-1Chapter Thirteen:
They sat facing each other in the dingy room, surrounded by tables occupied by prisoners and their loved ones. Some were holding hands, trying to get as much physical contact with their significant others as possible before they were forced to return to their cold, lonely cells. Lauren could hear whispered words of love and devotion being exchanged between a couple at a nearby table and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. They'd lapsed into an awkward silence after the guard had left, neither one of them knowing what to say to the other.
"So, I'm guessing this isn't a conjugal visit?" Michael finally spoke, trying to use humor to ease some of the tension. It didn't work.
"Is that supposed to be funny?" Lauren replied, unamused.
"No, I guess not." He sighed wearily, rubbing the bridge of his nose in frustration. Lauren took in the sight of him, dressed in the standard orange jumpsuit. His hair was longer and unkempt, and the stubble on his face had far surpassed the five o'clock shadow mark. He looked pretty damn good, all things considering. Only the dark circles under his eyes hinted at the pain and turmoil going on inside him. Michael cleared his throat and Lauren realized that she had been sitting there staring at him all this time.
"Sorry." She apologized awkwardly. He offered her a sad smile.
"Why are you here, Lauren?" He asked, looking at her questioningly. "I was hoping you would have forgotten all about me by now."
"I could never…" She stopped herself, not wanting to get into this right now. There were far more important things to discuss. "I'm here to talk about your brother."
"Kevin?" Michael said in confusion. "What about him?"
"I take it you haven't seen him lately." Lauren surmised, her voice growing hoarse with emotion as she felt tears begin to sting her eyes.
"No, not since New Orleans." Michael replied, feeling a lump begin to form in his throat when he noticed how upset Lauren was. "Why? Has something happened to him?" He asked worriedly. She bit her lower lip and stared back at him, unable to answer. "Lauren…" He said pleadingly, urging her to respond.
"He called me yesterday. He sounded upset," She finally managed to choke out, trying to keep her emotions in check long enough to explain to Michael what had happened. "He said Tom was really angry and he was afraid that he was going to hurt him again, so I jumped on the first plane out here." Lauren explained, a bitter laugh escaping her throat as she angrily wiped away at her tears. "I thought I could help him. I thought I could get Child Services to intervene, or that Gloria would let me take him away…but I was too late."
"What do you mean you were too late?" He asked, terrified to hear her answer.
"He beat him," Was all she could manage to say before breaking down in tears. "He beat him really bad."
"How bad?" Michael questioned, his voice tense.
"The bastard broke his arm, Michael." Lauren revealed, images of Kevin with his split lip and heavy white cast flooded her mind and she tried to push them away. Michael just sat there, eerily quiet as he absorbed the information. Nostrils flared, hands clenched into angry fists, he stood up from the table abruptly and kicked his chair over in frustration.
"That son of a bitch!" Michael yelled angrily. "I'll kill him! I swear to God, I will fucking kill him for this!"
"Michael calm down!" Lauren warned, but it was too late. His outburst had attracted the guard's attention and they rushed over to restrain him.
"Alright, Baldwin. That's enough of that." One of the guards warned as he cuffed Michael's hands in front of him. "I think it's time for you to go back to your cell."
"No!" Lauren blurted out frantically. "Please, just a few more minutes."
"I'm sorry, miss. But it's standard policy to return all unruly inmates back to their cells." He explained regretfully, already starting to drag Michael away from the table.
"He's not unruly, I just said something that upset him." She explained desperately. "Please, I promise there'll be no more outbursts." Lauren assured him. The guard stopped what he was doing and looked at her suspiciously, trying to decide if he should trust her or not.
"Alright," He sighed, reluctantly allowing Michael to return to his seat. "But I'll be keeping an eye on you two." He warned. "And the cuffs stay on." The guard declared authoritatively before returning to his post.
"Thanks." Michael said quietly, not looking at her.
"Don't mention it." She replied, running a hand through her hair in frustration.
"So that's why you're here then?" He questioned, finally allowing himself to look at her. "Because of Kevin."
"I didn't know what else to do." Lauren explained softly, glancing up at him in desperation. "I didn't know who else to turn to."
"Why are you doing this?" Michael asked, genuinely confused by her concern for his little brother. Especially after everything he'd put her through. "Why are you so determined to help him?"
"How can you ask me that?" Lauren said incredulously. "I care about your brother. I care about what happens to him."
"I know you do," Michael said, smiling at her apologetically. "He's lucky to have you in his corner."
"No he's not." Lauren argued, her eyes welling up with tears once again. "This is all my fault."
"What do you mean?" He asked, confused.
"It was my stupid idea for us all to run off to New Orleans," She explained, sniffling back tears. "If it weren't for me, you'd be home with Kevin right now and he wouldn't have to face that bastard alone." Lauren declared sadly. "He would have been better off if he'd never met me."
"Lauren," He sighed, resisting the urge to reach out and comfort her. "Do you realize that my brother was a completely different person before he met you? He never smiled, he never laughed…" Michael explained truthfully, the admiration he felt for her was evident in his voice. "You are the best thing that ever happened to that little boy, and I will be forever grateful to you for that."
"It's not enough," Lauren said fiercely, brushing off his words of praise. "I need to help him, Michael."
"And we will," He assured her determinedly. "I promise you, we will. As soon as I get out of here, you and I can…" He stopped himself, realizing that he had just subconsciously referred to them as a 'we'. He glanced at her apologetically, but she looked away. He sighed in frustration. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"
"Why did you do it?" Lauren asked him quietly, the giant elephant in the room finally becoming impossible to ignore. "Why did you try to rape that girl?" She questioned, looking up at him expectantly when he didn't respond. Burying his face in his cuffed hands, Michael sighed in resignation and Lauren could tell he had hoped they'd never have to have this conversation.
"Well, after being labeled as a rapist I figured 'what the hell'? I might as well live up to everyone's expectations." He said bitterly, not wanting to talk about what was arguably the most darkest time in his life. She glared at him in disbelief, frustrated that he was trying to make light of such a serious matter. Angered by his unwillingness to open up to her, Lauren started to get up from the table.
"Wait! Lauren, don't go." He pleaded. She stood there, looking down at him expectantly. "I'm sorry. You deserve to know the whole story. I'm just,…I'm just not looking forward to telling it." He admitted hesitantly. Seeing the anguish in his eyes, Lauren gingerly sat back down
"I'm listening." She said softly, urging him to continue even though a part of her was just as nervous to hear the story as he was to tell it.
"I had just started working at the plant, right out of high school." He started to explain, his eyes focused on the table as he fidgeted with the chain on his handcuffs. "Unfortunately, most of the guys from my school also got summer jobs there, so my reputation followed me. I could never live it down. No matter where I went, no matter I did, that's all people ever thought of me as; Michael Baldwin the wannabe rapist." He said bitterly. "But then Isabella came along."
"Her and her family moved into the apartment next to ours that summer," He continued. "She was a year younger than me and was enrolled at my old high school, so of course she had heard all of the rumors. But my reputation never seemed to bother her. If anything, it seemed like that was what attracted her to me in the first place." Michael concluded. "I knew she had a crush on me, she wasn't exactly subtle about it. Hell, she came right out and admitted that the only reason she took the summer internship at GM was to be closer to me."
"I wasn't really interested in her though, we had nothing in common." He admitted, and Lauren subconsciously found herself sighing in relief. "But she was a beautiful girl, and after being shunned by almost everyone else in town, it was a nice feeling knowing that someone like her could actually be interested in a guy like me. So when she invited me over to her place one night while her parents were out, I figured I would be a fool to turn her down."
"But if my experience with Amber had taught me anything, I should have known that if something seemed too good to be true, then it probably was." Michael said, shaking his head regretfully. "We talked for hours that night, really talked. She told me all about her family and how they were barely making ends meat. That was the one thing we had in common; poverty. That, and delusions of grandeur."
"She said she was gonna be a super model." He laughed bitterly at that and Lauren wondered why. "She was confident that her face would be on the cover of Vogue one day. After that revelation, I felt secure enough to share with her my own pipe dreams. I told her all about how I planned on going to law school and that I was going to become a rich, successful attorney. I even told her all about the money I'd managed to save up to try and make my dream become a reality. That certainly seemed to peak her interest." Michael declared. Lauren had a feeling she knew where things were headed, but she kept quiet and let him continue on with his story.
"And so that's when she started coming onto me," He explained. "And it was like Amber all over again, except this time she seemed genuine. I had no reason to think that she didn't really want me. But just as we were about to…ya know." Michael said, and Lauren nodded uncomfortably. "She told me to stop. I asked her what was wrong and she started laughing at me, saying that I was an idiot to think that she was actually interested in someone like me. I should have known…" He said bitterly. "She explained how she had just wanted to see if 'Mikey the wannabe rapist' was as pathetic in bed as Amber had said I was."
"Michael," Lauren sighed compassionately, but he shook his head. He didn't want her sympathy. He didn't deserve it.
"She just kept on taunting me, laughing as she started getting dressed. And something in me just snapped." He explained, averting her gaze. "I grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her down onto the couch. I ripped her shirt open and pushed her skirt up over her waist, but she just kept laughing at me the whole time. It was like she knew I wouldn't be able to go through with it… And she was right." Michael declared quietly. "I couldn't do it. So I grabbed my clothes and ran out of the apartment. And about two hours later, the police were at my door."
"And that's when they arrested you?" Lauren questioned, still reeling from his description of what had happened.
"Yeah," Michael confirmed. "Apparently Isabella had called 911, claiming that I had attacked her. And I guess technically I had." He reasoned. "But I swear to God, I never hit her. She had a black eye and bruises, but I never hit her." He promised.
"Then who did?" Lauren asked suspiciously. It wasn't that she didn't believe him, because she did. There was just something about his story that didn't quite add up.
"She did." Michael responded.
"What?" Lauren said incredulously. "She hit herself?"
"Yes," He declared. "At least that's what she alluded to when she asked me to meet her for lunch a week later."
"I'm not quite following you." Lauren said, confused as to why Isabella would be inviting him to lunch after everything that had happened.
"She said she did it to prove a point," Michael explained. "That she could tell the police anything she wanted to and they would believe her because when it came down to it, it was her word against mine. And they would never believe someone with my reputation."
"So this was all just some sick joke to her?" Lauren asked, disgusted that anyone could be so cruel.
"Not quite," He explained. "She wanted money for a plane ticket to California so that she could start pursuing her modeling career. So when I had told her about the savings I had set aside for law school, that's when she'd decided to put this little plan of hers in motion."
"She blackmailed you." Lauren surmised.
"Yeah," Michael confirmed. "She said if I gave her all of the money I had saved up, that she would drop the charges and clear my name." He explained. "I was gonna turn her down and take my chances in court, but I didn't want to risk losing. I couldn't afford to end up in jail, so I paid her off. Kind of ironic now, huh?" He teased, gesturing to their surroundings.
"Why didn't you tell me all of this sooner?" Lauren asked, trying to contain the overwhelming feeling of relief that was quickly sweeping over her. How could she have ever doubted him?
"It's not exactly something that I like to talk about," He said sharply. She nodded at him in understanding and he smiled at her apologetically. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay. I'm just glad I know the truth now." She declared, offering him a warm smile. Just then a buzzer sounded, signaling the end of visiting hours. The large room erupted into a flurry of activity, with prisoners saying goodbye to their loved ones as the guards moved to start ushering the inmates back to their cells. Michael stood up reluctantly.
"I guess this is goodbye." He said softly, offering her a sad smile. "Thanks for letting me know about Kevin. I just wish there was something I could do to help him."
"We'll think of something," She assured him, standing up so that they were facing each other. "Together."
"Together." He agreed, smiling at her reassuringly. And with that, he turned to leave.
"I could come back tomorrow morning if you want?" She called out after him and he turned back to face her.
"Yeah. I'd like that." He nodded, a goofy grin spread across his face.
"Okay, good. I'll be here." She promised, returning his smile. Lauren watched as Michael joined the line of inmates as they were lead back to their cells. Reluctantly, she turned to leave. Anxiously anticipating their next encounter.
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The Next Morning…
Lauren put the final touches on her makeup and smiled at herself in the mirror. She felt so much better now that she knew the truth about Isabella. In her heart she had always known that Michael could never be the kind of violent, hateful person described in that police report. But with everyone telling her what a horrible person Michael was, coupled with his own unwillingness to open up to her, it had been so easy to believe that Isabella's accusations were true.
Lauren couldn't help but feel guilty about turning her back on him so easily. After everything they'd been through together, even though she knew that he cared about her and that he would never hurt her…she'd abandoned him. She'd gone home to her lavish lifestyle while he had spent weeks locked up in a jail cell like some kind of animal.
Frustrated with herself, Lauren finished getting ready as she blinked back tears. She was determined to make it up to Michael now. She needed to prove to him that she wasn't like Amber or Isabella. He needed to know that her feelings for him were genuine and that she would never hurt him the way they had. She was going to stand by him while he fought these bogus kidnapping charges and then the two of them would find a way to rescue Kevin from Tom and Gloria. Together.
Feeling more confident about the future than she had in weeks, Lauren grabbed her purse and flung open the door to her hotel room…and discovered her father standing in the hallway.
"Daddy!" Lauren gasped in shock. "Wha…what are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same question." He replied calmly. "What the hell were you thinking coming back here after everything that happened?"
"I had to," Lauren reasoned. "It was important."
"More important than taking your finals?" Neil declared angrily, brushing past her to enter the small hotel room.
"Oh my God," Lauren gasped, closing the door and turning to face her father. "I completely forgot that was today!" She explained truthfully. She'd been so focused on trying to help Kevin that she had forgotten that she was supposed to write her final exams that day.
"How could you forget about something this important, Lauren?" Neil asked, sighing in frustration. "I am so disappointed in you."
"I'm sorry, daddy." She apologized, burying her face in her hands as she sat down on the edge of the bed. Her father sat down beside her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders in a comforting gesture.
"What has gotten into you lately?" Neil questioned, his voice full of concern for his daughter. "Sweetie, you need to get your priorities straight."
"I know," Lauren agreed, sniffling back tears as she glanced up at her father apologetically. "And I will, I promise. I just need to deal with some things here first."
"What things, Lauren?" Her father asked in confusion. "Why did you run off here?"
Reluctantly, Lauren told her father all about the situation with Kevin. She knew that he had been concerned about the little boy's welfare when he'd learned of the situation back in New Orleans, so she hoped he would be able to understand why she just had to come to Detroit the minute she found out that Kevin was in trouble. Sure enough, after hearing about the Kevin's broken arm and Gloria's refusal to let Lauren intervene, Neil was just as determined to help the child as his daughter was.
"I think I'm going to take a little trip down to the Children's Aid Department," Her father declared with an air of confidence as he stood up from the bed. "Maybe I can pull a few strings an get the ball rolling on this."
"You would do that?" Lauren asked, surprised that her father was so willing to help, especially after the stunt she'd pulled.
"Of course!" Neil said determinedly. "No child deserves to live like that."
"Thank you, daddy!" Lauren exclaimed, leaping up from the bed to hug her father in gratitude. "You have no idea how much this means to me."
"I must say, I'm still very upset with you for skipping out on your exams," Neil explained as he pulled away from his daughter so that he could look her in the eye. "But I am so proud of you for wanting to help this little boy."
"He means a lot to me," Lauren reasoned, shrugging off her father's praise. "And so does Michael."
"Lauren," Her father said sternly. "I can understand you wanting to help Kevin and I will support you one hundred percent, but none of this changes how I feel about that young man. I don't want you anywhere near him."
"But daddy, you don't know the whole story!" Lauren tried to explain.
"He admitted to trying to rape a young girl, what else is there to know?" Neil said, frustrated by his daughter's continued devotion to Michael.
"It's not as simple as that," Lauren argued. She grabbed her father by the hand and started leading him towards the door. "Come on, I'll explain everything to you in the car."
"And just where are you taking me?" Neil asked curiously.
"We're going to visit Michael in jail." Lauren revealed, avoiding her father's disapproving gaze.
"Lauren, no. You are not going to see that boy!" Her father said sternly.
Fifteen minutes later they were driving through the gates at the Detroit House of Corrections.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"I'm still not sure if I believe his version of events. I mean, it is awfully convenient." Neil pointed out as they approached the front desk. Lauren had told her father about Isabella's little blackmail scheme against Michael, but he was still skeptical.
"He's telling the truth, dad. I know he is." Lauren assured him confidently. "You can ask him yourself if you'd like?"
"I might just do that." Neil agreed.
"How may I help you?" The officer at the desk asked them briskly.
"I have a scheduled visit with Michael Baldwin," Lauren informed her pleasantly. "I realize I'm a little late, but…"
"I'm sorry miss, but you can't visit Mr. Baldwin." The officer interrupted.
"Why not?" Lauren asked, confused.
"Because he's in the process of being released." The officer explained casually. "You're welcome to wait for him at the front gates."
"Thank you." Lauren said distractedly, still trying to digest the information.
"I take it you didn't know he was being released today?" Neil questioned, seeing his daughter's shocked expression as they left the room.
"I had no idea." Lauren said disbelievingly. She took her father by the hand once more and started dragging him out of the building. "Come on, I don't want to miss him!"
"God forbid." Neil muttered sarcastically as he reluctantly followed Lauren to the car.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
They arrived at the front gate of the prison just as Michael and a small group of other inmates were being released. There were a few other cars parked alongside the gate, loved ones and friends eagerly waiting to greet the freed prisoners. Lauren spotted Michael right away and immediately began waving her arms in the air to try and get his attention. He smiled when he saw her. That same captivating smile that had made Lauren's knees grow weak and her heart swell when they'd first met. It was having the same affect on her now. She fought off the urge to leap into his arms when he finally approached them.
"Hey." Michael said in way of greeting, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot as he avoided her gaze.
"Hey yourself." Lauren replied sheepishly, shoving her hands in her pockets to keep from fidgeting. And despite the mistrust he still felt towards Michael, Neil couldn't help but smile at the awkward exchange. He wasn't used to seeing his overly confident daughter act so flustered.
"Look, I uh…I just want to thank you. Both of you," Michael added, throwing a nervous glance in Neil's direction. "For posting my bail. I promise to pay you back as soon as I can."
"What are you talking about?" Lauren said, utterly confused. She looked at her father to see that he was just as bewildered as she was. "We didn't pay you bail, Michael."
"You didn't?" He asked incredulously. She shook her head. "Well then who did?"
"That would be me." Came a voice from behind them. They turned to see a distinguished looking man in an expensive suit standing near the outskirts of the small crowd. He approached them slowly.
"Who the hell are you?" Michael asked, staring at the mysterious man suspiciously.
"I'm your father."