Troublemaker by Trice Hickman

meal, make sure he was nice and relaxed, and then have a serious heart-to-heart about the two things that had been weighing down their marriage for the last six months—Parker Brightwood, and the fact that her and Ted’s sex life had slowed to a snail’s crawl.

Chapter 6
Samantha
    S amantha parked her car in the garage and turned off the engine. She sat for a few moments enjoying the silence of being alone. She wanted nothing more than to have the house all to herself tonight, but that was truly wishful thinking. Tyler was out conducting a crime prevention forum across town with his non-profit organization, Youths First Initiative, and would be home in a few hours, but she was sure that Chase was in his bedroom with the door closed, blasting hip-hop music at an annoying decibel.
    Reluctantly, she got out of her car and entered her house. She placed her keys on the brushed nickel hook beside the door, and listened for the deafening beats she’d have to tell her son to turn off because there would be no music, TV, or phone calls for him for the rest of the week. But when, after a few minutes, she didn’t hear any noise, she became suspicious.
    Samantha walked out of the kitchen and over to the edge of the stairs. “Chase, are you up there?” she called out. When she didn’t get an answer, she went up to his room, turned the knob, and walked inside. His bed was made, the room was quiet, and there was no sign of activity. “Where is he?”
    She immediately became worried and started to panic, picturing Chase out doing any number of things that made her heart beat fast with anxiety. “Let me call that boy and see where he is,” Samantha said as she walked back down to the kitchen and dialed her son’s cell phone.
    A deep, husky voice, much too manly for a sixteen-year-old greeted her. “Sup?”
    Samantha pursed her lips. “Excuse me? What kind of way is that to answer your phone?”
    â€œOh, sorry, Mom. My bad. What’s up?”
    â€œWhere are you?”
    â€œI’m at Brad’s, remember?”
    â€œAnd why are you there?”
    â€œI told you last week that I was spending the night and you and dad said it was fine. As a matter of fact, I gotta go.”
    â€œWhoa, whoa, whoa! Not so fast. After the news you gave your father and me last night, you don’t need to be sleeping under any other roof except this one.”
    â€œBut you said I could.”
    â€œThat was last week, and before last night.”
    â€œI talked to Dad a little while ago and he said it was all right. It’s cool, Mom. Relax.”
    Samantha couldn’t believe that Tyler would allow their son to operate with a business-as-usual attitude, especially considering Chase’s predicament, and she wondered if her son was lying. But as she thought about what he’d said, she knew Chase had to be telling the truth because the boy knew better than to lie on his father. However, whether he was really at Brad’s house was a different story.
    â€œMom, I’ve gotta go.”
    â€œWhy’re you rushing me off the phone?”
    â€œBrad’s mom is about to order pizza and then we’re gonna watch a movie.”
    Samantha was so upset she wanted to scream. She couldn’t believe her son’s laissez-faire attitude. He needed to be home on punishment, sitting in his room alone—no friends, no pizza, and no movies—feeling remorse while he contemplated his future and thought about what he’d done. Instead, he was enjoying a fun summer night with a friend.
    But Tyler had already said it was okay, and she didn’t want to contradict her husband. Still, she wanted to confirm that Chase was really where he said he was. “Put Brad’s mother on the phone.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œYou heard me,” she said as she rested her hand on her barely there hip. “Put Brand’s mother on the phone so I can talk to