-1Chapter Ten:
They dressed silently, both of them too caught up in their own thoughts to say a word. Lauren had never seen her father so angry before. She regretted not calling him sooner to let him know where she was, but she had foolishly thought there would be more time. Now there was no telling what her father would do punish her. And Michael.
"Ready?" Michael asked quietly, eyes focused on the floor as he stood by the bedroom door and waited for her to finish getting dressed.
"Yeah." Lauren replied, her voice hoarse with unshed tears. She got up from the bed and walked over to him, reaching out to take his hand in hers. He glanced up at her wearily, looking as though he was headed to the gas chamber. "Come on then. Let's get his over with." She said resolutely, offering him a reassuring smile as they walked out of the bedroom hand in hand.
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Her father was standing silently in the middle of the living room, his back to them as he focused instead on the fireplace before him. Lauren glanced around the room nervously and saw that the two police officers from earlier were now stationed on either side of the front door. She had a really bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"Daddy. Please, just let me explain…" Lauren pleaded.
"What were you thinking?" Neil interrupted her, finally turning around to face the two teens. "Running off with this boy without so much as a word."
"I know. I should have called you." Lauren admitted regretfully.
"Yes, you most certainly should have." He admonished her, shaking his head in disappointment. "Do you have any idea how worried I was about you?"
"I'm sorry." She apologized sincerely.
"Well, I suppose you aren't entirely to blame." Neil reasoned, glaring angrily at Michael. "I can only imagine the kind of lies he concocted to get you here."
"It's not like that, daddy. It was my idea to come to New Orleans." Lauren explained.
"Do you honestly expect me to believe that he played no part in orchestrating this little Bonnie and Clyde adventure?" Her father said incredulously. "You have done some irresponsible things in the past, Lauren. But never anything this extreme."
"If you knew the whole story, you'd understand why I did what I did." She said pleadingly, trying to appeal to her father's understanding nature.
"Oh, I've heard enough of the story to know that I don't want you anywhere near this creep." Neil proclaimed, glancing at Michael in disgust. He shifted uncomfortably under the older man's scrutinizing gaze.
"What do you mean?" Lauren asked, curious to know where he was getting his information from. "And how did you know where to find us?"
"I had your credit cards traced and it was brought to my attention that you had purchased three one-way tickets to New Orleans." He revealed. "It didn't take long for me to connect the dots and realize that he had something to do with this."
"Look, Sir. It was never my intention to…" Michael finally spoke for the first time since entering the tension filled room.
"After what I just walked in on, I think it's pretty clear what your intentions were." Neil spat out in contempt, effectively shutting him up. "Officers," He summoned the two men standing by the door. "I want this boy arrested for the kidnapping of my daughter."
"What?!" Lauren shrieked incredulously, moving to stand between Michael and the two police officers as they prepared to carry out her father's orders. "You can't do this! I'm eighteen years old and he didn't force me to go anywhere that I didn't want to go." Lauren said defensively. Neil sighed in frustration, realizing that she was right.
"Very well then." He conceded. "Officers, you know what to do." Neil instructed. The two men moved passed Lauren and began patting Michael down as he stood completely still, staring at Lauren in bewilderment.
"Michael Baldwin, you are under arrest for the kidnapping of Kevin Fisher." One of the police officers declared as he pulled Michael's hands behind his back and roughly slapped a pair of handcuffs around his wrists. "You have the right the remain silent. Anything you say can and will be…"
"Daddy, please! You can't do this!" Lauren pleaded, glancing between Michael and her father in a state of panic.
"I'm not doing anything." Neil declared calmly. "Gloria and Tom Fisher are the ones pressing charges, not me."
"Then you have to do something to help him!" Lauren desperately begged her father to intervene. " Michael didn't kidnap his brother! If you knew what Tom Fisher did to that poor little boy, you'd realize that…"
"I'm sorry, Lauren. My hands are tied." Neil interrupted her plea. " It's not my responsibility to help this young man avoid paying the consequences of his actions."
"Fine." Lauren said stubbornly, glaring at her father in defiance. "Then they'll have to arrest me too."
"The Fishers don't want to press charges against you, Ms. Fenmore." One of the police officers informed her.
"I don't care what the Fishers want!" She screamed in frustration.
"Lauren, it's okay." Michael said quietly, trying to calm her down.
"No. It's not okay, Michael. They can't do this to you!" She insisted angrily.
"I don't want you getting dragged into this." He pleaded.
"You should listen to him, Lauren. It's the first intelligent thing he's said all day." Neil interrupted snidely. Lauren shook her head in confusion, not understanding her father's attitude towards Michael.
"Daddy, why are you acting like this?" Lauren asked in frustration. "You don't even know him!"
"And obviously neither do you." Neil declared ominously.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Lauren asked, glaring at her father in disillusionment.
"Your boyfriend called me last night," Neil started to explain. "Apparently he had his friend Paul Williams do a little background check on Mr. Baldwin here. Turns out he has quite the colorful past."
"Yeah well, so do I." Lauren said dismissively. Whatever her father would like to believe, she was no angel.
"Well as far as I know, none of your past indiscretions ever involved attempted rape." Neil declared, glancing at Michael in disgust. Lauren rolled her eyes at her father's revelation.
"I already know about Amber. It was all a big misunderstanding." Lauren explained.
"Amber?" Her father said in confusion. "So there are more victims. You really are a piece of work, kid." Neil said, glaring at Michael in disbelief.
"What are you talking about?" Lauren asked impatiently.
"I'm talking about Isabella Brana, the young girl whom Mr. Baldwin here tried to rape last summer." Her father proclaimed matter-of-factly.
"What?" Lauren asked incredulously. She shook her head in denial. "I don't believe you."
"It's all right here in the police report." Neil declared, reaching down to pick up a folder that was lying on the coffee table. He opened the file and began reading it out loud. "On the night of August 20th, 1982, the police were called to an apartment in the south end of Detroit. They were responding to a 911 call made by the victim, one Isabella Brana. When they arrived at the scene, 17 year old Miss Brana was visibly shaken and there were signs of a struggle.. Her clothes were ripped and her arms and face covered in scratches and bruises. She claimed that Michael Baldwin, a boy she had met while interning at a local GM Plant, had attempted to rape her. 18 year old Baldwin was arrested on two counts of assault and attempted rape." Neil closed the file and glanced up at his daughter. "The charges were later dropped."
The room grew eerily quiet as Lauren absorbed the information. Finally, wiping away at the tears that were threatening to spill down her face, she spoke.
"Well,…well there you go!" Lauren reasoned, trying not to show how much the report had affected her. "Obviously she was lying and that's why she dropped the charges." She declared, nodding her head resolutely. "She was lying." Lauren repeated, turning to look at Michael who had remained silent throughout her father's revelation. "She was lying, right Michael? Just like Amber. She was lying."
"Lauren." He said softly, his eyes pleading with her to understand.
"Tell me she was lying, Michael." Lauren demanded, the tears she had been keeping at bay were now streaming down her cheeks, but she made no move to wipe them away. "Tell me!" She screamed.
He didn't answer her. Slowly closing his eyes because he couldn't bare to see the look of pain and betrayal on her face any longer, Michael bowed his head in shame.
"Get him out of here." Neil ordered gruffly, and the police officers started dragging Michael towards the front door. Lauren watched as they lead him away, sobbing uncontrollably. Neil moved to comfort her, gathering her up in a fierce embrace as she continued to sob.
"Shhhh. It's okay, baby girl. Everything's gonna be okay." He assured her, stroking her back comfortingly. When the police officers opened the front door, they were surprised to find an elderly woman and a young boy standing on the veranda.
"Dear Lord, what the devil is going on here?" Mrs. Everett asked in concern as she took in the scene before her. Michael was being lead out of the cottage in handcuffs and Lauren was in her father's arms, crying her eyes out.
"Mrs. Everett?" Neil said curiously, not having seen the older woman in years. Lauren turned to look at her and Mrs. Everett's heart broke when she saw the pain in the young girl's eyes.
"Mikey? Are you in trouble?" Kevin asked, standing behind the older woman as he stared up at his big brother in concern. Michael nodded, not trusting his voice enough to speak.
"Are you Kevin Fisher?" One of the officers asked the little boy.
"Yes." He responded timidly.
"Well then, you need to come with us. Your parents are very worried about you." The officer declared, reaching out to take Kevin's hand. The little boy bolted inside the cottage, running up to Lauren and hugging her waist.
"Lauren!" He cried out, looking up at her with fear in his eyes. "Please don't let them send us back, please!" He pleaded. She moved away from her father and picked the little boy up in her arms, holding him close.
"Daddy, please. You have to do something, he can't go back to that place." Lauren sniffled, begging her father to help. "His father beats him, daddy. He locks him in a closet and beats him. No one deserves to live like that. Isn't there something you can do?"
Neil's heart melted as he watched his daughter comfort the scared little boy. No matter what his feelings were towards Kevin's older brother, if what Lauren said was true, Neil knew he had to at least try and intervene.
"Officers, would it be possible for the boy to stay with us? At least until you have all the legal matters regarding Baldwin's extradition sorted out?" Neil inquired hopefully.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Fenmore. We've been ordered to return the child back to his parents as soon as possible." The officer declared. Neil sighed in frustration.
"Well, can you at least have these Fishers checked out? If there are any instances of child abuse going on in that home, I want to know about it." Neil ordered.
"Yes, sir. I'll get in touch with the police department in Detroit and have them send child services over to the residence so that they can conduct an investigate." The officer promised. "Now, I'm afraid we have to get going." He said regretfully, his partner already leading Michael down the steps towards the waiting squad car. The remaining officer turned his attention to the little boy. "Come on, son. It's time to go."
"Lauren, I don't want to leave." Kevin pleaded with her as she reluctantly put him down. "Can't Mikey and I stay here with you? The three of us can be a family! And Mrs. Everett too." He exclaimed, pointing back at the elderly woman. She was standing by the front door, brought to tears by the scene in front of her. Lauren reached down to stroke the little boy's hair lovingly.
"I wish we could, but it just doesn't work that way." Lauren said regretfully. She crouched down until her and Kevin were face to face. "I'm gonna miss you." She choked out, tears streaming down her face that matched his own. She reached out to wipe them away. "You be strong, okay? And if you ever need me for anything, anything at all, you just give me a call. Alright?" Kevin nodded, biting his lower lip to stop from crying even harder. Lauren wrapped him in her arms, hugging him fiercely.
"I love you, buddy." She whispered.
"I love you too, Laur." He replied, hiccupping as he continued to sob quietly. The officer came up to them and tapped the little boy on the shoulder.
"Sorry to interrupt, but we really need to get going now." He informed them, his own eyes having grown a little misty. Lauren reluctantly let Kevin go and offered him a reassuring smile as the officer took him by the hand and lead him to the door. He stopped in front of Mrs. Everett to give her a quick hug before the officer escorted him out of the cottage.
Lauren followed them, standing on the curb and watching helplessly as Kevin was put in the back of the squad car. Lauren peered through the car window and saw that Michael was looking back at her, his eyes filled with regret. She returned his gaze, unable to look away. The spell was broken by the sound of the car's engine being turned on before they peeled away from the curb and sped off down the street. Lauren watched as the car disappeared into the early morning sunlight, tears still falling down her face as she wondered if she would ever see them again.
Neil and Mrs. Everett stood in the doorway, watching as Lauren sat down on the curb and buried her face in her hands as she continued to sob.
"I hate what this is doing to her and I feel terrible for that poor little boy, but I'm glad to have Michael out of her life." Neil admitted, turning to look at the older woman beside him.. "Hopefully after Lauren gets over this little fling, her life can get back to normal."
"It wasn't just a fling, Neil." Mrs. Everett said knowingly. "Those two kids love each other somethin' awful. And I doubt if there's a thing on God's green earth that'll be able to keep them apart for long."