After Before and After

Conclusion: Chapter 21

Ralph Langley was sprung from asleep to awake in a split second. He shot up in his bed as an aggressive bang, bang, bang came from what had to be the front door. Ralph carefully tip-toed out of bed to peak into the hallway to see if his parents were up.

"It's Saturday morning for crying out loud" Jeffery mumbled to himself as he passed Ralph on his way down the hallway.

Ralph hung back nervously for a moment before following after his father. The banging came again before Jeffery got to the door. Ralph peered around the corner of the hallway to get a glimpse of his father unlocking the front door.

"Paige? Is everything okay? I thought we weren't meeting until this afternoon" Jeffery addressed the girl who woke the whole house up.

"I know. I'm sorry. Is Jack here? I figured he made it here late last night 'cause he never came home and he knows my rule is here or home overnight, that's it. He's here, isn't he?" she demanded urgently.

Jeffery turned around to find his son. Ralph was still peering around the wall leading to the hallway like there might still be a threat to their lives on the other side of the door.

"Ralph? Did Jack come over here last night?" Jeffery asked his son, Paige looking nervously around him.

"No" Ralph's voice shook as he answered. "Last I heard from him was before I talked to Paige last night when I called their house."

"Oh my god" Paige gasped in a panic. "Oh my god! Where the hell is he? He doesn't even have a car! Are all your vehicles accounted for?"

"Paige, calm down, kiddo" Jeffery turned back to her, a calming way in his voice. "I'm sure Jack's fine. Do you have reason to believe something might've happened?"

"No, but he's never gone missing on my watch before. Not since we moved to Parkview. Not since he's been my responsibility! Shit! Even if he is fine, I still can't be the parent who has no fucking clue where the kid is! He could be dead in a ditch somewhere for all I know... I don't even know what to do in this situation. Do I call the police? Will that get him in shit with his parole officer? I can't let him get sent back to court. Goddamnit!"

"Okay, come on, come in" Jeffery muttered as he ushered her onto the welcome mat. He closed the door behind her and immediately went for the living room landline phone. "Do you have the numbers for the friends he might be with?"

"Yeah" she urgently agreed as she sifted through her purse for her phone book. She rushed to open it, her hands shaking nervously. She recited numbers to Jeffery, he dialed, introduced himself, asked for Jack, thank you anyway, hang up, try again.

After reaching everyone Paige could think of, the horrible look in her eyes got a little more horrible.

"There's one other person we could call, I just don't know how Jack could've gotten there" Paige regretfully confessed like she would somehow be responsible if she were right.

"Who? Is the number in there?" Jeffery asked.

"Rebecka" Ralph answered for Paige.

"Your mother?" Jeffery questioned. "I thought she and Jack weren't in touch anymore."

"They're not supposed to be, but... I don't know. She's an adult and she knows that he can't see her right now. It's possible he called her when I was out and she helped him defy me. I guess we should probably call. I'd rather know that he's safe somewhere I don't want him to be than to not know at all."

Ralph dropped his head. What the hell are you doing, Jack? You couldn't wait another week and a half until your eighteenth birthday?