“Right.”
Tiffany packed the assortment of beauty products back into her bag. “You know, you’re not so bad anymore, Charlotte.”
“I never was,” I said.
She looked at me for a moment, then smiled. “As for the guy who made you cry, life’s too short to deal with someone who doesn’t treat you well.”
Kade treats me well, I wanted to say, as long as I do what he wants.
For the hundredth time, I thought about what Zoe had told me at the library, even though I’d been working hard to avoid it. Jenny Carson hadn’t done what Kade had wanted.
Tiffany left. I turned back to the mirror, flashed my best prom princess smile, and returned to the table for dinner.
“HELLO?” THE VOICE WAS YOUNG, MAYBE EIGHT OR NINE years old.
“Hi. May I speak to Jenny?” I asked.
“There’s no one named Jenny here. This is Becca. You want to speak to my mommy?”
“No, that’s OK.” I hung up and dialed the ninth number on my list. It rang once, twice, three times.
A boy, no older than the kid I’d just spoken to, answered. “Martin Carson speaking.”
“Is Jenny there?”
“You have the wrong number.” He sounded as if he was reading from a cue card.
Of course, it couldn’t be that easy. This wasn’t the movies. It took more than a search of the Internet White Pages to find a person.
Maybe it couldn’t be that easy, but I wished it were. With each phone number I dialed came a twinge of disloyalty. What if Kade was right about my inability to trust? No, wait. Had he said that, or had I dreamed it?
I sighed. “Thanks, anyway.” I was about to hang up when I heard, “Oh, I know, you’re …”
“What did you say?” I asked, bringing the phone back to my ear.
“Are you looking for Jennifer Carson? She’s my cousin, but she doesn’t live here.”
My voice cracked when I asked him for the number.
“She doesn’t like it when you call her Jenny.”
“Um, got it,” I stammered. “So do you have her phone number?”
“I can’t give it to you. Against house rules.”
“Martin,” I said, pausing for emphasis. “It’s important.”
Silence. “Her stepdaddy’s Jeff Kringler. Look it up yourself.” A toddler shrieked, followed by a click. Martin had hung up.
A minute later, Jeffrey Kringler’s number was on the back of my hand.
“Hello?” This time a girl answered. About my age. I wished I’d rehearsed an introduction.
“Hello?” she repeated. “Is anyone there?”
My palms were so sweaty that the phone almost slid from my death grip. “Uh, yes. Is this Jen … Jennifer Carson?”
“That’s me. Who’s this?”
“My name’s Charlotte Brody. I need to talk to you about—”
“We don’t need anything,” she said.
“This isn’t a sales call. It’s about Kade Harlin. You went to school—”
“Who the hell is this?” After a long pause, she added, “How’d you get this number?”
“I’m Kade’s … friend.” I held my breath and waited. When she didn’t say anything, I added, “I heard what happened to you. The thing is, I need to know the truth.”
“It was a long time ago. I don’t want to talk about it, especially not with Kade’s latest girlfriend. If you’re with him, then you’re as twisted as he is.”
Latest. I didn’t like the sound of that. Questions I wanted to ask came at me from all directions. Dodging them was making me dizzy. But I didn’t have enough time to pick one, because she hung up on me.
It took me an hour to resuscitate my courage. She won’t answer, I told myself as the phone rang for the fifth time. I’ll never know what really happened. In the end, maybe that was for the best. Three years was a long time ago.
I was just about to disconnect the call when she answered. “Kade’s crazy. And he’s a liar. You can’t trust anything he says or does.”
“What?” I asked. But I’d heard her.
“I did something that made him angry. It wasn’t nice, but I wanted him to leave me alone. I thought he’d move on to someone else. But he didn’t. He kept following me.”
I pictured the crumpled form behind Kade’s refrigerator. Alleged assault … stalking … recommendation …
“Whenever I walked home, he’d step out from behind some tree,” she said. “He’d just wink and walk away. If my friends were with me, he wouldn’t show.”
I listened for a catch in her voice, a stammer, a throat-clearing. Something to indicate that she was buying time to invent more lies. All I heard was fear.
“It was stupid to take the shortcut that day. I knew he was around. I just knew it.”
My armpits prickled with sweat. “Why didn’t you press charges?”
The article had mentioned that the perpetrator wore a mask. Jenny might have thought it was Kade, but unless she saw his face, she couldn’t know for sure. Then I thought about the prom parade, and the ski mask bunched in Kade’s fist.
“It’s complicated,” she said.
I was losing her. “Please,” I begged. “Tell me.”
It was so quiet that I thought she’d hung up again, but then I heard a ragged exhalation. “At first I was attracted to him. All that attention was cool, I guess. When I saw him in the woods that day, he said he’d forgiven me for something I’d done. He said he’d leave me alone if I kissed him. Just once, he said.”
It sounded like something he would say. I closed my eyes.
“Go on,” I urged. “Please.”
“You won’t understand.”
I thought about how an ordinary look from Kade made my pulse quicken. “I think I will.”
“I was scared, but I didn’t want him to know it, so I did it. I kissed him.” She gave a resigned sigh. “Then he knocked me to the ground. Hit me a few times and left me lying there. I had to work my way back to get help, which wasn’t easy with a broken collarbone and a twisted ankle.”
“Why didn’t you tell the police it was him?” If it was him, I told myself.
“Because after it was over, he said if I told anyone, Hannah would be next.” She hesitated a moment, then added, “That’s my little sister. He said he wouldn’t go so easy on her.”
My stomach ached. “I thought he was wearing a mask.”
“Yeah, a black ski mask. But once he knew we were alone, he took it off.”
“If you didn’t tell the police, then how’d they guess who it was?” I asked.
“It didn’t take a brain surgeon to link him to the crime. All they had to do was ask my friends. But there was no case without my testimony. The charges were dropped, and our family moved to New York a month later.”
My mind flashed to Tiffany Miller, covering her chest with the remains of her dress.
“I’m so sorry,” I said.
“Don’t tell him I told you,” she pleaded.
“I won’t. I won’t tell him I called you.”
“And Charlotte?”
“Yes?”
“Get away from Kade Harlin.”
“YOU MUST BE PSYCHIC, CHARLOTTE,” ZOE SAID. “I WAS just about to call you.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t be mad at me.”
“About what?”
“The dumb thing I did in the car yesterday. Thanks for driving us home. I guess I’m more of a lightweight than I thought.”
I’d forgotten all about it in light of my conversation with Jenny Carson a few hours earlier. “I’m not mad. Not anymore, anyway.”
“I’m lousy at the whole apology thing.”
“It’s OK, Zoe.”
“Charlotte?”
“What?”
“It was a stupid thing for me to do. I was pissed—not with you—and I just wanted to feel, I don’t know, free, or something. I wanted to fly away from my life for a moment.”
I’d thought about
Kade and how he kept saying that next time it would be Wanda’s turn. But it hadn’t been. After Madame came Dave, then Tiffany. Zoe had waited a long time. “I didn’t ask Kade to do Tiffany’s plan first,” I said. “I’m sure he’s got something in mind for Wanda.”
Kade always had something in mind. My stomach shifted at the prospect. I tried not to think about the next revenge looming over us. Over me.
“Oh, I told him it was OK to do Tiffany next,” Zoe said.
“You did?”
“Yeah, I wasn’t ready. Still not.”
“Not ready? What do you—?”
“Just not ready. Listen, I don’t want to talk about Wanda.” She paused, then cleared her throat. “I want you to know that I’m off the stuff for good. I don’t want to end up like my mom, great role model that she is. And I definitely don’t want to wear one of those tags on my big toe.”
“I’m glad,” I said. I liked her, I realized. I really did. Somewhere along the way, Zoe Carpenter had become a real friend, not just an assigned one.
“So, anyway, you called me,” she said. “What’s up?”
I was about to tell her about the call to Jenny, but my story was interrupted by a ping against the sliding glass door, followed by a more demanding clank. I drew the curtain back.
“I have to call you back, Zoe.” Even in the dark, I saw three white pebbles—the kind Mom used to mark her vegetable seeds—lined up on the porch. Kade.
As I slid the door open, I thought about Jenny. “Just kiss me once,” he’d begged. And she had, right before she was thrown to the ground.
“It’s … eight o’clock,” I stammered to the dark night.
“On a Saturday,” he responded. “You aren’t going to make me beg, are you? Oh, OK. Please, Charlie, please.”
I peered over the railing. Kade fixed his wolflike eyes on me, then dropped to one knee, spreading his arms out in an exaggerated appeal.
Looking down at Kade like this, I couldn’t imagine him hurting Jenny. There had to be more to the story. Kade made people feel special. He made me feel special. And yet, Jenny had seemed so honest. If it had all been made up, why would she have talked to me? I wasn’t the police. There was no reason to resurrect a lie.
I glanced at my wrist, remembering when Kade had grabbed it to stop me from interfering with Richie and Dave’s fight at school. But that hadn’t been personal; he wasn’t trying to hurt me. He was protecting the League.
Why couldn’t I decide who to believe? Jenny seemed to be telling the truth, but whenever Kade was near, I couldn’t see him as the monster she’d described.
I was afraid to be alone with him, but I had to know what had happened.
“C’mon, Charlie! I’m begging you. Haven’t you missed me?” He flashed his biggest smile.
“OK …,” I said reluctantly, mad at myself for not being able to say no to him, “but only for a little while.”
I scrawled a note to Mom. Studying too much. Going for a walk to clear my head. Love, Me.
I was halfway off the porch when Kade pulled me down onto the dewy grass. Tangling his fingers in my hair, he leaned over and kissed me. Startled at first, I quickly warmed to his touch and found myself kissing him back. A few minutes later, we crawled past the living room window and ran, hunched low, to the street. I hopped onto the back of his motorcycle, circling my arms around his waist. He revved the engine, and I pressed my cheek against his shoulder blades. I could feel the heat of his body rising through the leather.
We sputtered to a stop at the rusted gate to Lowell’s Cemetery. Kade tipped his bike into a ditch to hide it from passing traffic. We hiked up the hill to an impressive marble gravestone, obscured by the drooping branches of a willow tree. The headstone doubled as a backrest. Kade didn’t waste any time and dove into the hollow of my neck. Suddenly, I felt vulnerable, just him and me in the deserted cemetery.
“Can we talk?” I scooted to the side. “I feel like talking.”
Kade groaned. He moved closer and nibbled on my ear. I tensed, remembering that time when he bit it.
I gently pushed him away. “Seriously.”
“So, what do you want to talk about?” he asked gruffly.
His sudden shift in mood left me wordless. How was I going to bring this up?
Kade rolled onto his side, propping his head on a hand. “So what did Jenny tell you?”
“What?”
“Did you satisfy your curiosity?”
“I didn’t—”
“Don’t lie to me, Charlie.” He touched the tip of my nose. “Don’t. Ever. Lie.”
“How did you know?” I asked, my voice shaking.
“Nora said you were determined to find answers, that you told her you were going to call Jenny and get to the bottom of it.”
“That’s not true!”
“She said it was all garbage, but you wouldn’t listen.”
“No. What happened was—”
“Would you like to know what I said to her, Charlie?”
“Nora and I never talked about what to do,” I said. “I wasn’t even going to call Jenny. I mean, I did end up doing it, but her story didn’t seem believable, so I—”
“I said to her, ‘Maybe that’s what Charlie needs to do to find peace of mind. Maybe then she can finally trust me.’”
“I do trust you.” The words fell flat.
“What lies did Jenny tell you?”
I took a deep breath. “She said you assaulted her.”
“I’m not going to tell you who to believe, Charlotte. You’ll have to figure it out for yourself.” He sprang to his feet and started down the hill.
I ran after him. “Come on, Kade. I need to hear your side of it.”
He scooped a handful of stones off the top of a grave and hurled them at a pigeon nesting on a battered fence. It squawked, whirring away.
“Jenny Carson had reasons to lie,” he began. “She was with a college guy in the woods behind her house. Things got out of hand, and they started to fight. She ended up in the hospital for five days with a sprained ankle and a broken collarbone. But she told everyone I followed her into the woods and beat her up. She said I was obsessed with her or something. It was obvious she was making it up, and the charges were dropped.”
He cradled my face in his hands. “She took advantage of my feelings for her and used me to protect her Neanderthal college boyfriend.” His eyes grew misty and he lowered his head to hide the tears.
I turned away, giving him a moment to recover. How I wanted to believe him. But there were holes—no, canyons—in his story. I just wanted to go home, as fast as possible.
“I believe you.” My mouth moved of its own accord.
“Thanks,” he said, but he didn’t look convinced.
“I told my mom I was going out for a walk. If I don’t go soon, she’ll drive around the neighborhood, handing out flyers.”
Kade’s eyes were flat, unreadable. I shivered, drawing my arms up into my sleeves.
“This isn’t about Jenny,” I told him. “I have to go. Seriously.”
He didn’t break his cold stare.
I lifted onto my toes and ran my lips across his stubbly jaw. Without comment, he turned around and started down the path again. At the bottom of the hill, he hopped onto his bike and started the engine, not even glancing back to see if I’d followed him. I leaped on board. We took off, gravel shooting from his tires like gunfire. When we reached my street, Kade parked three houses down and cut the engine.
“You want to get together tomorrow?” I asked, sliding off. He had to think that we were back to normal.
“Maybe,” he said. His hand swung out, reaching for my shirt. I whirled around, pretending I hadn’t noticed his attempt to reel me in.
“Bye,” I called over my shoulder.
I listened for the grumble of a bike engine, but all I heard were crickets. As I walked down the street, I felt his stare pierce the back of my head. I drew my shoulders back, lifted my chin, and didn’
t turn around.
It wasn’t until I was on the other side of my door that I crumpled to the floor like a bird that’s flown into a closed window.
I LEANED MY BIKE AGAINST THE MAILBOX POST, MARCHED across the immense lawn, and pounded on the front door. An agitated “I’m coming!” came from inside. The door swung open. Nora, combing her fingers through disheveled hair, glared at me.
“Why did you tell Kade I wanted to snoop into his past?” I demanded.
“Dammit, Charlotte, it’s Sunday morning,” she complained. “Couldn’t you have waited a few more hours?”
I folded my arms across my chest. She groaned, treading back through the massive foyer.
“I thought this Jenny Carson thing was between us,” I said, following her down the hallway. “Why’d you bring Kade into it?”
Nora fell onto the couch, curling her legs under her. My new-and-improved assertive side was making her nervous.
“Look, Charlotte, Kade backed me into a corner. He sensed things had changed between you guys, and he wanted to know why. He forced me to tell him what Zoe said in the library. Come on, you know Kade. He doesn’t miss anything.”
She was right about that: Kade was a human emotion detector. He’d unearthed feelings in me that I hadn’t known existed.
“Why did you tell him I wanted to call Jenny Carson?”
“I didn’t,” she said. “He must’ve made up that part to get you to talk. Of course, you fell for it. You always do.”
I didn’t know whom to believe. She swung her feet to the floor and stomped to the door. “Kade didn’t do it, Charlotte. Maybe you have your doubts, but I don’t. He told me why Jenny lied and how badly she treated him. He was crying when he told me, Charlotte, crying. That bitch made the whole thing up.”
I thought about Kade’s eyes welling up. How he’d looked down so I wouldn’t see it. And he’d cried in front of Nora, too?
She leaned against the doorjamb, moving a hand to her hip. “Because I’m your friend, I’m going to tell you something. Your boyfriend made a move on me last night.”
“What?” The word came out like a cough.
Her eyes filled with tears, and she wiped them away. As much as I didn’t want to believe her, the performance—if that’s what it was—was compelling. But I also knew that if I went to see Kade right now, he’d have me convinced that Nora was making it all up before I could get my coat off.
League of Strays Page 16
