Mean Girls of Maplewood Ch. 20

"I'd like to start by asking if you know Patricia Clark?"

"Of course I do, ma'am; she is my teammate on the cheer leading squad."

"Are you aware of what's happened regarding your teammate?"

"It's all over campus; she got doxed really hard."

"How do you feel about this unfortunate incident, Leslie?" Ms. Branding usually counted on her position and stern exterior to rattle students, but the stunning brunette seemed oddly serene.

"I don't feel anyway about it one way or the other Ms. Branding."

"Didn't you just tell me she was your teammate?"

"Teammate is the operative word; we weren't friends. You should probably ask Chelsea about that." Leslie reached down on the floor for a plastic bottle of water, taking a quick drink.

"The girl is currently hospitalized; you didn't know about that?"

"Oh yeah, she had a fight." Leslie's arms were folded under her prominent bosom covertly rubbing her belly, unknown to the woman sitting on the other side of the desk in front of her. There was no way she could know that Leslie Kennedy had bigger thing to worry about on so many levels.

"You're going to tell me that you didn't know about that incident too? You didn't know that two of your teammates hospitalized one another in the girl's bathroom during an assembly about Coach Hamblen?"

"Coach Hamblen?"

"He's passed away; didn't you know that?" Her face was static displaying a genuine level of morbid surprise. Ms. Branding realized the teen was genuinely out of the know regarding recent events.

"What happened?"

"It's been on the news; he took his own life." Her bottom lip started quivering uncontrollably as the realization overcame her prompting the assistant principal to give her a handful of tissues.

"Why did he do that, Ms. Branding?"

"I can't answer that Leslie; that's between him and god, now. I didn't mean to upset you and I'm sorry, young lady. I just wanted to know if you had any idea who might've uhm, doxed Patricia Clark; do you?"

"I don't know anything about that; did you think I did it?"

"We just wanted to ask you Ms. Kennedy; and you didn't know anything about the fight either, right?"

"Why don't you ask Red?" Leslie snapped dabbing at her face with a tissue.

"Melissa Reed is currently barred from campus pending the results of a criminal investigation and I've got to be honest with you Leslie. There's at least two student petitions circulating around campus calling for the permanent expulsion of you both."

"People gotta do what they gotta do, Ms. Branding."

"You don't care about being a part of this student body; graduating with your peers?"

"Ma'am that's the least of my worries right now; besides, I've given back more than I received to everyone who hates me with good reason. The only thing I know about Patty is what everybody knows about her; she's a clout chaser."

*

"Sure took you long enough, mom."

April happened across her mother setting some bags on the curb undeniably filled with her belongings. There was a growing pile of five or more paper and garbage bags. Two milk crates stuffed full of vintage comics packed in a hurry becoming newsprint salad made the chubby blonde bristle. Her sole parent looked like she'd been caught in some criminal act as she dropped the lawn bag damaging some kind of glass item inside.

Two laptop computers were shoved into a bag on the curve which April knew she'd have to disassemble later. Both had been used for nefarious purpose with the latest purposed as a social media dead switch used to take out Patricia Clark at her urging. The blonde misanthrope was always trying to stay three to ten steps ahead of everyone. The isolation of home schooling made it easy for her to indulge her malevolent id.

"I can't do this anymore; I won't April."

"When have you ever is more relevant; don't you think mother?" She noticed the same horrified look on her mother's face from the previous night after being discovered in the act of assaulting Leslie.

"I don't want this!"

"What don't you want, huh?" April stopped five feet away from her mother staring a hole in her face.

"THIS-YOU APRIL!!" She motioned towards her daughter with both hands outstretched, looking reticent as the girl took a step in her direction.

"You never wanted me anyway; always palming me off on other people, ignoring me because of dad and beating me over the head with your fucking religion. I thought we covered this already, but you sent me away to that fucking camp and now you complain about the results, mom."

"You can't blame me for all of this crazy stuff you've been doing April; lord, I caught you assaulting some girl last night!! What happened, she didn't want to do gay stuff with you?!!" April laughed at her mother's stilted account of her actions.

"It was uh, personal."

"It's like you've got the devil in you ever since you started messing with that Red person; she did this to you, made you like-!!"

"DON'T GET IT TWISTED MOTHER; SHE WOKE ME UP!! Can you say the same or are you gonna stand here hiding behind your fucking bible, lying to yourself that haven't wanted me gone since day one?!!"

"Maybe you can go live with her; you two deserve each other, April!"

"You're right." Both women stood there on the sidewalk at the bottom of the stoop staring at one another.

April took after her father in the face which was decidedly more feminine than her mother's harsh features and added inch of height over her daughter. Both women shared a long family trait in their immense bosoms which the religious woman took great care to hide under layers of bulky clothing for the most part. Her childhood had been a litany of constant harassment and other lewd overtures from various men and boys with the women thinking it all behind her once she married. It only got worse as her husband revealed he'd only married her because of her breasts.

The nightmare increased in waves as her daughter began to develop at too early an age drawing the deviant eye of her father. The marriage ended after a violent encounter when she confronted her husband after witnessing his criminal actions one night. April seemed to blame her for the dissolution of that sham union, making her life difficult and grief stricken with worry that she's end up going down tragic roads traveled decades earlier by her mother.

"I got some money here for you; it's not much but you should have something in your pocket. "She fished a wad of bills from her pocket pressing it into April's hand.

"Goodbye mom."

April stared at her mother's weathered face knowingly unnerving her sole parent with the way her own was made up. She'd taken the time to reapply her makeup a little heavier this time. She would always wear the face of a demented cupie doll from here on out. April watched as her mother hurried up the stoop slamming and audibly locking the door behind herself. She could hear the woman loudly sobbing as she noticed two backpacks stuffed full of clothing adjacent to the front door.

"I'll make you proud." Black tears ran down her fat cheeks as she felt a light breeze wash over her severing those familial ties.

*

"STOP THAT GIRL!!" Deputy Jimmy had been preoccupied with getting Nurse Flora Bell to meet him for a motel date when Patty bailed out of the examination room intent on escaping a pending rape kit.

She was still slightly addled from being drugged but cagey enough that she managed to make it to the end of the corridor making it to the elevator in moments. She pushed the button frantically as Jimmy closed in on her with Flora Bell in tow.

The elevator opened revealing Deputy Mooney along with Patty's parents who were instantly shocked at the feral nature of their daughter. She stopped for a second like a deer in headlights before speeding off in the opposite direction. She didn't make three steps before being tackled as her father ran ahead concerned.

"DON'T LOOK AT ME!! DON'T LOOK AT ME DADDY!!!" Both deputies managed to get the screaming teen under control.

Mr. Clark hesitated a step looking back at his wife as Patty noticed curling into a ball. Deputy Mooney followed her eye line to her father dipping her own head down to the squirming girl underneath his partner.

"So what're we doing Mooney?" Jimmy asked.

"They signed the paper." Patty stopped struggling curled up into a ball under Deputy Jimmy.

*

Sheriff Reed was slumped over the table face down, dead to the world with only the slight rise and fall of his chest indicting life still remained in his body. The glass he'd been drinking from was on the floor in a million fragments. Red sat watching intently as she finished the bottle setting it on the table as her eyes narrowed. Red reached down into her skintight jean shorts revealing the tiny bottle She'd used to drug Brad Tucker that night and Patricia Clark days ago. It was empty now, devoid of the oily drug she'd initially received from her former protege.

Drugging her father was the humane thing she could think to do considering his betrayal. She'd almost smashed that bottle over his head when she filled his glass but was worried about what would happen if he didn't pass out. She tossed the tiny bottle on the table glaring at her fallen father with utter contempt thinking of only one person.

"You were supposed to be my daddy."

Red pushed back in the chair slowly rising to her feet, green cat-like eyes trained on her father, breathing hard. Now, he looked like anybody else to the seething redhead. Just another mouth breather in her way, another obstacle to be overcome. She lifted a bare foot pressing it against his thigh feeling the density of his unconscious form. She tensed before shoving that foot into his side toppling the unconscious man onto the kitchen floor. He went over like a sack of bricks, un-moving. Red retrieved her phone from his shirt pocket and snatched the key chain off his belt.

She walked out of the kitchen to the end of the corridor finding a padlock on the cabinet containing her father's weapon cache. Sheriff Reed was a proud member of the local rifle club balking at hiding away his arsenal. This is the reason the cabinet was placed at the end of the corridor between their bedrooms, He liked gearing up when he stepped in the corridor.

Red unlocked the cabinet retrieving a Glock weighing the weapon in her hand before slapping a clip into the handle. Her eyes narrowed as she remembered finding her father on his knees between Leslie's legs. It was a sight she'd never forget for the rest of her life, gritting her teeth. Bits of pain still radiated across various spots on her body and she was unwilling to engage in another fistfight without an equalizer.

Part of her wished she could finish off Chelsea for having the audacity to oppose her, but Leslie took precedence over everyone else. Red was intent on finding her and shoving the barrel of that weapon down her throat. She stormed off, weapon in hand throwing open the front door only to find April standing there on her stoop.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!!" Red leveled the weapon at her face out of pure instinct, dropping it seconds later. April didn't flinch looking through the screen into the barrel of the gun to her lover's face.

"So, are we doing a school shooting, today bitch?" April's glib response momentarily threw Red off before she opened the door stepping out onto the porch.

"I'm gonna go see Leslie."

"Murder Leslie; that's what you mean, right?" Red noticed the stuffed backpack on the chubby girl's shoulder along with another at her feet.

"Hey, what is all this shit, here?"

"Mom's had enough, put me out." The explanation hung in the air between the mutually evil girls as Red noticed the darkened mascara streaked across April's cheeks.

"April, I'm in a lot of trouble and soon, I'm gonna be wearing one of those ankle bracelet things. I don't think it would be wise..."

"I didn't come here to live with you; I can take care of myself because of you, Melissa."

"Then, why are you here?"

"Isn't it obvious, Melissa? Shit is hitting the fan at light speed and I really don't wanna be in the blast zone when it blows up around here. That coach is dead, Patty has been nuked to high hell and I got caught freeing the beast on Leslie last night."

"DID YOU KILL HER?!!" Red suddenly pushed the barrel of the gun against April's temple.

"No, I wouldn't do that to you, baby." April didn't flinch, still wearing a serene smile as Red withdrew the weapon.

"What'd you do to her?"

"What I wanted; I got some of that ass, but it didn't mean a thing in the end. When we turned her out back in the boy's locker room it changed her. She was pretty much going in the same direction we were until real life smacked her in the face.

Walk with me, Melissa." April gathered up the backpack at her feet walking down the stoop towards the road adjacent to Red's ranch house.

"What're you talking about; what do you mean real life smacked her in the face?"

"Where's the fun in that when you can find out for yourself, Melissa? I'm gonna get out of this shit hole because there's a world out there waiting. I love you for real because you are my real mother; you gave birth to me in that bathroom so long ago, Melissa. If it weren't for you. I'd still be a loser doodling on typing paper and crying myself to sleep."

"You're leaving?"

"Come with me and be who you are with no fucks given, Melissa. I'd never tell you how to live your life because you're supposed to be wild and free. These people in this fucking toilet of a town will never accept you and they shouldn't. To them you are a monster, but they'll never understand your true purpose."

"True purpose?"

"Yeah baby; you exist to wake up people like me. All of these assholes are asleep, but we're not and neither is Leslie. I'll take it one step further by saying neither is Humbert Jenkins."

"WHY'D YOU SAY THAT NAME?!!"

"It's obvious; you ain't gonna get what you want by shooting up Maplewood High. Just give the losers a chance to put you down so they don't have to look at themselves in the mirror. You shoot Leslie-BANG SHE'S FUCKING DEAD!! What do you have left after that, living in a jail cell? I'm gonna hang around for two more days and you're welcome to come with me if that's what you want. I've got some unfinished business before I go."

"So, you're really gonna leave, April?"

"Maybe we could leave together; but you wanna hurt Leslie. You wanna make her feel what you felt when you found her screwing your father's brains out. Like I said, shooting her would be a waste when there's only one way to REALLY stick it to that bitch. There's one thing in this town that you know she loves more than herself, right now."

"Humbert."

"Yeah babe; she let me rail the shit out of her because I said I was gonna do the same thing to him that I did to Brad. She let me fuck her, to save Humbert Jenkins."

"April."

"She loves him, and he loves her; only he's still in denial about his truth." April deftly slid the gun away from her former mentor examining the weapon for a few seconds before handing it back to her. She leaned in planting a kiss on Red's cheek gathering up the second backpack walking to the end of the fence.

"What will you do?"

"Whatever I want after I leave Maplewood; I can live on these tits for a long time, babe." Red watched the chubby blonde walk down the winding sidewalk until she disappeared from sight. It hit her harder than she realized as she glanced down at the pistol in her grasp.

*

Patty sat in the backseat of her father's Lincoln continental staring out at the passing streets. Her parents were silent other than some labored breathing from her mother who'd been prescribed some tranquilizers to avoid a panic attack. Mr. Clark sat rigidly upright in the driver's seat staring out at the oncoming road unable to even think of what to say to his daughter. His phone had been ringing off the hook since the morning before he even realized his only child wasn't home. He chaffed at the thought that news media was already contacting him besides being scheduled for a meeting with his boss the following day.

"What are we gonna do Bill?" He glanced over finding his wife waiting for an answer.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I don't know; I guess we're gonna take it one step at a time, Sally." Patty glanced at the back of her parent's heads feeling the grief and ruin she'd brought home. Her silly ambition and social climbing destroyed everything leaving behind a grief insurmountable.

"What the hell kinda answer is that, Bill?"

"The only one I got to give; lay off me Sally." His voice was strained.

"I can't go to work; I can't go shopping and I can't show my face around town!" Sally Clark was starting to panic turning further in the passenger's seat facing her husband.

"Look I'm trying to concentrate on the road."

"YOU SHOULD A CONCENTRATED ON RAISING OUR DAUGHTER!!" Patty's eyes widened at her mother's admission.

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!!"

"DAMMIT BILL ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?!!" Sally Clark grabbed a handful of her husband's jacket sleeve as they began to jostle in the front seat.

Patty watched her mother get shoved into the passenger side door as things became quiet in the front seat. Mr. Clark had difficulty dealing with chaos and unchecked emotion visibly restraining himself as Patty covered her face with both hands. Red had made good on her threat to destroy the former social climber's life as her mother's phone began ringing.

"Hello mom."There was some frenzied noise from the phone as Mr. Clark glanced over at his wife witnessing the horror forming on her face.

"NO MOM, I WOULDN'T DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT!!"

"What is it?" He asked concerned.

"Somebody sent that disgusting sex video to my mother." Patty burst into tears crouching down low behind her mother's seat as her father peered at her in the rear view mirror.

*

Betty Joe trudged up the sidewalk with a bag containing a burger and fries for Humbert while taking a few sips from the soda in his other hand. It was dusk in Maplewood as night approached. She'd kept company with him since everything came crashing down with the discovery of his "girlfriend's" duplicity. She wasn't surprised to find him unmoved as she offered the food.

"You need to eat."

"Thanks, you didn't have to do that Betty Joe." She sat down beside him also handing him the half-filled paper cup from Happy's.

"Well, I feel guilty about what happened."

"Why?"

"You broke up with your girlfriend because I showed you that picture." Humbert sat with his hand resting on his fist watching the traffic pass. Betty Joe drew her knees up into her chest wrapping her arms around them.

"She wasn't my girlfriend."

"Leslie?"

"I don't know what she is anymore; she got what she wanted in the end. Did you tell her yet?" Betty Joe stared at the face of her phone finding a few unanswered calls from Leslie as Humbert took a bite out of his burger.

"No, but was the fat girl crazy or something?"

"I don't know, but she was fucked up and Leslie knew about it. They were probably planning something together."

"No."

"Huh?"

"She done give me a thousand dollars to show you that picture, Humbert." Humbert stopped eating looking directly at Betty Joe's bucktoothed visage. He wasn't sure he could trust anyone at this point. She took the soda from him taking a sip or two.

"Thousand dollars, huh?"

"Well, I still gotta pick it up." Betty Joe admitted.

"How much I owe you for the food?" He began fishing around in his pockets for some money sure the girl had been swindled out of her time.

"It's okay Humbert; I gotta get outta here and get home. My mom's probably gonna whup me for getting home late, though." Betty Joe stared down the block at the short brick wall in the distance adjacent to the rest stop's neon sign.