Part Ten
"Alright," the sheriff said to his young charges as they all filed into the living room, "Someone explain. What the hell did you do to Maria?"
No one replied.
"I know you did something. Maria Deluca is one of the sweetest people I know, like her mother and what I saw in there – that ice princess act was wrong. Now which one of you is going to tell me?"
Still, no one spoke.
"Look, if you tell me maybe I can help you fix it. You need her – all of you and you know that," he said.
"We cant fix this. Its too late. What we did? You'd hate us if you knew, dad," Kyle said sounding as dejected as Jim had ever heard him sound.
"Nothing's ever too late, son. You'll need her. She's your centre. Even I know that. She's the glue."
"You're not the only one that knew that. They did too," Max said bitterly, showing the first signs of anger.
"They who? What did they do?"
"They…," and he stopped unable to say it. Michael and Liz looked away, the memory, the pain too fresh.
"They manipulated us into believing… that Maria kissed Max," Tess told him when the others wouldn't say anything.
"And you believed that. About Maria. But she's…"
"We know. We were stupid," Alex said, "And we didn't think."
"I said some horrible things," Max told the flabbergasted sheriff.
"I sent her all the stuff she left in my room. Everything she ever gave me and I just dropped it on her porch without saying a word," Liz said and began to weep again.
Michael clenched his fists and muttered, "I got to get out of here."
The sheriff stopped him at the door. "No, Michael. We have to talk about this," and Michael too dispirited to fight him allowed himself to be pushed into a seat.
"This is bad. I can't believe you guys would think that about Maria. Anyone else…possible but Maria," Jim stated.
"I don't know what I was thinking. It doesn't seem real," Isabel said.
"I didn't fight for her. She would have fought for me. She always fought for me," Alex added his shoulders slumped.
"She would fight for all of you," the sheriff said, "Okay tell me from the beginning."
And so they did. Everyone added their bit in except Michael who just sat there. It took a while. All the teens were highly upset and there were many pauses along the way. Jim didn't interrupt.
At the end he stood up and with his back facing them began to speak, "Only three times in my life have I ever felt real shame. The first time was when I discovered you and I realised that all this time my father was right and the way I treated him was contemptible. It took some time but I fixed that. I was lucky I had the opportunity to fix it before it was too late," the sheriff paused and turned around to face them before continuing.
"The second time was one of the worst I have ever behaved. I was obsessed and somehow in my zest to discover the truth I forgot the way I was supposed to act. It was the first time I ever had a real conversation with Maria. And I wasted it with scare tactics and strong arming an innocent teenage girl who was terrified. All I did was scare her more. The more scared she got, the more I pushed and just when I thought I had her she looked me directly in the eye and said 'We wouldn't want to break up any more families' and left. I felt like a monster that day. And then I started to date her mother and things got serious. Here was the girl I threatened and the very strong possibility of her becoming my future stepdaughter. I didn't know how to apologise or fix it but she came up the me one day and told me I made her mother happy and that was all that mattered. Of course, if I screw up again, she would make me pay. I believed her and that was it… she forgave me."
"You all know the third time with Hubble – I like to think that was repairable as well," the sheriff paused again and looked at each one of them in the eye before saying to them, his tone as serious as they had ever heard it, "Not once did I ever feel anything less than proud of any of you. The way you all behaved in the face of dangerous and definitely unusual circumstances has always been a sense of pride for me – for all of you, not just Kyle. Until today. What you did was almost unforgivable but if there is anything I have learnt its that you can't just give up on relationships that matter. And sometimes, love is enough to help forgive. And I know despite your despicable behaviour Maria always loved and protected you – even when she was scared of you."
His seven charges sat there, their faces showing their emotions, changing with each word. He saw the determination and the little hope, almost afraid to appear, show as the heard his last words.
"You will fix this. Because you love her. Because you need her. Because she needs you. Because she loves you. Because they can't win. Is that understood?"
They all nodded.
"Good. Now you need a way to get her to talk to you and for you to apologise and explain." The sheriff said.
"We're beyond apologies here – we're on to major grovelling," Alex said.
"The on the your knees begging kind," Kyle clarified, "She made me get down on mine and beg once. She said and I quote, that my stalker-like behaviour and total idiocy tendencies warranted an apology of the highest order," and then he smiled a slight smile, "But she forgave me. Maybe she will again."
"I don't know," Liz said, her voice still tearful, "But we're going to try."
"And if we have to we wont stop until she listens," Michael said, his voice full of purpose again, "She's the most important thing in my life and I will not let some skin and my own stupidity drive her away again."
"We'll fight for her – like she always fights for us," Max said, "I want my best friend back."
"We need a plan," Isabel said.
The sheriff left unnoticed as the kids began to plan. They all looked animated again as they thought up ideas to get their friend back. He only hoped one of them worked.
End Part Ten
"Alright," the sheriff said to his young charges as they all filed into the living room, "Someone explain. What the hell did you do to Maria?"
No one replied.
"I know you did something. Maria Deluca is one of the sweetest people I know, like her mother and what I saw in there – that ice princess act was wrong. Now which one of you is going to tell me?"
Still, no one spoke.
"Look, if you tell me maybe I can help you fix it. You need her – all of you and you know that," he said.
"We cant fix this. Its too late. What we did? You'd hate us if you knew, dad," Kyle said sounding as dejected as Jim had ever heard him sound.
"Nothing's ever too late, son. You'll need her. She's your centre. Even I know that. She's the glue."
"You're not the only one that knew that. They did too," Max said bitterly, showing the first signs of anger.
"They who? What did they do?"
"They…," and he stopped unable to say it. Michael and Liz looked away, the memory, the pain too fresh.
"They manipulated us into believing… that Maria kissed Max," Tess told him when the others wouldn't say anything.
"And you believed that. About Maria. But she's…"
"We know. We were stupid," Alex said, "And we didn't think."
"I said some horrible things," Max told the flabbergasted sheriff.
"I sent her all the stuff she left in my room. Everything she ever gave me and I just dropped it on her porch without saying a word," Liz said and began to weep again.
Michael clenched his fists and muttered, "I got to get out of here."
The sheriff stopped him at the door. "No, Michael. We have to talk about this," and Michael too dispirited to fight him allowed himself to be pushed into a seat.
"This is bad. I can't believe you guys would think that about Maria. Anyone else…possible but Maria," Jim stated.
"I don't know what I was thinking. It doesn't seem real," Isabel said.
"I didn't fight for her. She would have fought for me. She always fought for me," Alex added his shoulders slumped.
"She would fight for all of you," the sheriff said, "Okay tell me from the beginning."
And so they did. Everyone added their bit in except Michael who just sat there. It took a while. All the teens were highly upset and there were many pauses along the way. Jim didn't interrupt.
At the end he stood up and with his back facing them began to speak, "Only three times in my life have I ever felt real shame. The first time was when I discovered you and I realised that all this time my father was right and the way I treated him was contemptible. It took some time but I fixed that. I was lucky I had the opportunity to fix it before it was too late," the sheriff paused and turned around to face them before continuing.
"The second time was one of the worst I have ever behaved. I was obsessed and somehow in my zest to discover the truth I forgot the way I was supposed to act. It was the first time I ever had a real conversation with Maria. And I wasted it with scare tactics and strong arming an innocent teenage girl who was terrified. All I did was scare her more. The more scared she got, the more I pushed and just when I thought I had her she looked me directly in the eye and said 'We wouldn't want to break up any more families' and left. I felt like a monster that day. And then I started to date her mother and things got serious. Here was the girl I threatened and the very strong possibility of her becoming my future stepdaughter. I didn't know how to apologise or fix it but she came up the me one day and told me I made her mother happy and that was all that mattered. Of course, if I screw up again, she would make me pay. I believed her and that was it… she forgave me."
"You all know the third time with Hubble – I like to think that was repairable as well," the sheriff paused again and looked at each one of them in the eye before saying to them, his tone as serious as they had ever heard it, "Not once did I ever feel anything less than proud of any of you. The way you all behaved in the face of dangerous and definitely unusual circumstances has always been a sense of pride for me – for all of you, not just Kyle. Until today. What you did was almost unforgivable but if there is anything I have learnt its that you can't just give up on relationships that matter. And sometimes, love is enough to help forgive. And I know despite your despicable behaviour Maria always loved and protected you – even when she was scared of you."
His seven charges sat there, their faces showing their emotions, changing with each word. He saw the determination and the little hope, almost afraid to appear, show as the heard his last words.
"You will fix this. Because you love her. Because you need her. Because she needs you. Because she loves you. Because they can't win. Is that understood?"
They all nodded.
"Good. Now you need a way to get her to talk to you and for you to apologise and explain." The sheriff said.
"We're beyond apologies here – we're on to major grovelling," Alex said.
"The on the your knees begging kind," Kyle clarified, "She made me get down on mine and beg once. She said and I quote, that my stalker-like behaviour and total idiocy tendencies warranted an apology of the highest order," and then he smiled a slight smile, "But she forgave me. Maybe she will again."
"I don't know," Liz said, her voice still tearful, "But we're going to try."
"And if we have to we wont stop until she listens," Michael said, his voice full of purpose again, "She's the most important thing in my life and I will not let some skin and my own stupidity drive her away again."
"We'll fight for her – like she always fights for us," Max said, "I want my best friend back."
"We need a plan," Isabel said.
The sheriff left unnoticed as the kids began to plan. They all looked animated again as they thought up ideas to get their friend back. He only hoped one of them worked.
End Part Ten