Chapter 2 – Control
Scarlett paced the length of Rhett's office at the bank as she explained to him what she and Joy had read in Ella's diary. Once she had finished she forced herself to sit down in one of the wooden chairs facing the desk.
"What are we going to do Rhett?" she asked quietly.
He leaned back in his black leather chair and met her eyes with his gaze.
"I had you write to Carreen about the school her convent runs for a reason, Scarlett," he answered; his face void of its usual good humor and his tone serious.
"I know but I thought you were just using it to scare her, I didn't think you were actually serious about sending her away."
"I'm very serious about it; I don't think Ella is leaving us much of a choice in the matter. If we catch her attempting to go through with this scheme tonight, she will most defiantly be joining your sister in Charleston," he replied.
"Oh Rhett, isn't there some other way?" she asked with a sigh.
His face took on a look of sternness and frustration shown in his dark eyes.
"What else can we do Scarlett? We've tried being lenient with her, hoping this spell of bad behavior would pass and when that didn't work we tried being strict and forbidding her from seeing him but we've failed in that respect also and now it's time for drastic measures to be taken. All Ella has done this past year is lie. She skips school, she sneaks out of the house, we find her in places she shouldn't be and she defies us every chance she gets. She's throwing away all of her opportunities and her reputation is going to be ruined either by Johnny or at her own hand. This has to stop and it's going to tonight. You can't baby her forever, Scarlett; it's time she learns that you and I are the boss of her and that she isn't the queen bee."
"I'm not babying her!" Scarlett protested.
"Yes you are, you're so afraid she'll hate you that you keep re-drawing the line giving her more and more room to cross over it! I really don't understand it, Scarlett; you've stood up to the Yankees, the old guard, me and anyone else who dared cross you but against Ella it's like you have no backbone at all!" he thundered.
"How dare you say that? I stand up to Ella! I punish her! It isn't my fault she's uncontrollable!"
"And it isn't my fault that she's taken it into her head to surpass your illustrious reputation! As for punishment, you may issue it but you don't stick to it, she wasn't supposed to leave the house for the next two weeks except to go to school and yet you let her traipse off to Helen's for a visit! " he shot back.
The remarks stung her and she fell silent. She didn't like this situation anymore than Rhett did and she knew that something must be done to curb Ella's wildness. But there was a part of her that clung to Ella, after all she had been the only one willing to give her a chance during those dark days when Rhett had left them. She loved all of her children, loved them with all of her heart but the bonds between herself and each child were different, especially where Ella was concerned. She wasn't sure if she was so cautious with that bond out of gratitude or because of the lingering fear that remained far in the back of her mind that despite the happiness and contentment that she and Rhett had finally found over the course of the last several years, that something would happen to rob her of it and that he would leave her once again, taking Joy and James with him and that Ella would be all she would have.
"I'm sorry, Scarlett," Rhett stated softly stirring her from her thoughts.
"It's alright," she replied figuring they had bigger problems to worry about than a petty remark that had stung her feelings. She had outgrown the need to fight him on every remark he made long ago and now wasn't the time to fall back on old habits.
"I just don't know what else to do with her," he told her. "The only way we're going to get her away from Johnny Reid and break this hold on her that he has is to take her away from Atlanta for awhile."
Scarlett nodded as tears welled in her eyes. "I know you're right, Rhett; it's just…"
"It's just what?"
"It's just that I don't understand where I went wrong. I had believed that I was doing a good job raising Ella, that I hadn't been too late in becoming a better mother to her. I thought I was doing everything right and that she'd turn out better than me. I didn't think she'd end up trying to make the mistakes I had made," she answered.
"This isn't your fault, Scarlett; you have done well with Ella and her mistakes aren't exactly the same as yours, but they have to be handled correctly in order to put an end to all of this. Ella has us to take control of this situation, where you at the age of sixteen, and I mean no disrespect to your parents, were allowed to do what you wanted even though they knew you wouldn't be happy in the long run," Rhett told her.
Scarlett shrugged, "That may be true but I still feel as though I've failed somehow."
Rhett stood and moved in front of the desk to be closer to her. He tipped her chin up to look at him and gazed into her green eyes that were full of tears and worry.
"How can you say that Scarlett? You've never been a failure at anything. Yes, you've made your mistakes, so have I and it took you awhile to get the hang of being the kind of mother you wanted to be, but you've accomplished it and you've done well. Wade is a fine young man at one of the top Universities in the country. Joy and James are well loved and Ella is a smart loving young woman, despite the fact that she's on the edge of seventeen and has taken temporary leave of her senses," he said with a smile.
She smiled back slightly. "Wade turned out alright because of you. You know things are never easy between Wade and I for too long, and as for Joy and James, I was better prepared to be a mother to them from the day they were born. I just don't know what to do about Ella and I suppose a part of me does fear losing her in some respect."
"You and Wade can't get along all the time because you're both too much alike but I have no doubt in my mind that he loves you. Ella isn't going to like being caught tonight and she isn't going to like being punished and she may lash out at us but that's to be expected; just as Wade did when he was younger. She may even say that she hates us but she won't mean it, Scarlett. She'll be angry, but with time and the realization of what she was going to do she'll understand and she'll let it go."
"I know," she replied; "but it's difficult just the same."
He nodded, "I know it is. I don't like the thought of sending her away anymore than you do but it's for the best, Scarlett; and you're just going to have to trust me on that."
"So how are we going to catch them Rhett?" she asked a slight hint of resignation in her voice.
"We are going to act like nothing is wrong and that we know nothing of what our little Miss Kennedy has planned. We're going to go through with our normal routines and retire for the evening at our usual time. Once she's settled into her room waiting for her Romeo we'll take our places and wait."
"What places?"
"You will be hiding in the hallway by her door listening for the signal and when you hear the window raising, you go in after her. I'll be hiding on the porch awaiting Mr. Reid. Once he puts that ladder up and I know you have a hold of Ella, I'll grab him," he explained; "and then we'll take it from there."
"I hope this works, Rhett."
"It will as long as they stick to the plan Ella wrote about."
"What if they don't and they manage to get away?" Scarlett asked.
"That's simple, my dear; I'll just hunt them down and shoot him and our problems will be solved," he replied lightly; although Scarlett knew he was serious and would have no qualms about putting a bullet in Jonathan Reid.
"Maybe you should just shoot him either way," she remarked.
He smirked, "Don't tempt me, Scarlett; because there's nothing more that I'd like to do right now. Now go home and act like everything is completely normal I'll see you in a few hours," he told her as he kissed her lightly and led her to the door.
"There's never a dull moment in our house is there?" she stated before leaving.
"No there isn't and tonight promises to take the cake," he added with a laugh.
"See you at home Rhett," she replied with a smile as she left his office.
Stepping out of the bank she took a deep breathe and released it as she steeled herself for whatever the night was going to bring. She could only hope that Ella would change her mind and find a way to call it off but the rational side of her brain knew that her daughter was as stubborn and hard headed as she was and that she'd go through with it without giving a thought about anything beyond the current moment she was in.
Scarlett shook her head slightly, a daughter like herself must've been someone's idea of a joke or punishment for her own misdeeds at that age, she just wasn't sure which one it was or if it was both. As Ella had grown up she had allowed herself to grow comfortable with the idea that Ella would always be her good child, that she wouldn't have to worry about her getting into trouble and that everything would always be peaceful and easy between them. She had been so very wrong she thought to herself as she walked down the street. Ella seemed like a stranger to her now, sharp tongued and secretive. She wasn't at all like the child she had been. The love and compassion that had always been apart of her seemed to be reserved only for Jonathan Reid now; it was if he had cast some kind of spell over her turning her against her family and making her forget all the things that were important to her. As Scarlett made her way home she figured they were long overdue for scandal in the Butler household, things had been going to well and now it was time for life to be stirred up once more. "So much for happiness and contentment," she muttered to herself as she pushed away her thoughts and set her mind on the evening ahead and the energy it would take to act as though she knew nothing about Ella's ill-fated plans.