Mean Girls of Maplewood Ch. 23

"What's going on out here; we got a fucking convention or something?!!" Reed tried to assert his dominance verbally over perceived subordinates noticing how both men exited the car with Deputy Jimmy hanging back while Mooney was obviously sizing him up. He looked at Deputy Linda noticing the position of her hands.

"Sir, mayor came by the station this morning; said you were being given a leave of absence." Mooney was moving laterally one hand pressed to his chest, the other hovering near his weapon. Deputy Jimmy remained behind the open door of their patrol car.

"I don't care what he said, I asked you a question!"

"Well sir, seems Bobby didn't frame it just right when he talked to you; it's uh, out of your hands. I really hate putting it to you like this, but you've been benched."

"I'll do it tomorrow, I want custody of this uh, suspect." Reed didn't miss a beat either unaware of his crazed appearance or indifferent to his employees. None of them had ever challenged him before and he wasn't going to back down living his personal mantra to the end.

Leslie looked up, watching everything from the backseat of the patrol car, visibly distressed. Deputy Linda was already fingering her weapon knowing the former sheriff wouldn't be able to survive a three way dance. His weapon sat loosely in its holster. He could draw it if he wanted with no hesitation and everybody knew where his daughter got her temper from. The defrocked lawman stared at his subordinates, eyes resting finally on Leslie.

"YOU OKAY IN THERE?!!" His voice was shaky and gravelly harsh from all the alcohol ingested over the last few hours. There was a light breeze wafting through the air as Reed stared at the gathered people, some of whom seemed panicked, but too nosey to run for cover.

"LESLIE?!!" He called out again staring directly at her face discovering abject fear mirrored there.

"I'm fine." She finally relented giving him a sliver of hope.

Just hearing her voice was mana from heaven, a tremor ran through his body at the sound of her voice that he hoped no one noticed. He looked over at Deputy Linda then to the housekeeper Rosa watching from the open doorway of Leslie's home, hands clutched to her chest. There was no doubt that any sudden movement on his part might be interpreted negatively. He glanced over looking at Mooney, audibly breathing while they were filmed by a large number of camera phones.

"Who did they put in my chair?"

"Me."

The former sheriff fought the burning anger threatening to explode from his person, not wanting Leslie to see him out of control any further. She was carrying his baby in his mind, a fragile lattice of sanity remaining to keep the peace. He processed staring intently at his former top deputy, knowing the man was right for the job before he even took it.

It was one of the reasons he leaned heavily on his subordinate over the years. He'd been intent on breaking him down mentally, emotionally, or otherwise to make himself look like the right man for a job he knew he didn't deserve. Wyatt Reed scoffed, shoulders slumping as he glanced back at Deputy Linda whose hand was now on her revolver.

"Figures, bet you couldn't wait to rub my nose in it, huh Mooney?"

"I'm gonna need your weapon sir; have you been drinking?" Deputy Jimmy tensed up watching from behind his door with the shotgun at the ready. Reed looked at acting Sheriff Mooney incredulously, then glanced back at Leslie before speaking.

"I want to talk to her, just for a minute." It was a demand half mumbled under his breath.

"I don't know if I can let you do that sir."

Reed's head dipped to the side as he rolled his shoulders causing his former subordinates to tense up. He looked as if he would pop as Jimmy brought the end of the shotgun up into his armpit. Some of the people watching from a distance started to scatter as Reed glared at the new Sheriff of Maplewood.

"She's having my baby Jeb, please." His shoulders slumped in defeat.

Sheriff Mooney took a long hard look at the fallen man standing before him before looking over at Leslie sitting in the back of the patrol car.

Leslie nodded.

"Okay Wyatt, you can talk to her for a minute or two, but I'm gonna need your weapon."

Sheriff Mooney felt a twinge of pity noticing his former employee's face lighten up a bit at being able to talk to Leslie. The deputies watched as he carefully unbuckled his gun belt holding it aloft until Deputy Linda retrieved it from his side still handling her weapon. Deputy Jimmy lowered his shotgun but didn't return it to their patrol car.

Reed stood there almost frozen in place until Sheriff Mooney nodded acquiescing to his single wish. Deputy Linda backed away a few steps as he turned arms outstretched from his sides walking to her car almost pigeon toed. The man they all knew and slaved under was long gone never to return.

Reed half stumbled to the open back window of the patrol car staring intently at Leslie caring nothing for the world around him. She sat staring straight ahead silently refusing to acknowledge his presence even as the fifty year old knelt on the gravel looking into the window at her profile. She was unmoving akin to a mannequin as he glanced down at his prostrate situation feeling rocks, pebbles and tiny bits of glass cutting into his knees.

It didn't matter one bit, because Wyatt Reed was here to shoot his final shot.

"I know about the baby; I know Leslie and I couldn't be happier. None of this matters anymore because we can be together now, get married. I want you, want this baby more than anything in the world. I don't care about anything else Leslie; I love you."

He looked down at his knees feeling the pain, hopeful that she would accept his proposal. He was already thinking ahead to raising his child, hopefully a boy that he would raise right this time. Red was gone but God had seen fit to give him a second chance to be the husband and father he should've been from the start. He was dedicated to spending the rest of his life making Leslie and their baby happy. There was nothing else he wanted in the world. Nothing else he wanted in the entire universe.

Leslie remained silent as Sheriff Mooney, the deputies and her housekeeper Rosa watched waiting for the other shoe to drop. It seemed that time had frozen for those fleeting seconds as Leslie slowly took a deep breath.

"Can you hear my voice, daddy?"

"YES!" Reed perked up at Leslie's use of her pet name for him.

"Do you understand me?"

"Yes, I do Leslie; I love you." He was shaking with joy simply from her speaking to him. His barrel chest was heaving, his mouth gaped to compensate for a near anxiety attack triggered by insane euphoria.

"I'm sorry about what happened to Red."

"Yeah, I know baby; I love you so much and I want us to be a family. I want this baby for us, want to be a good father to him." Reed was trembling with happiness, fingers interlocked in front of his chest as if in prayer to the stunning brunette teen.

"This is not your baby."

Those were the last few words he heard for the next couple of moments as audible sound left his person casting the man adrift in a hellish limbo oblivious to everyone around him. There was an echo to the spoken words, a heavy weight that landed square in his chest with the force of a cinderblock as he stared back at Leslie Kennedy's profile still unmoving. The backseat window of that patrol car was open but there might as well have been a thick brick wall between them for all he cared. His face was already twisted into something unrecognizable to his former subordinates.

"I fucked you because I was mad at your daughter. She made me do so many disgusting things, but I turned out worse than she expected. You have no idea what she did to me, and I hated her for it. I wanted my revenge; I wanted her to know how it felt to have someone stab you in the heart. So I fucked your brains out. I played with you like a toy. I enjoyed it when she caught us. I never loved you and I never will you bastard. I hate you."

The dam broke as Wyatt Reed former sheriff of Maplewood, cried like a baby.

"You will never see this baby. You will never touch this child, never know it on any level. This is not your baby and I'm rich enough to keep you away from it until you are dead. My family is wealthy, but you'd never even come close to making me use their money even with the best lawyer in the country. You are not the father. You will never be the father of my baby. I want you to listen and understand this daddy."

"Leslie." He mumbled still kneeling by the window as she craned her head looking him directly in the eyes.

"GO TO HELL!!!"

Leslie Anne Kennedy screamed in his face so loud, everyone present heard it. It carried with an empty echo like the remnants of a gun fired as she turned profile again. No one present knew what would happen next but Sheriff Mooney and Deputy Linda inched closer for altogether different reasons.

Reed was oblivious to the people hovering over him as he struggled to his feet standing a head taller than all of them. He glanced at Mooney for a few seconds nodding silently, then stared at Deputy Jimmy lips drawn tight on his face. Linda was positioned less than a foot away expecting him to lunge inside the patrol car and throttle his lover.

"You take care now; I'm going."

There was no idea if he was speaking with Leslie or his former coworkers. She was still sitting there staring straight ahead, shunning the shattered man. She'd inadvertently completed her mission to destroy the father of her best friend and worst enemy simultaneously.

"Hey Wyatt, let me have the keys' I'll drop you back home, okay?" Sheriff Mooney offered an olive branch emphasizing with the pain Reed was experiencing.

"No, its alright; I'm gonna hoof it back home. I need some air in my lungs Mooney; you're going to be a great sheriff for this town." Reed gingerly planted the patrol car keys in Mooney's palm, followed by the badge that defined his station in life for close to a decade.

"Come on, let me take you home Wyatt."

"I've made up my mind."

Reed turned staring longingly at the woman who'd rejected him, then at Deputy Linda nodding his head. He shoved hands in his pockets biting into his lower lip as a thought ran through his mind. He inched within earshot of Deputy Linda's patrol car passing the back window.

"Humbert Jenkins is gonna be A-Okay." He mumbled puzzling his former subordinates.

Leslie's eyes went wide, her mouth opening as she looked around failing to see the man she destroyed shuffling off. She twisted in her seat trying to look behind her out the back window as Deputy Linda noticed.

"MS. KENNEDY, YOU SETTLE DOWN IN THERE!!" It was futile, Reed was already half off the block heading towards the entrance of the gated community.

Leslie lost it becoming hysterical enough that Sheriff Mooney, his deputies, and Rosa crowded her at the patrol car. She knew what was implied, horrified at the thought of bringing more pain to the person she selfishly loved more than herself. Deputy Jimmy was busy warding off onlookers intent on crowding the patrol car to film the proceedings with their phones.

"Ma'am, what is it?" Sheriff Mooney asked looking off in the direction Reed had gone while Deputy Linda and Rosa struggled with Leslie.

**************

"That was uh, weird." Mike commented now behind the wheel while Antoinette rode shotgun. Carlos had taken the backseat currently enraptured by a surprise acquisition in the form of Brad Tucker's game ball.

"Whatever, I can't believe I ended up with the game ball." Carlos commented.

"Hey Antoinette, you okay?" Mike side eyed his cousin finding her brooding more than before. Both brothers were worried as she fidgeted about coming out of her jacket.

"What the fuck is wrong with this town?" She commented.

"Hey, I bet shit weirder than this goes on in a lot of these small backwoods towns. Don't sweat it, we come from a good family with morals; Chelsea just got caught up trying to help one of your friends."

"Patty was cool, but she was always looking for a come up and my sister just went along with it. Now she's in the hospital and her friend is on the down low because of some stupid shit she got herself into. I'm sitting here trying to figure out if I should put my foot up Patty's stanky butt for getting Chelsea involved. She's the one who talked my sister into joining that cheerleader shit in the first place."

"I think you should just concentrate on going to school and helping your sister recover." Mike did his best to be the voice of reason amongst the trio, but he was starting to feel it after the incident with April and now Brad Tucker.

"What cereal box did you get that shit from?" Carlos chimed in favoring the football in his hand.

"Shut up fool."

"I'm just saying maybe Antoinette's right."

"Right about what?"

"Everything."

Antoinette looked into the backseat heartened that maybe her cousin was starting to come around. Instead she found Carlos trying to covertly snicker obviously trolling her. She quickly snatched the football tossing it out the window into the blurred scenery.

"HEY!!"

Half of Carlos body was suddenly in the front seat as he desperately snatched after the long gone football while Mike laughed his ass off. Antoinette shoved back with an elbow trying to push him into the backseat. He looked back out the rear window seeing Brad Tucker's game ball bounce off another vehicle flying into a wooded area on the side of the road.

"MAKE A U-TURN MIKE, I GOTTA GET THAT BALL MAN!!" Carlos sounded desperate, his whining making his older brother laugh outloud as he hit a sharp U-turn making Antoinette inadvertently fly into her passenger side door.

"HEY!!" She yelled as the car sped halfway down the road barely stopping herself from flying into the dashboard with both hands outstretched.

Carlos jumped out of the car angry stopping momentarily to reach inside the passenger window punching her in the shoulder. Antoinette was way ahead of her cousin batting away his other attempts at hitting her digging her nails into the top of his fist. Carlos was just about two years older, but she'd always bested him physically in their youth.

"BITCH!!" Mike was still laughing his ass off as Carlos ran off into the tall, sun baked grass at the side of the road looking for his prize. Antoinette sat there gathering herself before noticing Mike watching.

"You better go help him find that ball or I'm gonna leave you on the side of the road."

"Bullshit."

"Try me, Antoinette." Mike threatened completely bluffing, but she didn't know that. Her older cousin had one of the best poker faces in his county. Antoinette scoffed jumping out of the car slamming his door as hard as she could.

"Asshole."

"Don't come back without that ball." Mike received a one finger salute for his troubles looking into his rear view mirror as she walked into the tall grass disappearing from view. He went to his phone reading some text messages.

She walked deep into the tall browning grass slapping intermittently at the mosquitoes biting at her uncovered arms wishing she hadn't taken her jacket off in the car. Antoinette was convinced Mike would leave her there on the lonely stretch of road if she didn't at least help Carlos find that game ball.

The sounds of chirping insects and birds assailed her ears as she realized this was truly the middle of nowhere noticing a high brick wall off in the distance separated by the patch of wooded greenery she was currently traversing. Antoinette recognized it as the border of the rich side of Maplewood little more than a tiny makeshift neighborhood for a high end middle class as her foot nudged the aforementioned game ball.

Antoinette retrieved the ball weighing it in her hand as she considered tossing it further into the wood to spite her cousin Mike. Ultimately another need superseded that thought as she looked around checking her surroundings feeling the need to pee. She dropped the ball gathering up the hem of her t-shirt dropping her pants squatting in the tall grass, nervous.

After a few minutes, Antoinette could hear the crunch of foliage under footfalls figuring it was Carlos. She leaned forward placing her hands on the game ball considering showing it to him before tossing if further into the wood. Antoinette managed to get her pants up as he approached. She was obscured in the tall grass hidden from view.

Instead of Carlos, Antoinette found herself looking at this disheveled, visibly distraught man who looked like some saddle bum walking the backroads. She opted to stay hidden in a standing squat taking stock of the man who slowly walked by with this weak shambling gait. He looked as if he would tumble over at any minute suddenly stopping in place. Antoinette could hear the man talking to himself thinking him crazed.

"Humbert Jenkins, yeah you're gonna miss that punk when he's dead. You're gonna beg me to come back, but I'm just gonna take my baby. He's mine, I-deserve that baby after what you did to my little girl. You're gonna cry Leslie, cry for me but I'm gonna take that baby somewhere you'll never find him. Oh, I'm sorry I failed you. I should've been a better father; we should've taken on the world together. You were right about us Melissa."

Reed had no idea he was being observed by one of his daughter's victims.

"RED!!!" He suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs almost falling on his face in the grass.

Antoinette watched the distraught man facepalm openly weeping into his hand as she took a good look at his uniform realizing he was a cop. She inadvertently crunched some brush underfoot drawing his attention. Antoinette got a good look at Reed's war torn features. She realized this was the sheriff of Maplewood, father of the girl who'd hospitalized her sister Chelsea. He continued onward as she stood up with the football.

"HEY MAN!!" She yelled without thinking.

Reed stopped short turning back to look at the sixteen year old for a few seconds, lightly nodding. There was no doubt this man had been emotionally gutted.

"Yes?"

"YOUR DAUGHTER PUT MY SISTER IN THE FUCKING HOSPITAL!!" Antoinette accused standing there with the game ball in her hands.

"I'm very sorry." She was caught off guard for the second time that morning blinking profusely at the offered apology. He turned away beginning to stalk off, but she wasn't through with the mentally battered man.

"HEY, I'M TALKING TO YOU!!" Antoinette screamed after him.

Reed didn't acknowledge her shambling off down the road with single minded purpose of criminal intent known only to himself. Antoinette's eyes narrowed, the feeling of disrespect from this man overwhelming her as she weighed the game ball in her hand.

"FUCK-YOU!!" Brad Tucker's game ball hit him dead center back of the head with a heavy thud.

Reed stopped in his tracks picking up the ball staring at it for a few seconds, before turning to find her standing there, chest heaving with rage. He lightly tossed the ball at her feet content to continue on his way. She would never know the former sheriff was focused on getting home to the cabinet holding his arsenal. He was intent on doing one last thing to hurt the lover who'd shattered his world. It would be motivated simply to elicit a genuine emotional response from Leslie Kennedy towards himself. He wanted her to feel something for him, even hate. Reed turned half hobbling off making Antoinette bristle with rage.

"NO TE LEVES DE MI MADRE FUCKER!! ¡¡TE VOY A MATAR PORQUE NO PUEDO MATAR A TU HIJA, PERRA!!" Despite being sixteen years of age, Antoinette was a sizable, slightly chubby version of her older sister. She tackled him from the back with a running lunge capturing the back of his thighs. Wyatt Reed went down like a sack of bricks as she climbed up his back raining blows to the back and side of his head.