Theresa sat on the couch of her living room watching the early morning rain hit the window as she sipped her coffee. She was deep in thought, trying to figure out exactly what was wrong with her daughter Jenny. Somehow Theresa was yet unable to put her finger on the source of the disturbance. She knew something was going on with Jenny, whose behavior was out of character this past while. Theresa sat thinking back, reviewing and identifying all of the various incidents of odd behaviors and tried to pinpoint a trigger. Lately Jenny had been illusive, evasive and rarely home at nights but otherwise happier than Theresa has seen in a quite a while, if ever.
Jenny had been coming home to change, shower eat and than she was off again somewhere else. If it wasn't work then it was out with friends or at the movies. For one reason or another Jenny was almost constantly out. Theresa considered charging her a storage fee rather than rent since she was here so little now. While it aggravated Theresa to see her daughter out and about so much, there was little she could say really.
It was a little over a month ago that Jenny had snuck over to Tom's to talk late one night. That in itself was not odd, Tom was like an uncle to Jenny and perhaps her closest friend. The next morning, after Theresa had recovered from the panic and found Jenny over at Tom's place she made a deal with Jenny. Theresa had agreed to let Jenny come and go as she pleased as long as Theresa knew when to expect her home and when she couldn't. However she did not expect Jenny to abuse that agreement, so blatantly and so often. Most times she was never told what Jenny was up to or whom she was with. Jenny would charge out the door and simply shout out that she was gone and wouldn't be home that night, leaving Theresa to wonder and worry.
Perhaps Jenny was just enjoying her newfound independence, just enjoying the fact of not having to tell her parents where she was going. Somehow Theresa knew that wasn't it. Jenny had never been a difficult child; in fact she had always been as good as gold. She had been a dream to raise, only giving grief now and then but even then only a word or two would bring her back in line. She never really went through a rebellious stage like most teens. As she grew older Jenny spent more time out with Tom, as an excuse to get away from her parents no doubt.
Tom was a safe companion for Jenny and he had always been an uncle to her as well as a friend. Theresa could always rely on Tom to keep Jenny safe and out of trouble. Theresa could not believe some of the things that Tom endured because of Jenny. Endless shopping trips with Jenny and her friends, being dragged around to countless clothing stores, 'chick flick' movies galore. They never seemed to tire of each other's company and for a teenager that's downright amazing!
Before that trip to Tom's that night for the week that followed her birthday, Jenny was miserable. She moped around the house and wore a sad face wherever she went and tried to hide a deep pain in her heart. Jenny refused to talk about it to anyone, not her, not Mathew, and not even Tom. She barely spoke to Tom and when she did it was drained, and not the lively exchange that it usually was, but rather quiet and reserved. This was out of character for them both Theresa thought as she sipped the last of her coffee.
She got up and refilled her coffee, adding just the right amount of cream and sugar to make it perfect. She returned to her quiet and comfortable spot as she resumed her pondering on her daughter's recent behavior. Clearly Jenny was happy, almost euphoric and while Theresa didn't want to interfere with her daughter's happiness, she was concerned.
If whatever it was that made her so happy was truly that terrific, why did she choose to hide it from her parents? Jenny was never a secretive person; Theresa always knew what was going on in her life because they talked about everything. Theresa pondered for a long while about what could account for Jenny's behavior and came to one scary conclusion. There was only one thing that could account for Jenny's odd behavior and Theresa knew it, it was a guy. Since Jenny had not brought this young man forward Theresa could only guess that there was something wrong with him.
Jenny had always brought her boyfriends home to meet her parents before; this also was not like Jenny. There must be some really big reason, something serious that would cause Jenny to be too embarrassed to introduce him to her parents, and Theresa knew it. Perhaps this person wasn't a guy after all? Perhaps Jenny was involved with a woman? After all it is possible and these days anything can happen. While it scared Theresa to think that it could be possible, she knew a woman was not likely the case.
This was more serious than Theresa thought. Now she was in a panic as thousands of images of unsavory individuals flashed across her mind in an attempt to picture this mystery man. Theresa had to know what was truly going on, if not for her own sanity than for her daughter's safety! He could be a drug dealer, a pimp, or ever a real sleaze ball, any number of things could be wrong with him. Theresa vowed that she would get to the bottom of this once and for all! Theresa would know what Jenny was up to if only to save her from her own reckless behavior. After all Jenny was still her daughter and Theresa wanted only what was best for her.
She felt a tear roll down her cheek, as the thought of that horrible creep out there somewhere waiting for her little girl. Theresa knew that her little girl needed some help and saving from this asshole that had her heart in his clutches. Even though Theresa had not met him she loathed him for taking advantage of Jenny's trusting nature, of manipulating the young woman. For that this creep would pay dearly! Theresa knew that one-way or another she would make things right again . . . somehow.
As if on cue a door down the hall quietly opened and then closed. The mouse like footsteps padded down the carpeted hall and before the person came into view Theresa knew whom it was. It was one of the few nights as of late that Jenny slept in her own bed. There had been a family outing the previous night that Jenny had attended. For one evening at least things were the way they should be. This morning however, the new routine was back it seemed. Jenny kept her swift pace towards the door, glancing the living room over only once. When Jenny saw that her mother was there she stopped briefly and turned to her mother.
"Good morning mom, I have some things to take care of today." Jenny smiled and waved, about to continue on toward the door.
"What kind of things dear?" Theresa asked, forcing her voice and manner to remain calm.
"Oh just errands and stuff, nothing exciting." Jenny said as she glanced away momentarily.
"Well, I haven't seen that much of you lately and I could use an excuse to get out of the house. What do you say that I tag along?" Theresa said in a cheerful manner that she hoped could fool her daughter.
"Sure, why not." Jenny replied cheerfully, trying her best not to show the near panic that she felt.
Jenny had planned to get out and surprise Tom before he woke up. She wanted to feel his loving arms around her one more time; she ached to be near the one that she loved. This past month had been pure heaven for both Tom and Jenny. They were together, they loved each other and both were happier then either of them had ever known to be possible.
There was only one thing that nagged at the new couple, one dark cloud that plagued their otherwise sunny skies. The fact that nobody knew about them, the fact that they had not told Jenny's parents about their relationship yet wore on them. The two lovers had talked about bringing things out into the open on more than one occasion. Although it was something that they both wanted to do, they never found the right words or the right time to drop the bombshell.
Jenny never liked lying to her parents and had done it so rarely that the whole concept made her uncomfortable. She now could not stand being around her parents as it reminded her of the constant deception that she perpetrated. As she now looked at her mother she realized that before all of this they had spent much more time together. The lack of contact must have been hard on her mother and Jenny did not want to hurt her any more than she had to. Jenny hoped that she could put all this aside and simply enjoy a day with her mother like they had done so many times before.
"Good, where are we going?" Theresa asked, now happy that Jenny didn't continue running for the door.
Perhaps today Theresa could get Jenny to open up and tell her about this creep on her own. Perhaps she could charm the information out of Jenny and get the answers she needed.
"What do you say we spend a day at the mall, just us girls?" Jenny said in an off the cuff manner.
"What about all that stuff you had to take care of?" Theresa asked with a puzzled smirk.
