Maria stopped, looking at Sydney’s face.
“So that’s the only possible reason, right? Maria, why don’t you just say what you mean: why would he like me instead of you right? You can’t understand that, can you? You can’t wrap your head around any straight guy not noticing you, much less one who is attracted to me instead of you.”
“Sydney, that’s not it,” Maria began. “You’re just changing the subject...”
“No, we’re finally on the subject Maria. God what do I have to be to be worthy of him? Cute like you? Playboy body? White? A slut?”
Maria’s eyes flashed.
“Did you just call me a slut? Again?”
“Well, if it walks like a duck...Why do you think Edward left you, huh?”
“I never cheated on Eddie!”
“Yeah, but clearly he doubted your integrity. And it’s no wonder with you flirting with every guy and his dad from here to Timbuktu.”
“Well, what about you? I know you want some sign that you’re lovable ‘cause your parents won’t give you enough since they love Adam more. And like Adam told you, Nicholas wanting you proves you’re actually desirable right? I know that’s what you’re getting out of this Sydney, and it’s no wonder! But don’t get mad at me ‘cause your knight in shining armor almost raped you!”
Sydney fell apart in less than a second. Before she could stop them, tears started to fall.
“What’s going on? Why is everything so crazy now? I’m sorry I said what I did Maria, I’m just so confused about everything. I don’t know what to do—nothing has ever confused me, not like this!”
Maria sat on the bed and held her hand.
“If it had been Winston instead, this would all be so much easier,” Sydney said.
Maria cocked an eyebrow and looked truly shocked.
“It would?”
***
The next day, Sydney got a call from Maria about meeting with Sarah.
She decided to jump at the chance to have another legitimate reason to avoid Nicholas.
“Thanks for coming you guys,” Sarah said when she arrived at their agreed-upon spot. “It’s so nice to talk to people every now and then. I didn’t mean to be so impatient and insist we meet again with such short notice.”
Sarah smiled, but Sydney couldn’t force a smile back, so burdened by Sarah’s nearly tangible loneliness.
“It’s no problem,” Maria said, “we probably should have met up earlier. I found a few things, Sydney found out a few things...” Maria looked pointedly at Sydney.
Sarah looked excited.
“Great! Can’t wait to hear about ‘em.”
Sydney couldn’t stop thinking about the Sarah in front of her, and comparing her to the Sarah she remembered from high school. Back then, Sarah was beautiful, and popular, bubbling over with life and laughter, multiple friends at her side. Her nails were always manicured and perfectly decorated, her hair like she stepped out of a salon, her slim body tight and toned from being on the dance team and the volleyball team. Now, she was still a pretty girl, but she had a harassed edge to her, her hair thrown back in a careless ponytail, no make-up, no polish.
“What is it Sydney?”
Sydney figured Sarah must have noticed her scrutiny.
“I just, you know, I was just wondering about some of your old friends—the other girls from the dance team for example.”
Sarah’s face took on a sour look.
“Friends? You think I call those bitches my friends?”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring...”
“I mean you’d think they would have understood, that they’d have sympathized with me or felt bad for me but no. They turned on me, all of them. Like it was an embarrassment to be associated with someone who was raped. Like I lessened their value somehow.” She let out a frustrated breath. “Why would they do that? Who blames a victim like that? And it wasn’t just them—I felt like it was the whole frickin’ school. Some of the guys were even looking at me like, ‘why’d you have to tell?’” She gave a dry laugh. “Can you believe that? I just don’t understand people at all.”
She exhaled heavily.
“Sometimes I think maybe I shouldn’t have said anything...”
“No, Sarah—if you hadn’t, we wouldn’t be able to put this together. And you don’t know how many women you could have inspired to come forward. We can’t keep letting them get away with it!” Maria said.
“But what else has come of it? What good has it done for me?”
“Sarah, the report is there. They can still catch this guy.”
“You know honestly, I almost don’t care anymore if they do. I have my little girl to think about.”
“Okay, about this information Sydney and I have...” Maria stopped and watched Sarah.
Sarah looked like she was in another world for a minute.
Then she sighed again.
“My little girl.”
She looked up and at them both.
“You’re right, I have to do what I can.”
Then she suddenly looked down, her forehead creasing.
Sydney saw that she was reading something from her cell.
“Excuse me a sec,” she said.
She dialed.
“Yeah this is Sarah...What for? I told you I can’t identify him...S-sure,” she stammered. “I’ll be right there.”
Sarah disconnected the phone, breathing hard.
“Sarah, what’s wrong?” Sydney asked.
“Yeah, who was that?” Maria said.
Sarah laughed but it was a strange laugh, like conflicting emotions combined.
“You know, I’m hearing you guys but it’s like you’re far away.”
Sydney could tell she was only barely aware of them taking her by the arms and sitting her down. Then she let Sarah’s head fall into her arms.
Sydney let her cry.
“They think they’ve got him,” she said simply.
***
Winston Hallows, Sydney wrote in her journal. He had been brought in for something else—serial rapes in multiple areas and they ran his DNA through the system.
They are 99.9% sure that Winston Hallows is the father of Sarah’s child.
Sarah’s reaction was almost comical, if not for the circumstance—I mean, she lost it when she found out it was him.
“Oh my god...not that bastard!” she said, anger seeming to take over her every atom. “That f-ing bastard!” she screamed (she used the actual word). “I can’t believe this—I’m gonna kill him I swear. I can’t believe he did this to me.”
She was warned not to use such phrasing.
Anyway, apparently, Winston is an ex of Sarah’s, or as she put it: “that sorry-a$$ loser was my boyfriend once. Well, so he thought.”
She came alive in a way I hadn’t seen; in that moment, she was full of life, full of mocking and hatred. She spat out some more insults and expletives, and was so much more like the Sarah from high school.
Then she sort of laughed—a fake one.
“He sure showed me though, right? Never would’ve guessed that son-of-a-b had it in him.”
Anyway, she wants to attend some of his court dates for all that other stuff.
She wants to watch him squirm, look him in the eye. Glare at him in hopes that her stares turn into actual lasers I think.
She wants us to go with her when we can, and of course we said we would.
Sydney’s flow was suddenly interrupted as Maria appeared in her doorway.
“So, are you going?” Maria asked Sydney, looking at her with curious eyes.
“What, to Allison’s party?”
“What else?”
Sydney shook her head.
“I don’t know. I don’t think it’s a good idea. She invited you too, you know.”
“Yeah well, I’m not going. I wasn’t invited directly.”
“Since when do you care about being invited directly? Anyway believe me, if she had seen you, she would have invited you. I’m
surprised she didn’t track down your number and call you.”
Maria was silent for a moment.
“So...”
Sydney sighed.
“Only if you come with me. Safety in numbers, right?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
It was the second day in a row Sydney couldn’t make time for him. She never offered an explanation—just seemed eager to get off the phone, and Nicholas could not understand why.
He decided to just drop by her place to extract an explanation, but Evelyn surprised him at his door.
He didn’t know what to expect of her before, and he had no idea what she would bring now.
He considered going ahead with his plan, but then she made the decision for him.
“Nicholas, sit down darling. I have something important to tell you.”
He sat back down and she came over and sat next to him.
She took his hand in hers and held it firmly.
He tried to control his recoil instinct.
She took a moment, then heaved a dramatic sigh.
“There’s no easy way to say this. You’re out of the will, Nicholas—your father has disinherited you.”
Without thinking, he withdrew his hand.
“Wait, what?”
“I’m afraid you’ve been disinherited dear.”
Nicholas put his hands to his face as he let the information seep in.
“Well, you must have known that whole Christmas thing wouldn’t just fly over darling! And to top it off, you’re dating a...a...well, whatever they’re calling themselves these days. You must have known this would not sit well—don’t play dumb dear.”
Nicholas shook his head. He really needed to talk to Sydney now.
He remembered telling Eddie that money didn’t matter to him, but who was he kidding? It was his life, all he ever was.
A mirthless chuckle escaped him.
“Surely he wasn’t serious mother.”
“Oh no, he was quite serious. In fact, it’s already been done—it just took me a while to tell you.” She sighed. “I was hoping he’d change his mind. Sweetheart, I tried to warn you about this, I tried to lead you down the right path...”
Nicholas wondered if she had been smoking parts of her garden.
“But you wouldn’t listen! Always getting involved with the help, leaning toward the wrong side of the tracks...remember that Charlotte woman or whatever her name was? You were so attached to her you were forgetting who I was dear!” She gave a false laugh. “Perhaps I should’ve sent you to boarding school with your brother—he could’ve helped you stay on the right path. Such a good boy that Edward. I just thought you’d be more disciplined if you were alone, that it would whip you into shape faster...”
Nicholas’s eyes were wet and he hated that she would be able to see it but it was too much at once—losing his place in the family, his mother talking about the most painful, loneliest years of his life where he felt like he had lost everyone that mattered. He felt like he was always losing, no matter where he was in life, even when it seemed he was winning.
“You’re lucky you’re at least good-looking, you should be just fine,” Evelyn said, tapping his knee.
“Mother stop!” He stood up and quickly brushed at his eyes. “I don’t want to hear anymore, I don’t...” His voice broke as he choked back a sob that escaped a moment later, no matter how hard he tried to suppress it.
He left his room, ignoring his mother’s call of: “Wait! I have more to tell you!”
Nicholas cried through the knot in this throat until his head ached as he sat in his car in the garage. How could this be happening? He was essentially being kicked out of the family, and on top of that, Sydney was acting strangely toward him. Something was crawling between them and he had no clue what. Could things get any worse?
***
The next morning, as Nicholas was eating breakfast, he saw the morning paper and picked it up. His interest had been grabbed by the headline, but when he read the story following, his heart dropped.
MYSTERY RAPIST’S IDENTITY REVEALED
Police have finally identified the man who raped Sarah Landon four years ago as Salt Lake City local Winston Hallows.
Hallows was initially brought in as a suspect for multiple counts of rapes throughout various states.
He is also being investigated in the murder of his mother seven years ago.
Nicholas decided right away to visit his old friend.
He would see Sydney and find out what was going on with her later.
***
“This isn’t quite how I imagined meeting up with you guys again,” Winston said as he stared at Nicholas through the glass.
Nicholas studied his old buddy. The hard blue eyes hadn’t changed.
“Been a while,” he said. He took a deep breath, considering his next words. “So you’ve finally gone a bit too far with your games.”
Winston laughed. Nicholas wasn’t sure why.
“Winston, I can’t believe you’re laughing about this.” He pulled the cutout article from his pocket, straightening it out and holding it up against the glass. “What’s this about?”
Curiosity swept across Winston’s face for a moment.
“You really don’t remember,” he said enigmatically.
“Remember what? Should I remember this?” He shook the piece of paper.
The look on Winston’s face resembled fascination, although he still maintained a slight smile of amusement.
“It’s like you’ve not only erased it, but everything related to it. This is quite interesting.”
“Win, I came for answers, not more questions.”
Winston’s smile widened, a cold, evil smile that made his eyes seem even more reptilian.
“How could you forget you raped Sydney, Nod?”
Nicholas felt like he had been drop-kicked in the chest.
The pressure in the room seemed to have changed, his ears clogging up as if he were on an airplane.
“No...” he said softly. “No, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I never raped her...”
“You had some fun with her about the same time I had some fun with Sarah, and Brandon with Mary. Christ, you pulled the biggest prank of us all! You really one-upped me there Nod—I mean dating your victim? Getting her to fall in love with you? Screwing her again? That’s fucking brilliant!”
Winston howled with laughter.
Nicholas was shaking his head as if he could deflect Winston’s words by doing so.
“No...” he said again, whispering, getting up and backing away.
It was all lies, lies. There’s no way he could have...
“Aw, leaving so soon? Well, thanks for stopping by! Wow, having visitors can really brighten your day. So what do you say, same time tomorrow?” Winston laughed. “Maybe when you remember some more? Hey, I can help you fill in some of the blanks right now if you want...”
“No!” Nicholas shouted, covering his ears with his hands and running out.
Nicholas drove all the way back home after figuring out there was no where else to go. He went straight up to his room and paced for a while, replaying the conversation with Winston in his head.
He had called him Nod—his code name for when they carried out pranks. Nicholas thought he was so clever when he came up with their pseudonyms, especially since they matched them so perfectly, coincidentally beginning with the same letters as their actual name. He had plucked them from an old children’s poem he remembered Charlene reading to him.
They had been making fun of people’s names one day when it came up:
“Hey you know that guy Andrew? With the curly brown hair?” Brandon said. “His full name is Andrew Steven Smith.” He laughed. “He’s an ASS!”
He and Nicholas thought that was so funny, that they started going through other people’s names to see who else they could make fun of.
“Hey, Taylor Ivan Thomas is a TIT!” Nicholas added. “And you’re like, barf.”
“Hey, not really,” Brandon said, the joke no longer funny. “Brandon Allan Fawkes is BAF, idiot—that’s not even anything. But you, Nick, you’re a NOD.”
Nicholas rolled his eyes. Then he was struck for a moment.
“Hey, you remember when we were talking about code names? Well, when I was little, my nanny read me this story about these three boys: Wynken, Blynken, and Nod. It was about eyes and a head and sleep or something. Anyway, how about those?”
Brandon’s eyebrows raised.
“That’s kind of perfect!”
Nicholas put his hand to his head.
When Winston spoke to him, he felt a lot of things click into place but still refused to step back and see what picture was made. A thing that had been calling him from a distance that he had been able to ignore now started leaking into his consciousness.
He instinctively knew he didn’t want it to—he didn’t want confirmation, but he needed it, and he needed to hear it come from outside of himself.
He decided to call Brandon over. He needed to know if this was why Sydney wouldn’t see him, wouldn’t talk to him. She must have figured it out.
“Brandon come over here please,” he said once Brandon picked up.
“Nicholas? What...”
“Just get over here!” Nicholas bellowed. He shut his eyes and checked his emotions. “I’m sorry, I just...I need to talk to you, can you make it?”
“Sure man. I’ll be right there.”
Nicholas hung up the phone and walked back and forth, running his hand through his hair, trying to push away the memories nibbling at his brain.
Of course there was still a chance Winston was just playing him—the ultimate prankster. Always scaring the pants off of somebody or pulling their leg. Nicholas decided that yes, Winston was just messing with him. After all this time, he finally decided to make Nicholas the victim of one of his pranks.
He’s just mind-fucking me, Nicholas though as he went about preparing for Brandon’s visit, leaving a message with Samuel to escort Brandon up to his room when he came.
When Brandon showed up some twenty minutes later, he could hardly contain himself.
“Brandon, please tell me Winston is lying,” he said as Brandon shut the bedroom door behind him.
The way Brandon looked at him made his heart fall.
Chrysalis (Dangerous Secrets) Page 23
