Chapter 27
"What the hell are you-" She groaned when Mark didn't stop, throwing his truck keys on the table and grabbed her own. Shaking her head, Jasina immediately ran out of the house to get in her car, starting the ignition. She had Lashonna's number on speed dial and called, sighing when the woman answered. "Lashonna, it's Jasina."
"Hey girl! What's up?" She greeted with a smile, busy cleaning her kitchen up.
"Actually, you need to come over to Mark's immediately. Something happened and it involves your daughter." She stated calmly, trying not to show her anger.
"Is everything alright? What happened to my baby?"
"If you want, we will explain everything to you when you get there. Bye." She hung up and pulled over when she seen Toni walking, stopping and getting out. The little girl began to run, but Jasina was a runner and caught her. "Now, let's go have a little chat with the rest of your friends, hmm?"
"I didn't want to do it! I swear!" Toni screamed, throwing all loyalty out the window. It was every kid for them self at this point. "They made me!"
"I don't give a damn!" Jasina was livid as she dragged Toni by the arm firmly and put her in the passenger seat, buckling her up. "You're not running away from your problems and you damn sure are not walking home at night! What is wrong with you girl?" She didn't give Toni time to respond before getting in the driver's side, starting the car up, and headed back to Mark's.
~!~
Gary, to his credit, didn't let Arielle go as they ran. If she fell, he helped her up, urging her on faster and faster. He could hear her dad behind them, wondering how the heck the guy moved so fast. Must've been them long legs.
"OUCH!" He screamed when something stung his leg, dropping to one knee, tears burning in his eyes. "Run, Arie!"
"You run Arielle and..." Mark watched as she just held her hands up like she was some kind of robber and he was the cop. He shot her in the leg too.
Jasina wasn't surprised when she saw both Gary and Arielle being drug by the arms toward the house, both of them with tear streaked faces, shaking her head. She got out and unbuckled Toni, who began to cry, and lead her into the house by the arm. These kids were going to learn not to mess with adults as the front door closed behind her.
"By the way Toni, I've called your mother and she's on her way here along with your father." She didn't know if Harry was coming, but wanted to scare the little girl.
"No!"
Mark pushed Arielle and Gary onto the couch, gesturing Toni to join them. When they were all sitting, he got out some duct tape and taped their ankles together. "Now, while I call Gary's folks, you three are going to go clean that damn kitchen."
"How? We can't walk."
One by one, Mark put them each on their stomachs. "No, but you sure as hell can crawl."
Crossing her arms in front of her chest, Jasina didn't move to stop Mark from what he was doing. "Arielle, I am VERY disappointed in you." Jasina stated, shaking her head. "Granted, I'd done a lot of STUPID shit in my life, but this takes the cake. You three are going to pay for doing what you did." She sighed while Mark called Gary's parents, who were SCREAMING on the other end by the time Mark was finished. She wasn't surprised to learn Gary's parents were pissed off and on their way. When a knock sounded at Mark's front door, Jasina went to go answer it, seeing Lashonna and Harry staring back at her. "Come in, your daughter is in big trouble along with ours and their little friend Gary."
"What'd they do?" Harry sighed, arching an eyebrow when he seen three pre-teens, cleaning as best they could with... "Are their feet...taped?"
"Yep. Toni is the lucky one, she didn't get shot." Mark said from his place leaning against the counter, supervising with a beer in hand, placing a foot on Toni's back when she tried getting up. "They can't save you honey, get to work."
"What the HELL is going on?" Lashonna demanded. At first she was going to go off on Mark, but then calmed down. She knew him well enough to know there was a reason behind this.
"What the HELL is going on, Lashonna, is your daughter along with ours and this piece of shit boy decided to LOCK US IN MARK'S ROOM!" Jasina shouted, her entire face red with anger, teal eyes flashing and nodded when Lashonna's eyes widened to the size of saucers. "Yeah! THEN they tried drugging Mark and I with SEX PILLS to help get us in the damn mood!"
By now, all three kids were crying and begging to be let go, especially Toni.
Harry's jaw dropped while Lashonna looked like she was either going to cry or lash out at her daughter.
"Hey don't be shouting at them, it's the kids who did it." Mark said flatly. "Though I would question if your way of raisin' kids is workin'. Then again... apparently mine aren't that good either."
"No, you're doing a damn fine job. These brats are old enough now to KNOW better." Harry said, his eyes flashing with anger. "Gary, you know what your dad is going to do to you, son?"
Arielle shot a look at her friend, who was crying.
"He'll look like a fluffy bunny compared to what I'm gonna do."
Jasina sighed and nodded at Mark, swallowing hard. "I'm sorry for yelling at you, Lashonna. Truly, I'm not mad at you or Harry. I'm mad at these three for thinking they could get away with such ridiculous antics." Jasina didn't even know what to say to her daughter and raked a hand through her hair, hearing another knock sound at the door, and knew who that was. "I'll be right back." She stated solemnly and went to answer the front door, staring at what looked to be Gary's parents. Not saying a single word to them, Jasina lead the way into the kitchen and stopped them. "Now YOU two, on the other hand, kindly explain to me and Mr. Calaway just where the hell your son got sex toys and sex pills from?" She knew they were from Gary.
"From...Gary, where did you?" His mother demanded, staring at her son coldly. "I bet I know, you were in our things, weren't you?" She stepped back as her husband stepped forward.
Gary cringed when he seen his father going for his belt.
"Whoa, these kids deserve an ass whipping, but you can use your hand." Mark said, staring at the buckle with wide eyes. The damn thing was as big as his hand. "How bout ya'll just let me and Jasina dish out the punishment since we're the ones who were kidnapped?"
Jasina swallowed hard, seeing the belt and walked over to stand beside Mark, nodding in agreement with him. "I feel we deserve to hand out the punishment considering what these three put us through."
"When we get home boy..." Gary's father, Timothy, growled menacingly and watched as his son began shivering with dread.
"Though, there was extensive damage done to Mark's bedroom door and windows. They will need to be replaced." Jasina stated promptly, ignoring Mark's shocked expression, refusing to let him pay for that. "I don't care how he pays it back, or you, or whatever. Something is going to happen though because there is EXTENSIVE damage."
"Will you show me, Mrs. Calaway?" Gary's mother, Lucy, asked in a demanding tone of voice, absolutely livid with her son.
"Actually, he's my ex-husband and just call me Jasina. Follow me." She nodded at Mark silently before leading Lucy and Timothy up the stairs to show them the damage.
"GERALD ALLEN CREED!"
"How bad is it Mark?" Harry asked curiously, shaking his head when his nosy wife went to look.
"Bars on my windows, they bolted a door OVER my door, installed some kinda grate and slats. Blocked an air vent...Smart little shits. But not smart enough. Toni, stop pretending to clean and actually do it. Arie, leave the boy alone and get back to work." Mark felt a smidgen of pity for Gary.
Gary was doing his best to make himself invisible.
"OH MY GOD, WHAT THE HELL DID YOU KIDS DO?!" Lashonna shouted a second later, having went upstairs to go inspect, her eyes wide, knowing her and Harry would have to help pay for the damages. "ANTONIA LYNN GREY!"
"I know, I can't believe it either. They destroyed the door, the walls are going to need repainted, and the windows are definitely going to have to be replaced along with the vents. They filled the vents with CEMENT."
"Oh my god..."
Lashonna was in shock as she just stared, blinking. "HAROLD GET UP HERE NOW AND LOOK AT THIS SHIT!"
Toni was crying so hard she could barely see straight as she cleaned like she was told, the floor covered in food from making meals.
When Harry seen the damage, he let out a low whistle, shaking his head. He headed back downstairs and looked at Mark. "You get an estimate on what that's going to run and we'll pay half." He said, knowing that was going to take a pretty hefty chunk out of his and Lashonna's savings, but it was the least that they could do.
"That's fine, and I know three little engineers who are going to be doing the manual labor." Mark grunted, passing Harry a beer and cracking himself another one.
"Now wait a damn minute, Grey." Timothy snorted as he walked back inside, his wife following, looking very pale at the moment. "Our kid did most of that damage, I should know..." He nearly growled at his son, who was shaking again, wanting to beat his ass. "He tried the same thing on me and his momma a few years back."
Jasina's eyes widened as she walked back inside, having a feeling this wasn't going to be good. "Just how old is your son, Mr. Creed?"
"Goin' on seventeen this July."
The beer sprayed all over as Mark crushed it, causing her to whip around, seeing the deadly look in her ex-husband's eyes. "Oh my god, Gary is SIXTEEN?"
"Oh no, Gary, please tell me you didn't..."
"HE'S SIXTEEN HANGING OUT WITH TWELVE YEAR OLD GIRLS?!"
Gary just lowered his head and closed his eyes tightly shut.
"Arielle kissed a sixteen year old?"
"WHAT?"
"Daddy, no!" Arielle screamed, watching as her father made short work on crossing to where Gary was. "Daddy!"
"Mark!" Harry wanted to beat the kid's ass too, but he wasn't going to jail for assaulting a minor.
Mark was too pissed off to care at the moment, plowing his fist right into Gary's nose. "YOU EVER COME NEAR MY DAUGHTER AGAIN BOY AND THERE AIN'T A SOUL ON THIS EARTH THAT'LL SAVE YER ASS!" He roared.
Gary's nose was definitely broken.
Jasina seen the blood spurting out of Gary's nose and swallowed hard, wondering if his parents were going to have Mark arrested for assault to their sixteen year old boy. "I think it would be best if you took your son home now." She stated gravely, crossing her arms in front of her chest, glaring daggers down at her daughter. "DON'T YOU MOVE ARIELLE MARIE CALAWAY!"
Harry was busy holding Mark back with all of his strength while Lashonna removed the duct tape from Gary's ankles.
"What the HELL were ya thinkin' hangin' out with twelve year old GIRLS and kidnappin' their parents?!" Timothy shouted, slapping his son upside the head. "Let me know bout the damages and don't worry bout the hit. He deserved it."
"TIMOTHY!"
"Shut the fuck up Lucy! Ya know as well as I do he does! Let's go NOW, boy!" He shoved him out the front door, daring him to run.
"You girls are in a WORLD of trouble."
As soon as Gary and his parents were out the door, Harry let Mark go and ducked when a roundhouse came whistling his way, having been expecting that.
Lashonna stepped in front of Mark, her eyes narrowed. "You even think it Mark and you'll see what this bitch can do." She threatened, snapping her fingers in his face.
That shocked him out of his anger. "Did you just...snap your fingers at me?"
"Hey, just because I act like a lady doesn't mean I can't go ghetto bitch on your ass."
Jasina started laughing at Lashonna and walked over, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Now that's what I like to see! Now I know who to come too whenever your temper gets too out of hand...like now." She smirked when Mark growled at her, rolling her eyes, and sighed as she turned to Lashonna and Harry. "Take your daughter home."
Harry grunted, still reeling from that roundhouse punch and managed to take the duct tape off of his daughter's ankles before yanking her up by her arm. "Yer gonna get a FIRM ass whippin' when we get home."
Toni could only cry harder.
"We-Mark will let you know of the damages." Jasina softly said, leading them to the door, having refused to go anywhere near Gary's parents, still not believing the boy was sixteen.
Arielle knew she was in some shit when both her parents rounded on her, arms folded over their chests and identical expressions of anger on each face. She swallowed hard. "I didn't know he was sixteen!" She said instantly.
Mark's eyes narrowed, wishing he'd taken one more hit on that punk and decided if he caught the kid on the street, he'd show him what happened to boys who liked hanging out with LITTLE girls. "Fine. BUT that doesn't excuse you from what ya did. See this mess?" He gestured to the still trashed kitchen. "You're going to clean it all by yourself. Then, we're going upstairs. You are grounded, Arielle. If you're not with me, you're with your mom. There will be no more afterschool movies with Toni. You won't be going out with your friends, nothing. You understand me?"
"Yes, sir."
"You wanted your father and I together? Guess what little girl, you got it! Only it's not in the romantic type of situation you THOUGHT was going to happen. We're both going to make your life a living nightmare after what you put us through! Do you have ANY idea how DANGEROUS those drugs were, Arielle?" She demanded, still livid and actually grabbed the bottle of sex pills off the counter, shoving them in her face. "Do you REALIZE what could've happened had you OVERDOSED us?" When Arielle just shook her head, Jasina growled and slammed the bottle on the counter in front of her harshly. "NO, OF COURSE NOT! You'll be lucky if you ever see the light of DAY again after what you pulled on your parents, little girl! I am so FURIOUS with you right now! Do you know why your father and I didn't tell you about us dating?" When she shook her head no again, Jasina narrowed her eyes. "Because of shit like this Arielle Marie. Because of what you pulled, we KNEW you would interfere and we didn't want to get your hopes up incase it didn't work out between us!"
"I'm s-sorry!" Arielle sobbed, burying her face in her hands.
She wasn't getting off that damn easy though. Those crocodile tears just pissed him off even worse. "You gave your mother a type of drug, Arielle. You KNOWINGLY dosed her, knowing what she's been through, what she's OVERCOME. Do you have ANY IDEA what you just put her through?" He demanded angrily. "Do you even know what those pills could have made ME do? I could have RAPED your MOTHER."
Arielle was really crying now. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
Jasina felt tears sliding down her cheeks and she had to walk away from her daughter, pressing her hand against the wall, trembling from head to toe. Mark's words hit her like a ton of bricks and she needed a minute to calm down, wiping her tears away. It didn't matter if the drugs weren't crack or coke, they were still drugs. The ONLY type of drugs Jasina took was aspirin for headaches. She didn't even take Pamprin anymore for her cramps because of what she learned in rehab. Then Mark saying he could've raped her, she knew that was true, especially after reading the contents of the bottle. She had to learn how to breathe while Mark continuing yelling at Arielle, letting him get his anger out. The kid deserved it and so much more for all she'd done.
"You know what, get your ass upstairs and in your room." Mark said finally, shaking his head, disappointment coursing through him. "I don't want to see you right now, Arielle." He caught her when she walked by him, staring down at her. "I love ya, Arielle, but damn it…" He shook his head. "I'm disappointed in you. Go on now."
Arielle made her way upstairs, somehow managing even though her tears blurred her vision.
