The Bachelorette Party by Sandra Block

Author:Sandra Block
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penzler Publishers

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

NOW

I stare at the silent receiver in my hand.

Did she actually cut the line?

“I was just calling 911,” I say. “I’m not trying to get anyone in trouble. I’m just trying to help my friends.”

“Is that so?” Esther asks, her voice faded behind the door. “Or are you trying to make plans with Noah?”

Trying to make plans with Noah? I hang up the phone then, striding to the door to confront her. “No, I’m not trying to …” I say, opening the door. But the handle won’t budge. “Esther, you let me out right now. You hear me?”

“I told him you were trouble,” Esther says, with a querulous note. “I told him from the very moment I set eyes on you. Just like that Nicole girl.”

“Okay, listen,” I say to the door, adjusting my tone to convince her. “I promise you. This has nothing to do with your son. I’m not trying to date Noah. At all. I’m engaged already in fact. Remember?”

This is answered with an unconvinced snort.

“Esther,” I say, still trying to reason with her. “I was having a bachelorette party.”

“So you say,” she answers.

Again, I turn the knob without success. “I’m not lying about my friends. They might be hurt.” I wait to see if she might take mercy on my plight, then hear something metallic knock against the door.

“Noah,” I scream, pounding on the door now. Obviously, she will not be swayed, and I can’t waste any more time trying to convince her. “Noah!”

“You shush right now,” she commands, just above a whisper. “You wake him up and you’ll be in some real trouble here.”

“Noah,” I yell louder, then body-slam the door, creaking the door frame. “Noah, help me please!” I kick the door now and notice the hinges loosening. Maybe I don’t need anyone to let me out. I give the door another karate kick. Lainey could probably have kicked this open in two seconds. But Lainey’s not here.

“I’m warning you,” she growls.

I keep kicking and kicking, my chest sweating.

Hurried footsteps sound down the hall. “What the hell is going on?”

“She locked me in here,” I scream, bashing the door.

“Jesus,” he grumbles. “Not again.”

Not again?

“Come on, Mom. Put that thing away. We’ve been through this before. It’s dangerous.” A tumbling sounds in the hallway. “Mom, seriously,” he snaps. “You’re going to hurt someone.”

“She’s the seed of the devil, son,” she says, her voice strained with effort of fighting him off. “We can’t let her out of here.”

“Mom, Jesus Christ. Stop. Please.” A scuffle emerges on the other side, the knob twisting back and forth. “You need to stop this. Right now.”

“It’s for your own good,” she returns, her body knocking against the door in the invisible skirmish.

“I’m going to call Dr. Singh again,” he warns. “Is that what you want? This time, he’ll start the medication. I promise you.”

“I won’t let her hurt you,” she cries. “You’ll start up again. I know it. And you’ve worked so hard to be clean, son.”

I scoop up my backpack and step back a few paces.

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