Choices

"Rebecca Ann Delaney!" My mother's voice ripped through the phone so loudly that I had to pull it away from my ear.

I had no delusions about why she was calling me. In hindsight, I probably should have thought twice before I raced out the door to save Noah. Maybe I should have warned Molly before she posted everything so publically? Either way, that was no longer an option.

"Hello, mother. How are you doing today?" I replied, trying to sound as innocent as I could.

"Don't you dare act all innocent with me, young lady! You know exactly why I'm calling you!" My mother squawked through the phone.

I rolled my eyes but kept my voice as cool and calm as I could.

"Why don't you tell me, Mother? So, I can make sure you and I are on the same page."

My mother scoffed in disbelief. "As if you don't know! Well, fine!"

"You EMBARRASSED us! You assault the son of your father's most IMPORTANT client," My mother hissed.

I wondered if she meant my alleged punch in the nose or if she meant me throwing water over his head. Or maybe it was both! But I didn't think this was the moment to ask her.

"THEN you DARED to call him a rapist... TO HIS PARENTS! They are mortified to think that you would sink this low!"

"Mortified? Really? They seemed more like they wanted to run away again," I commented flippantly. "And you can't tell me they don't already know that their son is a rapist. I'm not the first girl to accuse him of something that awful. But sure, why not blame it on me, Mother?"

"Honestly, Rebecca, your behavior is beyond deplorable! You would sink so low as to use something so awful about him just because he wouldn't take you back now that you are ruined? That's just disgraceful!"

"Whoa... whoa... whoa...," I said into the phone, trying to get my mother to slow down. "What do you mean 'take me back'? I was never with him!"

"He says that you went out that night to the club on your first date!"

"Mother, I didn't. I... you know what? It doesn't even matter. The bottom line? I don't want Keith and will never want him! And I am not ruined! Few women keep their virginity until 19 years old... much less until marriage! You are INSANE, woman," I popped off in disbelief. "Keith IS a rapist! It's only by sheer luck that I wasn't another one of his victims. He's a predator, Mother. And if you all don't drop your stupid Victorian attitudes and see the truth, then more women will be victimized. Molly and I have done what we can in the face of his family and their money. Because I KNOW you just want to think the worst of me!"

"I have had it, young lady!" Ingram shrieked. "I've had it with your lies and your disrespect. You will no longer be an embarrassment to this family! I don't want you coming back to this house at all! And just so you know, I've already spoken to all of our friends and they agree that you need to go out on your own. You have grown too spoiled. As of now... you are cut off!"

My fury colored my vision, and the blood thudded in my ears. I couldn't believe that THIS was why my mother was finally kicking me out.

Deep down, a part of me didn't really believe she would do it. It must have been the same part of me that had hoped Keith would do the right thing as well. But he had only gone and made things worse, as I should have known he would have done.

It was all too obvious that I had been extremely naive. Maybe everyone had been right. I was all too innocent and too trusting.

I felt something inside me harden and shift. I didn't know what it was at the moment and didn't really have the time to evaluate what was going on. All I knew for sure was something had changed.

"Fine," I heard myself say emotionlessly. "Don't worry about your precious reputation. I'll leave and never darken your doorstep again."

I hung up the phone and stared, sightlessly, out the window. After everything that had happened, I had honestly thought I would be prepared to walk away from my family. But I was being naive once more. Tears slowly fell down my face and dropped down on my phone.

Despite all the pain she and my father had caused me, they were still my parents, and I had still hoped things could work out. I had hoped that we could still be a family.

But that was the innocent hope of a child and something that I could feel floating away from me.

A hand landed on my own, and I looked up to see tears in Molly's eyes too. She was feeling my pain and trying to comfort me.

"I'm so sorry, Becca," she whispered to me. "I'm so sorry that they are doing this to you."

I swallowed hard and choked back my tears. I couldn't even try to speak; there were just too many emotions going through me. All I wanted to do was go somewhere far away from everything and be alone for a moment. I needed to get my head on straight in order to begin planning my future. But I couldn't even speak enough to ask Molly to just take me away from here.

But Molly seemed to understand, or maybe she felt the same way.

"Let's go back to my place. You know you're always welcome there," Molly said.

I nodded eagerly. Molly was right, her family had always welcomed me, and I would be safe there. No matter what, Molly would be my family. Molly, Scott, and hopefully, when he got out, Noah.

Molly took me back to her place, and her family didn't hesitate to set me up in a room next to her. They were so sweet, sympathetic, and even horrified by what my mother had done. I appreciated everything they'd done and made sure they knew that before I retreated to the room that they gave me. I curled up in the middle of the large luxurious bed and began crying my eyes out.

I didn't move from bed until the next morning when Molly came in with some food and a cup of coffee. I wasn't really hungry, but the coffee was exactly what I needed.

"Thank you," I murmured.

"You're welcome, hon," Molly said softly. "How are you doing?"

I shrugged as I sipped the hot coffee. "Okay, I guess. I just am not sure what I'm going to do now."

"There's no rush, hon. You're welcome to stay right here."

I gave her a weak smile. "I know. I was just kind of hoping for a different offer."

She gave me a confused look. "What do you mean?"

I held up my phone. "Noah. I was really hoping to hear back from him as soon as he was released."

"Ohh. It's like that, is it?" Molly asked with a soft smile.

I blushed and nodded. "I... I'm pretty sure that I'm in love with him."

Molly got very serious all of a sudden. "Are you certain?"

"Yes," I said without hesitation. "I am absolutely sure. I am sure that I love Noah."

Molly hesitated for a few beats before speaking again. "Becca, I really want you to be sure that you love him, and it's not just... infatuation because he's your first."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Molly, I wouldn't have let him touch me if I didn't feel anything for him. If I was just looking to get laid, I could have gone to a dozen different men. I wanted Noah to be my first because I loved him."

"I just need you to be absolutely sure, Becca. I'm not trying to be mean. But you need to be sure this is what you want."

I scoffed and glared at her. "Why are you doing this, Molly? Why are you questioning me?"

Molly looked absolutely miserable and even a little guilty. Something was going on, and it was killing her to be holding it in.

"Molly, just tell me what's going on!" I demanded, even though I had a sense of doom slowly blooming in my stomach.

Molly's shoulders sagged, and her eyes dropped to her hands. "We just learned that Noah's been out since the day before yesterday. His lawyer is one of the best and had him in and out within an hour after his arrest."