Girl Across the Water

by Jody Kihara

  small station.

  “Oh, give it a rest,” I muttered, and then watched in

  fury as Jasper ran to Dad, who threw his arms around him.

  “I’m sorry!” were the words that Jasper seemed to

  be sobbing into Dad’s T-shirt.

  Revo was manhandled towards a doorway and

  pushed through. “In there until you calm down!” one of the

  officers holding him yelled. I guessed the jail cells were

  back there.

  “Now, Jasper,” Officer Herd said, turning to him.

  “We’re going to need you to answer some questions.”

  Good luck with that, I thought. If they could get any

  sense out of Jasper at this point, they all deserved

  promotions.

  “Look,” Dad said, still holding him tightly, Jasper’s

  face buried in his sweater, “It’s five in the morning.”

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  Looking at my watch, I saw with amazement that he

  was right.

  “We’re all tired. The boys must be more worn out

  than I am. I don’t think now is the best time for more

  questioning — can’t we go home, get some sleep, and

  come back tomorrow for all the rest?

  Officers Davis and Herd glanced at the clock on the

  wall. Officer Tully was back at her desk, the phone to her

  ear.

  “It is late,” Officer Davis said. “We can do that… but

  you have to come back tomorrow. As soon as you’re up.”

  Dad sighed. “Don’t worry. I have to make sure he―”

  He jerked his head towards the back room. “―gets what’s

  coming to him.”

  “I’ll drive you back,” Officer Herd offered, picking up

  his keys.

  “Wait!” I said, and everyone looked at me. “What

  about ‘Pa’ — I mean, Daewood? Did they catch him, too?”

  Officer Tully was putting the phone down as I asked

  the question. “They’ve got him,” she said. “In Still Creek.

  He was headed in the other direction, but they picked him

  up at about the same time. His kids are with him.”

  “Will they bring him here?”

  She shook her head. “No, they’ll keep him at Still

  Creek and get his statement there, and then we’ll see what

  happens.”

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  I slumped, disappointed I wouldn’t get to see him

  hauled in, and, more importantly, to see those kids again. I

  wanted to see the looks on their faces — were they guilty,

  ashamed, did they know they’d done something wrong? Or

  was it all just a big joke for them, were the twins still

  punching each other and laughing till snot flew out their

  noses?

  One of their conversations surfaced in my memory.

  “His name’s Rusty — no, Jason!”

  “His name’s Brendan. No, Brenda!”

  “No it’s not!”

  “Yes it is, remember?”

  And a lightning-bolt of anger ripped through me. I

  wondered what Coralie’s real name was. And what about

  The Girl? She’d been the biggest perpetrator, apart from

  Revo. Had she enjoyed the hoax, did she like making me

  run around like an idiot? Or did they have to persuade her

  to do it? Had she been scared when she was all alone on

  that island ― or was she so fierce that nothing could scare

  her?

  If she was anything like Coralie, I couldn’t imagine

  her being scared; yet she was the youngest, and had to do

  the most.

  I wanted to take her by the shoulders and shake

  her. Why did you do it? Did you know where it was all

  going? Did you know I might nearly get killed?

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  We walked out to the police car with Officer Herd.

  Jasper was still clinging to Dad, who ushered him into the

  back seat before climbing into the front passenger seat. I

  was too slow to figure out what was going on and I ended

  up having to sit in the back, beside Jasper. I’d rather have

  ridden up front. Jasper and I sat as far apart as possible.

  He looked down and continued to sniffle. I longed to

  give him a good, hard punch and tell him to stop trying for

  sympathy. Instead, I stared stonily forward, my whole body

  tense. Jasper sniffled the whole way back, and every time I

  heard him, I fought to stay rigid rather than launch myself

  at him and beat him to a pulp.

  Dad sat talking to Officer Herd, which I guess was

  why he’d got in the front. They were discussing getting

  someone out the later in the morning to replace the shot-

  out tires of Dad’s truck. I’d forgotten all about that until

  now.

  The car turned off the main road and up the dirt one,

  bumping along the way. It was daylight, now, but not fully,

  and I wished the sun would stay down; I wanted darkness.

  My eyes burned with tiredness. Soon the cabin came into

  sight. The second the car slid to a halt, Jasper ran straight

  out, not even bothering to shut the car door behind him,

  and bolted into the cabin like a scared rabbit.

  Dad said goodnight to Officer Herd, but I didn’t say

  anything; I was still sore over how the cops had treated

  me. Revo, Pa, and pretty much everyone but me were the

  criminals — even Jasper! ― yet they’d acted like I was the

  liar and the cheat.

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  When Dad and I finally trudged inside, the main floor

  of the cabin was vacant, which meant Jasper had already

  run up to the bedroom. “Great,” I muttered. “Now I have to

  sleep on the couch. He should be the one sleeping on it.”

  No way would I be able to sleep in the same room as him,

  listening to his sniffles — I’d definitely snap this time, and

  likely spring out my bed, yelling, pummeling, until Jasper

  stopped whining and took some responsibility for what he’d

  done.

  Dad sighed. “Look Paul, this is an awful situation,

  but go easy on Jasper. He’s had a rough time.”

  “He’s had a rough time? Dad, he almost got us

  killed! He might be a loser, but he’s not completely stupid.

  He knew what he was doing was wrong! And dangerous,” I

  added.

  “We’ll figure it all out tomorrow. Today, I mean.

  Now, come on,” he put his arm on my shoulder. “You can

  sleep in my room.”

  I shrugged my arm away. Underneath all the

  adrenalin and anger, an immense, heavy tiredness waited

  for me, but right now I was too keyed-up to sleep. I wanted

  answers.

  “What’s going to happen?” I demanded. “Will Revo

  go back to jail? Will Jasper end up in juvenile detention?”

  The thought of Jasper being there was almost cartoon-like:

  no way would he last five minutes in juvey. He’d probably

  pass out before he made it through the doors.

  “We’ll find out more tomorrow,” Dad said. “Right

  now, I don’t know. I don’t know if we even have enough

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  evidence to charge Revo. I guess a lot will
depend on

  Jasper’s side of the story.”

  “Jasper!” I snapped. “He was in on it! They should

  both be punished.”

  Dad sighed again. “I know he did something wrong,

  Paul, but I’m sure Revo was guilt-tripping him into it. Don’t

  forget, Jasper hasn’t had a good upbringing like you did. So

  don’t be too hard on judging him.”

  Good upbringing! I wanted to shout in his face:

  What, like divorcing mom, like replacing us both? Like

  never spending time with me alone because Jasper throws

  a hissy-fit every time he doesn’t get his way? How is that

  being a good parent? Maybe from Jasper’s point of view it

  was, but what about me?

  “So, what, if Jasper lies and tells the police it was all

  a big joke just so he can save his own butt, then Revo will

  get off too?” My voice rose. “Why should they listen to

  Jasper? He’s been lying to us since before we got here! He’s

  the liar! I was the only one telling the truth! And you didn’t

  even want to believe me at first!”

  Dad reached his arm out again. “Paul―”

  I flinched my arm away. Now that I’d opened the

  floodgates, it was all coming rushing out. “You’re always

  letting Jasper get his own way, you’re always spoiling him

  so he doesn’t have his little-baby crying fits, and look what

  it’s done! Look what you’ve made him ― not Revo! Jasper

  thinks he can get away with whatever he wants, because all

  he has to do is cry and people will forgive him. Dad, he

  knew what he did was wrong, Revo didn’t take him away

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  and brainwash him! You’re the one who made him think he

  can get out of anything just by acting like a three-year-

  old.”

  “I was hoping you’d be more understanding.”

  Wow, nice try with the guilt-trip, I thought. But wait,

  let’s review: didn’t you just say it was wrong for a parent to

  guilt-trip their kid?

  By now, I was shouting. “No, Dad, I’m not terribly

  understanding when my stepbrother tries to kill me! And

  then my dad — my Dad, not his — expects me to feel sorry

  for him. I come from a divorced family where my Dad

  doesn’t have time for me, remember?― and yet somehow,

  somehow, I don’t go around killing people!”

  “Paul,” he said again, and I thought I saw tears in

  his eyes. Oh, lord not tears! This was too much.

  “I’m going up to bed!” I yelled. “I’ll sleep in your

  room and you can sleep with the brat!”

  I ran up the stairs and banged Dad’s door behind

  me. Sunlight was already shining through the window, so I

  yanked the faded brown curtains shut, wishing they were

  thicker. Then I kicked my runners off, got undressed, and

  flopped onto the bed.

  I was so mad, I didn’t think I’d be able to sleep at

  all, but as soon as I was lying down, the thick tiredness

  that had been waiting behind everything pulled at me, and

  I realized my whole body was aching.

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  Alone now, I regretted storming off; I’d rather have

  slept in the same room as Dad just so Jasper was forced to

  be on his own. I hoped Jasper had been lying awake,

  feeling alone, or better yet, hearing my words. But knowing

  Jasper, he was probably sleeping like a baby.

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  Chapter 17

  Sometime later that day, I awoke to semi-darkness

  and heat. You know when the room’s darkened, but you

  can still tell it’s daytime? I came awake slowly,

  remembering the previous day’s events. They seemed too

  unreal to be anything but a bizarre dream, yet here I was

  in Dad’s bed.

  Police station, I remembered. We had to get down

  there to continue with the questioning. I wanted to tell my

  story before anyone else, even though I’d already told it.

  More importantly, I had to be there to refute any lies or

  excuses Jasper might come up with. I knew that if I was

  right there in the room with him, able to stare him down

  whenever his voice wobbled with the beginning of a lie, he

  wouldn’t be able to continue — all he’d do is cry. And then

  they’d see who was telling the truth.

  Important as that was, however, my body still

  craved sleep. No sounds came from downstairs, so with any

  luck, Dad and Jasper were still sleeping. Then I

  remembered that someone would have to replace the truck

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  tires before we could go anywhere. Knowing the sound of a

  truck would wake me, I let myself go back to sleep for a

  little while.

  I jerked awake a second time, the cabin still silent,

  but this time I somehow knew I was the only one in the

  cabin. I don’t know if it was a different quality of silence, or

  the empty feeling, or what, but I could sense that Dad and

  Jasper weren’t here. I stumbled out of bed and parted the

  curtains, my hand immediately going up to shade my eyes.

  It was sunny outside and looked like it might be mid-

  afternoon. As my gaze travelled around I realized… the car

  was gone.

  “Dad?” I called out anxiously, throwing yesterday’s

  clothes on. When I opened the bedroom door, I saw that

  the door to my and Jasper’s room was wide open, and the

  room was empty. I ran down the stairs, knowing before I

  reached the kitchen that they weren’t there. Had they gone

  outside? And where was the car, had someone taken it

  away to fix? I knew Dad wouldn’t have left without me.

  There were dirty dishes covering the stove, counter

  and table. It looked like a big breakfast had been eaten.

  With growing anxiety, I dashed over to stove. Sure enough,

  a thick film of bacon grease covered the bottom of the

  frying pan. And was the bowl on the counter caked with…

  pancake batter? I looked around, getting angry now —

  there was no covered plate of food waiting for me. They’d

  cooked a huge bacon and pancake breakfast, and hadn’t

  left any for me!

  My gaze came to rest on the only thing they had left

  me: a torn scrap of notepaper. I snatched it up from the

  table and read Dad’s handwriting:

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  Paul,

  You were asleep, so didn’t want to wake you. Truck

  tires fixed so have headed in to police station. Hope to be

  back mid-afternoon. Love, Dad

  Adrenaline shot thought my body ― they’d gone to

  the police station without me! Now Jasper would be there,

  telling his lies and twisting the story to make it sound like

  he’d been the victim, or that it had all been a joke… and if

  Revo was with him, corroborating it, then the cops would

  never hear the truth.

  “I hate you!” I shouted to no one in particular. I was

  burning with anger, and wasn’t sure who I hated more right

  now: Jasp
er, Revo, or my Dad, for taking off without me.

  How could he? He knew I had to be there!

  I paced the kitchen, fuming. Already, I figured, Dad

  was letting Jasper wheedle his way out of it. I looked down

  at my fist and saw I’d crumpled the note into a tight ball

  without realizing it.

  A quick glance at the clock told me it was two

  o’clock. Two! What time had they left here? Unfortunately, I

  hadn’t checked the time when I’d first woken up. I quickly

  debated running into town to get to the station; maybe

  they’d only just got there. But it was a long run ― this I

  knew from the last time ― and they might already be

  leaving the station. Plus, if I arrived there this mad, I’d

  probably strangle Jasper on the spot. Well, at least it would

  save the cops the effort of hunting me down for murder.

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  “Dammit!” I yelled, anger continuing to build inside

  me like a slow-rising volcano. And the volcano was going to

  explode if I didn’t do something soon.

  The sound of truck tires on the dirt road made me

  dart to the door. It was Jasper and Dad, back already! My

  body twitched, I wanted so badly to run out there and slam

  my fist into Jasper before he’d even climbed out the car.

  But I held myself motionless, fists still clenched, my anger

  building as they got out the car and walked towards the

  cabin.

  Halfway towards the cabin, Jasper looked up, saw

  me, and froze. He turned and darted into the woods like a

  rabbit.

  “Jasper!” Dad called out, turning to look after him.

  “Where are you going?”

  His gaze travelled back, looking for an explanation,

  and came to rest me. His expression changed to one of

  resigned guilt.

  There were a million things I wanted to say, but

  right now, I was too furious to speak.

  

  “What do you mean, there’s nothing to charge him

  with?” I demanded. “Revo tried to kill us!”

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  We were in the living room, Dad sitting on the sofa,

  me standing in front of him, refusing to sit down.

  “We don’t know that he did, Paul,” he explained.

  “Yes, he almost hit us with the motorboat, but we have no