Chapter Five!
Eric Camden was sitting at his desk, diligently working on this week's sermon. He looked at his computer screen and stared at the title; the only words on the screen so far. Pastor's block, he thought as he leafed through his Bible passage once again, looking for another catching introduction to his sermon. He stretched his arms out in front of him and stifled a yawn. In the corner of his eye, he saw somebody standing in the entrance of his office. Eric turned and saw Ronnie standing there with her hands shyly behind her back. Eric could tell something was wrong.
"Hi Ronnie." Eric greeted as he removed his glasses.
"Hi Eric. Um, are you busy?" Ronnie asked. She seems nervous, Eric thought.
"I'm just writing my sermon." Eric replied. Ronnie nodded.
"Okay." She said quietly as she turned to leave.
"Woah, woah, Ronnie, I can take a break." Eric called as Ronnie appeared again in the doorway. "What's going on?" Ronnie shyly walked into the office.
"I don't even know if I should be doing this." She admitted as she tugged at her hair.
"Please sit down Ronnie." Ronnie sat. "Why don't you think you should be doing this?" Eric asked. Ronnie sighed as she crossed her legs.
"I made a promise that I wouldn't tell anyone." She confessed as she tapped her thumbs together. Eric puckered his brow.
"Is it important?" He asked.
Ronnie nodded.
"Do you think somebody's in trouble?" Eric asked.
"I'm not sure. Maybe."
"Do you think you should tell someone?"
"Yes, but if I do, Chad may not want to be my friend anymore. I don't want to lose him as a friend." Eric could see that Ronnie's eyes were moistening.
"So, this has to do with Chad." Eric said as Ronnie nodded. Eric knew how close she was to her friend Chad. Chad was almost always over at their house, or the two of them would hang out at the Promenade. Eric could see the two were inseparable.
"Ronnie, if you think Chad's in trouble, you should tell somebody so we can help him." He explained as he leaned forward. Ronnie showed no sign of response; she only looked at the floor, as if deep in thought.
"It's…it's Chad's father. He…he…" She couldn't seem to get the words out, but Eric had a lot of experience, and he already had an idea as to what Ronnie was trying to say.
"Does Chad's father beat him, Ronnie?" He asked. Ronnie started to cry as she nodded. This was so hard for her; not only was her best friend in trouble, but Ronnie was having a difficult time remembering her past and all the horrible things her parents did to her. She just prayed to God that Chad wasn't getting it as bad as she once had.
"Okay Ronnie, you need to tell me everything you know about this. It's very important that I have all the details." Eric said seriously. Ronnie grasped the end of her long brown hair and began to explain.
"He always acts weird, like so secretive and he never wants me to go to his house. He's always here instead. Whenever I bring that up, he changes the subject. And today…today he came to school with a big bruise. I…I knew it wasn't an accident. I mean…I know all about…" Ronnie couldn't finish her sentence as she could feel herself choking up. Eric knew how hard this must be for Ronnie, who was such a caring individual who loved everyone and didn't want to see anyone in pain, but she was still having a very difficult time dealing with her past.
Eric sighed.
"Did Chad tell you about this?" He asked. Ronnie nodded, as she swallowed hard.
"He wouldn't at first. He kept trying to avoid me; I think he knew that I would know. I followed him out of class and yelled at him to talk to me. Finally, I asked him if his dad did it, and he said yes. But then he made me promise not to tell anyone. He thinks it's his fault." She said, feeling nothing but anger toward Chad's father, and toward her own father as well.
"Ronnie, have you ever met Chad's father?" Eric asked, after a moment of thought. Ronnie felt chills run down her spine as she remembered back to the previous day. R-R-Ravishing R-R-Ronnie. She shuddered.
"Yeah, I met him yesterday. Didn't Annie tell you why I was late coming home? I went over to Chad's house to return his binder and Chad's father was there." She explained.
"Annie mentioned it to me. What was your impression of Chad's dad?" Eric asked, skipping the lecture on staying away from bad neighbourhoods.
"He reminded me…he reminded me of my dad. He had a beer in his hand and he was acting really strangely. It was just like my dad when he was drunk, even when he wasn't." Ronnie said, failing to mention the part where Luke Delano couldn't keep his wandering eyes off of her.
Eric stared at Ronnie for a moment and she stared back with those frail brown eyes. Eric could see the pain behind them; the pain that she was having such a hard time dealing with as it was, and now she was seeing her best friend going through the same thing. Eric wouldn't stand for it; not again. He still couldn't get the image of Ronnie's bloodied body lying behind the couch at her old house, with a hot gun nearby. She had almost died, and would have if Eric hadn't of shown up when he did. Eric wasn't going to sit around and wait for Chad's father to do the same thing to Chad.
He reached for his telephone.
"What are you doing?" Ronnie asked quickly, wide-eyed with tears falling from them. Eric looked up from the phone.
"I'm calling child services Ronnie." He said simply, almost in an angry voice. Ronnie shook her head vigorously as she stood up.
"No you can't! I promised I wouldn't tell anyone. He's my best friend; I don't want to lose him!" She yelled. She was crying more now as she stared at Eric desperately. Eric stared at her sympathetically.
"Ronnie I understand where you're coming from, but think about Chad. He's being hurt and I know you don't like to think about it, but you know exactly what he's going through. If you have a chance to help him, won't you take it? You don't want Chad to be hurt anymore, do you? We have to get him out of there so he can be safe, just like you are now. Don't you want that for Chad?" He asked, as he held the phone in his hand. Ronnie closed her eyes and couldn't stop crying. She couldn't answer the question, not out loud, but she knew what had to be done. She knew she could lose Chad's friendship and his trust, but she did want him to be happy, but the memories of her past and the thought of losing her best friend overwhelmed her in the moment, and she fell to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably. Annie had heard the yelling and the crying and she had come running. She came into the office and saw the poor young girl crumpled on the ground, crying into her hands. Annie ran to her side, falling down on the ground next to her.
"Sweetheart, what's the matter?" She asked, quite shocked, as she hadn't heard any of their conversation. Ronnie couldn't answer; she was crying too much. Annie took the crying girl into her arms and held her tightly, cradling her as Ronnie cried. Annie looked at Eric desperately, who had already dialed the number.