Leading the Way

by Constance Masters

  “Kinda. We haven’t had that much,” Erin said.

  “Right we should keep passing,” Sienna added with a nod.

  “I think I feel a little more mellow,” Erin said when the joint had been around twice more.

  “Me, too. Mellow yellow,” Carol said. “Oh, I forgot! I have tunes. Rain pass this over to Star …star …”

  “Stardust,” Sienna added.

  “Yeah her.”

  Sienna turned the car back on and put in the blank cd. “What is it?”

  “Bob Marley.”

  “Oooh, I like Bob Marley,” Erin said. “Bob Marley, Bob Marley Bombarli Marly!”

  “La, la, lalalalalalalalala, lalalala, Don’t worry! Be happy!” They all sang along through the song.

  They waited for the next song but it was the same one, starting from the beginning. Sienna tapped the CD player.

  “I think it’s broken,” Jen said.

  “Nope. I did the same song over and over,” Carol yelled when the song finished. “It’s my favorite. Wait, wait, wait. I know what’ll make it so much better.”

  “I don’t know what could be better than listening to the same song over and over,” Sienna said with a giggle.

  “Let’s sit on the roof. If we turn the music right up we’ll be able to feel it through our butts.”

  “Good idea,” Erin said. She had no idea why but it sounded good. Who didn’t like singing and smoking on the roof of a car.

  It took some doing but they finally were all sitting somewhere on the outside of the car. Erin was on the hood. Her eyes opened wide when she spied a car pulling into the area. “Um, guys?”

  “Don’t worry, Be Happy!” they all half-yelled, half-sang.

  “Hey!” Erin shouted. “It’s the police!” The music continued but the singing stopped and Erin realized they were in trouble as a male officer and a female officer strode towards them.

  “Oooh that’s not so good,” Carol said. “What if we get arrested? We have to get the kids.”

  “I’ll text Zach.”

  “What’ll you tell him?” Jen asked.

  “Nothing more than what’s needed.” Erin tapped out a text that didn’t say much; it just asked him to get all their children. She didn’t even look at the finished message, she was too busy watching the police descend on them. Then turned off her phone.

  “Oh man, they look a bit…” Jen started, but lost her track.

  “Hot,” Carol said. “I do love a woman in a uniform.”

  “Yeah,” Jen agreed. “That’s why we’re with firefighters.” Both girls started to giggle and couldn’t stop, while Sienna and Erin looked on, not quite getting the girls joke.

  “Stop,” Sienna said. “You’ll get us in even more trouble.”

  “I can’t,” Carol said, laughing so hard that she slid off the roof and landed on the hood almost on top of Erin.

  “What’s so funny?” Erin asked.

  “Bob Dylan,” Carol said between fits of the giggles. “He’s telling us not to worry, be happy. But we are gonna be in so much trouble.” Erin started to laugh as well, and before long, Sienna joined in.

  “They are gonna spank us!” Carol said.

  “And ground us!” Jen added.

  “We’ll never be allowed out on Wednesday again!” Erin started to cry.

  That made Carol laugh even harder. “Maybe they’ll let us go on Thursday!”

  It was a ridiculous statement, but for some reason it made Erin feel better and she started to laugh again, too.

  “Excuse me, ladies?” The male officer said. “Been having a little weed party, have we?”

  “Us?” Carol asked.

  The officer picked up one of the joints that had been dropped onto the windscreen. “Did you realize that it was illegal to smoke marijuana in public?”

  “Is it?” Jen asked wide eyed. “I thought that it was legal in Colorado now.”

  “It’s legal to buy it, but not to smoke it in a public place,” the female officer said.

  Carol winced. “So sorry hon, it won’t happen again.”

  “Don’t call me hon,” the officer said. “Are you ladies from around here?”

  Carol pouted. “I plead the fifth,” she blurted.

  “You can’t plead the fifth, you’re not in court. Now one of you answer the question.”

  “What was the question?” Erin asked.

  “Are. You. Ladies. From around here?”

  “I’m not sure how to answer that question,” Erin said. She wasn’t born in Colorado. They weren’t from Boulder.

  “That’s it, everybody get out their ID.”

  “Are we in trouble?” Sienna asked.

  “Yes,” the policewoman said. “If this is your first or second offense you will all get a fine for five hundred dollars.”

  The policeman was collecting ID’s.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I know the place where these women come from,” he said.

  “Oh?” His partner turned to look at him.

  “Corbin’s Bend.”

  Her eyes widened. “That spanko place up on the mountain?”

  “That’s the one.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Call Brent Carmichael, he’s a friend. These women don’t need a fine, they’ll pay for their actions in a much different way.” He dialed Brent’s number and started talking quietly when the man answered. He turned to tell the girls what was about to happen when the music stopped and the car turned off. “Oh, and Brent, you’ll need a tow truck or a new battery. They’ve been running the car to play music while they toked on the roof.”

  “Oh fuck,” Erin whined. “I don’t wanna wait for Brent. Please, arrest me now.”

  ***

  “Charles,” Brent barked.

  “Brent?” Charles answered.

  “We have a problem,” Brent said. “I just got a call from an acquaintance, a cop from Boulder. He’s found four of our ladies at the Boulder lookout, stoned. They’ve been sitting on top of the car smoking and singing. Loudly. The car battery’s now gone flat and he needs someone to come get them and the car.”

  “Damn,” Charles said. “Have you contacted their partners?”

  “Not yet. The cop knows about Corbin’s Bend. He knows we have our own, shall we say, internal justice system.”

  “I see. That doesn’t really protect our people from state or federal laws.”

  “I know that and so does he. I think he was just cutting them a break. The fines are hefty.”

  “Do you think we should ‘cut them a break’?”

  “I’d hardly call it a break. Our ramifications would likely be a lot harsher than a fine that could be dispensed easily.”

  “Yes, I agree. And a large fine actually punishes the family as a whole, not just the women.”

  “Exactly. So what do you want me to do?”

  “What is he proposing?”

  “That we come get our girls out of his hair and make sure that they’re sorry enough that they don’t make the same mistake again.”

  “Done. Go get them, take someone with you to drive back the car and I’ll convene a special meeting of the board.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Brent said. “See you when we get back.”

  ***

  Zach read the text message for the third time. He could only just decipher jumble on the screen.

  Pcki up kdsi all kdsi. Kepe at or hoe. Hme son.

  Was she drunk? It was ten to three. He rang the elementary school and asked them to hold on to the kids he was going to collect. It was lucky that his car was in for service. He’d brought Erin’s family van to school. Otherwise, he would have had to catch the school bus home with all the kids. He quickly finished what he was doing with Charity sitting at her desk staring daggers at him. He could only imagine the embarrassment to a nearly twelve-year-old that had to drive home with a teacher.

  What a great way to start the afternoon. Luckily the twins got picked up by their father or he w
ould have had even more kids. He spied Charity poking her brother. “Who wants to play and who wants to sit at the kitchen table and do extra homework?” he asked. Charity immediately pulled back her hand and looked out of the window.

  “What time is my Mom coming home?” she asked.

  “I’m not sure, Charity, not too late. Your Dad’ll come get you though, I’m sure.”

  “I hope so.”

  Me, too, Zach thought.

  Zach passed out tubs of yogurt and spoons and dumped a plate of cut up fruit on to the middle of the table. “When you’re done put your spoons in the sink and toss your empty tubs into the trash,” he said Once again he tried to phone Erin. Straight to messages. Where could she be? She better have a damn good explanation for this.

  When he got back out the to the kitchen the kids were finishing up. “Who wants to go to the playground?” he asked.

  “I do,” Jordan said.

  “Can we watch TV?” Avvy asked.

  “Yes you can, but stay on the kids channels.”

  Charity rolled her eyes. “No MTV?” she asked.

  “Sorry no cable,” Zach said.

  Jordan was long gone, but the other kids were in the living room trying to find something to watch on television.

  “I want cartoons,” Jack, Charity’s little brother, said.

  “We want to watch our show from last night,” Avvy said.

  “Which show?” Charity asked.

  “Glee.”

  “I’m not watching Glee.”

  “I want cartoons,” Jack whined.

  Zach was on them in a second. His mind was full of worry and the last thing he wanted to do was listen to a house full of bickering kids. “Go play at the playground,” he said “And all of you keep an eye on Jack.”

  “Come on, Jack,” Charity said.

  ***

  Jordan sat on the swing and dangled her legs. She couldn’t even be bothered to push it. Where was her Mom? Had she really done something bad? Maybe it was time to say something.

  “Hi,” Buddy said from behind her. “How come you’re just sitting there?”

  Jordan shrugged. “My mom went bowling but she didn’t come home.”

  “Where is she?”

  “I don’t know. I just know she was talkin’ to someone about being bad.”

  “Maybe she was jokin.”

  “She wasn’t.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Cos I tricked her in to letting me watch television when I was home sick. I said I’d tell Daddy.”

  “Jordan!” Avvy said.

  “You heard that?” Jordan asked sheepishly.

  “I sure did. Do you know why mom’s late?”

  “Not exactly.”

  “You’re selfish ,Jordan! Go tell Daddy what you heard.”

  “No, he’ll be mad.”

  “I’m telling then.” Avvy ran as fast as she could to tell her Dad.

  ***

  “Slow down Avvy,” Zach said. “Talk slowly and tell me what you know.”

  She blurted out exactly what she heard at the playground. “Where’s Mom, Daddy? She’s always here. What bad thing would she do?”

  “Don’t you worry about that, Avvy. You go and tell all the other kids to come home. I’ll make a few calls.”

  “Okay, Daddy.”

  Zach ran a hand down his daughter’s cheek. “Everything will be fine.”

  What bad thing could she have been talking about? Drinking maybe? Jordan had shocked him. He always saw her as the baby, the sometimes naughty, tomboy, uncomplicated one. She had blackmailed her mother. Zach paced the kitchen. He would have to deal with that later. First he had to find his wife. The only thing he could think of to do was call Brent.

  “Hi Jonathon?” he said.

  “Um, no this is Lelo. Jonathon and Brent have both had to go somewhere. There’s been an incident,” he said. “I’m sure Brent will contact you when he gets back.” He rang off.

  Zach stood there staring at the phone rerunning Lelo’s words in his head. If Brent’s incident was big enough to need Jonathon, and he was going to call him when he got back, and his wife and all her friends were missing. Oh hell, what had Erin done? The incident obviously involved his wife and her new friends. “Please God let them be all right.”

  “Go to your room, Jordan,” he said when his youngest daughter tiptoed into the house hoping she wouldn’t be seen.

  Jordan ran.

  Chapter 9

  The girls weren’t allowed to get back into the car. Instead they had to sit on the ground in front of the car where they could be seen.

  “Are we waiting for Brent Carmichael?” Jen asked.

  “Yes we are,” the male officer said.

  “That’s gonna take some time,” Carol said.

  “It might,” the male officer added.

  Carol started to get up.

  “Sit down,” the woman officer said.

  “If I was in jail, you’d feed me wouldn’t you?” Carol asked.

  “Yeah, you’d have to feed us. That’s abuse to starve people,” Sienna said.

  “Both of you sit still and be quiet, or I’ll handcuff you and you can wait in the police car.”

  Erin put her hand up like she was in school.

  “Yes?” The policewoman asked.

  “Just wanted to put it out there that we’re a bit hungry and there’s a bucket of perfectly good chicken in the car.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  Erin put her hand up again, making Carol start giggling again.

  “Yes?” The policewoman said to Erin. She pointed at Carol. “You be quiet.”

  “So stern,” Carol mouthed to the side of Erin’s head.

  “Also putting it out there that God doesn’t like us to waste food,” Erin said.

  The officers looked at each other. The male officer shrugged. “If they’re eating, their mouths will be in use for a while.”

  “True.” She leaned into the car and retrieved the bucket, handing it to the quietest of them, Jen, to distribute. “If you’re not quiet, I’ll take it back.”

  “Thank you,” Erin said.

  ***

  Erin looked to each side of her. On the right, Carol, or Moonbeam, as she’d always think of her now, was dozing. Her tummy was full and she wasn’t allowed to use her mouth, so maybe her mind had shut down so it didn’t have to deal with how much trouble she was in. Half her luck. To the left of her was Jen, who she noticed, with horror, was crying. “You ok?” she mouthed.

  “My kids,” Jen mouthed back.

  “I sent Zach a text. He’ll have them until Brock gets home.”

  Jen nodded. “Thank you. This is gonna be bad,” she mouthed.

  “Uh-huh. But it was fun,” Erin whispered.

  Jen nodded.

  Sienna blinked away tears as well, until her eyes didn’t open and then she too was asleep.

  Erin sat up straight when she heard a car coming. Salvation or retribution or a little of both. Whatever it was, it had arrived. Jonathon got out first and his look said it all. They were in for it big time.

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  She thought she saw a tear in his eye. He must have known what they’d be in for and it would be bad.

  “What were you ladies thinking?” Brent asked.

  Erin looked at Jen. This was a stern side of Brent that she hadn’t seen before. He was always so helpful and kind. “Um, I, we, I don’t know what to say,” Erin said. Carol was still sleeping. How could they tell him that it was Carol’s turn and they had pretended they were hippies?

  “I’m sorry, Brent,” she said.

  “Just stay there while I sort this out,” he said.

  Erin and Jen watched closely, trying to read lips as he spoke with the officers. Whatever he said worked, because the officers tipped their hats and walked back to their car. He’d managed to get them out of trouble, at least the law type of trouble.

  “Thank you, Brent!” Erin sai
d. At least she wouldn’t have to tell Zach that she’d gotten a five hundred-dollar fine that their family could ill afford.

  “Don’t thank me, Erin. I told the officers that we have our own brand of justice and that you will be facing the board. You broke the law. We try to keep a low profile in Corbin’s Bend. The board, and I, won’t allow you to get away with this disgraceful display.

  “Are we going to get a public spanking?” Jen asked with horror.

  “At least. Charles is going to ask your partners to meet us at the community center. He’s called an emergency meeting of the board.”

  “What about our children?” Jen asked.

  “I will make sure your children are well cared for. Most of them, at the moment, are at Erin and Zach’s, so we’ll more than likely have somebody mind them there. Like I said, we’re a family. I just need to change your car battery, Sienna, and we’ll get going.”

  ***

  “I don’t understand,” Zach said. “How does a bowling afternoon end up with the girls in so much trouble?”

  “Beats me,” Brock said. “This isn’t like Jen. She’s a good girl. I barely have to take her to task about anything.”

  Sienna’s husband, Toby, shook his head. “We don’t do DD so I feel a bit out of it here. I spank my wife because she likes it and I like to spank her, but I don’t punish her, because she’s never needed it. I can’t believe though that this is her doing. It just doesn’t sound like her, and she was driving. She wouldn’t smoke weed and then drive.”

  “They’re all at fault,” Zach said. “We just need to figure out why.”

  “I know why,” Crystal said. “This has Carol’s name all over it.”

  “She’s into drugs?” Toby asked, not doing a very good job of keeping the shock and horror from his face.

  “No! Carol isn’t like that. She’s loving and kind and the best mother that any kid could ever want,” she said. “But she has issues with the loss of her mother when she was young. Her mom grew up in the hippie era and Carol has this thing about it. She thinks if she knows how her mother felt she’ll be closer to her somehow.”