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"There's more to this," he said.

"There was drugs and drinking," I admitted.

"Beni do any of that?" Mama pursued quickly.

"She drank some, got sick and came home, Mama," I said. It was at least part of the truth.

Mama and Roy looked at each other. If Roy let it go, Mama would, I knew.

"That all?" Mama had to ask.

"It wasn't a nice place to be, Mama. Beni realized that. Most girls in school wouldn't have come home," I added enthusiastically.

"Yeah, I suppose that's true enough," Mama said. "She all right?"

"She's going to have a helluva headache, I bet," Roy said.

"Good. Teach her a lesson. She can go lay in there with her father and they can moan at each other all morning," Mama declared. "What's that they say about the apple not falling far from the tree?"

"I did," Roy said quickly.

"Yes, you did, son. I thank the Lord, too."

"And so did Rain," Roy asserted.

Mama stared at me for a moment and then nodded. "Go see to her," Mama told me. "I've got a bigger problem on my hands this morning."

She turned back to the coffee. I glanced at Roy, who looked more suspicious than I wanted him to look, and then I hurried back to the bedroom to wait for Beni to wake up. I had to tell her what I had told Roy and Mama or she would get us both in more trouble, I thought.

She didn't appear to be close to waking up, even after another hour had passed and everyone was in the kitchen having breakfast. I had to shake her.

She moaned and turned slowly.

"What?" she asked as soon as she opened her eyes. I told her what I had told Mama and Roy.

"Why did you tell her I got drunk? Now she'll never let me out," Beni moaned.

"She's happy you came home, Beni. I told her most girls wouldn't have, so no matter how she hollers at you, you know she's not as mad as she makes out to be. I did the best I could," I explained.

"I feel terrible," she moaned when she sat up. She held her stomach and then put her other hand over her eyes and moaned. She fell back to her pillow. "Just let me be," she pleaded.

"You better get up and get dressed, Beni. It will be worse if you lay in bed all morning. Mama will be in here soon anyway," I warned.

She narrowed her eyes and stared at me for a moment. "You're glad, aren't you? You're happy this happened to me. Now you feel so right and perfect."

"That's not true, Beni. I feel sorry for you. I really do."

"Sure," she said. She turned toward the wall. "Jerad was there. He probably got them to do this to me just to get revenge on you and Roy," she declared. "It's true, I bet." Angrily, she threw off her blanket. "None of this might have happened to me otherwise."

"That's stupid, Beni. You can't make excuses for those kind of people and you can't shift blame to me and Roy. So stop it," I snapped at her.

I dressed and came out of the bedroom before she did.

Mama had made Ken his favorite breakfast, buckwheat pancakes, despite her show of anger. Roy sat across from him eating sullenly.

"She up?" Mama demanded.

"Yes, Mama. She's coming out."