DeMarco: Was there anything inside the box?
Fletcher: Over $1,000. I’m not sure of the exact total but I know it was up there. She called it her dowry. She started saving in 10th grade.
DeMarco: Where in the room were those two items placed?
Fletcher: Top drawer of her dresser. Underneath her bras and panties. I never saw her take one out without taking the other one out. I can’t tell you how many times I’d find her sitting on her bed with that photo on one side of her, the box and the money on the other side.
DeMarco: And now they’re both missing?
Fletcher: I can’t find them anywhere.
DeMarco: Nothing else?
Fletcher: Not that I can tell. But somebody was in that drawer. Everything was a mess. Not neat, the way she always kept it. Bras on one side, panties on the other. (pause) Why would somebody take just those two things? Why didn’t they take her laptop or the TV or whatever? The money I can understand but… I don’t know. Why would they take the photo?
DeMarco (after a pause): Junie, why don’t I come back later today, or even tomorrow, and we can—
Fletcher: What—you don’t like to see a woman cry?
DeMarco: I never like to see a woman cry.
Fletcher: It’s a damn shame all men aren’t that way. (sniffing sounds) Screw it, let’s get this over with. But not in here. You mind meeting me out back? I need a smoke.
DeMarco: See you there.
Pause in recording.
Fletcher: You take that glider and I’ll set downwind of you. You don’t smoke?
DeMarco: Never took it up.
Fletcher: One of the stupidest things a person can do. Not the stupidest, but it’s one of them. Trust me; I’ve done them all. (pause) We’re weak, you know. Addicts. We can’t quit because we’re all so freaking weak. My only defense is that it’s not meth or heroin. Not yet anyway. (pause) I don’t get this thing about calling addiction a disease, do you?
DeMarco: I’m not sure I know what you mean.
Fletcher: You tell somebody they have a disease, it’s like you’re telling them they aren’t responsible, they’re a victim. Like when you’re a victim of cancer, or a victim of baldness, or whatever.
DeMarco: And you don’t agree with that?
Fletcher: It’s not true. It’s a flat-out lie. I chose to smoke my first cigarette. People choose to drink 10 beers every night or to snort crack or shoot heroin. If that’s a disease, it’s because they gave it to themselves. And they should be held responsible for their stupidity. Not treated like they’re innocent victims. The people they hurt, those are the victims. Those are the ones who didn’t have a choice.
DeMarco (after a pause): Do you mind if I record our conversation? Actually it’s running right now. I forgot to shut it off when I left Mr. Hickman. But I can erase all that if you want me to.
Fletcher: What difference does it make?
DeMarco: It’s for my own use, just so I don’t forget anything important. Easier to maintain clarity that way.
Fletcher: Go ahead and let it run. I’m all for clarity. I notice you don’t have the expensive one. I bet you’re a frugal man.
DeMarco: Just a basic android, yeah. It does everything I need.
Fletcher: Meggie just had to have the iPhone. And how do you tell a teenager no? When she means all the world to you? When am I going to get it back, by the way?
DeMarco: We’re making a record of the relevant calls and texts. Should be finished soon.
Fletcher: Are you able to listen in on the phone conversations somehow? The ones she made that night?
DeMarco: Unfortunately, no. Phone companies only keep the metadata. Time, number, length of call. (a pause) I’ll just…there’s this thing I say to identify every interview….
Fletcher: Do what you have to do. That’s why we’re here, isn’t it?
DeMarco: This interview with Ms. Junie Fletcher is taking place on the back porch of her residence at 201 Ten-Right Road, French Creek Township, Mercer County, Pennsylvania. Today is August 14th and the time is 12:57 p.m.
Fletcher: Who else have you talked to before coming to me? Besides Richard, I mean?
DeMarco: I started out the morning with the high school principal.
Fletcher: I bet he gave you an earful.
DeMarco: He had nothing but kind words for Meghan.
Fletcher: I bet he did. (pause) He didn’t tell you about all the times he sent her to detention?
DeMarco: Never mentioned it.
Fletcher: It wasn’t like she was bad or anything. Took after me is all.
DeMarco: In what way?
Fletcher: We just don’t know when to keep our mouths shut. Plus she’s got this sarcastic sense of humor. Some people take it the wrong way.
DeMarco: People like teachers?
Fletcher: I think it must be part of their training. They have their sense of humor removed. (pause) School wasn’t easy for Meggie. The studying part, I mean. She would read stuff and just couldn’t understand it half the time. I had her tested for dyslexia, but they said she didn’t have it. But I don’t know. She always seemed so smart to me. Some of the teachers even said so. Others said she needed to pay closer attention, that she just wasn’t applying herself. My feeling is that half of those teachers don’t know what the hell they’re doing. It’s not like we get the cream of the crop around here.
DeMarco: How was she doing at the community college?
Fletcher: Better. It was still hard for her. But one of her nursing instructors was helping her out. There are some good people in this world, thank God. (pause) My baby wasn’t a bad girl. If anybody ever tells you she was, they’re lying to you. She had an independent spirit, that’s all. I encouraged it. Always told her it was her life and she should live it however she wanted. Anybody didn’t like it, that was their problem, not hers.
DeMarco: She seemed to be handling her job okay.
Fletcher: She was doing fine. Once she got used to the cash register. It was touch and go there for a little while. But she plowed through it. When Meggie wanted something, nobody was going to keep her from getting it.
DeMarco: How did you feel about her relationship with Tad Blyler?
Fletcher: That boy. (pause) You know how when you first meet somebody, and you just don’t like them but you don’t know why?
DeMarco: That’s how you felt about Tad?
Fletcher: He never did a single thing wrong to offend me. Always polite, respectful, sweet as can be. But I just had this feeling. Right from day one. It was like there was a shadow over him, you know?
DeMarco: What kind of shadow?
Fletcher: Those Amish are a bunch of hypocrites; you know that, right? I don’t see how a person can live around here and not know that.
DeMarco: Hypocrites in what way?
Fletcher: Take your pick. They’re not allowed to own electronics but they sure don’t mind using everybody else’s, or even buying their own and keeping them hid. And Amish craftsmanship? What a load of bull that is. (pause) You know how many Amish girls get raped by their fathers and uncles and brothers and such? They do it with animals too, I’ve heard. You’ve probably come across that kind of stuff.
DeMarco: We’ve dealt with the incest a couple of times. The other, no, not to my knowledge.
Fletcher: Horses and cows and goats can’t complain, that’s why.
DeMarco: Did you have some suspicions about Tad Blyler?
Fletcher: I just think you can’t grow up in a culture like that, full of that kind of evil stuff, and not be affected by it, whether you do any of it yourself or not. I don’t know; maybe that’s why he left them. Because he couldn’t take it either.
DeMarco: Was this something you or Meghan discussed with him?
Fletcher: I discussed it with her.
DeMarco: And…what was her response?
Fletcher: She never intended anything long term with him. He was a lot more serious than she ever was.
DeMarco: Because
of her feelings for Alex Gessner?
Fletcher: Missy told me you talked to her yesterday. We were the only two knew about Meggie and Alex.
DeMarco: And how did you feel about that relationship?
Fletcher: All I cared about was, I didn’t want her getting hurt. She figured Alex would sow his wild oats and come back around to her eventually.
DeMarco: I get the feeling you didn’t believe that would happen.
Fletcher: I was young once too, you know. You learn things along the way.
DeMarco: And what did you learn?
Fletcher: Apparently nothing useful. (pause) What did Missy tell you about her dad?
DeMarco: She didn’t talk at all about her father.
Fletcher: About Meggie’s dad. What all did she say about him? I know she told you that she thought Meggie was attracted to Tad because he reminded her of her father. She told me she told you that. But what else?
DeMarco: You know I can’t discuss somebody else’s interview. You wouldn’t want me discussing yours, would you?
Fletcher: He had that shadow too. And I just ignored it. For a while I did. And then I threw his ass out.
DeMarco: Meghan’s father.
Fletcher: Probably.
DeMarco: Excuse me?
Fletcher: He probably was her father. I wish now I’d told her that. Other than that one thing, I never once lied to her. (pause) Do you think it’s true about the sins of the fathers coming back onto their children? Because if it is, it’s got to apply to a mother’s sins too.
DeMarco: No. I don’t believe that.
Fletcher: Yeah, right. You blame yourself same as I do.
DeMarco: It’s what parents do, I guess. (pause) How long has it been since she’s seen her father?
Fletcher: Since the day I threw him out.
DeMarco: And when was that?
Fletcher: Ten years ago. She was nine.
DeMarco: Phone calls, birthday cards, things like that?
Fletcher: Nothing. Total silence. Exactly the way I wanted it.
DeMarco: And why did you want it that way?
Fletcher: Because I wanted him gone. Out of our lives forever. Healthier for everybody concerned.
DeMarco: But why no involvement with his own daughter?
Fletcher: Maybe his own daughter.
DeMarco: Did you tell him that?
Fletcher: I might have let it slip.
DeMarco: Exactly why did you want him out of your lives so completely?
Fletcher: You mean other than the drinking and the drugs and the punching and slapping and lying and cheating and making me feel like a worthless piece of shit every minute of my life?
DeMarco: Was he abusive with Meghan too?
Fletcher: No. If he’d ever laid a finger on her, I would’ve…. He treated her like a princess. She could do no wrong.
DeMarco: Did that bother you?
Fletcher: Why would it bother me? (pause) What bothered me was that I had to do all the parenting. If I told her she was grounded for something, 10 minutes later he’d go into her bedroom and take her out for ice cream. This one time, I put a lock on her bike, told her she couldn’t ride into town to see her friends, and while I was at work, he went out and bought her another bike. (pause) Do you have any idea what it’s like to be the only adult in the family? I had a daughter to raise, and I was good at it. Firm but fair. I loved being a mother. But I sure as hell wasn’t going to raise a 38 year-old man too.
DeMarco: At any time while you were together, did you feel that his relationship with Meghan crossed the line into…inappropriate behavior?
Fletcher: Did he mess with her—is that what you’re asking?
DeMarco: That’s what I’m asking.
Fletcher: Ha. Was it Missy told you that?
DeMarco: Did you have any reason to suspect it might be happening?
Fletcher (after a pause): About a year or so after he left, I noticed she stopped being such a tomboy. Wanted to wear my make-up, skirts instead of jeans, stuff like that. I just figured she was growing up. But then I also noticed that she was paying a lot more attention to men than she used to. Not boys, but men. And not the right kind of men. The kind with their pants halfway down their butts, their ball caps turned sideways or backwards. The kind all tatted up and with a cigarette dangling out the corner of their mouth.
DeMarco: Is that a description of your husband?
Fletcher (nods): Meggie and me were in the Dollar General once, picking up a couple of things. This was back when she was 10, no, 11 years old. And I turn around and she’s gone. I ran up and down the aisles looking for her, but she wasn’t there. I finally found her out in the parking lot talking to some loser who was 40 if he was a day. I mentioned it to one of my friends, and she said it sounded like the way a victim of child sexual abuse behaves. So I asked Meggie about it. Did your father ever touch you in your private places? And thank God, she said no. But then she said, I don’t think so. (pause) I was in a panic. I, like, couldn’t breathe.
DeMarco: What did you do?
Fletcher: I threw her into the car and we drove to the doctor’s office. I barged right in where he was listening to some old man’s ticker and I told him you got to look at my little girl now.
DeMarco: He examined her?
Fletcher: He said she was fine. Absolutely no sign of any kind of sexual contact. (pause) I think she might have held onto that question, though. That possibility. Maybe even, in a strange kind of childish way… I don’t know. I blame myself for sort of planting that idea in her mind. Kids are just so impressionable. You have to watch everything you say.
DeMarco: Did she receive counseling of any kind? To help her adjust to her father’s absence?
Fletcher: She missed him, that’s all it was. And we talked, we talked a lot, about why he was bad for us. Why he wasn’t a good person. Why we were better off without him. (pause) I still believe I did the right thing in making him leave. Guys like him, they don’t change. My guess is he either OD’d or he’s in prison somewhere. I’m hoping he’s been dead a good long time.
Silence.
Fletcher: Look, I’m not trying to tell you your business or anything. But where is all this getting us in terms of who hurt my baby girl? (pause) It happened right here under my nose! What kind of a person would do that to my baby?
DeMarco: You can’t blame yourself. In all likelihood, you had already left for work.
Fletcher: Between 5:00 and 7:00 a.m., I know. That means it might have happened right before I woke up. Or while I was in the bathroom.
DeMarco: It probably didn’t.
Fletcher: Fuck probably.
DeMarco (after a pause): Okay, let’s talk for a minute about the timeline. You went to bed right after Meghan returned home that night?
Fletcher: I was already in bed. Couldn’t sleep, though, you know, waiting up for her. She was supposed to be home no later than 1:00.
DeMarco: Did you speak to her that night?
Fletcher: I didn’t want to yell at her, and I was pissed. But I also remembered what I was like at that age. I wouldn’t wish me on any mother.
DeMarco: How soon did you fall asleep after she came home?
Fletcher: How long does it take Ambien to work?
DeMarco: So you got up to take a sleep aid?
Fletcher: I didn’t have to get up. (pause) I’m not hooked or anything, I don’t take it every night. But if I’m up after midnight, and have to be awake by 5:00 for work? Yeah, I’m going to take one. Plus a wine chaser. Fortunately I keep both of them close at hand. And now you’re going to tell me how stupid it is to mix wine with a sleeping pill.
DeMarco (after a pause): Besides you and Meghan and Missy, who else would have known about the door key in the hanging basket?
Fletcher: Not in your job description, huh? Pointing out the folly of our ways?
DeMarco: More like the pot having no right to call the kettle black.
Fletcher: Really? And you sitting there looking
so starched and put together. My, my, my.
DeMarco: If we could return to the door key in the hanging basket?
Fletcher: You think I haven’t thought about that? Anybody who ever saw either one of us using the key, that’s who knew where it was.
DeMarco: And who would that include?
Fletcher: I might as well have just let the freaking door wide open. Her friends, my friends…. Anybody we ever brought home with us would know the key was there.
DeMarco: Then let’s talk about who might have been angry enough, or frustrated enough, or, I don’t know, demented enough to hurt Meghan that way. Have you thought about that?
Fletcher: Of course I have. And it all comes down to one of the boys. Tad or Alex. Tad has the temper. And like I said, he’s got that shadow around him. But Alex, I don’t know. I can’t imagine why he would do it. He never struck me as the type to get physical. Even so….
DeMarco: Did Tad get physical with her?
Fletcher: I never saw that side of him. According to Meggie, though, he’d get up in her face all the time. A lot of yelling, swearing, maybe grabbing her by the arm, stuff like that. She swore to me he never hit her. I’d have called the cops on him if he did.
DeMarco (after a pause): Let’s go back to your ‘even so’ for a minute.
Fletcher: Back to my what?
DeMarco: You said that Alex never struck you as the type to get physical. Even so….
Fletcher: Boy, you don’t miss a beat, do you?
DeMarco: Do you have suspicions about him? What he might be capable of?
Fletcher: Sometimes people just seem too good to be true, you know?
DeMarco: That’s how you feel about Alex?
Fletcher: But on the other hand, my mind keeps telling me that’s just stupid. He’s a spoiled college kid trying to get all the pussy he can, that’s all there is to him. He had no reason to want to hurt her. She would’ve dropped everything for him.
DeMarco: How did he and Meghan meet, seeing as how they went to different schools?
Fletcher: Meggie ran track. The100 meters and the 4x200 relay. He was at a meet in West Middlesex when she was in 10th grade. That Saturday, he was at my front door.
DeMarco: And they were together until…?
Fletcher: Officially together? Till the August before her senior year. Two days before he left for college. (pause) It was clear to her way before then that she wouldn’t be going to college. Not out-of-state anyway. I don’t even want to tell you what a server at the Belmont makes.
Incident on Ten-Right Road Page 5