Cherry Orphan

Chapter 32

Chapter 32

James and Sonia went to Calley as she emerged from the study. She'd been crying, but all the tears were now well and truly spent. Sonia embraced the girl while glaring over her shoulder at Robert's face framed in the doorway.

"James. A moment please." Robert's voice had calmed, but still suppressed a boiling anger just beneath the surface.

James left the two hugging sisters and went through the oak doors. His heart pounded and he felt weak-kneed. Immediately Colleen put her arm around him and made sure the boy maintained enough distance between himself and Robert's thunderous face. An aggressive interrogation began immediately.

"How much money did you give her, James?"

Colleen squeezed his arm. "It's okay, tell him."

"I... I'm sorry, Uncle Bob. I really like Calley."

"I know you do, son. Just tell me how much."

"Twenty-five hundred."

Robert tried to suppress a hissing sound by rubbing a hand over his mouth. "So she had the money when you first arrived?"

All James managed was a feeble nod.

"Do you know where she bought the drugs?"

"For Christ's sake, Bob, how's he going to know that?" Colleen defended.

Robert ignored the remark and pressed on. "You did know she was taking it, though. And so did Sonia. Why didn't either of you come to me?"

James looked at Colleen, then  let Robert hear the truth. "She was scared of you. We all were. Calley begged me not to tell."

Colleen let go of the boy and went closer. "There! You wanted to know."

Robert needed to lash out. "And exactly where would she acquire a taste for that garbage, Colleen? I happen to know you and your Hollywood Mafioso were no strangers to hard drugs."

"Ooh, that was low, even for you. She'd still be on drugs the way you handle things."

"What did I do to make you scared of me, James? I think of you as my own son—the son I never had."

At this point James felt emotionally tied in knots. He liked Robert more than words could say. The man could be overbearing at times, but he'd always been well intentioned and generally patient. He knew Calley's built-in fear of her father was rubbing off on himself. "I felt scared because it was all my fault for giving her the money. She told me about last year's trouble while we were still in England. I must have been stupid for not realizing what she'd do with it."

"You hear that, Bob?" Colleen railed. "James blames himself. Is there a better reason for not going to you? Look at yourself—coming on like God Almighty. Try putting yourself in his shoes."

At this point Robert caved in. He'd endured enough recrimination from Colleen to last a lifetime. He crashed down into the puffy leather and pinched the bridge of his nose with his eyes tightly closed. "Alright, James. I'm sorry if I scared you. Could you leave us now? I have to think."

Colleen gave the boy a quick hug before he vacated the room. She sat opposite, while Robert hung his head back as far as it would go. For a few hollow moments no one spoke.

Eventually he did speak, still staring at the ceiling. "You're absolutely certain she's off the drug for good?"

"As certain as anyone can be. I made sure she came down hard, Bob. It was cruel and I hated it, but she had to learn. She won't want to go through that agony again and nor do I."

Finally he looked at her. "I suppose I should thank you. It's not easy finding out you've become a pariah in your own home. Where do we go from here?"

"We? There's no we, Bob. If you want my opinion she's better off here than in England. Do what you have to do by way of discipline, but don't send her away again. Drugs are everywhere. At least if one of us is around she'll have someone to turn to. Calley's not strong willed like Sonia. I know my girls even though you've never wanted to admit it."

"They're my girls too."

"Then start acting like it. Do what's best for them, not yourself. Swallow your bloody pride for a change." Colleen was about finished. "Just once try it my way."

***

Three tense days slipped by and then it came time for Colleen to leave. She hugged and kissed the girls in turn as the bags were loaded into Robert's Jaguar Vanden Plas. Robert had calmed down and begun the acceptance phase. Sonia started crying, but Calley had no more tears to spend. Finally James stepped forward and they embraced as warmly as any mother and son.

Robert went around to the driver's door. "Let's have a long talk when I get back, girls. I know I've made some bad mistakes. Your mother and I have finally agreed to do things differently from now on." With that, doors slammed and tires crunched on gravel. Colleen twisted and waved.

James and the girls went through the house and out onto the stone terrace that overlooked distant ocean. The housekeeper asked if they wanted anything, but all three politely declined. Calley stretched out and closed her eyes. Sonia remained busy wiping her face, sucking in the residual tears.

"I wish she'd stayed longer," James muttered, standing with his hands deep into the pockets of his shorts.

"They'll never get back together," Sonia sniffed. "Stuff like that only happens in movies."

"The first night, I thought Bob was going to throw me out," James went on. "Colleen really reads him and knows what to say. Instead of jumping all over me he actually apologized for making me scared. This has been a big shock for him. He didn't have the faintest idea."

Still with her eyes closed, Calley spoke for the first time. "It's not over."

The other two looked at her.

"Can't you feel it? Now Colleen's gone back to LA the real Robert will come out. The 'no one fucks with my family and gets away with it', Robert. He'll want revenge."

Sonia couldn't buy that. "No, Calley, you're wrong. He just wants it over with."

Her eyes came open. "You weren't there in the study. I saw his face, Sonia. I think Mom saw it too. You know the way he is. Until someone pays it's not over—never over. He'll spend whatever he needs to spend to get his hands on someone—anyone he can blame. We both know no one held a gun to my head. I bought the goddamn stuff and sucked it up my nose because I'm fucked up, but he'll never see it that way. Then it implies he did something wrong. So much better if a really bad person made me do it."

An ominous pall of silence ensued. In the back of their minds they knew she was right.

Will Robert now scatter blame in all directions for Calley's addiction, or will he ultimately share the responsibility and acknowledge Colleen's efforts to help her? Is revenge part of his agenda against those that sold her drugs?

As tension increases, be sure to read the next gripping chapter.

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