Through the Lens

12

The week went by with no further contact from either Allie or Ethan. The first night I did some research on the web to find the story about Carly James.  She'd been in a few movies and was supposed to have been the next "it" girl. 

What Ethan hadn't told me was in black-and-white.  According to the newspaper article online, Ethan, Carly, Allie, and a boy named Sam were coming home from a party one evening.  Ethan had been intoxicated over the legal limit, and he was a minor.  He'd wrapped his car around a tree.  Everyone was fine with only minor injuries of cuts and bruises except Carly went missing.  Ethan, Allie, and Sam had corroborated stories that Carly had just "walked" off into the night and never returned.  They claimed they tried to find her, but found nothing. Police searched for days and collected some evidence that she had in fact been in the woods.

Further research gave an account of a trial.  The reports claim that the police thought Ethan was a person of interest.  He'd been dating Carly, but party-goers said that they'd been fighting that night.  And she'd broken up with him.  All had been hearsay and not enough for a grand jury indictment.

The article also went on to talk more about Ethan.  The headline read "Prodigal Son finds himself In Hot Water like his Father."  It turned out that Ethan's Dad killed himself in his home after an indictment for the white-collar crimes of embezzlement, fraud, tax evasion, and other various charges.  Ethan was reportedly in the room when it happened.  The article further showed Ethan to be a troubled teen who used drugs and alcohol quoted by an unnamed teacher from his previous school.

Unable to convict him on murder because of a lack of evidence and a body, prosecutors charged him instead with reckless driving and intoxication.  Normally, teen drinking and driving meant an automatic suspended license, which he had endured for the first six months.  But then the sentence was cut to allow him to drive because of extenuating circumstances.  I bet it had something to do with his mother not being in town.  As a compromise, he was given the ankle bracelet and couldn't leave the state of Maryland.

 With nothing more to do than to tell my friends the tale with their sympathy, I called Madison.

"Holy Crap, Batgirl," Madison said. "Good thing you got out of there.  He sounds like the Riddler."

"Riddler," I questioned.

"Yes, because he's got you all confused and not in a good way."

I wasn't convinced. "I don't know.  As weirded out as I was, I don't get that vibe from him."

"Hun, he's wearing an ankle bracelet. What more proof do you want?"

"Madison, if you saw his house," I shook my head, but she couldn't see my face. "He watched his father die.  That's a lot to handle."

"Facetime," she said, immediately ending the call.  Hanging up, I waited for my phone to ring again.  When it did, I answered, video clicking on.  "Look me in the eye and tell me this guy is worth it.  He's got a girlfriend.  So why take the chance that he's not some psycho."

She was right about one thing, he was taken.  I thought about Allie saying he needed friends.  Now I understood.  But I'd messed up.  I'd judged him without knowing the facts.  I just couldn't believe he'd murdered his girlfriend.  "You're right," I said to her defeatedly.  If I saw him again, I'd apologize for not at least giving him a chance to explain. 

After hanging up with Madison, I picked up my summer reading first.  Then, I helped box things for my Dad in the attic while he was at work.  Madison's Mom ran an in-home daycare, and Madison helped during the week.  And she had the job at the movies evenings and weekends.  Bradley worked at his Dad's office during the week. I didn't get to see them much. And so for the week I was left to the attic, summer reading, and my own devices. I was so bored, I even decided to help my Mom at the bistro. And it was fine I guess, occupying my mind with these mundane tasks. It wasn't until Saturday my shift collided with Allie again.