Sisters in Sanity
Page 25

“I told Clayton that I was planning on checking myself out soon. Not right away. I need to work up to it. But I told her I’d walk out today if they didn’t quit with the penal crap. And you know them, anything to keep collecting the cash. I’m on permanent Level Six until I leave.”
“That’s a step, I guess.”
“That’s all we can do, Brit. Take steps. Take enough of them and suddenly, you’re somewhere.”
Chapter 27
It was a beautiful night, the sky black as a patch of velvet, the stars like diamonds, with meteors exploding and fishtailing across the heavens. We sat out on a rock, me, V, Bebe, and Cassie. Although V began our meeting with a call to order of the Divinely Fabulous Ultra-exclusive Club of the Cuckoos, it didn’t feel like that anymore. Maybe it was the air of finality. Martha was home. Cassie was leaving soon. V would be, too. There was no date yet, but it was going to happen. That night, V told the Sisters her secret. And I told them mine.
It wasn’t over yet. Bebe and I were still stuck at Red Rock, still had to find a way out of the level gauntlet, but for one night at least, under a hail of flaming stars shooting across the galaxy zillions of miles away, none of that mattered. We weren’t Sisters in Sanity. We were just sisters.
Chapter 28
There were two daydreams I used to nurse when things got really bleak. In the first, Jed was here. He’d come back to get me, to take me away. And in the second, the world finally wised up to Red Rock—and the powers of good came and shut it down.
Let me tell you, the powers of good, when they finally show, can look an awful lot like scary storm troopers.
“This is a raid. Girls, please get your clothes and leave the building. I repeat: Please take your belongings, go to the parking lot, and give your name to Agent Jenkins.”
“Huh?” I rubbed my eyes. It wasn’t light out yet, wasn’t time for roll call. What was going on? I sat up in my bed, and two guys with identical buzz cuts and mirrored glasses were in the doorway. I yanked my blankets around me.
“Please get dressed, take your personal effects, and move to the parking lot.”
“Who are you?” I asked.
“FBI. This is a raid. No need to be frightened. You’re all safe.”
“What the…..?” Missy asked.
I hopped out of bed and looked out the window. There were twenty or more cars lined up, lights flashing. My heart started thumping.
“What’s happening?” Missy asked. For the first time, she didn’t act like my master. She looked scared.
“I don’t know. I think they’re raiding the school.”
“Who is?”
“Federal agents.”
“Why would they do that?” she asked tearfully. She looked so upset that for a second I felt bad. Only for a second.
I got dressed and scrambled outside. V, Cassie, and Laurel were already congregated in a circle, huddling against the early-morning chill.
“Did you know about this?” I asked V.
“I was just about to ask you the same thing.”
Five minutes later, Bebe came bounding out, a huge grin on her face. “Oh my God, Brit. Did you make this happen?”
“I have no idea what’s happening, let alone who made it happen.”
We all just stood there and watched as 187 sleepy-eyed girls in matching Red Rock polo shirts filed out of the building. About fifty agents coated the place like ants on jam. After about an hour, a lady came around and checked all our names off on a list. “Please remain here. We will have breakfast coming for you shortly. Please do not leave the premises.”
A while later, a truck showed up and a couple of agents went around distributing donuts, orange juice, and coffee. Coffee. It was like nectar, the taste of freedom. None of us knew what was going on, but to me coffee signified our return to the real world.
We kept asking what had happened, but no one would tell us much. Just that it was a raid. Red Rock was under investigation.
The morning wore on, and we stayed outside. We all sat in a big clump under the trees, drinking the bottles of water the agents had passed out to us. The lady with the clipboard came around again, telling us to stick around, that our parents had been notified, and those of us who were not picked up by nightfall would be bused into town until arrangements could be made.
“Oh my God, darling. We are getting out of here,” Bebe gushed.
Cassie laughed. “Just my typical luck when I was a week shy of leavin’ on my own steam. Still, I’m glad for y’all, for all us girls.”
None of us could talk much. We just watched, riveted to the spectacle, unsure if it was really happening. Around lunchtime, parents started to arrive, hysterically racing to their kids, grabbing them in big hugs, like you always see parents do on the TV news after a school shooting.
It was Pam, whose dad lived in Vegas, who showed us the article. A three-page piece in the national newsweekly American Times magazine titled “Disturbing Behavior.” Written by none other than veteran journalist Skip Henley. It was all in there and so much more: our stories, the insurance fraud, the stuff about Sheriff, quotes from former students, as well as commentary from psychiatrists on how ineffective and damaging Red Rock’s brand of therapy could be. Bebe, V, and Cassie read over my shoulder.
After we’d finished, Cassie looked at me and whistled. “Well, would ya look at that?” she said.
“Darling,” Bebe said. “I. Am. Speechless.”
So was V. She just looked at me, her expression saying it all: Did you do this? Did we do this? How did we do this?
Only later would we find out the whole story, about how Martha’s family had filed a complaint with their congresswoman, who had spearheaded a separate investigation. That investigation had been working toward a bust. That bust had been jump-started once Henley’s article appeared. Sheriff was already being investigated for mail fraud. Only later would I hear that Henley had run after me, not to chase me out of his house, not to shoot me, but to slow me down so we could talk. When I’d beaten him to the truck, he’d gone back into his house, picked up the file, and gotten to work.
Only later would I find out what was to happen to my sisters: V, Bebe, Cassie, and Martha. Because at that exact moment, coming through the crowd was Dad.
He looked like hell warmed over—his eyes bloodshot, his skin pale, his hair greasy and unwashed. He held a twisted copy of American Times in his hand.
“Good article?” I joked, hoping to lighten the moment.
Dad didn’t smile. He just shook his head. “I couldn’t bear to read the whole thing,” he said in a choked voice. “I couldn’t bear to know what I’d done to you.”
I felt a flash of anger, but unlike when he’d come in for his surprise visit, this time the anger was mixed with sympathy. “Don’t you think it’s time to stop doing that?” I asked.
Dad held his face in his hands. “Stop doing what, honey?” he asked wearily.
“Hiding from the truth.”
He looked up at me and shook his head again, but his expression gave him away. It was that same mask of exhaustion, sadness, and fear he’d worn for a year straight as Mom had slipped away from us. Seeing Dad fall apart had always melted any anger I felt toward him, and looking at him so lost right now, part of me wanted to shield him from any more pain. But that wasn’t doing either of us any favors. I took a deep breath and continued. “You’re scared because you lost Mom, and you’re scared that you’ll lose me,” I said. My voice started to break. “You’re scared I’m going to end up crazy too. And that’s why you sent me away.”
Dad just kept shaking his head. “No, honey. I didn’t send you away because of that. I sent you to the wrong place, but it was for the right reason.”
“Don’t you dare!” I cried. “Don’t you dare lie to me. Don’t you dare lie to yourself anymore. I love you and I always will, but I won’t allow you to do this to us anymore. You sent me away because you think I’m damaged goods. Well, I’m not damaged goods. I’m her daughter. I’m Mom’s daughter. And I loved her, and I lost her too.”
Dad just stared at me. Then he pulled me into a hug. I could feel him shaking, and suddenly I was calm. It was weird because as he cried, my fear, anger, and sadness fell away. When Dad regained his composure, he held me at arm’s length, looking at me as though he were meeting someone for the first time. He brushed a lock of hair out of my eyes and smiled. “When did my little girl become so wise?” he asked.
I laughed, feeling lighter than I had in years. “Come on, there’s some people I want you to meet,” I said. I motioned toward the Sisters and was about to turn in their direction when I saw something—or someone—out of the corner of my eye. I did a double take. The sun was glaring down now, and my eyes were kind of misty, so I figured it was an optical illusion. Either that or my wishful brain playing tricks on me. Except then the optical illusion started talking too. It was calling my name. “Brit,” it called. “Brit Hemphill.”
“Jed.” I tried to shout, but it came out a whisper.
Jed seemed to hear me anyway, because he was striding toward me now, his gaze focused on me like a laser beam. Dad, still holding my hand, looked at me and then at Jed. He seemed baffled for a second, and then his expression changed to one of recognition as he sized up the situation. For a moment, he looked worried and strained again, but I squeezed his hand and smiled at him, letting him know everything was going to be okay. That I was okay. Dad held on to my hand for a moment longer, squeezing back. And then he let go.
I ran to Jed, ran so fast that everything else seemed to blur around me. I flung myself into his arms and kissed him. Then I nuzzled my head into his neck as he planted kisses me all over my face. Behind me, I could hear the sounds of my Sisters cheering, applauding like it was the end of a really great movie. It was then that I understood that the ordeal of the last few years was finally over—and that something else was about to begin.
Five Months Later…..
Eight cities, eleven days, thirteen hundred miles, ten motel rooms, and twenty-seven Burrito Supremes later, I should have been ready to sleep for a month at the end of my first Clod tour, but in truth, I’d never felt more exhilarated. I loved playing live, and I was having a total blast test-driving my new songs—short, fast tracks with titles like “The Cinder Pile,” and “Clayton’s Soul Is a Black Hole”—not to mention spending every waking and sleeping hour with Jed. Being on the road made me feel like life’s possibilities were endless. I felt free.
Which is kind of funny considering how recently I’d been anything but free. Part of me still can’t believe I was allowed to go on tour. When I asked Dad if I could spend winter break on tour, I’d expected a knee-jerk no. But he listened, and then he admitted that his fears about my being in Clod were based on his own experience. He knows what lengths seventeen-year-old girls will go to just to meet the band. So I had to remind him that I’m not some groupie; I am the band.