A/N: I DON'T OWN LIZZIE MCGUIRE! Thank you for all the reviewers! I am so glad you like this story! Today is a snow day and I had no school. Yay!
Chapter Three: Hits Close To Home
~
Under normal circumstances, Lizzie would have laughed and said, "Yeah right. What really happened?" But the way Matt said it all. . .she could tell that he was anything but lying. "W-hat?" she asked.
Matt shrugged, "All I know is that he's in jail. He called a few minutes ago and mom went to pick him up."
Lizzie suddenly felt weak to her stomach. She sat down next to Matt, "Wow!" she said, "What did he do?"
Lizzie tried to go over the possibilities in her head. She always thought her dad was a good person. What could he have done to put himself in jail? He wouldn't murder or steal anything. He wouldn't do anything wrong intentionally, right? Maybe this was a big misunderstanding on the police department. Maybe her father was mistaken as a murderer or someone that they saw on Cops. There was no way that all of this could be her dad's fault, right?
"I don't know. Mom didn't say anything," Matt said.
"What do you think happened?" Lizzie said, starting to chew her nails nervously.
Matt shrugged, "Maybe he murdered someone."
Lizzie hit Matt on the arm, "How could you say something like that?" Lizzie said, in defense of her dad, "He wouldn't so something like that!"
In Lizzie's frustration, she stormed upstairs and once she was in her room, she fell onto her bed and started crying. She was crying for her dad, her family, and for herself. Her dad was in jail. Her own father committed a crime and this made Lizzie feel somewhat deserted.
She felt bad for the way she acted toward Matt, as he was only saying what crossed her mind. What if her dad did kill someone? What if this wasn't his first time to go to jail. Lizzie was thinking the worst and almost didn't hear the phone ring when it did.
"Mom?" she picked up, eager to find out what was going on.
Instead, she heard a simple chuckle, "Nope, this is Gordo."
"Oh," Lizzie said, and for the first time in her life she didn't want to talk to him.
"So how are you?"
How was she? She had a possible mass murderer as a father and all Gordo could ask was 'how are you?' She sighed. He didn't know better.
"I'm okay," she said, trying to convince herself more than others, "Listen, Gordo, can I call you back?" She said hurriedly, wanting to know what was happening to her family.
"Sure," Gordo said, recognizing the tone in her voice as worry, "Is everything okay?"
No, she thought, but she didn't want to say anything, "Can we talk about this tomorrow?"
"Lizzie," Gordo said, concerned, "you can talk to me."
"I know, I know," Lizzie said, "But not right now. I'm expecting an important phone call," and with that she hung up. She didn't even wait for a response. All she knew was that her father was in jail and her mom or dad could call any minute to tell them what was going on.
But they didn't.
An hour passed. . .two hours passed. . .Lizzie began to worry. What was going on? Did they arrest her mom, too? Why weren't they home and why weren't they calling? Lizzie hadn't eaten anything, but she wasn't hungry. She couldn't concentrate enough to do her homework, watch TV, or talk to anyone.
The lights suddenly flickered off and so did the power at around ten that night and Lizzie felt alone. She took the power outage as a sign that her life would never be the same again. She got into her bed and under the covers.
Soon after the power went out, Matt appeared in Lizzie's room. "Lizzie," he started, cautiously coming into her room, "I'm sorry about what I said earlier about dad killing someone."
Lizzie didn't say anything. Instead she turned over so she was facing the other direction. She didn't mean to act so coldly to her brother, but she didn't know what to say. To say "It's okay" might be a lie because she didn't know if it was okay.
"Lizzie," he said, not leaving her room, "I'm scared. What if dad never comes back? What if he stays in jail forever?"
Lizzie hadn't even thought about that. What if her dad was in jail forever?
Lizzie only wished she had answered to the thousands of questions floating in her head.
Lizzie still couldn't find anything to say to Matt, but surprisingly, was happy to hear his voice and know that for once in their life, they could finally connect with something. Knowing that he was going through the same thing as she was comforted her.
"Lizzie, mom isn't home yet and the power is out. I don't want to be alone tonight."
Lizzie turned to look at her brother. Under normal circumstances, she would have absolutely no sympathy for him but on this night, she had to agree with him. She didn't want to be alone in her room either. "You can sleep in my room if you want."
"I don't know if I'll be able to sleep."
Lizzie sighed. He had a point. "You can still stay in here."
Lizzie hated to admit it but having Matt in here would probably help her in knowing that everything was going to be safe.
"Thanks," Matt said, looking around and resolving to sit on the floor.
Lizzie watched as he did this. She felt bad for not offering her bed, knowing that sharing a bed between siblings would be awkward, but now, it didn't seem so awkward. He was, afterall, family, and her bed was big enough for two people. Before she could think to long about it, though and offer for him to come up and join her, her thought were interrupted by hearing the front door open downstairs. Lizzie and Matt both looked out in the hallway and exchanged glances. She could hear her parents talking, but she couldn't hear what they were saying, as they were whispering.
"Lizzie," Matt whispered, looking at his older sister, "Do you think we should go downstairs?"
"I don't know," Lizzie said, relieved to hear both her parents voices, "Maybe we should wait for them to come to us."
"Okay," Matt said, still looking at the door.
A few minutes passed and no one came, "Maybe they are waiting until morning," Matt offered, "Or maybe they don't want to tell us."
"I don't think they have a choice, Matt," Lizzie said, getting somewhat frustrated through her impatience, "If dad went to jail, we as his kids have the right to know what happened."
Matt shrugged, deciding not to fight what she was saying, "At least we know he's here."
"Yeah," Lizzie said, at least we know he's here," Lizzie said, lying back down. Maybe her parents wouldn't tell her what was going on. Lizzie heard them walk up the steps and go into their own room, but they didn't even bother to check on their children. Mall and Lizzie looked at each other and Lizzie frowned, "They're probably waiting until morning."
"Yeah," Matt said, somewhat distantly. He was lying on the floor next to Lizzie's bed, "I just hope everything is going to be okay."
"Me too," Lizzie said as she stared at her ceiling. She and Matt didn't say another word to each other that night, but neither of them got too much sleep. What was happening?
~~~
The next morning, the sun woke Lizzie's face and as she opened her eyes, she noticed it was lighter. She looked at her clock, which indicated that it was a little after nine. It was a Friday. Didn't she have school that day? She peered over to the floor next to her and saw that Matt was still sleeping. Lizzie lay in her bed and suddenly remembered what happened. Oh yeah, she thought, last night her father went to jail.
Slowly, Lizzie got up and went downstairs. She could hear her parents down there already and had had enough. She wanted to get to the bottom of this all. She had to know what her dad did that sent him to jail and if everything was going to be okay. Lizzie appeared in the kitchen, seeing her dad at the table with his robe and coffee and his mom fixing waffles. They were acting as if nothing happened, Lizzie noted, as if her dad did nothing.
Jo looked over and saw her daughter and smiled, "Hey, Lizzie? Did you get a good night sleep?" she asked, smiling. But Lizzie could tell their was something wrong with the smile.
"Yeah," Lizzie said, sitting down, "Was school cancelled or something?"
Jo quickly looked at Sam and took in a deep breath, "Well, no. We figured since we didn't get in late last night that you and Matt deserved the day off."
"Oh," Lizzie said, but she knew something else was up, "So what's going on today?" Lizzie asked, accepting the glass of orange juice Jo handed her as well as the waffles.
"Well," Jo said, "Actually, there's a reason you aren't going to school. As you probably heard from Matt, something happened last night that we all need to talk about."
Lizzie looked over at her father, who buried his head into his paper. What was going on? "Way to fess up, dad," Lizzie thought to herself as she ate her breakfast. She wanted Matt to wake up so she could get to the bottom of this.
After Lizzie finished breakfast she went upstairs to take a shower and get ready for the day. Even if she wasn't going to school or doing anything that day, she wanted to pretend everything was okay for the time being. When she opened her room to get to her bathroom, she saw that Matt was awake. He was just lying there, starring at the ceiling.
"Get up," Lizzie said, "Get some breakfast."
"Aren't we going to school today?"
"No. Apparently mom and dad decided that whatever happened last night called for a day from school to talk about it."
"It was that serious, huh?" Matt asked.
"Matt, he went to jail. What do you think?"
Matt sat up, "I don't know. I just want everything to get back to normal. School is normal."
Lizzie sighed, agreeing with what he was saying. Going to school today would mean nothing was going on at home. "Everything will be fine," she said, trying to convince herself as well as Matt.
Lizzie disappeared into her bathroom and as soon as the door was safely closed, she leaned against it and slowly collapsed onto the floor as she cried. What was going on? She thought as tears streamed down her face. She didn't know why she was crying or anything but she had a feeling that today would not be one of her better days.
Lizzie finally managed to pull herself together and take a shower and get ready for the day. After all, she didn't want to get too upset over something she didn't know a lot about. After she brushed her wet hair, she looked at herself in the mirror, having a feeling that the next time she looked in a mirror, things would be different.
Lizzie walked downstairs, taking her time and looking at all the pictures of her family hanging on the wall. She'd always taken them for granted and never really given them more than a glance, but as she looked at them then, they suddenly meant something to her. "God," she thought, "Please don't let whatever this is ruin my family."
She walked into the kitchen, where the rest of her immediate family was and they looked as if they were waiting for her, "Hi," she said weakly.
"Hi, sweetheart," her mom said, smiling sympathetically and walking over to give Lizzie a hug. Her arms remained around Lizzie's shoulder as she said, "Let's all go into the living room."
With that, everyone headed into the living room and sat down. It was then, when everything seemed so serious and important, that Sam and Jo started explaining. Lizzie was pretty sure her father would have rather not explained this or would have rather been somewhere else, but her mother made him stay there and tell them what was going on.
Minutes ticked by and it was silent. It was as if Sam was trying to come up with the perfect thing to say, but couldn't find anything. Finally, he spoke, "Lizzie, Matt," he said, nodding at his offspring, "I made a horrible mistake last night and I think, as a family, we should talk about this."
Lizzie and Matt nodded, saying nothing, only waiting.
"Last night, after work, a few of my clients and I went out for dinner and," he said pausing, looking at Jo, who nodded to give him the go-ahead, "I had a little more alcohol than I was supposed to have."
Lizzie nodded, taking this in. She knew her father drank on a social level, but never considered him a drunk or anything. What was he trying to say?
"After we were finished, we all decided it was time to go home, so we all departed and I got into my car and…"
Lizzie gasped lightly as she was realizing what happened and what he was about to say.
"I was at the stop sign turning into the street that leads to ours and I hit someone."
Lizzie gasped again, this time louder. Her father did kill someone!
Sam looked down at the floor and continued, "and that person is in a coma right now at the hospital in very critical condition."
Lizzie sighed, relieved to hear that he didn't kill anyone, not that what he did was much better.
"Is everything going to be okay?" Matt asked.
"I hope so, son," Sam said.
"Do you have to go back to jail?" Matt asked. Lizzie was relieved that someone was asking these questions because she would never have the courage.
Sam shrugged, "Most likely."
Lizzie and Matt both looked down.
"But the good news is that for right now, I'm here. I have to go through trial before they do anything and the trial won't start for at least another year."
What was happening? Lizzie thought. Her dad committed a crime and hurt someone and he is thinking there is good news? How selfish can he get?
"Is the person you hit going to be okay?" Lizzie asked.
Sam nodded, "He should be fine. He was a pedestrian trying to cross the street."
"Is it anyone we know?"
"No."
Why was this happening to her family? Yesterday she woke up a normal kid and her biggest worry was how much homework she had. But today, it was like her whole life had flipped upside down. Homework was the least of her problems.
"So what happened last night at jail?" Lizzie asked, trying to put her thoughts together in deciding whether she was happy he was okay or wished he was still there. He did, after all, hit someone. Was the fact that he was her daddy justifiable enough for it to be okay that he was home?
"The policemen brought me in and I sobered up pretty quickly and they let me call home. Mom came in and payed bail."
"Are you okay, dad?" Matt asked.
"I'm fine. I feel very lucky son."
"Why?" Lizzie asked, failing to see how luck fit into this equation, "Because you are not in a coma right now?"
Sam could see that his daughter was being hostile, but figured she had reasons to be. He did something she was always taught not to do. Not only did he drink irresponsibly, but he drove afterward and deserved paying the consequences.
"No," he said, looking at Lizzie, "Lucky because I didn't kill the poor man."
"What's the difference?" Lizzie asked.
"Then I would have committed vehicular homicide and would still be in jail right now."
Lizzie looked at her father, then her mother, who was trying to comfort him, and then her brother, who also didn't seem to get it. Was she the only one angry here? Was she the only one in this family who was truly upset?
Lizzie couldn't take it anymore and got up. "Lizzie!" Sam called, as she walked past him, "Lizzie wait! We need to talk about this!"
"Really?" Lizzie asked, tears starting to form in her eyes, "Because I thought we just did. What else is there to talk about?" She stood there waiting for a response.
Sam sighed, feeling guilty for having to put his family through all this, "Lizzie, please! If I could take back last night, believe me, I would. I am so mad at myself, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to forgive myself!" he said, and she could see he was genuinely upset. Maybe he was just trying to hide what he was really feeling, she thought. The last thing he needs is someone to get really upset on him. On the other hand, Lizzie wasn't sure what to say. They'd gotten them out of school to talk, and the talk only took thirty minutes. Now that it was over, she wanted to go to school. She wanted to talk to Gordo about this. He would help her get through this. He was her best friend.
She reluctantly stayed downstairs as her parents explained to them what was happening and what might happen. What Sam had failed to mention and was just now saying was that he would probably lose his job. He would probably get fired.
Maybe the full affect of this event hadn't hit her at this point. Maybe it would take Lizzie some time to see this whole action-reaction thing take in. But somehow, Lizzie had a feeling that this would change everything.
After they finished talking and all questions were answered, Lizzie and Matt were free to do whatever they wanted. In the meantime, Jo would have to drive Sam to his workplace to get everything sorted out.
By that time, school would be over. Lizzie figured that Gordo would either call or come over and want an explanation of some type. This had Lizzie stumped. What would she say to him? At the same time, Lizzie figured it would help her. Gordo was always the one she would go to if she needed a friend and if she ever needed a friend, it was now.
It was only a matter of time when she was going to hear from him.
Finally, when Lizzie had just about convinced herself that he wasn't going to call or show up, the doorbell rang. Lizzie went to go get it and sure enough, it was Gordo. Lizzie smiled, relieved to know that she would finally tell someone what was going on and relieved to finally have a friend to talk about this with. Gordo smiled when Lizzie opened the door and said simply, "I missed you at school today. Were you sick or something?"
"Mind if we go for a walk?" Lizzie asked, grabbing her jacket.
Gordo shrugged, curious as to what was going on, "Sure. It's really cold, though."
"I know, but I just really need to get out of the house," Lizzie said.
"Okay," Gordo said, still confused. He could tell that she was being serious, though.
"Matt! Tell mom I'm going for a walk with Gordo!" Lizzie yelled just before shutting the door and putting her jacket as they started walking away from Lizzie's house.
"So. . ." Gordo said, after silence lingered the air, "What's up?"
Lizzie put her hands in her jacket pocket and looked at the ground. Just being with Gordo, even if he didn't know what was going on was comforting. She thought about what she was going to say to him, how she would tell him about her father. It was hard to find words, though, that seemed to fit what she was thinking and still tell what was going on. Her mind was a blur and she didn't even want to try to explain the mess of it all. Not right now, at least. "Can we talk about it later? Right now all I really want to do is be with a friend."
"Sure," Gordo said, trying to read her face, but having no luck, "You'll always have me as a friend no matter what."
Lizzie smiled, happy to have her best friend beside her as always.
Chapter Three: Hits Close To Home
~
Under normal circumstances, Lizzie would have laughed and said, "Yeah right. What really happened?" But the way Matt said it all. . .she could tell that he was anything but lying. "W-hat?" she asked.
Matt shrugged, "All I know is that he's in jail. He called a few minutes ago and mom went to pick him up."
Lizzie suddenly felt weak to her stomach. She sat down next to Matt, "Wow!" she said, "What did he do?"
Lizzie tried to go over the possibilities in her head. She always thought her dad was a good person. What could he have done to put himself in jail? He wouldn't murder or steal anything. He wouldn't do anything wrong intentionally, right? Maybe this was a big misunderstanding on the police department. Maybe her father was mistaken as a murderer or someone that they saw on Cops. There was no way that all of this could be her dad's fault, right?
"I don't know. Mom didn't say anything," Matt said.
"What do you think happened?" Lizzie said, starting to chew her nails nervously.
Matt shrugged, "Maybe he murdered someone."
Lizzie hit Matt on the arm, "How could you say something like that?" Lizzie said, in defense of her dad, "He wouldn't so something like that!"
In Lizzie's frustration, she stormed upstairs and once she was in her room, she fell onto her bed and started crying. She was crying for her dad, her family, and for herself. Her dad was in jail. Her own father committed a crime and this made Lizzie feel somewhat deserted.
She felt bad for the way she acted toward Matt, as he was only saying what crossed her mind. What if her dad did kill someone? What if this wasn't his first time to go to jail. Lizzie was thinking the worst and almost didn't hear the phone ring when it did.
"Mom?" she picked up, eager to find out what was going on.
Instead, she heard a simple chuckle, "Nope, this is Gordo."
"Oh," Lizzie said, and for the first time in her life she didn't want to talk to him.
"So how are you?"
How was she? She had a possible mass murderer as a father and all Gordo could ask was 'how are you?' She sighed. He didn't know better.
"I'm okay," she said, trying to convince herself more than others, "Listen, Gordo, can I call you back?" She said hurriedly, wanting to know what was happening to her family.
"Sure," Gordo said, recognizing the tone in her voice as worry, "Is everything okay?"
No, she thought, but she didn't want to say anything, "Can we talk about this tomorrow?"
"Lizzie," Gordo said, concerned, "you can talk to me."
"I know, I know," Lizzie said, "But not right now. I'm expecting an important phone call," and with that she hung up. She didn't even wait for a response. All she knew was that her father was in jail and her mom or dad could call any minute to tell them what was going on.
But they didn't.
An hour passed. . .two hours passed. . .Lizzie began to worry. What was going on? Did they arrest her mom, too? Why weren't they home and why weren't they calling? Lizzie hadn't eaten anything, but she wasn't hungry. She couldn't concentrate enough to do her homework, watch TV, or talk to anyone.
The lights suddenly flickered off and so did the power at around ten that night and Lizzie felt alone. She took the power outage as a sign that her life would never be the same again. She got into her bed and under the covers.
Soon after the power went out, Matt appeared in Lizzie's room. "Lizzie," he started, cautiously coming into her room, "I'm sorry about what I said earlier about dad killing someone."
Lizzie didn't say anything. Instead she turned over so she was facing the other direction. She didn't mean to act so coldly to her brother, but she didn't know what to say. To say "It's okay" might be a lie because she didn't know if it was okay.
"Lizzie," he said, not leaving her room, "I'm scared. What if dad never comes back? What if he stays in jail forever?"
Lizzie hadn't even thought about that. What if her dad was in jail forever?
Lizzie only wished she had answered to the thousands of questions floating in her head.
Lizzie still couldn't find anything to say to Matt, but surprisingly, was happy to hear his voice and know that for once in their life, they could finally connect with something. Knowing that he was going through the same thing as she was comforted her.
"Lizzie, mom isn't home yet and the power is out. I don't want to be alone tonight."
Lizzie turned to look at her brother. Under normal circumstances, she would have absolutely no sympathy for him but on this night, she had to agree with him. She didn't want to be alone in her room either. "You can sleep in my room if you want."
"I don't know if I'll be able to sleep."
Lizzie sighed. He had a point. "You can still stay in here."
Lizzie hated to admit it but having Matt in here would probably help her in knowing that everything was going to be safe.
"Thanks," Matt said, looking around and resolving to sit on the floor.
Lizzie watched as he did this. She felt bad for not offering her bed, knowing that sharing a bed between siblings would be awkward, but now, it didn't seem so awkward. He was, afterall, family, and her bed was big enough for two people. Before she could think to long about it, though and offer for him to come up and join her, her thought were interrupted by hearing the front door open downstairs. Lizzie and Matt both looked out in the hallway and exchanged glances. She could hear her parents talking, but she couldn't hear what they were saying, as they were whispering.
"Lizzie," Matt whispered, looking at his older sister, "Do you think we should go downstairs?"
"I don't know," Lizzie said, relieved to hear both her parents voices, "Maybe we should wait for them to come to us."
"Okay," Matt said, still looking at the door.
A few minutes passed and no one came, "Maybe they are waiting until morning," Matt offered, "Or maybe they don't want to tell us."
"I don't think they have a choice, Matt," Lizzie said, getting somewhat frustrated through her impatience, "If dad went to jail, we as his kids have the right to know what happened."
Matt shrugged, deciding not to fight what she was saying, "At least we know he's here."
"Yeah," Lizzie said, at least we know he's here," Lizzie said, lying back down. Maybe her parents wouldn't tell her what was going on. Lizzie heard them walk up the steps and go into their own room, but they didn't even bother to check on their children. Mall and Lizzie looked at each other and Lizzie frowned, "They're probably waiting until morning."
"Yeah," Matt said, somewhat distantly. He was lying on the floor next to Lizzie's bed, "I just hope everything is going to be okay."
"Me too," Lizzie said as she stared at her ceiling. She and Matt didn't say another word to each other that night, but neither of them got too much sleep. What was happening?
~~~
The next morning, the sun woke Lizzie's face and as she opened her eyes, she noticed it was lighter. She looked at her clock, which indicated that it was a little after nine. It was a Friday. Didn't she have school that day? She peered over to the floor next to her and saw that Matt was still sleeping. Lizzie lay in her bed and suddenly remembered what happened. Oh yeah, she thought, last night her father went to jail.
Slowly, Lizzie got up and went downstairs. She could hear her parents down there already and had had enough. She wanted to get to the bottom of this all. She had to know what her dad did that sent him to jail and if everything was going to be okay. Lizzie appeared in the kitchen, seeing her dad at the table with his robe and coffee and his mom fixing waffles. They were acting as if nothing happened, Lizzie noted, as if her dad did nothing.
Jo looked over and saw her daughter and smiled, "Hey, Lizzie? Did you get a good night sleep?" she asked, smiling. But Lizzie could tell their was something wrong with the smile.
"Yeah," Lizzie said, sitting down, "Was school cancelled or something?"
Jo quickly looked at Sam and took in a deep breath, "Well, no. We figured since we didn't get in late last night that you and Matt deserved the day off."
"Oh," Lizzie said, but she knew something else was up, "So what's going on today?" Lizzie asked, accepting the glass of orange juice Jo handed her as well as the waffles.
"Well," Jo said, "Actually, there's a reason you aren't going to school. As you probably heard from Matt, something happened last night that we all need to talk about."
Lizzie looked over at her father, who buried his head into his paper. What was going on? "Way to fess up, dad," Lizzie thought to herself as she ate her breakfast. She wanted Matt to wake up so she could get to the bottom of this.
After Lizzie finished breakfast she went upstairs to take a shower and get ready for the day. Even if she wasn't going to school or doing anything that day, she wanted to pretend everything was okay for the time being. When she opened her room to get to her bathroom, she saw that Matt was awake. He was just lying there, starring at the ceiling.
"Get up," Lizzie said, "Get some breakfast."
"Aren't we going to school today?"
"No. Apparently mom and dad decided that whatever happened last night called for a day from school to talk about it."
"It was that serious, huh?" Matt asked.
"Matt, he went to jail. What do you think?"
Matt sat up, "I don't know. I just want everything to get back to normal. School is normal."
Lizzie sighed, agreeing with what he was saying. Going to school today would mean nothing was going on at home. "Everything will be fine," she said, trying to convince herself as well as Matt.
Lizzie disappeared into her bathroom and as soon as the door was safely closed, she leaned against it and slowly collapsed onto the floor as she cried. What was going on? She thought as tears streamed down her face. She didn't know why she was crying or anything but she had a feeling that today would not be one of her better days.
Lizzie finally managed to pull herself together and take a shower and get ready for the day. After all, she didn't want to get too upset over something she didn't know a lot about. After she brushed her wet hair, she looked at herself in the mirror, having a feeling that the next time she looked in a mirror, things would be different.
Lizzie walked downstairs, taking her time and looking at all the pictures of her family hanging on the wall. She'd always taken them for granted and never really given them more than a glance, but as she looked at them then, they suddenly meant something to her. "God," she thought, "Please don't let whatever this is ruin my family."
She walked into the kitchen, where the rest of her immediate family was and they looked as if they were waiting for her, "Hi," she said weakly.
"Hi, sweetheart," her mom said, smiling sympathetically and walking over to give Lizzie a hug. Her arms remained around Lizzie's shoulder as she said, "Let's all go into the living room."
With that, everyone headed into the living room and sat down. It was then, when everything seemed so serious and important, that Sam and Jo started explaining. Lizzie was pretty sure her father would have rather not explained this or would have rather been somewhere else, but her mother made him stay there and tell them what was going on.
Minutes ticked by and it was silent. It was as if Sam was trying to come up with the perfect thing to say, but couldn't find anything. Finally, he spoke, "Lizzie, Matt," he said, nodding at his offspring, "I made a horrible mistake last night and I think, as a family, we should talk about this."
Lizzie and Matt nodded, saying nothing, only waiting.
"Last night, after work, a few of my clients and I went out for dinner and," he said pausing, looking at Jo, who nodded to give him the go-ahead, "I had a little more alcohol than I was supposed to have."
Lizzie nodded, taking this in. She knew her father drank on a social level, but never considered him a drunk or anything. What was he trying to say?
"After we were finished, we all decided it was time to go home, so we all departed and I got into my car and…"
Lizzie gasped lightly as she was realizing what happened and what he was about to say.
"I was at the stop sign turning into the street that leads to ours and I hit someone."
Lizzie gasped again, this time louder. Her father did kill someone!
Sam looked down at the floor and continued, "and that person is in a coma right now at the hospital in very critical condition."
Lizzie sighed, relieved to hear that he didn't kill anyone, not that what he did was much better.
"Is everything going to be okay?" Matt asked.
"I hope so, son," Sam said.
"Do you have to go back to jail?" Matt asked. Lizzie was relieved that someone was asking these questions because she would never have the courage.
Sam shrugged, "Most likely."
Lizzie and Matt both looked down.
"But the good news is that for right now, I'm here. I have to go through trial before they do anything and the trial won't start for at least another year."
What was happening? Lizzie thought. Her dad committed a crime and hurt someone and he is thinking there is good news? How selfish can he get?
"Is the person you hit going to be okay?" Lizzie asked.
Sam nodded, "He should be fine. He was a pedestrian trying to cross the street."
"Is it anyone we know?"
"No."
Why was this happening to her family? Yesterday she woke up a normal kid and her biggest worry was how much homework she had. But today, it was like her whole life had flipped upside down. Homework was the least of her problems.
"So what happened last night at jail?" Lizzie asked, trying to put her thoughts together in deciding whether she was happy he was okay or wished he was still there. He did, after all, hit someone. Was the fact that he was her daddy justifiable enough for it to be okay that he was home?
"The policemen brought me in and I sobered up pretty quickly and they let me call home. Mom came in and payed bail."
"Are you okay, dad?" Matt asked.
"I'm fine. I feel very lucky son."
"Why?" Lizzie asked, failing to see how luck fit into this equation, "Because you are not in a coma right now?"
Sam could see that his daughter was being hostile, but figured she had reasons to be. He did something she was always taught not to do. Not only did he drink irresponsibly, but he drove afterward and deserved paying the consequences.
"No," he said, looking at Lizzie, "Lucky because I didn't kill the poor man."
"What's the difference?" Lizzie asked.
"Then I would have committed vehicular homicide and would still be in jail right now."
Lizzie looked at her father, then her mother, who was trying to comfort him, and then her brother, who also didn't seem to get it. Was she the only one angry here? Was she the only one in this family who was truly upset?
Lizzie couldn't take it anymore and got up. "Lizzie!" Sam called, as she walked past him, "Lizzie wait! We need to talk about this!"
"Really?" Lizzie asked, tears starting to form in her eyes, "Because I thought we just did. What else is there to talk about?" She stood there waiting for a response.
Sam sighed, feeling guilty for having to put his family through all this, "Lizzie, please! If I could take back last night, believe me, I would. I am so mad at myself, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to forgive myself!" he said, and she could see he was genuinely upset. Maybe he was just trying to hide what he was really feeling, she thought. The last thing he needs is someone to get really upset on him. On the other hand, Lizzie wasn't sure what to say. They'd gotten them out of school to talk, and the talk only took thirty minutes. Now that it was over, she wanted to go to school. She wanted to talk to Gordo about this. He would help her get through this. He was her best friend.
She reluctantly stayed downstairs as her parents explained to them what was happening and what might happen. What Sam had failed to mention and was just now saying was that he would probably lose his job. He would probably get fired.
Maybe the full affect of this event hadn't hit her at this point. Maybe it would take Lizzie some time to see this whole action-reaction thing take in. But somehow, Lizzie had a feeling that this would change everything.
After they finished talking and all questions were answered, Lizzie and Matt were free to do whatever they wanted. In the meantime, Jo would have to drive Sam to his workplace to get everything sorted out.
By that time, school would be over. Lizzie figured that Gordo would either call or come over and want an explanation of some type. This had Lizzie stumped. What would she say to him? At the same time, Lizzie figured it would help her. Gordo was always the one she would go to if she needed a friend and if she ever needed a friend, it was now.
It was only a matter of time when she was going to hear from him.
Finally, when Lizzie had just about convinced herself that he wasn't going to call or show up, the doorbell rang. Lizzie went to go get it and sure enough, it was Gordo. Lizzie smiled, relieved to know that she would finally tell someone what was going on and relieved to finally have a friend to talk about this with. Gordo smiled when Lizzie opened the door and said simply, "I missed you at school today. Were you sick or something?"
"Mind if we go for a walk?" Lizzie asked, grabbing her jacket.
Gordo shrugged, curious as to what was going on, "Sure. It's really cold, though."
"I know, but I just really need to get out of the house," Lizzie said.
"Okay," Gordo said, still confused. He could tell that she was being serious, though.
"Matt! Tell mom I'm going for a walk with Gordo!" Lizzie yelled just before shutting the door and putting her jacket as they started walking away from Lizzie's house.
"So. . ." Gordo said, after silence lingered the air, "What's up?"
Lizzie put her hands in her jacket pocket and looked at the ground. Just being with Gordo, even if he didn't know what was going on was comforting. She thought about what she was going to say to him, how she would tell him about her father. It was hard to find words, though, that seemed to fit what she was thinking and still tell what was going on. Her mind was a blur and she didn't even want to try to explain the mess of it all. Not right now, at least. "Can we talk about it later? Right now all I really want to do is be with a friend."
"Sure," Gordo said, trying to read her face, but having no luck, "You'll always have me as a friend no matter what."
Lizzie smiled, happy to have her best friend beside her as always.