And All the Shit You Put Me Through, chapter 16
"I've got it!"
I looked up at Mike watching as he got all excited "What?"
"Well, we bake a cake to take to Billie and hide exploding toothpaste in it so that he can escape!"
I gave him a look which made him somewhat confused "Are you serious?"
"Yeah! Haven't you seen it in the movies?"
"We obviously have different tastes. That's a stupid idea anyway, there's no such thing as exploding toothpaste." I looked back down at the drawing I was making on the pavement with a rock, it was basically a bunch of circles, it didn't make any sense at all. I could hear Mike muttering as he started pacing again. I shifted positions on the rock I was sitting on, damn it was making my ass numb. I felt a sneeze coming and tried to suppress it, failing and giving myself a headache. I think I'm coming down with a cold, I've been sneezing and coughing all day. Maybe it was just because it was getting dark and I didn't have a jumper. Mike didn't seem to feel it at all though. Getting frustrated with his muttering I threw the rock at his leg
"Ouch dammit!"
He hopped around for a bit holding his shin before stopping at looking at me, his eyes grew wide. I turned around nervously thinking that there might be something behind me. There wasn't. I turned back around to face Mike who was still looking at me "What?"
"Can they actually put Billie in jail without you testifying that he did it?"
I shrugged, I had absolutely no idea how all this legal crap worked. I felt as though I should be more concerned than I was, but the truth was, I wasn't. I didn't really care anymore that Billie had been arrested or that Ollie was pissed at me and I didn't have a place to go. I didn't even care about John trying to come onto me again. Things just seemed a lot simpler with Billie gone, but maybe I'm just weird. "Well then maybe you can say it was some other guy whose face you never saw."
"I suck at lying, that's why Billie's in jail remember? Oh wait, no, that's not exactly why. It's not my fault he got caught for doing something he shouldn't of."
I started searching for another rock "How can you just sit there like that?! He's supposed to be your friend-"
"He's s'pose to be yours too."
"Yeah, well I'm the only one who's really acting like it aren't I?"
"What is it exactly that you want me to do, I suck at lying besides I'm not really seeing this as a bad thing."
"How can you not see this as bad?! Not only will he go to jail but it'll completely ruin the band!"
I rolled my eyes knowing that the conversation would somehow end up here "Well you said something about John leaving for college anyway so the band would've broken up later anyway, just think of it as speeding up the process or something."
Not having any luck with rock finding, I started playing with the elastic bands that were around my wrist. "That's not the point! Even if you don't care about the band or something can't you at least try to do SOMETHING? It's not just Billie who'll suffer here, it'll be his mom and brothers and sisters and relatives and me. Will you at least do it for me?"
"You? Why the hell would I want to do something for you? You didn't exactly come to my rescue when shit happened to me, or you didn't warn Billie that he could end up in the situation that he's in now. You know, this whole thing could be viewed as your fault so there!"
Mike just stood there, momentarily defeated.
*
I continued to stare at the wall, not really wanting to look elsewhere since my cellmate had freaked out about having to go to the bathroom in front of people and had an accident. The whole cell stunk, it wasn't as bad now but if I paid to much attention to it it made me gag. "Billie!"
I creased my brow and the sound of my mother's voice. I pulled this almost comical face as I tried to stand up, I walked over to the other side of the cell where mom attempted to hug me through the bars "Oh Billie what has happened? I've heard such horrible things, please tell me that they aren't true."
I looked into her eyes, I don't remember them ever looking like that before, she hadn't been crying, they didn't seem to upset, I couldn't even tell what she was thinking. Was she actually worried? They made me unsure as to what I should answer, the thought of telling the truth crossed my mind but I decided against it when I noticed a police officer listening in "I don't know what you've heard mom, but it's not true. I didn't do anything."
"I knew you didn't sweetie. I knew you wouldn't let me down."
She stroked my cheek a bit making me feel really bad "Have you talked to Lauren?"
Mom pulled away from me then and straightened her posture "I have."
"And...?"
"Billie, I don't really want to discuss it but I think that her and Mike are plotting against you. I knew it right from the start that those two kids were no good, but I didn't say anything, no, I just acted like they fine and now look what's happened-"
"Mom, they are good people. They've just gotten caught up in stuff."
"Billie, I don't think you should be hanging around with people like them." I looked at her weirdly, this is one of the rare occasions when I thought my mom was the stupidest person I had ever known. She was acting like I'd just gotten in trouble for smoking at school or something, not get accused of rape. She took of her glasses and wiped them, she tended to do that whenever she was stressed out about something "Anyway Billie, I've arranged a lawyer-"
"How did you afford a lawyer?"
"You know my boyfriend, he has a friend who's a lawyer who owed him a favor so you better be nice to him the next time you see him."
I rolled my eyes, my mother's boyfriend. What can I say about him?... I swear there are so many words to describe that guy, none of which I'd say out loud just because mom would slap me across the face. I swear, she's so happy with this guy but he's such a prick, I just wish she'd break up with him and stay single forever. It was would save us all the heartache of watching her cry everytime they'd have a fight and he'd threaten to leave, not to mention how much money we'd have if it hadn't been spent on rocky road flavored ice cream. "Hey Mom-"
"Time's up!"
I rolled my eyes again, mom took my hand in hers and squeezed it "Tell me next time Billie."
This time when I looked into her eyes they were all glassy, I nodded and she left.
*
"I changed my mind, it's too far to walk from here, maybe we should just do it another time."
"No." Mike looked at me "If you're gonna accuse someone of this then you have to be sure."
"Why are you okay with John being arrested and not Billie?"
"I don't know... I've known Billie longer or something, besides, Al's been a dick lately. I'm still kinda pissed about the whole college thing as well."
I sighed "Let's just get this over with."
We walked about 10 blocks before we ended up at the driveway of John's house. His car was in there, I swallowed before walking up the front path and knocking on his door whilst Mike hid behind a bush. I waited about 30 seconds before the front door opened and a girl wearing only a white shirt opened the door "Uhhh... Is John home?"
The girl took a moment to take in my appearance which pissed me off. I hated it when people 'examined' me. I swear they spend 99% of their lives looking at their own reflection and yet the other one percent always seems wasted on me. "John baby, some girl's here to see you!"
I bit my lip as I heard someone coming down the stairs "Lauren!"
John appeared "Eurgh, you're Lauren?" I nodded "You sure don't look like much, I was expecting something... Different..."
She gave me a fake smile. "I'm sorry, I still don't know who the hell you are."
"Oh, uhh Lauren, this is Veruca, she was just leaving."
Veruca spun around to face him "What? No I wasn't what are you-"
"Leave."
John switched his gaze from me to Veruca who I almost felt sorry for. "I need my clothes."
John reached behind the door and pulled out a coat "Here."
He tossed it at her "No go."
I heard a sniffle as Veruca pushed past me "Wow, you're even more of a bastard than I originally thought."
"Lauren..."
He put his arm around my waist "You'll come in won't you?"
"Uhh..." I snuck a look at Mike who was mouthing not to go in "I was actually wondering if you'd heard about Billie?"
John smiled before his hand moved down to my ass, I gave a nervous laugh "Oh yes, such a shame isn't it, but I did tell you that I would take care of you..."
He leant in and gently pressed his lips against mine. It made me sick. I pulled away, John smirked. "You're cute when you're scared, Billie ever tell you that?"
I untangled myself from John and took a couple of steps back "I uhh.. I have to go."
I turned and started walking away from the house "Don't go too far now."
John laughed as he went back into his house. I started walking even faster and I heard Mike not far behind me. "Did he tell?"
"Yeah, let's go."
*
"Well, Armstrong, you seem to be mighty popular today, you've got two more visitors."
"Lauren! Mike!"
I raced over to them, they both gave weak smiles. "Hey Billie."
"Hi."
Lauren said sheepishly. The three of us stood in silence for what seemed like ages before Lauren spoke up "Billie, I want you to know that I didn't mean for you to end up in here, I-"
"It's okay Lauren,"
I reached out to stroke her cheek before I caught Mike telling me not to. "I understand why you told on me, I would've done the same thing."
"But she didn't, tell on you I mean. It was Al."
"Eurgh. I should've known, Tre told me he was acting all high and mighty after I was arrested-"
"Billie. Shut up." I did. "Look Billie, I'm going to get you out of here, I'm gonna tell them that it was some random guy or something I don't know, but Billie, I can't do this unless you promise me something."
"Anything."
"Mike told me about how you guys were going away for a couple of days and-"
"Of course you can come!"
She sighed and looked at the ground. I spoke to fast, of course she wouldn't want to come, not after all the shit that she's been through "Billie, that's not what I want. I want you to promise me that when you get back, I'll never have to see you again."
I looked up at Mike watching as he got all excited "What?"
"Well, we bake a cake to take to Billie and hide exploding toothpaste in it so that he can escape!"
I gave him a look which made him somewhat confused "Are you serious?"
"Yeah! Haven't you seen it in the movies?"
"We obviously have different tastes. That's a stupid idea anyway, there's no such thing as exploding toothpaste." I looked back down at the drawing I was making on the pavement with a rock, it was basically a bunch of circles, it didn't make any sense at all. I could hear Mike muttering as he started pacing again. I shifted positions on the rock I was sitting on, damn it was making my ass numb. I felt a sneeze coming and tried to suppress it, failing and giving myself a headache. I think I'm coming down with a cold, I've been sneezing and coughing all day. Maybe it was just because it was getting dark and I didn't have a jumper. Mike didn't seem to feel it at all though. Getting frustrated with his muttering I threw the rock at his leg
"Ouch dammit!"
He hopped around for a bit holding his shin before stopping at looking at me, his eyes grew wide. I turned around nervously thinking that there might be something behind me. There wasn't. I turned back around to face Mike who was still looking at me "What?"
"Can they actually put Billie in jail without you testifying that he did it?"
I shrugged, I had absolutely no idea how all this legal crap worked. I felt as though I should be more concerned than I was, but the truth was, I wasn't. I didn't really care anymore that Billie had been arrested or that Ollie was pissed at me and I didn't have a place to go. I didn't even care about John trying to come onto me again. Things just seemed a lot simpler with Billie gone, but maybe I'm just weird. "Well then maybe you can say it was some other guy whose face you never saw."
"I suck at lying, that's why Billie's in jail remember? Oh wait, no, that's not exactly why. It's not my fault he got caught for doing something he shouldn't of."
I started searching for another rock "How can you just sit there like that?! He's supposed to be your friend-"
"He's s'pose to be yours too."
"Yeah, well I'm the only one who's really acting like it aren't I?"
"What is it exactly that you want me to do, I suck at lying besides I'm not really seeing this as a bad thing."
"How can you not see this as bad?! Not only will he go to jail but it'll completely ruin the band!"
I rolled my eyes knowing that the conversation would somehow end up here "Well you said something about John leaving for college anyway so the band would've broken up later anyway, just think of it as speeding up the process or something."
Not having any luck with rock finding, I started playing with the elastic bands that were around my wrist. "That's not the point! Even if you don't care about the band or something can't you at least try to do SOMETHING? It's not just Billie who'll suffer here, it'll be his mom and brothers and sisters and relatives and me. Will you at least do it for me?"
"You? Why the hell would I want to do something for you? You didn't exactly come to my rescue when shit happened to me, or you didn't warn Billie that he could end up in the situation that he's in now. You know, this whole thing could be viewed as your fault so there!"
Mike just stood there, momentarily defeated.
*
I continued to stare at the wall, not really wanting to look elsewhere since my cellmate had freaked out about having to go to the bathroom in front of people and had an accident. The whole cell stunk, it wasn't as bad now but if I paid to much attention to it it made me gag. "Billie!"
I creased my brow and the sound of my mother's voice. I pulled this almost comical face as I tried to stand up, I walked over to the other side of the cell where mom attempted to hug me through the bars "Oh Billie what has happened? I've heard such horrible things, please tell me that they aren't true."
I looked into her eyes, I don't remember them ever looking like that before, she hadn't been crying, they didn't seem to upset, I couldn't even tell what she was thinking. Was she actually worried? They made me unsure as to what I should answer, the thought of telling the truth crossed my mind but I decided against it when I noticed a police officer listening in "I don't know what you've heard mom, but it's not true. I didn't do anything."
"I knew you didn't sweetie. I knew you wouldn't let me down."
She stroked my cheek a bit making me feel really bad "Have you talked to Lauren?"
Mom pulled away from me then and straightened her posture "I have."
"And...?"
"Billie, I don't really want to discuss it but I think that her and Mike are plotting against you. I knew it right from the start that those two kids were no good, but I didn't say anything, no, I just acted like they fine and now look what's happened-"
"Mom, they are good people. They've just gotten caught up in stuff."
"Billie, I don't think you should be hanging around with people like them." I looked at her weirdly, this is one of the rare occasions when I thought my mom was the stupidest person I had ever known. She was acting like I'd just gotten in trouble for smoking at school or something, not get accused of rape. She took of her glasses and wiped them, she tended to do that whenever she was stressed out about something "Anyway Billie, I've arranged a lawyer-"
"How did you afford a lawyer?"
"You know my boyfriend, he has a friend who's a lawyer who owed him a favor so you better be nice to him the next time you see him."
I rolled my eyes, my mother's boyfriend. What can I say about him?... I swear there are so many words to describe that guy, none of which I'd say out loud just because mom would slap me across the face. I swear, she's so happy with this guy but he's such a prick, I just wish she'd break up with him and stay single forever. It was would save us all the heartache of watching her cry everytime they'd have a fight and he'd threaten to leave, not to mention how much money we'd have if it hadn't been spent on rocky road flavored ice cream. "Hey Mom-"
"Time's up!"
I rolled my eyes again, mom took my hand in hers and squeezed it "Tell me next time Billie."
This time when I looked into her eyes they were all glassy, I nodded and she left.
*
"I changed my mind, it's too far to walk from here, maybe we should just do it another time."
"No." Mike looked at me "If you're gonna accuse someone of this then you have to be sure."
"Why are you okay with John being arrested and not Billie?"
"I don't know... I've known Billie longer or something, besides, Al's been a dick lately. I'm still kinda pissed about the whole college thing as well."
I sighed "Let's just get this over with."
We walked about 10 blocks before we ended up at the driveway of John's house. His car was in there, I swallowed before walking up the front path and knocking on his door whilst Mike hid behind a bush. I waited about 30 seconds before the front door opened and a girl wearing only a white shirt opened the door "Uhhh... Is John home?"
The girl took a moment to take in my appearance which pissed me off. I hated it when people 'examined' me. I swear they spend 99% of their lives looking at their own reflection and yet the other one percent always seems wasted on me. "John baby, some girl's here to see you!"
I bit my lip as I heard someone coming down the stairs "Lauren!"
John appeared "Eurgh, you're Lauren?" I nodded "You sure don't look like much, I was expecting something... Different..."
She gave me a fake smile. "I'm sorry, I still don't know who the hell you are."
"Oh, uhh Lauren, this is Veruca, she was just leaving."
Veruca spun around to face him "What? No I wasn't what are you-"
"Leave."
John switched his gaze from me to Veruca who I almost felt sorry for. "I need my clothes."
John reached behind the door and pulled out a coat "Here."
He tossed it at her "No go."
I heard a sniffle as Veruca pushed past me "Wow, you're even more of a bastard than I originally thought."
"Lauren..."
He put his arm around my waist "You'll come in won't you?"
"Uhh..." I snuck a look at Mike who was mouthing not to go in "I was actually wondering if you'd heard about Billie?"
John smiled before his hand moved down to my ass, I gave a nervous laugh "Oh yes, such a shame isn't it, but I did tell you that I would take care of you..."
He leant in and gently pressed his lips against mine. It made me sick. I pulled away, John smirked. "You're cute when you're scared, Billie ever tell you that?"
I untangled myself from John and took a couple of steps back "I uhh.. I have to go."
I turned and started walking away from the house "Don't go too far now."
John laughed as he went back into his house. I started walking even faster and I heard Mike not far behind me. "Did he tell?"
"Yeah, let's go."
*
"Well, Armstrong, you seem to be mighty popular today, you've got two more visitors."
"Lauren! Mike!"
I raced over to them, they both gave weak smiles. "Hey Billie."
"Hi."
Lauren said sheepishly. The three of us stood in silence for what seemed like ages before Lauren spoke up "Billie, I want you to know that I didn't mean for you to end up in here, I-"
"It's okay Lauren,"
I reached out to stroke her cheek before I caught Mike telling me not to. "I understand why you told on me, I would've done the same thing."
"But she didn't, tell on you I mean. It was Al."
"Eurgh. I should've known, Tre told me he was acting all high and mighty after I was arrested-"
"Billie. Shut up." I did. "Look Billie, I'm going to get you out of here, I'm gonna tell them that it was some random guy or something I don't know, but Billie, I can't do this unless you promise me something."
"Anything."
"Mike told me about how you guys were going away for a couple of days and-"
"Of course you can come!"
She sighed and looked at the ground. I spoke to fast, of course she wouldn't want to come, not after all the shit that she's been through "Billie, that's not what I want. I want you to promise me that when you get back, I'll never have to see you again."
