Saving Zola

1

"She's where!?" Olivia yelled to the person on the other side of the phone.

"Liv, please calm down," Cragen sighed. "We have her here in custody. She got arrested."

"For what?" she growled.

"Public intoxication."

The 38 year old pinched the bridge of her nose out of frustration. "I'm on my way."

After parking her car at the 1-6, Olivia got out and slammed the car door. She couldn't believe her daughter had gotten arrested for drinking. She was supposed to be at school! Olivia knew she should have dropped her off instead of letting her walk with her friends. "Where is she?" she nearly screamed upon opening one of the double doors. The entire squad could feel the anger radiating off their fellow detective.

Munch turned away, sipping his coffee, not willing to speak to the angry brunette. Elliot put his hands up in surrender position knowing that Olivia was not to be messed with when she was upset. The last time he tried to intervene he ended up taking a slap to the face. Fin was the only one that had the guts to say anything. "Liv, you need to ca-"

"I said where is she!?"

Fin pointed to the captain's office. Olivia's heels clicked as she strutted towards the office not caring who looked her way. She adjusted her badge and gun and opened the door. Directly across from the captain sat her brunette sixteen year old daughter, giggling about something Olivia neither Cregan understood. As soon as their eyes met, she stopped laughing. "Oh, hi mom," she slurred.

"Zola Adele Benson," Olivia said, narrowing her eyes at the drunken teen.

"You sound preeeety upset, dontcha think?"

Olivia scoffed. "Yes! Yes, I am! What the f-"

"Liv," Cregan interrupted. Olivia wanted to object but her captain had always been like a father to her. Of course she would listen to him, even if she listened to no one else. "Take her home. Wait til she sobers up then talk to her." Olivia looked over at him. "Alcohol's wearing off just so take the rest of the day off."

She nodded and focused her attention back on her daughter. "Let's go."

The teen started to stand up but was so drunk that she couldn't keep her balance. She fell back down in the black chair, bursting into a fit of laughter. Olivia shook her head in disgust. Of all people, her daughter, Olivia Benson's daughter was drunk off her back end. This would create a bad name for Olivia. It would be only a matter of time before the news would be blaring it on TV. "The prestigious Olivia Benson has a teen daughter who can't hold her liquor, not to mention she's underage, but we know since she's a cop's daughter, she'll get off easy."

Olivia shook her thoughts from her head and proceeded to help her daughter to her feet. Zola nearly put all her weight against her mother, but having dealt with drunken teenagers before, Olivia knew what to expect.

Elliot opened the door and asked, "Need some help?"

"I got her. Thanks, though," she whispered. "I'll see you guys later."

Everyone stared as the eldest Benson struggled help her daughter and contrary to what Olivia thought, none of them blamed her. They knew Olivia was doing her best and that being a single mother was hard. They each had children of their own so they knew the struggle of raising rebellious teenagers.

"I'on miss those days," Fin chuckled, earning a laugh from the rest of the squad.

"I just think the government makes it too easy to get alcohol." Munch stated. The team rolled their eyes, knowing another one of his conspiracy theories was well on the way. "They know that when teens get intoxicated, the police is bound to be called. When the police is called, people go to jail. The jails fill up and you know what a full jail equals? Tax dollars!"

Elliot laughed. "You're crazy, man."

*

At home, Olivia sat on the couch, lost in her thoughts. Zola had been so insolent lately and she couldn't understand why. Her once all A student was now averaging a C. She was once respectful but now came at her mother with rude insults. She once thought her mother was always right but now thinks that her mother only wants to ruin her life.

She brought a the glass cup up her mouth and took a sip of wine. "How do people change overnight? What happened to my babygirl?"

Olivia heard light footsteps. The clock caught her eye and she sighed, realizing it was eight thirty in the evening. She didn't feel like fighting with her daughter but upon remembering exactly what happened, her blood started to boil again.

Zola could hear her mom mumbling about something. Every inch of her body hurt as she made her way to the living room. She saw her mother sitting on the couch with a glass of wine. This can't be good, she thought, but couldn't exactly remember why. All she knew was that she felt horrible and her head was throbbing.

"Mom what happened?" Zola asked her mom as she wiped the sleep away from her bloodshot eyes.

Olivia rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Public intoxication that's what happened." She sipped a little more of her wine knowing she'd need it.

The memories of the days events came crashing back to Zola and she immediately got sick. How did her mom find out? Had someone called the cops? Did she admit to anything? She felt the bile rising in the back of her throat mumbled, "Oh no, I'm gonna be sick." Zola ran to the bathroom, Olivia not too far behind. She vomited the alcohol and whatever contents her stomach contained from earlier, every bit of it burning her throat. The alcohol tasted a lot worse coming up than going down. "Oh," the hung-over teen groaned, nearly on the verge of tears. "Mom, help me."

Leaning against the doorpost, Olivia grinned out of satisfaction. Her daughter was getting exactly what she deserved. "You know, its funny because you weren't crying for me to help you when you ditched school to get drunk. Where'd you go?"

Zola spewed another round into the toilet. Everything hurt. She thought getting drunk would be fun. She knew she'd have a hangover but had no clue it would be like this! She also couldn't believe Olivia was about to interrogate her while she was at her worse.

Olivia was upset, but Zola was still her daughter and against her rage, she went over and held her hair until she finished. Offering her a towel to wipe her face, Olivia asked once more, "Where'd you go?"

"Nowhere."

She stood up, flushed the toilet and went back to her room. "Hey," Olivia grabbed her arm and spun her around, now face to face with her daughter. Zola wanted to snatch away but judging by the fire in her mother's eyes, she thought it best not to. She knew better than to push her when she was already mad.

"I asked you a question."

Zola winced as Olivia's voice boomed throughout the apartment. "Geez mom, can you not yell?" She shook her arm from her mom's grasp and clutched her head. "My head is pounding."

"Well that's what you get for drinking! Now where were you!?"

"I went to a friend's house, okay!?"

"What friend!?"

"A friend, mom!"

Zola plopped back down on the bed. Olivia stood right in front of her. "What. Friend."

The young girl looked up to her mother hovering, evoking intimidation. She was no match for Olivia. "He-he's just a friend."

The eldest Benson took a step back, appalled by her answer. "He?"

Zola sighed, not wanting to fight any more. "I don't know him personally but he's Abby's friend."

Olivia crossed her arms. "I thought I told you to stay away from her. She's nothing but bad news."

"Mo-"

"But that's neither here nor there," Olivia stated. "Tell me."

"Tell you what?"

"Everything," she scolded. "and I swear, Zola, if you lie to me-"

Zola rubbed her temples. "Okay, fine."