The People I'd Die For (Part 12)

After about five minutes of being in the kitchen alone, Brian started to wonder what was going on in the living room. The cereal with orange juice was beginning to lose it's original appeal, and it was starting to taste bad. He didn't want to waste any of Amy's food but he didn't want to have to choke it down either. After fiddling with his spoon for a bit, Brian poured the rest of the cereal down the drain and hoped that it wouldn't clog. This was hardly his biggest problem. 1

Sitting back down in his chair, Brian waited for Amy to come back into the kitchen. He heard the phone ring twice, but then the ringing stopped. Somebody must have picked up the phone. Curiosity got the best of him, so Brian went out into the hallway from the swinging kitchen door and headed for the living room. He looked to his left and saw the Persian vase that Jake had accidently broken while he, Brian, Kat and Amy were having a cartwheeling contest in the hallway. There were still glue marks in the vase, but you could only see them if you looked very carefully. Brian let out a shaky sigh and felt a tear fall out of his right eye. He wiped his cheek and rubbed his eyes with his palms. He wouldn't let Kat see him cry, or Amy for that mattter. Not ever. 2

As Brian walked into the living room, he saw Amy sitting on the rug in front of the fireplace, hugging her knees up to her chest. With his hands in his pockets, Brian walked up to where Amy was sitting. "Where's Kat?" he asked. 3

Amy glanced up at Brian and then looked back into the fireplace. "Hallway." she replied shortly. "Somebody called for her so I gave her the phone."4

Brian took a look into the front hallway and saw Kat pacing back and fourth with the telephone up to her left ear. "Any idea who it was?" Brian asked, turning back to Amy.5

Amy shook her head and said, "No...I didn't ask."6

Feeling slightly annoyed with Amy, Brian rolled his eyes and sat down on the couch. He bent over, sighed, and put his head in his hands. This felt like the longest day ever. A few seconds later, Kat came into the living room and dropped the phone on the couch next to Brian. "Who was that?" Brian asked. 7

"My...um...my mother." Kat replied, looking at the ground. 8

After a long pause, Brian asked, "What'd she want?"9

"She...She wanted me to bail her out." Kat said, now looking at Brian. "I told her that we didn't have the money...She didn't even care. She wants me to go get some kind of loan." Tears slowly started to fall down onto Kat's cheeks. "She was so...angry with me. Like all of this is my fault...And she expects me to be the adult and I don't even know what I'm doing. She expects...She expects-"

By this time, Kat couldn't talk because she was crying too hard. Her hands were covering her eyes and salty trails of tears ran down her face. Brian got up from the couch and took Kat into his arms. Kat still had her hands on her eyes and was breathing out chopily. Brian stroked her hair and tried to calm her down with a soft "Shush..."10

Amy looked up at Kat and Brian and couldn't help but feel guilty. She wanted to help Kat feel better. She wanted to help herself feel better. But she wasn't sure if there was anything more she could do. Brian was always there for anybody who needed comfort and could comfort that person with ease. Amy stared at Brian and Kat and watched how comfortable she was with him. She was calming down, almost asleep in his arms. A pang of jealousy shot through Amy but as soon as she felt it, a stronger feeling of shame took over. Kat needed this comfort now way more than she did. Kat was going to need these gestures, and it didn't matter who it came from. 11

Kat sniffled one more time before finally lifting her head up from Brian's chest. As she looked up at his face, Brian reached down and wiped away a tear on Kat's left cheek with his thumb. "Are you going to be okay?" Brian asked.12

With a look into his dark brown eyes, Kat remembered the night she had kissed Brian. All of the sudden, Kat felt a burning sensation going from her stomach all the way up to her heart. This guilt was overwhelming. She should have told Jake when she had the chance about how she had kissed Brian. She should have told him how much she loved him. Her last words to him were a lie. She told him that he was going to be fine. She should have told him that she loved him one final time...But she didn't. Bow Jake would never know the truth. 13

"Kat?" Brian said, looking concerned.14

Kat noticed that her gaze had shifted while she had been thinking and her eyes were now staring at the living room carpet. Her eyes adjested from the white of the carpet to the brown of Brian's eyes as she turned her head toward him. "I hope so..." Kat said in reply tp Brian's first question. 15

Amy grabbed onto the arm of the couch and lifted herself up. "Kat..." Amy said slowly, not wanting to upset her. "What are you going to do?"16

Kat swallowed and wiped her eyes. "I guess...I guess I have to go talk to my mother." 17

"When?" Amy asked quickly.18

"Now." Kat replied. "I have to get this over with."19

****20

The car ride to the police station seemed to be a long one, even though the station was only about five miles away from Amy's house. At first, Kat had insisted that she go alone, but Amy and Brian insisted right back that they didn't want Kat to go through this confrontation alone. They all got into Amy's car, Brian in the driver's seat, and Kat and Amy in the back. The ride was quiet and solemn, but nothing less could be expected. The only noises that were made was the occasional click of a sun visor snapping in and out of place.21

When they were at last at the police station, Kat went in front of Amy and Brian and walked up to a police officer who was filing papers at his desk. "Excuse me." Kat said. 22

The police officer paused for a second, then said, "May I help you?"23

"I'm here to see my mother, Julia Schier." Kat replied with not much tone in her voice.24

The officer paused again, almost as if he was annoyed by Kat's prescense, then let out a sigh and took out a clipboard from the top drawer of his desk. It had a very long list of names on it. "Name, please."25

"Kathryn Schier." Kat replied slowly.26

The officer took her name down and wrote down the time as well. With the pen he wrote Kat's name down with, he pointed at Amy and Brian. "Who are they?" he asked.27

"They're friends of the family." Kat replied, getting very tired of this officer's rudeness.28

"We only allow two visitors per prisoner." the policeman said as he sat back in his chair.29

Just hearing the word "prisoner" as a word to describe her mother humiliated Kat beyond reason. Kat turned around to see Brian standing behind Amy with his hands on her shoudlers. Amy was looking down at the blue and white tiled floor with her arms crossed. "It's okay." Brian said. "We'll wait here."30

'This is anything but okay!' Kat thought. The policeman that took Kat's name down led her into the hallway of jail cells. Three cells down from the entrance was her mother's cell. After telling Kat that she had a time limit of ten minutes, the policeman left Kat and her mother to themselves. Julia was lying on the cot provided in the cell and did a double take when she saw Kat. "Hey, Kit-Kat." Julia said in a slow, silent, but almost cheery voice. Julia put her right arm up and let it hang over the bar of her cell.31

Kat backed up a bit, feeling that she was too close to a person she hated this much to be even remotely comfortable. "You called me...So what do you want?"32

Julia squinted her eyes and said, "I need you to bail me out, Kat."33

Holding back her tears, crossed her arms and looked around nervously. "I-I told you mom, we don't have that kind of money." Kat shifted her weight anxiously from foot to foot.34

Julia rolled her eyes and tightened her fist that was hanging through the cell door. "And I told YOU, Kathryn, get a damn bail loan!"35

Kat put her hand on her forehead and averted her mother's stare. "I don't know how..."36

Julia pulled her arm back through the jail cell door and said, "Well, let's add that to the long list of things my daughter's not good at!" Kat closed her eyes when she heard this and clenched her teeth. "Three days, Kat!" Julia spat. "I'm going to be in this rat hole for three days until my trial when my lawyer gets me off. Is that really what you want for me?"

"No." Kat replied, now looking her mother in the eye. "You deserve worse."37

Julia looked at Kat with her eyes half squinted and her head tilted slightly to the left. Julia had her mouth open, trying to think of something to say, but Kat carried on.38

"What you've done...I have no words to describe how much I hate you for it. Bail is the least of your problems. You're not getting out of this one. You've destroyed your life and mine. I''m your DAUGHTER. Didn't that ever mean anything to you?"39

Julia continued to stare at Kat so Kat continued talking. "You can forget about me getting you bail money or seeing me after the trial. I hope the judge gives you hell, mom. Cause that's what you deserve."40

Julia and Kat stared at each other for a moment, knowing that this was probably the last time they'd ever talk to each other. Kat finally looked down to her right and walked out of the cell hallway. She felt her heart beating faster and her stomach getting tighter. She found Brian and Amy waiting patiently for her by the door to exit into the parking lot. Kat stopped and looked up at Brian and Amy. Nothing needed to be said, not then at least. They all got into Amy's car and left the police station, not exactly sure where they were going next.41

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