The laws in your state may vary, I'm using national averages for storyline purposes.
A Season in Purgatory
Chapter 63
Haley carefully wound her long knit scarf around her neck, bracing herself against the cold November weather. She looked down at the small bag in her hand and couldn't help but compare it to her companion's multitudinous bags. Brooke had convinced Haley that they needed a joint shopping spree to find the "perfect" baby shower gift for Anna and Keith. Haley settled for a small, hand knit hat. Brooke wasn't satiated until she'd purchased four unisex outfits and accessories. Then again, Haley was paying for her gift out of her tutoring money while Brooke was dropping her Daddy's credit card without a second thought.
Brooke suddenly stopped outside a seedier store in the downtown shopping district. Haley always tended to gravitate toward the funkier independent stores that the mall just didn't offer and had convinced Brooke to go along with her. Brooke paused outside of a pawn shop a moment, before marching through the door over Haley's objection.
"Brooke," she tersely explained, "they don't sell shoes in here." Her friend pulled free from Haley's hand and boldly made her way to the front desk. A seedy looking clerk lasciviously ran his eyes over the pretty girl in front of him before asking "you want somethin'?"
Brooke gave him her best patented femme fetal smile. "Yes, you can help me," Brooke sweetly replied. It always helped if you were friendly when you wanted something.
He automatically picked up the keys for the jewelry cases and motioned her over. "You want a one or two carat set of diamond studs?" he expectantly asked. He was used to seeing these sorority girls in the store. They came in pawning rings from their ex's and buying nice jewelry as a break up gift.
Brooke stared down at the earrings for a second, momentarily distracted by the glittering diamonds. "Oh, I don't want jewelry. I want to buy a gun," she simply stated. The clerk looked her over critically for a moment, before speaking. "I don't suppose you have a North Carolina driver's license that states you are 18 years of age or older?"
Her brow furled a moment, as she glanced from Haley back to the clerk. "Why? Do I have to be 18 to get a gun?" she asked, totally ignorant that there were laws about this stuff.
The clerk put the gun he had placed on the counter out of her reach. "There are various state and federal laws that make it impossible to sell to minors," he patiently explained. "Unless you have a parental consent or are part of an organized shooting team, then no gun for you."
Brooke was bummed, missing the shocked expression on Haley's face. "Brooke, what the hell do you need a gun for?" Haley asked, genuinely curious about why she'd want a fire arm.
Pulling out a wad of large bills, Brooke waved it in front of the clerk. "Would this buy me a gun someplace else, like one of those gun shows?" The clerk considered her words as his mind worked over time trying to find a way to sell her something and take that cash off her hands.
Haley grabbed the money from Brooke's outstretched hand and shoved it back into her Birkin bag. "We're leaving Brooke. Tell the nice man good bye." Brook waved at the guy behind the counter as Haley pushed her out the door.
"That was kind of rude, Hales," Brooke said as they began walking down the street.
Haley gave her friend a look of astonishment. "You were trying to use your good looks to buy an illegal gun. I can't imagine why I wanted us out of there, Brooke." Haley was nothing if not an upstanding citizen and she knew trouble when she saw it. Brooke Davis with a gun was nothing but trouble.
Brooke fiddled with her shopping bags for a moment, not wanting to look Haley in the eyes.
Haley picked up on her unspoken thought. "You want a gun because of your step-father, don't you?" Haley asked, knowing that these two events were too closely tied together for it not to be.
Sighing, Brooke slowly began walking down the street, anxious to burn off some energy.
"You don't know how bad it is, Tutor girl." She started to elaborate and then changed her mind, knowing that talking about it didn't make the situation better. "I need to be able to protect myself."
Haley grabbed Brooke's hand, stopping her near feral stalk down the sidewalk. "Brooke, if things are so bad that you need to buy a gun to protect yourself, then you need to tell someone," she insisted.
"There's no one to tell, Hales," she sadly noted. "It's not like there are a surplus of adults in my life that give a damn." And more importantly, most of them would probably laugh at her or think she deserved what was happening. While she thought she could handle her step-father's roving hands (especially with a gun) she didn't think she could stand being ridiculed.
Haley slowly nodded at her friend, realizing that she wasn't going to ask anyone for help. It worried her that Brooke was desperate enough to buy a gun to protect herself, rather than telling someone who could help her escape. Before she could find an appropriate response, Brooke squealed in delight. "Another shoe store," she said, clapping her hands together in delight.
Haley followed her into the store, knowing that Brooke was being as fake as the mannequin's in the display window.
"So, Lucas, what do you think about the new baby?" Dr. Andrews asked, attempting to jump start this very silent family therapy session. He'd gotten a call from Mr. Scott requesting help with his recently reunited family. The Doctor could understand why the parents had resorted to professional help.
Lucas rubbed his flannel shirt absently, wishing that he was someplace else. "I try not to think. It tends to cause problems," he ironically said, glancing over at his mother in disdain.
The Doctor picked up on that thought. "What kind of problems does it cause?" he asked, genuinely interested in what was driving this family dysfunction. Other than the abandoning parents and new babies.
Shrugging his shoulders, Lucas braved an honest answer. "Anytime I speak the truth they ground me. It's a damn good reason to keep my mouth shut," he replied, ignoring Karen's raised eyebrow at his cursing.
Dr. Andrews looked over at Dan and Karen for confirmation. "Is that true?"
Dan shifted uncomfortably, knowing that Karen had been particularly heavy handed with the groundings lately. He couldn't blame the boy for being upset, especially considering the crimp it put in Luke's dating life.
Karen directed her answer to Luke more than the Doctor. "Luke has been grounded for drinking and breaking curfew, not for his lack of support in this situation," she tersely replied. She didn't mention Brooke as the Doctor had suggested they avoid girlfriends in the first few sessions.
"Situation?" Dr. Andrews asked, knowing from the initial consultation he'd had with the couple implied multiple problems with the family.
Karen shifted uneasily in her chair, knowing that she had to get used to being more honest with her words. "My relationship with Dan, the baby, being in the same room with his brother. All of it," Karen said. She was so frustrated with Lucas. She knew the baby was unexpected but she thought that eventually he'd warm up to the idea of having a little brother or sister.
Dr. Andrews waited for someone to reply. Lucas stared at a spot on the carpet, apparently applying the silent treatment to his mother. He turned toward the other teen in the room. "Nathan? You've been awfully quiet. What do you think about all of this?"
Nathan's chin jerked up when he heard his name. So far, he'd managed to fade into the background, knowing that between Lucas and Dan, no one would get a word in. True to form, they'd spent most of the hour bitching at each other and he'd coasted through the session. "Um, it's not really my business," he neutrally stated.
The Doctor raised his eyebrows at Nate's words. "This is your family, too. Why would you think it's not your business?" Dr. Andrews asked, curious as to what role Nathan was playing in this drama.
Shrugging, Nate avoiding looking at his father. Luke might be his bastard brother, but Karen was not his family. "My dad's a big boy. Whatever he does in his private life isn't for me to comment on," he replied, anxious to get this discussion back on Luke and his inability to accept any of the changes they were both facing.
Raising his eyebrows at Nate's words, the doctor leaned back in his chair and evaluated what direction he needed to go in. "Dan, what do you hope counseling will accomplish?"
There was no reason to avoid a discussion about each family member's motivations. They'd all taken actions that had led them to this point and some of them apparently were willing to make changes in their behavior.
Dan concentrated on the question for a moment. He wasn't too supportive of family counseling. When he'd called the doctor he'd implicitly said that Lucas needed counseling. Dan wouldn't have been so fast to rush into this if he'd known that he was going to be thrown to the lions. "I'd like to find some kind of peace with Lucas so that the baby isn't born into so much turmoil," he honestly replied. Dan found it hard to be honest about wanting a better relationship with Lucas when Nathan was in the room. He felt….disloyal on some level. He was supposed to be able to love all his children equally but displays of affection were alien to him.
"Lucas, what do you want in the future?" he asked, genuinely interested in what Lucas was willing to change in order to avoid being grounded. From what he could glean from their limited conversation, Dr. Andrews could see that the boy was acting out in anger and abusing alcohol as a distraction from his deteriorating relationship with the mainstay of his life: his mother.
Lucas met Dr. Andrew's penetrating stare. "I want to turn 18 so I can get the hell away from these people," he retorted, taking a perverted pleasure in the hurt look that crossed his mother's face.
The doctor interrupted the brewing fight. "Time's up for this session. I have some reading assignments that I'd like all of you to complete before the next session," he explained, noting the look of disdain of all of the men in the room. "Nate and Lucas, if you'd go out and see my secretary, she'll give you the books I'd like you to read."
The dismissal was clear. The kids gratefully bailed, more than happy to leave the adults alone.
Haley poured Anna another glass of water as they waited for her to go order to come up. "You are so huge," Haley gushed, resisting the urge to reach out and pat Anna's extended belly.
Laughing, Anna shifted a bit, trying to ease the pressure of the baby on her bladder. "If he or she doesn't hurry up and get here, I'm going to start camping out in the bathroom." The months had flown by and Anna and Keith were excited to meet their child.
Haley leaned back against the counter for a moment, lost in thought. Anna was a teacher and that meant she'd been trained about what to do with troubled students. There was probably some sort of law that required teachers to report abuse.
"Can I ask you a theoretical question?" Haley began, feeling out the situation. She couldn't mention Brooke by name, but she could get some information from Anna about how to help her friend.
"Sure," Anna replied, noting the hesitancy in the younger girl's voice.
Haley chose her words carefully. "I have a friend that's in a dangerous situation at home." Anna's curiosity was piqued by Haley's lack of eye contact.
"What kind of danger?" she asked
Haley hedged a moment before answering. "I think something is happening to my friend at home," she replied, not wanting to give out too much information since Anna knew Brooke.
Anna coolly appraised Haley, knowing that her parents tended to leave her alone too often. "Are you sure we're discussing a friend and not a certain waitress-tutor?"
Shocked, Haley's words quickly gushed out. "It's not me, for heaven's sake. It's a friend of mine. She's got this creepy step-family and I think she needs help." Haley knew her parents weren't perfect but Haley was more than capable of taking care of herself. Brooke wasn't.
"Well, if there's physical or sexual abuse, she needs to tell a teacher or another adult she trusts," Anna replied. "Abuse victims tend to hide any sign of dysfunction so it's probably not realistic that your friend will ask for help."
"You grew up in a foster home, didn't you?" Haley asked, not wanting to be rude.
Anna smiled at her. "Yep. I spent most of childhood in group homes or foster placements." It was a time of her life that was less than happy but she'd managed to survive and move forward.
Seeing that she wasn't offended by her personal questions, Haley kept going. "Do you think it's better to be in a foster home than in a dangerous home?" Haley wasn't sure where this was going, but maybe she could tell someone that Brooke was being abused and could get her some help.
Anna considered her words for a moment before replying. "My mom was a crack head who valued drugs more than me," she slowly revealed. "Our house, when we weren't living on the streets or in a car, never had food or heat. It was not a good situation. Group homes tended to be chaotic, but at the end of the day, I had a warm bed to sleep in and food on the table." Anna was thrilled that her baby was going to grow up in a nice home with a beautiful yard and loving parents. It was a near fairytale ending for Anna.
"I don't want to get my friend moved to some foster home, but I don't know how to help her," Haley admitted, for once lost about how to handle something.
Anna patted her hand for a moment, before pushing herself up off her chair. "You can always tell me and I can use the school resources to help her. Or you could find a relative that is willing to listen to your friend's problems. Just don't give up trying to help her," Anna said. She pushed herself up and moved toward the door.
Haley watched her waddle off only pausing as Nate bounded through the door. Reaching out, Nate rubbed Anna's belly, saying "How's my little cousin doing? I bet he's ready to come out and shoot hoops."
Anna laughed at her nephew's antics. "What are you going to do when this baby pops out wearing a pink bow?" Nate was convinced the baby was going to be a boy, in order to carry out the Scott dynasty in Tree Hill.
"If it's a girl, we'll develop a weight training program that bulks up her arms so she can protect the perimeter when she shoots," he revealed, showing that he was already thinking about the future.
Laughing, Anna patted Nate on the head and walked out the door, intending to waddle home before her dinner got cold.
Nathan walked up to Haley and slumped down next to where she stood at the counter. "I am so happy that hell is over," he commented, hating the counseling profession more than ever. He'd been forced to go to one after his mother died. The shrink had upset him so much that Dan refused to take him back.
Haley smiled at him, knowing that the session was going to be stressful for every one involved. "What happened? Did Dan and Lucas both make it out alive?"
Nate grabbed a pitcher of water off the counter and poured himself a glass of water. "It was nasty. Everyone was yelling at everyone else. I just wanted to fall into a hole and disappear. Trust me when I say your day had to be much better than mine."
Haley paused a moment, before looking up at him. "I'm not so sure," she slowly began. "I went shopping with Brooke."
Nate laughed at her. "That's always a dangerous endeavor. Did she drive you crazy with all the squeals about shoes?"
Haley leaned back against the counter. "No, she was more upset about the guy who wouldn't sell her a gun."
Nate looked up at her in shock. "Gun? What the hell are you talking about?"
Dan forced himself to breath slowly, centering himself as the doctor went over the finer points of their family counseling session.
"Your son clearly has issues about being abandoned," Dr. Andrews said, reading over his notes from the session. "The reemergence of his father into his life needs to be handled with care."
Karen nodded in agreement at his words, anxious to get to the information about how they could fix Luke. "I think we also need to address the girlfriend issue," Karen suggested, knowing that most of her son's behavioral issues seemed to get worse when ever he was around that girl.
The doctor looked up from his notes and gave Karen a brief, analytical stare. "I would rather focus on the family dynamic first. I feel there are so many serious issues going on between you and your son that we don't need to focus on the girlfriend just yet."
Dan shifted uneasily in his chair. "We've been told that we might need to send Lucas away to get him some substance abuse treatment." The doctor turned toward Dan and smiled at the man. "Let's just try to see if we can hammer away at what's bothering Luke and then we can see where that takes us." He was used to families' chiming in with different treatment plans and better ideas on how to "fix" their kids. It would take some time, but eventually he hoped he could get the Scott family moving toward communication with each other. That just might help the young Scott stay away from booze as a coping method.
Karen frowned at his words. She knew that Luke's problems were largely a result of Dan's re-emergence in his life, but for some reason she couldn't let go of the idea that Brooke was making a bad situation worse. "I'm not suggesting that we aren't responsible for many of Luke's problems," she slowly admitted. "I just worry about Luke's decision making process when he's around Brooke. That girl is just trouble."
Brooke hesitantly made her way into the small alley behind the pawn shop. She'd been walking back to her car after wandering around when she'd stopped outside the store's window and been motioned in by the clerk.
She nervously rubbed her hands against jeans, concerned that she'd allowed herself to be cornered by a sleazy Gen X reject of a store clerk. "What do you want?" she cautiously asked him.
He slowly pulled a gun out of the back of his jeans. Brooke jumped at the site of the gun, wondering if she'd meet her end in some nasty alley. Seeing her panic, he sheepishly lowered the gun. "I didn't mean to scare you, but you seemed really interested in this when you were in the store with your little mother hen," he sarcastically said, obviously not impressed with Haley's maternal instincts.
Brooke looked at him skeptically, wondering what his change of attitude was. "You said you couldn't sell one to me because I was underage," she replied.
The clerk shrugged his shoulders at her words. "I don't like selling stuff illegally in front of witnesses." He slowly raised the gun out toward her, so she could inspect it. "This one is different from the ones in the store. It's clean," he added, hoping that might increase the price.
Brooked down at the shiny gun in confusion. "Clean? Was the gun in the case dirty?" she asked. The clerk sighed in frustration, wishing she'd just wanted the diamond earrings. "It's had the serial numbers filed off so it's completely untraceable."
"Oh," she replied, not knowing if that was a good thing or a bad thing. She just wanted a gun so that she could protect herself against Trey if things got really bad. "How much do you want for it?" she asked, knowing that he probably wasn't going to be filing any paperwork for this purchase.
He reached out and tugged at the top of her purse. "How much do you have and how badly do you want a gun?" he slyly asked, knowing that she had to be fairly desperate if she was still listening to him. The girl reeked of money but he'd been around long enough to know that the biggest houses often hid the biggest secrets.
Brooke pulled out her reserve of cash and carefully estimated what was left after her baby gift buying spree. "I've got four hundred," she said, looking the guy directly in the eye. She wasn't in much of a bargaining position at this point.
He cocked his head for a moment as his eyes roved her body. He yanked on her wrist for a moment and pointed more precisely to her diamond tennis bracelet. "I want that on top of the money," he demanded, dropping her wrist.
Sighing, Brooke unlatched the bracelet her Daddy had given her for her 16th birthday and tossed it at him. She then handed him the carefully folded wad of bills before holding out her purse and motioned toward the gun. "This is highway robbery," she muttered as he dropped the gun into her Birkin bag.
Smiling laconically at her he motioned her toward the street, indicting that their transaction was indeed over. "Be glad I don't want the purse, Princess," he said, before heading back into his shop.
Brooke clutched her prized purse and slowly wandered toward her car.
Wow...it's been nearly 5 weeks since I last posted. I'm concerned that I'm losing people with either the storyline or the speed of the storyline. Or maybe it's sucky writing, lol. Feedback would really be appreciated at this point, in order to inspire me to write. At this point, the story is losing out to reruns of Law and Order. God knows what will happen when hockey season kicks back up.
What is Brooke up to?
How does Luke react to therapy?
What lenghts will Karen and Dan go to in order to "fix" Luke?
When will people find out about Brooke?
Thanks for reading and replying.