Page 33 of Last First Time
“I have to go. Call Abernathy. I’m sorry, sweetheart.” The phone disconnects, and I stare at it for a moment.
Then I call Aaron. “You’re going to have to tell me what the hell is going on.”
He sighs. “Hang on,” he mutters. I can hear noises behind him, then a bang of a door closing. “Okay, K.T. I guess Reed called you, huh?”
“Yeah, but we didn’t get to talk long. Also why was he calling collect from jail?”
“Reed got picked up for assaulting Senator von Esrington.”
“What?” I’m pretty sure I’ve fried my phone with the pitch I shrieked at, but well, surprised and shocked don’t even begin to cover it.
“Jeez, K.T. Warn a guy already.” He sniffs. “Or maybe stop yelling so we can figure out what’s going to happen next.”
“Oh my God, Aaron, if you don’t stop rambling and tell me what the hell is going on, I’ll come to the police station right now and kick your ass.” My voice is shaking. I’m shaking.
“Look, I’ve only got a few minutes. The senator apparently took some sketchy pictures of you and Reed together and is planning on having them all over the news by tonight. Reed responded by beating the crap out of the man. He’s in a holding cell, but I’m trying to get him processed quickly so he can appear before the judge tonight and not spend the night in jail.”
Aaron coughs a little. “I’m sorry, K.T. He asked me to call, but I’ve been pushing his paperwork through as quickly as possible. The senator is dragging his feet about everything and is probably still in there giving his statement. Asshole.”
“I think I’m going to pass out.” I can’t quite catch my breath, and my heart is racing like I’ve run a marathon.
“Shit, K.T., you need to sit down or something.” Aaron swears. “Look, I’m going to get back in there and see what I can do to help get Reed out and in front of the judge.”
I still can’t catch my breath. “What do I need to do?”
“Probably call a lawyer, K.T. The senator wants us to throw the book at him.” With a heavy sigh, he disconnects the call.
Here I am, sitting in front of Reed’s stupid house being mad at him for not being home to console me, and all heck is breaking loose in his life. Some girlfriend I’m turning out to be.
I call Thom Abernathy, our friend and lawyer, and tell him what I’ve learned. He agrees to meet me down at the station in a couple of hours and we’ll see what we can find out in person. With any luck, the judge will agree to release Reed on his own recognizance, and maybe even drop the charges against him.
It’s already 8:00. I hurry home and change back into business clothes, and as I’m heading out the door, my phone starts to ring. It’s my parents.
“Mom, Pops, I really need to go. There’s a problem here.”
“Yes sunshine, we saw.” My stomach drops. Guess I know whether the photos have aired. Looks like everyone has seen whatever these photos are, not just the local Valentine residents. And I mean, that would be bad enough, obviously.
I sigh. “I haven’t looked yet, Mom. How bad is it?” My hand is already in my hair, tugging away at the little chignon I knotted it into. I’ll definitely have to redo it.
“Well, that’s why we’re calling. We wanted to see how you were feeling about everything.” Mom’s voice is always soothing. She never loses her cool, never yells. She is about as peaceful as it gets in all possible ways, even in the midst of a shitstorm.
“Well, everything is crazy here, honestly. Reed is in jail for punching that man in the face.”
“Make love, not war.” Pop’s voice carries through the phone, and I want to throw something at his persistently simplistic world view.
“Pops it’s not always that easy. The senator is definitely the bad guy in this situation.” I’ve finally tugged so hard that my entire hairdo is out, and everything is a wonky mess all down one shoulder. I’m still not feeling any better, and my phone keeps buzzing against my face, likely from texts coming in about the breaking news.
“Karisma, I never once said it was easy. Nothing about this life is easy. All I meant was that Reed shouldn’t have hit that man, no matter what he did.”
I make a loud, exasperated sound. “Pops, I know what you have works for you and Mom, but this is Reed Harrington IV. He lives in his own world and plays by a different set of rules from the rest of us regular people. And I know this was really out of character for him, but from what I can tell, he had a really good reason.”
The silence on the line is deafening. “Hello?” I finally say.
“We’re here, little sunshine. We’ll burn some sage for both of you tonight. Come by and visit us at the co-op if you need to get away for a while.” My mom sounds every bit as placid as before, as if this entire conversation almost hadn’t happened.
“Okay mom. I’m going to go check on Reed now. I’ll call you later.”
Three phone calls in a row. That’s more than I usually get in a month, and not a single one of them involves good news. I should probably stop answering my phone.
