Unbroken Promises

by Dianne Stevens

  When Beth thought of Cody, she missed him and the closeness they used to have. They had not spent much time together lately because she had been running with her new friends, and he was ‘into’ cars with his friends. She knew he didn’t approve of her new lifestyle so it was best that she avoid him.

  Beth and her friends were getting ready to go home when a fight broke out. Julie said she wanted to stay and watch. Beth did not want to stay. She was afraid someone was going to get hurt and she didn’t want to see it, but she was stuck without a way to leave. A couple of boys from school were fighting over a girl. From what Beth understood, the girl left one boy to go to the other.

  They were going toe to toe with fists flying. She could hear the crunch as fist met against flesh. The sound made her wince and cover her face with her hands. Beth could not help but watch. She had never seen anything like it. She had fought Cody many times but he never hit her back, only held her away. This was frightening and exciting at the same time. It wasn’t long before the guy who lost the girl had blood all over his face and blood running down his neck and onto his mustard-yellow shirt. The girl they were fighting over screamed for them to stop but to no avail. Beth didn’t even think the boys could hear the girl with all the hollering. Beth heard a guy close to her yell ‘gethim! gethim!, but Beth couldn’t figure out which “him” he was talking about. Finally, some other guys stepped in to pull them apart before one of them got seriously hurt.

  For the life of her, Beth would never figure out what happened next. It was so outlandish and happened so fast. Instead of the fight stopping, more fights broke out. It was like something she had seen in an old western movie. There was fighting going on everywhere. Beth searched for the other girls and she found them as wide-eyed as she was.

  “Julie, let’s go, this is crazy to stay here!” Annette screamed.

  That shocked Julie into coming to her senses. She looked around for Becky, Tammy, Jana, and Beth, who were all huddled together. When she found them all, she pointed to the car,

  “Come on; get in. Let’s get out of here before the cops show up!” Beth wasn’t even thinking on that circuit or she would have been running trying to find a place to hide.

  It was almost impossible to get to Julie’s car because people were fighting all around it. As they were climbing into the car, someone hit Becky in the shoulder and another flying fist hit Beth in the jaw.

  They all made it in and Julie cranked up the car. She kept blowing the horn as she inched her way away from the fighting. They heard bodies hit the car as they were slammed against it, but finally they made their way out. As they pulled on the highway, they saw the multiple strobe lights headed their way. When they were safely away, they all burst out laughing. That’s when Julie told them she was more worried about the cops than the fighting because they all would have been taken to jail again.

  Beth instantly stopped laughing and absorbed that tidbit of information. “Oh, dear Gussy, that was just too close,” Beth thought fearfully. If the cops had caught them and taken her to jail, she would not have wanted to get out. She would rather stay in the little cell forever instead of having to face Jordon. She wouldn’t even have even been able to call Jesse this time because he said he wouldn’t cover for her again. And Beth knew him well enough to know he meant it.

  Besides, he would most likely be as mad as Jordon. She had pushed him as far as he would go.

  It wasn’t until later when her adrenaline slowed down that Beth became aware of her throbbing jaw. “Hey Becky, how’s your shoulder?”

  “It’s sore, but I’m okay.”

  “Did anyone else get hit?” Beth asked. They all said no, then actually looked down and assessed their bodies to make sure.

  “My car got hit! There is no telling how many dents I’m going to have in it,” Julie said then looked at Tammy in bewilderment. “Hey, it was supposed to have been your turn to drive tonight.” That just made everyone except Beth start laughing again. At this time, she did not find anything funny.

  When they dropped Beth off, she had taken down her long hair in hope that it would cover her bruised jaw just in case someone happened to still be up. If anyone asked her about it in the morning, she had already decided she was going to have to lie. There was no way in the world she was going to stand there and tell them what really happened. ‘Lying.’ She was just going to have to add another to her already mountain-high pile of sins. “Good grief, when a person had so many, what was one more?” she thought dimly.

  Susan said she could stay out until 12 midnight; but, when Beth quietly slipped in at that time, she walked smack into her greatest fear. She believed she would have until tomorrow morning before having to face anyone; but, there staring up at her expectantly, were four pair of eyes. Beth thought the odds of this happening at midnight with Susan, Jordon, Cody, and Jesse still awake and together had to be in the millions. Susan, especially, always went to bed early, usually by 9:30 p.m. Nevertheless, there they were—all sitting in the living room. For a brief second her heart stopped with a thought. Surely, they hadn’t already found out what had happened and were waiting to confront her. Then Jordon relieved that fear.

  “Come on in, honey, we’re trying to see where this dadblame hurricane is going to land.

  Here it is the first of November and we have to worry if this storm is going to hit us,” Jordon said.

  “It isn’t exactly a hurricane, honey, but it could get nasty. And Jordon needs to know if it requires relocating the livestock,” Susan said to Beth.

  Beth let out the pent-up breath she had been holding. They were only watching the news about where a bad storm might land. Beth thought to herself, “If anyone knew what just happened to her, one would land right here, right now, in this house.” She tried to walk past everyone and casually into her room. “Good night everyone, see y’all in the morning.”

  “Wait, Beth. Come in for a minute, sweetheart, and tell us how your night went,” Susan said in her motherly voice.

  “Oh, not much happened. We just rode around a while, got something to eat, and talked to a few friends from school,” Beth said from the entrance of the living room.

  “You missed a lot of cute little creatures. I think we had more this year than ever before. I’ll have to remember to buy a lot more candy next year, Susan said.”

  “Really, it does seem to be more every year. Well, good night. Love y’all,” Beth said as she tried once again to get away.

  “Aren’t you going to come and kiss me goodnight? Surely you aren’t too big to give your daddy a good night kiss,” Jordon said a little hurt.

  Unless Jordon had gone somewhere, Beth never once missed kissing him good night. And it broke Beth’s heart for him to feel as if she didn’t want to kiss him. For, as stern as this man could be at times, she loved him with all her heart. It was just that she didn’t want them to notice her jaw, and she surely didn’t want them to smell the beer on her breath. She had been popping breath fresheners ever since she stopped drinking. She had one in her mouth now, but this was going to be a little too close for comfort.

  “Yes, of course,” Beth said as she made her way into the living room. She held her breath as she bent over and kissed Jordon on the cheek. “Good night, daddy, I love you.” He reached up and hugged her, and kissed her forehead,

  “Good night, baby, I love you, too,” Jordon, said softly.

  Then Beth leaned down, kissed, and hugged Susan. Beth felt as if she made it when she stood up to walk away.

  “Good grief! Beth, what happened to your jaw?” Cody declared.

  Beth rolled her eyes heavenward and inhaled a deep breath before she spoke. “I was leaning down to pick up some stuff up off of the ground that I had dropped out of my purse. And Becky, not knowing my head was down, hit me with the door when she opened it. It’s okay. It hurt at first, but it doesn’t now.”

  “Oh, baby, let me see,” Susan said. “My goodness, Beth, it is swollen and bruised. Let me get some ice for you to
put on it.”

  “No, don’t get up, finish watching the news. I’ll go get some, put it in a plastic bag with a rag over it, and take it with me when I lay down in bed. It’s okay, really.” Beth again was under the false hope of thinking she made it through this.

  “Aren’t you going to kiss me and Cody good night?” Jesse asked with suspicion in his voice.

  He was looking her up and down in a scrutinizing way. His eyes were a little squinted and his fingers were steepled lying on his chin.

  “Oh, foot, there is no way I can make it past that one,” Beth thought desperately. She walked over and kissed Cody on the cheek, but she stood up and looked at Jesse. In any other circumstance kissing Jesse would have been what she wanted to do more than anything.

  “Oh, Jesse, I am too big to kiss you.” Beth said in a joking voice as she waved a hand at him playfully.

  “I see…” was all Jesse said as he dipped his head slightly, but he had that same suspicious look about him. Beth made a fast exit before anyone else stopped her again.

  Beth groaned and rolled over as sunbeams radiated her room the next morning. She pulled the pillow over her head when she heard the steady humming buzz of the vacuum cleaner coming from upstairs. She had a slight hangover but it was not nearly as bad as the first time she drank. Beth gently wiggled her jaw. It was sore but she would live. Once again, she told herself she wasn’t going to drink any more.

  At school the next week the fight was all everyone talked about. Everybody was talking about what all had happened after the cops came. Those fighting were all loaded up and taken down to the police station. They had to wait there until their parents or someone came to post bail to be able to leave.

  With Cody being in the same high school, Beth was afraid he would hear what people were saying. She hoped everyone would just shut up about it, especially when they talked about her getting hit in the jaw. And then they would go on and on about how she and her friends were so lucky to get out just in time.

  A lot of the boys and even a few girls were flashing their cuts and bruises like honor badges.

  Beth had been worried about Billy, so she was glad to see him. He had a few bruises on his face.

  Beth surmised he didn’t get out unscathed from the free-for-all brawl.

  By the end of the first day, everyone knew who went to jail, who got beat up, and who got away without being caught. Beth thought she had it made when they escaped before the cops came; but, with so many people knowing, she wasn’t so sure now.

  One of Jesse’s old Tshirts had a saying on it that read, “If you can’t play with the big dogs, stay on the porch.” Beth didn’t know if she was tough enough to handle playing with the big dogs or not. Even though she found the incident exciting, it really did terrify her. It wasn’t only the part about going to jail and facing Jordon but the reality that one of her friends or even she could have been killed in the fighting.

  Every day for the next month, she lived in fear someone would tell Susan or Jordon. She knew if it came out now it would put a damper on Thanksgiving. She stayed close to the house.

  She thought she would miss her friends but she really didn’t. Everyone was busy anyway with Thanksgiving, Christmas shopping and family gatherings. Becky and Julie had gone to their grandparents for the holiday vacation. Beth hadn’t seen Tammy, Annette, or Jana since school let out.

  Beth enjoyed her time with Susan. They went Christmas shopping every day. The men decorated the house, but Susan still had to stay on them constantly to get them to do it as she wanted it done. Jordon and Jesse’s parents were visiting for a few weeks. Jesse was often home; he even sat with Beth a few nights and watched old Christmas movies and ate popcorn with her.

  CHAPTER SIX

  In time, the fear wore off and, after no one told on her, Beth was eager to go out again. It was last day of the year and Becky invited the gang over to her house for a New Year’s Eve party. They had a nice-sized game room with a pool table, ping-pong table, and foosball. And, if it wasn’t raining, anyone who wanted could lounge in the huge hot tub.

  That afternoon Susan drove Beth to Becky’s. Again, Becky’s parents were gone. Beth didn’t ask, but she had a feeling there would be an ice chest sitting on the kitchen cabinet loaded down with ice-cold beer. Beth thought she was going to die when Susan said she wanted to come in and meet Becky’s parents. Her heart started racing and her palms began to sweat. “Okay, girl, you can do this, just don’t stutter; that’s always been your downfall.

  “Beth, honey, I would like to meet your friend’s parents at least once. You have been hanging out with them this whole school year and neither Jordon nor I have met any of them.

  Are you ashamed of us or something? Is that the reason why we haven’t met them?” Beth was fast with another lie. She took a calming breath and began. “No, Susan, you know that that’s not true. I would love you to meet their parents. However, Becky told me on the phone before we left the house that her parents were leaving to go to the store to get us something to cook. I will introduce you to them the next time, okay?”

  “Okay, maybe next time then,” Susan said exasperated and sounding a little disappointed.

  Beth was determined to moderate her drinking because she didn’t want to get sick again. So she more nursed a couple of beers for the first two hours. Julie, Becky, and Jana were dancing and singing to the loud blare of Journey playing on the stereo, each holding a Miller Lite in their hands.

  Beth noticed and told Julie to watch it when she saw her about to slosh beer onto her mother’s carpet. A couple of incense sticks burned slowly in the ashtrays filling the house with a smoky mulberry fragrance.

  Later that evening, everyone migrated outside to the gazebo. Beth was off by herself soaking in the hot tub. She heard the doorbell ring, and a few moments later Julie walked back out with two girls she didn’t recognize. She was a little surprised because she didn’t know anyone else was coming. And, to Beth’s utter surprise, boys started showing up, too. Beth was uncomfortable with this new situation. When she saw everyone getting closer to where she was, she jumped out and grabbed her towel. Goose bumps instantly crept up her arms and legs as she hurried over to the dressing area and changed back into her clothes. Feeling a little more comfortable, she walked back out to meet the newcomers.

  Beth finally met Julie’s boyfriend, Allen. She thought he was cute and friendly—maybe just a little too friendly for her liking. He made her just a tad bit uneasy. She was also worried Julie might not like his flirting with her so she walked over and sat beside Billy on the loveseat in the gameroom. She spent most of her time talking and cutting up with him.

  Beth noticed it wasn’t long after she walked over to Billy that she saw Allen and Julie walk inside one of the bedrooms. They came back out about an hour later holding hands and looking a little disheveled with smiles on their faces. Then she noticed Becky was missing and a little later, she and a guy named Travis walked back in the gameroom with the same look about them.

  “My goodness, what is going on? Becky doesn’t even have a boyfriend,” Beth thought.

  “Well, I guess she does now.” Then she looked around to see what everybody else was doing.

  To her horror, Tammy and the other two new girls were making out with guys on the lounge chairs. They had their clothes unbuttoned and fondling one another. Jana was straddling someone’s lap who Beth didn’t even know. Annette was the only other girl there who was not making out with someone. She and Derrick were talking and checking on the food. Beth heard the girls talk about the boys they were with, but Beth didn’t realize they were serious about any of them. The only two she knew who were going together were Julie and Allen.

  The only other guy left walked up as Beth was talking to Billy and sat down on the other side of her. The chair was only made for two people so they were crammed together. He was cute but she could tell he was drunk by the way he talked. Moreover, his fermented breath was an overpowering giveaway. She tried not t
o wrinkle her nose but she couldn’t help it. He was right in her face. Beth thought he had most likely been drinking before he got there to be as drunk as he seemed.

  He put his arm around her and pulled her close. Beth was glad she was not drunk. She felt the affects of the alcohol but she was still very coherent.

  “Hey, baby, how about you and me going into one of the bedrooms for some privacy so we can get more acquainted. I’ve noticed you many times and I think you are so beautiful. My name’s Randy and I know your name is Beth. You don’t have a boyfriend, do you, Beth?” Beth had a feeling Randy was doing his best to sound sexy but he was coming across as sounding stupid. “No, Randy, I do not have a boyfriend, but I’m happy right here talking to Billy. If you want to stay and talk with us, that will be fine, but I am not going anywhere with you,” Beth said patiently as if she was talking to a child. Whoever set this party up was sadly mistaken, if they thought she was going to be doing what the others were doing. She enjoyed talking to Billy but she had no desire to start kissing him. Randy was cute enough, but he was a joke in her opinion. She could only hope that, no matter how drunk she ever got, she would never stoop to going somewhere alone with someone like him. She glanced at Billy who did not seem to like the intruder.

  “You want me to get rid of him?” Billy whispered for only her to hear.

  “Nah, that’s okay. He’s so smashed I think he’s harmless.” Beth sure didn’t want another occurrence of what happened last time she sat talking to Billy with fights breaking out everywhere, especially in Becky’s home.

  Randy didn’t take his arm from around Beth but thankfully, he stopped moving it all over her arm as he did when he first sat down. Once he had accidentally brushed up against her breast, at least she hoped it was accidentally. So there she sat feeling very awkward as she continued talking to Billy as if nothing was out of the ordinary. It wasn’t long after that Billy pointed to Randy. When Beth looked at him, he was sound asleep with his mouth open. “How attractive,” Beth thought as she pulled his arm from around her and pushed him over. He didn’t wake up for even a second.