Jack and Rose: Present Time 2 Junior Year
Chapter Fourteen
"Ring the doorbell again," Rose said.
Tommy leaned over and rung the doorbell one more time. "I think she's coming." He tucked his cigarettes deep into his coat pocket.
"Rose, Tommy, I was hoping that you'd drop by lately," Mrs. Devereaux, Tonya's mom said, letting them in the house. Mrs. Devereaux lived with her husband, Jeff, who was also Tonya's stepfather. Tonya had never spoken of her real dad, and didn't remember him at all. He had left before she turned a year old.
"How are you, Mrs. Devereaux?" Tommy asked, hugging her. He was suspicious of the woman, but since she was Tonya's mother, there wasn't much he could do.
"I'm doing okay." She shut the front door and had them follow her into the living room. Rose and Tommy smiled at the familar pictures of Tonya all around the room. "Would you kids like some lemonade? I just made some."
"Sure, that would be great," Rose said, taking a seat next to Tommy on the sofa.
Mrs. Devereaux came back with a pitcher of lemonade and three glasses. "I do love it when you come over." She poured them each a glass. "It gets lonely around here." She took a long sip of her cold drink.
Tommy and Rose just nodded. They came over as often as they could. But, they never liked it. They simply did it out of respect and love for Tonya. Tonya's mother...well...was a nut. She had been since Tonya died. Rose remembed growing up...she had been the kindest woman. But, when Tonya died...she went crazy.
"Tommy, Rose...there is a reason why I have been wanting you to come over lately." She put her hands over her face. Something was terribly wrong. "I don't know quite how to tell you this."
"What is it?" Rose asked.
"Tonya's alive."
Tommy went into a state of shock and Rose continued to stare blankly at Tonya's mom. "Tonya's alive?" Rose asked, confused. "What are you talking about? Why are you saying this?"
She sighed. "Because it's true."
"We saw her dead body in that casket," Tommy said firmly. "Don't go messing with our minds...we know she's dead."
"No, Tommy, she's not!" Mrs. Devereaux then sat up straighter in her chair and took another drink of her lemonade. "Let me explain. Tonya told me that she was pregnant the night of the accident." Tommy looked nervously at Rose. He had no idea she knew about that. "I of course was outraged. My 15 year old daughter...pregnant? I couldn't let that get out. So, that night I sent her to live with her father. Her real father. In Australia."
"But...this isn't making any sense..." Rose had tears in her eyes.
"I'm not finished yet." Tonya's mother said. "Tonya had a sister that she never knew about. A twin sister actually." Tommy ran his fingers through his hair, not believing a word that was being said. Rose still listened carefully. "So, Tori, Tonya's sister, came here. The night Tommy came to get Tonya, I told Tori to be her for one night and break up with him and tell him she was pregnant and going to get an abortion and leave town." She looked sadly at Tommy and Rose. "And...because of me...Tori was killed that night."
"This is unbelievable," Rose muttered. "I'm sorry...but I don't believe you."
"Me either," Tommy agreed.
"Then see for yourself."
Then...Tonya walked down the steps.
Rose fainted and Tommy looked like he was about to die from shock. Tonya ran to Rose. "Rose...oh my gosh...are you okay?" She took Rose's head in her lap. "Rose...wake up...it's okay...I'm not dead!"
About an hour after Rose recovered, she got out her cell phone and called home.
"Hello?"
"Jack...you've gotta get over here..."
"Why? What's wrong?"
"Just get over here."
Jack knew it was serious. "You're at Tonya's, right?"
"Yeah...and get Fabrizio and Dominique over here, too."
Rose then hung up the phone and went back over to Tonya's bed where Tonya and Tommy were sitting. She sat down next to Tonya, held her hand, and leaned her head on her shoulder. "I still can't believe this is happening. It's like we're living in a constant soap opera around here."
Tonya laughed slightly. "You're tellin' me..."
Tommy's heart had been racing a mile a minute. One thought still stayed in his mind. Where was his child? Tommy starred sadly at Tonya and she noticed this right away. She laid a free hand on his thigh and said, "We've got to talk."
Tommy nodded, realizing she could still read his mind.
The last hour Tonya had told them the whole story. How her mom had lost her mind, why she could never get in contact with them. (Her father wouldn't allow it. He had sided with her mother. It wasn't an easy thing to do from Australia, anyway.)
They then heard the doorbell ring, and Rose said she would go get it. Tommy and Tonya needed some time alone. Tonya's mom had went to work, so all of the downstairs was quite. Rose opened the door to find three worried teenagers.
"Come on in," Rose said. "And, get ready for the shock of a lifetime."
"Oh my gosh...did Freddie die?" Fabrizio asked, tears forming in his eyes.
Rose had no idea what Fabrizio was talking about. "Freddie?"
"Tonya's dog," Dominique said.
"Oh," Rose replied. "No..." She went closer to Jack and held his hand. "I don't know how to tell you this."
They continued staring at Rose in wonder.
"Tonya's upstairs."
Dominique started laughing, Fabrizio starting crying, and Jack started wondering...wondering why Rose would say something like that. The idea was impossible.
"She's talking to Tommy right now," Rose said, running her fingers through her red hair. "You can see her when they're done."
Dominique stopped laughing.
They all remained downstairs...waiting for Tommy and Tonya to be done talking. In this time, Rose told them the whole story...all that she knew of it anyway.
"I just can't believe..." Dominique said quietly, trying to hold in her tears.
"I know. I know." Rose hugged her best friend to comfort her.
They all looked up as Tonya and Tommy walked slowly down the stairs. They both looked like they had been crying, and Rose was the only one to know it was probably about the baby. She, herself, wondered what happened.
Before anyone could say a word, Tonya went forward and hugged them, Dominique being first. "I'm so sorry you guys thought I was dead." She wiped a tear from Dominique's cheek. "I never wanted that to happen."
"I understand," Dominique replied. "I'm just so shocked...so happy...I don't know how to express my feelings." She shrugged her shoulders, her body shaking. "Except I love you." She started crying again and held Tonya closer.
"Don't you have a baby?" Fabrizio asked. Jack and Dominique looked at him, and it came back to them. Was there even a baby?
Tonya looked at Tommy and he squeezed her hand. "I had an miscarriage."
"What?" They all asked, except Tommy.
"My father had told me to get an abortion...and I couldn't do it." Tonya began crying. "So...he took care of it himself. He hit my stomach with a baseball bat when I was three months pregnant."
"I'm so sorry," Rose said, hugging Tonya and Tommy until all of them were around, having a group hug, crying.
"It's alright...we don't have to talk about that now." Tonya tried to look like she wasn't upset.
"I'm just so happy you're alive," Jack said, kissing Tonya on the cheek. "I'm still in shock."
"From what I've head so far, you guys have had a lot of weird things happening lately," Tonya said.
Jack nodded. Of course she had been right. Rose had been kidnapped by his brother, who Tommy later shot, they had thought that Rose had AIDS, John had abused Rose, etc. He knew their lives were anything but normal.
"But, you guys, you know what?" Tonya smiled. "I'm here now...with all of you. That's all that matters."
They couldn't agree more.