The Return

Chapter Fifteen

Scarlett

Lucas gave Farida a ride in his old busted-up Camaro. They were over an hour late.

The three of them sat in a circle on the patterned carpet with a bottle in the middle and some punk rock song on full blast. Lucas brought along a joint he rolled on the drive and passed it around like a hot potato.

At first, Scarlett felt the same, bobbing her head to deafening screaming passing as music, her heart racing in her chest.

The first time Scarlett tried any form of recreational substance, she was sixteen and broke into her late Aunt Tabitha's clinical marijuana stash.

It wasn't her fault. How was she to know the brownies her Aunt set out by the tray of cookies were laced?

For all she knew, her Aunt was being a little too overprotective over her latest batch of baked goods.

A less than pleasant trip locked up in her Aunt's room and a promise to take that secret to her grave later and it was one of Scarlett Leighton's best-kept secrets.

The second time was the senior year party when she almost drowned in her own backyard.

It was the biggest mistake of her life. Because with her Aunt, it was a one-time thing. With Malcolm, she didn't have a say. And if she did, she was stirring up trouble and she knew what was at stake.

"Babe?" Malcolm waved his hands over her face.

She blinked.

They were all staring at her. "I think I should start heading off to bed." She tried to get up. She stumbled into Malcolm's arms.

What the hell was in Lucas's weed?

"I heard about your Dad, how are you holding up?" Farida asked in a sickeningly sweet tone.

Scarlett thought for a second, beginning to feel the calm of the blunt settle deep in her gut.

She didn't want this. Sitting in a cold basement doing cheap drugs.

She wanted more from life. She wanted friends that cared about what she had to say. She needed a support system now more than ever. But all she had were three junkies who only cared about fucking prom night. "He might get arrested for manslaughter and breach of the fucking duty of care he owed to his patients. How do you think I'm holding up?"

She pulled away from Malcolm.

"Shit." Lucas hissed.

"No wonder you look like you haven't slept in decades." Malcolm acknowledged. For a second, she mistook his creased eyebrows and softened eyes for genuine concern.

She nodded. "He claims it was a mistake and he regrets it but..." She could still hear her mother's strangled sobs. The hospital let him go and excluded themselves from whatever liability he incurred.

The Leighton's were on their own.

"If he says he regrets it maybe the court will give him a lighter sentence. We're not doing this to get bummed out, remember?" Farida was quick to interject. She leaned forward and gave the empty beer bottle a spin; her legs still crossed beneath her.

Malcolm couldn't pry his eyes off Scarlett.

"Why doesn't your mom leave before shit hits the fan?" Lucas said as the bottle landed on Malcolm.

"She can't leave him." Farida rolled her eyes. "Through thick and thin."

"The saying is in sickness and in health not in criminal liability." Lucas snarked.

"Why can't the woman leave?" Malcolm wanted to know. "Because of Scarlett? She's an adult, and she understands the situation. Sure, it's going to be hard not having a Dad, but sticking by him right now is going to be worse." Malcolm defended.

"We're not leaving him. End of story." Scarlett cupped her cheeks.

But Malcolm couldn't let sleeping dogs lie.

"You want to be loyal, join him. Go to the fucking arraignment and trial, and watch your mother die slowly from the suffering. But don't you dare act like I didn't warn you."