Chapter 99 - When This Wicked World Makes You Want To Crawl

 

 

It's been two weeks since they laid their baby girl to rest. 

 

 

The last two weeks were pure hell on them.  Not only did they have to deal with the loss, they had to deal with the press, the rumors and the cloud of suspicion that loomed over their heads.  Beth has been questioned regarding the unexplained death of her daughter, more times than she cares to remember. Jon and the kids have been questioned as well as all the staff that had any contact with McKenna. 

 

While under investigation, Jon and Beth threw themselves into their work and came up for air only when they were tired.  Jon was working on an album to be released after the Greatest Hits, he leaves for his postponed tour in four days.  Beth has made a name for herself in New York City as one of the most powerful women in New York, and that made her happy.  Her hard work is paying off and she loves that.  The kids have been with them and with their mother, going through the motions of going to school, sports and extra curricular activities.  They weren't sure where they were going to be from day to day, Jon was too moody and he rarely left the studio. 

 

At dinner, three nights before he's scheduled to leave, it's just Jon and Beth.  The kids went out for dinner with uncle Tony.  They were close with their uncles and Tony wanted to see them before he hit the road with Jon.  "Why do you think they are questioning us?  What do they think we did?" he asks her, with no life in his voice. 

 

Beth looks over the table at him, shocked by what she heard.  "They think we did something to her, that we caused her death."

 

He shakes his head no, "That can't be what they're thinking."

 

"That's what they told me, Jon."

 

"That's bullshit."

 

"We know that, they're just doing their job.  I mean you have to admit, I've had three children and none of them are here with us.  It would look suspicious to me, from the outside."

 

"That's still bullshit, if they knew us, they would know there is no truth to it."

 

"They're just doing there job, Jon."  Beth snaps at him.  She's pissed that this is what he wants to talk about over dinner, "Don't you ask questions when they talk to you?"

 

"Not really." he admits, with a heavy sigh.  "Are you going with me on Saturday?"

 

"Where?"

 

"To Texas?"

 

"No." she tells him, "I have no desire to go, I'm sorry."

 

"That's okay.  I don't want to go either."

 

"Then don't go." she tells him, pretty point blank.

 

"I wish it was that easy." he confesses, not wanting to go on tour to support an album that they didn't need to release.  It only has a handful of new material on it, it didn't need a tour to support it's sales.  However, Jon made a promise and he keeps his promises, regardless of how hard it was to keep.

 

"It is Jon.  Just don't go."

 

"And then what would I do?"

 

"Oh, I don't know - be a father, be a boyfriend.  Be here."

 

He throws his fork on his plate and his napkin on the table, as he stands his chair falls over backward.  "I'm getting sick of your smart ass comments.  That's all you have done for days."

 

"You're lucky that's all I've done."

 

"What do you mean by that?"

 

"You're lucky I haven't kicked your ass."  She stands up and they walk toward one another.  When they meet, she adds, "You have been an asshole for the last week or so, do you want to tell me what's going on or are we going to keep living like this until you leave."

 

"You'd like me to leave, wouldn't you?" he barks at her, his nostrils are flaring. 

 

"I have your bag packed already." she says, with a smirk, "I can't stand being around you when you're like this?"

 

"Around me?  You're never here.  You're always at work."

 

"And you're in the studio."

 

"THE FUCKING HOME STUDIO" with emphasis on home. 

 

She laughs at him, "You're physically standing in front of me and you're still not HERE, Jon.  You're off in laa laa land or wherever the fuck it is that you go."

 

"What about you?  You're never HERE."

 

"What is there for me to be here for?  To be ALONE, cause you're out there and the kids are with Dot?"

 

She can't stand it, she hates when they fight.  It's so rare, but when they do they never end well.  "I'm not doing this, Jon." She grabs her place setting and takes it into the kitchen, dropping her dinner in the trash.  He's right behind her.

 

"Why are you walking away?"

 

She tosses her dishes in the sink, "I'm not going to fucking fight with you.  WE Jon, WE have been through hell and you have shut me out, cut me off, left me alone."

 

"What am I supposed to do?  I just lost another baby and now I have to go on tour, what am I supposed to do, BETH?" he gets louder and that's when she sees it.  She can see the turmoil that he's dealing with in his head and in his heart.

 

"Do you think I had something to do with McKenna's death?" she starts to dry heave.  "Do you think I would hurt my own baby?"

 

"Something isn't adding up.  Why do they keep questioning you and no one else?"

 

"Because I was the last one to see her alive."

 

The doorbell rang.  With all the attitude that he could ever own, he walks to the door and answers it.  When he sees it's Dani, he asks her, "What do you want?"

 

"Well, Jon I need to talk to you and Beth.  Is she here?"

 

"Yes.  What do you need to talk to us about?  Can't it wait?"

 

She shakes her head now and walks in passed him, he yells after her, "Beth, Dani is here."  He follows her into the kitchen where Beth was crying.

 

"What, Dani? It's kind of late."  Beth states, unhappy that she's there when she kicked her out several hours ago.

 

Jon sits in the bar stool that is at the island and adds, "Please hurry, we're in the middle of something."

 

Beth remembering that Dani had been good to her and helped her when she needed help says, "I'm being accused of hurting my baby.  What do YOU have to say?  Do you think I hurt my baby?"

 

Dani was still pissed that Beth rudely kicked her out earlier and had decided that she has taken enough of their abuse, their selfishness and there rich and famous attitudes.  She looks at Jon, whom is sitting in the chair pissed with tears in his eyes.  "Jon, do I look familiar to you at all?".

 

"What?"

 

"Do I look familiar to you?"

 

"No, should you?" he's getting pissed with the 20 questions, "Say what you have to say so you can leave."

 

Dani looks at Beth, "Do you remember the car accident that I told you about, that I was in not to long ago?"

 

"Yeah, you were hurt pretty bad."

 

"And I needed many facial surgeries, altering the way I looked from before."

 

"Right."  Looking back at Jon, she loudly says, "Look at me Jon, really look at me."

 

He can't see her through his tears and his anger has him unable to think.  "Say what you have to say!!!"  He shouts at her.

 

"We did a photo shoot a couple years back and you fucked me like you haven't fucked in a long time.  Do you remember bending me over that couch and giving me the best orgasm of my life?  Do you remember how wonderful you told me that I felt to you?"

 

"What?  Who? When?" he mumbles.

 

"Melissa?"  Beth says, covering her mouth.  You're Melissa!"

 

Melissa smiles at Beth and says, 'Yep, I'm the one that made love to your man because you were to fragile and had to run."

 

Jon stands up and gets in her face, "You're the slut that puts out to anyone?"

 

"Well, to you anyway.  Do you remember how great the sex was Jon?  Do you remember the pregnancy scare back then?"

 

Beth gets in her face, "Get out of my fucking house right now before I drag your nasty ass out by your hair."

 

"What's the matter Beth?  Did you think that you would never run into me?"

 

Jon is running all of the events that started in the cemetery to this point right now.  Melissa planned this, she needed to get into his life in anyway possible.  She must want to destroy him, cause he would never love her.  "Get out before I call he police."

 

"Don't you want to hear the rest of the story?" she asks, sarcastically, "There is so much more to tell you."

 

She focuses back on Beth, "Remember that asshole that I told you that I was with?  All lies.  I have been planning this since you came back to Jon.  When I seen that the two of you were happy and facing the demons from losing the twins, I knew I could get in if I played the sympathy card." she takes a breath, "And you fell for it, hook line and sinker."

 

"You bitch!"

 

"McKenna wasn't my baby, I found her walking the cemetery, close to your babies. I could see that you would reach out to me and take me under your wing.  My plan was fool proof.  The closer you got to giving birth to McKenna, which isn't a name I would use, I had to get in and get in deep."

 

Enraged and ready to kill, Jon screams at her, "Did you hurt my baby?"

 

Dani smiles, "If I couldn't have your baby, no one else is going to either."  Beth slaps her across the face.  "Do you feel better, Beth.  The woman under investigation for the mysterious death of her poor baby girl."

 

"What did you do to her?" Jon demands.  Beth is standing there leaning against the counter, fighting the urge to kill the bitch. 

 

"Dani/Melissa, what did you do to McKenna?" Beth yells at her, "What did you do to our baby?"

 

"That baby should have been mine.  You were never supposed to come back."

 

"WHAT DID YOU DO?  Please tell me what you did to her, did she suffer?"  Beth is sobbing so hard, she does vomit in the kitchen sink.  Jon gets up to comfort her and he gets pushed away.  "Dani, what did you do?"

 

"Don't worry, she didn't suffer."

 

Jon grabs her shoulders, seeing red her starts to shake her, "What the hell did you do to her?"

 

Dani just smiles an evil smile, "You used me and left me.  Didn't return my calls or emails.  When I thought I was pregnant, you referred me to your lawyer.  You didn't take it seriously and you should have.  The way you treated me after that made me realize that you needed to be taught a lesson.  Even when you're crying and feeling sorry for yourself, you shouldn't treat people like they are disposable."

 

Beth heard enough.  She gets in her face and screams, "What did you do to her, you stupid bitch?  What did you do?"

 

Jon pulls his cell phone out of his pocket and calls 911 without Dani knowing.  He lets them listen to what she was saying until they could get there. 

 

"She died from a small air bubble."  Beth vomited in the sink again and then went after the crazy bitch.  Beth had her on the floor, literally kicking her ass.  Dani smiled every time that Beth struck her, and it was several times.  Dani is getting the ass whooping from Beth, Beth is getting a stress reliever until the police pick her up off her back.