The next day, Sandy called into the office and told them he wouldn't be in. Kirsten was going to allow Ms. Rothman to take care of Christina all day, which would be a first for her, but she had no choice and allowing the flexibility to go out when she needed was one of the reasons they had hired a nanny in the first place. But both Sandy and Kirsten insisted that Ryan go to school as usual. He had a big test and there was nothing he could do for Seth at the Courthouse. They assured him that their cell phones would be on, except for while they were in the actual courtroom, and he could call them, but that he should try to go about his day as if it were a normal one – the best that he could.
An associate from Sandy's office had agreed to represent Seth, but it was pretty much all a formality, since Sandy had done most of the wheeling and dealing the night before. They had both assured Seth that it would be very simple, because they weren't going to contest the charges and he would plead guilty. The A.D.A. would explain that they had come to an agreement and by the end of the day, Seth would officially have a criminal record.
"We'll have your records sealed when you turn eighteen. This won't follow you forever. But I don't know what it will do to your college applications," Sandy said as he brushed lint off of Seth's collar. He was wearing a button down shirt and a navy sports jacket that Kirsten had picked out. She said it was important to make a good impression on the judge.
"The judge can decide to give you a different sentence, so you better be contrite, Seth. You better look sorry," she had told him that morning, while she was pawing through his closet.
"I am sorry, Mom," he had told her.
Now in the hallways of the courthouse, Seth shrugged. "It's okay. Thanks for doing this for me. You could have let me face all the other charges."
"Seth, you're my son. I love you. I told you once, there's a reason why I spent so much time and energy keeping kids out of those places. I wouldn't send my own son to one. No matter how badly he screws up. We'll get passed it. We'll fix this somehow."
Seth couldn't believe his parents were being so cool about this. "Will Mitch be there?"
Sandy nodded. "He'll get the same deal."
"What sort of community service will I have to do?" Seth stuffed his hand deep in his pocket, hoping his parents couldn't see his shaking hands.
Sandy shrugged. "I don't know. We'll figure it out."
Four hours later they were back at home. The Cohens officially had two sons with criminal records. Though Ryan was the good one now, Seth thought ironically. His probation had ended a couple of months ago. It would be his turn to face the whispering, and derision in school – again.
The thought of going back to school made Seth sick to his stomach. But he knew his parents would force him to go back the next day. Seth grabbed his phone and dialed Mitch's number.
"Mitch."
"Seth. Hey." They hadn't had a chance to talk in the courthouse. They really hadn't talked since they had been hauled down to the station. "I can't talk for long. If my dad sees me on the phone, he'll throw a fit."
"Yeah, mine too. Listen, Mitch. Ryan found my stash last night. He flushed it."
"Shit."
"Yeah. I need some. Bad." There was a quake in his voice.
"I have some here I could give you. But I'm under house arrest. The old man is pissed that I have a police record. He thought it was a pretty clever prank though."
"My mom lectured me about how I could have killed someone," Seth said with an ironic laugh. "If I can sneak out, I'll let you know."
"He got the pills too?"
"What pills?"
"The ones I gave you a couple of days ago. You didn't use them already, did you?"
"I forgot about those. I'm not sure where I put them."
"See if you have them. It'll take the edge off. And when you're back in school, you can get more."
"Thanks Mitch."
Seth hung up the phone and started to claw through his dirty laundry to find the jeans he had been wearing that day. He finally found it on the bottom of a mound, next to his closet. He dug in the pants and found the small baggie with the two pills.
He no longer cared that he was messing with a much stronger drug. He needed it badly. He knew his parents would want to talk to him soon. They would suggest therapy. A drug rehab program. They'd start talking restrictions. Seth knew to face that he needed to be calm. Truth was, E was probably a better choice than marijuana to face one of Sandy and Kirsten's lectures.
In the bathroom, he swallowed the pill with a glass of water.
"What is that?" Kirsten asked, walking in on him.
Damn, should have locked the door, he thought.
"Tylenol." He held up the bottle that he kept on the counter at all times and shook it at her. "All this tension has given me a headache."
She nodded her head. "Well, why don't you change and then come down to talk with your dad and I."
"Court really wiped me out. Do you think I could lie down for a little bit first?"
Kirsten chewed her lip. She shouldn't give in. They had to talk and she preferred to do it before Ryan came home, so they wouldn't have a repeat of last night's performance. Yet she dreaded this discussion as much as Seth did, so she agreed. "But just for a half hour or so."
Seth nodded gratefully. He needed time for the drug to hit his system and while he wasn't sure how long it would take, he knew it wouldn't happen right away. Close to an hour later, Seth felt a wave of dizziness and nausea. He knew it was the drugs. He hoped it would pass soon and it did. Ten minutes later, he went downstairs for the talk.
His limbs felt limber. His parents' voices sounded as if they were coming from far away. Seth didn't really care about what they were saying. As he had anticipated, they said they had called up Dr. Acobas, Ryan's therapist, and he had agreed to see him tomorrow after school.
"He also suggested an NA meeting. They have one for teens at the hospital. There's a meeting tonight. I'll take you."
And then they started laying out the restrictions and Seth knew he would be in hell – but they didn't set a time limit. They said the restrictions would stay in place until Seth had earned their trust back. It was worse than hell if that was possible. But Seth just nodded his head and accepted it all.
When they were done, he went back to his room, and thumbed through some magazines. He was supposed to be doing homework, but he wasn't in the mood. Ryan came home and tried to talk to Seth, but Seth wouldn't talk to him. Finally, Ryan gave up and went to his room. He didn't notice the glazed look in his brother's eyes. He didn't know that Seth had the little white pills.
As the effects of the X started to wear off, Seth started to feel despondent, especially when he thought about how sucky his senior year would be, with community service, probation, therapy and no life. He had really screwed up.
"Hey kiddo, you should get ready. We're going to go to that NA meeting."
"I don't want to go," Seth said sullenly.
"You have to go," Sandy said.
Seth sat up and put his shoes on, giving Sandy the impression that the fight was over. Studying the jeans he had changed into before the big talk with his parents, he thought they'd be okay. But his tee shirt was dirty, so he stood and scoured through his drawers until he found a tee shirt that he knew his parents would hate and started to put it on.
"I need to go see Mitch," he said.
"You'll see him in school. Frankly, it would probably be a good idea to stay away from him."
"You can't keep me away from my friends. No matter what I did," Seth said, walking out of his room. He grabbed a jacket on the way out, because it was nippy in November.
"Yes I can. I don't think the two of you are a good pair. You never would have gotten into this sort of trouble before you met him."
"You don't know that."
"I do," Sandy said, following Seth down the stairs. "Seth, what's gotten into you? You were fine a couple of hours ago." Seth didn't answer. Sandy hadn't really expected one. "Seth, come on. You said you would go to an NA meeting." He blocked Seth's path and saw the look in his eyes and suddenly it dawned on him that somehow, Seth had found a drug he could take. Sandy should have searched his room.
"I'm going to Mitch," Seth repeated, close to the front door.
Sandy grabbed Seth's arm. They both clenched their strong jaws and eyed each other like animals ready to attack their prey. Seth's brown eyes turned steely as he tried to wrench free from his father's grasp. He wanted to shout, kick, and scream like a petulant three-year-old, but he couldn't bring himself to give Sandy the satisfaction.
"You are not leaving the house like this."
Seth tugged hard and broke free. "I'll do what I damn well please." He turned and headed for the front door.
Sandy seized him again. "I'm not going to let this behavior continue."
Seth grabbed the doorknob, but Sandy had a strong grip and would not let his son budge.
"Let go," seethed Seth through clenched teeth.
"I won't let you ruin your life like this."
"Come on Seth, don't do this." Ryan said as he came into the room and took in the scene before him. He could hear the shouting all the way upstairs in the baby's nursery.
"Stay out of this, Ryan," Sandy said quietly. "This is between me and your brother."
"I'm out of here." Seth broke free again and sprinted up the three steps that lead to the front door.
"No you are not!" Sandy was quick. He got to the door before Seth and stood in front of it. "Get your ass back in the house and park it in the kitchen."
Ryan would have listened. Three months earlier, Seth would have listened. But this Seth, this angry, strung out Seth couldn't care less. He pushed Sandy to the side with such violence that Sandy stumbled, knocking his head on the wall. Seth hesitated for a moment, but then yanked the door open and ran out of the house.
"I'll go after him," Ryan said. "I'll talk to him."
It took a moment for Sandy to register what Ryan was saying. He sat up still dazed and shocked by his son's behavior.
"No you're not. No one can reason with him right now. He was coming down from a high."
"Where'd he get the drugs?" Ryan said. "I flushed them last night before he came back from the police station." The words flew out of his mouth, before he realized what he was saying.
Sandy slowly turned and stared at Ryan. Smoke was coming out of his ears. His face was beet red. "You knew about the drugs before we came home from the police station? How?"
And suddenly Ryan knew that Marissa, Summer and even Dr. Acobas had been right. He should have told Sandy and Kirsten ages ago about Seth's drug problem. Right now, the shit was about to hit the fan.