Chapter 29 - One Who Sows Discord

A Chapter by LT Kodzo

An unexpected cold front settled over Northern Virginia the day of my arrest. The wind chill registered minus seventeen degrees Fahrenheit. In the back of the police car, the cuffs cut into my wrists. I fought to keep my face muscles calm. My mind raced with possible scenarios.

A scare tactic.

No, they don’t “arrest” people without evidence. But what? My fingerprints? Daniel saw me throw the bottle? Nicole talked?

The car stopped.

Nicole talked.

I stepped into the cold knowing that I was caught. In the police station, the officer removed my cuffs and let me call Nanny Bella.

"Don't cry," I told her.

She did anyway.

"Tell someone to come get me."

I hung up. The officer put my phone and other belongings into a plastic bag. He asked if I needed to use the bathroom or wanted something to drink.

I didn’t.

They wouldn’t question me without a lawyer or a guardian present. I was left alone in an empty room. The TV dramas had it wrong. The four walls didn't contain a two way mirror. Only a camera in the corner. But they could squash that. I would sit here, posture straight, saying nothing.

And I did.

For thirty-five minutes.

Staring at stale white paint felt like hours. Like abandonment. Like betrayal. Like disaster. There was no guarantee that Nanny Bella would find anyone to bail me out. But I didn’t let it show. I pushed all that pain and humiliation down where it was used to living.

By the time the door finally opened, a stoic frown was frozen on my face. A woman in a pinned-striped suit shut the door behind her and sat down.

"Hello, Courtney, my name is Barbara Jackson. Senator John Manchester is a friend of mine and he's asked me to represent you in this matter."

It wasn’t like I heard her. Not really. The words were there, in my head, but they had to compete with one thought. Nicole talked.

“Excuse me?”

I pinched my lips and pushed the anger at Nicole out of my mind. I will have to deal with her and Daniel later. Right now I needed to get out of this place. Deal with the woman in front of me. “What about my parents?”

"Your father couldn't leave Paris. Your mother is at a writer's conference out west, unreachable."

"Typical." The arrest of their oldest daughter would never interrupt their important plans.

"Don't worry." The woman placed a soft hand on mine. "They'll be back before anything big happens."

I yanked my hand away. "Give me a break." If this wasn't big, nothing was.

She continued to smile. "Bail will be decided today, and your uncle guarantees the bond."

I held back a sigh. If it wasn't for Uncle John, I would be going to jail. The thought sent a quiver through my body that I couldn't mask. My parents wouldn't stop their lives long enough to smash a bug for me.

"Because of your family's position, the judge has agreed to meet with us in his chambers to determine the bail amount."

I nodded. When this was over there was one thing I knew for sure. The hate I have for the two people who contributed to my birth would fuel me. I would graduate in a few months. After that, I wanted nothing more to do with them.

"I don't think it will leak to the press. On the noon news, I noticed that two major sports figures have been doping, an eight-year-old boy is missing and the roads are iced over. I'll do my best to keep this whole event private."

"Why would the news care?" I looked hard at her.

"You're the niece of a US senator. The Manchester name means something." The lawyer put her briefcase on the table and sat across from me. "I haven't seen the evidence, but they don't arrest someone without cause. We won't talk about it right now because this room isn't secure. But there's one thing I need you to understand, if you've never been honest with anyone in your entire life, you need to be honest with me now."

I didn't like her tone.

"Nothing you say to me about your guilt or innocence can ever be released. But if you hold back anything, I can't defend you."

"How do you know my uncle?"

She blinked three times. With a firm hand she yanked on her jacket to smooth out wrinkles that didn't exist.

"I thought so." I leaned forward. "One thing you need to understand. You'd better take good care of me if you want to keep your 'friendship' with Uncle John. Got that?" I relaxed back in the chair.

"You've got it all figured out, don't you."

I lifted my chin.

"Great." She picked up her briefcase. "Then there's nothing more for us to say at the moment."

Some advocate. She didn't have much fight. Whatever. As long as I got out long enough to deal with Daniel, I’d be ready to serve any sentence they gave me. In the judge's chambers, the bail was set and my items were returned. The lawyer dropped me off at home with a firm command not to leave the state except to go into DC for school.

I slammed the car door without answering. I’d do whatever I wanted with my last few moments of freedom.

Nanny Bella drew back the curtain in the window. It would take her a couple of minutes to make it to the front door so I hurried to my car. I couldn't talk to her right now. I had to handle the Daniel situation. The lawyer confirmed Nicole turned me in, the snitch. The sick girl was untouchable, but not her boyfriend. I wouldn’t escape unscathed, but I refused to go down alone. Daniel's name was still all over the evidence. If I could get to Arlington, he’d know what it felt like to be arrested.

As I eased into traffic, I pressed Bailey's speed dial number. She picked up on the first ring.

"Hi, Bay," I said, glad my car had Bluetooth. I didn’t need a cop pulling me over for using a handheld, although Virginia wasn’t as strict as DC. A traffic ticket would revoke my bail.

"What’s up, Courtney?"

"Finalizing things." I couldn't pull the disgust out of my voice. I needed her gossipy mouth one last time. I needed the rumors around Master’s Elite to include more than my arrest, they needed to include Daniel’s purchase of Oxy.

"You sound like you're going to die or something."

"I was arrested."

"Oh my gosh!" The shock in her voice broke something inside of me. I choked back the reality of my situation. Obviously that nosy cop hadn't talked to Bailey. She might be the only real friend I have. “For what?”

"I gave drugs to Nicole." I slowed down through Alexandria toward Crystal City. Bailey believed other things, I could make her believe this. “Daniel told me to drug Nicole.”

"What?!?"

"I’m so sorry.” I tried to make my voice sad. Hard to do went there are so many idiots on the road.

"That makes no sense."

"It's true. I know I shouldn't have done it. It was wrong. But I just liked him so much. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid." I fake pounded my hand on the steering wheel.

"You and Daniel don't even speak."

"We were seeing each other secretly." At the King Street light, I darted left to avoid being smashed by a hotel courtesy van. "You saw how we were last summer."

"I know."

"What I didn't tell you was we had sex."

Bailey was silent.

That was it.

That was my card. I didn’t know how much it would buy me. But it was true and I’d found in my life how much a little bit of truth mixed in with a lie made the lie more believable. Daniel couldn’t deny everything I said without getting defensive and his defensiveness would be his downfall.

"You’re kidding?"

"Please don’t be mad at me. We were a thing." I exhaled. "It happened in the back of his BMW, Labor Day weekend. Then he shut me off for a while, until he met Nicole. Remember that day we saw them together?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, he called me that night. He didn’t know how to break it to Nicole. He wanted me back, but his parents had connections with Nicole’s. They made him invite her to the dance and he needed a rumor to get him free, so I helped him make one up.”

“But he was so angry.”

“An act.” I pulled up to the left turn signal on 23^rd Street. “It was all an act. I was stupid and in love with him and I admit a bit jealous of Nicole. After her accident. We both felt bad, so he got her more drugs." The light turned green.

"And you gave them to her?"

"Yes." I slammed on my brakes to avoid hitting a pedestrian. Gritting my teeth, I waited for the family of three to cross. I'd lost so much over the last six months that I couldn't go to jail carrying the burden by myself. Bailey, the gossip, needed to come through for me. “I shouldn’t have listened to him. But I was confused. He got the pills and told me to give them to her."

"Why would you do that?"

"She was in a ton of pain. I know that was wrong, and I'm going to jail for it, but I shouldn’t go alone. Daniel bought the drugs. He used my affections, Bay."

"He doesn't seem like the type of person who would do that."

"And I do?" I strangled the steering wheel. Come on Bailey, you're my cousin, don't fail me now.

"Yeah. I'd have to say sometimes you really do."

"What?" I swerved as a dented Toyota Camry cut the lane off in front of me. The whole world was out to get me. I leaned on my horn and flipped him a finger.

"You're not a nice person, Courtney."

"Thanks a lot."

"Sometimes you can be horrible."

"What are you talking about?" She couldn't be serious.

"You push people around. You've done it hundreds of times."

"Wow. That's so nice of you to say." I drove close enough to the idiot in front of me to push him down the lane. Who cuts in just to slow down? Get out of my way, idiot. "So, how long have you felt that way?" I couldn’t pull the anger from my tone.

"All our lives."

"You've hated me this whole time."

"No." Bailey paused. "I love you. I just haven't always liked you."

"Well, you won't have to worry about that any more, will you?" Tension tightened my shoulders as I checked my blind spot. A pick-up truck blocked my route around the idiot in front of me. "Good news, then. You'll be free to hang out with better people."

"I didn't mean it like that."

"Really? I think you did." I clicked the end button. The phone dropped from my hand like an old habit. Bailey could bite it. Like everything else in my life, I’d have to do this alone. Daniel's fake reputation wouldn't survive. He walked around all holy while he seduced me. But I discovered his Achilles' heel. Daniel had his church. Sitting in a holding cell helped me figure out my final revenge. I couldn't wait another minute to execute it. I'd go to jail, but he'd be right there with me.

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