, but her eyes widened as she saw her father and his girlfriend being lead to their table. "Oh shit," she sharply hissed.

"Excuse me," Emily sternly warned.

"Your cousin's following me," Violet said, keeping her eyes glued on the man.

"What's going on?" Ellen questioned.

Violet looked to her. "My father ran away from my mother and I. Now he's over there with that hussy he picked up. Never said goodbye, never acknowledged my birthday or anything. He just ignores my very existence," she explained. "You have parent issues?"

"My mom told me she wished I would've been a boy," Ellen replied. "Every birthday, right after she asks me where my husband and kids are," she added.

"Rough," Violet replied.

"Bob here was the favorite," Ellen informed her, motioning to him.

Violet blankly looked over to Bob. "Congratulations," she flatly told him.

"You can be my favorite," Scott offered.

"Thanks," Violet said, turning to kiss him on the cheek. When she pulled back, she smirked to him. "You think you could help me do something?" she requested.

"Uh, Violet, I uh, I really think that you should just show him you don't need him," Bob interjected. He could tell that this was about to end badly.

Violet looked to Bob. "I really wish I could, but after everything, I really can't."

"What were you thinking of doing?" Ellen questioned.

"He keeps his condoms in his wallet," Violet stated as she stared to her father. "If I could get over there and cause a scene, you could probably grab the wallet out of his pocket and no one would notice."

"I don't know, I'm not that quick," Scott admitted.

Howard was about to talk, but Ellen grabbed his hand, signaling for him to stop. "I don't mind the whole let's cause a scene. I just don't think you should take anything, stooping to something illegal doesn't make you any better of a person," Ellen explained.

"Another goody goody huh?" Violet inquired.

Ellen shrugged. "I'm single and childless against my mother's wishes," she offered.

Violet shook her head. "You don't know the half of my story. BEats the hell out of your's," she told her.

Bob looked over to Ellen and Howard. "Trust me, she's, she's right and you don't want to know it," he assured them.

Violet grabbed her purse and started to stand up, but Emily grabbed her hand. "Please Violet, not now," she pleaded. Her eyes desperately staring up to her.

Violet sighed. "You don't understand. I just can't sit here and let him go on having dinner with his girlfriend over there," she responded. Deep down, she was sorry to be doing this on Emily's night, but at the same time, the anger had been boiling up within her, just waiting for an outlet, and here it was. This was her chance and she needed to take it.

Emily, disappointed, let go of her hand.

Violet stood there a moment, pitifully looking to Emily before heading over to the table where her father sat. Scott remained in his seat. "Should I follow her?" he asked.

"Doesn't matter," Emily angrily sighed.

"Look, honey, maybe, maybe it won't be that bad," Bob suggested, hoping that there was a chance he was right.

Violet approached the table. Without any words exchanged, she grabbed the glass and dumped it onto her father's head.

"Violet!" he hissed. "I thought I told you...!"

Violet stood back, seething now. With tears forming in her eyes, she slapped him as hard as she possibly could. "When I was little you promised me that you would never leave me. What the hell ever to that huh? I guess it really doesn't matter what you say anymore now does it?" she replied, trying her hardest not to yell.

"I hate to tell you this, but things change," Peter responded.

"And assholes lie, I know," Violet scoffed. She went ahead and slapped him again before turning and dumping his girlfriend's drink all over her. "Enjoy your dinner."

Violet held her head up as the tears started falling. It didn't matter who saw, just as long as Peter didn't know she was crying. She stormed over to the table and was about to sit down in her seat.

"What is wrong with you?" Emily asked, keeping her voice lowered.

The waiter came over and stood before the table. "I am sorry miss, but we are going to have to ask you to leave. We had gotten complaints about your behavior," he announced.

Violet looked up and nodded. She expected this much. "Leaving now sir," she replied, standing.

"We're not done with this conversation," Emily nearly hissed.

Violet looked down to her. "You know what? I really don't give a damn. My own father tells me he never wants to see me again and I'm supposed to care about how disappointed you are with me? I'm sorry my shitty life had to interrupt your perfect little dinner," she said before turning and leaving with Scott.

Emily sat there just staring. "I wasn't aware of what her father told her," she mentioned. Now she bad.

"I uh, I probably should have told you a while ago," Bob confessed.

"You knew?"

"She's been talking to me," Bob informed her.

I have a question," Howard interrupted. "Who's getting the bill tonight?"

Bob just sighed. He knew somehow he would get stuck with it no matter what he said.

oooo

Emily cautiously opened the door that lead out to the balcony. "Violet?" She looked down and saw Violet sitting in the corner. There was a half full glass and a joint in her hand. She was about to yell at her, but it was no use. Not now anyways.

Violet laughed at the look of disbelief. "Little miss Violet got herself caught again," she said and then shook her head. "Oh well. You were about to yell at me for that precious little dinner I ruined anyways. Must be nice when your biggest problems consist of whether or not you get the perfect opportunity to tell your friends about the baby."

Emily crossed her arms as she looked down to her. "Believe it or not, I came out here to apologize. I wasn't aware of what Peter had told you," she confessed.

Violet softly laughed. "The last thing you need to be is sorry," she replied, looking up to her with glossy, bloodshot eyes. "You my friend are about to have a baby. That said baby will most likely not even know what drugs are until they happen to somehow hear about them from the other kids in high school. You're child is going to be a perfect little angel. That said baby is going to come home from school everyday to see mommy and daddy getting along and everything's gonna be perfect," she bitterly spat. Violet stopped for a second and took a deep breath, trying to hold in her tears. "I used to come home. I would come home to one of my parents there, and the other gone. They would fight and they would ignore me."

Emily stood there, ready to cry herself. "Violet," she began, not really sure what to say at this point.

Violet bit her lip. "W-would you believe that I didn't know about my period when it happened? My mother never took the time to explain that to me. In school they explain it in the eighth grade, I happened to be in the sixth. I thought I was dying. My mom laughed at me when I came to her with this concern. All she did was hand me a tampon. I wasn't even sure what to do with it at first. I also had to buy my first bra on my own with the money that I stole from her. That was, that was different."

"I-I'm sorry," Emily responded.

"Stop saying that," Violet snapped before taking a sip. "I don't need sympathy from the perfect people."

"Okay."

Violet's look softened. "I just hope you don't lose your baby. Even if I am jealous of it, I would hate to see you lose it," she explained and then took a puff. "The pain. Then all that blood. So much blood. The blood of your dead baby. No woman should ever have to go through that," she informed her, starting to cry even harder. She pulled her legs up to her chest as she rested her head against the wall beside her.

"Oh my God," Emily gasped. Now she really didn't know what to say to her. This was something pretty big. She leaned over and grabbed the cup and joint out of her hand, dropping the joint and stepping on it. She then set the glass on the table. "Come on, let's get you inside," she said, offering her hands.

She helped Violet to her feet and then guided her through the glass doors. Emily closed the door behind them and looked to see Bob standing there, watching them.

Bob was about to ask if everything was okay, but he was pretty sure that he got his answer. "What, what happened?" he implored.

Violet heard Bob and then looked up to him. Without thinking about it, she went over and wrapped her arms around him, tightly holding on as she buried her head in his chest.