Chapter Six
" I don't see Chris anywhere," Sian said as she saw some of the kids starting to dwindle out of the house. It was getting to be apparent that the party was winding down.
" And Danny is non existent. But I told him that when I leave he'd better be close or I was leaving his ass. Who knows what that psycho is doing."
" I know I have to get home," Tyler said as he glanced at his watch. " My mom is going to shoot me."
"What time is it anyway?" Sian asked as she eyed the room, seeing nothing but drunk kids. This sure was a blow out party.
" I don't know," Rory said as she came out of the living room, " but I know I'm tired."
"I hate to do this to you, RC , but I gotta go," Sian said as she surveyed the room once more. Not seeing Chris, she moved quickly and made it to the foyer where it had finally cleared somewhat. Glancing into the kitchen , she winced slightly as she saw the keg sitting on the counter top, being raided by still more kids. It seemed like these late bloomers were hell bent on staying. As she opened the door, she was greeted by two of Miami's finest. Looking back, she saw as Rory came up, a nervous smile riding her face.
"Um, what can I do for you guys?" Rory asked as Sian and Danica moved out of the door, the policemen looking after them.
" See you later, Rory," Danica said with a worried look.
" Later, RC," Sian followed as Tyler came next to them. They quickly got in the car and headed out of the neighborhood, memories hanging.
The officers watched as they drove off and then turned their attention back to Rory, who spotted Riley and her brothers coming up the drive. When they got there, Pierre glanced at the officers and nodded as he walked in unassumingly.
"We got several calls about noise," one officer said as he glanced to his partner. Tj saw the name tag and smiled slightly. He had met officer Everheart when he went to the office with his Dad.
" Julius?" Tj asked as he tried to put on his best face. He was still impaired beyond belief.
" Tj? Do you live here?" Everheart asked as he looked around. From the looks of it, either a hurricane or a tornado came through here and the discarded tarp told him one thing. The yellow bike that his father always drove to work was gone. Shaking his head, he gave a little snort, " Tgee, ..."
" I know Julius, I know. Can you not give me a hard time about this. It's over anyway,"Tj said with a sigh.
" I'll let you off, Tj, but we don't need anymore calls. Got it?"
"Crystal," Tj responded as he glanced to his brother and sisters. "We've got enough trouble to deal with."
" You need help with clearing the property?" Julius asked with a smile as he glanced to his partner who was staring at him with contempt.
" No, we have it , Julius. Just don't tell Dad," Tj said as he surveyed the lawn. That would be his first area of attack, and not to mention finding out where his father's bike was.
"Alright, Speedle. Take care," Julius responded as he turned and walked away. As he was walking , his partner reached out and grabbed him and Julius looked to him with a grin. "What?"
" You just gonna let them walk like that?" Hagen asked with a scowl as he glanced back at the kids, walking in the house. "There are at least a dozen violations on the lawn alone. And I'm sure that there is alcohol in that house, and they had Ron Slater with them. That right there is enough for detainment."
" John, take a pill. Did you see the shape that house was in? It will be a miracle if they get it back together before their parents return. I think they have enough trouble on their hands, no need for us to compound it. They have learned their lesson."
Grumbling, Hagen followed Everheart to the radio car and got in. He couldn't believe that they were passing up a chance to rile some punks. Smiling, Everheart closed the door and fastened his seat belt. "Relax, John, I'm sure we will see some action. The morning's still young."
Azerra awoke with a start, her heart racing. She looked over at the clock on her night stand and saw that it was four thirty. Getting up, she heard something downstairs and quickly went to the door and opened it. Peeking out , she could hear the sounds of the video game that HJ was playing and she shook her head. If he could, he would spend his life playing games.
She walked forward, coming to December's room noticing that the door was still opened. Usually if December was home, her door would be closed tightly. With a smirk, Azerra walked in her big sister room and turned on the light. Standing at the door, she shook her head and crossed her arms, her eyebrow arched. There was nothing special about this room. Not enough to keep it locked up.
"And she's crazy over this?" Azerra asked aloud as flipped the switch. She turned slightly and heard the noise again and stopped dead in her tracks. Her mind raced with what the sound could've been. " Maybe it's Pierre," she dismissed. The sound happened again and Azerra walked forward hesitantly. If it was from Pierre, they could trade barbs for fifteen minutes, but if it was an intruder...
Azerra walked downstairs quickly, keeping her eyes open through the darkness. Hearing the sound coming from the study, she grabbed a candle holder from the foyer and crept slowly to the big cherry wood door, her heart practically jumping out of her throat. If was her brother, she was going to crack him over the head for good measure. She pushed the door open and flipped the switch, seeing a startled intruder as he rifled through her father's things.
"Hey! What are you doing? Get away from my dad's stuff!"
The intruder looked up and Azerra could see that he was no older than Pierre. The caught in the headlights look he gave her also told her that he was an armature. He recovered some what and stood straight up, " Shouldn't you be in bed, little girl?"
"Shouldn't you be somewhere under a rock?" Azerra centered as she raised the candle holder. "How the hell did you get in here?"
"An open front door is open invitation," the boy sneered. "Whatcha gonna do with that, hit me?"
"If you want, I can crack your skull, but I'm going to give you a chance. Put down the stuff and you can walk out of here."
"Azerra," Aleera said sleepily as she walked in, "you know Dad is going to sacrifice you... what is going on in here?"
"Aleera, go call Uncle Eric, see if we can't get some CSIs here," Azerra said as she centered her gaze on the intruder.
"CSI, what is that?" he asked with a sneer.
"Crime scene investigation. You might get away, but they'll dust this room top to bottom, and find your grubbies all over . You'll be in juvie faster than you can spit," Azerra said confidently.
The intruder thought about it and dropped the stuff. He really didn't need to do another stint in juvie, " You win, take this shit."
Azerra watched him as he walked to the door and followed him to the patio. When he was gone, she locked the door and went to check the front door. Satisfied that they were safe, she went back into the study to find Aleera standing stock still. With a smile, she approached her sister. It was very apparent that she was scared.
"Leera, it's alright, he's gone and I locked the doors."
"H-how did he get in?"
"December must've left the patio door unlocked. Boy is she in so much trouble. It's a quarter to five and she still isn't home," Azerra snickered. Finally, the Princess was going to get into some trouble. " Hey, this room is pretty cool."
"Yeah, but let's get out of here. Mom and Dad don't want us in here."
"Mom and Dad aren't here are they? Besides, we can stay until De De comes back. Let's see why they don't want us in here," Azerra said as she put the candle holder down and walked to the center of the room, " I don't see anything worth getting your panties in a wad for."
"Maybe they don't want us in here because they know that you're murder on books," Aleera quipped, a nervous smile coming over her. The door opened and they saw Junior as he peeked his head in, holding a plate with a slice of pizza on it.
"I'm telling," he said simply as he turned and walked out; he still had level two to get to.
"He's such a loser," Azerra responded as her eyes lit on a black bag. She walked over to it and unzipped it, "And B- I-N-G-O was his name oh. Leera, check this out,"Azerra said in awe as she pulled out a tickler.
"What is that?" Aleera asked , the disgust apparent.
"Just confirmation that Mom and Dad are freaks," Azerra said dipping into the bag again and pulling out something else. "Edible panties? Ewwwww... that's gross! And there's more... JC was right, parents are nasty."
"How do you know?" Aleera asked , her blue eyes widening.
"JC told me that she walked in on her parents one night, her dad was tied up and her mother was dressed like a cat. It was horrifying to say the least."
"But , Mom's a college professor for Chrissake," Aleera said shivering at the thought of the items in the bag. " And Dad's the director of the crime lab."
"Well, genius, you tell me why this is in here."
"Oh god," Aleera said, closing her eyes.
"What?"
"I just got a picture of Mom tying Dad up with that stuff on."
"Okay, let's promise not to speak about this, alright?" Azerra said with a slight snicker.
"Promise. I'm going to go upstairs, I don't want to be caught dead in here."
"Well, I'm going to explore more. Who knows what I'm going to find."
Aleera waved her off dismissively , but then thought about it, it would be fun to see what else was in here. " On second thought, why not?"
Azerra winked and started going through her father's desk. This was going to be fun.
Riley looked at the damage as she walked into the house, a tear coming to her eyes. There was so much trash on the floor, she kicked it with every step. There were some stragglers in the house, and Aj and Rory were rounding them up and getting them out. The music had stopped for good this time ,and the house was eerily quiet. Tj was outside, trying to get the front law decent, but it was evident that it wouldn't be decent enough to pass muster . The last she saw of Tj, he was headed around back. Riley then turned her attention to the kitchen, her heart dropping even more. It was a disaster. There was no living through the wrath of her father when he saw this.
"I'm glad your dad is cool with Everhart,"Pierre said softly as he watched her from the door jamb, startling her, " or we would all be on our way to juvie right about now. Can you imagine what my dad would do if that happened?"
They both gave a sigh of relief knowing that for now they were squared with the cops. Riley bent to pick up some broken dishes and then tossed it back down, "Tell me about it."
Riley stood and looked around the kitchen again, feeling the tears coming. Why didn't she stand up to Tj? Her dad would definitely kill them . Beyond the library, the kitchen was his other sanctuary. Picking up the cups and plates that was around the floor she saw Pierre come up to her.
"You need some help in here?" he gestured to the area.
"You think?" she asked helplessly. Taking in the look on her face he could tell that she was beyond herself.
" I'm sorry ,Riley," he said genuinely as he bent to help.
"It's not your fault, we should have never listened to TJ. He always gets us in trouble but, we just keep on following him. We must be retarded or something," Riley said as she looked at the keg. It was almost empty again.
Pierre shook his head and took her into a short embrace, feeling the sadness that took root in her. He let her go and gave her a small smile of assurance. She nodded and then sighed heavily. Looking around the room, they began to place the discarded plates and cups in trash bags. After a while, it seemed that they were getting nowhere, and they decided to finish it up in the morning. Their parents wouldn't be home for another day.
Eyeing the two beers that were left, they took the beers with them as they left the kitchen. Rory and Aj had successfully gotten everyone out of the living room and they were now nowhere to be seen. The alcohol they had earlier had worn off somewhat ,but navigating through the destruction was proving to be hard for them both. Riley glanced in the direction of the dining room, unsure if she really wanted to come back in this house.
Getting to the patio door, Pierre opened it and let her out first. The instant feeling of the cool breeze as it flowed over the Atlantic hit them and Riley grabbed the blanket that was sitting on the lounger. They headed to the edge of the surf, and laid the blanket down, listening to the sounds of the waves crashing around them. The serenity of the moment was wonderful, giving them time to breathe.
After a moment, Pierre cleared his throat, " Riley, are you feeling bad about what we did earlier?" he asked.
" No, Fitz, that was the best part of the evening for me. I wouldn't change what we shared to save my life. It's definitely going to be the only good memory from this day," she said softly, her eyes hanging heavily.
Taking her hand, he held it tightly as she laid against him, feeling the closeness of each other. They took one more sip of the beer before settling in, the sounds of his heart beat lulling her asleep. Pierre kissed her on the head before he felt his own eyes droop and wondered at the feeling of the newly acquired love that flowed between them. This was the best night of his life, and he hated to see it leave. With that thought, he closed his eyes, with thoughts of her on his mind, falling into a peaceful slumber.
Tim got his baggage from the luggage carousel quickly and waited for Alexx's as it followed behind. He glanced at her as she held the cell phone to her ear, waiting for some one to pick up. When they didn't , she snapped the phone shut with an irritated look and sighed heavily. Those kids were in some serious trouble from the looks of Tim. It had been a long evening for them, going to Vegas , then having to turn back around to make it back to Miami before dawn, and it wasn't wearing good on Tim. The only thing that fueled him was the desire to get to his home.
"They aren't answering," she said heavily as she followed Tim off of the concourse. The instant feel of the humidity hit her and caused her to furrow her eyebrows even more. They should've been waking up in Vegas this morning, not walking into unknown territory.
"Of course not," Tim replied as they crossed the street. " I just refuse to believe our children would do something idiotic. I can't ..."
"Well, maybe we are just being paranoid, Tim."
"Yeah, we'll see about that, Alexx ,"Tim said as he started the Tahoe. He looked to the right to see Horatio getting into his Hummer and quickly pulling out. He somehow felt that this was all connected.
The ride back to the house was long, in part because Tim was trying his best to remain calm. He really didn't know what to expect when he pulled up, so he tried not to have expectations about it. Turning on to his street, he saw that Horatio's place was still standing, but noticed the damage done to Kyrie's car as it sat in the drive sideways. That was not a good sign. Tim sighed heavily as Alexx shook her head and dropped it into her hands. What had their kids done?
Tim pulled up to his home slowly, silence running deeply through the cab of the truck as it came into view. The lawn had been decimated and he saw several marks on the grass that looked like someone had just put a motorcycle on it and tore through. The garbage that littered their once green grass was extensive, it covering almost all of the vast lawn and Tim sighed roughly as he pulled the truck in the drive ,looking to his right, seeing him lying on the ground with a large black bag.
Getting out, he walked over to him , forgetting completely about the door to the truck, and watched as the sprinklers shot up, beginning it's daily task of watering the lawn. Tim stood back out of the way, watching the water fall on the trash and his son, noticing him as he began to stir. Tj sat up on his elbows and wiped his face, trying to get his eyes focused. He stumbled back as he saw his father looming over him.
"D-Dad!"
"Timothy," Tim said expressionlessly, " I'm trying to be very calm about this..."
"I- I can explain," he started as he got up quickly, his head swimming. He walked backwards, readying himself to flee his father's probing eyes. " really I can."
" I would love to hear it , son. But right now, I want you to stay right there," Tim glowered as he glanced to the door of the house. The glass storm door had been broken and he felt his temper rise. " Is there anything you want to confess to right now? I mean, you have your chance right now."
"D-Dad..."
"Forget it, Tj. Do. NOT . MOVE," Tim said hard. He glanced to Alexx who just stared at her son in disbelief. Her lawn was destroyed.
"Da..."
"Tj, don't say another word. Not another word."
"But..."
"Tj, what don't you understand, son? Nothing..."
"I.."
"Dammit, Timothy, what did I just say?" Tim exploded. " Silence."
Tj stood still as his parents started for the house, closing his eyes tightly. He could only hope that death would be quick and painless. As he opened them he saw his mother disappear into the house and shook his head.
Tim opened the door and instantly he felt his temper rise several degrees as he took in the destruction. There were several pictures lying on the floor, most of them with out their glass, but all of them destroyed. Walking over the loads of trash, he glanced into the living room, shaking his head, not wanting to go any further, but knowing eventually he would have to. Turning instead, he came into the kitchen and dropped his head, with his eyes closed tightly, putting his hands on his hips.
"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,"Alexx whispered as she came beside him, " What the hell did they have, a freaking party?"
"Alexx, go get your son," Tim said through clenched teeth. Alexx nodded and departed the decimated kitchen, opening the door slightly.
" Timothy, your father wants you," she said stonily. Tj looked into his mother's eyes as he passed her, seeing not one ounce of compassion in her eyes. He walked steadily as he came into the foyer, seeing for the first time the destruction that was wrought on his home.
"Shit," he said softly.
"What was that, Tj?"
"Nothing ,mom," Tj said with a sigh. Coming into the kitchen, he saw his father , standing very still. The feeling of doom began to fill him as Tim turned to face him, his dark eyes hardening on him.
"Tj,..."
"Dad," Tj said with remorse in his voice. He thought that maybe he could get through this if he played the cool side. "I-I'm speechless. Honestly."
" Tj, don't tell me that you didn't know what was going on? And is that a keg? Have you been drinking? And don't fucking lie to me."
"Tim," Alexx warned as she looked at him, seeing the fury in his eyes.
"Alexx, he needs to tell me, right now, and I meant right damn now. Tj, have you been drinking?"
"Well, Dad, it really depends on what you mean by drinking," Tj answered glibly.
"TJ,..."Alexx warned.
"No, he wants to be a smart guy, let him be one. Tell me, Tj, just what am I thinking right at this moment?"
"Um, that's kinda hard to gage right now, Dad. I mean, you got this..."
"Shut up, Tj,..."
"But Dad, you said..."
"Tj, get the hell out of my sight," Tim said angrily as he stepped up to his son, " No, better yet, come with me. You are going to walk me through it. Then, we are going to have a conversation just about what I should do about this. And ..., where are your sisters and brother?"
"Depends,..."
Tim turned and walked away from him, going into the living room, " Follow."
Alexx glared at Tj and pushed him forward, shaking her head, " Tj,... Never mind. Move."
Tj followed his father in the living room, seeing three bodies as they laid there , motionless. Tj glanced at his father as he glared at him and then back to the bodies, shrugging his shoulders. He couldn't believe that there were still some kids left.
" For your sake, Tj, they better not be dead. Is that Ron Slater's boy?" Tim asked as he looked at a body slumped in his leather couch. Tj peered at him , seeing the page boy and sighed . Slater had crashed on his couch. Tim walked to the first kid and shook him, breathing steadily. " Hey, kid. Get up and get out."
The kid woke quickly and opened his eyes, moving just as quick upon seeing Tim's deadly glare and scrambled to his feet. He made it to the door in seconds flat, bursting through the broken storm door and out of the yard. Tim focused on the next kid, kicking his heel. This guy was harder to wake, but when he did, he made the same motion and was gone . Tim then moved to Slater, pushing him hard on the shoulder, getting him to wake.
"Okay, okay, I'm up, man," Slater said as he squinted some. He rose up, scratching his head and opened his eyes more, snickering, "Oh, shit, I must've passed out. Can't help how the beer and mary jane affect the bod. Hey , Mr. Speedle, Mrs. Speedle. Hey ,did you see the Duke? It's totally..."
"Slater! Just go home," Tj shouted , trying to evade from answering for the Ducati's disappearance.
"Teege,... dude, slammin party, man! It was the party to end all parties, man! Two thumbs way up , man!"Tj glanced at his father, seeing his life flash before his eyes, and feeling his stomach toss. With a sudden movement, he emptied out the contents of his stomach on the floor, as Slater laughed out loud, " A cup of coffee will help that hang over, Tj."
"Slater, go home," Tim stated monotone. Slater looked up at Tim and held up his hands, knowing the ramifications of staying and began to back out.
" Adios, Tj. Feel better , man!"
Alexx handed Tj a towel and then folded her arms around her chest, her anger starting to boil over. Her house had been destroyed and her oldest had a hangover. She glanced around, seeing the door to the library open and then to Tim who followed her gaze, then settling his sights on his son.
"I'll take the library," he said starting to move towards the doors.
"I've got the dining room," Alexx returned sighing hard. She then turned to Tj, " You need to come up with your brother and sisters . Now."
"I have no idea..."
"Now," Alexx said sternly. Tj moved as they separated and started slowly to the patio door, seeing the gleam of something in the sand. In seconds, he heard his mother scream and saw as his father rushed out of the library and into the dining room. He heard her crying and felt his stomach rolling again, threatening to spillover.
"TIMOTHY JAMES SPEEDLE!" Tim bellowed as he came out of the dining room. "What the FUCK happened to my piano?"
"Dad, I can explain,..." TJ said as he saw his mother come out of the dining room, wiping her eyes.
" You are going to do more than explain, sir. Yes , you are,"Tim said as he pushed passed him and took the stairs. Tj looked to his mother, and then bowed, throwing up again. Alexx turned away from him, lifting her arms in the air in defeat. She couldn't believe that this was happening.
TBC