To inform anyone, for one moment in this chapter, I've decided to let Connie sing "If We Hold on Together" by Diana Ross to Grace. Hopefully, you'll enjoy this chapter.
Chapter Four
"What?"
Connie couldn't believe what she was hearing. Grace was so sensible; she would never even consider doing so reckless. She always mentioned that she would never do anything that dangerous before. How? Connie thought she knew her daughter so well. When Grace passed her test and was able to drive, Connie believed that Grace would be a careful driver.
Then she did this on her first solo drive.
"How did you do this?" Connie growled at her.
"It, it was an accident," Grace stuttered, "I didn't mean to hurt anyone."
"Grace, you killed two people!" Connie shouted at her, before realising Grace was terrified, taking a deep breath, "Okay start from the beginning. What happened?"
Grace felt relieved to have told her mother. She may have hated how she reacted, but she wasn't expecting anything less from her mother. She may have lost her mother's ability to trust her, but she was expecting that.
"I was driving, and my phone went," Grace admitted, "I picked it up to check the message and I then texted back my response."
"Wait," Connie shook her head, "You were texting?"
Connie couldn't believe what she was hearing! Ethan's broken arm was all because of a text! Iain and Lily both died because of a text! Her department was broken up because of a text!
"It was only meant to be a quick one," Grace sobbed, finding her tears running down her face, "Mum, I'm sorry I've disappointed you. I didn't mean to hurt anyone!"
Connie didn't say anything. She couldn't even face her daughter, knowing what she did. Her muscles stiffen as she heard Grace confess to texting behind the wheel. Images of Lily, Iain and Ethan all rushed through her mind when she was hearing Grace admit her words.
"I'm going to go to the police tomorrow," Grace calmed herself down, "I'm going to admit what I've done. I wish I've done it sooner."
Silence filled the air. Grace knew she's messed up big time. The actions a few hours ago kept banging on inside her mind. She was desperately trying to figure out if there was a way for her mother to say something to her, even if it was just to yell at her some more. It was well deserved that her mother would yell at her. All that trust she's put in her and Grace blew it completely.
Noticing her coat hanging off her chair, Connie walked over to it. Slipping it on, she buttoned it up, much to Grace's confusion.
"Where, where are you, you are going?" Grace stuttered, trying to find her words.
"Go to bed Grace," Connie muttered, not looking her daughter in the eye, "We will discuss this further in the morning."
Connie quickly opened the front door, stepping out into the cold brisk air. Letting the cold hit, she found her emotions are all over the place. Thoughts of the events that happened today continued to haunt her. She saw Ethan, taking his time with his movement, trying not to move his broken arm. She saw Gem, sitting in that cold room, just staring at the two souls sleeping in their eternal slumber. She saw Lily and Iain, oh Lily, Iain!
Connie took a few steps out of the driveway. It was because of Lily and Iain that Connie never took her car at home. In fact, Connie was surprised to find everyone else had the exact same idea. Afraid of going into their car, after images of what will happen kept flashing back into their minds. Closing her eyes, she tried to envision Lily, Iain and Ethan's reaction to the car rolling over.
"What a rubbish mother!"
Connie ignored that voice in her mind. She didn't tell Grace to send a text whilst she was driving. She knew better than to do that herself, never mind bringing everyone else down to her level. The strict number one rule for her was, phone in the glove compartment, on silent, so you don't get tempted.
So where was Grace's phone the entire time?
Probably in her hand.
How many texts had she sent?
Was she making any calls?
Just who was she sending that one fatal text to?
Connie's blood boiled over. It was a fatal text. Since that text caused a car to go over the road and into a field, killing a young couple sitting at the front. She couldn't even think about the times Lily and Iain were alive, because when she thinks of them, she can envision the idiot behind that wheel. Only she didn't see a face to that idiot.
The moment she learned who it was, felt like a million stabs to her heart.
"Maybe you should have been around more often!"
Connie carried on walking, before her knees gave way. Feeling her hands touch the damp pavement on the road, she found herself wanting to cry, scream, tell the voices to go away. Hasn't she been tortured enough? She hadn't even done anything wrong to hurt someone! Why are the voices punishing her? The voice of a young woman and the voice of a young man kept muttering to her.
"Go away!" Connie shouted.
But there was no one there.
Connie couldn't even see a car driving past. Or a single person out on a leisurely stroll. Or lights inside of even just a single house.
Lost, alone, betrayed.
Grabbing her phone, she tried to search the names. Desperate to find Charlie's and tell him what she's just learned.
"Charlie," Connie breathed, "Charlie! I, I just, just, need to, to talk."
Connie quickly hung up the phone. Unable to tell Charlie what was really going off. How could she tell him she failed as a parent? That her parenting had resulted in her seventeen-year-old daughter becoming a killer? Or maybe this doesn't have anything to do with Charlie's reaction.
"Lily was killed by a reckless teenager!"
Grace wasn't a reckless teenager! She was just a teenager! One who had just made a mistake!
Connie knew Grace would never hurt someone deliberately. Plus, she's heard that over half of teenagers had admitted to using their phones behind the wheels. But they never did mention anything about getting caught or causing any significant damage. It was an accident. One that took two lives, but it was still an accident!
"Please don't tell us you're feeling sorry for her!"
Connie's eyes snapped open! Those voices. Those two voices. Those two loud voices.
Turning to her left, she's found the plot of flowers, decorated in red, pink, yellow and blue as the flowers were decorated there. Every birthday, every Christmas, every anniversary Connie remembers how the mother and family of Jared O'Connor come to the site where he was knocked down by a car ten years ago.
He was seventeen years old. Seventeen. Years. Old.
Connie's mind thought back to hearing about the story. He wasn't paying attention to the road either. Jared was out texting a friend, not paying attention to his surroundings. If he'd had looked around him, he wouldn't have been hit by the car.
Connie could remember the day his mother came to Grace's school. How everyday she'd wished she had told him to leave his phone in his pocket when he was out walking. How much she wished she could have treasured every single day with him. How much she wished she would have forced him to stay at home when his grades were slipping at school.
Thoughts Lily's mother also came into mind. When Connie made the difficult phone call, she felt how shaken Mrs Chao's voice was. How broken she suddenly sounded over the phone. Connie couldn't tell if Lily ever told her about the last time she's spoken to her mother.
Connie remembered the last words Mrs Chao had told her before she hung up the phone.
Go to your daughter, give her a hug, because you'll take her for granted and you'll struggle if you ever outlive her.
"What does she know about being a mother? She didn't stop to think her child would have been killed so young!"
Connie walked away from the flowers, trying to forget everything that had been happening to her.
They say killers are monsters. That they showed no sympathy. No compassion. It was as if they didn't care about the families that were left behind. That they were determined to get away with their actions and not face responsibility for them.
But Grace, she wasn't a monster. The first thing she's asked Connie when she got home was if Ethan was okay. The press hasn't released Iain or Lily's names so she wouldn't have known if they were in the car. She owned up straight away. She was remorseful for her actions and was prepared to accept responsibility.
Grace may be a killer.
But what happened was an accident.
"So, she 'accidentally' responded to a text when she drove a car into another?"
Connie looked up. The voices were getting intense.
Why were they tormenting her? She didn't even know about the root cause of the crash until an hour ago. She never made the decision to call anyone's deaths. And she made sure that the couple were together when their relative left the room after saying goodbye, still in shock. Connie didn't do anything to upset them, why were they tormenting her? Making the accident out to be her fault!
"Would the pair of you shut up and go away?" Connie shouted out to the voices.
But no one was there.
It was as if they were next to nothing to her.
Connie was about to stand in the cold when she heard the rustles in the wind. Turning to her left, she came across the play park. How long she out for?
Walking over to the gates of the play park, Connie opened them up. It was too late for teenagers to be hanging about in the park but judging by the look of the bottles lying near the slides and one of the swings twirling around, she knew they were here. The council always had someone come around at six in the morning to tidy up the bottles.
Connie checked her phone, startled to learn that she's been out for two hours. It certainly didn't feel like two hours, although she did feel as if time suddenly stopped when she learned that her daughter is a killer.
Walking over to the swings, she perched herself onto the one on the left, looking at the frame. Most of the red paint had been scraped off, leaving traces of silver metal underneath the paint. She looked at the climbing frame, envisioning herself aiding Grace with her climb, before walking to the slide to catch her at the bottom. She looked at the monkey bars, feeling a sense of accomplishment when Grace managed to reach further than she did at an earlier time. Then she looked at the horses, smiling when Grace kept laughing at how fast she was going.
How was her little girl now seventeen?
Where did she go wrong as a mother? For her daughter to make a mistake, costing two people their lives.
Thoughts about Iain and Lily suddenly started to play on Connie's mind. Would Lily had accepted Iain's proposal of marriage? Would they have advanced so high up in their careers? Would they have had beautiful children that would potentially follow in their footsteps?
Connie tried to fight back the tears. Because of what happened, they'll never know the answers to any of these questions. Iain and Lily won't have the chance to get married, or advance in their careers, or have amazing children of their own.
All because of a decision Grace made and they've lost their lives because of it.
"Lily, Iain," Connie looked up to the night sky, noticing the sights of two stars glowing brightly close to each other, "I'm so sorry this had happened to you."
"A bit too late to say sorry now isn't it?"
Connie once again closed her eyes, determined to block out the voice that she heard. Turning to her right, she spotted something strange. Turning her torch on her phone, Connie suddenly saw an abandoned car sitting within the car park. A dark red KA.
Just like Grace's.
Connie walked over to the abandoned car, looking into the window where she saw it.
Grace's mobile phone.
And her car keys.
Connie was even angry that Grace had walked for an hour without her phone.
Anything could have happened to her.
Connie walked over to the front. Noticing the huge dent of the front, she was surprised to have known that Grace was still able to drive it this far. Especially when she was informed that the car Iain, Lily and Ethan were in had been completely totalled over with the front of the car badly crushed and the front window smashed.
Suddenly it dawned on her. Connie was so angry with her daughter for her actions, she didn't even think to see if she was alright. She came back from work to know that Ethan's arm was broken, and Lily and Iain were both killed, yet Grace's injuries were unknown.
"Oh, now you've taken notice!"
Connie waved her hand out behind her, trying to batter the two voices away from her. Turning her attention back to the car, she opened the door, surprised that Grace had left the car unlocked.
Anyone could haveā¦
"You wouldn't? Would you?"
Connie ignored the voices, reaching out for the phone that was left on the car seat. Looking at her screen, she knew she used her birthday for a password. Connie felt guilty using her daughter's phone, but she needed to know the full story regarding the accident.
Looking at her phone, she looked at the messages that have been sent. Frowning she had received a lot of messages that she hadn't looked at yet. Connie checked all her friends, yet Grace didn't text any of the before one in the afternoon.
Connie then found her text.
I should be back by 17:30 Xx.
That text was sent at three in the afternoon.
Sent to her in fact.
The phone suddenly crashed down to the road.
"Guess the heartbreaks on you!"
All Grace was doing at the time was trying to message her mother about when she'll be back home.
This was now on her!
Ethan being in hospital is now on her!
Gem being in pieces is now on her!
Lily and Iain's deaths are now on her!
"Iain, Lily," Connie gasped, "I'm sorry."
All Grace was trying to do was reassure her mother.
That shouldn't be a crime.
Taking Grace's phone, Connie placed it in her pocket. She needed to think about what she would need to do on her way home.
She was left with two options.
Turn her daughter in, giving the closure that everyone in the department would need after the deaths of two of their own.
Or protect her daughter, hide all evidence of her involvement and keeping their family closer together.
"Please don't tell us you're thinking about covering for her!"
Connie ignored that man's voice. Closing the door, she turned around, determined to look at all her options.
"Think about that poor man in pieces, learning that he's a sole survivor of a crushed car that killed two of his good friends!"
Connie kept her focus on the path ahead, trying to block out what the voices were trying to tell her.
Grace is her little girl.
"She was old enough to make the decision to text behind the wheel!"
Connie closed her eyes, vowing not to listen to the voices behind her.
The front door was within her sights. Opening her door, she walked back into the warmth of her home. Placing Grace's phone by the end table, Connie needed to think about what she needed to do.
She knew that Grace wanted to hand herself into the police. She felt guilty about what had happened, and her initial thought was if Ethan was okay. Grace must have thought that the two people who've died were just friends of Ethan's. She didn't even know that Iain and Lily were in the car as well. If she knew that information, then she'll never forgive herself.
Walking over to Grace's bedroom, she froze when she heard something.
"I'm sorry!" Connie heard Grace scream, "I'm sorry!"
Connie quickly opened the door, to see her little girl turning around. Trashing around, pushing her pillows off the bed, throwing her duvet around.
Connie placed her hand over her mouth.
Grace will never get over what she has done.
Walking over to her, she kneeled to Grace's bed, stroking her brunette hair.
She suddenly remembered another time, when Grace was in a hospital bed of her own. Recovering from the car crash that nearly killed them both. Another time passed, of Grace in her crib, crying in the middle of the night.
Connie remembered the chorus of a song sung by Diana Ross. It was from the Land Before Time, Grace's favourite film as a child.
"If we hold on together," she whispered to her daughter, "I know our dreams will never die."
Connie watched as Grace slowly settled down.
"Dreams see us through to forever," Connie sung to Grace, "Where clouds roll by for you and I."
Connie felt the tears forming in her eyes. Her mind slowly drifted to Gem, losing her brother last night as she pleaded with Elle not to give up on Iain when it was clear there was no more, they've could have done. Then her thoughts turned to the heartbreak that Lily's mother had endured when she had to explain to her that her daughter had died. Before her thoughts turned to the mother of the seventeen-year-old who was knocked down whilst distracted on his phone.
Connie thought about the families and how the loss had impacted on each one of them.
But all she could think of was Grace.
If Grace handed herself over to the police, then she'd be taken away from Connie. Accident or not, she wouldn't be going home at all. What if something were to happen to her that Connie wasn't around to stop? What if visions of Grace's victims would hunt her for the rest of her life? What if Grace ended up separated from her?
What if Grace was separated from her?
Connie took a deep breath. She knew exactly what needed to be done. Guilt washed over her, especially considering how much pride she took in Lily but now her daughter must come first.
"Lily, Iain," Connie whispered, "I'm sorry. But I can't lose Grace over this."
Connie knew what she needed to do. The car was nowhere near the house anymore, and the car was easy to get into, and the keys were left in there.
Anyone could have gotten into the car. Therefore, anyone could have stolen the car.
And within the appropriate amount of time, the police could find the car with the dent and then linked it to the accident. But with the amount of time trying to find out who had stolen the car, the police would eventually give up and close the case.
Connie didn't realise how easy it would be to cover up a mistake.
Standing up, she took a deep breath before walking out of Grace's bedroom and into the sitting room.
"Hello Mrs Beauchamp."
Only to be startled when she saw them standing by the sofa. Glaring at her. Both giving her the evils.
It was just then; Connie knew exactly who those voices belonged to.
Connie frowned at the pair, stuttering, "Iain? Lily?"
"What's the matter?" Lily asked.
"You look as if you've seen a ghost," Iain scoffed at Connie.
Please Review! I know this isn't my best work.
