THE WOODS

Chapter 17: RODGERS GUILTY

Finally Deputy Chief Holloway and Detective Bill Johnson arrived in the room. Now the room felt like all air had been sucked out of it. It looked like they were close in finding the suspect, really close. They hoped they had caught the right guy. Just some answers out of him and he will spill all the dirty secrets.

Andrews slowly took the front seat and behind him stood the other 3 with their arms crossed.
"We spoke to your mother, she told us you've been giving her alot of sleeping pills lately. Care to explain why?" Andrews asked.
Rodgers said nothing he was looking at his hands all the time, shaking. No one knew why he was so scared all of the sudden.
"Mr. Rodgers, where have you been going out? You said you work at the bar in the weekends but you had gotten out early at the time of the murder took place that night. We all know you didn't just go to the woods to check on the kids right?" Holloway spoke.
"No, I- I didn't go to the woods when I finished my shift." Rodgers spoke in a really low voice.
"Mr. Rodgers we are gonna need you to be specific here." Andrews asked.
"I'm telling the truth, I didn't go to the woods right after." Rodgers said again.
"No need to lie you little shit! We all know you went to that place!" Grant fired back.
"I'm not lying, i swear i'm not lying. I-I didn't kill no kids, i swear." Rodgers spoke.
"So then why have you been lying to your mother and stuffing her with sleeping pills every night?" Grant questioned.
"She can't sleep properly, she...she lies awake at nights."
"Bullshit! Tell us the truth. Why haven't you been telling her where you run off to at nights huh?"
"I-I go to visit someone, i-i couldn't tell her." Rodgers spoke in a stuttering tone.
"Who? Who do you visit at nights?" Johnson asked.
"Drug dealers definitely!" Grant retorted with fury on his face.
"No...no no drug dealers." Rodgers answered.
"Then who? Why do you always leave and return in the morning?"
"I-I go to visit my dad." Rodgers whispered to himself.
"What?" The detectives asked.
"I-i said i go to visit my dad." He said with his voice cracking.
"We don't have time for this rubbish!" Grant called out.
"No, please i swear i go to visit him, he...he lives quite far from us."
"If you go to visit your father, why haven't you been telling your mother then?" Andrews asked.
"Be- because she- she hates him."
"Elaborate for God's sakes."
"He- he used to abuse my mama and me when i was a kid. He was an addict and a drunk and took it all out on my mama." Rodgers replied with watery eyes. For a moment there was a minute silence in the room after what Rodgers told them.

"He used to physically abuse you both?" Andrews asked.
"Yes- yes, he was a monster. He would always be shouting and screaming at her, then the screaming would turn physical." He gulped and further spoke.
"One day he...he hit her so hard on the head, her head slammed in the nearest wall. She was bleeding really bad and i was just a kid. When I saw her, she was lyin on the ground like she was dead, my dad was screamin at me for callin the ambulance. I- i was shaking and I couldn't do anything, i blacked out from seein my mama. I- I couldn't do anything." Rodgers was trembling and had tears in his eyes.
"You see that's why she can't remember stuff, she only recalls fragments of things. That man gave her a serious head injury. I'm not lying, you have to believe me. I couldn't tell her i was visiting him, I couldn't put her through all that again."
The four men were really silent from Rodgers speech, they were eying eachother suspiciously. And after a moment Holloway spoke.

"Since when have you been visiting your father?"

"About a couple of months. He was diagnosed with blood cancer for several months. I've been checking on him for a while now. Go to give him his meds and take him through the chemo procedures. Even if he was a shit father, I couldn't let him die alone. I've been savin some money for him, working extra shifts at the Rockhill bar to gather every penny i got. Well, it's all useless now, the doctors...they have given up and said there's nothing they could do. He's... he's probably gonna die soon. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you about this earlier, i'm sorry. Just couldn't bear the thought of tellin story about my rotten childhood. Rodgers apologised for his actions in a breaking voice.
"We believe you Rodgers, but this doesn't justify your actions from the past, on how you pulled out a gun infront of our detectives here and decided to shout on them. Your attitude was degrading toward our officers here and we will not tolerate another incident like that ever again!" Holloway said in a strict and loud voice.