Secrets Untold

Chapter 4

Raven arrived home to her small second story apartment around 8 pm Thursday night, showered, slipped into her cheap bathrobe, and boiled hot water for apple cinnamon tea. She then slid the $1 flip flops on her feet that she bought at Walmart and carried her laptop outside to her small balcony. With her tea in hand, she opened up her browser for research.

First she looked up Sadie Thomas. Sophomore Undergraduate at Graham University, the internet informed her. Vice President of Alpha Theta Phi, Graham Ambassador, studies Communication Sciences and Disorders. Some information appeared from her childhood—Sadie designing alternate curriculums for the local special needs school, a picture of Sadie with her arm around Joey at their Communion, Sadie at high school graduation and sorority initiation. Google images had several pictures of Sadie in stunning dresses—most likely from sorority events—hugging her thin form and emphasizing her sweet smile.

Raven clicked on Sadie's sorority. Nearly identical girls in matching white tops appeared, hugging each other and posing for pictures. According to her research, "Phis" had a reputation for being an attractive sorority, "top tier" as they called it. Scrolling through photos, Raven noticed that every girl sported gorgeous smiles and perfect size 2 forms. They came from upper middle class families with the occasional divorced parents. No criminal records, no scandals, one or two nude photos posted online, few pictures of girls with alcohol and weed, nothing out of the ordinary.

Her searches led her to Danny Hartley, Sadie's Little in Phi. Like Sadie, Danny was also a Communication Science and Disorders major and had an autistic twin brother. That was probably what they bonded over, Raven realized. When she clicked on Google Images, pictures of the two of them appeared across the screen—selfies at the beach and more sorority photos in matching dresses.

Raven then searched Malcolm Den, resulting in a whirlwind of accomplishments and strikingly gorgeous photos. Senior Political Science major double minoring in finance and international relations. President of Student Government at Graham University. Drives a Toyota Camry. Pictures of Malcolm shaking hands with the Graham University President, his hair neatly combed back and his smile enlightening the crowd before him. The ideal Graham student—polished, poised, and persistent. Malcolm was attending Harvard Law School in the fall with nearly a full ride. He sported a 3.87 GPA, while managing the affairs and finances of the University as well as remaining an active brother of Theta Kappa fraternity and a loyal boyfriend to Sadie Thomas. Raven scrolled deeper into Malcolm's history, uncovering pictures of him as a young boy and information from his childhood. Surprisingly, he'd grown up an only child in a low income household. His father was a construction worker—possibly a heavy smoker based on his yellow teeth in the pictures Raven found of him—and his mother, a husky woman with somewhat aggressive features and Malcolm's same sea green eyes, worked as a mailwoman. Mr. Den was in and out of jobs; he only stayed with each construction company for two years max. Despite his financial situation, however, Malcolm graduated salutatorian in the IB Program at his high school and earned a National Merit scholarship. The scholarship only paid about half of his tuition to Graham University—Raven realized this after looking up the amount he was awarded and comparing it to the Graham tuition. She wondered where he got the rest of the money, considering she found nothing about Malcolm's work experience prior to college and doubted his parents had enough to fork over.

She typed in Joey Thomas next, discovering a series of minor criminal offenses. Joey was autistic and had trouble controlling his impulses. The Thomases were too worried to send him to college, for fear of the damage he might inflict. Raven read through Joey's charges: punching a police officer, throwing a little boy off a swing and breaking his nose— "I asked him nicely first, but he ignored me!" Joey had wined—and slurring violently in an airport. As a child, Joey was often suspended for causing disruptions in class—cursing at other students, shoving people in halls, stealing lunches. He clearly didn't know how to control himself. The Thomases sent Joey to a weekly therapist, which caused his anger to slightly subside. They also put him in football, hoping it would create an outlet for him to express his anger, but Joey only inflicted more violence than the rules allowed upon his opponents.

Did he inflict violence upon his sister too?

Raven heard some rustling on the balcony next door. She peered over at her neighbor and immediately looked away, nervous he might catch her staring. Her heart skipped a beat and she felt her cheeks get hot. Embarrassed, Raven returned her gaze to her computer, randomly clicking but not paying attention to her screen.

The man shuffled in his seat, a mug in his hand as he sifted through the newspaper. He grinned at the headlines, his mouth curling into tiny dimples. Raven peered out of the corners of her eyes, too scared to acknowledge his rumpled hair, the scruffy way he wore his button down shirts, the glasses he put on to read, how he cleared his throat whenever he answered the phone. She played imaginary conversations over and over in her head a million times about how she would introduce herself to him.

In her mind, she would bump into him at the front of her building or in the grocery store or the bank or even have him just look at her while she scrambled for her keys in front of her apartment door. "Hey, I'd like to get to know you! We've been living next to each other for 3 and a half months now and we've barely exchanged a word. Here, let me help you with your mail/groceries/bags/keys! Oh, and I'm ___ by the way!" he'd announce, seeming a tad flustered in her presence. Raven liked to think of him as just as nervous around her as she was around him. "Do you want to sit and chat for a bit? I actually just finished work and I'd like to get to know you." She smiled at the idea. Her smile instantly slid into a frown when she mentally scolded herself. Raven! You're 34! Why aren't you married yet?

That was another reason why she hated those sorority girls. They had it all—the looks, the grades, the boys. None of them would wake up in the morning, 34 years old, in an empty apartment, alone with the hint of gray hairs, rolling over in bed to feel merely empty space. Sometimes Raven spread her fingers in the morning, touching her second pillow in her queen size bed, wondering when another head would press into it, when a man would look at her and say the words she desperately needed to hear.

"You are perfect, Raven, you're always perfect. You're beautiful, you're smart, you're the first thing I want to see every morning when I wake up."

And even though she knew she was smart, good at her job—heck, she cracked every case! —and absorbed the praise she received as a detective like a sponge, she just wished someone could view her as more than a detective, as a person, a woman, a beautiful, young non-34-year-old adventurous lovable woman.

Bree Lucero's Twitter appeared on her screen. Before scrolling through her posts, Raven clicked on her profile picture. Bree gazed at the camera with flowing blond hair, shining white teeth, and a smile that made men fall in love.

Raven couldn't decide if it was jealousy, desire, impulse, or hatred that caused her to do what she did, but she found herself raising her hand and waving to her neighbor. She grinned ecstatically, eager for him to notice her, for her to be rescued from 34 years of solitude. She left her hand in the air awkwardly, sensing the breeze pressing against it and eventually pushing it back onto her keyboard.

The man turned the page of his newspaper and chuckled at something he read.

Raven sighed and slumped in her chair, refocusing on the task at hand and shoving aside her self-pity. Fidgeting with her keyboard, she clicked and scrolled one last time before shutting down her computer.

And that's when she saw the tweet.

Breezee2114: Sadie Thomas is a dumb slut who needs to go to hell.

And nearly every one of Bree's and Sadie's sorority sisters had retweeted the post.

Raven took a screenshot and printed it out.

uh,C