Part 16 (1/2)
Shari moved closer to the computer and frowned. ”Are all of these chat rooms?”
”Yeah.” Tony said angrily. ”Is this what you've been doing on the computer?”
”Daddy, no,” Cookie whimpered. ”I mean, we only got on there once.”
”Once?” He started counting the URL locations in the history box. ”One, two, three . . .”
”It's the same one, Daddy.”
”I don't care if it is,” he said. ”We specifically told you what the rules were for having a computer in your room, didn't we?”
”Yes,” Cookie said looking at the floor.
”What are the rules, Cookie?” Shari asked as she stood next to Tony with her arms folded.
”No chat rooms,” Cookie said softly.
”And why?” Shari asked, tapping her foot.
”Because they're not safe.”
”What kind of people visit chat rooms, Cookie?”
Cookie looked confused.
”What kind?” Shari repeated.
Cookie shrugged. ”I don't know.”
”Exactly,” Tony intervened as he began to exit out of the browsing history window. ”You don't know. You don't know who you're talking to, and too many times we hear about grown men pretending to be boys luring young girls away from home.”
”And who is we?” Shari asked.
”Huh?”
Shari was losing patience. ”Cookie, stop standing there acting like you don't understand Englis.h.!.+ You said, 'we only got on there once' so I'm asking you, who is we?”
”Me and Serenity,” she said.
Tony shut down the computer and began disconnecting the mouse and keyboard from the monitor. Then he disa.s.sembled the rest of the computer. ”Since you've shown us that you can't follow the rules, you won't be using this computer anymore,” he said as he unplugged it from the wall.
”I'm sorry,” she said softly.
”You should be,” Shari said, still standing in front of Cookie with her arms crossed. ”Trust is a very important part of a person's character, and you've just shown us that we can't trust you.”
”I'm sorry,” she said again tearfully.
”Stop being sorry,” Shari said. ”Be more responsible. You know better!”
”But I wasn't talking to n.o.body on there. Serenity was.”
”What do you mean, Serenity was? Who was she talking to?” Shari asked.
”A boy she met.”
”What was this boy's name?”
”Saucer.”
The frown on Shari's face deepened. ”What?”
”We called him Saucer.”
”Was that his real name?”
”I don't know. That's what we called him.”
”Lord, have mercy,” Shari said.
”And what did this boy and Serenity talk about?” Tony asked sternly.
”He wanted to meet her.”
Shari looked at Tony.
”Meet her where?” Tony asked.
”At the mall but she said she couldn't.”
”Thank G.o.d,” Shari said.
”But she said she was gonna meet him in front of the restaurant today,” Cookie added.
Tony looked at her in amazement. ”What restaurant?”
”He just said some parking lot where a pizza restaurant used to be across the street from the mall.”
”I'm going to call Tia,” Shari said. She pulled out her phone and waited while the phone rang on the other end. ”She's not answering,” she said to Tony and disconnected the call. She gave the phone to Cookie. ”Call Serenity and see if she's home,” she said.
Cookie called Serenity's house number and listened to it ring several times before going to voice mail. ”She's not answering.”
Shari looked at Tony. ”What should we do?”
”Let's go,” he said. ”Maybe we can find her.”