Please Understand

Chapter 6: Bribery

Mr. Holtry smiled towards me and waved one of his muscular arms, motioning for me to walk further into this trap. "Mason! Come on in!" he bellowed in that 'I'm a teacher, but I'm trying to relate to you' way. As much as we all liked our coach, sometimes he tried way too hard to be one of us, and then he would turn on us in a split second.

My whole body was shaking as I walked in and the door clicked behind me. Great, now I'm screwed. "Hey, Coach, Detective Nix," I greeted with a pathetic attempt at a smile, and a curt nod. I wouldn't have been so insistent on leaving my counseling session had I known a detective would be here with me. Mrs. Winters office seemed a lot less scary in comparison.

The detective smiled and all I could remember were the dark circle under his eyes and the strong coffee smell on his breath from our first interview. Suddenly, I was back in that dark, cold room as he repeatedly asked questions as if I was the one who made Amelia disappear. "Nice to see you again Mr. Maxwell. I heard you had a small altercation," he commented with a sideways smile. Was he amused by this? How could he be when he was in the middle of a missing person case?

I nodded again and felt my whole mouth dry out, like it was full of cotton balls. "Unfortunately. So are we going to get this whole suspension thing started, or is this what I'm doing for the rest of the day?" I asked with a shaky voice. Should I show them the diary? Am I hiding clues? Is that obstruction of justice?

"Well, this is basically it. You can sit at that table over there. I've already collected your homework assignments, and once you're finished you can read," he explained as he pointed to a table in the back corner of the room. "We'll just be here chatting if you'd like to join us."

I didn't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't for a detective to be watching me as I read Amelia's diary. There was no way I would get away with it. They would notice and could probably read the guilt written clearly across my face. I took a few steps towards my impending doom, but then I glanced back at the two men who were carefully eyeing me. "Is there anyway to get out of suspension and get back to class?" I blurted out. At least if I'm in class, then I will blend in while I read the diary. No one will notice the one kid reading in the back row.

Mr. Holtry crossed his arms over his chest, sighed slightly, and raised his unruly eyebrows at me. "You've gotten off pretty easy after your fight. You're still playing football, if you'll come to practices. Aren't you asking for a little much?" he quizzed with tight lips and steely, scrutinizing eyes.

"I guess so," I muttered and I wandered over to my seat. The piles of assignments were impossible to focus on while a detective was laughing with my football coach. Why were they acting so chummy? My hands were shaking as I worked through my calculus assignments for first period. Every so often, I glanced up at the two as they laughed about the silly things Holtry's daughters said, and finally Detective Nix left as the second period bell rang.

Time felt like it was passing so slowly, and by the time I finished all of my assignments it was only fourth period, almost time for lunch. I leaned back in my chair and drummed my hands on the table. "So now what? I just read?" I hesitantly asked as my eyes shifted towards my coach.

Holtry looked up from his computer screen, looked at the clock, and rubbed the stubble on his chin. "Well, here soon you can go get your lunch, but you have to eat it in here with me," he answered as he knitted his eyebrows together. "Are you anxious to get back to class?"

I got up from my seat and walked over to his desk, so I didn't have to keep shouting. Besides, Holtry is all about connecting with his students. "After everything that's happened, it's kind of hard for me to be separated from my friends," I lied through my teeth. Anything to get out of prison. "I already lost one friend, so I would like to be around people, especially with tensions so high."

"We are already giving you and Dakota special treatment. If we go easy on you two, then what happens when someone else gets into a fight? Then what? How can we give them consequences when you didn't?" he asked as he leaned back in his chair, making it slightly squeak. He folded his hands on his stomach which was getting better with each passing year. He was definitely trying to rock the Dad-bod.

I was fishing for anything to say to make my case. "You can ask Mrs. Winters, but I think our counseling session went really well, and we can go back everyday next week. I think that's punishment enough," I joked with a small smile, but he didn't smile back. I could tell he wasn't convinced, so all I could do was lie. "I know something else that might help with Amelia's case. If I talk to Detective Nix, and if I can get Dakota to talk with me, then can we both get out of this suspension?"

He widened his eyes, and smirked slightly. I couldn't tell if he was impressed by my persuasion, or irritated. "You're trying to bribe your way out of suspension? This doesn't look very good for either of you," he sternly shot back, using his teacher voice. "Also, you've been keeping information from the police. and that's-"

"No! I haven't been hiding anything!" I lied again, and immediately my eyes went over to my backpack where the diary was sitting. Stop being so stupid, Mason. "I dropped off her homework yesterday and found something in her room, I think they should know."

He mashed his lips into a thin line, and leaned forward with his elbows on his desk. "I will talk to Mr. Winters and see what he says, but after this no more secrets," he commanded as he stood up. "Come on, we need to go get your lunch."

I followed Mr. Holtry down the hall, and saw Dakota walking behind Mr. Winters. Did two eighteen year olds really need escorted? It's not like either of us threatened to murder the other; we only lost our cool for a minute. As soon as I walked through the cafeteria doors, I started jogging to catch up to Dakota. "Hey man, I need to talk to you," I grumbled, hoping no one would hear us.

He raised one of his bushy eyebrows and then snorted with a shake of his big head. "I knew you'd figure it out eventually. How about after school?" he asked as he grabbed a tray.

"What are you-never mind, no. We can talk after school, but I mean right now. If you'll come talk to Mr. Holtry and Detective Nix with me, then maybe we can get out of suspension," I hissed as the lunch ladies threw pizza onto our trays.

His jaw tightened and he glared over at me with his signature murderous look. "Why do you want out of suspension so badly?" he loudly shot back, like he wanted me to get caught.

I looked up at the lunch lady, hoping she wasn't eavesdropping. "It doesn't matter, okay? If you get out of suspension, then there's a less likely chance the Navy will find out, right? So let's just talk to them," I whispered as we went on opposite sides of the salad bar. Mr. Winters and Mr. Holtry were both watching us and whispering.

"I've already told them what I'm going to tell them, so what's the point in talking? Unless you have more information you'd like to share," he interrogated with dead eyes. He focused on the food rather than me.

I wasn't paying attention to what I was putting on my tray, but I was going as slow as I possibly could to stall for time. Why couldn't this brute agree with me for once? "Not really. I think there's some clues in Amelia's room, and if giving them a small lead gets us out of suspension, then I say we should take it," I explained, trying to avoid Holtry's piercing stare. He probably wanted us to hurry up even though I still had the rest of the day to sit in his office.

"Fine I'm in, but you're going to do all of the talking," he reluctantly agreed with an over-exaggerated sigh. Sometimes he was so dramatic.

I met his dark eyes, and he looked away after a few seconds. Dakota's hiding something. "Why do you want to meet after school to talk to me? What are you hiding?" I questioned as I followed close behind him with a smile on my face. Could we at least pretend to be friends to make it through this day? Knowing me, I was probably overselling this whole friendly attitude, especially for this being the day after our fight.

He glanced at our chaperones and then glared back at me as we grabbed our cartons of milk. At any moment, I expected him to whip out a knife, and stab me. His mouth moved slowly, and his voice was low as he whispered, "I was with Amelia the night she went missing."