Chapter 5:

Help from the family

(4:10pm)

Soon Carrie and Jack finished their "date" and were now in Rita's minivan on their way to drop Carrie home. Jack and Carrie were sitting in the back as Rita drove up front, and listened to them talking. She even took the odd glance in the rear-view mirror to have a peak at them.

"I'm very pleased you had a good time today, Carrie. Maybe we could do it again some time?" asked Jack, as Carrie smiled and her cheeks became tinted with a light red.

"Thanks, I'd really like to do that." she said, as Jack also smiled.

"Great! I hope we'll get the chance to go to the mall nearby. The apartment I'm currently staying in is just down the street from there." Jack said.

"Yes, I'd love to do there. I don't do there often, so any excuse." Carrie smiled.

Behind the wheel, Rita Desjardin couldn't keep the smile off her face. To her, it seemed likely Jack had succeeded in helping Carrie out of the shell she'd been stuck in for so long. Taking another brief glance in the rear-view mirror, it seemed to her that that thought was correct.

"They're so smitten together. Just adorable." she thought to herself, as they came to a stop in front of Carrie's house which was empty as Margaret was still at work.

"Okay you two, here we are. Now best say goodbye to each other; remember it's a school night." Rita said, as she turned to look at the two students.

"Okay…" Jack said before turning to Carrie, "I really enjoyed our time today Carrie, really I did. I'll see you in school tomorrow and we'll have lunch again." he said.

"I also really enjoyed today as well Jack, and thanks for doing this for me. I'll see you in the morning." Carrie said, with a small but happy smile as she got out of the car.

"And goodnight and farewell, milady." Jack said with a smile and a wink as Carrie closed the door. Carrie, upon hearing that, couldn't help but giggle madly. It was a sound that took Jack's breath away as he listened. And after a final goodbye, Rita drove off, with Carrie's laughter still resonating in her and Jack's ears.

Taking another glance in her rear-view mirror, Rita saw Jack staring out the window with a grin on his face, no doubt thinking about Carrie.

Deciding to tease him a little, Rita said, "Well, you're quite smooth, aren't you? If I were a little younger, I'd be VERY interested with that little performance you gave. If anyone can make a girl laugh like you did, they'd have an "A" in my book." And Jack snapped out of his trance and looked to his gym teacher with an embarrassed look.

"Hey…I'm just teasing you; no need to be embarrassed. Anyhow, I don't know if you'd have been able to handle me when I was younger; you know what they say about us redheads." she said, with a sly grin and wiggling her eye brows at him. Jack was embarrassed; her teasing was almost as bad as his three sisters could be!

Deciding she'd teased Jack enough, she apologised as they approached the parking lot of the apartment complex where Jack was staying.

After she parked, she and Jack stepped out of the car.

"Jack, let me say this; I just want to say thanks for what you've done for Carrie today. I really appreciate in just one outing, you've managed to help Carrie out of her shell and earn her trust. It's obvious you're going to be a major part of her life now, so let me repeat what I said earlier; if you need any help at all, I'll help in any way I can, no matter what it is." she said with a smile.

"Thanks, Ms Desjardin." Jack said.

"Oh and, eh…when we're out of school, just call me Rita. It's much easier calling me by my full name that all the other students call me."

"Of course, eh…Rita." Jack said.

"Thanks; anyway, goodnight and I'll see you here bright and early in the morning." And with that, Rita climbed back into her car, started the engine and drove home, as Jack turned and went into the building.

After entering his apartment and changing into more comfortable attire, he set up his laptop ready to have a Skype call with his family back home in Ireland. He looked at his watch; it was 4:17pm here, which meant it would be 9:17pm at home. Getting comfortable, he called Catherine, whom he knew would be on her laptop at about this time as she usually was. After two rings, her face suddenly appeared on the screen.

"Hey Jack! How are things over where you are?!" she asked excitedly.

"Oh, I'm fine, everything's going grand over where I am at the moment. I've settled into school life over here and things have settled into a routine." Jack said, noticing Catherine was in her room upstairs at home.

"Grace, Louise and I envy you being over there while we're here stuck in our old routine and having to do exams before school ends for the summer, while the work you're doing there will go directly towards your Leaving Cert." Catherine said, as she smiled.

"Yeah well, that's just the way things sometime work. Speaking of the others, where are they? I'd like to speak to them too." Jack said.

"They're downstairs at the moment; dad's watching the news while Grace and Louise are with mom in the kitchen. Earlier on, they were helping mom with one of her new recipes for her bakery business; her own form of a chocolate lava pudding with a crunchy biscuit base and a caramelised top." Catherine said.

"Can I talk to them please?" Jack asked.

"Okay, but dad was able to connect Skype to the TV so we can all talk to you without crowding round a small laptop screen. So, I'll temporarily end the call now, and once we're connected up to the TV, we'll all be able to talk to you." Catherine said.

"Okay, I'll wait." Jack said, as a few seconds later the call ended.

For the next five minutes, Jack sat at the table and waited for Catherine to call him back. While he waited, he started looking through his new book Ridgway Duels for Korea, about how General Matthew B Ridgway took over the US and UN forces in Korea and how he turned them around and led them to triumph over the North Koreans and Chinese Communist forces on the Korean Peninsula during the difficult year of 1951.

He was flicking through the pages and arrived at the chapter where the U.S. Eighth Army crossed over the Han River and retook South Korea's capital, Seoul, when he suddenly heard the sound of an incoming call on Skype. Seeing Catherine's name in the top left corner, he pressed the "Accept" icon and, after a second, he saw his parents and sisters, all three of whom were in their pyjamas and dressing gowns, in the living room of their house.

"Hey son, how are things over there?" his father asked.

"Everything's fine over here, dad; no troubles to report." Jack said.

"I miss you, even though it's only been a very short time." his mother said, as she leaned forwards on the couch.

"It's great to see you all again; I'm having a great time over here. In fact, just across the street from where I'm staying is the biggest mall in the whole of the United States and what a place it is…" and then for a short while, Jack told them of how he'd been round the mall for a while on the Monday afternoon after he arrived and was awe-struck by how large it was and what it had within its walls. He mentioned the bowling alleys, the amusement park as well as the aquarium and some of the different shops and restaurants it had. His three sisters were impressed by what the mall Jack was describing was like and wished they could go there, but his parents didn't appear as keen as they were.

"Well…that's all well and good, but I hope you're spending time on your studies rather than being in that place all the time." his mother said.

"I AM focusing on my work each evening; I may go to the mall again on Saturday and spend the day there." Jack said. He then went into how he enjoyed English, Geography and History but hated maths, something they all knew of, as well as the time he'd so far had at Ewen High School and what some of the teachers were like.

"Anyway, setting all that aside, have you made any friends over there?" Grace asked.

"I have; you remember Rita Desjardin? The gym teacher who drove me from the airport into Chamberlain? Well, I've begun to see her as a friend; no, as an older sister in fact. She told me a while ago that when we're outside school, I should just call her by her first name." His sisters gazed suspiciously at him, but didn't say anything and carried on listening. Jack then told them of how he'd made friends with Freddy Holt and how they paired up in gym class earlier that day. He also mentioned Norma Watson and how friendly she appeared when she handed him his school books in the library the previous day.

"And have…any other girls caught your attention?" his father asked Jack, as his mother looked a little unsure; she didn't really want some girl messing with her son's heart. Jack looked nervously at his family before clearing his throat and speaking.

"Well, yes one has…I met her in the cafeteria yesterday. Her name's Carrie White, and she's quite shy and has no friends, but is one of the most beautiful girls I've ever met in my life. She had beautiful strawberry blonde hair which frames her face perfectly. A little earlier today, after school finished up, we went into Chamberlain and she showed me round the part of town near the school and afterward we went to one of the coffee shops and had a bite to eat." And from that, Jack talked about what Carrie was like, how they met and how her green eyes seemed to hypnotise him every time he looked into them. And when he described her laugh, to which he admitted he only heard twice, he didn't realise his voice was getting a little lighter and getting filled with affection and adoration, and his smile got a little bigger, for the girl which he said had captured his heart.

When he looked back at his laptop screen, he saw his parents and sisters were all leaning forward as they listened to him about the girl he was describing. Clearly, he'd never spoken about anyone that way before so this Carrie White must be a special person.

The jaws of Catherine, Grace and Louise were dropped as they listened to their brother; they'd never heard him speak about someone that way before, while the parents were looking at their son with unreadable expressions. Seeing that made Jack more than a little nervous.

"Well son, I've never heard you speak about someone so highly before, especially with such feelings like that; you're smitten by this girl…aren't you?" his father asked, as a smile came across his face.

"Ah…yes…I-I am dad." Jack said, as he nervously rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, that's my boy! It's obvious you've feelings for this girl, by the way you're speaking so highly of her." his father said, very proud of his son. Jack's mother also smiled for her son; she remembered how her husband asked her if he could sit beside her during lunch the first time they met in secondary school when they were in their teens, which was very similar to how Jack met Carrie White.

"And just remember, son; don't be afraid to tell the girl how you feel about her should the chance arise." his mother said, very proud for her son.

"Thanks, but the thing is…the situation with Carrie is a tad delicate and I feel one wrong move could ruin things, so I need to be careful." Jack said. His parents and three sisters looked at him with some confusion and looks that seemed to say "What do you mean?". Jack took a deep breath and explained how Carrie was a target for bullying from almost every student in the school, and even the English teacher Mr Ullmann, something he'd witnessed first-hand the previous day. He explained to his family the incident with the jocks the day before, which included the graffiti on the locker doors, and how the jocks tripped her up and no one helped her up, his family looked shocked and angry with what they were being told; How could such a sweet girl be treated in such a horrid way?

Yet they were also proud when Jack said intervened and stood up to the jocks, and how he delayed them leaving just long enough for them to admit they painted the graffiti on the locker doors when Principal Morton was behind the three jocks. Jack said the three got sent to the office and received detention for the rest of the week, as well as having to help scrub the graffiti off the locker doors.

Jack then went onto explain to them how he asked Rita to explain to him why Carrie was being treated so badly, and that's when he told them about the Ultras and how their leader, Chris Hargensen, had made it her personal mission to make Carrie's life hell. The triplets glanced at each other and from the looks on their faces, they all knew they were thinking the exact same thing. "That bitch best not come anywhere near us three in a dark alleyway; we'll make sure that the body is never found!"

If there was one thing Catherine, Grace and Louise had in common with each other and their brother, it was they hated bullies, especially Queen Bees, in any shape or form, and hearing what this girl was doing to their brother's love interest made them frown big time.

"There's more you need to know;" Jack said, as they glanced at him. Sighing heavily, he explained. "Hargensen did something really horrible to Carrie last week…and she recorded it on her phone." Jack said, as he showed them the video of Carrie, barely covered by a towel, having her period in the locker room and the cries of "Plug it up!", as well as the screams and cries of Carrie in panic at having her period for her first time filled his ears again, and those of his family.

When Jack pulled the phone away from his laptop and looked at his family, he saw they were all in silent horror at what they'd seen, their eyes wide open in shock. His sisters and mother had their hands over their mouths, and his father had the look of a man contemplating murder. But Jack couldn't blame his father in the slightest for that; after all, he had though the same thing after he first saw the video.

"Holy Christ…" his mother said quietly after a moment.

"To hell with school tomorrow, girls! Let's all go over there and murder a few bullies!" Catherine said, as she stood up and thrust her fist in the air.

"Yeah! Let's get going!" Grace and Louise cried, as they stood up too.

"Girls! Now calm down please." their father said, as he encouraged his three daughters to stay calm. As the three did so, their father turned back to face his son.

"Now, threats of murder and so on aside, Jack…what we saw was beyond cruel…really it was." he said, not really sure of what else to say, as Jack sighed and nodded.

"Well, look; it's not just Carrie that Chris Hargensen's been bullying; it's been other outcasts and people like Carrie as well. There was one notable incident that Rita knows of." Jack said, and he told them of the incident two years before where Chris put a firecracker in the shoe of a girl with a cleft lip. His family were shocked to hear something that, but Jack assured them the girl survived just fine, as the firecracker had been a small one, and her foot and toes survived, though she had her foot in bandages for a while.

"What kind of shitty person would do something like that?!" Grace said angrily.

"Now Grace…" her mother said.

"Sorry mother, but when you hear something that horrible happening to another person, what else can you say?" Grace said apologetically, as her mother nodded in understanding.

"Did Chris Hargensen get detention or a suspension for that?" Louise asked.

"Yes, she was suspended for a week…one of a dozen suspensions she's received in the last four years. And not only that, she's received 73 detentions for various reasons in the last four years." Jack said, which astonished his family.

"Whoa, whoa, hold it! Seventy-three detentions?!" Catherine said, in disbelief.

"Yes, and I'm just as astonished as all of you as to why she's still in school with a record like that." Jack said, with a sigh.

"Jack…I want to know what you're going to do about this. I also want to let you know that we're there to help if you need it, anything at all…name it, you'll have it." his father said, and his wife and three daughters agreed at once.

"Thanks, I'm determined to do anything to get Carrie justice, but not doing anything that may get me into the U.S. prison system. I'm glad you're willing to help me achieve this, but I've a plan that'll make Carrie's bullies pay dearly." and he explained his plan on how to get revenge on the bullies. When he explained it, they all gave their consent to get justice for Carrie.

Then Jack checked his watch and saw the time was 4:42pm.

"Well, you know I think I'd better end the call now. I need to get myself dinner now and get my homework done." Jack said.

"Okay son, we'll be in touch with you and we'll let you know if have anything on those bullies." his father said.

"Very well; and Catherine, Grace, Louise; I'll send you each an email with the names of the bullies as soon as I can, and I want you to dig up any dirt about them. And I mean ANYTHING. I've already uncovered quite a bit about them, however, I…just need more." Jack said.

"You got it, big bro. We'll do whatever we can." Grace said.

"And son, we're very proud of you for what you're doing for this girl; it really shows you're becoming a man." his mother said.

"Thanks…anyway, I'd best get dinner ready. I'll speak to you as soon as I can." and with a final goodbye, Jack hung up. After closing his laptop, he stood up from the coffee table and walked to the kitchen and began preparing dinner; tonight, it was duck breast with mashed potato and asparagus.

"Chris Hargensen…" Jack said quietly, as he started on preparing dinner, "…you and your Ultras had better watch out. Your time at the top is coming to an end and I'm gonna make sure you never bother Carrie again. You just wait."