Page 130 of When Ben Loved Tim
“We took a stupid risk,” Allison says, wiping her eyes. “I should have known better, but you know how my dad is. He’s usually like clockwork. I didn’t hear him arrive. I wasn’t even listening for him yet. When the door to my room flew open…” She shakes her head. “It went so fast. My dad started yelling. Ronnie put on his underwear while trying to reason with him. He apologized and… It got ugly. Ronnie did fine. I think he was mostly shocked, but my dad threw the rest of his clothes at him and started knocking things over. As soon as Ronnie got his shirt on, my dad grabbed him by it and dragged him to the front door.”
“Like, down the stairs?” I ask in disbelief.
Allison nods rapidly. “It was horrible! I tried to get my dad to stop. I started pulling on his arm, so he’d let go of Ronnie. I was scared they’d both fall down the stairs and get hurt. That’s when it happened. Everything was so confusing but…” Her chin trembles. “My dad backhanded me.”
I study the red welt on her cheek, wincing in sympathy. The swelling has already spread. She’s going to have a black eye.
“You can’t go home,” I say.
“I know.” Allison sighs wearily. “Not tonight anyway.”
“Not ever again!” I growl, my temper rising.
“I’ll be fine,” Allison says. “This has never happened before. At least, not this bad. I just need to make it to summer, when we move.”
I’m not okay with that. What if he pushes her down the stairs the next time he goes on a drunken rampage? “You can stay at my house,” I tell her. “For as long as you need to. I’m sure my parents will be fine with it.”
Allison shakes her head. “I don’t want them to get mixed up in this.”
“Why not?”
“Because of what they might do,” she says, her voice strained. “My dad isn’t abusive. He’s just lost.”
I flip down the visor on her side, so she can see herself in the mirror. “That sure looks like abuse to me!”
Allison barely glances at herself before flipping the visor up again. “It’s not that simple.”
I press my lips together before putting the car back in drive. “I’ll sneak you up to my room. How about that?”
“Your house is the first place my dad is going to look. I’m surprised he hasn’t already.”
And when he does, my parents will come knocking on my bedroom door. Even if I manage to hide her, if they hear us talking afterwards, they’ll get involved.
“This is why we need more friends,” I say. “You can’t stay with Ronnie. That would only throw fuel on the fire. What about Leon?”
“His parents will have questions too.”
“Right.”
We both think in silence. All she needs is a couch to crash on.
“I might have an idea.”
Allison perks up. “Really?”
“Yeah. We’ll need Tim’s help.”
I can practically feel the temperature dropping in the car. She hasn’t been fond of him since the ditching incident at the mall. Allison keeps questioning if he’s good for me, when really, I suspect she’s projecting her own opinion of him. She’s already shaking her head.
“I don’t want him to know about this.”
“I won’t tell him the details. But it would be a place to stay for the night. Without any adults around. And trust me, your dad will never think to look for you there.”
After more coaxing, I manage to talk her into the idea. Then I jump through every hoop necessary to get Tim to meet me at the end of his block. We drive over to his house, Allison remaining in the car when I step outside to talk to him.
“What’s going on?” Tim asks.
“Allison had a bad argument with her father. Like…reallybad. She needs somewhere to stay until he calms down.”
