Girl Seduced (The Girl Interrupted Trilogy Book #1) (15 page)

“It wasn’t that night.”  My voice became very monotone and very matter-of-fact at this point.  Any moment, I would have a parade of people coming in the door and he deserved to know everything.  I told him about the next day and how I had asked Sabrina to help me find more.  I told him about Kenny and that I was using every day because it really helped me with my schoolwork and it helped me, period. 

“Drugs don’t help you…you get high.”

“YES, OK?  I like how I feel when I get HIGH.”  Ouch.  He sat forward with his hands folded.

“When my family comes, I am being taken to the police station and they will formally charge me with possession since it was in my bloodstream.  My father is representing me, but I will be taking at least 60 days off from school to attend rehabilitation and try to get my life back on track.  I don’t expect you would understand.  I just thought that you should know the truth – all of it.”

We both sat for a moment and there was a knock on the door.  It was the parade, led first by my mother. 

“Oh, flowers!  How beautiful – thank you, Jonathan.” 

He looked at me, and then at first. 
“Thank you, Mrs. Stanton.  You’ve raised a beautiful, strong daughter and I care very much for her.  But, I have something I need to take care of this morning, so I’m going to let all of you take care of her.”

He looked in my direction and with bold firmness in his voice, he said,

“I’ll only say this once.  Love like this doesn’t happen twice in a person’s life.  I will talk to you later, but I have some things to sort out. Think about. Take it easy today, Jasmine.”

I was stunned.  He didn’t say that he hated me, or that he was through with me, or goodbye – he still loves me.  But what is it that he had to go take care of?  Maybe he just didn’t want to be part of going to a police station, which I could totally understand.  Somehow, there was a glimmer of hope inside of me and the rest of this day just really didn’t matter. 

Chapter Twenty
Two

The hospital stay was shorter than I had expected.  Once I was stable, I was released, with my casts and my stitches still intact.  I was greeted by my family, Sabrina,
and the detectives who were surprisingly gracious.  Detective English went through the formality of reading me my rights. 

“I’m really sorry, but you understand we have to do this…” My father was obviously in disagreement. 

“Can’t this wait until she’s at least out of the hospital?”

“Dad, it’s OK.  I’m out of the hospital.  We might as well get this over with.”  He was still mad that they had questioned me without him being present, but at this point, I really didn’t have anything to hide.  Dad was adamant that I not say anything else unless he was present because he said there were questions that I didn’t have to answer if I chose not to.  But, I just felt like that made me look like I was hiding something, and at this point, there wasn’t anything to hide.

Dad did speak up quickly as Dr. Broughman was trying to read my discharge paperwork and follow-up paperwork.

“Dr. Broughman, is
this medically in her best interest?”  My father knew the answer, but he was acting like any father would if his only little girl was getting what he thought to be “picked on”. 

Detective Ben spoke up.  “Mr. Stanton, technically we are supposed to book her and handcuff her.”  No one spoke.  “Obviously, that isn’t going to happen, but she will have to ride with us and you can follow us to the station, sir.  Will that work for you?”  It wasn’t a question, but a directive and my father knew that this was serious and I had no choice. 

The truth was that, if my health were to deteriorate at this point, the police had the authority until I had been sentenced to admit me to the local police infirmary, under Dr. Broughman’s direction to their physician.  This was not a bad dream.  It was real and I would be riding in a police car from the hospital.

Dr. Broughman did ask the detectives to be sensitive to my injuries and asked what the afternoon would entail.  I heard them talking, but I was thinking still about my conversation with Jonathan.  What was he thinking about and especially, what was he taking care of?  Was he returning my beautiful ring?  Was he going to talk with a friend or his parents about the situation and get some advice? 

Detectives Ben and English escorted me in the wheelchair downstairs to the front entrance.  I entered the detective car, a dark unmarked car, into the back seat, free of handcuffs, and my parents and Sabrina followed closely behind. 

We went to the police station where I was escorted in and taken into a small room.  It was all just like on television.
The long table, the black two way window that you could only see from the other side, nothing on the walls, one window…and a very weird, smoky smell in the air.  I desperately wanted hand sanitizer… In a weird way, I was almost relieved that I was a big fan of TV shows that involved police because I sort of knew what to expect. 

My father sat next to me and his first words were, “Jasmine, you don’t answer one question until I tell you to.  Do you understand?” 

“Yes, dad.  It’s all right.”  I found myself comforting him, realizing that this was the hardest thing he would probably ever have to do.  I wondered about where my mother and Sabrina were – probably in a waiting room outside, waiting nervously to see what the outcome would be. 

Detective Ben began. 
The questioning was very cut and dry.  The questions were basically the same that they had asked me in the hospital – how long I had been using meth, where I got it, who I got it from, if I made it or helped in any way or had any knowledge of how it was made or being manufactured, if I knew other people who used it, and if I ever gave it to anyone else or sold it. 

My father was listening quietly.  He and the detectives both had tape recorders on, recording every word that was said.  I wondered who was on the other side of the glass.  My father objected a couple of times, telling me not to answer a couple of the questions (I wasn’t sure why), but basically, it was short and as sweet as it could be, under the circumstances. 

“Am I allowed to ask a couple of questions?” 

Dad looked somewhat alarmed, but said, “Could I confer with my client for a moment alone?”

The detectives left the room for a moment.

“What do you need Jasmine?  We’ve told them plenty at this point.”

“I want to know what’s going to happen to Sabrina and to my friend, Kenny, dad.  I know you don’t understand, but they’re just kids.  I’m concerned that my stupidity has destroyed so many people…can I just ask them those things?”

“First of all, they can’t discuss those things with you because of confidentiality rights.  But I can tell you what you want to know.  Sabrina is being questioned right now.”

“What?  Why?  She didn’t do anything…they couldn’t even wait a day or two?”

“No, Jasmine, they can’t wait until you’ve had a chance to get your toenails polished or catch up on facebook.”  At this point he was getting angry, but worried/angry.  “At this point, they will confiscate her computer, your computer, both of your phones and they will begin an investigation into all of the answers that you have given so far.”

“And Kenny?  What about Kenny?”

“Jasmine, they have already taken him into custody.”  I was GOBSMACKED. 

“How?  I don’t even know his last name!  How did they find out so quickly who he was?”

“It didn’t take a lot, dear.  They simply questioned a couple of the regulars around town and went right to his apartment.  Turns out that he has – or should I say had – quite a lucrative operation going on.”  He shook his head.

“What a waste.  He was majoring in chemical sciences, planning to become a scientist for the government.  Isn’t that ironic?  He had a lab in his second bedroom that mimicked any professional laboratory in any pharmaceutical company in the country.  He was no small-time operator.” 

“So what’s going to happen to him?  Will he get parole as well since he is such an excellent college student?  Will they take any of that into account?”

“Jasmine, he’s been booked and he’s in jail.  The judge won’t even set bond for him.  I’m afraid that your friend is going to jail for a very long time.”  I was speechless.  I couldn’t imagine Kenny, small little defenseless chemistry geek, Kenny, in federal prison with real criminals.  He would be lucky if he was able to stay alive.  I couldn’t even grasp what I had done. 

“They
confiscated all of his belongings, his contacts, and from what I understand, found quite a bit of money that he was saving in a small suitcase in a closet, no doubt paying for his college.  What a waste of an incredible young mind.” 

“But don’t they have special jails for people like him who can’t defend themselves dad?  He isn’t a murderer or a rapist or anything like that.  He won’t even know how to fight…” I started to cry, thinking about where he was at this very moment and what his life would be like.  His life was over, because of me.  “Oh
, my God.  How am I ever going to make this up to him?”

“Jasmine, you are never to contact him or see him ever again, for the rest of your life.  This is serious business.
He is a felon – a criminal who will be lucky if he ever sees light of day for the next twenty five years. He has been charged with distribution, manufacturing, possession and use of one of the most dangerous drugs that there are.  All of that money, all of that intelligence will now be spent in a jail cell where he will spend the rest of his adult life.” 

“And Sabrina?”

“Well, Sabrina will probably get off with a year of probation.  She has a clean criminal record and her crime is simply having knowledge of your using this drug and not reporting it.  On top of conspiracy, which I may be able to have dropped…she did hook you up with this scumbag, which makes her an accomplice, but under the circumstances, I believe that the judge is going to be lenient on her, as well as on you.”

“What do you know about my charges at this point?”

Mr. Stanton took out his notepad and put on his glasses. 

“The judge has been in the county for a very long time, and fortunately, has a reputation for considering the entirety of every situation.  Especially, and specifically for you, that you are a freshman in college with a clean record, that you were attacked in the fall, and that you weren’t distributing the drug – you were only using it.  Possession of methamphetamines is Tennessee is an automatic felony, but the District attorney has agreed to drop the charge to a misdemeanor with one year of probation and a $25,000 fine if you completely cooperate with the authorities.”

“Of course, I will dad.  I’m so sorry for all of this.  I just don’t know how this happened.  It just…happened.”

“Jasmine..” he took his glasses off.  “NOTHING just happens.  You are the choices that you make.  You made a choice to go that first party.  You made a choice very time you left your apartment and spent MY money to buy this drug.  It didn’t just happen.”

Detective Ben came into the room. “Is it OK for me to come in for a moment?”

He sat down.  “The judge has set her bond at $50,000 and house arrest.”

“OK.  That sounds reasonable.  When is the court date?”

“At this point, the court date has been set for April 24 at 9:00.  If Jasmine cooperates completely, we shouldn’t have any problems.  She will
leave from the courtroom that day, as I understand it, to a rehabilitation center that you and the District attorney can agree on.”

“I’m sure that won’t be a problem.”

I was listening, completely in shock to all of what was being said.  At least I wouldn’t be in jail.  But I wouldn’t be in school either.  And I wouldn’t be with Jonathan.  God, where was Jonathan?  What was he going to think about all of this?  How would she ever face anyone again?  How could she face herself in the mirror again?  And, still,  even with all of this going on, all she could think about was how much better she would feel if she could just inhale one little hit….right now…

Chapter Twenty Three

My father left the room and went with the detectives to take care of last minute details and I was left alone in the room.  Alone for the first time to actually let all of what had just happened sink in.  All I could think about was Jonathan.  I felt selfish because I wasn’t thinking about Sabrina or my poor mother…but I just wanted to see Jonathan’s face.  I wanted to feel his hand.  I wanted him to tell me once more that he still loved me and that this would all be a distant memory 

A knock on the door got my attention. 

“Come in….”

Sabrina walked in, her eyes red and her nose swollen and red.  She had obviously been crying. 

“Hi Jazz.”  She sat down and looked at the floor, folding and rubbing her hands together.  “How’s it going?”  What a question.  I didn’t know how to answer her.

“Sabrina, I’m so sorry.  I had no idea that you would be drug into my mess.  I didn’t tell them anything, they just know that we are roommates and that’s why they brought you in for questioning…”