The trip to the hospital was pretty quick and painless all things considered. We were able to see a doctor relatively quickly and he gave me a pretty thorough once-over before giving me and my mother the news.
“Well,” the doctor said, looking over me as my mother stood by my side. “You’re incredibly lucky, Mr. Parish. Your arm is going to be fine, as long as you don’t put any major strain on it.”
“That’s a relief.” I said, my mother and I both letting out a breath. I didn’t really think anything was wrong with it, but it was good to know for certain.
“Can you tell us what exactly is wrong with it?” asked my mother.
“William has a partial tear in his tricep,” the doctor summarized. “When the pebble lodged in his arm, it tore up a little bit of the muscle. Nicked some minor blood vessels but, other than the muscular damage, it didn’t do anything particularly notable. It’s really quite fortunate,”
He went on, holding up an x-ray of my damaged limb. “Mere millimeters to the left and it would have hit his radial nerve and done significantly more damage. A little more to the right and it would have nicked a vein, causing much more severe bleeding. And if the stone had been going any faster when it hit, it might have damaged the bone. As I said, you’re very lucky, Mr. Parish.”
I blinked. I hadn’t realized that my arm was so close to being severely damaged by that little pebble. I was astounded at how damaging something that tiny pebble could have been. A squeamish feeling welled up in my gut at the notion that I had only barely avoided paralyzing my arm or even bleeding out.
“What about infection?” my mother asked.
“No sign of anything growing in there,” the doctor said. “Your son said that he removed the stone and put disinfectant on it as soon as it happened, so that makes infection unlikely. Still, if you see any sign of any discoloration or feel any particularly bad pain in the area of the impact, give us a call.”
I nodded. “Will do, doc.”
My mother glanced at my arm. “So what should we do about the torn tricep?”
“Keep the arm in a sling if you can,” The doctor said, handing me a cloth sling. I slipped it over my shirt and settled my arm into it with relative ease and little pain. “That’ll keep strain off of it and help it to heal. Also you should take some ibuprofen every now and then to keep the swelling down. We can prescribe a painkiller if you like, but if the pain is as unintrusive as you say, you can just use Tylenol.”
“Thank you very much, Doctor.” My mother said with a relieved smile. “He’ll be sure to let his arm rest, right Will?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, mom.”
“If that’s all, then you can go.” The doctor strode out of the room. “You’ll be wanting to get home and rest.”
Leading me back out into the lobby, my mother turned her head back to the Doctor. “Thank you again for your help.”
I let out a breath, relaxing a little as the two of us stepped out into the parking lot. I didn’t particularly like hospitals and I was relieved to be out of there and back on the road with relatively little trouble. I moved my arm in the sling and actually found it to be relatively comfortable in that position. The throbbing was lessening and it felt a lot more soothing than when it hung at my side. I turned to address my mother...
...and then she slapped me in the face.
“Owww!” I yelped in pain and shock. “Why does everybody keep doing that?!”
“I have a better question,” my mother snapped,“Why were you out in that storm?!”
“Mom, please.” I said, putting a hand to my forehead.
“Don’t you ‘Mom, please’ me! You scared me half to death, young man! What on earth could be so important that you’d be out driving in a severe thunderstorm?!”
“Oh come on, Mom” I sighed, “I was out all day and when I first left the house the weather was fine. The storm only rolled in much later.”
“Why were you out in the first place, though?” My mother asked. “What took so long that you ended up in the middle of the woods in a storm?!”
“Well-” I started to say, only to be cut off by my mother’s phone suddenly letting out a buzz. My face went white. My mother looked at me suspiciously then looked to her purse, pulling out her phone. Her already angry face seemed to darken even more as she opened the phone and read the words on the screen.
“What is this supposed to mean?” My mother said, her voice taking on a dangerously soft tone. She handed me the phone to see what was on the screen. It was a text from my father.
There’s a strange looking girl in the house. She says she knows Will. Did you know about this?
“Well?” my mother prompted.
I sighed. It was everything I could do to keep from beating myself in the head that Rarity couldn’t keep secret in the guest room. Still, the cat was out of the bag now and all that I could do was try to pony up and mitigate the damage.
Heh. Pony up.
“Yes, mom.” I groaned. “This was that thing I wanted to discuss with you. That was why I was hoping dad would come with us to the hospital, so I could tell the both of you in the car at the same time rather than having to explain it to you both separately.”
“Who is she?” My mother demanded.
I raised my hands in an attempt to placate. “She’s a friend from college.” I lied. “Her name is Shelby.” Another lie. “I told you about her, remember? She was in my Dungeons and Dragons group? She graduated with me.” More lies. Shelby was still in college, two years behind me.
“Why would she be here?” My mother asked, raising her eyebrow.
“We kept in contact after we graduated,” I began to explain. “And apparently she’s been going through some rough times at home. Her parents basically kicked her out with next to nothing, demanding that she make it on her own now that she a college graduate. So I suggested she stay at our place a little while. I didn’t think it’d be a big deal.” Pinocchio eat your heart out. The real Shelby was at my old school in Texas. My nose is the nose that shall pierce the heavens!
“Her parents kicked her out?” My mother asked, her face softening.
“That’s what she said.” I lied. “And it gets worse.”
“Oh?”
“She was driving up to meet me when she skidded on a patch of water in the storm into a tree.” I said with a sigh. “I drove out to meet her, but when I got and was just about to load her stuff into the car, the tornado hit. As far as we can tell, all her stuff is gone.” I shook my head. “I think all the crap she’s been through may have traumatized her a bit, too.”
My mother raised an eyebrow. “That all seems a bit far fetched.”
I nodded. “I know. I was saying the same thing last night. It’s just about the worst chain of coincidences I could think of.”
“And this girl drove up all the way from Texas to stay with you?” My mother asked. “She didn’t want to stay with a friend that was closer?”
“Most of her friends are still in college apparently.” I said smoothly. “And she said on Skype that she was sick of Texas. Apparently she’s lived there her whole life and wanted to get out of the state when she was kicked out.”
“So she came up here?” My mother asked, her eyebrow cocked.
“Yep.”
“Where she came to see you, a guy she only knows from a Dungeons and Dragons campaign,” she continued.
“Well we did share a few classes and hung out occasionally...” I murmured.
“And then she drove up here, where she crashed her car in the rain.”
“That’s right.”
“And then when you went out to get her, a tornado dropped on your heads.”
“That about sums it up,” I nodded.
My mother looked at me skeptically before going back to watching the road, remaining silent.
“You don’t believe me?” I asked.
“Like I said, Will,” she began, “It sounds far-fetched.”
“You don’t believe me,” I sighed, trying to keep up the act. Inside my head I was shaking, sweating, and pissing my pants as to what would happen.
My mother sighed. “I don’t know, Will. It’s a fantastic story, but I have no reason to believe that you would let a girl stay in our house without knowing her. That’s not like you. Still, it’s also unlike you to arrange such a thing without letting me or your father know about it first, and I’ll admit, that rather pisses me off.”
“That’s why I did it while you were on vacation. I figured you wouldn’t let such a thing fly, so I arranged for her to stay while you were in the Outer Banks.” I explained.
“But if she was kicked out of her house, she’ll have to find a place to live,” my mother retorted. “And that was probably what she was planning to do when she got here, which takes time, Will,” she looked at me disapprovingly. “There was no way that you’d find her a place to live before we got back in the first place, and now, if you intend for her to stay with us still, she’ll be here even longer if she’s lost all her things. Especially if she’s lost things like birth certificates, identification, a cell phone, car registrations, insurance cards, and things of that nature.”
I blinked. I hadn’t thought of stuff like that. “...from what I understand, she has...” I mumbled.
“So basically, we’ve got a girl at our house with no ID, no birth certificate, no passport, and no connections whatsoever.” My mom shook her head. “Even if she’s your friend, I have no idea how to handle something like that.”
“Well what do you want to do?” I asked.
My mom sighed. “If what you’re saying is true, then I’m sympathetic. Believe me, I’m sympathetic, but...” she trailed off and groaned. “I think we’ll have to find a way to send her back home. I’m sure her parents will understand, no matter what their policies are.”
“You can’t!” I shouted, before wincing internally. I spoke too quickly and too loudly. The whole charade was falling apart around me and she was poking holes in my logic. Maybe I wasn’t the silver-tongued Starscream I thought I was...
My mother cocked an eyebrow again. “Why can’t we?” She asked. “I mean, sure, we can’t get her on a plane without ID, but you could drive her back down to Texas once we get your car fixed. You’ve made a trip like that before.”
“I can’t take her home.” I sighed.
“Why not?” My mother demanded.
Crapcrapcrap... Think of something, Will... “It’s not my place to tell.” I murmured.
“Will, if you want her to stay with us, you’d better tell me.” My mother said sternly.
I sighed. “Because...” I thought on the spot. “Because her father hits her.”
The silence in the car was deafening. The only sound was the humming of the engine and the occasional crunch of the asphalt as we drove down the highway.
“What?” My mother finally asked.
“You heard me.” I said softly.
My mother let out a shaky breath. “...alright, she can stay.” She finally acquiesced.
I let out a mental sigh, both in relief and frustration. “Thanks, mom.”
* * *
I remember being told a joke by my grandfather once. A man dies and goes to Heaven. As he’s being shown around by Saint Peter, he notices that Heaven is full of clocks. The man asks the angel about the clocks and Saint Peter tells him that there is a clock for every person on earth and every person that ever was on earth. He goes on to explain that the clocks show how many lies a person tells in their life. Saint Peter shows him Abraham Lincoln’s clock and it reads 12:02, meaning that he only told two lies in his entire life. He then shows him Mahatma Ghandi’s clock and it reads Midnight, meaning that he never told a lie even once. The man then asks about the current President’s clock. Saint Peter then says that Jesus keeps that in his office where he uses it as a ceiling fan.
I reflected upon that joke as my mother and I pulled into the driveway. If there were such clocks in whatever heaven may or may not exist, I figured that it was probably kicking up a hurricane right about now.
Sighing, I got out of the car, fixing my arm in the sling. I didn’t particularly like where I was standing at the moment. I had never told such a big lie in my life. Sure, I managed to wiggle out of some bad scenarios in my time with a well-placed fib. I once got let off for being twenty minutes late for a college class by telling the professor that I lost my wallet. Things like that I could pull off without any problem. Small things. Things that don’t come up again and aren’t questioned.
This was a big-ass lie I’d constructed. A terrible web of doom I was spinning for myself, and I had a feeling that it was going to come tumbling down if I didn’t remain on guard to maintain it. It was especially bad since Rarity still didn’t know all the details needed to keep the lie going.
I thought about it for a bit. Maybe I should have just let her know the truth.
I sighed. No, that wouldn’t have worked. My parents wouldn’t let a stranger, let alone a female stranger stay with me at our house for any prolonged period of time if they weren’t confident that I knew her and knew her well. And they wouldn’t believe she was actually Shelby if she didn’t have the ID to back it up... unless something happened to that ID. And they wouldn’t let her stay unless they believed it was downright dangerous to go back home.
I didn’t like it. But as far as I could see, it was all necessary.
Still, I hoped that I could find a way to get her reunited with her friends before my house of cards fell.
My mother and I stepped inside to see our family and Rarity gathered in the living room. My mother stepped up to my father and kissed him. My father stood up, then motioned to the purple-haired girl. Apparently they had just been sitting there awkwardly, waiting for the two of us to get home.
“So, this is Will’s friend Shelby apparently...” my father rumbled.
I let out a quick sigh of relief. At least Rarity remembered the name I gave her.
My father continued. “She says that she’s here because she was ‘thrown out’ of her home, and that she was a friend of Will’s in college.” My dad motioned to Dani. “Dani backs up that she’s Will’s friend.”
I blinked, surprised. Dani was backing us up? What universe is this?
My mother nodded, stepping towards Rarity. Rarity looked up at her from her seat, her eyes red and puffy. She’d obviously been crying again recently.
“I’ve heard about what you’ve been through, Miss Shelby.” My mother said, putting a hand underneath Rarity’s chin and looking at her closely. “You definitely look like you’ve been through a lot.” She smirked a little, “Though I didn’t expect the purple hair.”
Rarity remained silent as my mother continued. “I’m sorry for everything you’ve been through.” My mother said, opening her arms for a hug.”
Rarity sat there silently for a moment before falling forward into my mother’s arms, crying again. My mother made a soft shushing noise. “It’s okay now, Shelby. You can stay here for a while.”
“T-thank you.” Rarity managed to stutter out.
I let out a massive sigh of relief. For now, anyway, the fib was holding up.
My sister excused herself at that moment as Rarity lifted herself back into her seat.
“Why don’t you take a hot bath or something. Will can make you some tea, or get you a soda if you prefer?” My mother offered.
“Yes! Tea!” I said maybe a little too loudly. “Tea is good! I shall be in the kitchen making all of the tea!”
Rarity giggled a little at my antics. My father stood up and looked at my mother with a calculating gaze. “Honey, may I see you upstairs for a minute?”
My parents and Rarity all retreated up the stairs. I shuffled into the kitchen, practically trembling with relief that Rarity hadn’t been immediately kicked out, and with anxiety that they might decipher my little white lies.
As I put the water on the boil I heard someone clearing their throat behind me.
“Must have been a doozy of a story to get them to keep her around.”
I turned around to see Dani sitting at the kitchen table with a Dr. Pepper in hand.
“I don’t need to deal with you at the moment, Dani.” I muttered, pulling out a few tea bags with my good arm.
Dani raised her hands. “I’m not trying to start anything.” She said. “I’m just saying, I expected mom to come home and immediately toss the lady out.” She cocked her head. “What did you tell her to get her to let Rarity stay?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” I said softly.
“Hey,” She crossed her arms, “It’s in your best interests to tell me if for no other reason than I can synchronize my story with yours.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine,” I grumbled. “I told mom that she was a friend who drove up from Texas, lost everything she had in the tornado, and couldn’t go home because her father beats her, okay?”
“Whoa, wait, what?!” Dani said. “Back up a sec, you told mom what?”
“You heard me, Dani,” I growled.
“That’s kinda sick, bro.” she shook her head. “Faking physical abuse? That’s not the kind of lie that’s right to tell. This is not okay.”
I slammed a hand down on the counter. “She was going to ship her back off to her ‘family’ back in Texas, okay?” I massaged my forehead with my good hand, leaning against the wall. “I couldn’t think of anything else to get her to let her stay here. Not off the top of my head anyway.”
“I thought that making up stories was your ‘purpose in life.’” Dani raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah, well, maybe I’m not as good at it as I thought.”
My sister shook her head. “Well, you said it. I guess there’s nothing you can do but go along with it now.”
I sat down on the counter, feeling nauseous. “I know. I feel rotten about it too.” I sighed. “Still, hopefully we can get her back with her friends and be done with all of this soon.”
“And how likely do you really think that is?” she asked.
“I don’t know.” I said defeated. “I hope beyond hope that it will happen, and soon. But on the other hand, all logic tells me it isn’t gonna.”
Dani shrugged. “Well, as you’ve told me, the whole situation is completely illogical.” She stood up and walked over to me, patting my shoulder a few times. “Maybe we’re due for some more craziness soon.”
I paused, thinking about that statement. “I don’t know if that is encouraging or terrifying.”
“Me either.” She said simply, then walked out of the room.
I sighed, thinking about the tangled webs I’d woven and the unacceptable things I’d said. The kettle whistled at me that the water was boiling. As I lifted it out I accidentally splashed some on my leg. I swore, wiping up the hot mess and proceeding to make the tea.
When I was finished, I walked up the steps to the bathroom where Rarity was running another hot bath, tea in hand and leg stinging. I wasn’t sure if the numerous baths she was taking would be particularly healthy for her hair or skin. I know overbathing is something that is generally advised against. Still, whatever helps her to relax, I guess. That was when I heard angry voices from behind my parents door. Dani was standing there next to the threshold, eavesdropping again.
“What’s up? I asked my sister.
“Shh...” she held up a finger, then waved her hand in front of her neck.
I stepped up silently behind her and listened to the voices behind the door.
“-ay, it’s a sad story I’ll admit, but I don’t want a girl with no ID that I’ve never even heard of living in my house!” I heard my dad say heatedly.
“Rick,” My mom said firmly. “We can’t just send her home. Will told me she’s been abused, and looking at her I believe it! Did you see her face? She looks like she’s been through hell and back! She lost everything! We can’t just let her out on the streets and I won’t send her back home to an abusive parent!”
“Okay, but what about a homeless shelter or something? I’m sure there are programs for people like her.” My dad said, backing down a little bit. Mom was really tearing into him.
“She’s our son’s friend.” My mother said. “Are we really going to force her into one of those places when we can put her up here for a time?”
“So what, are you suggesting we adopt her?”
“I don’t know!” My mother cried. “But this is definitely the safest place for her to be right now.”
“But are we safe?!” My dad shouted. “We’ve suddenly got a stranger living in the house and I’m supposed to be okay with this?”
“She’s not a stranger, Rick,” my mother insisted, “She’s our son’s friend!”
“Oh please.” My father said. “This isn’t about Will, or this Shelby girl. It’s about Caroline, isn’t it?!”
I felt everybody present seize up. My sister and I both caught our breaths as the room went silent. We had heard our mother tell us this story.
“Rick...” my mother said dangerously.
“You’ve never gotten over what happened to Caroline, and she was abused. You think you’re responsible so you want to try again with this Shelby. You think this is your second chance.”
“Rick, I’m warning you.” She growled
“I’m not keeping a stranger in our house just so you can get over your friend, Margaret.”
Dani and I heard a cracking noise from behind the door and the both of us gasped. I was becoming very familiar with that sound lately. My mother had just slapped my father in the face.
There was a dumbfounded silence on both sides of the door. It lasted for at least a full minute before I heard my father speak again.
“Margaret...” he said apologetically.
“No, Rick.” My mother said, sounding choked up. “She is our son’s friend, and she’s a victim. She can stay here as long as she needs to.”
My sister and I quickly moved out of the way of the door as we heard footsteps approaching, ducking into her room. Moments later, our father stepped out looking angry, frustrated, and depressed all at the same time. I had never seen that much emotion on his face at one time before.
The door closed again behind him. I heard soft sobbing coming from behind it.
My sister turned to me. “You’ve really fucked up, bro.”
I nodded. “Yeah...”
What else was I supposed to say?
I sighed, handing the tea to my sister. “Could you give this to Rarity?” I asked. “I don’t know if she’ll appreciate me walking in on her when she’s in the tub.”
Dani nodded and retreated into the bathroom. I sat down in the hallway, my back sliding down the wall.
“This isn’t how it’s supposed to go...” I muttered. A pony-meets-human story isn’t supposed to work this way. It’s supposed to be happy and bouncy and full of friendship and happies. All I’ve done since I met Rarity is screw things up, put her in danger and lie to the two people who loved me the most, causing them to have a terrible fight and remind my mother of a terrible experience she had back in college. Silver tongued magnificent bastard I was not.
Still, at least I could continue to help Rarity keep safe and continue looking for her friends. I just hoped I didn’t tear apart myself and my family while I did so...