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“Shush, Mom. I’ll be fine. Now that those - those brats have it out of their systems, I’m sure they’ll let it go.”
“Brats? Don’t be so easy on them. They’re sick and need to be dealt with before they kill someone.”
“Hey, calm down. It’ll be fine now.”
“Not according to the last comment I saw. If I remember correctly, they accused you of almost blinding one of them and now they want revenge for that.” Anita covered her eyes, her hands shaking with grief. “Good Lord, Honey. It’s like Katrina all over again.”
Perking up when she heard her sister’s name coming from a woman who’d refused to mention her for years, Honey became abrupt. “What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean.”
“No, Mom, I don’t. Why is my getting beaten up anything like what happened to Katrina?”
“Well… because those men hounded her too. Until they killed her.”
“What? You never said anything before. How did they hound her?”
“I don’t like to talk about it.” Anita’s expression shut down.
“Please, Mom. I need to know. Tell me what happened.”
Her mom tried to turn away, but Honey held her arm and shook it. “Mom, please.”
“What do you want from me?”
“The truth.”
“Fine. Here’s the ugly truth. They sent her notes, and I found them in her room when I was cleaning. Oh, Honey, they were disgusting, the language and threats. I-I got so mad; I lost my mind and tore them up. But it was wrong of me. Later, we had no proof to show the police when they asked for evidence that she’d been harassed.”
“What did Katrina say when she found out what you’d done?”
Anita smiled… a distant memory appearing in her eyes. “Of course, you know Katrina. She didn’t get mad at me for my stupidity. She just told me not to worry. That she wouldn’t back down over that kind of nonsense from her students who after all were just teens. It would set a bad example.” Anita’s voice quivered. “Except, those boys weren’t kids any longer. They were near to being men.” The last words were torn from her choking throat before she covered her face.
Feeling the pain her mom suffered, Honey backed away and tried to comfort the woman. “Hey, it wasn’t men who beat me up, Mom. It was the same girls from my school that I accused in court. I recognized one’s voice when I sprayed her.”
“You did? I’ll call the police and let them know.” Anita made to rise.
Honey held her back, taking her hand. “No, Mom. Don’t bother. I thought they were going to detain them for that last crime but they’re loose again. I wish I knew what needs to happen to get law enforcement to do their jobs?”
Anita straightened up and wiped her face. “Honey Bolder, the police are the only recourse we have. We can’t go vigilante for heaven’s sake. I’ll make them listen this time. You just see if I don’t.”
Before Honey could reply, her hospital door burst open. Mel followed by a sheepish Jess appeared. “Honey, oh my God, are you okay? You look horrible.”
Honey had to laugh. Who other than Mel would be that dramatic and yet so blasted truthful while doing so? “I’m fine, Mel. I imagine I’m looking worse than I feel.” Unfortunately, her lie became obvious when Mel hugged her too tight and forced a loud groan. “Okay, maybe loosen the grip. There’s a few wounds I wasn’t aware I had until now.”
“You haven’t seen yourself yet, have you? Your eye is really swollen, so is your cheek. Christ, Honey, it’s like black, blue, and red. I always thought they overdid this kind of makeup on TV but now that I see you, I guess not.”
Jess tried to shush her by putting his hand on her shoulder, but Mel wasn’t paying attention. “Those bitches must have put the boots to you. Dammit, Hon, they need to be locked up.”
Anita cut in, “That’s what I’ve been telling her.”
A body in the doorway made everyone turn, giving Honey a clear view of the man waiting there. “Detective Lansdale.”
He stepped into the room amongst a sudden silence. Not only did he nod at Anita, but he gave Jess a long scrutiny before turning his full attention to Honey. “Heard you were in here after being attacked. What hornet’s nest have you been sticking your little nose into?”
“Yeah. Nice to see you too.”
The detached cop’s face broke into a grin. As he approached her bed, he said in a low, harsh tone that no one would argue with, “Can we have the room?”
