Chapter 23

"Mark..." Jasina groaned as she followed him, trying to stop him. "Mark wait a damn minute!" She sighed when he refused to listen, shaking her head. Why the hell had her daughter called her over here if she was just going to tell her father? "Mark, this isn't a bad thing..." They arrived in his room and she finally spun him around by the arm, teal eyes narrowed. "You cannot kill that boy no matter how much you want too. Now calm down and take a breath."

"Not now Jasina. Where the hell-"

The door slammed shut as Toni and Arielle held it in place.

Gary quickly began bolting the new second door right on top of the first.

"WHAT THE HELL?"

"WHAT THE HELL?" Jasina echoed, twirling around, her eyes widened as she heard the bolts go into place. "Oh my god! Arielle!" She rushed over to the door and started yanking on it, seeing it wasn't budging. Grunting, Jasina was shoved back as Mark began trying, knowing he could open it. "Arielle, what the hell is going on young lady?!" She demanded angrily, thoroughly not amused.

"Busy, mom!" Arielle called through the door, handing Gary a long board, watching as he bolted that into place as well. "Your dad really lets you have all this stuff?"

"I told you, he's trying to buy me." Gary scoffed, dropping onto a knee to bolt the bottom in place.

"You best be opening this door before I beat the shit out of all THREE of you."

"He sounds a little ticked off."

"ARIELLE MARIE CALAWAY!" Jasina shrieked, not believing what was going on, and growled when she didn't answer. "YOUNG LADY YOU ARE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE!" She stalked over and began kicking the door, having taken up kickboxing.

"Holy crap, your mom can kick!" Toni blinked when a dent was actually forming.

"ARIELLE! Just what in the HELL do you think you're DOING?"

"I can fix that. Stop kicking Mrs. Calaway or I'll get the blow torch and seal the door shut with metal!"

"You have a blow torch?"

"No, but I noticed that your dad does in his garage."

Grunting, Mark stormed over to the window. He was going to beat the shit out of all three kids, his own included.

"My name is Ms. Jameson to you, boy, and if you don't open this door, you will regret it!" Jasina shouted, seeing what Mark was doing, and gaped at the windows. "THEY SEALED THE WINDOWS TOO?" She quickly rushed over to the nightstand and groaned, dropping to her knees. "Mark, they ripped the phone right out of the damn wall!"

"I have a cell phone." Mark snapped, walking over to his dresser. A few minutes later he had dumped out every fucking drawer, his face turning a dangerous shade of red.

"Dad, mind if we borrow your phone for the weekend?"

"Hey, while they're in there, I think you owe me a kiss since that's what you told them."

Jasina did NOT like the shade of red Mark turned and actually backed up, swallowing hard, knowing these kids were dead, Arielle included. "Arielle, sweetheart, please open the door and stop-"

"EWWW you kissed him!"

Her eyes shut when Mark yanked the lamp off of the nightstand and actually hurled it against the door, shattering it into pieces.

"C'mon let's go watch some TV. Did your dad get the food?"

"Yeah, my mom brought some too..." Their voices faded as they marched downstairs, Gary grinning like a fool.

"They fucking locked us in my own goddamn bedroom- OW!" Mark tripped on the box, staring down at it angrily. Snarling, he ripped it open, his jaw dropping.

Jasina didn't even want to know what was in that box as she began pacing back and forth. She had a damn deadline with Trish in the morning, groaning inwardly. What the hell were they supposed to do now? Jasina walked over to the window and tried finding something to wrench the wood off, but nothing was working. Those were pretty long and deep nails...this wasn't good. They were kidnapped by their own daughter and her friends!

After an hour of just trying to get out, Mark had to concede defeat, sinking down on the bed. The only perk was they had a damn bathroom. He'd considered pushing Jasina's tiny ass through the vent only to find that had been blocked off as well. This had been thought out carefully and for a moment, he was oddly proud of his daughter, but he was still going to have to kill her.

If Trish knew about this, Jasina was going to quit just to anger her and then go to the other newspaper that rivaled hers! This was absolute bullshit! Jasina was beyond pissed as she kept pacing back and forth with bare feet since she'd taken her shoes off at the door. Her socks were currently in the corner as she raked a hand through her hair. Mark had wanted to keep them a secret because he didn't want Arielle doing anything to compromise their relationship and LOOK where THAT idea got him! Jasina chewed on her thumbnail, kicking the door every now and then, knowing there had to be SOMEWAY out of here. She couldn't sit down, she had to think. Where's there was a will, there was surely a way. There had to be.

There wasn't. Arielle, Gary and Toni had been planning this for a week straight. Arielle had even taken Polaroid's of her dad's bedroom from every angle just so they could make sure there was no escaping.

~!~

"So they'll be there until Monday morning?"

"Yeah, we'll need a ride to school."

"Or we could just skip."

"GARY!"

~!~

"Damn it..." Jasina whispered as she finally stopped pacing, dropping on the bed and held her head in her hands. She felt Mark's hand on her back, knowing there truly was no way out. "What are we gonna do now?" She quietly asked after awhile, not looking at him, her back to him as she gripped her hair in her hands, knowing Trish was either involved with this or going to be livid that she'd missed another deadline.

"Wait until either they realize they're in trouble or until Lashonna or Gary's folks show up." He sighed, rubbing a hand down his face.

"Trish? It's Arielle." Arielle stood at the foot of the steps so her parents could hear. "Mom doesn't know I'm calling so could this be kept between us please?"

"That depends on what it is, sweetie."

"Well, I won a trip to Austin for two this weekend and I want to take Mom with me. We're going to go to the museum there."

"Ohhhh..." Trish considered that for a moment. "Okay sweetie, I'll call and let her know she has the rest of the weekend off and not to worry about anything. How's that sound?" She knew Arielle hadn't been talking to her mom lately and if this helped them get back on track, then so be it.

"Thanks!"

Jasina gaped at the door, her eyes widened and seen Mark was up in a heartbeat, banging on the door. NOW she was pissed. "ARIELLE MARIE CALAWAY IF YOU DON'T OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT FUCKING NOW YOU'RE GOING TO GET THE ASS KICKING OF YOUR LIFE! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'RE DOING? THIS IS KIDNAPPING, YOU CAN GO TO JAIL FOR THIS!" She didn't care if she was scaring her little girl, even though Arielle was smarter than either of her parents gave her credit for. "OPEN THIS GODDAMN DOOR RIGHT NOW!"

"Actually, Mrs. CALAWAY, it's not kidnapping since you came over and Mr. Calaway hasn't even left his house." Gary called up, amusement in his tone. "They can't really get us for that can they?"

"Who the heck is gonna believe that us three kidnapped someone as big as Mr. Calaway?"

"Besides...when you think about it, it sounds pretty stupid. Uh officer, my twelve year old kidnapped me and uh locked me in my own bedroom." Arielle drawled.

"MY NAME IS NOT MRS. CALAWAY, YOU SMART MOUTHED SON OF A BITCH! Just WAIT until I get my hands on you! You think Mark is mean well you ain't seen SHIT boy! I'm going to make you cry for your mother, COUNT ON IT!" Jasina was seeing pure red as she started kicking the door again, the fury leaking from every pore in her body. "IT'S JASINA JAMESON, NOT FUCKING CALAWAY NOW OPEN THE GODDAMN DOOR RIGHT NOW! MARK HELP ME!"

Mark was too busy laughing his ass off right now. Just hearing Jasina go off like that on a CHILD was too much. He dropped back onto the bed, tucking his knees to his chest, tears streaming down his face. That's how damn hard he was laughing.

Him laughing did not help matters any.

"MARCUS WILLIAM CALAWAY, WHAT THE HELL IS SO DAMNED FUNNY?" She shouted at him, seeing him laugh harder, and felt her eyes widen. This was unbelievable. These kids kidnapped her, forced her to stay in the same room with her secret boyfriend and ex-husband...god that sounded so wrong, but that's what he was to her. "YOU KIDS ARE FUCKING DEAD WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE!"

Her answer was the pealing of three pre-teens laughing their asses off at her.

Mark managed to wipe the tears away and stop laughing long enough to look at her. "Calm down, darlin'. Yellin' ain't doing you any good and it's entertaining them." He had to admit, this was brilliant. It would have been hilarious if it had happened to someone else though and not him.

"Don't even LOOK at me, Calaway!" She snarled, wanting to slap that expression off his damn face. She was pissed, no she was livid, no she was...she didn't even know WHAT she was! "You know this is all YOUR damn fault!" She suddenly accused, seeing his green eyes widen. "Uh huh, this is ALL your damn fault because you decided not to tell our daughter the damn truth about us dating! So she decided to take matters into her own damn hands and now we're KIDNAPPED! Nice going pops, got anymore lame brain ideas in that damn stubborn, thick headed redneck skull of yours?" She snapped before storming into the bathroom, slamming the door shut so hard, the walls shook.

"Hey, you think I wanted to break her heart if things didn't work out?" Mark shouted, enraged himself now. "It's not my fault you decided to leave us high and dry because you were a fucking CRACK WHORE!"

"Oh shit, party's over."

"They're NOT coming out until they settle their problems." Arielle said firmly.

Toni nodded thoughtfully. "I'm glad I put the first aid kit in there."

That hurt more than words could say and Jasina suddenly felt her heart drop to the depths of her stomach. She couldn't breathe and knew she deserved what he said to her. She wasn't a whore though. Jasina opened the bathroom door and stared back at him with pure saddened teal eyes, walking over to the door.

"Arielle, this is over between us." She stated through it. "I don't want to be with your father and he damn sure doesn't want to be with me. Open this door right now." Her voice was low and calm as she blinked tears away. "I mean it, open this fucking door right now or so help me god I will RUN AWAY AGAIN!"

"Uh no. You can run away Monday, but guess what? You have to get through tonight, tomorrow AND Sunday first!" Arielle shouted firmly. "Now GOOD NIGHT!" She stormed downstairs, turning up the volume on the television so they couldn't hear the adults screaming anymore.

Sighing, Mark got up when Jasina began beating at the door, knowing she was only going to hurt herself and firmly pulled her away, grunting when he got elbowed in the ribs. "Knock it off, Jasi." He growled.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" She screamed at him, tears streaming down her face, and shoved him away as she started kicking at the door again. Over and over. She didn't care if it took her all damn night, she would keep Arielle and those little heathens awake all damn weekend until she got out of here. "DON'T TOUCH ME!" She struggled against him, shoving him away again as she kept kicking the door, her heart shattered into a million pieces. She couldn't be in this room, not right now, not when she was slowly breaking down again. "DON'T COME NEAR ME!" She screamed again, kicking him in the stomach before turning back around to hammer on the door.

Okay that hurt and was totally uncalled for. He hadn't even touched her except to pull her away from the door and not hurt herself. In return he had been elbowed, pushed, and now kicked. Growling, Mark carted Jasina to the bed, flipped her over his knee and cracked her ass three times with his hand. Hard, fast blows that would have left Arielle sleeping on her stomach for a week.

"You want to keep actin' like a damn child?"

Jasina managed to break away from him and kicked him in the face, hearing a snap, and hoped she broke his nose. "DON'T YOU EVER TOUCH ME AGAIN, YOU BASTARD!" She screamed, stumbling to her feet. She had to fight for her life on several occasions, which was one of the reasons why she knew self defense and now kickboxing. The kickboxing took place shortly after she moved back to Houston for the third time, when things were happier, when they weren't so complicated. "You have NO IDEA what I went through and I'm NOT a whore! I made a mistake, a goddamn mistake, and I've PAID FOR IT EVER FUCKING SINCE! I'M NOT APOLOGIZING TO YOU OR ANYONE ELSE ANYMORE BECAUSE IT'S THE PAST AND I CAN'T FUCKING CHANGE IT! I CAN'T! But if you THINK for one SECOND I'm going to let you treat me like a child, like Arielle when she's punished, YOU HAVE ANOTHER MOTHER FUCKING THING COMING, PRICK!"

"THEN STOP FUCKING ACTING LIKE ONE THEN, JASINA!" Mark roared, snapping his nose back in place.

He had to fight to keep himself from backhanding her ass right through a wall. Instead he stormed into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind him. He wasn't her. Someone had to be the damn adult. Growling, he pressed a towel to his bleeding nose. She did have one hell of a kick on her though.

The anger diminished as soon as it surfaced as she fell to her knees, pressing her forehead to the floor, and wrapped her arms around herself. She couldn't change the past. She made a mistake and she was paying for it...still. She would be paying for it for the rest of her life it seemed. When did the healing start? When was it going to be enough? When was she finally going to be happy again? Jasina had that life threatening experience and FORCED herself to get better! She went to rehab and did everything. Now she was clean for nearly four years running. She was healthier and looked better than she had in her life.

He didn't understand though, nobody did. She had to get out of here. She wasn't going to run from Houston, but she wasn't going to be with a man who, every time they fought, threw what she did in her face. It wouldn't work and she knew that now. Hell, they hadn't even gone on another date besides to lunch that day. Sniffling, Jasina peeled herself up from the floor and walked over to sit by the door, pressing her forehead against it, knees draw up and just let the tears fall.