Although Kate knew she should’ve gone straight home, she also knew her father wouldn’t be home for another couple of hours. She had her cell on, so he could call and check on her if he wanted, but most of the time he didn’t, so Kate knew for the next two hours she was on her own and free to do exactly as she pleased, she decided to head over to the mall and check things out. Dannie wouldn’t be home from school for at least an hour, so Kate left a voicemail on her friend’s cell, “hey, it’s me. I’m going over to the mall for a few hours. See if your mom’ll bring you over once you get home. If not, I’ll come over after Dad gets home. Seeya!”

Now, she just had to hike the few miles to the mall and because she didn’t feel like walking, so she did what she’d done so many times in the past, turned around and stuck out her thumb. She’d never had any problems hitching a ride, most of the people in this town knew her and never hesitated to give her a lift. She saw the red convertible long before she heard it. It was coming up fast and Kate stepped closer to the road and extended her arm further out. The red car blazed past without even slowing down, Kate was disappointed and in frustration flipped the car off. She quickly put her middle finger back down when she saw the tail lights flash on as the car stopped. Kate worried that she might’ve ticked the driver off and watched in dread as the car shifted into reverse and moved back towards her.

“Where you heading?” the woman shouted at her, once the car was beside her.

Kate leaned over the side of the car, “into town.”

“Get in.”

Kate did as she was told and opened the door. She slid into the smooth leather seat with a sigh, “nice car.”

The woman nodded, “I know.”

After clutching and shifting back into gear the woman turned towards her, “where in town do you want to go?”

“The mall. It’s just outside of town. You know where it is?”

The woman nodded, “I know where town is, you may have to direct me to the mall.”

“You used to live in this town?”

“Yeh, about a hundred years ago. But things never change too much around here, do they?”

Kate agreed with her, “yeh, nothing really ever changes.”

“Except for a mall.”

“Yeh, except for a mall.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes and it was odd that Kate didn’t feel uncomfortable in that silence. She leaned into the seat and closed her eyes.

“You know I wouldn’t have guessed you for a mall rat.”

Kate turned her head to look at the woman, “I’m not. I hate the place. But there’s nothing else to do in this town. It’s so dead around here.”

The woman smiled, “I know just how you feel.”

“You do?”

“Yeh, remember I used to live here a hundred years ago? And like you said, not much changes.”

“True.” Kate took a moment to openly check the woman out. Her clothing spoke volumes; soft, leather trench, silk scarf tied around her long, auburn hair, oversize designer sunglasses, long smooth legs that led to towering stilettos. Even if the car hadn’t been a giveaway, the clothing would’ve been, the woman had money and lots of it, “looks like you’ve done pretty well though.”

“I have, I just had to get away from here.”

“I hearya. So, whaddya do?” Although Kate realized she was being nosy, she didn’t care, it wasn’t like she was going to see the woman again.

“That’s a long story, and we’re almost into town.”

“So, you passing through or you got family here?”

The woman kept her eyes forward, “I have family.”

“Cool, so you’ll be around?”

“Oh, I’ll definitely be around.”

Kate nodded, “cool.”

“Now which way to the mall?”

Kate pointed, “straight through town and down 121. The mall is about a quarter of mile from here.”

“On our way.”

***

After dropping her daughter off at the entrance of the mall, Meg felt pleased about how their first meeting, after eight years, had gone. She was impressed with the girl’s maturity and easy going nature. She wasn’t surprised by the wanderlust that coursed through her, she came by that naturally. Meg herself had always had the same urge to always be somewhere else; that there had to be someplace better than the place she was in.

And her tendency towards rebellion, well…that was all her father. Her father had been forever fighting authority, but that was what had attracted Meg to him. He'd never given a shit about what others thought of him, especially persons who thought they were in charge. He’d always been just who he was, good or bad. Meg smiled at how much she used to enjoy his bad side, much more so than his good. In fact, he’d been the one to encourage her to spread her wings and go after the life she’d wanted, “why settle, Meggie? There’s way bigger things out there waiting for you other than the life you’re living right now. This place is small p’taters and you my dear, are anything but small.”

Meg protested, “but what about this life?”

He’d traced the outline of her lips, “is this the one you want?”

Meg kissed his fingertip and had felt guilty admitting the truth, “no, it never has been.”

He tilted her chin up so that she could look him in the eye, “then fuck it. Get the hell outta Dodge. Go after what you want.”

She smiled seductively at him, “I did.”

He understood her meaning, “yes you did. But, I was easy, I was already in love with you.”

“What about Kate?”

“She has her father.”

Meg smiled, “that’s true." She touched his arm and gave a gentle squeeze to his bicep, "I’m going to miss you so much.”

“And me you.”

Meg’s eyes lit up as a thought came to her, “then come with me! We can both start something new away from here.”

He’d shaken his head, “no can do, my love. I like it here in Hicksville. It’s where I belong, it’s my home. I’m pretty sure I’ll curl up and die right there in Jamie’s bar on a Saturday night.”

“Flirting with the youngest thing that’ll speak to you.”

He’d winked at her, “most likely. You know me too well.”

“Indeed I do. I’ll come back for you.”

He smiled affectionately at her, “you do that, Meggie.”

But, that conversation had been over ten years ago and despite her promises to him, she’d hadn’t spoken or seen him since she’d left town. She knew the sound of his voice or the smile on his face would’ve made her change her mind and sway her from her goal. She also knew that she couldn’t be in this town without seeing him, and the eventual reunion with him was even more nerve-racking for her than seeing her daughter had been.

She was thankful Kate hadn’t realized who she was while she sat in her car with her. Meg had worried that the girl might’ve recognized her in some way, but she hadn’t. Then again, why should she? Kate had been a little girl when she left, by now she’d probably forgotten she’d had a mother at all. Meg knew that getting back on track with her daughter was going to be difficult, at first, but she felt confident that in the end, her daughter would accept her back into her life. After all, they were mother and daughter and because her child seemed so much like her, it was meant to be that they should be together. Kate wouldn’t be able to tell her no when she revealed herself to her and then informed her why she was back in town. The only confrontation that might prove difficult would be the one with her ex-husband. And she knew that battle would be an ugly one.
(c)djc 2008

Just a little side note...not pertaining to the story. Thanks for the input about my icon (from a few of you). I also like it...I've always wanted the perfect pair of sexy jeans, and because I've never found a pair that look like those, I've decided that icon is my fantasy pair of perfection. Hey, we all gotta dream, right?
Debbie

Kate kept her eyes downcast as Mr. Steinham’s unblinking eyes scanned the classroom. He was looking for the gum-chewing offender who’d just snapped an wad. Unable to determine the source of the crime, he sighed in frustration and returned to the pile of papers he was correcting. Kate stifled a laugh and was tempted to snap her gum again but thought better of it. She knew he would be waiting for it, and this time he’d be sure to catch her. Getting another detention wasn’t on her immediate to-do list; she’d just come off being grounded for two weeks, the last thing she needed was to be put back on.

She glanced over at Dannie and was surprised to see Skip ogling her unsuspecting friend. Dannie was bent over her assignment book, elbows propped beneath her breasts, oblivious to the fact that that particular angle afforded Skip a full frontal view of Dannie’s ample assets. Kate could almost see the drool trickling out the corner of Skip’s mouth. She tried to get her best friend’s attention by waving her hands, but Dannie was so engrossed in her book that she was unaware of Kate’s attempts.

“Yes, Miss Morgan? Is there something you need?” said Mr. Steinham.

Kate dropped her arm, “um…no, nothing. I was just stretching.”

The teacher’s brows pulled together in a disbelieving frown. Suddenly the intercom above the door came alive, pushing out the static-filled voice of Ms. Dawson, the school principal.

“Mr. Steinham?”

“Yes, Ms. Dawson?”

“Could you please send Kate Morgan to the office?”

“She’ll be right there.”

“Thank you.” The speaker clicked off and Mr. Steinham turned his attention back to Kate.

“You might as well collect your things, dismissal is in fifteen minutes anyway.”

A knot of anxiety twisted in Kate’s stomach as she shoved her assignment books into her backpack. Being called to the office was never good. She tried to think of what she’d done this time and came up with a quick list of offenses she could’ve gotten caught for. At the top, was mouthing off at the study hall monitor, or it might’ve been ditching phys-ed to have a smoke in the gym locker room, or it could be the fight she'd had with Jalleasa Tucker that afternoon, in the lunch room. The list was pretty long. She felt Dannie’s eyes on her and shrugged at the unasked question in her eyes. Dannie made a phone signal with her right hand and mouthed the words, ‘call me.’ Kate nodded and left the room.

She went to her locker and after opening it, tossed her backpack into the narrow space. She grabbed her leather jacket and threw it on. She checked the inner pocket to make sure her cigarettes and lighter were still there and snuck out the side exit door, behind the stairs.

There was no way she was voluntarily going to the principal’s office, going there only led to unpleasant conversations; usually involving detention, suspension or some other form of punishment for a crime against school policy. And the last thing she needed right now was more unpleasantness in her life.

***

She should be along any minute now,” the apology in Ms. Dawson’s voice made the woman smile, she’d never heard the older woman apologize in her life, especially to her.

Ms. Dawson pressed the intercom button on her desk that connected her with her receptionist, “has Kate Morgan showed up yet, Mrs. Turner?”

“No, do you want me to call Mr. Steinham again?”

“Yes, do that.”

Ms. Dawson and the woman waited in silence for Mrs. Turner’s call back. Just moments later, it came.

“Kate was dismissed almost fifteen minutes ago, she should be here by now.”

“Well, she’s not.”

“I can get someone to check the bathrooms…” suggested Mrs. Turner.

The woman smiled again, she instinctively knew Kate was no longer in the building. If the girl was anything like she’d been, she was long gone and on her way to somewhere else. The woman stood, “never mind, Ms. Dawson. It’s obvious she’s no longer here, I’ll try and get in touch with her another way.”

Ms. Dawson stood as well. The principal’s height and athletic build was as intimidating now, as it had been back when both women walked these halls as students.

“I’ll speak with Kate tomorrow and make sure she understands that leaving school property, before dismissal, is against policy. An in-school suspension will be doled out.”

The woman shook her head, “do you really think that’s necessary? She’s just being a kid.”

“Being a kid is no excuse for breaking policy. The rules haven’t changed that much Meg. If one gets away with it, another will surely try to do the same.”

Meg offered no more defense of Kate, “if you say so, Lillian.”

“I do.”

“And you’re the queen around here now, right?”

Lillian Dawson lifted one eyebrow and stated the truth, “I am indeed.”

“Have a great afternoon, LillyBill.” Meg’s old nickname for Ms. Dawson caused the hairs to stand on the back of the principal’s neck. It was the name Meg and her sidekicks had always used for her. It had been their way of poking fun at her oversized lips. Ms. Dawson was immediately transported to those days and almost reacted as she had back then, but held herself in check. She crossed her arms and watched in silence as Meg Madison sashayed out of the room.

Once inside her car, Meg thought about going to her ex-husband’s house and demanding to see Kate, but she knew Kent would never allow it. She’d left when Kate was just a little girl, she was now seventeen and almost through her junior year in high school. Meg had had no contact with her daughter in all these years. She knew her just showing up, out of the blue, would stir things up and cause a lot of pissed-off people to be even more pissed-off. But, she was still Kate’s mother, she still had every right to see her daughter, to try and reconcile with her. To let her know how many times she’d thought of her over the years, how she wished she hadn’t have had to leave when she did. How she desperately wanted to have some kind of relationship with her daughter.
(c)djc2008

Meg knelt beside the hospital bed her father had recently died in and said a prayer, “Lord, I hope you can forgive the motherfucker for what he did to us, because I sure as hell can’t.” Not a tear was shed and her mouth was set in a firm straight line as she got up and crossed the hall to where her mother, brother and sister waited in a tiny ‘grieving room’. But contrary to the purpose of the room, none of the rest of her family were grieving either.

Their father was dead, weren’t they supposed to be sad? Meg quickly dismissed that notion as absurd. All the miserable bastard had done for them, throughout their entire lives, was treat them like shit. Not even their mother, who’d wasted over twenty-five years of her life and bore him three kids, had a drop of moisture in her eyes.

As she stood there, Meg tried in vain to recall one thing about her father that was good, but couldn’t. She had no clear memory of her life before ten years old, just flashes and images that floated around, things that might have been happy and fun; a golden retriever whose tongue was in constant contact with her face, a big birthday party for her brother in which all the neighborhood kids attended. Sunday drives with their mother, that would conclude with streamside picnic lunches. She recalled how Jay had taught her and Lisa survival techniques, just in case they ever got lost in the woods and how he’d even shown them how to build a lean-to. Most of Meg’s best memories revolved around the times spent with her siblings or her mother.

But, the good times were overshadowed by the bad. Meg remembered how time after time they would run, hearts pounding and at their mother’s hysterical urging, to their secret lean-to in the woods. It was the only place they had to escape their father’s fury. It was there that they'd commiserate about their rotten luck in getting the father they'd gotten. How they all hated living in a constant state of fear, of tiptoeing around on eggshells, of pretending her family was normal and the absolute loneliness of hiding a fucked-up life.

She shook off her anger like a wet raincoat and thought how she never would’ve even bothered to come back to this crappy little town if he hadn’t have died. She had fled from it nine years ago and only thought about it once a year, on Kate’s birthday. Other than that, she never gave this shithole another thought. Her new life was good, better than anything she’d left behind. She had money, a nice home, men who showered her with gifts and good times, everything she’d ever dreamed about. The only thing missing was her daughter. And her own father dying had been the excuse she needed to return here; to try and find a way to bring the child she’d left behind, back into her life.

That’s what frightened her most of all, how to let her little girl know how much she really did love her and how much she’d missed her, despite the fact that she’d walked out on her when she was only eight years old. She worried how her daughter was going to react. In her fantasies she liked to imagine a tearful, happy reunion filled with love. But, Meg wasn’t stupid, if her daughter had any of her personality traits, she was sure to be good and pissed. She certainly had every right.
(c)djc2008