events of the evening. It took about a half hour for her to explain everything, starting with Mitchel’s behavior that morning.
“Do you want to press charges?” Pedone asked.
Colleen gave it some thought. She knew it was going to be a nightmare going forward, but she also knew that the marriage was over, and she could be putting herself and Jackson in further jeopardy by pretending it hadn’t happened. Besides, she just didn’t care anymore. Not about Mitchel. Not about the marriage. The only thing she cared about was raising her son in a loving environment. And this certainly wasn’t it.
“Yes. What do I have to do?”
“You’ll have to come down to the station to file a formal complaint. Is there anyone who can look after your son?”
“I’ll call my mother. She lives about fifteen minutes away.”
She dialed her mother’s phone number, knowing the woman would panic at her phone ringing in the middle of the night.
“Yes! Colleen! Is everything OK?” She could barely catch her breath.
“I’m OK. Jackson is OK.” Colleen took in a big inhale. “We have a situation here, and I need you to come by and sit with Jackson for the rest of the night.”
“What on earth is going on?” Judith Griffin demanded.
“Mom, I’ll explain everything later. Can you come over now? Please?” Colleen knew her mother had never approved of Mitchel, and she wasn’t in any sort of mood to be lectured.
“Yes. Of course. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” She sounded a bit exasperated rather than inconvenienced.
Colleen thought to herself, If she hadn’t been so controlling, maybe I wouldn’t have rebelled and married that creep.
“Thank you. And don’t freak out when you see the police car.” Colleen cringed, waiting for the interrogation.
“What police car? What are you talking about?” Judith was incredulous.
“Mother, please. Just come over. I will tell you everything later. Please!”
Chapter Three
Ellie felt terrible that she couldn’t befriend Colleen. She knew that things were bad at the Haywood house. She thought back to the incident that had taken place two weeks before. The entire block couldn’t help but notice the commotion coming from the house that night. Ellie had headed to the second-floor loft, with Buddy hot on her heels. She pulled out a pair of binoculars to see if she could figure out what the ruckus was all about. She crouched down and pointed the lens at the Haywoods’. From her angle, she could see someone in the back seat of a police car. His face was obscured by the door frame, but it looked like it could be Mitchel. She wouldn’t be surprised if it was. After his rude display that morning, no one would have been shocked. Screaming at his kid while he was in his underwear. She felt sorry for both Jackson and Colleen. She knew very well what it was like to be terrified.
The police car had been sitting in front for almost an hour when she noticed the BMW that Colleen’s mother drove turn into their driveway. She saw Colleen’s mother exit her car and peer into the police car. Judith Griffin gave the man in the back seat a disgusted look and went into the house. A few minutes later, Colleen and two police officers exited. Colleen got in her own car and followed the police. Ellie assumed they were on their way to the police station and that Mrs. Griffin was looking after Jackson. That poor kid, she thought to herself. Ellie liked Jackson, even though they had never interacted, but she could tell a lot about his character by the way he played with Buddy.
* * *
Over the next two weeks, there had been no mention of the incident in the local Patch, but maybe they were trying to keep it quiet for Colleen and Jackson’s sakes. Kids could be horribly cruel.
Ellie imagined that Jackson and Colleen were going through an exceedingly difficult time. Even though there was little she could do to help them, she felt good that Jackson came by every afternoon. He would spend well over an hour just throwing the ball across the yard and giving Buddy a pat on the head when Buddy jumped up on the fence with the ball in his mouth, returning it to Jackson. Ellie would watch from inside, happy that two innocent creatures could give each other so much pleasure with the simple gesture of throwing a ball. How she missed the outdoors.
One afternoon, her doorbell rang, and she gasped with fear.