Midday Clouds - The Charlie Swan Story

Chapter 47 (Eclipse 6)

"What do you mean that's Bella's motorcycle?" I asked, bewildered. The look of guilt only grew on Jake's face.

"You remember a few months ago? When her and I started hanging out, like, everyday? Well, we weren't actually studying – we were working on these bikes."

"Oh there are two of them now? Because I'm only seeing the one incredibly dangerous – and I'm guessing unlicensed – motorcycle in front of my house, Jake."

"The other one's back home. I just thought I should probably bring Bella's back, given that we're not exactly on speaking terms these days."

So that was it, then. Bella's boyfriend comes back home and she drops the rest of her friends. I know that her and Jake were having some issues ever since he got mono and started hanging out with Sam Uley and those boys, but I wouldn't have imagined that the two of them were still mad at each other.

"You know how much more likely you are to die on one of those than in a car, right?"

"Yeah-"

"I don't think you do. Motorcycle accidents are 30 times more fatal than car accidents. And it's not exactly a nice way to go, either. What were you thinking? Christ, what was she thinking? The roads are constantly wet around here, Jake. Do you even have a helmet? Did she?" The image of Bella riding on that thing without a helmet was only added to the catalogue of ways she'd nearly gotten herself killed over the past few months; getting lost in the woods, coming close to the huge wolves we'd been tracking, jumping off of cliffs... and now this.

"I'm really sorry, Charlie. It's why I brought the bike back. To be honest, she never really rode it much more than a few yards before, well..."

"Before what?"

"She might have fallen the first time she gave it a go, but she was fine! Just hit her head a bit. It was no big deal, really."

"No big -- no big deal?! Damn it, Jake, that's about the third time she's been concussed this year! You know what significant and repeated head trauma can do to a young person's decision-making?? Hell, there's been links between concussions and depression, even. Why would you do this to her?"

At that Jake looked down at the ground, his eyes teary. "I just wanted to keep hanging out with her, Charlie. I'm sorry. She showed up with these junk bikes, and asked if I could help fix them up – I don't know, she'd been so sad for so long, and I figured maybe us hanging out would help. It seemed to help."

I gave the boy a long hard look. It was still strange to see him without his long hair, and even with a T-shirt on you could tell that puberty had hit him like a bus in just the past few months. He seemed genuine. I was still mad as hell, imagining Bella flattened like a pancake on some corner of La Push Road, but I was glad to hear that she hadn't actually spent much time riding it, instead just watching Jake work on fixing it up.

Still, my blood was only beginning to cool when I heard the sound of a sedan pull in behind the hedge, over by the forest path in which Bell's had gotten lost after being broken up with and subsequently abandoned by Edward.

Jake seemed to have also heard the vehicle and had a sense of who it was, because he was quicker than me – unnaturally quick – in shutting my own front door in my face, offering a "Sorry, Charlie, I just need some time to talk to her," through the glass, and jammed an adirondack chair into the doorframe to stop me from opening it.

"Damnit Jake! Let me outta here!" I hollered at him, fruitlessly reaming on the door handle that wouldn't budge. I saw him trot off down the driveway, past the motorbike, and around the corner. I fumed, thinking about running to the backdoor and skirting around the house to get out front, but then what? Come face to face with Edward, the boy I'd been at odds with ever since he broke up with my daughter at a baseball game? Or step in on Jake, who was potentially trying to make amends with Bella?

Bella. I couldn't believe the wool she continued to pull over my eyes. First by fleeing back to Phoenix after that first breakup, then by taking off to Italy without a word, and now, to find out she had been working on and riding a motorcycle all winter? She was about to be so grounded that we'd have to dig out a basement for the house.

"BELLA!" I roared at the door. "YOU GET IN THIS HOUSE THIS INSTANT!"

I could see the tail end of Edward's pricy sedan peeking out from across the street, and could hear the muffled noise of what sounded like shouting from that general direction.

"BELLA! I SEE HIS CAR AND I KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE! IF YOU AREN'T INSIDE THIS HOUSE IN ONE MINUTE... !" I stood there, allowing the threat to finish itself for the trio of teenagers conversing just beyond my front yard. As mad as I was at Bella for riding a goddamn motorcycle, of all things, and at the Cullens for the chaos they'd caused, and Jake for the bikes, I couldn't help but take a moment to breath, and to smile – this definitely felt a lot more like the type of situation I'd read about last winter in the "Raising Teens" book.

I gave one last shout: "ISABELLA SWAN!" Before heading into the living room and cracking a beer. I figured she'd be along shortly, and would, likely with the help of one of her boyfriends, move the chair and get back into the house. And so she did.

"Charlie?" She called when she finally entered. God, how I hated how infrequently she called me "dad."

"In here."

She turned the corner into the living room, a look of guilt plain on her face. "Dad! Okay, listen, I can explain. Me and Jake, we were just messing around with those bikes, as like, a project, you know? I found them in the junk yard and I thought maybe we could work together to fix them up, and we did! But I barely rode on them at all, we both know I'm not exactly the most coordinated-"

"Bells," I said, cutting her off. "You're officially grounded. Indefinitely. You said the other night that I had the right to ground you for as long as I'd like, well consider it done. You can go to school, you can go to work, but then it's straight back home."

"But-"

"No buts, Bells. You've broken my trust multiple times now, you've left without a word twice, ended up in the hospital about three times, come home with injuries – this is just as much about my own damn peace of mind as it is about punishment."

"-At least let Edward come see me here," she finally spit out. I could see the look of worry on her face, as though the only detriment to being grounded would be missing her boyfriend. Well, I was planning on keeping a closer eye on him anyway, and I hadn't soon forgotten Bella's previous threat about moving out to the Cullen's huge, cold house, which was to be avoided at all costs. I realized that we were in something of a negotiation.

"Fine. But not in your bedroom. Here, in the living room. I don't want to see him any sooner than 7, and he's gone by 9:30 at the latest. You can spend time together at school, anyway."

I watched the cogs turn in her head, determining whether that was a fair enough compromise, if that was enough time to spend with Ed, or if she should play the trump card of "being a legal adult" and moving out all over again. She looked out the window at the motorcycle, and breathed out a sad sigh. "Fine," she finally said.

"Fine," I said, still mad about all that she had put me through. It wasn't ideal, to have to put Bells under house arrest, but it was a step in the right direction, at least.