The Mistake [Completed]

Chapter Ten

All he had to do was sit and wait but Brett was finding even that difficult. He was agitated and couldn't seem to stand in one position for more than a couple of minutes without becoming frustrated He was supposed to be fetching the feed for the calves but even the simplest of tasks seemed to be taking him forever. Once collecting the sack of feed from the shed Brett hopped into his tractor and headed over to the animals. As he was about to pass the farm shop he caught sight of his mother waving her arms in his direction. It's show time, he thought.

He turned the steering wheel and parked the tractor to the side of the shop. Brett climbed down and turned on his fake worried emotion. "Everythin' okay?" He asked his mother who appeared to be flustered and immediately he was hit with a sense of guilt that he'd caused her unnecessary worry.

"I-I..." She couldn't seem to find the words. "I found something."

"Found what?"

"I'll show you," she said and turned on her heel walking back into the shop. It was early and they weren't set to open for another hour which meant that Leigh wasn't there yet and that made his plan just a little easier to carry out. He didn't have to look at her face when he was blatantly lying to his mother because he knew that the guilt would take over and he'd never be able to do what he needed to do.

Maggie led him to the back of the shop where he caught sight of the small, plastic bag that he'd tucked just under the counter. There was enough left in the bag to make it seem as though it'd been there for some time yet as if it had been used the day before.

"I don't know where it came from..." Maggie said in a quiet voice. "It's not yours is it?"

"No Mom, it's not," he told her.

This was it. This was his chance to turn back. He could turn back now and nothing more would be said. Brett could make up yet another lie and forget that this ever happened at all. The drugs could have come from the young boy who asked to use the facilities yesterday, he could say. Or he could tell the truth. He could say that it was his and he was having a hard time- his mother would believe that because it wasn't the first time. He'd used drugs before but he was a reckless teenager and that didn't really count. He was sure every teenager experiments with weed at one point or another and he believed that it only became a problem when the teenagers grew older and abused the drug or fell into the trap of wanting the harder stuff.

He took in a breath and mumbled his next words; "But I think I know whose it is."

"You do?"

Brett nodded subtly and walked out to the front of the shop to the computer. "I didn't want to tell you because I know you like her-"

"You're saying that these drugs are Leigh's? You sure about this?"

Brett nodded again and typed Leigh's name into the internet followed by the word drugs. When the search results showed Brett clicked on the first website and turned the screen in his mother's direction. That picture was clear as day in the centre of the screen and Maggie asked when the photograph was taken. It was the same picture he'd found the first time he searched her name on the internet and he'd done her a favour by showing that one- it was the best out of them all. Leigh's hair was a different colour and Brett knew it would take a little more convincing that she was capable of such things.

"I dunno but it seems recent," he answered.

"Before she moved here?" Maggie asked and glanced up from the phone.

"I dunno, Ma."

"People change. She came here for a fresh start. I can't jump to conclusions, Brett. It's not fair," Maggie told her son. "How did you find the article?"