Star Blessed

Errors in Judgment

MERIBELLA

The room spun about her as the man's chilling voice seeped through the speaker. The walls closed in and sound became muffled, but the world burst back into focus as a familiar, throaty chuckle broke through.

    "Hey darling girl. Sorry about that. Chad doesn't know how to behave."

    "Mom? What the hell? I've been trying to get in touch with you all day, and then some random dude answers the phone. Who is Chad?" Meribella's shouts drew the attention of customers, but she was too upset to care.

    "Meribella- that's no way to speak to me. Besides, we spoke not that long ago. What's the rush?"

    She blanched at the callous tone. Gods, how had it never bothered her that her mother cared so little about her only child? "You're right, but in my defense, you usually answer the phone on the second or third try at least."

    The male speaker spoke, but his words were unintelligible. Whatever he said seemed to make her mother titter like a school girl and when she spoke again, she sounded breathless. "Is there a purpose for this call?"

    All the worry and fear from earlier was beginning to vanish, replaced by rage, but Meribella couldn't push away the vibe that something was wrong. "Where'd you meet Chad? How come I haven't heard about him?"

    "Meribella-- I really don't want to do this right now."

    "Mom, just answer the question, and then I won't bother you for another month."

    "Fine. Your Mam and I haven't been getting along lately so I decided it was time to put a little distance between the two of us. She stayed in Oregon, and I took a vacation in California, which is where I met Chad. We've been together for about a week."

    "Wow, Mom. A whole week. Better be careful, last time you had a man, it took less time than that to get knocked up."

    "Good lord Meribella. How did I raise such a prude?"

    "Oh I don't know, maybe the daily speeches from you and Mam telling me all about the evils of men... how they were good for nothing but heartbreaks and orgasms. Guess I took the first part of that sentence to heart while you focused on the second. That was an error on my part."

    "Maybe if you did the same, you'd be less of a pain in the ass. Look, if this is about you not finding the skin, don't take it out on me. I told you to give that up, but no, you packed that damn diary and map up and moved across the country. Forgive me if I choose to make something out of my--" her mother dropped to a whisper, "human life."

    "You're right, mother. I'm so sorry I even bothered with worrying about you." Her eyes remained dry, but she couldn't keep the tears out of her voice.

    "Meribella." A deep sigh. "Look, maybe I can ask Chad if he has any friends. He's about your age." Gross. "And he's actually from the town you were staying in last. Babe, what was it called again? Oh yeah, Cutler. Didn't you say you were staying there?"

    That one word set fire to the panic that had diminished when she heard her mother speak. "Mother--"

    "I'll talk to him and give you a call back later. We were in the middle of something very important. Bye."

    Dead air greeted her as the call ended. She let the two halves of the phone snap shut and tried to control her breathing. Herrin hadn't lied to her, but she'd almost rather they'd kidnapped the woman than this. She'd never manage to convince her mother that Chad was dangerous; she'd just call Meribella sexually repressed and advise her to get laid before throwing allegations around. Unless Chad actually physically hurt her, the woman would be in his control as long as they were sleeping together.